Taken (Warriors of Karal Book 3) (9 page)

“He pushed me down hard onto his desk, then he ripped my clothes and he tried to…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Force himself on you?” he asked and saw her face crumple, the passion he felt making his hands flame red, and he could feel the current of electricity across his skin.

“He tried, but I hit him and stopped him. I’m still a virgin,” she said quickly. “He didn’t do anything.”

“It’s OK, Chrissi,” Malik said. He went to her and held her close. If she’d wanted to pull back he would have let her, but she didn’t and slowly she relaxed into his body, laying her head on his shoulder and crying softly. “While I am here, Chrissi, no one will hurt you again.”

And then he knew they would not consummate their relationship tonight. He would give her time, and when she was ready, when she trusted him, only then would he attempt to breed with her. The days of the Karal forcing themselves onto females were gone. For Malik this was a certainty, because he would have a daughter soon enough, and he would hate her to grow up in a world where the males did not see females as equals.

“Oh my goodness,” she said as the cruiser lifted off, taking them out of the atmosphere and away from Karal. “I can’t believe I am in space again.”

“You should get used to it,” he said, “Because this is going to be our home for the next few weeks, or months.”

“Oh, I’ll get used to it, it’s looking outside at all the stars that is going to be the part that’s hard to get used to. So many planets, so much … space.”

Malik steered the ship away from the space station, taking them towards the two suns, before turning once more to head out into the vastness of space. It seemed as though there was nothing around them for thousands of miles, yet they travelled so fast: they were soon passing planets, and suns which burned bright, and gas clouds which rose up above their heads, so big the cruiser could enter them and be swallowed up, never to be seen again.

Each new spectacle thrilled her, and when she looked at Malik, it made her happy that he looked so pleased too. “Have you been out here before?”

“Once or twice, on training missions. When I went on my last deep space mission we went in the other direction. I was in the mission which discovered your Earth, I helped set up the wormhole.” he said.

“Oh my goodness, that is so cool,” she said. “I can’t believe how lucky you are, I trained for years to pilot a mission like this, and never left Earth, while you have already been so far. And you know how to make wormholes.”

“Open them, not make them. The wormholes are naturally occurring phenomenon.”

“But still, all your technology makes me think the human race is still in the Stone Age compared to the Karal. No wonder they cancelled the space missions. We don’t stand a chance out here next to you guys.”

“Then it’s a good job we only wanted to breed.” He looked out of the window and then said, “There are worse species than the Karal out in space.”

“Do you meet many other aliens? I hadn’t ever thought to ask you. But it’s not as if we are the only two species in the universe. Oh, of course we’re not, your people have bred with others before. There must be hundreds of planets with life on them.” She cast a glance over to him to see him smiling. “I’m talking too much again, aren’t I?”

“I like it. Space is too quiet,” he said, and checked the readings on the computer screen. “Another hour until our first wormhole.”

“And then we are truly on our own. If anything happens, no one will know, or do we have communications that far?” she asked.

“Some communication, but then we travel through another wormhole and we really are on our own. You and me, Chrissi.”

She liked the sound of that. Since last night, when he wanted her, but had pulled back, understanding how scared she had been when Mr. Murgrove tried to attack her, she had known she could trust him.

“Why don’t I go and make us some tole?” she asked, getting up from her seat and taking a minute to get her balance as the ship cruised through space.

“That would be wonderful, if you don’t spill it,” he said, watching her wobble off the control deck.

“I will get used to this, I trained for so long just for this scenario, but I think it’s the cruiser’s gravity field … however that works,” she teased, knowing he wouldn’t tell her.

“Then keep walking until you get used to it,” Malik said. “If I give you a brush, you can sweep the decks while you walk.” He said it with such a straight face, she had to remind herself he was capable of joking.

“You are funny, Malik. Just remember this is a long mission, and I know how to talk. I could go on and on and on for days.” She left the control deck, saying over her shoulder, “And this is before I have had a cup of tole. You might need earplugs before too long.”

Behind her, she could hear him laughing. But would they still be like this by the time they returned, or would they have driven each other mad?

***

Two weeks later she had her answer. After slipping into a routine where she did most of the cooking, not because it was a woman’s job, but because it was new, and she enjoyed making up recipes with the food they had on board. She used frozen fruit and vegetables that were taken out and defrosted as they were needed, and meat that they had to rehydrate with water.

Malik taught her everything he could, not just about the ship, but about space. They would spend hours looking out of the window, watching the passing planets, studying the composition of the gas clouds, with Malik recounting some of his own experiences in space. Only when he talked did she realise how much she didn’t know, how much humans didn’t know, about the universe.

“Do you have a favourite planet?” she asked. “Other than Karal.”

“There was one planet that sticks in my mind, because it was the strangest thing I have ever seen. The ground was covered in a kind of fur, as if the planet was an animal sleeping under your feet. And when the wind blew, the fur would lift up, almost making it look as if the planet was breathing. When we left, we kept looking back, sure the thing would raise a head and look at us with sleepy eyes as we escaped its clutches.”

“Wow, so do you normally go into space with another warrior?” she asked, eating her dinner, while outside the cruiser a red giant could be seen in the distance. It was huge, slowly enveloping the planets surrounding it.

“Yes, there is usually a crew of two or four warriors, depending on the mission,” he said.

“Well, I hope my company hasn’t been too bad,” she said. “You have been very patient explaining everything to me.”

“I have enjoyed our talks. The Karal are a dry species, short on humour and conversation,” he smiled, and his colours skimmed his face, a sign he was about to poke fun at her. “Not the way I would describe you, Chrissi.”

“And I am just going to take that as a compliment too,” she said, liking the way he made her stomach flip over when he looked at her with his soft brown eyes.

