Crystal Line

Chapter 3

As soon as they returned to the original site with the excised "finger," Killashandra and Lars noticed the increase of the luminescence.

"Well, we fed it, didn't we?"Killa said."Big Junk looks fatter, too, don't you think?"

Lars shrugged."Brendan?"

"Ambient light has increased in your present location, but, as you both know, I can read nothing of the Junk itself."

"It should look fatter after all we gave it to eat yesterday," Killashandra repeated, more to herself than to the others.

"I don't see as much expansion on the rib we cut, though," Lars remarked, peering up at it. That extrusion had not moved from the position into which it had retracted.

"Muhlah!I hope we haven't done irremediable harm," she said with genuine remorse.

"The other end had no trouble absorbing what we gave it to eat.Maybe it can…" Lars began.

"Can, can, cannibal?"

"Omnivorous, certainly," Lars replied wryly.

"It didn't exactly 'eat', it sort of absorbed substances," Killa said.

Lars took the "finger" out of the duraplas sack with duraplas calipers and reached up, his extended arm not quite long enough."Damnation!"

"If you hoist Killa to your shoulders, Lars, that will give you sufficient height," Brendan said.

Lars eyed his partner.She was a lean-bodied woman, and long in the leg.

"C'mon, lover boy, play acrobat.That'll be dead easy in point-seven gravity."

"Just don't wriggle around on my back.Be careful of my oxygen tanks."

"Hmmm.You've got a point.Whoops!"

Lars handed her the tongs and the "finger," then ducked under her legs and, in an athletic heave, raised her from the ground.

"Don't obscure my vision!" he exclaimed.Involuntarily, she had grabbed at his helmet before he steadied her with his hands on her belt.

"Two steps forward, and one slightly…" Killa caught her balance."To the left and… here we are.Steady!"Even with his almost two-meter height, she had to stretch to reach the end of the rib.

"You're wiggling!"

"Am not!I'm stretching.You're the one who's wiggling.To your right half a step.There!"And she whistled in disbelief as, before her very eyes, the Junk turned even more liquid and flowed over the amputated piece, reabsorbing it.Lars started to waver."Hey!"She dropped the tongs and clung to him."Don't move!"

"I'm not moving!"And suddenly Lars was down on one knee, Killa falling forward off his shoulders.

"Wooof!" she muttered as she lay sprawled on the ground, automatically checking the panel of lights that ringed the bottom of the helmet join.They were all green, not a flicker into the orange.

"You okay, Ki?"Brendan asked, his tone anxious."That was a quake, not a tremor!"

"Quite a thank-you!"Killashandra got to her feet.

"Certainly a reaction," Brendan said."Lars?"

"Oh, I'm all right," Lars replied, checking both knees."Well, lookee there," he added, pointing to the ceiling."Come home, all is forgiven!"

Neither could see a demarcation on the rib end.

"Absorption?Not the same reaction though," Killashandra said, "as it gave when we offered it merely metal.Should we recommend that the other piece be returned?"

"After four years or more?"

"It's worth a try-as a peace offering."She grinned at the deliberate pun.Lars groaned.

"It would establish human bona fides," Brendan said."That the people who return it have recognized the attempt as mutilation?"

"Not merely amputation for the sake of investigation," Killa said in a caustic voice.

"So?What do we do for an encore?"Lars asked.

Killa shrugged."Have we been in all the caves that have Junk?"

"All those recorded," Brendan said.

"And we still haven't found the source, if there is one?"

"That wasn't in our brief, was it?"Lars asked, brushing his gloved hands."We were to discover if this stuff had some commercial value to the Heptite Guild."

"It doesn't belong under the Guild's aegis.It's sentient," Killa said with more vehemence than she intended.

"We don't know that for a fact," Bren said, "but while it may not be animal, it doesn't appear to be mineral in the strict definition of the word."

"I'll go along with that," Lars said, turning to his partner.

" 'And beings animalculus' "," Killa murmured."There's something…" She struggled with the vague notion she was trying to verbalize and then shrugged."I dunno, but one sure thing, you can't mine it the way we can crystal, or other gemstones and ores.What's your opinion, Brendan?"

