Catastrophe by Deirdre O'Dare Read Free Book Online Page B

or posts. Carl had seen enough. He took off at a dead run for the security office.
    For a mad instant, he almost considered trying to change into his ocelot form, knowing the cat could run much faster than the man. He didn't, though, fearful he would not be able to change back and sound the alarm once he reached his destination. Still, the notion tempted him. He also felt an urge to make a small detour past the cheetah enclosure and see if he could summon Zyl. Again, he didn't.
    Out of breath from close to a half-mile dash, he thudded into the security office. Several guards on break looked up, startled by his hasty entrance.
    "I think we have a problem. Seven busloads of--well, they look to me like protestors--just unloaded at main. There must be close to a hundred fifty of them and they're all carrying stuff...wrapped bundles that could be weapons or tools. I can't imagine why, but whoever's on the gate let them drive right in."
    Two of the guards swore. A shift sergeant stuck his head out of a cubicle. "What the fuck did you say?"
    Carl repeated his warning, even elaborated on it as he described what he'd seen. Before he was done, a couple of alarms began to screech. That could mean at least two enclosures had been compromised or even breached. Guards bolted in every direction, drawing batons and tasers as they ran. Within seconds, it began to sound like a war zone.
    Not sure what to do to help, Carl dashed back to see if any of his charges were threatened. He turned on the walkie-talkie he carried to supplement his mobile phone and listened to the terse commands flying among the groups of guards.
    Recalling the puma with new cubs, he hit the cougar enclosure first. All seemed quiet there, so he continued on, from one exhibit to the next. Suddenly, he realized a cheetah ran beside him. Was it Zyl? A quick glance told him it was. Then he felt a peculiar tickle in his head and an instant later, a clear impression of silent communication began to come through.
    ::Yes, it's me. The Weres will be standing guard...all who have been living here with their animal kin as I have. The local Were-kind cell is coming. We knew this was going to happen, just not when.::
    ::There were at least a hundred to a hundred fifty protestors or activists. I saw the busses come in. How in hell they were allowed to drive through the gate I don't know.::
    ::There were plants in the new guards the zoo hired, some of the Warriors, I've been told. This was all planned. It's been in the works for a couple of months. We had our spies, too. Several Were-kind have infiltrated the Warriors. More protestors are coming and a couple of the gates, like the one we used the other night, have been unlocked to let other groups in.::
    The chill in Carl's gut got a lot colder. ::How many?::
    Zyl gave a twitch, almost like a human shrug. ::Not sure, probably somewhere near five hundred in all. They've recruited real students at the university and street people and gods know who all.::
    Carl shook his head. "Damn it to hell! Haven't they got sense enough to realize what a catastrophe it'll be if they release a bunch of these animals? There'll likely be innocent people killed, but the animals will suffer more, much more. They're not equipped to fend for themselves, and the city is certainly not a good habitat for any of the species."
    Zyl halted for a breath and shifted quickly to human form, nude but at the moment this didn't matter much. It was early in the day and few normal visitors were in the zoo yet. The guards would have shut and locked the gates by now, and no one else should get in, at least Carl hoped not. Still, he pulled off his outer shirt and handed it to Zyl. The other man wrapped the garment around his hips and tied the sleeves to create a kind of loin cloth. It looked strange, but then people did wear some weird get-ups at times.
    The two of them stopped near the cheetah compound. Nothing seemed to be out of order there so far.
    Carl looked around,