“I never doubted you would,” he grinned. “Now, it is time to sleep. We are cruising on autopilot, and if there is any problem the computer will alert us.”

“I’ll wash the dishes,” she said, taking them to the kitchen while he double-checked everything. Placing them in a machine, she pressed the button which would set the cycle in motion. In five minutes, the buzzer sounded and the dishes and utensils came out clean. Another of the many wonderful inventions the Karal had picked up on their voyages.

Malik had been quite open about the Karal taking what technology they could from other species, and she knew it was often by force—or at least, not always with permission.

“Ready?” he asked making her jump.

“Yes, I am.”

“Good, you need to get plenty of rest,” he said.

“And why is that?” she asked.

“You will soon see,” he said cryptically.

If he had said that days ago, she would have suspected it was because he wanted to make love to her. But as the days passed by, it had become increasingly plain, that he had no interest in Chrissi at all. Yes, they got on well and worked well together, but he didn’t find her attractive. That, she supposed, was the sum of the problem.

Maybe she was a little too curvy, or maybe he just didn’t like humans in that way, she couldn’t tell, but even though they slept together, and she often woke up in his arms, her head resting on his chest, his fingers in her hair, stroking the silken strands, as soon as he knew she was awake he would move away, leaving her confused.

“Goodnight, Chrissi, sweet dreams,” he said, as he always did.

“Goodnight, Malik, you too,” she answered.

And then the lights dimmed, and they went to sleep,
as they always did
.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked excitedly as they sat on the control deck, eating breakfast.

“Because your excitement would have been unbearable,” he said, although that wasn’t true. He enjoyed her joyfulness, and he had never met a creature who enjoyed learning about new things so much as Chrissi did. She reminded him of himself when he was young, always asking questions, always needing to know how something worked.

She pulled a face at him, and he knew his words hadn’t dampened her spirits. “How much longer?” she asked.

He leaned forward and flipped a switch, the computer screen flared into life and he took a reading. “Three hours.”

“Three hours, is that all?” She began to eat her breakfast with more haste.

“There is no rush,” he said. And then he fell silent. There was something he had been thinking about, and he wanted to ask Chrissi what she thought. Until now it hadn’t mattered, but the words Okil had said to him about the success of the mission being the most important thing came back to him every night as they went to sleep.

“Everything is OK?” she asked, picking up on his mood at once. They had become attuned to each other, always knowing if the other was worried, or upset, or simply stir-crazy, as Chrissi had been on more than one occasion.

“Yes. But there is something I feel I should do before we land on the planet,” he said, trying to pick the right words to explain things to her. “As you know, the ship is uniquely programmed so it can only be operated by the Karal.”

“Yes,” she said.

“I have been thinking that it is time I took those restrictions off,”

“Why?”

“Because we cannot predict if anything will happen to me on the planet that would leave you stranded. I don’t want that to happen. It would be better if you were able to get the cruiser back to Karal if I am incapacitated.”

“You mean if you die?” she asked solemnly.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know how to fly the cruiser,” she said sadly.

“Yes, you do, I have watched you. You are as capable as I am of making every manoeuvre you would need to, to get home. There are wormholes open at every point where you need to jump, the computer will guide you. Here,” he said, pointing to a switch. “I have set this with the coordinates to Karal. If anything happens, even if I am simply too injured to be brought back to the cruiser, just press it; the computer will do the rest.”

“I hate talking like this,” she said.

“Isn’t this what you were taught when you trained to go into space?” he asked.

“No, we were taught never to leave a man behind, unless you knew for definite there was no chance of them surviving.”

“The Karal are taught that the mission is the most important thing. If a man is lost, then as long as the data is taken back to Karal, the mission is a success,” Malik said.

“I prefer my way,” she said.

“But I need you to promise me, that if it is a choice, you getting away in the cruiser, or us both dying because you won’t leave, then you will make the hard decision and leave,” he said.

“And is that what you will do?” she asked.

He looked at her, seeing her glowing face, the excitement draining away as the dangers of their mission crowded in on her, and knew he wouldn’t leave her. She was the most precious thing to him; she was his and he was responsible for her.

“Of course I would leave you,” he said, almost choking on the words, and then he got up, leaving the control deck and making his way back to the heart of the ship. There he would be able to override the controls. Once done, he only had to issue her a password, and then she would be equal to him.

He only hoped he could trust her. Because if not, he might very well end up with a hard rock cracking his skull open while she stole his ship and took it back to Earth. Their President would be very pleased with that. However, he knew she wouldn’t do that.

He trusted her.

***

Malik reminded himself of those words as he sat looking at the readings from the computer. “It all seems safe, the gases present are within normal parameters. The oxygen is a little rich, but apart from that it is not dissimilar to Karal,” he said. “Although there are signs of pockets of gas, methane. We should proceed with care.”

“OK,” she said, the excitement back on her face.

“We will take oxygen masks with us, but there is no need for protective suits. We will each have a meter that reads the levels of poisons in the air,” he said.

“OK. Let’s do this,” she said.

He throttled forward, taking them out of orbit of the green planet below and making a slow descent through the gas clouds. The readings on his screen stayed level; everything looked good. And her excitement took hold of him. What if this was it, and they were about to discover a new world capable of sustaining human life?

“Oh my goodness,” she said, “It’s beautiful.”

They had come out of the clouds and the brilliant green world could be seen below them. Tall trees, bright vibrant flowers covering them, looking like jewels shining in the sun. He had to agree, this was one of the most beautiful planets he had ever seen.

The landing was smooth. There seemed to be little wind to create turbulence, and he guided them down towards a lake that was as green as everything else. Apart from the colours on the flowers, it looked as if whoever created this world had run out of every colour but green.