Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Invader Zim.
Warning: There will be some slash in this story, though not too heavy. So far there is Red/Purple and I will warn you if any I plan any more, which I probably will.
/* This story has some of the same characters as my original Tah stories, but I assure you it is completely different. Even Tah has a slightly different personality and the storyline is completely different. I've taken out a lot of romance and put in more mystery, mostly because the romance in my previous stories seemed somewhat forced to me. If anything develops, it will do so naturally. There will be no Tah/Pur romance at all, seeing as it just seemed strange to me that there was no Red/Pur going on. If you don't like that sort of thing, I'm not making it a major part of the story, but it is there. Enjoy! */
A man, not extremely tall but tall enough to gain a certain amount respect, stormed down the hallway with an electric energy. People squeaked and swerved out of his way, realizing that a collision with someone so determined would mean danger. A low growl of annoyance sounded deep within his throat as he clutched his datapad with white-knuckled claws. 'This is not good,' he thought repeatedly. 'Which is the best way of approaching the Tallest with this?' His devious mind worked on the problem, hoping to come up with a solution that wouldn't make the two rulers too fearful of the situation. This was just the sort of thing that would rile them up, and they were never easy to deal with when upset. "My Tallest!" he called as he reached the transmission room where they took messages. They sat on their thrones, Red with a brainfreezy and Purple with his hand buried in the chip bowl.
"What's up your robes, Roe?" asked Red in a brashly casual voice, his smile as arrogantly confident as usual. Purple leaned back in his chair, giving a secretively sly smile in the direction of his co-Tallest before bringing his full attention to their advisor.
Roe forcibly relaxed his shoulders and gave an apologetic grin, deciding it would be best to seem calm. "Just work, my Tallest. The most recent invasion took a lot of organization - and we have to start planning how we'll attack the next planet. That and I thought it would be prudent to inform you Keer was found murdered in his room..." He hardened his face into an unconcerned grin as he watched his Tallest's reactions.
Purple's antennae sank with fear and Red's face flushed with anger. "Keer the Prime General?!" He pounded his fist on the armrest of his throne, causing a loud thud. "What do you mean he was found murdered in his room? How was he found! I want answers, Roe!" He pointed at the advisor with a livid, quivering finger.
Roe shrugged his shoulders as if the occurrence was of no real importance before knitting his brow in a customary show of mourning. "He was found hung in his bedroom by one of our marauders - seems he'd sent a message probe for her just moments before she found him. I'm not surprised, frankly. He wasn't altogether liked and I can think of a number of people who could've done this thing - I assure you I'll have a Special Forces team look into it." He bowed his head and wiggled his antennae in a respectful salute.
Red lessened his fierce glare and glanced at Purple, who was slumped in his chair with a frightened little frown. "Do you think the murderer will come after us?" asked the violet Tallest in a small voice.
Again Red turned to face Roe with a scowl. The advisor cupped his hands together in a soothing gesture, "I don't think there's much of a chance of that, my Tallest. We'll know for sure once the criminal is caught - which they will be."
"You'd better make sure of that!" growled Red as he sat back in his throne. Roe bowed again and turned to leave, hearing his Tallest's voice as he walked out the door, "Don't worry, Pur - if anyone comes, I'll protect you!" The advisor rolled his deep orange eyes and smiled to himself. 'That didn't go too poorly,' he thought as he hurried to the Special Forces main office.
He was met by a heavy-set Irken with dim red eyes and a pair of thick shoulders. He didn't look like much of a secretary, but was sitting at the main office desk either way, scrolling down a datapad with a confused expression on his face. "Ahem," coughed Roe, getting the large secretary's attention. He looked up and immediately stood at attention.
"Roe, sir! Sorry, I didn't notice you, sir! Not that you aren't noticeable, sir, but you came in very quietly, sir!" He wiggled his antennae and clicked his boots with a soldier's precision. "Do you want to see Graf, sir? I'll get her for you, sir!"
