Hunger Read online

  He hated thinking of the young boy, who had become one of the few young orphans on Karal, moving away from everything he knew to go and stay in the small home where the other boys with no fathers lived. It had all been so alien to him. He belonged with his own people on the farming belt that stretched for miles across Karal. Lush pastures, ideal soil for crops.

  At the first opportunity, he had returned to those fertile lands, taking with him the knowledge his father had passed to him. Ironic, really, that he had now given it all up to go and sit on the Hier Council. He had only done it to ensure the farmers were not abused when the breeding females arrived and they had to work harder to fill so many more stomachs.

  Okil’s voice brought him back to the distasteful present. “Yes. I see.” Okil was outside talking to a human on his communicator. More technology they had given these people. Ishk disapproved of sharing any of it with them.

  Okil came back into the cruiser, his face worried, the emotion spilling over so that his skin lit up, bright orange skimming his hands. Ishk knew he wasn’t going to like what Okil had to say. Cutting a piece of fruit, he put it in his mouth and chewed, letting the juice wash down his throat. Damn, how he missed Karal.

  “The Lottery HQ has been contacted.”

  “By the woman who is to be mine? So we are going to collect her and then go home?” At last, he could leave this place and put his plan to take control of the council into action. He would never return here and once they had taken the quota of women his people needed, he would perhaps have the wormhole destroyed or placed under constant guard. Ishk would have to be careful whom he chose for this duty, because there were many Earth sympathisers. Of which Okil had to be the worst.

  “No. She has been taken.” Okil looked worried, very worried.

  “Taken. Where?” Ishk decided he had time to eat another piece of fruit while Okil gnashed his teeth and pulled his hair in vexation. Ishk smiled to himself. “Can’t we just choose another one?”

  “Ishk.” Okil’s tone was unusually harsh. Being his superior, there was a certain amount of respect Ishk expected. Okil was close to insubordination when he said, “Don’t you care? Someone has taken the woman who is to be yours. Evie Miller is her name, if you are interested. The people who have her are asking for coin.”

  “Then choose another one. That will prevent these people from thinking they can blackmail the Karal.”

  “And what about Evie?”

  “What about her? There are countless other females who would be willing to take her place.”

  “And if she dies because of this?”

  “There are countless females more than willing to breed with us.” Ishk stood now, his temper rising. “Countless. Billions. Why does it matter?”

  “She is a person. This is an act against our species. And you just say, take another one?”

  “That is the way to deal with these situations. She was worthless before; she will be worthless again if we take another in her place.”

  “I am going to find her.” Okil took a reading from the cruiser’s computer display and then stood up. “She is not far from here, although the signal has been tampered with.”

  “And if this is a trap? You do not know if they are using her as bait to flush us out.”

  “They asked for coin.”

  “Knowing perhaps that we would not pay, but would track them down. A Karalian is worth more to them than a human female.”

  “You think it is an ambush?” Okil said, looking back down at the computer screen.

  “Yes. They are jealous of us. They want what we have.”

  “They need us,” Okil said.

  Okil was a poor, deluded fool. Maybe the air had got to him and addled his brain.

  “Why? You know as well as I there is nothing to be done for this sorry planet. Maybe they hope to trade for a one-way ticket off this place.”

  “They do not know we can’t help them save their planet. We have kept that to ourselves. And they would not be stupid enough to think that if they were taken to Karal, we would not hunt them down. They all have tags.” Okil went to the weapons locker and removed a gun.

  “Hunting humans. Now, that could become a new sport. Are you authorised to use one of those?” Ishk asked, thinking this had become a little more interesting: the usually mild-mannered Okil would not normally take up arms.

  “This is an Earth weapon. I have been trained to use it. Don’t worry, none of our technology will fall into their hands.” Okil checked it was loaded and then made his way down the exit ramp.

  “Wait, I will accompany you. Although I do not see why you are so concerned.”

