Crystal Singer

by Anne McCaffrey

  “How do I know you won’t pop right back in here when I’m off-world and cut my claim?”

  “I couldn’t find the bloody place again,” she said, exploding, discretion no advantage in dealing with the fanatic. “I haven’t a clue where I am. I had to keep my eyes on you, zipping here and dropping there. Have you forgotten how to pilot a sled? You sure have forgotten a perfectly valid agreement you made only five hours ago!”

  Moksoon, his eyes little slits of suspicion, lowered the cutter fractionally. “You know where you are.”

  “South at four is all I bloody know, and for all the twists and turns in this ruddy gorge, we could be north at ten. What in damnation does it matter? Show me how to cut crystal and I’ll leave in an hour.”

  “You can’t cut crystal in an hour. Not properly.” Moksoon was scathingly contemptuous. “You don’t know the first thing about cutting crystal.”

  “You’re quite right. I don’t. And you’ll get a huge bonus for showing me. Show me, Moksoon.”

  With a combination of cajolery, outrageous flattery, constant repetition of words like “bonus,” “Lanzecki expects,” “off-world,” and “brilliant Cutter,” she pacified Moksoon. She suggested that he eat something before showing her how to cut and let him think she was fooled into offering from her own supplies. For a slight man, he had a very hearty appetite.

  Well fed, rested, and having filled her with what she knew must be a lot of nonsense about angles of the sun, dawn, and sunset excursions down dark ravines to hear crystal wake or go to sleep, Moksoon showed no inclination to pick up his cutter and get on with his end of the bargain. She was trying to think of a tactful way of suggesting it when he suddenly jumped to his feet, throwing both arms up to greet a shaft of sunlight that had angled down the ravine to strike their side just beyond the bow of his sled.

  A peculiar tone vibrated through the rock on which Killashandra was sitting. Moksoon grabbed up his cutter and scrambled, emitting a joyous cackle that turned into a fine, clear ringing A sharp below middle C. Moksoon sang in the tenor ranges.

  And part of the ravine answered!

  By the time she had reached him, he was already slicing at the pink quartz face his sled had obscured. Why the old—

  Then she heard crystal crying. For all his other failings, Moksoon had an astonishing lung capacity for so old a man. He held the accurate note even after his pitched cutter was excising a pentagon from the uneven extrusion of quartz, which flashed from different facets as the sunlight shifted. The dissonance that began as he got deeper into the face was an agony so basic that it shook Killashandra to her teeth. It was much worse than retuning crystal. She froze at the unexpected pain, instinctively letting loose with a cry of masking sound. The agony turned into two notes, pure and clear.

  “Sing on!” Moksoon cried. “Hold that note!” He reset his infrasonic cutter and made a second slice, cropped it, sang again, tuned the cutter, and dug the blade in six neat slashes downward. His thin body shook, but his hands were amazingly steady as he cut and cut until he reached the edge. With an exultant note, he jumped to a new position and made the bottom cut for the four matched crystals. “My beauties. My beauties!” he crooned and, laying the cutter carefully down, dashed off to his sled, reemerging seconds later with a carton. He was still crooning as he packed the pieces. There was a curious ambivalence in his motions, of haste and reluctance, for his fingers caressed the sides of the octagons as he put them away.

  Killashandra hadn’t moved, as stunned by the experience of crystal as she was by his agile performance. When she did sigh to release her tensions, he gave an inarticulate shout and reached for his cutter. He might have sliced her arm off, but he tripped over the carton, giving her a head start as she raced back to his sled, stumbled into it, and hit the replay button before she slid the door closed. It caught the tip of the cutter.

  And Lanzecki had suggested she go with this raving maniac? Lanzecki’s voice rolled out, reverberated back, and made a section of the rock face above the sled resonate.

  “I’m sorry, Killashandra Ree,” Moksoon said, a truly repentant note in his voice. “Don’t break my cutter. Don’t close that door.”

  “How can I trust you, Moksoon? You’ve nearly killed me twice today.”

  “I forget. I forget.” Moksoon’s tone was a sob. “Just remind me when I’m cutting. It’s crystal makes me forget. It sings, and I forget.”