Roe smiled after the 'secretary,' enjoying the melodramatic respect he received. This soldier knew who he was - and how powerful he could be. He waited until the secretary returned with a somewhat short yet well-toned woman with hard lavender eyes dressed in a nebulous black uniform. She saluted him and nodded her head. "What is your command?" Her Special Forces followed the directions of none other than the Tallest and their advisor...
He replied in a sharp, businesslike tone, not needing to deceive her about his mood. "I'm sure someone informed you of Keer's murder. I want you to have someone investigate it. Doesn't seem like too much of a threat, but I assured the Tallest the perpetrator would be caught. Do I have as much from you?"
"Of course, Sir Roe! The murderer is as good as executed!" There was a cocky spark in her clear, lavender eyes that left no doubt as to her perceived future success. She saluted him once again, "It is as good as done!" With a sharp nod she turned and marched out of the room, heading for her own personal office. She entered and flopped herself at her desk, considering who she might be able to spare. As Roe indicated, it would probably be a rather cut and dry case. Maybe one of the newer recruits should take it so they might get some experience... She opened one of her drawers and fumbled around until she found a small, black device shaped as a ball. She pressed a button with her black gloved finger and the probe began to hover slightly before her. "Message for Agent Tah!" she barked in her deep, rather masculine voice, "Send her to the office of Prime Agent Graf! . GO!" The ball buzzed away to search out its target. The agent in question didn't work too far away and was soon before her commanding officer. She was merely slightly taller than a middle-sized Irken but still managed to look gangly in her pressed black uniform. Her eyes were dark maroon in color and her small mouth was drawn in a serious line. She held the black message probe in her gloved hand.
"Yes, Ma'am?" she asked as she saluted. Her voice was very soft, almost sounding like a whisper.
"Call me Sir, rookie!" barked Graf in a harsher tone than she'd really intended. "I'll have no Ma'ams around here!"
The female agent straightened. "Yes, Sir!" Even her curved antennae seemed stiff with militaristic rigidity.
'Probably fresh from Devastis...' Graf mused as she looked the agent over. "Right. Prime General Keer was found murdered in his room this morning. I want you to find out who did it. All the information you'll need is here." She slid a datapad across the surface of her desk toward Tah, who obediently took it up and held it primly against her chest. "Understand?" She watched with slight amusement as the young agent glanced around with confused hesitation.
"Y-yes, Ma - er - Yes, Sir! I'll do my best!"
Graf leaned forward in her chair, purposefully steepling her fingers and narrowing her eyes to seem more intimidating. "You better make sure you're best gets the job done, soldier - the Tallest and their advisor are counting on your success."
The agent grew more and more pale the longer she stood there. She nodded quickly, her expression almost too serious for Graf's taste. "Yes, Sir! I'll make sure I succeed, Sir!" The Prime Agent waved the rookie away and waited until the door hissed shut before she leaned her head back and cackled.
Meanwhile Tah marched down the hall, reading the information on the datapad she'd been given. She couldn't believe Graf gave her such an important mission. Excitement coursed through her veins at the opportunity, but the sensation was accompanied by fear. She was newly assigned to the Special Forces and wasn't sure she could handle something so important. The Prime General, after all, was in charge of all levels of the marauder class. Certainly there would be political ramifications...
She shrugged off her worry and assaulted the datapad with her curious eyes. The Prime General was found hanging in the middle of his room by a cord. Signs of injury were found about his face and arm, indicating he'd been in some sort of struggle. His body had been cut down and sent to the mortuary, but aside from that the room hadn't been touched. The person who found him was a marauder who he'd apparently sent for moments before. Tah scrunched her face - it would have taken more than a moment to kill the General in the fashion described in the report. She marked down a list of things she needed to do as she changed her direction toward the infirmary.
