Crystal Line

Chapter 4

The BB-1066 returned them to Shankill Moon Base and deposited them with many expressions of pleasure at their company and hopes to see them again.Wryly Killashandra heard the undertone of polite impatience in his courtesies and nudged Lars to hurry the disembarkation process.Brendan wanted to return, full speed, to Regulus Base, where he would be rejoined by Boira.

They had the pencil files of their report for Lanzecki in their carisaks, which bulged with souvenirs from their months on Sherpa.

Periodically Killashandra cleared out her storage space of items that she could not remember acquiring.Now she couldn't recall if she had corners into which to stuff the new additions.She hated discarding her belongings until they brought back no memories of where they had been used.When she did get rid of things, she preferred to do it when Lars wasn't around.His memory was much better than hers, and he could remember where and when clothes or equipment had been purchased.And why.

They caught the first shuttle down to Ballybran.It was half-full of singers.To the three she recognized she gave a brief nod; Lars smiled at most, though he did not get a response from all.

"Sometimes they act as if they're going to their own executions," he said.

Evidently he said that often enough that her reply was automatic:"Sometimes they are."

That was true enough to be sobering.There was no chatter, no merriment, no laughter at all, and very few grins when singers returned to the planet from which they earned enough to indulge in whatever fancies rocked their jollies.The ambience today was enough to depress anyone-except Lars, who was smiling tenderly at the screen's magnificent view of the broad oceans on the day side.He must be the only singer who enjoyed another aspect of the Guild homeworld, Killa reflected.He was smiling because he could look forward to sailing again.

"You kept your word," she murmured to him."You choose the next one."

He grinned absently at her."Hope Pat put her back in the water after Passover."

"We won't have time now for a cruise."

His hand covered hers on the armrest, and his smile was tender and deeply affectionate."I like the 'we', Sunny!"His fingers squeezed, and she, too, was suffused with loving warmth for him.They did make a very good team!Then he exhaled."Lanzecki'll probably have us both out in the Ranges before the morning."

The shuttle was crossing into the night zone as it spiraled down to Ballybran's surface.

"More than likely."Killashandra felt no resistance to the prospect.The need to sing crystal had become more insistent during the last leg of their return voyage.

When she had last checked their credit balance, it was sizeable enough to reassure her against any eventuality-not finding one of their old lodes of good crystal, a sudden storm flushing them out of the Ranges, even more damage to the sled, though that she intended to avoid.The last accident had caused her extreme aggravation.So asinine to have been caught in an avalanche!Lars had maintained that no blame could be attached to them; she railed that they ought to have checked the stability of the projection that had decided to drop on their sled.

She even remembered the piercing, almost pitying, look he had given her."Look, Killa, you can't be everything in the Ranges.You've got weather sense that has saved our hides more times than I care to count; you're a superb cutter, and you've never cracked a crystal pitching it.Neither of us is geologist enough to have known that projection was unstable.Leave it!"

She remembered his reassurance now.More vivid and embarrassing was her remembered ignominy at having to be hoisted out of the Ranges.She would be grateful when that memory was expunged from her mind by her return to the Ranges.Soon enough only Lars would have access to that embarrassment.Time after time, she had heard him making reports to his private file.He wasn't likely to tease her about the avalanche-she'd give him that-but she almost wished he wouldn't commit every damn detail to electronic memory.

The shuttle landed them, and everyone filed out glumly.Only Lars seemed in good spirits.Then the port duty officer signaled to Lars and Killashandra.

"Lanzecki said you're to report to him immediately, forthwith and now!"

"When have I heard that before?"Lars replied with a grin, clipping Killashandra under the elbow as he guided her toward the lift that would take them to the executive level.

As they entered the administration office, Bollam gave them a brief nod of acknowledgement.

"I really don't like that man," Killa murmured to Lars as she placed her hand on the door plate."He's a dork!A real dork!I wouldn't trust him in the Ranges, and I don't have Lanzecki's problem."

Lars jiggled her elbow to move on as the door slid open.It was as if the Guild Master hadn't moved from the position in which they had last seen him.Except, Killa noticed as he raised his head at their approach, he looked more tired and less… less substantial.She shook the notion out of her head.

"Good work," he said, nodding at them.

"Good work?"Killa was astonished."But the Junk isn't something the Guild can use."