  “Because we put Evie in the situation.” He squared his shoulders and turned to Ishk. “It is something you do not understand, Ishk. We need them as much as they need us.”

  “We only need to breed from them.”

  “There are many of us who see it differently. We came here, we made contact, and then we invited their females to be part of our world. That gives us a certain responsibility. If not to those left behind, then at least to those we take.”

  Ishk knew what he was referring to, his behaviour towards Vanessa. Yet he was in no mood to talk about it, especially not to Okil, who was not a member of the council. Ishk did not intend to explain his reasons to a Karalian who was already under the spell of the Earth women. Ishk could see that Okil was going to be a problem.

  Eating the last of the fruit, he stood up, jogging down the ramp to catch up with Okil. At least this might hold some amusement. He wondered what type of Earthling thought he could go up against the superior race of Karal and think they could win.

  Chapter Four – Evie

  Her face hurt, and when she tried to move, her shoulder did too, and her ribs, but this was nothing compared to the throb at the base of her skull; it felt like someone had jabbed a knife into her. The bastard had beaten her while she was unconscious. Opening her eyes, she tried to look around without letting them know she was awake. The last thing she needed was another beating.

  Through slitted eyes, she saw them over by the window, talking. Testing her body, she found her hands were bound, but her feet were not. Shifting her field of view, Evie took in her position. She was at the far end of the office, and there was no way she would get to the door before they did.

  Swallowing down a sob, she looked back towards the men. They were talking in low voices, and one of them kept glancing at his phone. Had they already called in their ransom demands? There was no way the Karalians would pay a ransom for her, they would almost certainly just choose another woman to take to their planet, and leave Evie here to die at the hands of these thugs. Or worse.

  Letting her body relax, she examined her thoughts about dying. And the sad truth was that as long as it was quick, she didn’t much care. Her life was hopeless. Hunger gnawed at her every minute of the day. Added to this was fear and, worst of all, loneliness.

  Closing her eyes, she lay still, utterly defeated. All she had to do was wait and all of this would end. She would no longer be this stinking mess of human flesh. She would be free, light, floating above the Earth. Or there would be a deep, dark nothingness. Either way was fine with her.

  Movement. She heard someone moving about downstairs. The two men didn’t seem to notice, and she realised it was because she had her ear to the floor. What she heard were the vibrations of a door been shut. Someone else was in the warehouse. Someone who didn’t want to be noticed.

  Evie had to make a decision; she could either lie here and wait for whatever was going to happen, to happen. Or she could try to help whoever was downstairs. But she didn’t know if they were coming to help her; for all she knew, whoever had entered the warehouse had nothing to do with this. Or maybe someone from the lottery had come to rescue her. Evie lay rigid, uncertainty flowing through her veins. Did she want to be saved? If whoever was down there was from the lottery, did she really want to go to Karal?

  Evie had entered impulsively. She had b
een in a store, spending the last few coins she had on a bottle of water and a can of beans. When she passed through the checkout, the guy serving her had given her that look she would never get used to seeing. Evie was what was known as a “skim,” a bottom feeder, in this city. And he was right. That was exactly what she was. But it wasn’t who her parents had raised her to be. Entering the lottery seemed like a way to get back some of her dignity. A chance to be someone, someone more than the dirty, empty shell she had become.

  Mentally she repeated that last part back to herself. The lottery was the exact reason she was lying here now with bruises over her body and her hands tied behind her back. This was not exactly the someone she had wanted to be.

  A noise again, Right below her. Damn, she hoped they didn’t have guns. What if they were after the two guys in front of her and she got hit by a stray bullet?

  Then I guess we’ll all be dead.

  Summoning her courage, she moved. It certainly was a good job she hadn’t intended to run for it, because her legs were stiff, she had been lying here for a long time. Flexing her aching muscles she sat up, the attention of the two men now on her. A tremor of fear passed through her. The guy who had hit her was advancing, and his face was contorted in anger.