"I'm a minder, not a miner."

"Yes, but you've been a big help."

"As a caterer…"

"Yuckh!"The very thought of food suddenly nauseated Killashandra.She and Lars locked eyes."Oh, blast it."

"I'd say the timing was pretty good," Lars said.

"You're ready for the Sleep phase?"Brendan asked.

"Undeniably," Killa said, moving toward the exit of the cavern."We've done what we were supposed to, and it's now up to the xenos!This isn't a Heptite matter.So…" She looked expectantly toward her partner."Where are we going to spend all those lovely credits we've just earned, Lars?And if you say 'water world', I'll excise a few chunks of you."

Following close behind her, Lars rapped her helmet."No, it's your turn to pick."

I'll pick after I've slept on it, Killashandra said.

"In a week I'll be out of this system," Brendan said."Which way do I go?"

"Turn left then straight on till morning," Killa said facetiously.

"If that's your wish, it is my command," the ship said.

Once back aboard the ship, the lingering odors of previously delectable meals made them gag.

"You weren't joking, were you?"Brendan said."Ah, you can restrain the compulsion?" he added urgently.

"Don't worry.We never disgrace ourselves," Lars said grimly, depressing his nausea as he stripped off the suit and stuffed it in the cleanser.

Killashandra had a very set look to her face and swallowed constantly as she peeled off not only her suit but the mesh undergarment.

"Hey!"Lars had not taken off his briefs and stared after her as she strode-regally, he thought-across the lounge.

"Brendan won't mind," Killa said absently

"Indeed I don't, but I find it difficult to see that all that food-"

"Don't!"Killa held both hands up toward his column."Don't even think that word!"She gagged and hurried to their cabin and into the sanitary unit.

"Anything I can get you?" the ship asked solicitously as Lars hurried after his partner.

"Not a damned thing, Bren," Lars said resignedly.

Killa was already in the shower, sluicing her body down, staggering occasionally as even the mild force of the water unbalanced her.When Lars entered the enclosure, they clung to each other, until they had soaped and soaked themselves clean.

Wrapping the generous towels about their bodies, they reeled to the wide bunk and, with groans of immense relief, crawled on and sprawled across it.As Brendan watched, their limbs relaxed despite what he considered to be uncomfortable postures.They were oblivious to any externals.

"These crystal singers don't do anything by halves.As bad as Boira in some respects."His voice echoed in the silent living quarters.

Delicately, as a mother will carry her sleeping babe to its cot, the Brendan/Boira-1066 lifted off Opal, though his passengers wouldn't have stirred no matter what g force he used in takeoff.A week of sleep?Well, if he "turned left"-now why was that sentence vaguely familiar-made one Singularity Jump and headed straight on, he would reach the Lepus sector, which offered the system Nihal.The primary was G2, and it had an inhabited third planet.Taking that route, Brendan would also have the chance to get a closer look at the very red Mira Variable R. Leporis.Boira would be interested in his observations over that anomaly.

Serendipitously, it occurred to him that he was under no obligation to return immediately to Regulus Base.From the last report piped to him, Boira had another six or seven weeks to go in rejuvenation and then time in rehab and retraining.He really didn't have to take another short-term assignment or jump about on a courier route: they'd cleared all 1066's indebtedness with the bonus and danger money from the assignment that had put Boira in hospital.

But was the Nihal system where Killashandra meant to go?She'd told Lars that she'd pick after she'd had some sleep.Brendan accessed his galactic encyclopedia.Nihal's third planet had some unusual recreational facilities and was regarded as an ideal honeymoon planet.Killa and Lars were well past that stage of a partnership, but they might still appreciate a place like that for the extended vacation they intended to take from Ballybran and singing crystal.If he had misinterpreted her remark-and Killa's somewhat incoherent directions had sounded a bit like a quotation-they could change their minds when they woke up.