  Killashandra closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. The man was so pitiful.

  “I’ll show you how to cut. Truly I will.”

  Moksoon’s recorded voice was duly affirming his willingness to shepherd her, Section 53. She could break his cutter with one more centimeter of leverage on the door. Her own voice dinned into her ears, affirming and averring to abide by section and paragraph.

  “You’d better be able to show me something about cutting crystal that I couldn’t learn at the Complex.”

  “I’ll show you. I’ll show you how to find song in the cliffs. I’ll show you how to find crystal. Any fool can cut it. You’ve got to find it first. Just don’t close that door!”

  “How do I keep you from trying to kill me?”

  “Just talk to me. Keep that replay on. Just talk to me as I’m cutting. Give me back my cutter!”

  “I’m talking to you, Moksoon, and I’m opening the door. I haven’t damaged the cutter.” The first thing he did when she eased up the pressure was examine the tip. “Now, Moksoon, show me how to find song in the cliffs.”

  “This way, this way.” He scrabbled to the outcropping. “See . . .” and his finger traced the faultline, barely discernible. “And here.” Now a glint of crystal shone clearly through the covering dirt. He rubbed at it, and sunlight sparkled from the crystal. “Mostly sunlight tells you where, but you gotta see. Look and see! Crystal lies in planes, this way, that way, sometimes the way the fold goes, sometimes at right angles. You sure you can’t find your way back here?” He shot her a nervous glance.

  “Positive!”

  “Rose always drops south. Depend on it.” He ran his finger tips lightly down the precipice. “I hadn’t seen this before. Why didn’t I see this before?”

  “You didn’t look, did you, Moksoon?”

  He ignored her. At first, Killashandra thought a breeze had sprung up, highly unlikely though that was in this deep gorge. Then she heard the faint echo and realized that Moksoon was humming. He had one ear to the rock wall.

  “Ah, here. I can cut here!”

  He did so. This time, the crystal cry was expected and not as searing an experience. She also kept herself in Moksoon’s view, especially when he had completed his cuts. She got a carton for him, carried it back and stored it, all the time talking or making him talk to her. He did know how to cut crystal. He did know how to find it. The gorge was layered in southerly strips of rose quartz. Moksoon could probably cut his claim for the rest of his Guild life.

  When the sun dropped beyond the eastern lip of the gorge, he abruptly stopped work and said he was hungry. Killashandra fed him and listened as he rambled on about flaw lines and cuts and intruders, by which he meant noncrystal rock that generally shattered the crystal vein.

  Since she recalled Enthor’s poor opinion of rose quartz, she asked Moksoon if he cut other colors. It was an unwise question, for Moksoon had a tantrum, announcing that he’d cut rose quartz all his working life, which was far longer than she’d drawn breath, or her parents, or her grandparents for that matter, and she was to mind her own business. He stalked off to his sled.

  Taking the precaution of locking her door panel, she made herself comfortable. She wasn’t sure that she could endure, or survive, another day with the paranoid Moksoon. She didn’t doubt for a moment that the uneasy rapport she had finally achieved would fade overnight in his crystallized brain pan.

  In the cool darkness of the gorge, where night made the rocks crack and tzing, she thought of Lanzecki. He had wished to know her, he said, before she sang crystal. Now
that phrase had both an overtone of benediction and a decided implication of curse. Would just one trip to the Crystal Ranges alter her so much? Or had their nights and day together occurred to form some bond between them? If so, Lanzecki was going to be very busy over the next few weeks, cementing links between Jezerey, Rimbol—and then Killashandra’s sense of humor overruled vile whimsies. Lanzecki might be devious but not that damned devious!

  Besides, none of the others had made Milekey transitions or appeared sensitive to black crystal. It was a concatenation of circumstances. And he had said that he liked her company. He, Lanzecki, liked her company. But Lanzecki the Guild Master had sent her out with crazed Moksoon.

  Killashandra set her waking buzz for sunrise so that she’d be out of the gorge before Moksoon woke.

