Anne McCaffrey Crystal 2 Killashandra

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only, but his voice carried.
"Nerves -- No, it's not nerves. Does this cruiser use a crystal drive?" She
spoke in a loud, accusing tone, looking to Captain Festinel for her answer.
"It does, Guildmember, and I regret to inform you that we are experiencing
some difficulty with it."
"It urgently needs to be retuned. As soon as you're in port. The way it sounds
right now, it'll be broad-casting secondary sonics by
morning."
"The engineer has been monitoring an uneven drive thrust but it should see us
safely to the Mainland."
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"You have reduced speed?"
"Of course, Crystal Singer, the moment the instrumentation recorded
resonance."
"What is the matter with the cruiser?" Elder Torkes asked, only then aware of
the nature of the discussion.
"Nothing for you to worry about," Killashandra said curtly, without glancing
in his direction, for she was rubbing that side of her neck. She felt Lars
stiffen beside her, and heard the tiny intake of her left-hand partner's
breath. "I hope." She rose. "The whine is subsonic but highly irritating. Good
evening, gentlemen."
Lars followed her and for a miracle they were alone in the companionway as he
escorted her to her cramped quarters.
"Is it monitored?" she asked him in a low voice. He nodded.
"Do you require any medication to sleep, Guildmember?"
"Yes, if you can find some polly wine, Captain."
"The steward will bring a decanter to your quarters."
With a bottle of that inside her, Killashandra slept in spite of the
increasingly audible distortion. The next morning, the noise was almost
audible. Even Lars was affected. She was relieved when Captain Festinel
requested her presence on the bridge. And concerned when she was shown the
drive print-out. Festinel and his engineering officer were justifiably
concerned.
"We were due for an overhaul when this emergency came up, Guildmember. The
Broad Sea had more turbulence than we had anticipated putting a strain on the
compensators as well as the stabilizers, especially at speed." The Captain was
flatteringly deferential so Killashandra nodded as he made his points, and
frowned wisely at the print-out as if she knew what she was seeing Fortunately
the bridge was buffered against crystal noise as the rest of the ship was not,
giving her a respite from the sound.
Until she put her hand on the bulkhead and felt it coursing through the metal.
"The drive is losing efficiency," Killashandra said, recalling the phrases
which Carrik had used at the shuttle port on Fuerte, and obscurely pleased
with herself that her memory remained lucid for that period, now so completely
divorced from her present life.
"Frankly, I'd prefer heaving to and having a good look at the crystal drive,
but our orders are to proceed with all possible speed to the
Mainland." The Captain shrugged and sighed.
Killashandra decided against reassuring him. The drive was souring:
she didn't need the printouts to tell her that. But she had only the one
experience on which to base an opinion and had no intention of ruining the
image she had projected by a bad guess.
Then Captain Festinel asked hesitantly, "Do you really hear crystal
resonance?"
Killashandra was aware of the expectant hush in the bridge as junior and
senior officers, not to mention Lars at her side, waited for her reply.
"Yes, indeed. Like a dull ache from my earbones to my heels. If it were any
louder, you'd find me asking for a life raft!"
"We know so little about your profession . . ."
"It is one like any other, Captain, with its dangers, its rewards, an
apprenticeship to pass, and then years of refining one's skills."
Killashandra was conscious, as she spoke, of one set of ears listening more
keenly than others. She dared not look at Lars. "One facet of my training was
retuning soured crystals." She made a rueful grimace. "Not my favorite
occupation."
"Are there any prerequisites for the profession?" the older
engineer asked, as he looked up from the print-out.
"Perfect and absolute pitch is the one essential."
"Why?" Lars asked, surprised by that unexpected condition.
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"We're called crystal singers because we must tune our subsonic cutters to the
dominant pitch of the crystal we cut from the ranges. A
dangerous and exhausting task." She held out her hands so that all could see
the fine white scars that crisscrossed the skin.
"I was told," Lars said in an amused drawl, "that crystal singers have amazing
recuperative powers."
"That is quite true. Crystal resonance apparently slows the degenerative
processes and accelerates the regenerative. Crystal singers retain their
youthful appearance well into the third century."
"How old are you, Guildmember?" a brash young voice asked.
Frowning, the Captain turned about to seek the source of such insolence but
Killashandra laughed. "I am a relatively new member of the
Heptite Guild, and in my third decade."
"Are you able to travel anywhere you wish?" Did she detect a note of yearning?
"All crystal singers travel," she said with commendable restraint and then
realized that her statement was hardly politic on Optheria. She had shown few
examples of the tact for which Trag had chosen her. "But we always return to
Ballybran," and she tried to make it sound as if going home was more desirable
than traveling far away. No sense in arousing hopes on Optheria, especially in
the presence of the cruiser's senior officers.
"Once a crystal singer, always a crystal singer!"
In the same instant the printer extruded an impatient sheet, Killashandra felt
a stab of crystal shock travel painfully from her heelbone to her ears.
"Kill the drive," she shouted as the Captain was issuing the command.
Breathless from the unexpected peaking, Killashandra sagged against
Lars. "Congratulations," she said, hoping the sarcasm would hide the pain in
her bones, "you have just lost one of your crystals. What are they?
Blues?"
"Greens," the Captain replied with some pride, "but the same crystals since
the cruiser was commissioned."
"And Optheria will spring credit for organ crystals with considerably more
alacrity than for plebian greens, huh?" Festinel nodded solemn affirmation.
"Engineer, I request permission to inspect the crystal drive with you. My
apprenticeship in tuning crystals may be of some use here."
"Honored, Guildmember." He strode to the comunit. "Damage report!"
"Sir," came the disembodied voice from the bowels of the cruiser, "casing
blown, foam applied, no injuries."
"As you were!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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