Lanzecki shrugged."One less complication.And this Junk of yours couldn't digest Ballybran crystal?"That was more a proud statement than a question, and a slight smile pulled at the corner of Lanzecki's thin mouth.

He was aging, Killa thought, noticing thin vertical lines on his upper lip, the deeper marks from nose to mouth, and the discoloration under his eyes.

"You're working too hard," she said.Lanzecki raised his eyebrows inquiringly."That dork at the door's no help.You need someone more like Trag.He was efficient-"

She stopped, seeing Lanzecki's expression alter to a courteous mask that rebuked her for her impudence.

"Look, anything we can do to help?"Lars asked.He glanced at Killashandra, not for permission but for her to reinforce his offer of assistance.

Lars never had learned the lesson Moksoon had taught her-that one asked, and expected, no help from anyone in the Ranges.Only… the Cube was not the Ranges.

"Neither of us have to get out a while yet," she replied, though it wouldn't be long before an undeniable urgency began to pulse through her veins.Helpfulness and cooperation were not singer characteristics, but even she could remember being obliged to-and alternately infuriated by-Lanzecki's demands on her, and on herself and Lars.

However, she was currently grateful for the benefits of the intriguing Junk assignment, and thus in a mood to be generous.

"I appreciate that very much indeed."

"Isn't there anyone else more suitable than Bollam?" she demanded.

Lanzecki shrugged."He has his uses.Now…" He turned immediately to red-sheeted Priority notices."These can no longer be ignored, Lars.And Killa, Enthor's gone and his replacement needs to be overseen.You've a finely tuned sense for crystal's potential.Can you see your way clear to assisting in the Sorting Shed until the woman's less tentative?She's got to be more confident that her judgment's right.I can't be hauled in to mediate her evaluations with disgruntled singers."

Killa made a face."So I'm Trag's stand-in?"

Lanzecki gave her a level look."In that aspect of our craft, you were always his superior."

"Well, well," she said, and would have teased him had she not seen the flicker in his eyes that suggested she restrain her flippancy."Any singers due in?"

"The Tower says that five are on their way back.Storm gathering over the southeast tip of the Ranges.Met says it's just a squall."

Killa snorted in disgust.Even "just a squall" on Ballybran could be mortally dangerous to any singers caught in it.The high winds that gusted over the canyons stroked mind-blowing resonances out of the crystalline Ranges.

"Who's the new Sorter?"

"Woman name of Clodine," Lanzecki replied."Don't ride her, Killashandra.Her main fault is being new at the game."

Lars cocked an eyebrow at her and winked conspiratorially.She caught the warning that she would do more good to be patient.She shook her hair back over her shoulder in denial of the reminder and, on her mettle, strode out of the room.

Clodine greeted Killashandra with a nervous blend of gratitude and caution.Sorters, whose particular adjustment to the Ballybran symbiont affected their vision to the point where they did not need any mechanical aid to see intrusions and flaws in crystal, did not suffer the memory deterioration that singers did.Each of the other four Sorters on duty gave Killashandra a pleasant nod or wave as she made her way to Clodine's station-a station that had been Enthor's since before Killa had become a member of the Heptite Guild.She would miss him, too:they'd had some spectacular arguments over his evaluation of the tons of crystal she had presented for his inspection.But she had known him to be exceedingly competent, and fair.The opinion had survived throughout all her trips in the Ranges.Two faces she always remembered, no matter how crystal-mazed she was: Enthor's and Lanzecki's.

Clodine would have to be very good indeed to replace Enthor in Killashandra's estimation.Ironic to find herself in the position of teaching the woman all the skills she herself had learned from the old Sorter.But Killa did know crystal.

The tall, slender girl-Killa judged her to be young in real chronology-kept blinking, her eyes going from one state to the other.Involuntarily she shuddered when the magnification of her enhanced sight made what should have been ordinary images unnerving to behold.She was an attractive girl, too, which might be why Lanzecki had enlisted Killa's aid.There had been a time when Killa would have been intensely jealous of anyone who took Lanzecki's interest, but those days were a long time back in the decades that had not included Lars Dahl.Clodine had lovely blonde hair, a lot of it, neatly confined in a thick net.She had the fair complexion of the genuine blonde, and midbrown eyes with light flecks.Yes, very attractive.Some of Killa's unexpected anxiety for Lanzecki's aging dissipated.He still an eye for a pretty girl and a lissome shape.