Then he remembered to do the medscans that he had been programmed to carry out, to ensure that the symbiont was indeed protecting the singers.What would the Heptite Guild do if they had been contaminated?Exile them?Where?In those Crystal Ranges, until the next storm took care of the problem?The Guild was known to be ruthless, arrogant, and powerful.This pair had been the best company he'd had the entire time he'd been solo-he'd hate to see them mistreated… or worse.But just as the dust of their suits had shown no contaminants, neither did their bodies.Reassured, he added the medical data of this latest investigation to the private file.

"Nihal?Never heard of it," Killashandra said between sips of the fruit beverage she had requested of Brendan.Lars was still slumbering beside her.

"That's where we're going on the heading you gave me."

"What heading?"Killashandra skewed around on the wide bunk until she could see through the open cabin door to his column.

" 'Turn left and straight on till morning.' "Brendan's search through his library files had made him no wiser.

"Shards!That wasn't a direction, Bren."

"So you were quoting?"

Killashandra snickered."And you couldn't find the source?How far back do your files go?No, abort that.I don't want to know.It's from an old children's story, and I didn't even remember that I remembered it.And that spurious direction leads us to Nihal?What's there?"

"A rather nice climate, temperate to cold, recreational, excellent-ah, can I use the f-word now?"

"Food?Oh, yeah, but we won't need anything more than liquids for a day or two."

"So was that a direction from your subconscious?"

Killashandra finished the last of her drink and yawned."I'll know when we get there.How long did I sleep?"

"Five days."

"Wake me in another two, huh?"And she was asleep before Brendan could propose that he stay with them a while longer.

"Have a brain ship as our private yacht?"Lars exclaimed, sipping a clear soup.

"Well, I would have to ask you to pay for fuel, supplies and landing fees," Bren answered tentatively."You see, Boira and I have bought ourselves free…"

Lars recalled that the brain ships could do so, working off the immense debt with Central Worlds occasioned by their early childhood care and the cost of the ship itself.Some partners never did discharge the debt, but a good pair could earn enough in bonuses to do so."My sincere congratulations on that feat, Brendan!"

"But I don't want to go into our savings."

"Medical expenses high?"Lars asked solicitously.Most humans complained about services singers never required.

"Oh, that!Repairs and injuries are part of our contract, and the contractor has to pay the full tab of Boira's rejuv since they neglected to inform us of the hazards inherent in the assignment."Bren sounded both irritated and smug."So, all her expenses are paid.I just have to-well, sing for my supper."

"How long a contract did you have with Heptite?"

"To the conclusion of your investigations plus travel time to return you to Shankill Moon Base and me to my base."

"And you wouldn't object to carting us about?"

"If you defray my costs…"

"Sure, we can do that.Any sailing on this Nihal planet?"

"It's more known for its mountain sports."

"Oh!"Lars took the last gulp of his soup, yawned, and settled back down under the thermal beside Killashandra.

"Lemme sleep on it, wouldja, Bren?S'a great ideeeeee… ah… mmm."

When Killashandra woke from her second sleep, she woke alert, with that sense of having slept deeply and well-and of being mildly hungry.She rolled out of the bunk so as not to rouse Lars and made it to the sanitary facility before she burst.She showered and shrugged into the loose, colorful striped robe she preferred to wear in transit.

She paused by the broad bunk to see how Lars looked-his face was no longer gaunt so she thought he'd awaken soon.As soon as she had closed the door and was out in the short corridor, Brendan gave her a good morning.

"Is it?"

"Well, it is morning, Nihal time, early morning."

"Oh!Yes, Nihal, of course.That G2-straight on till morning.How far away is it, Bren?"She was in the galley now, making herself a hot caffeine-rich drink.

"Relatively not far at my present speed."

"And it's not a water world?"

"It has water, of course, but mountain sports are featured."

"Hmmm, in that case, I'm not averse to it.Haven't done any hiking or skiing or climbing in-well, I can't remember when."

"There are lakes…"

"Lakes don't fascinate Lars as much as seas do," Killa said with some feeling.

"There are seas, but not much traffic on them.The fishing is limited to shoreline nettings, though there are said to be some tasty bivalves."

"Hmmm.You know, I'm hungry, but not ravenous, if you appreciate the distinction."