"I need access to the mortuary," she explained to a white-clad nurse when she arrived at her destination. She flashed her identification and the nurse nodded. He stood up and placed a sign announcing his absence and anticipated return on his desk. Tah followed him down a series of white- painted hallways, completely oblivious to the sick hospital blandness of her surroundings. Instead she concentrated on familiarizing herself with the details of what her report said the Prime General's injuries were - a broken neck of course, a black eye, slight bruising around his wrist and shoulder... She was let into the room where his body lay with a number of other fresh bodies. His body was spread across one of a line of tables, covered from antennae to boot with a bleached white blanket. Tah thanked the nurse and he walked away, leaving her to examine the former-General. She stepped to his bedside and gently pulled the cover away, revealing his dead, pasty face. She grimaced as she looked at his expression - though his eyes had been closed the remnants of fear still stained his features. She gulped - he had known he would die. She worked to compose herself, straightening her shoulders as she finished uncovering his body. His shirt had been removed and she could clearly see the injuries described in her report. Every mark on his body seemed to indicate he'd been involved in some struggle before being strung up and hung. She leaned back on her heels and thought about the situation, all the while concentrating her hard gaze at the body. She knew what to do - she'd have to examine his room next and then interrogate the witness, but she wondered why she hadn't been assigned a more experienced partner to help her in her first real mission. She let out a quite sigh and covered the victim in his final shroud once again, leaving him to the medical authorities.
It was but a short, brisk walk to the former bedroom of Keer. A guard stopped her on her way, shoving her away with a standard issue spear. "None shall pass!" he growled menacingly. Tah blinked at him, surprised at his violence.
"I'm here to investigate," she tried to explain.
"None shall pass!" repeated the guard. "I'm not allowed to let curious girlies pass - this area is restricted."
Tah blinked again before clenching her jaw with annoyance. "Look, I'm with the Special Forces. I was assigned to -" She held out her badge, inches from the belligerent guard's face.
"Oh! Oh!" The guard came to a realization and stepped aside, his face flushing purple with embarrassment. "Yes, Ma'am! I wasn't aware someone had already been assigned to investigate the room!" He paused to smirk, "Especially someone as sweet-looking as you!"
Tah's shoulders stiffened at the guard's sudden flirtation. She turned her head and stood tall in hopes her posture would bespeak of her authority. "Guard!" She said in a slightly harsh tone.
It was apparently not harsh enough, because he simply broadened his smirk and asked in what he figured must be seductive tones, "Yes, sweet Ma'am?"
Tah narrowed her maroon eyes and puffed out her chest. "GUARD! I want to see fifty push-ups NOW! On the floor!" She pointed dramatically at the ground. The guard, acting half on instinct and half in shock, dropped to the floor and began his task with trained efficiency. Tah smiled down at the guard, proud of her handiwork. She'd never had an opportunity to use her rank as a tool of power, and she found it rather convenient. She nodded her head with satisfaction and headed to continue her investigation.
She stopped dead when she saw the inside of the General's old room. It was extremely spacious, as was expected since he was of such a high rank. What surprised Tah was that the room reminded her of what she always imagined a pimp's love pad would look like. Everything from the gigantic bed in the center of the room to the lush shag carpeting to the stools standing at the bar were colored in extravagant shades of red. Pictures of half clad females, barely passable as something other than porn, lined the walls on all sides. Tah's mouth hung wide open as her wide eyes glanced about until she noticed the cord that hung from the ceiling. Her professional side took over as she scanned the room once more. The thick carpeting left traces of footprints, and she could clearly see where the officials had walked toward the body to cut Keer down and drag him away. There were other signs on movement throughout the room, but Tah had no way of knowing whether they were caused by a scuffle or the normal goings on in the room. She discounted the footprints and allowed herself to walk over to the cord. She held the cut end with one hand and examined it closely. Cords generally weren't common on spaceships, but she recognized this kind of cord. It was generally provided to the marauders lest they need such a thing while in battle. "Always useful to have a good rope in hand," Tah absently said before remembering this rope was used to murder. She stepped back from the scene and mused. From the particular way Keer's sheets were tossed about on his bed, it was reasonable to assume his assailants had forced him to stand up there, tied the rope around his neck, and pushed him off. What happened was simple enough to deduce, the hard part would be finding out who had done it.
