Page 17

T he Corona Café was a little gem of a place, all mercury glass mirrors and bronzed art nouveau details against soft butter-yellow walls with a stamped-tin ceiling. Antique bronze and crystal chandeliers lit the space, even if the bulbs were LEDs.

Booths lined the walls while square tables took up the center. At max capacity, I didn’t think it would have held more than seventy-five.

Just walking up to it meant being greeted with delicious aromas, partly since it sat next door to La Patisserie and served all of their baked goods as part of its menu. Neither were places I ever went, because they were really meant for cruisers, and dining there for anyone else required spending credits.

Made sense that the premier and his wife would choose this as a meeting spot. It was small and easy to close down for a private event, which this was.

The only downside was that chocolate eclairs weren’t really breakfast food. Sadly. They weren’t the easiest thing to eat in front of people, either, so with two strikes against them, they wouldn’t be my choice.

Being adult wasn’t always fun.

Loessaian guards stood at the entrance of the little Parisian-inspired restaurant, a sight that was garnering quite a few stares from passersby. Even more so when Frank and I approached and held our wristbands out to be scanned.

Hazel arrived as we were about to go in. We stopped, and I smiled at her. She was not in uniform, a rare sight. “Are you here for breakfast, too?”

She shook her head. “No, just wanted to make sure everything was good with the location.” Her smile was tight, an obvious indication that she was still very worried about all of this. As were Frank and I.

“That was nice of you.” I wasn’t about to tell her I’d be in touch to fill her in as soon as it was over. Not in front the Loessaian guards.

She glanced at the guards, then nodded. I knew she understood. “All right. Enjoy your breakfast.”

“Thanks.”

The guards stepped aside, and we walked in. A man in a dark blue tunic and pants met us. “I am Sunan, the premier’s personal attendant. I will announce you. Your names, please?”

“Frank Kitson and Ellis McFadden,” Frank answered.

Being announced was just a formality, of course. It wasn’t like the premier and his wife, who were seated at a table in the center of the restaurant just a few yards away, couldn’t hear or see us. He was in sage green with dark green trim; she was in aquamarine with white and navy embroidery.

Behind them, near the back wall, stood two more guards, well out of earshot.

Sunan turned to face the premier. “My lord, your guests have arrived. Frank Kitson and Ellis McFadden.”

The premier gave a nod, and Sunan stepped aside, gesturing toward the table. We approached.

The table had been set with a white tablecloth, crystal glassware, bone china, and sparkling silver cutlery. Three servers in black jumpsuits and white aprons stood ready by the right bank of booths, waiting with bright smiles.

The premier and his wife got to their feet, greeting us with smiles. He spoke first. “Good morning. We are so pleased to share a meal with you.”

“As are we,” Frank answered. “It was very gracious of you to invite us.”

Fathia stepped out from behind the table to shake my hand as the premier extended his to Frank. “We have never met an off-worlder who was able to experience the true power of the Omega Min Star.”

“It was really something. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”

She held onto my hand, clasping it between both of hers. “In our culture, that experience marks you as an exceptional woman. One capable of great things and deep empathy. One in tune with the universe. A woman who is set apart.”

“How wonderful.” I smiled despite not feeling like what she’d just said was all that great. It was a lot to live up to. All I wanted to do was figure out where the real Star was and who’d killed Navun Kiat. “Are there a lot of women who can connect with the nebulite like that?”

She finally let go of my hand. “Only a few hundred. As I said, they are exceptional.” She looked at her husband, who’d been in conversation with Frank about the lights at the gala.

The premier helped her with her chair. “Sit, please. Make yourselves comfortable, and let’s start our meal, shall we?”

I sat next to Fathia. Frank sat next to me, which put him on the other side of the premier. Servers approached and filled our water glasses, while other servers offered us coffee or tea. We both chose coffee. The premier and his wife chose tea.

Once the beverages were taken care of, the servers stepped back. The premier held up his hand. “We have something for you.”

Sunan approached with a small box and handed it to the premier. He took it, then held it out to me. “A token of our thanks.”

I had a moment of sheer panic. Were we supposed to bring them something? I should have investigated what their custsoms were. My dread must have shown on my face, because Fathia laughed gently.

“Please don’t worry. We expect nothing from you, and there is no further exchange needed. We merely wanted to show how much we appreciate you meeting with us. And it would be rude of us to not bestow a gift upon a paryina , a woman who communes with the stars.”