"I'm Killashandra Ree," she said, holding out her hand to Clodine.That was a habit most humanoid worlds had adopted, and she had been doing it so much on Sherpa that it had become natural.Singers fresh out of the Ranges never touched anyone if they could help it.Crystal shock sometimes had an adverse effect on others.But Clodine was too new to Ballybran to notice anything out of the ordinary."Lanzecki sent me down as backup to this grimy lot on their way in.He doesn't want to scare you off the job at too early a date."

The crystal singer noticed that the worn scales and equipment that had served Enthor for so many decades had been replaced.Even the metal worktop, once scraped and scored by hundreds of thousands of cut crystal forms, was pristine.

Clodine gave a tentative smile, and her eyes flicked into the alter state and then back again."Oh, Gods, I'll never get the hang of it."

"Make your eyes very round when you want to stay in normal visual mode," Killashandra said in a low voice, aware that the other Sorters were watching them.

Clodine tried to smile and widen her eyes, then groaned because her eyes altered despite her efforts.

"It's surprising how soon you will become accustomed to the alteration," Killashandra said in her most sincere "buck up there" tone."Ah, here they come!"

"They do?"Clodine looked up at the wraparound screens that showed the as-yet empty Hangar where the singers' sleds would land.The latest batch of Guild apprentices waited there to help unload the precious crystal.The Met screens showed that the squall, having wreaked brief havoc in the Ranges, was passing harmlessly out to sea, half a continent away.The Hangar crew was lounging about.When storm systems raged close to the Guild's massive cube, their duties became far more urgent and perilous-even to closing the great Hangar doors to incoming singers rather than risk damage to those already safe within.More times than she cared to remember-probably many more times than she could remember-Killa had been the last singer to get in over the interlocking jaws of the great portal.

"See?"Killa said, directing Clodine's attention to the long-range screen where the first of the incoming sleds was just now visible as a speeding blip.

"Oh!"Clodine blinked nervously and, shaking her head in distress, looked about to weep.

"Relax," Killa drawled and pushed herself up to sit on the brand-new worktop."They're a good half hour out-unless they've had a good scare!"She grinned with amusement and saw Clodine relax a bit."Where you from?"

"I don't imagine you've ever heard of my home system…" the Sorter began apologetically.

"Try me," Killa replied with a laugh.

"A planet named Scarteen-"

"In the Huntsman system," Killashandra said, oddly pleased by the girl's delight in her knowing."Nice place.Good currents in the Great Oceans."

"You've sailed on Scarteen?"

"I've sailed-" Killa paused, censored the ennui in her tone, and smiled kindly at the child, "-on most worlds that are hospitable to our species."

"You sail?I mean, sheet-sail, not motor cruise?"

"Wind-sail, of course."She flicked one shoulder, consigning motor cruising to a suitable nadir."And you'll find there's good sailing here, too.In fact, if we've time before we go out in the Ranges, my partner and I would be happy to take you out on our ship, show you some of the tricks of sailing Ballybran's currents and coasts."

"Oh, would you?"

Once again, Lars's avocation won her unexpected friendship.Killa sighed and filled in the time until the sleds arrived with sea tales that were honorably unembellished.They didn't need to be!Sorters might not need to leave Ballybran as often as singers, but they took holidays-especially during Passover storms.It didn't hurt to reassure the girl that there was more to life as a Heptite Guild member than remembering to widen her eyes to avoid blinking to crystal-gaze.

Clodine was, as Lanzecki suspected, suffering only from inexperience in dealing with Range-crazed singers.Killashandra's presence quelled the other singer's urge to argue with Clodine's estimate of his crystals-which were a rather good midgreen, currently in scarce supply, so even without arguing he got a better price than Killa knew he had anticipated.He would have had no cause to berate a Sorter, new or experienced, but arguing price with your Sorter got to be an ingrained habit with singers.Some Sorters enjoyed persiflage, and/or getting the better of the singer.

Timing was so often the deciding factor in the value of a cut.If the market was glutted, the price was understandably low.Some colors were always worth the premium price, like black crystals, which were so valuable as communication links.The pale pinks were always low market, but a fine seven-shaft cut of even pink could be valuable in an industrial complex.

When the singer had left, grumbling desultorily, Killashandra touched Clodine's shoulder and grinned at her woeful expression.