Tah made some short notes in her datapad before wondering to herself whether the assailants had hid and attacked after Keer entered the room or if they followed him through the front door. It was usual protocol to lock one's room, but Keer had been expecting someone. Tah decided she'd go interview the marauder who'd found him after she finished her preliminary examination of the room.
Hours later Tah had no fingerprints, no clues, nothing at all... Her last task was searching Keer's drawers to see if anything useful might be found. So far she'd found nothing more than his cloths, some personal possessions, and some objects Tah was disgusted to know existed. She gagged as she quickly shut one drawer, trying to erase the mental image of the Prime General using such a painful-looking device in unmentionable acts. She heaved a great sigh and shuffled toward the last drawer left to explore. It was the drawer to his bed stand, and as Tah opened it she expected to find nothing more than a variety of exotic sex toys. She did find those, but along with them was a piece of paper, unfolded and face up with the words written on it left exposed for the universe to see. She carefully lifted it up and read the words (written quickly in plain, black ink), 'Keer, you bastard! You will never cheat on me again! Die!' Tah scrunched her face in confusion. It was an obvious clue, but if the murderer was going to give a declaration of motive, why would he or she stuff it in the bed stand drawer? Tah made a thoughtful noise in her throat before setting the note back where she found it and closing the door. She pulled out her datapad once more to make a note on this peculiar clue when something on her screen caught her eye. "Hey!" she couldn't help exclaiming. She'd been looking forward to interviewing the marauder who'd found the body, but the clock in her pad informed her of the hour and it was much, much too late to ask any questions. Tah sighed as she resigned herself to waiting for the morrow and left the room, glad to see there had been a changing of the guard.
/*What do you think? Who do you think the murderer is and why have they done it? Was it Roe, who seems so unconcerned with the death of one of his fellow high-ranking officials? Was it Graf, who sent a newbie to investigate the crime? Was it an angry lover or perhaps someone we've yet to meet? Please let me know what you think and what you might like to see happen in the story. I give no guarantees, but I assure you I will put any and all suggestions into consideration. Thank you. */
Warning: There will be some slash in this story, though not too heavy. So far there is Red/Purple and I will warn you if any I plan any more, which I probably will.
/* This story has some of the same characters as my original Tah stories, but I assure you it is completely different. Even Tah has a slightly different personality and the storyline is completely different. I've taken out a lot of romance and put in more mystery, mostly because the romance in my previous stories seemed somewhat forced to me. If anything develops, it will do so naturally. There will be no Tah/Pur romance at all, seeing as it just seemed strange to me that there was no Red/Pur going on. If you don't like that sort of thing, I'm not making it a major part of the story, but it is there. Enjoy! */
A man, not extremely tall but tall enough to gain a certain amount respect, stormed down the hallway with an electric energy. People squeaked and swerved out of his way, realizing that a collision with someone so determined would mean danger. A low growl of annoyance sounded deep within his throat as he clutched his datapad with white-knuckled claws. 'This is not good,' he thought repeatedly. 'Which is the best way of approaching the Tallest with this?' His devious mind worked on the problem, hoping to come up with a solution that wouldn't make the two rulers too fearful of the situation. This was just the sort of thing that would rile them up, and they were never easy to deal with when upset. "My Tallest!" he called as he reached the transmission room where they took messages. They sat on their thrones, Red with a brainfreezy and Purple with his hand buried in the chip bowl.
"What's up your robes, Roe?" asked Red in a brashly casual voice, his smile as arrogantly confident as usual. Purple leaned back in his chair, giving a secretively sly smile in the direction of his co-Tallest before bringing his full attention to their advisor.
Roe forcibly relaxed his shoulders and gave an apologetic grin, deciding it would be best to seem calm. "Just work, my Tallest. The most recent invasion took a lot of organization - and we have to start planning how we'll attack the next planet. That and I thought it would be prudent to inform you Keer was found murdered in his room..." He hardened his face into an unconcerned grin as he watched his Tallest's reactions.