"I appreciate the distinction, Ki."Brendan chuckled."What might you be hungry for?"

Aware that she couldn't overburden her system, she settled on a light meal of juice and cereal, which she took from the galley into the main room.

"Shards!But we get to be sloppy eaters, don't we," she said with chagrin, noticing the food stains on the arm of her usual chair."Anything I can use to wash these out, Bren?I don't really want to hand you back to Boira in less than the condition you arrived in.That's not shipshape."

"And Bristol fashion?"

Killa laughed.Then she noticed the view on the main screen."Muhlah!What's that?"

"Ah, that is the very red Mira Variable R. Leporis.It has a four-hundred-and-thirty-two-day cycle.A type N, and, with any luck, we'll see it at its hottest.The pulsations should be magnificent as it begins to contract."

Killa squinted."It's very bright."

"I can darken the screen if it is visually uncomfortable."

"Hmmm, would you?Ah, thanks.That is undoubtedly the very reddest object I've ever seen.What are you seeing?"

"The emission spectra.Stupendous!"

They both, in their separate ways, considered the spectacle blazing light-years away but so vivid.

"Of course, if you find nothing of interest on Nihal Three, I'd be happy to take you elsewhere."

Killashandra snapped her fingers."Just like that?"

"It's like this, Ki," and Brendan explained what he had offered Lars.

The crystal singer whooped and fell against the back of the chair in a paroxysm of laughter.

"Our own brain ship?Acting the yacht?You've got a deal, man!"She gasped the phrases out between spasms of laughter and ended up wiping her eyes of tears."You really mean it?" she asked, turning toward Brendan's column.

"I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't."

"Don't huff, Bren, honestly, I didn't mean to offend.But don't you cost a lot?"

"I only need fuel, landing fees, and whatever supplies you and Lars require.To be sure, my larder's a bit bare right now."

"I can well imagine.You were champion to feed us as you did, Bren.I haven't eaten better during any Passover I can remember."Then practicality gripped her."I think you'd better tell me just how much your fuel and general landing fees run to.We got a great fee for risking skin and symbiont on Opal, but…"

Brendan then ran through some figures for her so that she realized the idea was feasible.In fact, downright exciting.

"Of course, we've got to get our report back to Lanzecki.Does Nihal Three have black crystals?"

"It does."

A shiver ran up Killashandra's spine.She didn't like to use black-crystal communications.One of the few crystal singers who could locate and cut black crystal, she was unusually sensitive to its presence in cut or raw form.Especially since she had installed the black-crystal communications system for the Trundomoux:she had never managed to bury the memory of the soul-shattering shock of activating the king crystal.She had asked Lanzecki about that lingering pull, but he hadn't had any answers.Whatever it was, it made her wary of actually using black crystal-especially when she wanted to forget crystal for a while.

"There are significant bodies of water down there," Killashandra said as Brendan approached their destination.

"We can go somewhere else," Lars said to pacify her."I didn't choose Nihal Three, remember.It was your 'straight on till morning'…"

His partner glowered at him.

"The chief recreational activity of the planet Sherpa is mountain climbing," Brendan said, raising his voice to distract them."Downhill and cross-country skiing, skidoo and other snow-based sports, canoeing and kayaking on only designated rivers, trekking on foot or mounted, hunting and fishing.The catering is deemed one of the highlights of the planet and indeed, wears the Four Comets of Gastronomical Excellence."

Killashandra groaned.

"A little exercise would improve your appetite," Brendan remarked."Although I never thought I'd have to say that to the pair of you!"

Lars chuckled, and even Killa managed a grin.Then Lars regarded her queryingly, his expression blandly conciliatory.

"Oh, all right.We do mountain sports first," she said in assent, then waggled her finger at him."I might do some canoeing, but you're on the bow paddle."

"Landing fees are moderate," Brendan said happily."This won't cost you much," he added cheerfully."You can send in your report, and I can get an update on Boira's condition.Ah, I'm getting a signal.Oh, really?" he added in surprise."Penwyn, how good to hear your voice!"To the astonished singers, he added, "The planetary manager was in my class!I'm very glad we decided to come here."