"He's all wind and piss.Most of us are.You know your grading, the latest market price is what's on your terminal.Don't let 'em hassle you.Part of it's coming in sudden from the Ranges without as much as you thought you would cut this time out.I'm always sure I should have been able to cut longer and more.Most of it's pure singer cussedness.Ignore it, considering the source!Enthor train you up?" she added, for something of the way Clodine had handled crystal reminded her of the old man.

"Yes."Clodine's eyes widened in astonishment."How did you know that?"

Killa sniffed."Enthor loved crystal.He passed that on to you.Remember that the next time a singer gives you a hard time.You-" Killashandra prodded Clodine lightly in the chest-"love crystal.I can see that in how you handle it.Singers-" she turned her thumb into her own sternum-"invariably hate crystal."

"You do?"

"For all that it does for us and to us, yes."And, feeling that that sounded like a great exit line, Killashandra left the Sorter Shed.

Lars had not returned to their apartment.She gave herself a long soak in the water tub; then, wearing a loose robe, she began to unpack the carisaks that had been delivered while she was overseeing Clodine.When she got hungry and Lars still hadn't returned, she tapped out a "where is" code on the terminal.

"Here," Lars's voice responded as his features formed on the screen.

"Where?"

"Lanzecki's," he replied, as if she should have known."C'mon up."

Puzzling over that, Killa changed and returned to the Guild Master's domain.

The pair were sitting at the table where Killa had often dined alone with Lanzecki.There was a third place set, and as Lanzecki gestured her to be seated, Lars rose and met her halfway, giving her a quick embrace and kiss.

Wondering what this was all about, Killa smoothly took her place.

"We waited," Lars said, and he nodded at the array of sumptuous-looking dishes.

"How did Clodine do?"Lanzecki asked, forestalling any query from her.

"She's fine.I told her not to let singers get up her nose.Enthor trained her.She loves crystal.I told her singers hate it.Opened her eyes!"Killa grinned.

"In more ways than one, I trust?"Lanzecki said, quirking his eyebrow.He was being Lanzecki-the-man, as he had been in their old loverly days-a pose he had never before assumed in Lars's presence.For some reason it disturbed her.

"Well, that's the trick, isn't it?" she replied, knowing better than to show her surprise."Widening the eyes to prevent the alteration.She was only nervous."

"Anything good in?"Lanzecki asked.

Killa regarded him coolly.The Guild Master ought to have been the first to know the answer to that question.

"Lars and I have been discussing the Junk to the exclusion of all else."Lanzecki raised his wineglass in a toast to her, then included Lars."Interesting… Junk.I'm almost sorry I have to turn the matter over to the proper authority."

"Junk's sentient," Killa said flatly, helping herself to food.

"Too bad sentience isn't a marketable commodity," Lanzecki said."Have some milsi stalks!" he added, passing her the plate and changing the subject.

"What under the suns were you and Lanzecki up to for half a day?" she asked Lars as she swung her legs up onto the sleeping surface of their bedroom.

He yawned mightily, stepping up off the floor and walking to the pillowed end, where he folded down and began to wriggle into a comfortable position.

"The Junk mostly, and speculation as to whether or not it could use the crystal as a comlink.I doubt it.And this and that."Lars punched a pillow into the right contours and stuck it under his head, watching her as she rolled up against him.He lifted one arm, a tacit invitation to nestle against him.She did."He misses Trag."

"Did you find out what crystal-crazed notion made him pick that dork in Trag's place?"

She settled her cheek against Lars's smooth chest.At some point he, too, had bathed, for his skin exuded a subtly spicy odor.Lanzecki preferred spicy scents.What could these two be dreaming up together?She wondered.Lars had never used to tolerate Lanzecki at all, he'd been so possessive of her.

His fingers lazily trailed across her back, and she forgot about all other concerns and began to stroke him where it would do the most good.Somehow, despite being reasonably sure that Brendan's shipboard manners were impeccable, they had never quite been able to abandon themselves on the 1066.They proceeded to indulge each other shamelessly.

Uninhibited loving was the best!

The comunit buzzed until they woke, or rather until Lars waved his hand at the panel and accepted the call.

"Lars?Can you spare me the morning?"Lanzecki asked.

