In his day-to-day life, Zelup considered himself to be an upstanding and model Vartik citizen, someone his people could look up to, someone they respected. When the omens decreed it, he would take up the crown his brother, Martek, currently wore and he planned to wear it better than anyone had in living memory. Zelup would be a strong king, a fair one, one who led by example.
Even if that meant living a double life.
His duty as king required that he marry a Vartik woman. His parents would likely arrange an appropriate match with a suitable female from the noble class. At that time, Zelup would settle down and begin producing the heirs required of him. But until then, he refused to wait patiently for monogamy to swallow him alive.
Zelup was no stranger to the sex club. He had been there enough times to be recognized by the staff and pursued by many of the patrons. He always politely shrugged off the attentions of those he’d already bedded, not interested in prolonging the inevitable. There was no room for a relationship, not when his future was already set. In order to keep any female from getting too attached, Zelup refused any request for a repeat performance. Although he would never admit it to his brother, like Calabez, one night was all he offered.
Stepping out of the shower, he paused by the mirror to run his fingers through is thick brown locks. He usually kept his hair carefully combed, but when he headed to the Double V, he preferred to let his unruly waves have their way.
The soon-to-be Vartik king prided his privacy, even though his race was thought to be extinct and he easily passed himself off as a human. His father had talked about bringing their race back out of the shadows, and Zelup planned to implement his father‘s desire during his reign. Which meant that he had to play it careful now, for fear of being recognized in the future. Nevertheless, Zelup hated face masks. They never failed to get in the way during the most intimate of moments. He preferred a little bit of paint instead to hide himself.
Picking up the small airbrush pen, he closed his eyes and ran a burst of black across his face, from the area just below his temples, over his eyes, and the bridge of his nose. That black stripe would be enough to prevent an ironclad identification, he figured. Zelup dried himself after, then padded into the small bedroom to dress.
Foregoing a shirt, he pulled on his skintight breeches, made from the hide of the Vartikbowis, a large herd animal used to produce a leather cloth that was tough but felt delicate. It held a natural sheen and hugged his muscular legs like a second skin.
The only other thing he wore were twin metal bands around his upper arms. They served to emphasize the muscles there and he’d been told they gave him a somewhat dangerous look. He fastened them on, ran his fingers through his hair once more, then returned to the console to finish the journey to the Venus Vacuum.
The planet shone golden against the darkness around it as Zelup steered into atmosphere. Passing through the thick layer of clouds that obscured the surface, the cruiser connected to the colony’s guidance beam. The atmosphere was amazingly dense and there was little to see through the thick gloom. The occasional breaks in the cloud cover revealed a bright and fiery surface full of molten movements. Without some form of protection, a body would be instantly vaporized by the heat, likely before the pressure crushed it.
Centuries ago, colonists had come to Venus, fighting past the harshness of the environment to establish a single city on the top of the highest peak, Maxwell Montes, where the temperature was coolest. It was a shining beacon now, its heat shielding reflecting the near constant bolts of lightning that rained down around it.
The city was formed with the best intentions, full of hardy men and women who’d wanted to prove their mettle on one of the roughest planets in the system. Unfortunately, the cost of such a city was high, both in resources and the toll the environment took on residents. Perpetual lightning storms had made supply runs difficult. Only ships with the thickest shielding could make the trip to the planet’s surface. Nonstop repairs on the shielding of the city was expensive, and morale had started to fade in the face of a gloomy and fiery landscape.
The original colonists and their descendants had slowly abandoned the colony city, leaving a wasteland that had transformed over the years into something they never would have considered at the outset. Exclusive clubs, restaurants that catered to exotic tastes, and shops that carried wares that had been banned in most quadrants of the galaxy had started buying up real estate.
It was expensive to exist on Venus—expensive and perilous. It had therefore attracted businesses that were equally expensive and perilous. Including the Double V.
Following the beam, Zelup waited while the entry station repolarized the shielding to allow his ship through. He received the signal to go ahead and carefully steered his ship through the opening. If he tried to pass through the entry with the shielding unaltered, his ship would be destroyed. Steering through the neon jungle of Venusville, he landed the cruiser down on a crowded pad and powered down.
Despite the types of businesses that populated the colony and their patrons, the city itself was one of the cleanest he’d ever seen. It was a comfort-controlled paradise inside the giant dome that surrounded the city, so Zelup could stride barefoot and shirtless through the city streets. He was only two well-lit blocks from the club, but even in that short distance, he had time to be amazed at the colorful beings visiting Venus.
Creatures of every race and creed teemed around him in the busy streets. He caught the eye of several of his fellow visitors and would occasionally flash a smile at the more attractive of them, but he never slowed his steps. He’d determined long ago that the Double V was the best and most exclusive club in the system, so he didn’t waste his time with inferior locales. Reaching the club’s towering double doors, painted red perhaps in homage to the legend of the patroness of this planet, an ancient goddess of beauty and sexuality, Zelup was quickly waved through by the club’s security.
The club’s interior was lush, the setting modeled after an artist’s idea of a black hole. Midnight velvet drapes covered the walls, each festooned with shiny pinpoint crystals, giving the illusion of the vastness of space. Lights shaped like planets were hung at varying lengths to reinforce the image. The bar was decked out to resemble an old Territh rocket ship, down to the blinking lights and faux tail of fire.
Zelup ordered a cocktail, sipping slowly while he took in the lay of the land. It was a busy evening for the Double V, and the crowd resembled the eclectic mix of beings he’d seen out in the streets. Some gyrated seductively under the club‘s lights to subtle music that provided the perfect complement to the atmosphere.
There were many in attendance he knew, several of the familiar women trying to catch his eye. His gaze bypassed them since he was not interested in repeating past conquests. There were a few prospects. A long-limbed blue-skinned Avardian with hair an indigo so dark it was nearly black. A large-chested Nivelle with unsettling yellow eyes the same color as the spiraling tentacles on her head. He knew from experience those tentacles had minds of their own and could titillate and tease a lover.
His nose picked up the scent of a Vanfian female in heat, and he frowned, turning back to the bar when the feline winked in his direction. He was in no mood to bear her scratches and bites tonight. Zelup gave the bartender a nod and was brought another drink, a deep purple concoction called a Venus Void. It was supposed to blank the mind, to lower the inhibitions. His tolerance allowed him to enjoy more than just one, while novices tended to be affected very strongly by a single glass.
His eyes lit on a human female and stopped, a sudden jolt running through him from head to toe. She was petite and small-boned, like a delicate wisp of smoke. Her eyes were too wide behind the black lace mask framing her face.
Zelup had certainly never seen her there before. Sure, humans occasionally made their way into the Double V, as did members of most races in the neighboring systems. But there was something about this female that screamedfish out of water. He was instantly curious, wanting to know more about her and her delectable little body.
Slamming the rest of his Void, he set the empty glass on the bar, ready to stalk his prey. But before he could set off, he felt a touch on his shoulder.
“Hello, handsome.”