Although Killashandra worked on the official report with Lars, she let him take it to the Communications Center. When they had passed it in the ground vehicle on their way into the settlement, she experienced the frisson in her guts that told her she had cut the system's king crystal.She had returned as quickly as possible to the B amp;B.Now, in an atavistic burst, she scrubbed the food stains off the chairs while she waited for Lars to return.When he seemed to have been gone rather longer than the dispatch of a message should have taken, she began to feel ill used, then irritated and finally worried.

"This isn't an over-regulated planet, is it?Crystal singers aren't forbidden?" she asked Brendan.

"Not at all.It's a very loosely settled place, though there's a fair competition between recreational facilities to attract visitors.Penwyn handles what administration there is and he arbitrates any disputes, as well, but it's an orderly world."

At last Lars came back with promotional holos crammed into every pocket of his shipsuit.He was plainly delighted as he dumped them on to the worktop by the viewer and gestured dramatically at Killashandra.

"Take your pick!Reports filed-state of the art comtower, I'll tell you that, with your friend, Penwyn, handling the transmission, Bren.Guess you won't mind how long we're away, will you?"

"Hmmm, no, of course I won't," Brendan answered vaguely.He was busy chatting up Penwyn.

During the day that it took the two crystal singers to decide where to go first-eventually they settled on cross-country skiing to get their muscles limbered up for downhill runs-they didn't hear much from Brendan.

"Must be making up for the last fifty years," Lars said.

"Must you measure time!" she replied in a burst of irritation.What did time have to do with anything?It was today that mattered, and how well they spent it, how much they enjoyed it, or, if they were working in the Ranges, how much they could cut in a day!

Lars regarded her in surprise and then apologized in such a perfunctory manner that he aggravated her further.The lingering stress put a bit of a damper on their journey to the resort Killashandra had chosen.But once at the 'port that serviced the area-a long narrow valley amidst the most magnificent mountain scenery-her mood lifted.

The 'port was above the snowline in the mountainous rim of Sherpa's main continent, Nepal.They were collected at the door by the soberly welcoming rep of the snotel they had booked into.

"I am Mashid," he told them, making a low, respectful bow.Dark almond-shaped eyes did not so much as blink as he continued his greeting."I have been appointed to see that your sojourn with us is all that you desired."

Killashandra and Lars exchanged quick looks.

"We're remarkably easy to please," Killa said, "so long as you don't show me any large bodies of water."She dug Lars in the ribs.

"All water at this altitude is frozen," Mashid replied stolidly.

"What do we drink then?"Lars asked with a bare twitch of his lips."Melted snow?"

"Drinking water"-and Mashid's attitude toward drinking that was contemptuous-"is of course supplied as needed from protected reservoirs."

"I was joking," Lars said.

"As you wish."Mashid tendered another bow.Sweat had appeared on his forehead, for he was bundled in furs and thick fur-topped boots.

"Lead on," Lars suggested, gesturing to the door.He and Killashandra had bought outerwear suitable to the mountain climate but, though it had been pricey in the spaceport shop, neither jacket was as lush as Mashid's apparel.They learned later that he had caught, tanned, and made his garments as most of the mountain people did.

Turning with yet another bow, Mashid led them outside to an animal-drawn sleigh, brightly painted in orange and black stripes with the name of their snotel blazoned in huge letters on its sides.A pair of antlered, rough-coated beasts were harnessed to it, stamping their cloven hooves in the snow.They were nearly as long as the sleigh.

Lars and Killashandra were gestured into the passenger seat, and an immense fur robe was deftly tucked about them.Mashid swung expertly up on to the driver's seat and flicked a whip at the rumps of the beasts.The speed of their departure nearly gave Lars and Killashandra whiplash.

The pace was exhilarating; so was the crisp air, and the unusual method of transportation.Killa laughed aloud in sheer delight.She couldn't remember ever seeing so much snow before.She almost asked Lars if they had and then, as abruptly, didn't want to know: she wanted less to know if she had seen snow than if Lars could remember if they had.Then he turned a happy smile to her and it didn't matter.She was here, with Lars, and they had months before they had to even think of crystal and Ballybran.She was totally distracted by the cold wind nipping at her ears and clamped gloved hands to protect them.