Killashandra groaned at the sound of his voice, but she didn't quite take in the message.She flattened her body against the bedding and determinedly resumed her interrupted slumbers.So when she did wake, she wasn't quite certain what had happened to Lars.There was no residual heat left where his body had been.

She roused, washed, and ordered food.As usual, the latter triggered an interruption.

"Killa?I'm up in Lanzecki's office."

"Humph!What's he got you doing now?"

She could hear the amusement in Lars's voice."Actually, he's got me interested in spite of myself, and you know I'm not an admin type."

"No, you're not."

"Don't be so sour, Sunny.It's a bright day, and we don't have to go cut crystal-yet!"

"Well, I can't say as I mind that…" Killa said, as much because that was the expected answer.Then she began to wonder."Lars, what are you-" But the call had been disconnected at his end.

More curious than disgruntled, Killa finished her meal, dressed, and went up to Lanzecki's office.There, the mere sight of Bollam, hunched over his terminal, annoyed her.His frantic look and his sudden intense interest in the contents of his screen added to her aggravation.

She couldn't resist twitting him."Lost something, Bollam?"

"Ah, yes, that is, no!No, I'm merely not sure under what category Trag filed the pencil data files."

"Try the first four letters of whatever file you're hunting, the year if you know it, and hit Search."She meant to be facetious and was irritated that her advice seemed to solve his problem.She caught a glimpse of his relieved smile as she continued on her way into the office.

"Haven't you two moved?" she demanded as she saw them in positions similar to yesterday's.

"I never knew just how much power the Guild wields," Lars said, beckoning to her in an airy fashion.

"You ought to," Killa said, scowling at Lanzecki."We trade rather heavily on it whenever we leave Ballybran."

"I don't mean as singers, Killa, but the Guild as a force in interstellar politics.And policies."

"Oh?"

"And all without having to leave Ballybran!Whoever needs to speak to the Heptite Guild must come here!"Lars chuckled with an almost boyish delight.Lanzecki wore just the slightest smile as he glanced over at her.

To Killashandra that cynical amusement meant Lanzecki was building to something devious.She cocked her head at him.He shook his head very slightly in denial.

"I've a meeting later today, Killa.I'd appreciate it if you and Lars would sit in on it."

Killa jerked her finger over her shoulder in the direction of Bollam."He's your assistant."

The fleeting shift of Lanzecki's dark eyes told her that he didn't expect much of Trag's replacement, and his lack of such expectation worried her all the more.

"Yesterday Enthor, today Trag?" she asked, mockingly.

"I'd appreciate your counsel," he said, bending his upper body just slightly toward her in an unexpected bow.

She wondered how he knew that deference would insure her support.Probably.Lanzecki had usually been able to read her, at times better than Lars did.She realized then that she usually compromised with Lars more than she would have with Lanzecki.But then, she wanted to.She trusted Lars Dahl more than she had ever trusted Lanzecki, even when they had been passionate lovers.Or maybe because of that!

"Bollam?Have you got those trade figures?"Lanzecki called out.

"Still working" was the all too quick reply.

A look of pained patience crossed Lanzecki's face.

"I remember Trag's system," Killa said, turning on her heel and retracing her steps to the worktop where Bollam was plainly unable to find the relevant pencil files."Move over," she told the flustered man."Now who's coming?"

"The Apharian Four Satellite Miners League," he said, both resenting her usurpation and relieved that finding the documentation was now someone else's responsibility.

She typed "Apha4SML.doc" and obediently the recalcitrant entry blossomed across the screen.Bollam groaned.

"I did, I tried that.I really did."

"The library banks know an authoritative punch when they get one," she said, shrugging.She tapped a deliver.

"He wants the Interstellar Miners League, as well."

"What year?"

"Twenty-seven sixty-six."

Killa frowned.Twenty-seven sixty-six?When had she left Fuerte, storming out of her native planet with that crystal singer-ah, what was his name?Had it been 2699?Or 2599?She shook her head in irritation, then concentrated on tapping out the required sequence.The new files joined the others in the delivery slot.She was a lot better at his job than Bollam was.She gave him not even a look as she gathered up the files and brought them in to Lanzecki and Lars.

Lanzecki gave her a grateful smile as he began feeding them into the reader slot.He folded his arms across his chest as the first one came up on the monitor.