The premier leaned in like he was about to tell us a secret. “That is what we call those with your gift in our culture.”

“ Paryina ,” I repeated.

They both nodded.

“That’s right,” Fathia said.

“Are you paryina , too?” I asked her.

“I am,” she said proudly, touching her own pendant. It wasn’t the one she’d worn to the gala but a much smaller, teardrop-shaped nebulite surrounded by tiny golden pearls. “We are sisters, in a fashion.”

“Isn’t that lovely.”

“Go on,” she said, gesturing at the box in my hands.

I opened the gift. Despite what they’d said about no reciprocity necessary, I still wished I’d thought to bring something.

Inside the box was a pendant on a silver chain, a long, shimmering sliver of nebulite that danced with color in the light.

I gasped. “It’s beautiful.” I meant it, too. The asymmetrical gem was utterly captivating. In the center, where it was the widest, green and blue sparked within the stone. “This is … beyond anything I could have imagined. Thank you for your generosity.”

They both looked pleased. Fathia was smiling the biggest, though. “Now you will never be without your own piece of nebulite. Your own piece of the stars.”

“I can’t thank you enough.” I wanted to be as gracious as possible, so I lifted it from the box, in preparation for putting it on.

Frank understood what I was doing and took the necklace from me. I lifted my hair, and he attached the clasp.

“There you go,” he said. “Really pretty. What an outstanding gift.”

I touched the pendant where it lay against my collarbone. I could feel the nebulite’s presence. It was ever so slightly disconcerting. Almost as if I had a living thing around my neck. “Thank you again.”

The premier raised his hand. Sunan said something to the servers, and we were brought menus as well as a small platter of pastries.

I perused the menu, focusing on what would be the most ladylike thing to eat. Something that would be neat and have little chance of spilling. I quickly settled on the cheddar, bacon, and tomato quiche with vinaigrette-dressed salad. Not sure how ladylike that was, and I’d definitely need to be careful eating it, but it sounded good.

Frank went with a ham and cheddar omelet and home fries. The premier chose oatmeal with honey, raisins, and walnuts. Fathia, after a moment of vacillation, asked for the same quiche as I had.

We gave our menus back to the servers and were once again left alone. I drank some coffee. It was very good. Not as good as Frank’s personal stash but decent.

“Mr. Kitson,” the premier began, speaking to his wife, “was responsible for getting the lights back on at the gala.”

“Is that right?” Fathia replied. “How fortuitous that you were there.”

“Only because Ellis invited me. And please, call me Frank. It was a fairly easy fix, once I got into the panel.”

“You must call me Yut,” the premier said.

“Yut it is,” Frank agreed.

“I’m so glad you were able to do it,” Fathia said. “The gala would have been ruined otherwise.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t. The nebula is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in space so far,” I said. “I could just sit and stare at it for hours.”

Fathia nodded. “Loessa is blessed to have it. Like many of our people, I believe the Omega Min watches over us and protects us.”

Frank sat back, sipping his coffee. “So you believe the nebula is a deity? Or contains a deity?”

“Not exactly,” Fathia said. “It is hard to fully explain in your language, but we believe it is a guiding force. One that is part of the universe. We don’t pray to it, necessarily, but it is not uncommon to open oneself to the energy it sends toward us and, in return, send energy back.”

It sounded like a lot of hocus-pocus to me, but I wasn’t much for that kind of stuff. I changed the subject, eager to see if I could gain some insight into the theft of the Star. “I met Dr. Saetang at the gala.”

I watched Fathia carefully. She kept her gaze on the table, picking up her tea and taking a drink. Buying time to phrase her words a certain way?

She set the cup down. “He is a very intelligent man with ideas that will carry us into the future.” She smiled at her husband. “He and Yut went to first levels together. They knew each other as boys. Imagine, that one has become premier and the other, such a renowned scientist.”

“Remarkable,” Frank said. “And you’re Saetang’s patron, we were told.”

Her smile might have gotten a tiny bit thinner. “I am the patron for a great many of our best people, in all disciplines. I was Ayronina’s patron before she reached her current status.”

The premier nodded. “Quite a voice, that one. The most popular female singer Loessa has ever had. I don’t know if those of you on board appreciate just how rare an opportunity you have to hear her sing every night. There are Loessaians who would kill for such a chance.”

I glanced at Frank. Had that just been a slip of the tongue, or was the premier trying to tell us something?