Eve Vaughn (2 page)

“A new animal has arrived today, a
Human
-- a female this time. It’s our hope here at the Interstellar Zoo of Flamryl that she’ll mate with the male we already have in captivity. We’ve named her Shara,” declared Zavian, the head zookeeper.

Dar squirmed in his seat, feeling slightly uneasy. In all his years tending to exotic creatures from other planets and galaxies, no species made him more uncomfortable than the
Humans
. For one, they were too much like his own race for his peace of mind.

Then there was the way the male moved and gestured, almost as if he could have been one of his own species.

The male they called Quark had fashioned some leaves and dried straw into a crude loin cloth to cover his cock and balls. It made Dar think that not only did this being understand the concept of nudity, but was sentient as well. If that was the case, they had no business keeping him at the zoo.

Quark walked on two legs like the Flamrylians. He’d attempted communication.

Granted they didn’t understand what the creature was saying most of the time, but occasionally Dar could distinctively hear Quark use a few Flamrylian words. The human male was slender in build, and had basically the same equipment except the smaller sub-cock the males of Dar’s race possessed for the purpose of stimulating the female anally as well as vaginally.

Another difference between them, the unsightly amount of body hair Quark had, where Dar’s people only grew hair on their heads. The most noticeable difference however, was the skin hue. Flamrylians were golden with multi-colored markings on their bodies and faces, denoting their stations. Quark was pale, and pinkish in color. But still there were far more similarities than there were differences.

- 15 -

From what Dar knew of these creatures, they hailed from a planet called Earth where the Cyrellians ruled in a galaxy he wasn’t too familiar with. From what the Cyrellian dealers had told them, these
Humans
were savage creatures, but trainable. But could their word be trusted? After all, they were notorious planet destroyers, banned from inhabiting any worlds in the Tron Three Galaxy for trying to overthrow the Intergalactic Federation Council. They had resurfaced a few years ago, selling animals they’d captured. Only the more unscrupulous bought from them, and unfortunately for Dar, the head zookeeper at his place of employment was the most crooked of them here.

“Dar, are you listening to me?” Zavian roared, a look of annoyance crossing his already stern face.

Dar snapped out of his silent musings, embarrassed at being caught so lost in his thoughts. “Uh, yes or course I heard you.” He hoped it didn’t sound as much like a lie to Zavian as it did to his own ears. “You mentioned a new female
Human.
It’s your wish to have her mated with Quark.”

Zavian’s yellow eyes squinted, scrutinizing him, but Dar refused to squirm.

Gadzoets
, he hated this smarmy son of a
caxiun
. Every worker at the zoo knew Zavian had had only been appointed head zookeeper because his brother was head councilman of the Parks and Beautification Committee. Like anyone unqualified for the job they had, he used his position to bully the employees directly under him.

Dar was the only one whom Zavian didn’t cross because one, he too had political connections, and two, he wasn’t afraid to tell the
ewala’s
ass exactly what he thought of him. Dar supposed it was typical bully behavior, all talk and no action.

Whenever he saw Zavian attempt to run roughshod over the defenseless, Dar stepped in. Certainly there was no love lost between the men, but it suited him fine. His main concern was the animals. Since Zavian had taken over, he’d pushed to bring more unusual creatures to their zoo to increase the amount of visitors.

It was a strategy that had paid off, to the detriment of the animals. Though the zoo was making more money, the head zookeeper had cut the budget on natural habitats and treats he’d deemed unnecessary for the beasts.

- 16 -

Dar suspected Zavian was embezzling the surplus funds, but he couldn’t prove it.

“Well,” Zavian finally said in a huff, obviously not happy about losing an opportunity to humiliate Dar. “I’m putting her in your charge for now unless otherwise instructed, and you’re to see that the two procreate. The
Human
exhibit has drawn a lot of attention, and has quickly become the most popular attraction, which translates to money. A baby between Quark and Shara would generate more.” Dar realized it would be a waste of breath expressing his concerns to one so tunnel-visioned, but at least he could document what he’d done so far for the benefit of the Parks and Beautification Committee who came annually to inspect the place.