Purple's antennae sank with fear and Red's face flushed with anger. "Keer the Prime General?!" He pounded his fist on the armrest of his throne, causing a loud thud. "What do you mean he was found murdered in his room? How was he found! I want answers, Roe!" He pointed at the advisor with a livid, quivering finger.
Roe shrugged his shoulders as if the occurrence was of no real importance before knitting his brow in a customary show of mourning. "He was found hung in his bedroom by one of our marauders - seems he'd sent a message probe for her just moments before she found him. I'm not surprised, frankly. He wasn't altogether liked and I can think of a number of people who could've done this thing - I assure you I'll have a Special Forces team look into it." He bowed his head and wiggled his antennae in a respectful salute.
Red lessened his fierce glare and glanced at Purple, who was slumped in his chair with a frightened little frown. "Do you think the murderer will come after us?" asked the violet Tallest in a small voice.
Again Red turned to face Roe with a scowl. The advisor cupped his hands together in a soothing gesture, "I don't think there's much of a chance of that, my Tallest. We'll know for sure once the criminal is caught - which they will be."
"You'd better make sure of that!" growled Red as he sat back in his throne. Roe bowed again and turned to leave, hearing his Tallest's voice as he walked out the door, "Don't worry, Pur - if anyone comes, I'll protect you!" The advisor rolled his deep orange eyes and smiled to himself. 'That didn't go too poorly,' he thought as he hurried to the Special Forces main office.
He was met by a heavy-set Irken with dim red eyes and a pair of thick shoulders. He didn't look like much of a secretary, but was sitting at the main office desk either way, scrolling down a datapad with a confused expression on his face. "Ahem," coughed Roe, getting the large secretary's attention. He looked up and immediately stood at attention.
"Roe, sir! Sorry, I didn't notice you, sir! Not that you aren't noticeable, sir, but you came in very quietly, sir!" He wiggled his antennae and clicked his boots with a soldier's precision. "Do you want to see Graf, sir? I'll get her for you, sir!"
Roe smiled after the 'secretary,' enjoying the melodramatic respect he received. This soldier knew who he was - and how powerful he could be. He waited until the secretary returned with a somewhat short yet well-toned woman with hard lavender eyes dressed in a nebulous black uniform. She saluted him and nodded her head. "What is your command?" Her Special Forces followed the directions of none other than the Tallest and their advisor...
He replied in a sharp, businesslike tone, not needing to deceive her about his mood. "I'm sure someone informed you of Keer's murder. I want you to have someone investigate it. Doesn't seem like too much of a threat, but I assured the Tallest the perpetrator would be caught. Do I have as much from you?"
"Of course, Sir Roe! The murderer is as good as executed!" There was a cocky spark in her clear, lavender eyes that left no doubt as to her perceived future success. She saluted him once again, "It is as good as done!" With a sharp nod she turned and marched out of the room, heading for her own personal office. She entered and flopped herself at her desk, considering who she might be able to spare. As Roe indicated, it would probably be a rather cut and dry case. Maybe one of the newer recruits should take it so they might get some experience... She opened one of her drawers and fumbled around until she found a small, black device shaped as a ball. She pressed a button with her black gloved finger and the probe began to hover slightly before her. "Message for Agent Tah!" she barked in her deep, rather masculine voice, "Send her to the office of Prime Agent Graf! . GO!" The ball buzzed away to search out its target. The agent in question didn't work too far away and was soon before her commanding officer. She was merely slightly taller than a middle-sized Irken but still managed to look gangly in her pressed black uniform. Her eyes were dark maroon in color and her small mouth was drawn in a serious line. She held the black message probe in her gloved hand.
"Yes, Ma'am?" she asked as she saluted. Her voice was very soft, almost sounding like a whisper.
"Call me Sir, rookie!" barked Graf in a harsher tone than she'd really intended. "I'll have no Ma'ams around here!"
The female agent straightened. "Yes, Sir!" Even her curved antennae seemed stiff with militaristic rigidity.
