After getting introduced to her sister, Tooley had gotten quiet. Suspiciously quiet. Her silence had at least given everyone else time to get work done. The two women has been untied, moved out of the crime scene, and given time to change their clothes and wash off the droplets of blood that had gotten scattered on them during the brutality. Farsus was upstairs appraising the murder scene, while everyone else focused on the two witnesses. Kamak did his best to look polite and sat down in front of Tooley’s still clearly shell-shocked mother.

“Excuse me, miss,” Kamak said. “I haven’t caught your name.”

“Libe- oh. Excuse me. I suppose I am Dowager Obertas, now,” she said. Aberas nodded in confirmation. Kamak thought it was incredibly stupid that she had to be identified through the lens of her dead husband, but didn’t press the issue.

“Dowager Obertas. Thela Keeber Obertas. I know you two must be in shock right now, but my crew and I are interested in catching and punishing whoever did this to Dobran Velam Obertas,” Kamak said. He’d done crime scene interviews before, and knew the basics of how to work with witnesses. He kept his voice low and level, and tried to be especially respectful, given how they probably perceived outsiders. “If and when you are willing to talk to me, I would like to ask some questions, questions that will be very helpful to Officer Aberas Velin Dotel too.”

Hopefully the appeal to the local authority would give him a little extra credibility. The Dowager grabbed at her shawl and shrank on herself for a moment. Corey was just glad that being in mourning meant they got to wear actual clothes. This was all bad enough without their tits out.

Tooley had a sister. The two had not interacted at all—Thela hadn’t even spoken since she’d been ungagged—but there was a palpable tension between them all the same. Tooley stole glances at her sister now and then, and from her darting eyes Corey could tell there was some insane mental calculus going on inside her head. Corey was trying to do some of the same calculations. How old was Thela compared to Tooley? Had she been born as a replacement? Or had Tooley unwittingly abandoned an unborn sister?

The similarity between the two was uncanny, at least. They didn’t take after their mother much, but there was a bust of Dobran in the lounge they’d moved to, and Corey could see the family resemblance. Both his daughters shared Dobran’s arched brows and narrow nose. Corey was disappointed in himself that he hadn’t guessed Thela was Tooley’s sister on sight.

“I- I don’t know how much I can help,” the Dowager said, after taking some time to compose herself. “The woman claimed to be a secretary from my husband’s company, delivering some confidential pricing notices. That happens, from time to time, it wasn’t out of the ordinary.”

“I understand,” Kamak said. Probably physical documents dealing with price fixing or some other illicit deal, to avoid leaving a digital trail. Dealings like that were why Kamak had strangled one of Dobran’s coworkers.

“I’m not sure what happened after they went into my husband’s office,” the Dowager continued. “By the time I realized the noises I heard were fighting, it was already over.”

Aberas decided now was the time to scoff at something, and Kamak resisted the urge to glare at him.

“A lone woman overpowered a healthy Sturit man?” Aberas said. “I find that hard to believe.”

“A similar attacker on Centerpoint shrugged off claws to the face,” Corey said quickly. “They were likely enhanced, somehow. Genetic modifications, or drugs, maybe.”

Aberas seemed to accept that explanation, much to Corey’s relief. They couldn’t let misogyny get in the way of the investigation now.

“She attacked me and my daughter, tied us up, and...and…”

“She made us watch,” Thela concluded, as her mother became too grief-stricken to continue. Even her voice sounded like Tooley’s, albeit softer and lighter. “Father was unconscious when she brought us into the room, but alive. The woman woke him up before…”

“I’m sorry,” Kamak said, and he even sort of meant it. “That must have been hard.”

Thela nodded silently.

“Again, please take your time, but I do have to ask,” Corey said. “Did the killer…say anything? Do anything odd? We’re trying to understand their motivation, why they do what they do. Any clues you can give us would be very helpful.”

“Yes, yes, she talked a lot,” the Dowager said. “She said she was ‘saving us’, doing us a favor-”

“Damn, killer’s got a point,” Tooley said.

“Don’t say things like that, Toobers.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tooley snapped. The Dowager stood up and walked over to her daughter, though Tooley recoiled from her touch.

