The Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey

Author:Anne McCaffrey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448152056
Publisher: Transworld

Chapter Seven

KILLASHANDRA LEANED BACK from the terminal in her room, noted that the time display marked an early morning hour. She was tired, her eyes hot with fatigue and she was ravenous. But she had every bit of data she could extract from the Guild’s banks that might be useful in narrowing her search for Keborgen’s black crystal claim. She keyed the program into the privacy of her personal record, then she walked stiffly, arching against the ache in her back, to the catering unit and dialled for a hot protein soup. Though she had stored the data, she couldn’t stop thinking about her plan. And all the obstacles in the way of implementing it.

Keborgen was dead. His claims, wherever they had been, were now open, according to the vast paragraphs on claims, the making and marking thereof, penalties for misappropriation, fines and restrictions, and all subparagraphs. However, the claim first had to be found. As Enthor had said, that was the first problem. Killashandra might have theories about its location but she had neither sled to get there and look, nor cutter to take crystal from the ‘open’ face. In her research, she had discovered that Keborgen had worked that claim for at least four decades. Comparison analysis proved that twelve black crystal cuttings had come from the same face, the next to last one some nine years previously. The second problem, as Enthor had so pithily stated, was remembering.

Killashandra, to relieve the tedium of drill, had asked Concera how singers found their way back to claims after an absence, especially if memory was so unreliable.

‘Oh,’ Concera had replied airily, ‘I always remember to tell my sled what landmarks to look for. Sleds have voice print recorders so they’re dead safe.’ She hesitated, looking at Killashandra in the unfocused way that was habitual with her. ‘Of course, storms do sometimes alter landmarks so it’s wiser to record contour levels and valleys or gorges, things that aren’t as apt to be rearranged by a bad blow. Then, too,’ she continued in a brighter voice, ‘when you’ve cut at a particular face a few times, it resonates. So, if you can recall even the general direction and get there, finding the exact spot is much easier.’

‘It isn’t so much singing crystal then, as being sung to by crystal,’ Killashandra had replied.

‘Oh, yes, very well put,’ Concera had said with the false cheerfulness of someone who hadn’t understood.

Killashandra finished the soup and wearily went to the bedroom, shedding her coverall. She wasn’t unsatisfied with the information she’d accumulated. She could narrow the search to older claim markings in the geographical area dictated by the top speed of Keborgen’s elderly sled, the time the storm warning was issued, and the registered storm wind speed.

She fretted about one point: Keborgen’s sled recorder. She had seen the sled being dismantled but would the Guild technicians have rescued the record for the data that might be retrieved? She wasn’t certain if anyone had ever broken a voice code.

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