Nepotism may have put Zavian in the position, but it wouldn’t keep him there if Dar had anything to do with it. “I wanted to talk to you about Quark.” Zavian sighed before a frown turned his lips down into an ugly scowl. “You’re not going on again about Quark having a mind of his own. I don’t care to have this conversation again. He’s a lower life form -- a beast. They have no emotions, feelings or souls. Why you care so much about these animals is beyond me.” Dar glared, wanting to pound his fist into the corpulent man’s face. “It’s
beyond
me
--” he pointed at his chest, “why you’re head zookeeper when you clearly have such disdain for these lesser beings as you call them.”

“I suggest you watch your tone with me, Dar. I’m in charge of this place, not you.

I’m aware this is the position you coveted, but I’m here to stay and I demand respect.” Placing his palms on the large metal desk separating them, Dar leaned forward until he was inches away from Zavian’s face. “You haven’t done a thing to deserve respect and you’re not getting any from me.”

“I will put this incident in your file. Any more demerits and yo-you’ll be f-fired,” Zavian stammered.

Dar threw his head back and laughed. “And then it would be more apparent how incompetent you really are.” He stood up then, tired of being in this man’s presence.

- 17 -

“Sit down!” Zavian pounded his fist on the hard steel surface, creating a reverberating thud. “I’m not finished with you yet.”

“But I’m through with you. I’ll see to the new arrival. I won’t ask if there’s anything else you’d like to discuss because I’m not interested.” Turning on his heel, he walked out of the office, ignoring Zavian’s calls.

“You won’t be so defiant for long! I’ll personally see you put in your place.” Dar didn’t stop until he reached the door of the infirmary where the new additions were brought and examined thoroughly before they were integrated with the other animals.

His blood was still near to boiling, like it was whenever he met with Zavian. The concern he’d never gotten to express about Quark before he’d been cut off was that, lately the
Human
seemed interested in cultivating some type of intimacy with him.

Whenever Dar had gotten close enough to the human, it almost seemed as if Quark was flirting with him, but that couldn’t be. Could it?

If he didn’t know better, Dar would think the being was homosexual. Quark, though obviously male, was effeminate in so many of his mannerisms that it made Dar wonder. If the
Human
was gay, he certainly wouldn’t be interested in mating with Shara, his soon-to-be cage mate. That was the problem with bringing the new animals in; not a lot was known about them. Dar would make it a priority to study them more closely for the next few months, learning their habits, and rituals.

The thick steel door leading to the infirmary muffled the piercing shrill of the behavior neutralizer, a device used to control the animals with sound. Quickly he popped in his earplugs and raced toward the commotion.

He wasn’t sure what he’d find, but it certainly wasn’t the chaos unfolding before him. Standing on the examination table surrounded by the three other zookeepers, all holding neutralizers, was the female
Human
. She held what looked like a makeshift blade made out of a broken bottle.

Her screams were being drowned out by the noise makers, but she wasn’t covering her ears in pain, nor was she backing down. Why weren’t the devices working

- 18 -

on her? Even though the plugs he’d inserted were designed to drown out even the highest decibels of sound, he could still hear the faint buzzes. What in the name of Glarm was going on?

Normally Dar was fast on his feet, but this time they wouldn’t move even if he wanted them to.

The female was magnificent.

Dark brown hair framed a delicately shaped face that fell like a silken cape around her shoulders. Were it not for her coloring and the markings Flamrylian woman possessed, she could easily pass for one. As it stood, her body was absolute perfection from the high pert breasts capped with deep red nipples to the tiny waist that flared out to womanly hips. A triangular patch of hair rested between her thighs that he’d never seen on any Flamrylian female, but it wasn’t unappealing. It actually made him want to find out the secrets it hid beneath.