  CHAPTER 9

  She woke to darkness and a curious pinging. Cautiously, she put her head out the sled door, checking first in Moksoon’s direction. Not a sign of life there. She looked upward, between the steep walls of the gorge, to a lightening sky. After her hide-and-seek with Moksoon the day before, she appreciated the navigational hazards of semidark. She also didn’t wish to be around when the old Crystal Singer roused.

  She checked that all her lockers were closed and secure, an automatic action learned during her simulated-flight instruction. Fortunately, she had made “dark” landings and takeoffs in imaginary shallow canyons and deep valleys, though she wished she’d paid more attention to the terrain just beyond Moksoon’s claim. She couldn’t risk retracing yesterday’s circuit to the avalanche.

  She strapped into her seat, turned the drive to minimum power, easing up half a meter by the vertical and out ten horizontal, then activated the top scanner to be sure of her clearances.

  The sky was light enough for her purposes but not as yet touched with the rising sun. She lifted slowly, carefully, her eyes on the scanner to be sure she didn’t bounce off an unexpected outcropping.

  Abruptly, she was above the gorge and hovered, quickly switching the scan to under-hull and magnify. Her departure had not aroused Moksoon. With luck, he would have forgotten that she’d been there until he received his bonus. And how she had worked for that!

  The notion that one day she might be as Moksoon now was crossed her mind, but that, she firmly assured herself, was a long time in the future. She’d make it as future as possible.

  She proceeded with fair haste to the F42NW–43NW where five old paint splashes made an irregular pattern on Lanzecki’s aerial map. The sun was rising, an awesome sight at any time, but as it gilded the western folds and heights of the Milekey Range, it was truly magnificent. She settled the sled on a flattened, eroded syncline to enjoy the spectacle of morning breaking as she ate breakfast. It was a lovely clear morning, the light breeze tainted with sea, for the Bay was not far. She checked meteorology, which indicated that the clear, dry weather was confirmed for the next six hours.

  She would come in over F42NW at altitude and proceed to F43NW, just to get an overall picture. If her hunch was right, and Lanzecki’s privileged information had only confirmed it, one of those five claims had to be Keborgen’s black crystal.

  From height, the area looked desolate—valleys and ravines, blind canyons, few with water, and not so much as a glint of crystal shine in the morning sun. Furthermore, one of the painted claim marks was newer than the others. The sun reflected off the mark. Had one of the other Singers actually found Keborgen’s claim? She reminded herself sternly that none of the others had come this far north. One new claim mark among five. But Lanzecki’s original aerial scan had displayed five old marks.

  Killashandra caught her breath. Keborgen had not been to this claim in nine years. Because he couldn’t remember where it was? He had garnered useful shards and splinters and a triad, worth a fortune of credit. Might he not have used up his margin of time between storm warning and escape to repaint his claim so he could find it more easily after the storm?

  Killashandra searched her mind about claims and claim-jumping. Nothing prevented her from checking the circumscribed area. Lifting or cutting crystal was the felony.

  She reduced her altitude and swept round the claim in a circle roughly five kicks in diameter from the brightly painted ridge mark. She could see no other sled, though she hovered over several shadowed ledges and overhanging cliffs to be sure. She also noted no spark or glint of sun-struck crystal. After the initial survey, she landed on the ridge. The paint was new, only scored here and there by the last storm. She could see edges of the old where the new had been applied in haste. Then she found the paint container, wedged in some rocks where it had been thrown or wind-swept. She hefted it, smiling in exultation. Yes, Keborgen didn’t want to forget this claim. He’d wasted time to preserve it.

  She looked out across the ridges and nearest gullies and wondered where. From this vantage point, she could see the five klicks in every direction.

  Since Keborgen had obviously cleared the crystal shards from his site, there’d be none to indicate where he’d worked. But he would have had to hide his sled from aerial observation, as Moksoon had done.

  So Killashandra spent the rest of the morning flying search patterns over the circle. She found five locations; two partial hides in the south on 7 quadrant, an undercut in west 10, a very narrow blind valley in 4, and two shadowed gorges in north 2. On her master chart, she noted each location by some distinguishing contour or rock and the angle at which she had been flying to discern it.

