Murder on Metro 4

by Mattie Hope

  "Well," said Zheng, "that's a topic of some debate, in fact. But Doctor Gershon certainly thought so. She did an interview recently on the livestream. It was very interesting. I was looking forward to her book."

  "She was writing a book?"

  "You hadn't heard?"

  Jax shrugged. "We didn't talk that much. Just said 'hi' in the hallway and stuff, y'know."

  Zheng nodded. It seemed like such a human thing to do, it seemed weird when he did it―but it made his iridescent neck feathers catch the light. Jax realized he'd been distracted from Zheng's looks by the conversation, but now he was noticing again, and he had to tear his eyes away from that throat.

  "To answer your question," Zheng said, "e probably should go back in es tank, but we're waiting for guidance from the IMI. The Institute for Marine Intelligence, that is. None of us is an octopus expert; we don't want to hurt em. But in any case, I believe e is able to go back in of es own free will, should e so choose. E managed to get out of es own accord, after all."

  "Hey, that's another thing," said Jax, "how the hell did it―e―get into my suite, anyway?"

  "Well," said Zheng thoughtfully, "they can fit through any hole larger than their beaks."

  "Beaks?"

  "Yes," said Zheng, "they have what's called a beak, though not like I have, of course."

  And now Jax was looking at his beak. It wasn't like a bird's beak: it was on the end of a kind of snout, with teeth. Beaks weren't exactly the most interesting part of a splice, but staring was staring. He looked away again, acting like he was just checking out the room or something.

  "Huh," he said. "But, uh, it's not like there are holes in my walls."

  "And your door was definitely closed?"

  "Yeah, and so was hers. That's why I had to…y'know."

  Zheng looked around. "Ah," he said, pointing at the vent up by the ceiling. "We'll have to review the feed from the cams in here, but I'll bet that's it."

  "Oh, right," said Jax. "Hey, do you think that's how the murderer got in?"

  Zheng looked at him, head a little cocked. "Murderer?"

  "If it's murder, I mean."

  "I think you should probably leave that to us," said Zheng.

  "What's that?" asked Kath, coming in.

  "I was just saying, do you think the murderer got in through the vents? We think that's how the octopus got to my suite, so―"

  "I already told you, we don't know that there's a murderer," said Kath. "Anyway, it's not like a lot of people can fit through those things. And like I said, it was probably―"

  She cut herself off at Zheng's look. "Listen, you can go," she said. "We'll let you know if we need you to answer any more questions. You're not planning on leaving the station, are you?"

  Jax snorted. "Well, not apart from my vacation to Hawaii," he said.

  "He's joking," Kath said hurriedly to Zheng.

  "Thanks," said Zheng. It was hard for a splice to sound flatter than usual, because of the voice boxes they wore, but he managed it.

  Jax hid a smile. "Okay," he said. "I guess I'll just…"

  "We'll take it from here," said Zheng. Jax nodded.

  He got to the door and was about to open it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, and it was Kath.

  "You know you can call me any time?" she said quietly. "It doesn't have to be an emergency."

  "Sure, Kath," he told her, and left.

  *~*~*

  The first thing he did when he was back in his suite was take a shower. He was very aware of the fact he'd touched a dead body, even if only a little. He'd washed his hands already, but he still felt dirty. He scrubbed himself in the shower until his skin was red, and tried to wash away the memories, too―the smell of the vomit, the feel of her dead shoulder, and the eyes, worst of all. He tried to let it all run down the drain, and not think about anything at all. By the end of the shower, he didn't feel too bad.

  The second thing he did, he felt a little ashamed of. And it meant he would have to shower again.

  *~*~*

  A lot of the early vids used bad CGI or humans in costumes instead of casting splices. Jax guessed it would have been kind of awkward to explain the concept of porn so soon after first contact. There was one vid in particular where the splices were basically just dinosaurs, and they were chasing a cavewoman, and they cornered her in a cave, and then―

  Well, it was really bad, but it was also kind of a formative influence on Jax.

  The vids were a lot better now, and there were actual splice porn stars, and―most importantly to Jax―there were splice dildos.

