The Autobiography Of An Alien

Chapter 36 - On Espionage

Draft #247 - Temper

My anger slips from me sometimes, especially when it is on the behalf of my loved ones. I get angrier and angrier the more helpless I feel. And lately... Lately I feel as though I have no use to anyone. 

Spirits... Spirits. I must put my faith into others in order to get anything done.

And all I can do is wait. That is perhaps the worst of it all. 

***

Spies. They were a wealth of information if you had one you could trust. Unfortunately, most people who do spying as a living are only after a paycheck, regardless of any ounce of loyalty they may feel. 

There were countless options available to him, especially as Vokkra. He could hire a private investigator, both Vokkran or human. He could even get a third-party Arnoxi to assist. Anyone willing, for the right price at least, he could get.

It always ran the risk of hiring someone who would spill his secrets to the Outkasts, and considering how despicable those horrid beings were, Rulshkka wouldn't put it past them to torture the information out of any spy he may hire, should they catch wind of who they were.

Which is why he needed someone very good at spying.

Instead of trying to find one and foster goodwill between them, Rulshkka just opted for blackmail.

Sneaking out of the manor had been a bit difficult, but after telling Thruul what he planned to do, his beloved managed to throw his security detail off his scent. He walked to his destination, no matter how slow, because any good transport driver would sell out his location in a heartbeat. At least it was in the middle of the night - hardly anyone was around to notice him. And those he passed barely gave him a second glance, considering he had wrapped him up rather well.

Rulshkka tapped at the door before him, trying desperately to get his simmering rage under control.

Oh, but how he hated the Outkasts worse than her.

"O Vokkra," Fho greeted him nervously, clutching the door hard enough to make gouges with her claws. "To what... do I owe the pleasure?"

"There is no pleasure," Rulshkka replied snippily. There was a growl to his voice as there always was when he had to speak with those from Kohgrash's past. "I have come for a reason, and you shall grant me it. Let me in."

Fho tried to reason her way out of letting him inside, but when she went to shut the door, and Rulshkka tore the handle from its place in the frame, she relented.

"I can't imagine this is a," she paused, looking at him with a blank expression, "friendly visit? No news on my appeal?"

"Is your release from prison not good enough?" Rulshkka sneered. "You want more? After what you did to my Kohgrash?"

Her eye twitched. "If you've come to challenge me... I thought you'd have liked it to be a public affair. Though, there's no Kohgrash to stop you, here in the middle of the night."

"I would twist your head from your shoulders in a heartbeat," Rulshkka said quietly. Fho went still for a moment before walking toward her kitchen. Rulshkka idly followed, dragging his tail across the floor purposefully. "But I'm not here for that. I have a proposition for you."

Fho's hands were steady when she flicked on the stove. He supposed that she'd have nerves of steel after putting up with Krrkh of all Vokkrus. "Would you like some tea, O Vokkra?"

"I'll take a pass on what are surely your most delightful culinary skills," Rulshkka said sarcastically. He took a seat on a dining room chair. "You know what has happened to Kohgrash."