"How is it that you don't mean to invade? One either does or does not."

"That is true. For ages we held at a stable population. Unknown to the rest of the galaxy and in your best interest to forget this at your earliest convenience Kohask used to inhibit population growth by using dietary supplements. And on a personal level I'd like the problem to be solved before I become a mother."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Kohask litters can be very large, twelve pups is not uncommon."

"Twelve." Zander coughed. "You're going to have twelve pups. I can't imagine having one."

"I agree, Detective Zander, you don't seem like dad material to me. But this is about my issue and my species' larger issue. We are overcrowded and growing in size."

"So you want me to find out why. You said you had inhibitors?"

"Yes, our diet would have supplements and that would reduce our litter count to two. We found a rough sort of balance. You interfered with our research when the Plagiums took Doctor Zayflan."

"So he had nothing to do with the rats?"

"He may have, perhaps his research led him astray. The JoLangus reproduce as swiftly as we do. His research was intriguing."

Detective Zander stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. "That's all very interesting. I'm not sure how I can assist you better."

"Well you better figure that out."

"Yes, yes. I didn't say I wouldn't. Um where are we going? I didn't let Jessica know I would be leaving."

Sandra stood up to circle Zander. "I'm sure your assistant will take the day off. I made it clear with the building authorities that you would be returned. You have a determined landlord he was much more concerned about the building's damages than my presence."

"Yes. He's got a real soft spot for me."

"Follow me to the bridge and try not to look too appetizing."

Zander followed Sandra to the bridge. The space ship was little more than a hallway connecting the cargo bays to a small pilot chair at the front. One other Kohask walked past. The pilot growled at him but otherwise ignored the intrusion.

"Here detective. We are taking you to the edge of our territory. As you can see from the map our territory has been growing at an exponential rate."

Zander positioned himself in front of the display. "I didn't know you had taken over that many systems. Would you mind if I could control the display."

"Very well. Let me show you how these controls work. Your small hands may not work them."

Zander followed Sandras instruction and was able to pull up additional population data."Here, and here. Your explosive growth of population occurred after this period. That's when you found the systems of the JoLangus, Luntan, and Zyvarns."

"Does that mean anything?" asked Sandra as she hovered over Zander.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Possibly. The JoLangus would not prosper if you grew in territory. Most species would be inclined to cause a population decrease. Who wins if the Kohask take over the galaxy?"

"The Kohask."

a concerned look crossed Detective Zander's face. "Yes, but anyone else? Tell me about your history with the other species. Don't be too graphic."

"The Kohask discovered faster than light travel and quickly populated our nearby systems. We were ravenous and primitive. We did not get along with our neighbors. The JoLangus for their simple farming life were surprisingly robust fighters. Never in an equal battle."

"Did you meet them first? Your history that I reviewed is not very clear."

"No, I think it was the Luntan, fliers and moon dwellers. They were very smart and helped create our inhibitor diet."

As she was talking Sandra pulled up videos of the battles or reports on the alien species. Zander took notes. "What about the Zyvarns?"

"Bugs, they do not taste good." The screen showed a dog sized Isopod.

"So easy for you to handle?" Zander pulled up the territory map and added colors to the display to mark the four species' territories. "Hmm. I saw those bug things at the JoLangus colony. But their territory doesn't touch the JoLangus." Detective Zander hesitated before asking the next question "You said they taste bad?"

"The bugs are resilient. We have no peace with them. Let me show you what they do." Sandra pulled up a restricted video and typed a long passcode in.

A dead Kohask had a Zyvarn attached to its back. The creature still moved, its legs pulled away from the Kohask, spikes on the limbs retracted and blood poured from the wounds on the Kohask corpse. "When they get like that we can not remove them without causing our own death. Zyvarns will live attached to a Kohask for decades."

"There's your culprit. The Zyvarns don't lose as the Kohask expand." Detective Zander showed how an expansion of the Zyvarns always followed an expansion from the Kohask. "They follow in your trail."

"We have known that much. You believe they would interfere with our reproduction."

"You showed me a video of them feeding on you. One thing that I have seen across the galaxy is that species grow food. And grow a lot of it."

"The Zyvarns would feed on us. They would raise us like cattle!" Sandra's claws ripped through her leather sleeves and she scratched the console adding marks to the clawed up display.

"One way to find out. Do you know where a Zyvarn colony is? Perhaps one near a missing Kohask ship?"

"We have many such cases. This one matches your request well and is close by."

"Let's drop in on the Zyvarns and see how they react. They don't mind a friendly inspection."

"That would be against the many treaties we have with them."

"Of course it would. How about if this cargo ship had a mechanical issue. Would they not assist."

"They may, and then we raid them. Detective you are so crafty in your deception."