Feeling an obligation to assist the Guild Master, Killa stayed on, as Lars did.She accessed additional data when Lanzecki asked for it, ignoring Bollam when he hovered in an attempt to figure out how she found files so easily.At first it amused her that Lars and Lanzecki worked together so effortlessly.She wondered that, at times, Lanzecki seemed to defer to Lars's opinions.Certainly he tapped them into his own notes.

Then the representatives arrived for the meeting, properly attired against breathing Ballybran air.Lanzecki, hands on the backs of Killashandra and Lars, steered them into the conference room.

The Apharian Miners League wanted to extend their communications link in the asteroid belt they were currently working.They could not afford black crystal.

"Black crystal isn't needed for belt comunits.Blue will do as well and is half the price," Lanzecki said."Here are specifications and costs."He inserted a pencil file in the screen reader, and specs and relative costs were displayed on the large monitor for all to see.

"Even that's out of our budget," the head delegate said, shaking his helmeted head.

"I doubt it," Lanzecki said bluntly.A tap of his finger and their trade figures replaced the spec/cost data.

Another delegate, a woman with sharp features and narrow-set eyes, glared first at the screen and then at him."How did you obtain restricted data?"

"I particularly like to assemble 'restricted' data," Lanzecki replied.

"You could go to a green-crystal connection," Lars suggested."Of course there is a longer time lag in communication, especially for any distant units.The blue link is unquestionably faster.Basically you get what you pay for.The option is always yours."

Though Killashandra kept her expression bland, she was amused by Lars's hard-line pose.She had rarely seen that facet of his personality.He was as cool and uncompromising as Lanzecki.An interesting development.

"At present we have the necessary blue-crystal cuts such an installation would require," Killa said smoothly.She gave a little shrug with one shoulder."Who knows when we'd have sufficient green.It's not an easy color to cut.Nearly as elusive as black.Which we also don't have on hand.You might have a long wait for quality black crystal."

"We can't afford that quality crystal," the woman said, almost spitting the words out over her helmet mike."But we did expect that, in making the effort to come here and outline our need, you might be amenable to a deal."

Lanzecki cleared his throat dismissively."Your League has nothing this Guild requires.The Guild has what you require, and at the advertised price."He rose."You either take it or do without.It's up to you."

Lars and Killa moved to bracket him.

"Wait!" the head of the delegation said, his expression anxious."You don't understand.We've had accidents, deaths, problems, all due to a lack of adequate communications.We must have a reliable comsystem."

"Blue is available.You can wait for green, if that's all you can afford."Lanzecki spoke with no emotion whatever.He really didn't care one way or another

Killashandra saw hatred sparkle in the eyes of the woman.

"My husband and my two sons died in an accident…"

Lanzecki turned halfway to her and inclined his head."A singer died and two more were seriously injured acquiring the blue crystal.We have both lost, and we can both gain."

"You heartless-" The woman launched herself at Lanzecki, screaming other epithets in her frustration at his diffidence.

Lars intercepted her neatly even as Killashandra moved to interpose her body to protect Lanzecki's back.

"Lideen, don't!" the leader said, reaching her first.He grabbed her by the arms and passed her to the other members of his party.He took a deep breath before he went on."Guild Master, I do recognize that sentiment has no place in business."

"In either yours or mine," Lanzecki replied with cool courtesy.

"You singers have crystal for blood!Crystal for hearts!"Lideen yelled as the other two miners' reps hauled her out of the room.

"The Guild does not make deals," Lars added."The integrity of our price scale has to be maintained.Two options are currently open to you.You can, of course, wait until there is a glut of blue crystal on the market, which would bring the unit price down, but there is no downward market forecast on blue crystal at the moment.Or you can install green when it is available.Your credit balance indicates that your League is able to fund either.It's up to you to decide."

As Killashandra followed Lanzecki and Lars to the door, she sneaked a look over her shoulder and saw the hesitation on the leader's face.He wanted the crystal badly; he knew he could pay for it; he was just trying it on as standard operating procedure.But he had obviously never approached this Guild before.Quite likely, there'd be an order from the Apharian League before the Apharians departed Shankill Moon Base.Someone should have warned them not to haggle with Lanzecki and the Heptite Guild.Most people knew that.Still, there were always those who would chance their arms to save a few credits.Only this group had forgotten that mining crystal was not so very much different to mining asteroids: the result of failure bore the same cost.

