Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey

Author:Anne McCaffrey [McCaffrey, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Sci-Fi
ISBN: 9780345285980
Publisher: Ballantine
Published: 1982-07-10T23:00:00+00:00

She gripped the carrier firmly, but the sensation dissipated.

"Move along. Gotta get that guy back to the infirmary," she was told by returning crewmen.

She picked the carton up, minding her steps, ignoring the exhortation of the crewmen who passed her out. She crouched by the carton as the cocoon of the injured Singer was deftly angled into the wrecker.

During the short trip back to the complex, she wondered why there was such a fuss. Surely the symbiont would repair the man's injuries, given the time to do so. She supposed that the symbiont relieved pain. Borella hadn't appeared uncomfortable with her awful thigh wound, and Concera, given to complaints, had said nothing about pain in her regenerating fingers.

As soon as the wrecker landed, the Singer was hurried to waiting meditechs. Hugging the carton that she devoutly hoped contained black crystal, Killashandra walked straight through the storage area into the sorting room.

She had no problem finding Enthor, for the man almost bumped into her.

"Enthor," she said, planting herself and pushing the carton at him, "I think this has black crystal."

"Black crystal?" Enthor was startled; he blinked and peered frowningly at her. "Oh, it's you. You?" His lensed eyes widened in surprise. "You? What are you doing here?" He half turned in the direction of the infirmary and then up to the recruits' level. "No one's been cutting black crystal -- "

"Keborgen might have been. He crashed. This is from his sled." She gave the carton an urgent shove against his chest. "The flight officer said he had been out to cut blacks."

Out of habit, Enthor took hold of the carton, quite unable to assimilate either her explanation or her sudden appearance. Killashandra was impatient with Enthor's hesitation. She did not want to admit to the contact shock she had felt in Keborgen's sled. Deftly, she propelled Enthor at his table, and though still perplexed, he presented the ident to the scan. His hands hovered briefly but dropped away as he twisted toward Killashandra.

"Go on," she said, annoyed by his dithering. "Look at them."

"I know what they are. How did you?" Enthor's indecision was gone, and he stared, almost accusingly, into her eyes.

"I felt them. Open it. What did Keborgen cut?"

His unearthly eyes still on hers, Enthor opened the box and lifted out a crystal. Killashandra caught her breath at the sight of the dull, irregular 15

centimeter segment. Consciously, she had to make her lungs expel air as Enthor reverently unpacked two additional pieces that fit against the first.

"He cut well," Enthor said, scrutinizing the trio keenly. "He cut very well. Just missing flaw. That would account for the shapes."

"He has cut his last," the deep voice of the Guild Master said.

Startled, Killashandra whirled and realized that Lanzecki must have arrived moments before. He nodded to her and then beckoned to someone in the storage area.

"Bring the rest of Keborgen's cut."

"Is there more black in it?" Enthor asked Killashandra as he felt carefully about in the plaspacking.

Killashandra was vibrantly aware of Lanzecki's intense gaze.

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