'Probably fresh from Devastis...' Graf mused as she looked the agent over. "Right. Prime General Keer was found murdered in his room this morning. I want you to find out who did it. All the information you'll need is here." She slid a datapad across the surface of her desk toward Tah, who obediently took it up and held it primly against her chest. "Understand?" She watched with slight amusement as the young agent glanced around with confused hesitation.
"Y-yes, Ma - er - Yes, Sir! I'll do my best!"
Graf leaned forward in her chair, purposefully steepling her fingers and narrowing her eyes to seem more intimidating. "You better make sure you're best gets the job done, soldier - the Tallest and their advisor are counting on your success."
The agent grew more and more pale the longer she stood there. She nodded quickly, her expression almost too serious for Graf's taste. "Yes, Sir! I'll make sure I succeed, Sir!" The Prime Agent waved the rookie away and waited until the door hissed shut before she leaned her head back and cackled.
Meanwhile Tah marched down the hall, reading the information on the datapad she'd been given. She couldn't believe Graf gave her such an important mission. Excitement coursed through her veins at the opportunity, but the sensation was accompanied by fear. She was newly assigned to the Special Forces and wasn't sure she could handle something so important. The Prime General, after all, was in charge of all levels of the marauder class. Certainly there would be political ramifications...
She shrugged off her worry and assaulted the datapad with her curious eyes. The Prime General was found hanging in the middle of his room by a cord. Signs of injury were found about his face and arm, indicating he'd been in some sort of struggle. His body had been cut down and sent to the mortuary, but aside from that the room hadn't been touched. The person who found him was a marauder who he'd apparently sent for moments before. Tah scrunched her face - it would have taken more than a moment to kill the General in the fashion described in the report. She marked down a list of things she needed to do as she changed her direction toward the infirmary.
"I need access to the mortuary," she explained to a white-clad nurse when she arrived at her destination. She flashed her identification and the nurse nodded. He stood up and placed a sign announcing his absence and anticipated return on his desk. Tah followed him down a series of white- painted hallways, completely oblivious to the sick hospital blandness of her surroundings. Instead she concentrated on familiarizing herself with the details of what her report said the Prime General's injuries were - a broken neck of course, a black eye, slight bruising around his wrist and shoulder... She was let into the room where his body lay with a number of other fresh bodies. His body was spread across one of a line of tables, covered from antennae to boot with a bleached white blanket. Tah thanked the nurse and he walked away, leaving her to examine the former-General. She stepped to his bedside and gently pulled the cover away, revealing his dead, pasty face. She grimaced as she looked at his expression - though his eyes had been closed the remnants of fear still stained his features. She gulped - he had known he would die. She worked to compose herself, straightening her shoulders as she finished uncovering his body. His shirt had been removed and she could clearly see the injuries described in her report. Every mark on his body seemed to indicate he'd been involved in some struggle before being strung up and hung. She leaned back on her heels and thought about the situation, all the while concentrating her hard gaze at the body. She knew what to do - she'd have to examine his room next and then interrogate the witness, but she wondered why she hadn't been assigned a more experienced partner to help her in her first real mission. She let out a quite sigh and covered the victim in his final shroud once again, leaving him to the medical authorities.
It was but a short, brisk walk to the former bedroom of Keer. A guard stopped her on her way, shoving her away with a standard issue spear. "None shall pass!" he growled menacingly. Tah blinked at him, surprised at his violence.
"I'm here to investigate," she tried to explain.
"None shall pass!" repeated the guard. "I'm not allowed to let curious girlies pass - this area is restricted."
Tah blinked again before clenching her jaw with annoyance. "Look, I'm with the Special Forces. I was assigned to -" She held out her badge, inches from the belligerent guard's face.
"Oh! Oh!" The guard came to a realization and stepped aside, his face flushing purple with embarrassment. "Yes, Ma'am! I wasn't aware someone had already been assigned to investigate the room!" He paused to smirk, "Especially someone as sweet-looking as you!"
Tah's shoulders stiffened at the guard's sudden flirtation. She turned her head and stood tall in hopes her posture would bespeak of her authority. "Guard!" She said in a slightly harsh tone.
