Devotion by Harmony Raines

it dry on her skin. “Reja, why don’t you go and show Charlie the front of the ship. If that’s OK?”
    “Is it safe?” Reja asked. “I don’t want to be responsible for starting an interplanetary war by firing a laser or something.”
    “Yes. Nothing on this cruiser works for anyone but the Karal. Please, Reja; it’s best Charlie doesn’t see this.”
    “Come on, then, young man. Shall we go and look at the controls?” She held her hand out to the boy, who seemed reluctant to leave Tikki. “I have another of those chocolates in my purse.”
    Charlie moved away from Tikki and took Reja’s hand. Darl checked the position of the chip once more and then cut Tikki’s skin. She didn’t cry out, but her hand gripped his so tightly he knew the pain she was experiencing. In the place where they touched, he sent her warm, soothing sensations, giving her his strength, breathing his love into her. She relaxed a little, and thankfully, Darl’s incision was quick and precise.
    “There,” he said holding it up. “Now, Okil, you take this while I seal the wound.”
    Okil kissed Tikki briefly on the cheek. He then rose, heading swiftly out of the cruiser. The cool night air hit him, and he picked up the pace until he was jogging across the airport and heading for the city. As he ran, he was sure he saw movement in the shadows, but he couldn’t be certain. Maybe it was just his imagination—whatever it was, he couldn’t stop—but he could warn Darl.
    “Darl,” he said into his communicator. “Close the ramp.”
    “Is everything OK?” Darl asked worriedly.
    “Just a precaution.”
    And then he ran through the night, slowing when he reached the crowded streets so that he didn’t draw too much attention to himself. He had an idea, not a very pleasant one. But it might buy them some time.
    He headed towards the railway arches. It was a place where the old and the infirm gathered, usually to take their last breath. Every couple of days a body truck would arrive and search the darkness for those who had given up on this life. As he entered the miserable place, the smell became almost unbearable. However, for Okil, out of the death and decay spawned hope.
    There, sure enough, was the body of a woman and a man. They held hands in death, and he hated parting them, but their spirits had gone to a better place. He worked quickly to gouge out the dead woman’s chip, his fingers easily digging into the papery skin of her neck. Then he slipped Tikki’s chip inside the wound, sliding it as far as he could under her skin, hoping it would stay there.
    Crushing the other chip with his boot, he then lifted the woman and carried her to the entrance. It would look too suspicious for him to carry her and then throw her into the canal, so instead he held her upright, his strong arms supporting her. Then he made his way through the streets, keeping to the back alleys as much as possible as he headed to the cesspit they still called a canal.
    Making sure there was no one else around, he let the body slip into the water, watching to make sure she sank to the bottom. It took a few minutes, the thickness of the dirty, diseased water helping to keep her afloat. Then she was gone.
    Sickened by what he had done, he turned towards the airport and tried to work out exactly how they were going to complete the next stage of his plan.
     

Chapter Ten – Tikki
    “There, all sealed.” Darl’s voice held a hint of pride.
    Her neck throbbed, but she knew they had to take precautions and removing the tag was a necessity. That didn’t take away the pain and she buried her face in her hands, trying not to cry. Only two weeks ago she had been planning to go to another planet to be with the man she loved, and see her sister again. It was all so perfect, so simple. Once she became old enough to enter the lottery it had seemed as if her life had come together in such a perfect way. Now it lay in tatters. Worse, other people’s lives were about to be