“Tooley Keeber Obertas, please, let’s not fight,” the Dowager said. She nodded sadly at the bust of Dobran. “Not now.”

“Ugh. Fine,” Tooley grunted. “Let’s just stick to the investigation and get this over with.”

“Of course, dear,” the Dowager said. “And once this is all taken care of, we can look up your husband.”

“What.”

“Devran Veeran Kopal took a new wife, of course, but I’m sure he’ll make her a concubine once you come back,” the Dowager said. “You are his first wife, after all.”

Tooley glared at the Dowager like she was about to send her to join her husband.

“What do you-”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Ma’am,” Kamak interjected forcefully. “We should focus on learning as much as we can before we do anything else.”

The pointed statement was aimed at Tooley more than anyone else. She swallowed whatever venom she had been about to spit and stepped away from her mother.

“Of course. Of course,” the Dowager said. “I’ll tell you everything I can. Thela Keeber Obertas, dear, go with your sister and find her husband’s contact, would you?”

Kamak didn’t know whether to slap the Dowager or himself. For some reason, though, Tooley seemed receptive to the idea.

“Yeah, sure,” Tooley said. “Good way to keep our mind off things. Come on.”

“My datapad should still be in the master bedroom, dear, everything is on it,” the Dowager said. Thela stood up and gave her mom a quick hug. “I’m glad you two get a chance to know each other, in spite of everything. Now we can make things right.”

“Yeah,” Tooley said. “Make it right.”

Thela silently led the way to the master bedroom, going the long way around to avoid passing the bloodstained office. Tooley waited until they were truly alone and shut the door behind her.

“So, Thela.”

“Thela Keeber Obertas,” she said. Not off to a great start.

“Right. How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

Tooley breathed a sigh of relief. A full year after Tooley had bailed on the planet. She was a replacement baby. She had mixed feelings about potentially abandoning a sibling.

“That’s pretty old for a bachelorette around here. Do you-”

“People know about you, Tooley,” Thela spat. “I’ve lost dozens of chances at a good marriage because of your reputation. Because people think I’m like you.”

“Well,” Tooley said. “Are you like me?”

Thela looked like she had just been insulted.

“I am nothing like you.”

“Come on? Not even a little bit?” Tooley pleaded. “You’ve never wondered if there might be more to life than being a baby factory for some fat prick with nothing going for him but the fact he has blue skin?”

“What else is there?”

“There’s exploding nebulas, and crystal caverns, and festivals of kites, and booze, and good food and good people,” Tooley said. “I mean, stars, lady, have you ever stolen a sip of booze out of dad’s cabinet?”

“Alcohol is for men,” Thela said. “Did you do that? Maybe that’s why your brain turned to mush.”

“Alcohol doesn’t mess with your ‘female constitution’, Thela, that’s just a lie they tell you so the dudes can keep it all for themselves,” Tooley snapped.

“Hmmph. They were right about you. You’re sick.”

“This place is sick, Thela, this whole world is sick,” Tooley snapped. “You’ve seriously never had any doubts? Not even a glimmer of curiosity about what else might be out there?”

“What else could be out there?” Thela scoffed. “I’ve heard the stories about your life. You’re a drunken vagabond running around filthy, impure worlds, trying to breed with someone who can’t even give you children!”

“Fun fact, there is more to sex than breeding,” Tooley said. “It can actually be something you enjoy, not just something you grit your teeth and endure.”

She rolled her eyes and tried not to gag.

“God, there’s what, five orgasms in the entire history of our gender on this planet?”

“I don’t want to hear about what depravity you’ve been up to with those animals,” Thela said.

“Hey, those are my friends,” Tooley said. “Not Kamak, I hate him too. But because he’s an asshole, not because he’s an animal.”

“They’re all animals, Tooley,” Thela said. “They’re filthy, disgusting animals, and you’re making yourself an animal trying to mate with that puke-skinned little ape down there.”

“Hey. I’m trying to be nice, because I’m hoping there’s a chance you’re not an asshole,” Tooley said. “Don’t prove me wrong.”