In their four months at the snotel, they attempted every single snow sport available, including races on single skis and on sno-bikes down almost vertical slopes.They missed being buried in an avalanche by the length of a ski; they skate-danced, snow-surfed and -planed, and went spelunking through ice and rock caverns of incredible beauty.They absorbed Mashid's instructions and improved on them, until eventually they surprised approval-even compliments-from the sturdy Nepalese, who began to view their near-indestructibility with awe.They doubted he had ever met crystal singers before or knew that their minor bruises, lacerations, and contusions healed overnight, leaving them fully able to cope with the new day's ordeals.They almost regretted leaving him behind in the mountains.

But they had done all they could of the snow sports, and so they moved from the mountains to the vast bowl of the internal plains of Nepal.There they did take to the water and acquired a new guide without the imperturbability of Mashid.With him, they canoed through tortuous canyons on flumes of water, shooting dire-toothed rapids.

Once in a while they checked in with Brendan, who informed them that he was quite content and they needn't hurry.So they hunted for two months in the lake districts with a party of mixed planetarials, and rode and camped along the coastline for a month with another, during which time Lars so pointedly said nothing about sailing that Killashandra was sure she would burst with not hearing the words he didn't speak.

"We've done everything else," Killashandra said the night before they would turn inland, back to the vicinity of the spaceport."We really can't leave Sherpa without sailing, can we?"

"Can we not?"Lars retorted placidly.

"If you wanted to, we could."

"Wrong," he said, and with his index finger pressed her nose in."If you wanted to, we could."

Perversely, she ducked away from him and rolled off the bed, unaccountably annoyed with his self-sacrifice.

"It was my turn to pick," she said in a savage tone.

"Hey, honey-love…" Lars sprang from the bed to catch her in his arms, his face anxious."Don't be like this.It was your turn to pick the place and activities, and I've enjoyed everything we've done together."

She struggled in his arms, furious with his acquiescence, even with his concern.

"Hey, hey…" He tried to gentle her, pulling him against his bare body."Need a radiant bath?"He stroked her to judge crystal resonance in her body.

"I don't need one.I don't need crystal that badly yet.Ahhhhh!"And her irascibility disappeared as she arched in his arms."Crystal!We didn't try crystal."

"Try crystal?Where?What are you talking about, Killa?"

"We never gave the Junk any crystal."

"It would have absorbed-Oh, I see what you mean!"He blinked in sudden comprehension."D'you really think Ballybran crystal wouldn't be absorbed by the Junk?" he asked, catching a bit of her excitement despite his skepticism."What good would that do?"

"Communication.A lot easier than rapping out rhythm.There'd be a useful link with it, if nothing else."Killashandra was as tense with eagerness as she had been with irritation.

"We've done our job," Lars argued in protest."We've acquitted the assignment…"

"But we didn't find out anything."

"We found out the Junk is not a Heptite concern."

"But we didn't try crystal!" she repeated, struggling to release his grip.

"Well, if it means that much to you, let's see what Brendan says about taking us back there-with crystal.There, there, love-heart."Lars soothed her with hand and voice until she relaxed against him again."Only where will we get some Ballybran crystal here?"

"They've black crystal…"

"Huh?You think they'll loan black for this escapade?"

Killa glared at him"It's not an escapade.It's a point of investigation we neglected to make."

"Well, if they use black crystal, they use others," Lars said, releasing her and marching to the comconsole."And if they use others, they also abuse them and there'll be sour crystal somewhere on this planet.We can offer to retune, and take the slivers as part of our fee."

"We can't give the Junk sour crystal."

"I don't think anything would give it indigestion," Lars remarked, pausing as he punched in Brendan's on-planet code."Any scraps large enough can be tuned to some sort of pitch.You know, it might be fun to tune crystal when we don't have to."

Brendan was willing enough to return to Opal, though Killashandra could hear the reservations in his tone.