Dar’s cocks stirred uncomfortably inside his pants. Thoughts he knew he shouldn’t be entertaining ran through his mind. Only when he looked into her blazing green eyes did he come to his senses.

They were filled with fear.

She wasn’t acting out, but frightened. “Turn off the neutralizers,” he yelled as loud as he could, and when they didn’t, he realized his error. They were all obviously wearing earplugs as well.

He strode over to the closest one and snatched the device out of nerveless fingers and switched it to off. Dar repeated the motion with the other two and then gestured for them to remove the sound mufflers from their ears.

“Why did you do that? We need to get her to desist this unacceptable behavior.

She wouldn’t cooperate with the examination,” Yeahen explained.

“Obviously these things aren’t working,” Dar drawled.

The other two looked hesitant.

The female, however, went on the attack. She sprang at him with the jagged glass. Dar moved out of her way, barely missing the slicing arc she made with her

- 19 -

weapon. That would have produced a nasty cut. When she tried it again, he was ready for her. He caught her wrist in one hand and removed the glass from her and then tossed it out of her reach.

Dar was much taller and outweighed her significantly, but she put up a fight that made it nearly impossible for him to hold on to her.

Shara attempted to scratch his face, but when that didn’t work, she pounded on his chest. He caught her flailing arm and gave her a strong shake. This didn’t stop her. It seemed nothing would.

Leaning forward, she bit him.

Hard.

“Argh,” he yelled his pain. The little she-beast’s teeth had sunk through the cloth of his shirt and into his skin.

Yanking a clump of her hair, he was able to rip her head away from him, but not without causing injury to himself. Dar then grabbed Shara by the armpits and tossed her over his shoulder.

She cried out and pummeled tiny fists into his back.

His fellow zookeepers watched in fascination, not moving a finger to assist him, probably because they didn’t know what to do. Dar couldn’t blame them with the way this one carried on. Dar brought the flat of his palm onto her upturned bottom, not meaning to cause Shara pain, but to send a warning that he’d not put up with much more of her rebellion.

Though her struggles lessened, she still put up a fight, trying to wiggle from his hold. This time when he slapped her ass, Dar put more force behind it. He was in control and he wanted her to know it. Maybe what he was really trying to do was to control the racing hormones within him. The heat of her body so close to his was doing things to his body he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He had to exorcise these inappropriate thoughts from his mind.

Shara cried out, but stilled.

- 20 -

Yeahen clapped his hands together. “You’ve done it! Finally you’ve conquered this wild animal. We’ve tried to restrain her for nearly an hour, but it only takes a few minutes for you to do what the three of us couldn’t accomplish,” he said, his voice full of admiration.

Dar frowned, not wanting the praise. He did what he had to do. “What did you do to her to make her act this way? In my recollection Quark has never given us this kind of trouble so it can’t be something this species is prone to.” Ritza, one of the newer zookeepers, spoke. “She was sedated when she was brought to us. I was only giving her an examination. Yeahen was here to supervise since this was my first time. In the middle of the process, she woke up. That’s when she threw this awesome tantrum, and grabbed the bottle of antibiotic from my hand and busted it against the wall. She brandished the jagged piece of glass at us, and even cut my hand.” She held it up as evidence.

Dar winced when he saw the deep gash. “And then what?” he asked tightly.

“What is Iosis doing here?” Personally Dar couldn’t stand the man. He was Zavian’s personal spy, and probably twice as corrupt. Whenever Dar saw him he wanted to ring Iosis’s skinny little neck.

Though he had no proof, Dar suspected Iosis was abusing the animals. On a few occasions there had been marks on the animals’ skins. Once Dar witnessed the other man caressing one of the Mulka’ Beasts in a disturbing manner. Iosis had given him a weak explanation regarding what he was doing, but the incident remained in the back of Dar’s mind.

Iosis flushed. “I heard the struggle and I came to assist. It’s a good thing you came,” he bit out finally, even though the brief look of pure hatred he shot Dar made a lie of his words. “That female is a menace.”