In Search of Home

Chapter 93

Viktor couldn't believe he was doing this.

"Don't worry, Kohgrash, we've done this before, remember?" 

"Yeah, when I was thought of as an animal. And suffering from a concussion." 

"This should be easy as wrestling a Chorsl, then." 

"Have you wrestled one of them?" 

"Well - no, I have not. But I heard it is remarkably easy, and that's what really matters." 

The lights were harsh and bright, and the makeup they had slathered over Viktor's face immediately felt itchy. The bandana around his throat was constricting, but he didn't dare pull it off. He could already feel himself sweating with nervousness, and he could only hope that it wasn't visible. As he and Vok'Rul stepped out onto the stage, his mounting dread made his heart stutter. 

He could not believe he was doing this. 

"Hello, hello! Welcome. Please, make yourselves comfortable!" the interviewer they had agreed to see - under recommendation from the government - said cheerily. A lady name Natasha, they had said. The same woman who had interviewed Zach. "Well, as comfortable as you can get, Your Majesty!" 

Vok'Rul had let slip to a reporter while they had been on their way to another grocery store that he was royalty and finally, people were addressing him the way he had heard so often on A1-308. The sheer normalcy of someone calling the alien Your Majesty calmed his racing heart a little bit. 

Vok'Rul laughed at the woman's words, arranging himself neatly on the large couch. Viktor struggled onto it with some sneaky assistance from Vok'Rul. He was getting better; he could walk for a few feet without his walker, but it was still an uphill battle. "It is a comfortable seat, I assure you. In fact, most things on Earth are rather comfortable! Perhaps you, my lady, had something to do with that? Your presence certainly is relaxing." 

The interviewer fawned, exclaiming over his polite charm. Viktor wanted to gag, but he graciously refrained. He wondered, briefly, what Thruul thought of all Vok'Rul's flirting. Then, he realized that the alien probably didn't even know they had TVs on Earth. 

Natasha had gained some fame over her interviews with Zach and had so far skyrocketed through her career, interviewing as many 'abductees' as she possibly could. When she had reached out to Vok'Rul - through various emails and mouthpieces from the government - during the third month they had been back on Earth, they had reluctantly accepted. 

There were some conditions to this interview: 1) Viktor and Vok'Rul were to be together, 2) they were not to be questioned about the intricacies of the alliance made between their planets, and perhaps the most important of all, 3) they were not to be questioned about Viktor's injuries. 

Viktor was worried, though. Natasha had that glint in her eye that he had seen on many people, aliens and humans alike. It promised nothing but trouble. 

"I'm glad you both could make it," she said with a smile. She was pretty, Viktor supposed, in that detached sort of attractiveness kind of way. Blonde hair that glistened in the light framed her face, which had natural-looking make up on it. The translator in her ear, made by Blacksmith with the leftover materials they had on the ship, blinked passively. "I must say, I was rather shocked when you accepted my offer. I know hundreds of people who'd be eager to be in my place." 

Vok'Rul smiled serenely - Viktor had taught him that one - and said, "Ah, but no one else caught my attention quite like you, madam. Kohgrash and I are very pleased to be here."