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Chapter 6 |  |
Chapter 8 |  |
Fun For All The Family
With great and utterly unnecessary force the diminutive Kajiro was
lifted by his thin, reedy neck and held an inch from Thjorska's face.
With the other hand he pressed a gun so large the barrel almost
enveloped the alien's head.
"Talk. Now. Quickly."
The alien gave a tiny, mocking laugh. "I assure you, my good
Jotun, that I will tell you everything without the threat of a gun to
my head."
Thjorska let go and dropped him on the floor roughly. The alien
got up, straightened his tie and suit, and sat back behind his desk.
"You may have noticed the creatures outside," he said with a
dapper smile.
"They've killed two of us already!" Lokan barked, looming over the
alien. Faced with a Jotun bigger than most robots, carrying a gun
larger than most in the room put together, the smile of the alien's
face faded slightly.
"Quite. Well, you may have noticed that they look like characters
from the park."
"I got bitten by a Treekachoo," muttered one Jotun.
"Exactly. I suppose you have jumped to some wild conclusion about
shape-changing aliens."
The entire room looked slightly uncomfortable and bashful.
Kajiro's smile returned, full force, his white teeth glowing
radiantly.
"Since I will probably die one way or the other, I shall tell you
exactly what is going on. Those creatures are genetically created, in
our labs, as living mascots for the park."
The office was silent. Every Jotun was shocked, unable to say
anything whatsoever. They were the products of genetic creation, and
knew what the morbid curiosity of twisted scientists could create.
Only the Shee had been wise enough, and lucky enough, and even they
still made mistakes. Genetic tampering by anyone, especially
an alien, was so ethically wrong that mere words could not accurately
describe it.
"Talk fast, Kajiro, before we throw you to those creatures," Bjors
said, pointing his horns at the small alien. Kajiro winced, and
continued.
"You have no idea what it's like in the entertainment business. We
only used to have to contend with companies on the same planet. Now we
have an entire galaxy of opposition! Do you realise how hard it is to
come up with original ideas? Your empire is killing business off!"
"That is no excuse for those... monstrosities!" Pitrak boomed.
"It wasn't our fault. We had them breed, inexpensively giving us a
cheap supply. But with each new generation, they mutated. Evolved.
They rapidly became killing machines, and preyed on the park staff."
"Of course they did! Introduce a creature into a foreign ecosystem
and it will always evolve into any ecological niche! How prolific are
they?"
"They can breed once every fifteen minutes, asexually, with litters of
up to ten," Kajiro muttered, hanging his bulbous head in shame.
Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the tower. Everyone rushed to a
window and gazed down. In the mass of moving creatures, huge forms
jutted out. One of the quivered for a moment, then a huge blast of
energy erupted from a gap in it's chest.
"Natural energy weapons," remarked Bjors, sadly. "They've adapted
to us. I only hope they can't climb the tower."
Amidst the sounds of the blasts, another sound could be heard, a
more rhythmic beating. Ship put a hand to her mouth, puzzled.
"I know that sound... So familiar..."
Just them, a large black shape covered the window. It looked like
a nightmare bat, with three pairs of wings and a huge, gaping maw. In
one fluid motion, it stretched a huge neck through the window and then
flew off, carrying the limp form of Kajiro Tam'Taern.