It was apparently not harsh enough, because he simply broadened his smirk and asked in what he figured must be seductive tones, "Yes, sweet Ma'am?"
Tah narrowed her maroon eyes and puffed out her chest. "GUARD! I want to see fifty push-ups NOW! On the floor!" She pointed dramatically at the ground. The guard, acting half on instinct and half in shock, dropped to the floor and began his task with trained efficiency. Tah smiled down at the guard, proud of her handiwork. She'd never had an opportunity to use her rank as a tool of power, and she found it rather convenient. She nodded her head with satisfaction and headed to continue her investigation.
She stopped dead when she saw the inside of the General's old room. It was extremely spacious, as was expected since he was of such a high rank. What surprised Tah was that the room reminded her of what she always imagined a pimp's love pad would look like. Everything from the gigantic bed in the center of the room to the lush shag carpeting to the stools standing at the bar were colored in extravagant shades of red. Pictures of half clad females, barely passable as something other than porn, lined the walls on all sides. Tah's mouth hung wide open as her wide eyes glanced about until she noticed the cord that hung from the ceiling. Her professional side took over as she scanned the room once more. The thick carpeting left traces of footprints, and she could clearly see where the officials had walked toward the body to cut Keer down and drag him away. There were other signs on movement throughout the room, but Tah had no way of knowing whether they were caused by a scuffle or the normal goings on in the room. She discounted the footprints and allowed herself to walk over to the cord. She held the cut end with one hand and examined it closely. Cords generally weren't common on spaceships, but she recognized this kind of cord. It was generally provided to the marauders lest they need such a thing while in battle. "Always useful to have a good rope in hand," Tah absently said before remembering this rope was used to murder. She stepped back from the scene and mused. From the particular way Keer's sheets were tossed about on his bed, it was reasonable to assume his assailants had forced him to stand up there, tied the rope around his neck, and pushed him off. What happened was simple enough to deduce, the hard part would be finding out who had done it.
Tah made some short notes in her datapad before wondering to herself whether the assailants had hid and attacked after Keer entered the room or if they followed him through the front door. It was usual protocol to lock one's room, but Keer had been expecting someone. Tah decided she'd go interview the marauder who'd found him after she finished her preliminary examination of the room.
Hours later Tah had no fingerprints, no clues, nothing at all... Her last task was searching Keer's drawers to see if anything useful might be found. So far she'd found nothing more than his cloths, some personal possessions, and some objects Tah was disgusted to know existed. She gagged as she quickly shut one drawer, trying to erase the mental image of the Prime General using such a painful-looking device in unmentionable acts. She heaved a great sigh and shuffled toward the last drawer left to explore. It was the drawer to his bed stand, and as Tah opened it she expected to find nothing more than a variety of exotic sex toys. She did find those, but along with them was a piece of paper, unfolded and face up with the words written on it left exposed for the universe to see. She carefully lifted it up and read the words (written quickly in plain, black ink), 'Keer, you bastard! You will never cheat on me again! Die!' Tah scrunched her face in confusion. It was an obvious clue, but if the murderer was going to give a declaration of motive, why would he or she stuff it in the bed stand drawer? Tah made a thoughtful noise in her throat before setting the note back where she found it and closing the door. She pulled out her datapad once more to make a note on this peculiar clue when something on her screen caught her eye. "Hey!" she couldn't help exclaiming. She'd been looking forward to interviewing the marauder who'd found the body, but the clock in her pad informed her of the hour and it was much, much too late to ask any questions. Tah sighed as she resigned herself to waiting for the morrow and left the room, glad to see there had been a changing of the guard.
/*What do you think? Who do you think the murderer is and why have they done it? Was it Roe, who seems so unconcerned with the death of one of his fellow high-ranking officials? Was it Graf, who sent a newbie to investigate the crime? Was it an angry lover or perhaps someone we've yet to meet? Please let me know what you think and what you might like to see happen in the story. I give no guarantees, but I assure you I will put any and all suggestions into consideration. Thank you. */