Justice
By Kurun t’Gath
Translated from the Kashlanin
(99.3% accuracy)
© 2025 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  morgdl



One.


It is a congenial habit of mine to spend a cycle* or two reading or sitting quietly, thinking about the events of the day before I go to sleep. My mate is normally in bed and asleep during this time, and I am careful not to awaken him. We have been married for twenty-nine years, and we’ve become accustomed to each other’s personal traits.

The room lights had been dimmed, and I had poured a glass of henal and was waiting for the foam to subside when my [personal access device] began to chime. I got to my feet and walked across the main room of our dwelling as the [personal access device] ran through all eleven notes of the musical scale, and it was about to begin recording an incoming message when my tailspur reached out and tapped the device. “Yes?” I asked.

My ears twitched forward as the device’s holoemitter came on, displaying a female in white Constabulary working uniform, with the rank of senior sergeant. A short authentication code accompanied the image.

She didn’t appear surprised at seeing me unclothed. “Captain t’Gath,” she said, “Sergeant Zhamur, Rekkadh Detachment.” I gestured comprehension; Rekkadh was on the other side of the planet. “I apologize[sincere] for disturbing you at this time.”

“No matter, Sergeant,” I said. “What is the issue?”

“There has been a murder, Sir.”

I paused, feeling my fingerclaws twitch in their sheathes. My tail coiled around my ankles as I asked, “When was it discovered?”

“Two cycles ago, Sir.”

“The scene is secured, of course.” She gestured affirmatively. “Good. Upload all pertinent data on the incident to my [personal access device], and I shall be there as quickly as I can.”

“Yes, Sir.” The exchange ended, and the [personal access device] signaled that a file was being received. I arranged for a conveyance to take me to the spaceport and left the device alone. I took two swallows of my henal and discarded the remainder.

Yezhim stirred as I nuzzled him. “Feeling amorous, Kurun?” he asked sleepily.

“I fear not,” I said. “I’m summoned.”

He began to wake up. “Where?” he asked as he stretched and sat up in our bed.

“Rekkadh,” I replied.

He frowned. “It must be important to call you at this time.”

I gestured affirmatively. “Yes. The initial report is a murder.”

“A murder? That’s,” and he thought, “the second this year?”

“Yes, and with only ten days before the end of the year,” I said, grabbing a suitcase from the bedroom closet. I keep clothes, hygiene items, and a few essentials ready if I’m called away on an assignment. I nuzzled Yezhim again and smiled. “Before you say it,” I said, “I will be careful.”

“I will say it nevertheless,” Yezhim said, and he lay back as I stepped into the garderobe to bathe. “Love you,” I heard him say.

I smiled as I stepped into the shower and the water began to flow. After wetting myself down, I washed myself thoroughly, rinsed, and shut off the water as the dryers began to blow.

The Constabulary is part of the Imperial Army, but as a Captain-Investigator I am allowed to wear my fur longer than the [accepted-military] standard. The disadvantage to this is taking longer to dry after showers. Once I was dry, I brushed and combed my fur, put on a clean formal uniform of dark brown with a white stripe on each sleeve and picked up my suitcase. My fur is [perhaps/probably] a shade darker than my uniform. My rank insignia is red to denote my status as investigator.

I bent to nuzzle Yezhim one last time and he grasped my right ear. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you,” I said, and left him to his sleep. He is an educator for young People and needs his rest.

My [personal access device] had completed downloading the case file, and my conveyance arrived as I left our dwelling. The traffic guidance system took over, and my arrival was calculated to be one cycle as the system recognized my priority authorization.

“Greetings[neutral-polite], Captain-Inspector,” a spaceport official said as I presented my identification. “Your priority was confirmed earlier. This way, please,” and I followed her straight to the docking bays, passing beneath a security sensor array. I had my [sidearm], but it was registered and I had a priority clearance.

A seat had been reserved for me, and I was ushered aboard and had secured myself and my suitcase before the airlock closed and the transport rose on artigrav. The suborbital trajectory would ensure that I would arrive in Rekkadh in the shortest possible time, but it would still be a two-cycle journey.

I chose not to read the incident summary and closed my eyes to get some rest while I flew over most of the planet Grevchak to my destination. While I rested, I recalled what I knew of the city.

Grevchak is part of the Empire’s outer core, the only inhabited planet in the Ya’sherit System. Rekkadh is a second-tier city on the planet, with a crime rate lower than the planetary average.

“Captain?” A finger pushed against my shoulder. No, not a finger; it was a tailspur. I slowly opened my eyes to look up at one of the attendants. He smiled and said, “We have landed at Rekkadh, Sir.”

“We have?” I asked. I yawned.

He chuckled and held out my case to me. “Yes, Sir. We were informed that you will be met.”

“Thank you[sincere].” I stood and took my suitcase from the attendant before [exiting] the transport.

The same senior sergeant I had spoken with was waiting for me. “Sergeant Zhamur,” I said as she moved to walk beside me, “have there been any developments?”

“No, Sir,” she replied. “Our office has uploaded witness statements to your [personal access device]. Were you able to read the incident report?”

“Unfortunately, no.” I smiled up at her momentarily. “I slept on the flight.” I had to suppress another yawn.

She smiled back at me. “I apologize for summoning you, but the main office in Parāu approved it.”

“No matter.” The main office could have called to forewarn me, but it was not a requirement. We reached a ground car wearing Constabulary insignia and got in. While the sergeant gave the vehicle its instructions I asked, “Please give me some preliminary information, Sergeant.”

“Yes, Sir.” The ground car began to leave the spaceport and she said, “The incident occurred at about 27.5 yesterday** with the discovery of the body.”

“I understand. Who discovered the body?”

“A daughter, by the dead subject’s second co-husband. When she recovered from the momentary shock, she immediately contacted Emergency Services and the Constabulary. Emergency Service medics confirmed that he was dead.”

My tailspur tapped my chin. “Do we have a more exact time of death?”

“Yes, Sir. The victim had been dead two cycles before his corpse was found.”

“Second co-husband? The family structure is plural?” I asked.

“Polyandrous, Sir,” Sergeant Zhamur replied. “A matriarch and three husbands.”

I gestured comprehension as the vehicle entered the Constabulary station’s parking area.




______________________
* Cycle (kersh): equal to 1 hour 37 minutes.
** A Kashlanin day (fav) is thirty cycles, measured from sunrise to sunrise.




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