  The dildo was probably the most expensive thing he owned that wasn't tech, and it was one of his most prized possessions. It was based, supposedly, on a cast from a splice porn star, which was supposed to be a selling point. Jax didn't really care about that; the fact that it was realistic was enough for him. Splice dicks were almost more like tongues in shape, though much bigger. They were filled with collagen instead of blood and spent most of their time hidden inside the cloaca. Jax might not have much education, but on a select few subjects, he knew his shit. This was one of them.

  It felt wrong, so soon after what happened to Doctor Gershon, to be doing this. But he couldn't help it. He'd never seen a splice like Zheng in real life before―hadn't seen that many splices in real life at all, up until the diversity drive. And Zheng wasn't just any splice: he was the most beautiful splice Jax had ever seen, more beautiful than any porn star. What would his crest look like when it was erect? What about his tail, if he ever displayed it? God, what if he fanned it out for Jax?

  Jax moved his hand off his cock and brought it around to his ass, getting himself a little looser. He wouldn't bother with too much prep as the dildo was self-lubricating, and he liked the idea of Zheng being a little rough. Maybe―maybe Zheng would come back, later, asking questions. Maybe he'd decide that Jax needed a little encouragement to tell the truth. It was a dumb fantasy, but fuck it, it was working for him―Zheng spinning him around against his bureau, shoving his pants down, closing his talons around one of Jax's thighs to keep his legs apart, and then just taking him. His claw would be right there, only inches away from Jax's cock, and he'd―

  Jax shoved the dildo in, a little too hard, wincing against the slight pain. It was worth it, though. It would be so worth it, Zheng's talons digging into the soft flesh of his thigh, fucking him too hard, the dresser slamming against the wall, beak against his neck, throat vibrating with soundless murmurs, because yes, fuck, he'd taken off his voicebox, his feathers so soft, everywhere, and his crest would be erect, and his tail would be splayed out, and Jax would want so badly to touch his cock, but he wouldn't be able to, hanging on to the dresser for dear life as Zheng just used him―

  He had to touch his cock in the end; he couldn't help himself. He came with a harsh noise and lay panting on the bed, feeling cold and alone and not a little ridiculous.

  He'd thought it would at least help him sleep, but it didn't. He didn't sleep so good these days.

  When Jax was a kid, Kath had bought him this present for Christmas one time. He didn't know where she'd gotten the money for it, unless she'd stolen it, but that was always more Jax's style than Kath's. It was a lamp that you pointed at the wall, and it made light patterns like ripples, and it made a sound—ocean noises. He used to put it on when he was in bed and pretend he lived by the ocean, and that in the morning the sun would come out and he'd be able to feel it on his skin. That was how he'd gone to sleep, most nights. But then it had finally given out a couple of years ago, and he'd never had it fixed or gotten a new one, because—well, money was always tight, but anyway, he wasn't a little kid anymore, and he knew by now that he was never going to see the ocean, or feel the sun.

  He wondered if Doctor Gershon's octopi missed the ocean, or if they were like him, and they'd never even seen it.

  Chapter Two

  Zheng had been studying human body language since well before he was a guard―since he wa
s barely old enough to know what he was. It was part of splice training, and it started young. He was confident that he was better at reading people than almost any human guard, let alone a civilian. But you didn't need any special ability to pick up on the fact that Murphy was tense. Right now, she was as tightly wound as the chignon she wore at the base of her neck when she was on duty. Zheng sometimes had to tear his gaze away from the swirl of colors in her hair―copper, dark blonde, light brown.

  They weren't friends. Zheng didn't have any friends here, and he wasn't sure he wanted to make any. He wanted to go back home to Metro 1, and as soon as the year was up, he intended to. He didn't need any complications or entanglements. But they were colleagues, and she was decent.

  He stood across from her desk and rapped his carbon-fiber knuckles against it.

  She looked up from her monitor, jaw clenched. "We knew about the death threats," she said. "We should've…"

  "What?" asked Zheng. "We did everything we could."

  "Did we?"

