What the doctor was talking about sounded drastic…not to mention painful. She’d had a tooth pulled once when she was younger and it had not been a pleasant experience. And her fangs were different from the rest of her teeth—they were so much more sensitive, so much more important somehow.
Kara put a hand to her mouth protectively. She felt as though she’d come out in the middle of the night and heard her relatives talking about giving her a clitorectomy—a female circumcision—as some of the primitive tribes down on Earth used to do, or something awful like that. How could they seriously be thinking about killing her sex drive without even asking her first?
But then it got worse.
“She may even be unable to conceive children,” Doctor ThrobGood continued. “I have no way of knowing but I would surmise that the extraction of her fangs might seriously jeopardize your niece’s chances of reproducing.”
“Well, that’s no great loss.” Aunt Zeelah waved a hand as though shooing away an annoying fly. “After all, who wants more fanged females running around? Really, we’d be doing her and the entire universe a service.”
Kara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Were they serious? She’d thought her aunt and uncle liked her. How could they feel this way? That she was an abomination that ought to be neutered for her own good? What was wrong with them?
“Personally, I feel the same way—it’s irresponsible to allow such a person to breed and possibly pass on her mutation. So if you’re willing to sign the papers of consent on her behalf, then I’ll be more than happy to perform the extraction,” Doctor ThrobGood said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a roll of parchment and a writing instrument.
“Of course we’re willing. Here.” Aunt Zeelah took the paperwork and, without even bothering to read the scroll, simply signed her name on the bottom. She was passing it to Uncle Grennly when Kara’s paralysis broke and she stumbled out from the hallway.
“You can’t be serious,” she said, looking from her aunt to her uncle. “I can’t believe this—I mean, I heard all the stories about how you tried to make Aunt Nadiah marry a male she didn’t love but I never dreamed you’d do something like this. How can you be so heartless and cruel?”
Uncle Greenly’s eyes opened wide and Aunt Zeelah’s mouth made a perfect O of surprise but Dr. ThrobGood kept his cool.
“Hello, my dear—you must be Kara.” He rose smoothly, black case still in one hand as he approached her.
“Yes, I am.” Kara took a step back from him. “And I’m also not interested in being neutered like an animal against my will. I thought you could give me something to shrink my fangs or make them less noticeable—not yank them out of my head and ruin my sex drive and my ability to have kids!”’
The doctor laughed—a soft, kindly chuckle that belied his earlier sinister words.
“Now, now my dear—I’m not a miracle worker or a Kaji from Xephron Five!” he exclaimed. “I’m afraid the only way we have to deal with your…deformity is to remove what’s causing you to be deformed.”
“I’m not deformed—just different,” Kara protested. “And what if I want a family some day?”
“Come now, Kara—you don’t want to bring more children into the world with your problems, do you?” Aunt Zeelah asked coaxingly, coming towards her. “Really, this is best for everyone.”
“You mean it’s best for you and Uncle Grennly so nobody knows you have a niece with fangs,” Kara exclaimed. “I’m sorry you feel that way but I don’t.”
“Your Aunt Zeelah is right, Kara,” Uncle Grennly was also closing in on her now, forcing Kara to take a step back. “It’s better not to pass on such mutations to the next generation.”
Kara took another wary step back.
“If you would rather I leave, I’ll be happy to go,” she said nervously. “Nobody even has to know I’m here. I’ll just slip back to my ship and fly home.”
“But I’m afraid I already told a number of my friends that our great niece was going to be appearing at the Snowdrop Festival with us,” Aunt Zeelah objected. “You can’t get out of going now, my dear. It’s a social obligation.”
“And in order to appear in public, you must get those fangs pulled,” Uncle Grennly said. “There’s no other way it would be socially acceptable.”
“So I have to get my fangs pulled out just so I can go to a fancy party with you? I don’t think so!” Kara exclaimed. “Do you hear yourselves? That’s crazy!”
Aunt Zeelah looked miffed.
“It most certainly is not crazy,” she snapped. “We are sticking our necks out for you, introducing you to the crème de la crème of our society, Kara dear. The least you can do is make yourself presentable before the festival!”
“You’re talking like I’m refusing to wear the right dress but this is permanent damage—pulling my fangs would change me forever in a way I don’t want to be changed!” Kara objected.
“It’s not just social standing at the Snowdrop Festival at stake, my dear,” Dr. ThrobGood said. “I happen to agree with your aunt and uncle—it’s our moral obligation to be certain someone with such an obvious deformity doesn’t procreate. And since the paperwork has already been signed, I feel I must perform the procedure.”
“What? No! Don’t I get any say in this?” Kara demanded.
“Of course you do—you’ll get to choose the prosthetic teeth I insert into the empty cavities left by your fangs. I promise you, I have some very nice ones,” the doctor assured her. “Nice and white and normal looking.”
“No!” Kara yelled. “You know that’s not what I meant! What’s wrong with you?”
“Not a thing, Kara—it’s what’s wrong with you that we want to fix. This is all for your own good,” Aunt Zeelah said, smiling sweetly. “Now be a good girl and come along…”
The three of them were still advancing on Kara and she was beginning to feel cornered. Her great aunt and
