Playing Their Parts

“He is no true Kindred,” Stone said, frowning. “We have proof of that.”

“So do we,” Commander Sylvan said.

“Our lab results say he’s not human and not Kindred but that was as far as we could get,” Cassie said. “Can you tell us what The Beast actually is?”

“I can.” Sylvan nodded. “But not here—please accompany me to my office. We have much to discuss.”

Nineteen

“We have reason to believe that the male calling himself ‘The Beast’ is, in fact, an Imposter from Seculare Four.”

“An Imposter? What’s that?” Cassie asked, frowning.

They were all settled comfortably in Commander Sylvan’s office—a spacious room with a carved wooden desk displaying holo-pictures of the Kindred Commander’s family. His wife had long, dark brown hair, green eyes, and a pretty, kind face and his twins—a boy and a girl—were absolutely adorable, Cassie thought.

“A race that can assume the likeness of any other being in the galaxy,” Stone said grimly. “They are humanoid in their normal appearance—enough so that a group of Kindred even made a genetic trade with them.”

“Really? Are they affiliated with the Kindred, then?” Cassie asked.

Sylvan and Stone both shook their heads emphatically.

“No, absolutely not,” Stone said, frowning. “In fact, because the resulting children of the Imposter/Kindred trade inherited some of the Imposters’ ability to take on the appearance of another, they have been banned from the Mother Ship.”

“Other branches of the Kindred don’t trust them,” Sylvan explained. “Since they are able to make themselves look like anyone else. It can cause a great deal of mischief.”

“So is The Beast an Imposter Kindred?” Cassie asked.

“No.” Sylvan shook his head again. “According to the DNA analysis we ran, he is a pure-bred Imposter with no Kindred genes in his genetic code at all.”

“I could have told you that,” Stone said grimly. “No true Kindred would treat females the way he has been treating them. It isn’t just the murder, either. The abuse, both sexual and physical that my partner and I witnessed when we viewed his ‘work’…” He shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “It is enough to make a male go into Rage or be sick.”

“I understand how difficult this must be for you,” Sylvan said gravely. “No Kindred wants to see a female mistreated in any way. But I’m afraid our tests of the samples you sent revealed something even more disturbing.”

“What?” Cassie leaned forward. “What did you find?”

“There was an unknown substance in the victim’s blood—I believe he injected her with something before he killed her?” Commander Sylvan looked at Stone who nodded in confirmation.

“Yes,” Stone rumbled. “Our witness said that it seemed to make the victim—who was reluctant to participate before—suddenly eager for pain—especially sexual pain.”

“Well, that’s unsurprising, I’m afraid.” Sylvan sighed. “The substance we found has been extracted from a genetic mutation of Bonding Fruit. A rare variation known as ‘Pain Fruit.’”

“Pain Fruit?” Stone frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Not many have,” Sylvan admitted. “That’s because it’s such a rare mutation and whenever the farmers who grow Bonding Fruit on Twin Moons see it, they root it out and burn it at once. It’s a scourge—a deviation because it makes whoever takes it long for pain instead of pleasure—which can result in injury or even death. As such, no one had ever tried to cultivate it.”

“Until now, I guess,” Cassie said dryly.

“Until now,” Sylvan echoed, nodding.

“So this Imposter—The Beast—is using this, uh, Pain Fruit extract to make women want to be hurt?” Cassie asked. “Like a pain aphrodisiac.”

“Actually, he only used it once,” Stone corrected her. “During the murder he filmed. None of our other witnesses mentioned him injecting them with anything.”

“He filmed the killing he did?” Commander Sylvan looked disgusted.

“I thought you knew, Commander. Technically, all of the pornographic scenes he did with the human women were filmed,” Stone told him. “But with the murder, it was different. He didn’t use human equipment—he used a holographic recorder—a camera drone.”

“Oh, and don’t forget what Amelia told us,” Cassie put in. She looked at Sylvan. “Our witness said that after The Beast finished, he called the holo-recorder back to him and said, ‘That should make Gozer happy.’”

“Gozer?” Sylvan steepled his fingers and nodded. “All right, now the pieces are falling into place.”

“They are? How?” Cassie asked, leaning forward eagerly. Stone leaned forward as well.

“Xempi Gozeriam, more commonly known as ‘Gozer,’ is the ruler of Bachanalius. Which is exactly where the ion trail we traced leaving Earth yesterday led,” Sylvan told them. “We didn’t know who might have left the trail since none of our own shuttles had business there, but now I’m thinking your murderer must have been the one.”

Cassie frowned. “Wait…are you saying that The Beast has left Earth and gone to this…this Bach…bach…”

“Bachanalius.” Stone’s deep voice sounded so grim that she turned to look at her partner.

“It’s a small planet—even smaller than your moon,” Sylvan informed her. “But it’s entirely devoted to the production of pornography.”