"I can't hang about there too long," he said, "and get you back to Ballybran in time to collect Boira.She's doing splendidly in rehab and retraining."Pride in his partner's recuperation colored his pleasant voice.

"That's very good news indeed, Bren," Killa said, meaning it."We just want to see what effect our crystal might have on the Junk."

"It'll probably gulp it down like it did everything else and lick its chops at the taste."

"Only sound has any effect on Ballybran crystal," Killashandra said with considerable pride."And there's no sound on an airless planet."

"Possibly," Brendan said."And we didn't try diamond either."

"Ballybran crystal's tougher than any diamond ever compressed from carbon!"

"My, we are loyal!"Lars said facetiously.

Killashandra gave a sniff."Well, there isn't any substance like Ballybran crystal anywhere else in the universe."

"Except"-and Lars's eyes glinted with teasing-"possibly the Junk!"

Crystal resonance was beginning to get to Killashandra as Brendan took them back to the Opal system in one Singularity Jump.It had started when she and Lars retuned to a minor fifth the sour dominant midblue crystals that Penwyn had procured for them.As Lars had thought, there were quite a few soured crystals on the planet.Though Penwyn didn't ask them too, they tuned them all-the work of three days for such experienced singers-and he canceled Brendan's landing fees.But the sessions had an effect on Killashandra, and she spent a full day in the radiant-fluid tub.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she insisted to Lars and Brendan when they were too solicitous of her."Being near black always does it."

Lars desisted then and must have told Brendan to leave off inquiring, for neither of them said another word until the BB-1066 landed near the Big Hungary Junk-as Killa dubbed it-with the sweet-tuned slivers of crystal that they had salvaged.

"Old home week," she said with unforced gaiety as they suited up.

"Do we know what we're doing, Killa?"Lars asked as he settled his helmet over his head.

"No."

"D'you know why you're doing it?"

"No."

"Maybe the Junk is sentient."

"You mean, some sort of psionic emanations?"Killashandra was not only skeptical but incredulous.

"Why else would you have such a harebrained notion to feed Ballybran crystal to an opalescent rib?" he demanded.

"I got the notion on Sherpa, not in the cave.I could have understood some sort of a connection if I'd thought of it then."

"You probably did," Lars replied, "you just forgot it.And don't snap at me over your lapsus memoriae!Let's get this experiment on the pad."

Even as he spoke he touched the lock release and it cycled open.Oxygen left the airlock with a whoosh.They stepped out on to Opal's cindery hide and followed the bright paint markings to Hungry Junk's precinct.

"Hey, improvement," Lars said as soon as they had descended to the level of the cavern.The blue radiance, edging toward white, made their suit lights unnecessary."Wow!"

"Wow what?"Brendan asked when the silence went on for fifty seconds.

"You're sure your instrumentation doesn't read anything?"Lars asked.

"Not a thing.What occasioned your unusual exhortation?"Brendan asked flippantly.

"We fed it too much," Killashandra replied softly.

"Naw," Lars said, "but we fed it good."

"Tell me, do!" was Brendan's slightly sarcastic remark.

"Sorry, Bren," Killashandra replied, "but it's a bloody shame you can't see.Junk's covered the entire cave, and there are long fingers that we'll probably find have descended to the next level.It's more beautiful than ever, all colors now, reds and oranges and yellows, as well as the blues, dark greens and purples that it originally had.They seem to flow in and out of patterns…"

"Like fractals," Lars added, sounding oddly languid."I could watch-Hey, what'd you do that for?"She'd given him such a push he'd nearly lost his balance.

"You were becoming thralled.Junk's hypnotic."Killa said, her voice sharp."Maybe even addictive."

"Should we give it crystal then?"Lars asked, his tone crisp and alert again.

"That's what we came to do.So let's do it!"

"All the crystals to old Hungry Junk?"

"No, just one," Killashandra said."Let's see what happens."

She pointed to a large swag of the Junk that was flowing toward the floor.Lars took the largest crystal, the B-flat, and, holding it in the calipers, inserted the blue.Junk obligingly flowed over it.

The two crystal singers held their breaths as they watched.

