The Other Side

Kirsty Scrivener was at an auction of ancient antiquities. It was being held in an hotel conference room in London. Kirsty frequently attended such events. Occasionally, she would find some item that had connections to the Earth's primordial past. And to the Old Ones.

As Kirsty gazed at a statue of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, she heard a male voice speaking in a French accent.

"It is so breathtaking to think that a small object such as this should be so many thousands of years old, is it not, Madame Scrivener?"

Kirsty recognised the voice without turning around.

Pierre Blastion. An agent of the Yellow Sign, a follower of Hastur the Unspeakable. He was one of the few Yellow Sign whose identity she was aware of. She had people observing his movements, but she had not expected him to get this close to her. She fingered her gun beneath her jacket.

"You have had a man watching me. He is good, but I have managed to slip away from him," announced Blastion.

"What are you doing here, Blastion?" she snapped.

""The same thing as you, Kirsty. Looking for things that may shed light on the past and prepare the way for the future," he replied. "You know, so much of what we both do is very similar. We both deal in ancient secrets, we both deal in secret information and we both fight secret enemies."

"Nevertheless, we are enemies," said Kirsty.

"Then, as one enemy to another honorable enemy, I invite you to join me for a drink in the hotel bar," offered Blastion.

Kirsty nodded, and the two made their way to the bar. Blastion ordered, getting Kirsty a white wine and soda, while ordering a glass of red wine for himself.

"We both understand the great threats facing this world," continued Blastion. "We know the power of Cthulhu is growing. You have seen the abominations that are appearing everywhere as his followers increase. Who knows what forces outside of Earth are under his control? Only the power of the King in Yellow can resist Cthulhu."

"You really expect me to believe that the tyranny of Hastur would be better than the tyranny of Cthulhu?" sneered Kirsty.

"Oh, Kirsty, we are not like the Cthulhu worshipers. The followers of the Yellow Sign are sophisticated people, people of culture and learning. And our god is a god of wisdom and beauty..."

"Oh, spare me the propaganda, Pierre. I've seen the horrible things your cult has done. Your deeds are as foul as anything I have seen from the Cthulhuites."

Blastion shook his head.

"Such a pity. A woman such as you could offer so much to the Yellow Sign," he said sadly. "Do ever think of those days when we were young students of Egyptology? Back at Oxford University?"

"I try not to, Pierre. The past is the past," said Kirsty coolly.

"We were so close, so happy together. Our mutual love of learning, our joy in the ancient past..."

"A lot of things have changed since then, Pierre," snapped Kirsty.

"Yes, you are a married woman now. With that solictor husband of yours and your three pretty children. Living in a pretty village in Kent. The perfect idyll."

"Pierre, if you ever harm my family, I will personally hunt you down and I will torture you before I kill you," said Kirsty coldly.

"I am sure you would. But, believe me, your family are not on my hit list."

"So who is on your hit list?"

Blastion smiled.

"Ah, that would make things too easy. But I can tell you I was thinking about eliminating that dreadful Anna Harpendon woman. Especially after she decided to join your organisation. I don't know how you can put up with that shallow, single-minded corporate cutthroat."

"She is making a superb agent," replied Kirsty.

"Indeed, she is causing us a lot of inconvenience. She is shutting down some of our most profitable operations," Blastion lamented. "I do not know how my colleagues could have thought she would make a good addition to the Yellow Sign."

Kirsty emptied her glass.

"Pierre, it is really nice catching up with you, but I really don't want to make this a habit."

"Really? But it has been so delightful, Kirsty."

"I thought I had better warn you that the police are going to raid that restaurant you run next week. They will be searching your apartment too. They will be looking cocaine and they will find it."

Blastion scowled.

"Shame on you, with your low tactics!"

"You had better get out of the country tomorrow if you don't want to get arrested."

"They will issue a European Arrest Warrant and they will pick me up in France," he protested.

"No, they won't. I'm quite confident that next week you will be in South America or Thailand. I don't care where, just not in the UK."

Blastion smiled and put down his glass.

"You are an harsh woman, Kirsty." With that he bowed and left the hotel bar.

Kirsty relaxed her other hand, that was still close to her pistol.