She shrugged.

"Damn fools," she heard Lanzecki say as she closed the door to the conference room.

He stalked across to the table at which he and Lars had been working, slammed a new file into the reader slot, and stared at the display.

That wasn't like Lanzecki, and Killashandra blinked in surprise.Lars gave an imperceptible shake of his head; she shrugged and dismissed the matter.

By the seventh day, when Lars hadn't mentioned going out into the Ranges, she did.

"Did those Apharians order?Or should we concentrate on finding some green crystal?" she asked when he finally appeared late that evening.

"Huh?"

Lars's mind was clearly on other matters.She felt excluded and that made her irritable.They were partners, close partners, and shared everything.

"I thought we came back to cut crystal, not sit around playing diddly with pencil files."

He gave her one of his quick, apologetic grins."Well, we can depart in a day or two."

She raised her eyebrows, trying for a light touch.

"Are you aiming to take over from Bollam?"

"From Bollam?"He stared at her in amazement, then laughed, pulling her into his arms."Not likely, when I've the best partner in the whole Guild.It's just that-well, I can't help being flattered when Lanzecki keeps asking my advice, now can I?"

"I don't mean to denigrate your advice, but that's not like Lanzecki."

"Too true, Sunny, too true," he said with a sad sigh."I'd hazard that he misses Trag more than he'd admit."

"Then why did he take on such a want-wit as Bollam!There must be someone more qualified!"

Lars grinned at her vehemence and rocked her close in his arms."Did you find anyone to replace him over the last few days?"

She pushed him away, glaring reprovingly at him.She had thought her search discreet enough.

"Oh, there's little going on here that Lanzecki doesn't hear about sooner or later.He said to tell you that he appreciated your efforts.Bollam suits his needs."

Killa swore.

"Hey, I wouldn't mind a late-night snack," Lars said, hauling her with him to the catering unit."And yes, the Apharians ordered the blue, still registering complaints about the cost and issuing veiled statements about unethical access and invasion of commercial privacy and all that wind and piss."

Two days later Killashandra and Lars lifted their sled out of the Hangar and headed east, toward the Milekey Ranges.Behind them a second sled departed, but immediately struck out on a nor' easterly course.

"That's Lanzecki's," Killashandra said in surprise.

"Yes, that's why he's been working such long hours, to clear all current business.He'll be the better for a spell in the Ranges. That's all he needs, really."

"But with Bollam?"

"I'll grant you that I've qualms, but who knows?Bollam might turn out to be top-rank cutter.Or why would Lanzecki shepherd him?"

"Shepherd him?"Killa blinked."Bollam's not been blooded in the Ranges yet?"She recalled the fine crystal scars on Bollam's hands and arms."He's cuts enough."

Lars grinned."I heard tell that he was the clumsiest apprentice they ever had on the Hangar floor.He's lucky to find anyone to shepherd him, the number of singers he annoyed dropping crystals when he was unloading sleds."

Killa muttered uncomplimentary epithets about Bollam.

"I suppose that sort of duty does fall with Lanzecki," Lars went on with a sigh, "shepherding the ones no one else will take to initiate."

"I don't envy him the job, that's for sure."

"Nor I."Lars turned to grin at her, his eyes deep with affection."But then, I had the best of all possible partners."

"You!"She faked a cuff to his jaw.She could, and did, envy Bollam the chance to be shepherded by Lanzecki on his first trip to the Ranges: the twit didn't deserve such an honor.Odd, though; she would have thought Lanzecki would have blackmailed someone else to shepherd Bollam, reserving his own talents to take the rough edges off the man once he'd been exposed to the Ranges.

"Where'll we head, partner?"Lars asked her as they entered the Milekey.

Killashandra grimaced.The usual ambivalence surged up in mind and body.A singer cut crystal to leave the Ranges as frequently as possible.But a singer also had to renew herself with the crystal she cut.The more she cut out of a certain lode, the easier it was to find it later.If she went off-planet for any length of time, that attraction diminished.But a singer had to go off-planet to ease the crystal pulse in her blood.Cutting too much was almost, not quite, as much a hazard as cutting too little.With Lars, she had often been able to cut just enough, which was the main advantage of singing duet.

"Can you remember where we cut those greens a couple of trips back?"

Lars gave her a long thoughtful look.