"Yup!"Killashandra let out a triumphant crow."It can't eat crystal."

"It can't?"Brendan asked."What's it doing?"

"Holding it in its cheek," Lars said flippantly, grinning at Killashandra, "having a good taste."The Junk was rippling back and forth across the crystal insertion, going through all the colors of its visible spectrum without altering the outline of cube.Then it seemed to push the cube upward, toward the crown in the center of the ceiling.Though apparently drawn deep into the opalescence, the crystal patently retained its integrity.

"Now what?"Brendan asked when the singers had nothing further to report.

"Look!"In astonishment Killashandra pointed to the half-open sack of crystals at her feet.They pulsed from midblue to dark and then paled."Damn!"She dropped to her knees beside them."Are they singing?Can't hear a bloody thing."

Tentatively Lars placed the tip of his gloved finger on the faceted surface of the nearest one.

"Vibration all right."He grinned in triumph."Communications established?"

"Could be, but pulsations and color alterations are no more intelligible than drum codes-until a code or even a language can be established.And semanticists we are not," Killashandra said, a degree of regret in her voice.

"Then let us by all means leave it to the experts," Brendan said."Around such an unknown quantity, I find that I get almost as nervous for you as I do for Boira."

"Why, thanks, Bren," Killashandra said, touched by the ship's concern."But I don't think we're in any danger."

"You are edible," he replied succinctly.

Killashandra laughed and Lars grinned at her.

"I wonder if any of the other Junk has expanded."

"We only fed this one," she replied."Let's go see."

Lars picked up the remaining crystal, which continued to glow until they had entered the airlock and Brendan had lifted from the immediate vicinity of Big Hungry.They checked the other locations and found that no other formation had increased as significantly as Hungry Junk, although all had begun to flow downward again.

"Got anything on board to feed the starving?"Lars asked.

"In point of fact, I do," Brendan said."Penwyn had non-recyclable wastes he did not care to dispose of on-planet…"

"Dirty stuff?"

"Obliging I am; stupid I'm not!No, most of it's clean litter from the spacefield.I thought we might use the refuse to better effect."

"Indeed we can."Killa said, pleased."I think the Junk's starved too long."

Lars was dubious."We might be making more problems…"

"We might," she said with a shrug, "but I can't not."

"I've kept a file on the metallic and organic content of what we're feeding it," Brendan said.

"Then we do a comparison, a standard scientific practice," Lars replied, dismissing his reservations."We feed four metallic and four organic."

It was tiring work, even in.7 gravity, distributing and feeding eight very hungry opalescents.As they trudged back to the 1066, both singers felt a curious satisfaction in the heightened glow and vigorous flow as Junk ingested their meals.

When they had finished, the two singers returned briefly to the Big Hungry to check on the crystal.

"Not even Junk can eat Ballybran crystal," Killashandra said proudly.

"The cubes you left in the lock, however," Brendan remarked, "have remained dormant."

"Too bad we didn't have any dirty waste to give the Junk," Lars said, "to see if it could digest half-lifes."

Killashandra regarded him warily."You do want to live dangerously, don't you?"

"Well, I don't think we've done any lasting harm.How long can one good meal last Junk?I think we leave this to the experts.Singers we are; scientists we're not."

"We're a lot smarter than that exploratory team who found Junk," Killa said.

"Are we?"

"Who can say at this juncture?"Brendan said, deftly diverting an argument with his outrageous pun.Lars and Killa groaned in unison as he went on."You've done more than you were required to.And, while I hate to press you…" he added tentatively.

"Yes, yes, of course," Killashandra said, suppressing any comment on the fact that he was indeed pressuring them."You're anxious to collect Boira."

"I think we've got more than enough to prove to Lanzecki that we earned our fee," Lars added, giving her a meaningful nod.

She exhaled restively, swinging her arms indecisively.But the men were right: they'd done more than was expected even if not what had been anticipated, finding a Heptite use of the Junk.Its fate would now be decided by others.

Lars moved to the exit arch, and with one more backward look at the surging flow of the Big Hungry's questing "finger," she followed.But the feeling that they hadn't done enough remained with her.