Killashandra Read Online Free PDF

the … selection process.”
    “Despite my unexpected inclusion.”
    “A few odd ones slip through no matter how careful we are,” Antona said all too sweetly, her eyes sparkling.
    “Don’t fret, Antona. It’s not a subject that I would discuss with anyone else.”
    “Particularly Lanzecki.”
    “I’m not likely to get that sort of an opportunity,” she said, wondering if Antona knew or suspected theirrelationship. Or if her advice to remember loves and emotions had merely been a general warning to include all experience. Would Killashandra want to remember, decades from now, that she and Lanzecki had briefly been lovers? “Advise me, Antona, on which of our nearer spatial neighbors I should plan a brief vacation?”
    Antona grimaced. “You might just as well pick the name at random for all the difference there is among them. Their only advantage is that they are far enough away from Ballybran to give your nerves the rest they need.”
    Just then a cheerful voice hailed them.
    “Killa! Antona! Am I glad to see someone else alive!” Rimbol exclaimed, hobbling out of the shadows. He grinned as he saw the pitcher of beer. “May I join you?”
    “By all means,” Antona said graciously.
    “What
happened
to you?” Killashandra asked. Rimbol’s cheek and forehead were liberally decorated by newly healed scars.
    “Mine was the sled that did a nose dive over the baffle.”
    “It did?”
    “You didn’t know it was me?” Rimbol’s mouth twisted in mock chagrin. “The way Malaine carried on you’d’ve thought I’d placed half the incoming singers in jeopardy by that flip.”
    “Did you rearrange the sled as creatively as your face?”
    Rimbol shook his head ruefully. “It broke its nose, mine was only bloody. At that it’ll take longer to fix the sled than for my leg to heal. Say, Killa, have you heard about the Optherian contract?”
    “For the fractured manual? That could pay for a lot of repairs.”
    “Oh, I don’t want it,” and he flicked his hand in dismissal.
    “Why ever not?”
    Rimbol took a long pull of his beer. “Well, I’ve got a claim that was cutting real well right now. Optheria’s a long way away from here and I’ve been warned that I could lose the guiding resonance being gone so long.”
    “And because you remembered that I haven’t cut anything worth packing—”
    “No.” Rimbol held up a hand, protesting Killashandra’s accusation. “I mean, yes, I knew you’ve been unlucky lately—”
    “Who do you think cut the white crystal to replace the fractured Optherian manual?”
    “You did?” Rimbol’s face brightened with relief. “Then you don’t need to go either.” He raised his beaker in a cheerful toast. “Where d’you plan to go off-world?”
    “I hadn’t exactly made up my mind …” Killashandra saw that Antona was busy serving up the last of her casserole.
    “Why don’t you try Maxim in the Barderi system.” Rimbol leaned eagerly across the table to her. “I’ve heard it’s something sensational. I’ll get there sometime but I’d sure like to hear your opinion of it. I don’t half believe the reports. I’d trust you.”
    “That’s something to remember,” Killashandra murmured, glancing sideways at Antona. Then, taking note of Rimbol’s querying look, she asked smoothly, “What’ve you been cutting lately?”
    “Greens,” Rimbol replied with considerable satisfaction. He held up crossed fingers. “Now, if only the storm damage is minimal, and it could be because the vein’s in a protected spot, I might even catch up with you on Maxim. You see …” and he proceeded to elaborate on his prospects.
    As Rimbol rattled on in his amusing fashion, Killashandra wondered if crystal would dull the Scartine’s infectiousgood-nature along with his memory. Would Antona give him the same urgent advice? Surely each of the newest crystal singers had some unique quality to be cherished and sustained throughout a lifetime. Antona’s outburst