  "We don't even know that she was murdered," Zheng pointed out. "It might have been an overdose. We did find that anti-anxiety medication."

  "I'm not surprised she was on meds," said Murphy. "Those emails she was getting would make anybody anxious. Don't you think it's a bit too much of a coincidence for her to overdose right now, after she started getting all those threats? Unless it was deliberate. Maybe she couldn't handle it."

  "That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? Coincidences do happen. So do accidents." Zheng decided not to mention that he'd received death threats from PF himself. He hadn't bothered reporting them. You got used to it.

  Murphy shrugged. "I guess," she said. "We still need to investigate PF."

  "Of course we do," agreed Zheng. "And we will. But we should wait for the immunoassay results before we jump to any conclusions. In the meantime, I've spoken to the Institute of Marine Intelligence. They're going to look into appointing a suitable replacement, but they've asked us to make sure the octopuses are looked after. Do you think your friend could do it? He is her neighbor."

  Murphy threw her head back and laughed. It was the first time she'd looked anything but miserable since they got back from the crime scene. "Jax? I wouldn't trust him with a spider plant, let alone a lab full of scientifically important mollusks."

  "All right," said Zheng, "we'll have to spare one of the recruits. The Institute sent over instructions."

  "So we just need a recruit who can follow basic instructions?" asked Murphy. She was more relaxed now, like the laugh had jolted something loose. Zheng could understand it. He liked laughing, too. It was one of the few recognizably human sounds he could make without the voice synthesizer. "That narrows it down, huh? Any suggestions?"

  "McHale's pretty eager to please. I doubt she'd mess it up."

  "Sounds good," said Murphy. "All right, brief her and then start reviewing the cam footage from the lab. I'll go over the hallway footage, just in case there's anything."

  *~*~*

  The lab footage showed the O. cyanea leaving es tank, and then moving out through the door into Doctor Gershon's room. A few minutes later, e re-entered, and then slowly, deliberately climbed up the gap between a tank and the wall and into the vent. That supported Zheng's theory, then, as well as fitting with the time Ajax claimed to have discovered the body.

  Zheng wondered what had prompted the octopus to leave the water. It seemed unlikely that e could have heard anything from es tank, and besides, Doctor Gershon had probably been dead for hours at this point. He'd check in with the institute to see if they could shed any light on it.

  Zheng pressed fast-forward and kept watching until Ajax came into the frame. Zheng watched as Ajax looked around for a while, almost missing the octopus going through to Gershon's bedroom. Then he turned around in time to see a single tentacle disappearing through the crack in the door. He visibly struggled with what to do, then he said something―there was no audio, but it looked like he said, "Doctor Gershon," among other things―before knocking on the door between the lab and her room, which was ajar. He stuck his head around it, froze for a second, then started moving into the room. He was off-camera, now. Zheng kept watching. It was less than a minute before Ajax was back in the lab. Zheng paused the tape.

  The look on Ajax's face was awful. Zheng felt a pang of sympathy for him. Poor kid. Zheng hadn't ever really suspected him, but now he was convinced that Ajax had had nothing to do with the death.

  The immunoassay results didn't show excessive amounts of Gershon's medication, and none of the usual culprits showed up either. Of course, they couldn't test for everything, but they could probably rule out an overdose, accidental or otherwise.

  "We're looking at a poisoning," Murphy insisted.

  "It doesn't feel right, though," said Zheng. "PF hasn't been linked with any actual violence so far. I would have sworn those threats were just idle. But if they were going to be acted on, poisoning seems a little subtle, for them. And if it is politically motivated, wouldn't you expect them to claim it? Send a message?"

  "Mm," went Murphy, tapping her fingers against the desk. "Hey…aren't certain types of octopus poisonous?"

  "Venomous," Zheng corrected. "Technically, they're all venomous, but the only one that's dangerous to humans is the blue-ringed octopus, and it's illegal on the Metros. Along with any other animal with dangerous levels of venom, ever since the viper that stowed away in a shipment to Cosmograd Tereshkova and caused a panic."