"What's wrong?" she asked."We have cut greens, and with none available it seems sensible to get top market price on something."

"Why don't we go for black?"

"You know how hard it is to find black, good black," she replied in a cranky tone.She didn't want to cut blacks-ever.

"Green it is," he said, and slightly altered the sled's course."Our marker may have faded a lot," he went on."Lots of storms have passed over since we cut green."

"Not that many!"

He said nothing and accelerated the sled."It'll be a while.Settle down."

She watched the jagged pinnacles of the Range.Paint splotches, old and new, indicated claims.Once she would have recognized markers by their color and pattern.She didn't try any more.Theirs was a black and yellow herringbone design, which Lars had thoughtfully painted on the console.She often cursed that choice, because it was hell to paint the pattern on uneven rock surfaces, but she had to admit that the black and yellow herringbones had high visibility.

The sled plowed through the skies, the sweep of peak and pinnacle flowing past her in an almost mesmerizing blur.Below a relatively fresh paint splotch, she caught the metallic glitter of a sled half-hidden under a canyon overhang.

"They ought to watch out," she murmured under her breath."Ledges can fall down on top of you."

"What say, Sunny?"Lars asked, and she grinned as she waved at him to ignore her.

It was late in the morning when he began to circle the sled."Think I found one," he said, bringing them down to hover over the spot.

"Are you sure?"Killa squinted down at rocks bearing the barest hint of color: the herringbone pattern was all but indistinguishable.

"Sure as I can be.Shall we put down and see what we remember of the site?"

"We certainly have to renew the marker," she said, annoyed that the paint, which was supposed to have a long sun-life, had faded so badly.Markers were what kept other singers from usurping claims.A claim was circular in shape, with a radius of a half kilometer radiating from the painted logo.No one was supposed to enter a space so marked.As further protection, the mark was not required to be at the lode itself-or even anywhere near.The lode could be right at the edge of the enclosed space and still be claimed by the singer.

"Paint first, look later," Lars said, calling the order.

They painted and then took a meal break, all the while looking around the circle, hoping to trigger recollections of this particular site.

"We've got to go down," Killa said after she'd swallowed her last mouthful."Nothing's familiar at this height."

"Eeny meeny, pitsa teeny," Lars chanted as he circled up from the peak.At "teeny", Lars left the circle in that direction, bringing the sled down into the small canyon.He grinned at Killa:a random choice had often proved lucky.He neatly parked their vehicle in the shadow cast by the higher side, and she nodded approval of his caution.They would be hidden from an aerial view until the morning.

She was first out of the sled, running her fingers along the uneven rock walls of the canyon and hoping to catch a trace of crystal resonance.Or find the scars of a previous working.

Lars struck off in the opposite direction.They met on the far side, having seen nothing to indicate this canyon was the one they were looking for.

"Shall we go left or right?"Lars asked as they got back into the sled.

"Off the top of my head!Right!"Killashandra said after a moment's sober thought."Not that that's any indication."

But she turned out to be correct-for in the narrow ravine to the right of their first landing they came across evidence of cutting.

"I'd know our style anywhere," Lars said.

"You mean yours," she replied, settling in to another of their long debates as they returned to the sled and unpacked their sonic cutters.

"We'd do better if we waited until the sun hits them," Lars said.

"No better or no worse.Hit a C."

Inhaling deeply, he sang a fine powerful true mid-C, his eyes sparkling at her, daring her as he so often did.She sang out a third above his note, as powerfully as he had.Sound bounced back at them, making them both flinch at the undertones.

"Some of it's cracked," Killa said but, as one, they both moved toward the resonating point."Green, from the power in its echo."

"I told you I remembered where we'd cut green."

Once at the side of the ravine, they sang the pitch notes again and set their cutters to the sound.Killa indicated the cut she would make and set herself for the first wrenching scream of cut crystal.No sooner had she set the cutter than Lars set his a handspan to the right.

The first set cleared away the imperfect crystal to reveal a wide vein of fine green.

"Shards, but those Apharians are going to be furious when they hear about this," she said, slicing away additional marred quartz.

"What'll we try for?"

"Comunit sizes, of course," she said with a snort.

Once the debris cleared, they sang again in case they had to retune the cutters, but Lars's C and her E rang clearly back at them.Together they placed their cutter edges and, taking a simultaneous breath, turned on the power.