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“The top floor.”
“The top floor of the Seventh Bright Sun Building has seventeen entrance options. What business will you be patronizing while you visit this multi-cultural shopping district?”
“Kar’Kali restaurant?” I try.
“Excellent choice! Traditions of Kar’Kal is a can’t-miss restaurant according to the Garden District guidebook. Might I recommend the black clam fritters with ten-bean soup?”
The robot goes on babbling helpful suggestions as I frantically tend to Niko’s wounds, desperately hoping we’ll arrive soon.
When we pull up to the front of ‘Traditions of Kar’Kal,’ the entrance is much fancier than I had imagined. The door is glass with decorative bronze metalwork climbing the front like vines. Softly twinkling lights set the mood. I ignore it all. I hoist Niko out of the cab and resume my fireman’s carry right up to the door. It slides open to welcome me into a lobby full of waiting guests sitting on poufs in their most elegant clothing.
A well-dressed host stands at the front desk, watching my approach with sheer revulsion.
“I came to see Lakkavi. It’s very important,” I announce.
“This is entirely inappropriate,” he protests. Two random patrons in the waiting area stare at me in open horror. “The head chef is engaged. This is the dinner hour if you cannot see that!”
“I need Lakkavi now,” I say quickly. “Please just tell him Niko La’Nira needs his help. Tell him I’m Niko’s mate!”
“I will call the authorities if you continue making a scene here—”
A Kar’Kali female appears, tall and thin, with shiny black hair hanging well past her hips.
“What in the name of the spirit is going on out here—” She stops mid-sentence when she sees me struggling to support Niko’s crumpling form. My entire body hurts, but my arms are starting to give. My adrenaline-induced strength is slipping away.
“Please, I was told to find Lakkavi if I needed help.” Tears start to pour down my cheeks as I run short on hope. “He’s dying.”
“Page my mate,” she orders the stuttering host. “If anyone complains, comp their meal on the house. Tell Lakkavi to meet us in the back room.”
He snaps his mouth shut and does as she says.
“Marichkku, help me with this.” Even as the elegantly dressed Kar’Kali woman signals a waitress to assist her, she bends to relieve me of Niko’s weight. She’s deceptively strong for her willowy figure.
The waitress is another species that I don’t know, but she jumps in to help carry Niko inside.
“Come along, dear heart,” the Kar’Kali says with a comforting hushing noise. “He’ll be all right. You can call me Banna.”
I follow them, my hands shaking without a backward glance at the snippy host and the gawking guests.
Lakkavi is even largerthan Niko, taller and broader in the shoulders with more fat on him. He has a silvery cropped beard, and the rest of his hair is hidden in a black kerchief. His brow is sweaty, making it easy to imagine him working over a hot stove preparing meals. He meets us in a storage room, where we’re surrounded by stacks of plates, linens, cleaning products, and giant bags of grain.
“What is it,ti kori?” He asks as he tosses an apron onto the nearby chair. I’m surprised, half-thinking he’s addressing me. But then I realize he’s speaking to his wife, remembering that Niko’s term of endearment for me simply means “my mate” in his language. It must be very common. But it twists my heart to hear it.
“It’s little Niko,” she says. “He’s in a rough way.”
Lakkavi’s gaze finally finds me. “Who’s this?”
“Niko’s mate,” Banna explains. “She carried him through the lobby.”
His eyes soften on me. “What happened?”
“He was stabbed. Some kind of Azza assassin jumped us not long after we landed on the station,” I explain quickly. “I’m telling you because there might be more dangerous people following him. I just don’t know. He told me to find you if I needed help. Can you help?”
“Of course,” Banna says, running a soothing hand over my back.
“An assassin?” Lakkavi doesn’t necessarily look surprised, but rather confused. “Why would Niko be involved in anything that would lead to this?”
“It was about information, I think.” I trip over my words as Lakkavi pulls a small bot from one of the shelves and turns it on. He brings it over to Niko’s body. When he releases the thing, it starts to flit all around my mate, checking his vitals and blurting robotic statements about the blood levels being low. That much I could have guessed. And as I look down at myself for a moment, I realize that I’m soaked in it.