  "You seem to know a lot about it," she observed.

  "I heard Doctor Gershon on the livecast," said Zheng. "I was just listening to the interview again, to refresh my memory. It's a shame. She was very interesting. I would have liked to read her book." He paused. "You know, the blue-ringed octopus's venom contains the same toxin as blowfish."

  "Well, we didn't find any fugu in her stomach," said Murphy impatiently. "Forget it, we're grasping at straws. I think we have to acknowledge that this wasn't an accident."

  Zheng clicked his beak. He didn't like it. "It just doesn't fit People First's MO," he said. "But you're right, of course. We need to look into them." He hesitated. "You know, we're going to have to bring your friend back in, too."

  He could tell that Murphy was alarmed, though she tried to hide it. "You don't think he had anything to do with this?"

  Zheng didn't. The kid had been twitchy, but that was hardly out of the ordinary after discovering a body. Besides, splices tended to make people from 4 nervous. Zheng had certainly made Ajax nervous, and at first he'd thought that was all it was, but he'd revised that opinion. Or rather, he had a feeling that he made Ajax nervous for a different reason than most.

  "My gut says no," he told Murphy. "I can't see what motive he'd have, anyway. But he's the closest thing we have to a witness, and he lived right across from her. Maybe he saw something he forgot to tell us. Saw her going into her suite with someone at some point, heard something…"

  Murphy nodded, visibly relieved.

  "You and Ajax, you're close?" he asked her.

  "We grew up together."

  Zheng could tell she was holding something back. Had they been lovers? It didn't ring true, somehow. But there was something there. He decided to leave it alone, though. He doubted it had any bearing on the investigation, and it wasn't his business.

  "We should think about other potential suspects, too," he said.

  Murphy pursed her lips. "Well, she was from Earth. She had no family members on 4, no lovers that we know about. Doesn't seem like she had much of a social life at all. What about a professional rivalry?"

  "Not likely," said Zheng. "She was the only scientist from the institute working on 4. The only one off Earth at all."

  "So what was she doing here, anyway?"

  "Something about the effect of off-world living on gene changes and life expectancy. They've done those studies on mammals, obviously, but cephalopod genetics function completely differently from any other animal. When their genome was f
irst sequenced, a lot of the reporting said they were aliens. It was a joke, of course, but scientists were baffled."

  Murphy looked at him for a few seconds. "I'm glad you're heading up the case when I leave," she said. "I can't see any of these other chuckleheads doing so much research."

  "I just think it's interesting," said Zheng. "Speaking of, are you excited?"

  "About Zenith, are you kidding? It's been my dream since I joined the Guard. I never thought I'd get there."

  "Congratulations." He really meant it, but Murphy seemed to suspect otherwise.

  "You'll get there," she said.

  "On merit, sure, I could get in," said Zheng. "But Zenith isn't set up for splices. You know that."

  "They'll adapt it," said Kath.

  Zheng said nothing. He'd studied human history extensively, and in none of the dominant cultures was there a tradition of welcoming newcomers with open arms. And besides, the splices wouldn't be around long enough for it to be worth the trouble. But she was only trying to be polite, after all. He changed the subject back to the investigation.

  "Do you think there's a chance this was a professional job?"

  "Yeah," said Murphy. "We should run more tests, see if we can identify the poison. That might give us something to go on. If it's a hitman, could be that PF hired him."

  Zheng nodded. He didn't like it, but it was the best theory they had.

  *~*~*

  He spoke again to his contact at the institute, Andreas Maldonado. Zheng liked him. He was a solidly built man with a ponytail and closely cropped beard, and Zheng had a suspicion that he was permanently a little high―but he trusted him.

  "The lab footage squares with our witness's testimony," Zheng told him. "Can you think of any reason why the octopus might have left es tank?"

  "They're pretty good escape artists," said Maldonado, "so it might be a coincidence. Or maybe e was used to Gershon coming in at a certain time each day, and noticed when she didn't. Maybe she missed feeding time. E might have been investigating. If I were you I'd check the time e escaped against her logbook, see if that sheds any light."