  “I told you to lie still. Keep your head down and your mouth shut.” He raised his hand and slapped her across the face. She spat at him, a mixture of blood and saliva. “You little bitch, do you know how much these shoes cost?”

  “Harley.” The other guy tried to calm him down. “If you hit her much more they won’t be able to recognise her face.”

  “Idiot,” Harley hissed. “You can still see her lovely, big blue eyes, and if nothing else they can DNA-test her.” He held something up in front of her eyes. “Only they can’t use this, I cut it out of you so they couldn’t track you.”

  She sobbed, trying not to picture the wound in her neck. No wonder it hurt so much; he had gouged the tag out of her flesh. As though she were a piece of trash, he placed his foot on her shoulder and pushed her back to the floor, and then he went back to the window.

  “I hope you’re sure. I want payment.” The other guy sounded scared. Going up against the aliens was a dangerous game. But if the tag was damaged and the aliens couldn’t track her, who was downstairs? Humans? Someone from the lottery?

  Words formed in her head, and it took a moment for her to realise she was saying them out loud. “Too much of a coward to let me take you on fairly.” What the hell was she doing? Giving the person who was now coming up the stairs time to deal with her assailants before they knew what had hit them.

  Harley turned back towards her, his fists clenched, and she knew this one was going to hurt. But just as he raised his hand, a voice said, “Touch her and you die.”

  So many things happened at once. Harley spun round, disbelief in his face. His accomplice took off across the room, heading back out through the door, which led to the rest of the top floor. One man, or was he an alien, came into the room. In his hand was a gun.

  Evie had never seen a real gun. They were classed as antiques now; well, the one he held, anyway. But he looked as though he knew how to use it, which is exactly what Harley was trying to evaluate at the same time.

  Did he try to fight his way out of it, or did he give up? Harley did the simplest, if most cowardly thing. He held his hands up and then said, “Thank goodness you’re here. That other guy was trying to kill her.”

  “Shut up.” The voice was cold, emotionless, but the colours skimming across his skin told her how mad he was. It also confirmed he was an alien.

  “Come on now, just let me walk out of here and you can take the woman and no police will have to be involved. I mean, do you really want to be delayed by lots of questions and statements? Not when you can take her back to your planet and fuck her until she screams. That is what you do, isn’t it?”

  The alien moved so fast that Harley never had a chance to speak again before the gun cracked across his face and he collapsed to the floor.

  Evie looked stunned, her eyes staring at the man lying in front of her, wondering if he was ever going to get up from that blow. The bruise had already begun to appear on his cheekbone and a dribble of blood escaped his mouth.

  “Thank you,” she said, hoping she had it right and he had come to save her, not hurt her in any way. Maybe she was too beat up to go with them to Karal and they would just shoot her and dump her body. Tell everyone she had not turned up to claim her prize of a new life on another planet.

  “Are you alright?” he asked, coming towards her. Kneeling down, he looked at her face, his expression telling her how bad she looked. Then he began to untie her hands. “Were there just the two of them?”

  “Yes. I think so, I was unconscious for a while, but I only saw two men.”

  “We need to get you out of here. We’ve arranged to leave Earth now.”

  “Now,” she repeated. What did it matter? She had nothing left here, only heartache and pain, yet still she felt as though she should say goodbye to someone. Then she realised there was no one left in her life to say goodbye to. “Can I collect my things?”

  “Where are they?” he asked, helping her up.

  She looked into his face, seeing kind eyes, and thought it would not be so bad to go with him to be the mother of his child. “In the closet. That’s where I was hiding when they found me.”

  “Be quick.”

  Standing wasn’t as easy as she thought. Her legs wouldn’t take her weight, and when she put her hands out to stop herself falling, she found them numb from being tied behind her back so long. Evie felt a strong hand reach around her waist and stop her from falling.

  “Careful,” he said, and then released her.