  She had no further support from the weather, for a drizzle began midafternoon. There’d be no sunset flashes to lead her, no sun-warmed crystal to speak. She saw no advantage in sitting on the claim ridge, either. There were other Singers looking for Keborgen’s claim. No sense being so visible.

  “Eena, meena, pitsa teena,” she chanted, pointing at one site on each syllable. “Avoo bumbarina, isha gosha, bumbarosha, nineteen hunded and one!”

  “One” was the west 4 undercut.

  As she approached from the south, she noticed that the ridge was curiously slanted. Since it was protected on all sides by higher folds, the erosion had not been caused by wind. She landed the sled as well as she could on uneven ground beside the overhang. She would inspect first. As she pulled on wet-weather gear, she noticed that debris had showered on either side of the ledge, which was, in fact, just the right length for a sled.

  Much heartened, she went out and prowled around. The rock falls were of long residence, well chinked with grit and dirt. The ledge was solid, but at one end heterogeneous rocks had been tamped in for critical reinforcement. A little scrape of orange paint along the inside wall was her final reassurance. A sled had parked there. She parked hers with a sense of accomplishment.

  She was not so happy after she had climbed to the highest point above the blind valley. She stared about her in the mizzling gloom. The valley was in the form of a blunted crescent, any part of which was an easy hike from the undercut. Crystal Singers exerted themselves only to cut crystal, not heft it any distance. Keborgen’s claim had to be somewhere in the valley.

  She slithered down the rocky side, adding more rubble to what was scattered about. When she returned to her sled, she checked the met report. Cloud cover ending midday, unless the cold front moving up from the southern pole picked up speed. She’d probably have a clear afternoon and sun on the southern tip of the valley. Rain or not, she told herself, she’d be out at first light. Keborgen had made two obvious mistakes: fresh claim and old sled paint.

  Keborgen’s cutting eluded her the entire damp gray morning as she searched the crescent for any signs of cutting, rubbed her hands and fingers raw scraping at stone. The valley’s walls varied in height, on the longer curve up to 10 meters sloping down to a dip almost directly across from the undercut. From the bottom of the valley, she couldn’t see any signs, even accounting for the fact that Keborgen had taken crystal rubble with him.

  She clambered back to her sled for something to eat, totally discouraged. She might just as well
have braved Moksoon another day for all she had accomplished on her own.

  A sudden gleam of light attracted her attention to the window. Clouds were scuttering across the sky to the north, and she saw patches of bright sky. As she left her sled, a light breeze blew directly into her face. Suddenly, sunlight shafted from the clouds, blinding after almost two days of dismal gray.

  With sun, she might just be lucky enough to catch crystal flash—if she was turned in the right direction at the exact moment. Keborgen’s cut could not have built much dirt cover after the short storm.

  The sun was more west than east. She’d have a better chance if she was facing the west. She scrambled up the valley side to the ridge, turning to her right and stopped. With the sun shining, she could discern what the rain had hidden the day before, a clear if uneven and winding path of packed dirt, suitable for an agile pair of feet. The path had been worn by a long-legged man, and as she eagerly followed it, she occasionally had to hop or stretch. She was so much occupied with her footing that she would have tripped into the fault if she had not first noticed the tamped-down flat space 2 meters from the edge. Just where someone could leave crystal cartons. It could have been excitement at first, but Killashandra felt a prickling along her legs. Then she heard the soft sighing, more noise than so light a breeze should make. It was as if someone distant were humming softly, and the sound floated to her on the breeze. Only this sound emanated ahead of her.

  Trembling, she took the last two steps and looked down into a trench, a V shape, slanting down toward the valley floor, some 10 meters below the lowest arm of the V. Muddy water oozed off the V point. Water had collected in a too obviously geometric puddle halfway down the uneven side. Uneven because Keborgen had left foot rests for easy access to the heart of his claim. As she descended, she could feel black crystal surrounding her. When she reached the bottom, she knelt by the symmetrical pool, a fingertip deep, and felt its sides. Smooth. Her fingers tingled.