Killashandra Read Online Free PDF Page B

had been sparked by a long frustration. To how many singers over her decades in the Guild had she tendered the same advice and found it ignored?
    “… So I came in with forty greens,” Rimbol was saying with an air of achievement.
    “That’s damned good cutting!” Killashandra replied with suitable fervor.
    “You have no trouble releasing crystal?” Antona asked.
    “Well, I did the first time out,” Rimbol admitted candidly, “but I remembered what you’d said, Killa, about packing as soon as you cut. I’ll never forget the sight of you locked in crystal thrall, right here in a noisy crowded hall. A kindly and timely word of wisdom!”
    “Oh, you’d have caught on soon enough,” Killashandra said, feeling a trifle embarrassed by his gratitude.
    “Some never do, you know,” Antona remarked.
    “What happens? Do they stand in statuesque paralysis until night comes? Or a loud storm?”
    “The inability to release crystal is no joke, Rimbol.”
    Rimbol stared at Antona, his mobile face losing its amused expression. “You mean, they can be so enthralled, nothing breaks the spell?” Antona nodded slowly. “That could be fatal. Has it been?”
    “There have been instances.”
    “Then I’m doubly indebted to you, Killa,” Rimbol said, rising, “so this round’s on me.”
    They finished that round, refreshed by food, drink, and conversation.
    “Of the four, I think you’d prefer Rani in the Punjabi system,” Antona told Killashandra in parting. “The food’s better and the climate less severe. They havemarvelous mineral hot springs, too. Not as efficacious as our radiant fluid but it’ll help reduce crystal resonance. You need that. After just an hour in your company, the sound off you makes the hairs on my arm stand up. See?”
    Killashandra exchanged glances with Rimbol, before they examined the proof on Antona’s extended arm.
    Antona laughed reassuringly, laying gentle fingers on Killashandra’s forearm.
    “A perfectly normal phenomenon for a singer who’s been out in the Rangers steadily for over a year. Neither of you would be affected but, as I don’t sing crystal, I am. Get used to it. That’s what identifies a singer anywhere in the Galaxy. But the Rani hot springs will diminish the effect considerably. So does time away from here. See you.”
    As Killashandra watched Antona enter the lift, she felt Rimbol’s hand sliding up her arm affectionately.
    “You feel all right to me,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement. Then he felt her stiffen and suppress a movement of withdrawal. He dropped his hand. “Privacy—sorry, Killa.” He stepped back.
    “Not half as sorry as I am, Rimbol. You didn’t deserve that. Chalk it up to another side effect of singing crystal that they don’t include in that full disclosure.” She managed an apologetic smile. “I’m so wired I could broadcast.”
    “Not to worry, Killa. I understand. See you when you get back.” Then he made his wobbly way into the yellow quadrant to his quarters.
    Killashandra stared after him, irritated with herself for her reaction to a casual caress. She’d had no such reaction to Lanzecki. Or was
that
the problem? She was very thoughtful as she walked slowly to her quarters. Fidelity was an unlikely disease for her to catch. She certainly enjoyed making love with Lanzecki, and definitelyhe exerted an intense fascination on her. Lanzecki had unequivocally separated his professional life from his private one.
    “Rani, huh,” she murmured to herself as she put her thumb to the door lock. She entered the room, closing the door behind her, and then leaned against it.
    Now, in the absence of background sounds, she could hear the resonance in her body, feel it cascading up and down her bones, throbbing in her arteries. The noise between her ears was like a gushing river in full flood. She held out her arms but the static apparently did not affect her, the carrier, or she had exhausted that phenomenon in herself.