  Staying on her hands and knees, she crawled to the closet and carefully packed her bag, which had been ransacked while she was unconscious. Luckily, there was nothing worth stealing and everything seemed to be there. Shoving it back in quickly, not wanting to stay in the building any longer than she had to, she pulled the straps tight to secure it and hooked it on her shoulder, wincing with pain.

  The alien helped her to her feet, and she watched the colours skim across his skin. Where he touched her, the colours were converted into some kind of electric charge, and she could sense his powerful emotions, although she could not read them. It wasn’t helped by the impassive expression on his face.

  They went downstairs where he loosed her arm. Evie was thankful that her feet remained steady and her legs now worked, so she could walk across the warehouse unaided. By the time they reached the outside door, the colours had gone from his skin and he looked almost human. His skin tone now matched that of a healthy man, not that there were many of those left on Earth anymore.

  “Thank you again. I thought they were going to kill me.”

  “Then you should have been more careful and not let them catch you in the first place.” Another alien appeared from outside, watching her critically as she walked towards him. She wanted to hide from his gaze; it contained the same dislike that Harley’s had. Evie felt vulnerable and afraid. She wanted to shrink back against the first alien and feel safe and protected again.

  “Ishk, meet Evie. Evie, meet your prize.”

  Evie’s world swam once more, but she held onto it. So this was the alien who would be her … what? Boyfriend, not husband, Karalians didn’t do weddings, as far as she knew. Whatever he was, he looked bad tempered.

  But when Okil pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, it seemed his bad mood wouldn’t be a problem for much longer.

  Chapter Five – Ishk

  He was right, Okil had been sent here to kill him for what he had done to the Hier Ruler’s female. Slowly he raised his hands, but before they were above his head there was a loud bang; the female covered her ears and screamed. But he felt no pain. Maybe that was what happened when you died. Okil must have aimed at Ishk’s heart.

  Then something hit the back of his neck, something warm and sticky
. Turning quickly, he witnessed a would-be assassin falling towards him, his face a mess where the bullet had exploded on impact.

  Surprise was the predominant emotion to hit him. Not because the man had been behind him, his senses should have told him that, it was more because the man with his face blown off had a knife in his hand. He would have killed Ishk if Okil had delayed, and therein lay the puzzle.

  “I would have thought you would have let him kill me,” Ishk said, his voice curious.

  Okil lowered the weapon to his side. “I thought so too.”

  “Then why save me?” Ishk asked.

  “Because if I did, Evie would have no prize and she would have to stay here. I don’t think that would be good for her health.”

  Ishk laughed. “So you saved me, to save her. I’m surprised you don’t think she would be better off with those of her own species than with me. You know I don’t want her.”

  Okil put himself between Ishk and the human, his face close to Ishk’s. “Do you have no decency, Ishk? You are being offered the chance to breed a son of your own. She is the willing vessel. Why can’t you be civil?”

  “Because they are not a civilised species, Okil. It seems you are too blinded by them to see it. But I will save us from the blight of humans.” He looked at the pitiful creature standing behind Okil, her face dazed. “What did you do, choose the most pathetic of all humans for me? So that I would feel what? Sympathy?”

  Okil could not control the colours; they skimmed across his face and Ishk knew he had hit on the answer. He looked once more at the woman, saw her dirty face, bruised and swollen. Then he wrinkled his nose.

  “Damn it, she stinks. You might find it amusing to give me something so degrading to breed with. But it only hardens my resolve. I will put a child in her belly and then she will go to the breeding house. I am not weak like the others, Okil. And she will know that. I am strong, and she will obey me, although it seems she has no fight in her anyway.”

  With that, he turned and left the building, kicking the dead man with his foot. He wanted to spit on him, but he didn’t want to leave a biological trace of them being there. Behind him, Okil went upstairs and placed the gun in the hand of the other man. Then he came back, wrapped his arm around Evie and guided her out. He didn’t speak to Ishk, and the woman did not make eye contact. His authority was intact and he still believed he would return to Karal and take over as leader.