“I don’t care what you think of me,” Thela said. She looked at Tooley with nothing but contempt and utter disgust. “You’re ruined. Every part of you. I don’t care what mom thinks-”

Thela leaned in close and glared right into Tooley’s eyes.

“-You will never be a mother.”

Tooley just raised an eyebrow.

“It’s really depressing that you think that’s an insult,” Tooley said. Then she left without another word. She walked right past the bloody office, and took another look at her father’s corpse. She smiled at his gruesome demise and then noticed Farsus had left the room. She headed back downstairs and found him with the others, interviewing the Dowager.

“Alright, got everything I needed out of that conversation,” Tooley said. “Are you done here, because I am one-hundred percent ready to leave.”

“I’ve concluded all I can at the scene,” Farsus said. “And I believe Kamak is nearly done with the Dowager.”

“I’d like to talk to Thela, maybe,” Kamak said. “See if she recalls anything you don’t.”

“Oh, don’t make her try to recall all that,” the Dowager said. “Besides, she’s young, and childless. Doesn’t have that mother’s intuition, you understand.”

“Ugh, as if having your uterus fucked up gives you superpowers,” Tooley gagged.

“Tooley Keeber Obertas, watch your language!”

“Fuck that,” Tooley said. The Dowager let out a stern huff of disapproval.

“I raised you better than that, woman.”

“No you didn’t,” Tooley snapped. “Somehow you actually raised me to be worse than what I am, because you raised me to be a piece of fuckmeat for whatever bastard got the idea to rape me first!”

The Dowager looked stunned. Kamak nervously eyed Aberas and the other guards. They looked disapproving, but hadn’t put a hand on their guns yet.

“Did it ever bother you, ‘mom’?” Tooley asked. She gestured to the stone-faced bust of her dead father. “Did you like seeing dad’s friends paw at me every time they came over? Hearing them ask me if I was ready for kids yet when I was twelve?”

“It’s a valid question, some women are ready young-”

“No one is ready at twelve!” Tooley screamed. “Do you realize there are planets where you’d be shot for saying things like that, much less actually letting it happen? This planet is sick! You are sick, and you’re making Thela sick, like you tried to make me sick!”

Thela had now left the bedroom and was watching from the top of the stairs, looking down on Tooley literally as well as figuratively.

“Tooley, I think you’ve said your piece,” Kamak hissed. “We need to be a little sensitive to the local culture.”

He nodded very pointedly towards Aberas and the guards, who now definitely had their hands on their guns. Tooley glanced their way and tried not to sneer with disgust at the way some of the guards were still leering at her. Like mentioning the word “rape” had just given them ideas.

“Fine,” Tooley spat. “We’re leaving. Now. I’m going back to my ship and leaving. Fuck this investigation, fuck this planet, and fuck you.”

She pointed at her mother, and then up the stairs at Thela.

“Fuck both of you,” Tooley said. “You’re not my family.”

“Yes we are,” the Dowager insisted. “You are part of the Obertas bloodline, a proud bloodline, and you need to do your part to continue it.”

The Dowager stepped up and grabbed her daughter by the wrist. Kamak began to wonder if he needed to tackle Tooley. He looked to Corey, hoping that he might intervene, and found that his eyes were on Aberas and the guards. Apparently he was more immediately concerned with the guns. Probably a wise decision, at this point.

“We are going to find your husband,” the Dowager snapped. “These wretched animals are going to leave, and you are going to stay here, to do your duty as a wife, and as a mother.”

Tooley stared down at her mother like she was trying to collapse her skull with nothing but a stare. It didn’t work, so Tooley took the direct approach. She grabbed the bust of Dobran, lifted it above her head, and slammed it down. The last thing the Dowager ever saw was the face of her husband, right before it caved in her skull.

The cracking sound echoed through the oversized lounge. The damp iron scent of the Dowager’s blood intermingled with that of her husband’s from above. Tooley stared down at her mother’s newly concave face and the bloody bust of her father. Then she heard Thela scream, and the click of a gun being aimed in her direction.

“Ah, fuck.”