Crystal Singer

“Why should I need help?” Killashandra had no trouble affecting i

“The most dangerous cut of them all. I'm really surprised that Lanzecki permitted it. He's so careful about his new Singers. I had to pass you over to training, my dear. No point at all in keeping you with sick people. But this Passover is the most inconvenient one, and it will be ages before the weather settles and damage can be cleared. I suppose Lanzecki wanted to get as much crystal cut as possible when he could. Of course, repair won't concern you as a Singer. You'll be sent out as soon as possible to check your claims for storm alteration.”

“What will happen because I have cut crystal once?”

“Oh, dear.” Antona inhaled deeply and then exhaled on a short, exasperated breath. “I will blather on. Very well, then, I'd have to tell you soon, anyhow. It's only I don't like to alarm people u

“You have unless you come to the point.”

«You've been told that storms in the Crystal Ranges are lethal because the winds whip resonance out of the mountains that produce sensory overload. During Passover, the entire place, right down to its core, I sometimes feel, quivers – a noise, a vibration, multiple sonics are formed and transmitted which ca

“I see.”

“No, you'll hear. That's worse. Now eat. Actually, at your stage, a surfeit of food is the best cushion I could prescribe. Think of the sedation as hibernation; the food is protection.”

Killashandra applied herself to the untouched dishes, while Antona silently and slowly finished her last portion.

“Do the others go through this, too?” Killashandra flicked her hand at the array of plates.

“Oh, we all start eating quantities now.”

"Will the others have to be sedated and – "

“They'll be uncomfortable, but so will anyone with hearing and quite a number who are in other respects clinically deaf hear storm resonance. We provide maskers. The white noise relieves the temporary ti

“I'm sure you do.”

“Small comfort, you may think, but all things are relative. Just read the early history of the Guild and the members' comments. Oh, dear, I don't want to be caught here.”

Antona's hasty rising caused Killashandra to look around. People were streaming in from the lifts. “I'll just slip out the back. You finish your meal!” She pointed imperatively at the remaining dishes and then retreated into a dimmer area of the Commons.

Killashandra finished the milsi stalks and regarded the final dish of nut-covered cubes. People were lining up at the catering areas, the first serving themselves with generous trays. So she wasn't the only hungry one.

“Here she is!” Rimbol's delighted cry startled her. She twisted in the chair and saw the Scartine. Mistra, Jezerey, Borton, and Celee were close behind him. “I told you I saw her at the storm scan. You get hungry or something?” His eyes bright with mischief, Rimbol began to count the empty plates.

“You must have cut a lot of crystal to afford all that,” Jezerey commented. Her eyes were unfriendly.

“Antona's orders. I didn't have a convalescence like you lot, so I'm eating for two now.”

“Yes, but you got out into the ranges, and we're stuck here!” Jezerey was almost savage. Borton shook her arm.

“Cut that, Jez. Killa didn't do it to spite you, you know.” Borton looked across to Killa, his eyes entreating.

“Yes, you did get out into the ranges,” Mistra said in her soft voice, “and I'd very much appreciate it, Killashandra, if you'd tell us what actually does happen when you cut. I've got the awfulest notion that they don't tell us all, for all they do tell.”

«Here, get rid of the debris» – Rimbol was shoveling dishes and plates together – «and someone order beer and things. Then Killashandra can divulge trade secrets.»

Killashandra was not in a confessional mood, but the mute appeal in Mistra's brown eyes, the wary concern in Rimbol's, and Borton's stiff, blank expression could not be denied by a classmate, no matter what doctrine of self preservation Lanzecki was preaching. Jezerey would find her own level; that was certain. Rimbol, Mistra, and Borton were a different matter.

Celee returned then with pitchers and beakers. “Look, since singing isn't my trade, why don't I just shuttle food for you?” he asked good-natured]y. He winked at Killashandra to emphasize his indifference to the outcome of his adaptation.

Orders were given him, and as he left, complaining that his back would be broken, the others settled at the table and looked expectantly at Killashandra.

"Most of what happens is explained, Killashandra began, not knowing precisely how to describe the phenomenon.

“Theory is one thing. Where does it differ from practice?” Mistra asked gently.

“She doesn't say much but she gets to the point,” Rimbol noted while raising his eyes in comic dismay.

Killashandra smiled gratefully at Mistra.

«Those storm simulation flights – the real thing can be worse. I didn't cut squarely for all the practice I had retuning soured crystal. I suppose your hands get stronger, but don't be surprised if your first block has a reptilian outline.» She was rewarded with a chuckle from Rimbol, who clowned with an exaggerated wriggle of his torso. «You know you've got to be shepherded into the ranges by some experienced Singer? Well, keep one fact perfectly clear: he or she is liable to forget from moment to moment that you are legally supposed to be with him. Mine damned near sliced my leg off. Just keep the tape playing on repeat so he can't forget it. Talk to him all the time, keep yourself in his sight, especially after he's just cut crystal . . .»

“Yes, yes, we've been told that. But when you find crystal . . .” Jezerey interrupted abruptly.

Killashandra looked at her coolly. "When" the girl said. "It's if, not when – "

“But you found crystal. Black crystal,” Jezerey began indignantly.

“Shut up, Jez.” Borton pressed his fingers warningly into her shoulder, but she shrugged off his hold.

“The unexpected starts when you cut your own crystal. You tap for the note on the face and then tune the cutter and then . . .” Killashandra was back in the fault, the first black segment, uneven cut line and all, weighing in her palms, dazzling her with its slow change in sunlight from transparency to the black matte of the thermally responsive crystal, losing herself in the memory of that shimmering resonance, feeling the incredible music in her blood and bones . . .

An insistent tugging on her sleeve finally broke her trance.

"Killa, are you all right? Shall I get Antona? Killa?" Rimbol's urgent and anxious questions brought her to dazed awareness of her present position. "You've been away for – "

“Six minutes, four seconds,” Borton added, tipping his wrist to see the display.

“What?”

«What? she says» – Rimbol turned to the others with a teasing ma

“Well, I didn't think it could get me sitting here with my friends, but this advice I will freely give you, having just demonstrated. Cut, and pack! If you don't, you may stand there like I just was and commune with your crystal until the storm breaks over you.”

“Communing with crystal!” Jezerey was impatient, skeptical.

“Well, it might not happen to you.” Killashandra tried to speak mildly, but Jezerey aggravated her. “Got your sled yet?” she asked Rimbol.