Ktheg!lik knew Nik!eh was awake and had viewed her message. She simply asked Petra, and Nik!eh either didn't think to block the information or didn't care if she knew. When he didn't contact her after that, though, she took it as a bad sign.

Geh!aoa tried to distract her with a game of cards, but Ktheg!lik couldn't concentrate on it and excused herself fairly quickly. She busied herself with the maker queues, all the while wondering whether Nik!eh was about to throw all her work out and demand something different. She decided to stop adding items to at least two of the makers, because the hoonan likely had some requests at the very least.

I don't know what his favorite food is, or I would bring him some. I really don't know much of anything about Nik!eh, when you come right down to it. He's...well...alien.

The uncertainty ate at her for kozegs, until Nik!eh finally invited her to visit him in the infirmary. She gave a sigh of relief, combined with fresh tension a moment later, and hurried up the stairs to go see the alien. She pressed the button on the door to the infirmary, and tried to hide her nervousness.

Instead of opening, the door made a musical chime to let Nik!eh know someone wanted to come in. Normally it was on each individual person's room, and not on the door to the infirmary, but it made sense given the current situation. A few moments passed, and then the door slid open.

Ktheg!lik moved in slowly, eyeing the defensive automata, and didn't come too close to Nik!eh's bed. She showed them that her hands were empty, and then shifted her attention to the beige alien. "Hello, Nick," she enunciated carefully in Eengrizz.

"Hello, Kathy—Kathee-guh-gulik," Nik!eh tried.

Petra supplied translations as far as the golem knew them. For all that it was stilted, it was still much better than their earliest efforts. The bottleneck was Petra's limited knowledge of Eengrizz.

"How do you feel?"

"(Something) I have been stabbed." Strangely, the alien appeared to be smiling. But maybe she was reading his expression wrong.

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"Can I do anything to help you?"

"Yes. I want two makers."

The words were blunt after translation. Ktheg!lik hoped that they were not quite so blunt in the original language. "Yes, of course."

"I will walk in four days. Add three days, I will go."

Ktheg!lik felt a spike of fear. "Where will you go?"

"I do not say where."

"Will you take Petra with you?"

"Yes."

This is it. What we have now, is all we ever will have. No more progress, just survival. Ktheg!lik's heart was pounding in fear. "Can I convince you to stay?"

"No."

The word felt like a physical blow.

"Olk!ano—"

The hoonan interrupted her. "I do not want Okano. You get Okano. You do, you choose." His breath caught, like he tried to sigh and his wound made it difficult. "Maybe he want good. Maybe he think I am bad. Maybe he want help all fuakala. I do not want him."

Well, at least the bastard's life is saved, not that he has the wit to feel grateful. "Thank you."

"Okano and I...big distance is better."

"Olk!ano go, you stay?" she suggested.

"No. Maybe two Okanos." Nik!eh shook his head. His expression was fluctuating oddly, as if he couldn't decide whether to be happy or sad. "Kathy, we meet one time, no one die. That is good. Thank you." He sounded as if he really meant that. He was blinking more, and his voice had a different tone to it.

"Two time we meet, no one die. Thank you."

"Thank you," Ktheg!lik replied.

"Human and fuak!a meet and meet and meet, one die, two die...I want zero die."

Ktheg!lik spoke carefully. "Fuak!a and no Petra, Fuak!a die."

"No."

Her heart skipped a beat. "No?"

"No. Petra here, Petra help you. Petra far, Petra help you. You talk Petra. You learn science. You make things. You make new things. I help. I far, and I help."

Ktheg!lik wanted to drop into a chair, but didn't dare make any sudden movements. "...Thank you, Nik!eh. Thank you, thank you."

"I am not...an...automaton!" Nik!eh tried to shout, but pain hampered him.

"Yes, Nik!eh. I know you are not an automaton." Ktheg!lik choked on the next words a moment. "You are...a good man."

Nik!eh closed his eyes a moment. "Thank you." Neither of them spoke for a bit. She wondered what he was thinking, what he was feeling. It seemed impossible that she would ever really know.

Finally, Nik!eh gestured weakly. "I sleep. Petra heal me. We talk again, maybe tomorrow."

"Yes. I understand. Thank you, Nik!eh. Sleep well."

Ktheg!lik stepped out of the infirmary and managed to hold off clicking until the door was closed again. We haven't lost it all, she thought, clicking softly. We haven't lost it all. Thank you, Nik!eh. Thank you. You are a good man.

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