What else she wanted required two trips by Lars, but in the end they were both well supplied.Brendan had even acquired flotation trays for them to use while immersed.
"I think this trip'll be sheer luxury," Killa murmured quietly to Lars.
Brendan heard her anyway."I'll do my part," he said.
"Ah, Brendan…" she began, and was rewarded by a knowing chuckle.
"Just tell me when I'm off-limits and I'll chop the audio system," the ship said.
"Will you really?"Killa asked, trying to keep skepticism out of her tone.
"Actually," Brendan went on conversationally, "if I didn't, Boira would haul off the panel and disconnect me.Now there's a gal that liked her privacy…"
"How's she doing?"Lars asked.
"Oh, she's regenerating nicely."
The two bathers exchanged glances.
"Do we solicitously ask what happened, or shall we keep our noses short?"
A long silence ensued."I won't say she was foolish, or stupid-just very unlucky," Brendan said with so little expression that the two would have had to be tone deaf not to appreciate how distressed he was at his partner's injuries."I was only just able to get her to proper medical assistance in time.It will take a while, but she will completely recover."
"She's been a good partner?"Killa asked gently.
"One of the best I've had."And then his voice altered, not too brightly or lilting falsely."One tends to nurture the good ones carefully."
"Even if there is only so much one can do?"Killa made it not quite statement, not quite query.
"Exactly.Now, shall I leave you to enjoy your bath in peace?"
Lars and Killa once again exchanged glances.Lars's yawn was not feigned.
"I'm going to have to get some tub-sleep," he said."Can you monitor this contraption so we don't inadvertently go under?"
"Of course."And by Brendan's tone, the two singers realized they had struck the right attitude with him.
"I could probably sleep a few weeks…" Killa said.
"At which point you'd be a wrinkled prune," Lars replied caustically.
"I shall not permit that desecration of your most attractive self, Killashandra Ree," Brendan said in a flirtatious tone.
"Now, wait a mo-" Lars yawned."-ment, Brendan.This one's mine, you rotten baritone."
Brendan chuckled, a sound that had odd resonances due to the artificial diaphragm he needed to speak or laugh.
"Go to sleep, Lars Dahl.You're no match for me in your present semisomnolent state."
Killa yawned, too, and jammed her arms deeper in the straps, tipping her head back against the padded rim of the tub.She never knew which of them fell asleep first.
Chapter 2
"What a cheese hole!"Lars said in a disgusted tone.
Killashandra said nothing.She didn't dare express what she did feel about the planet Opal.And especially about Lanzecki for taking advantage of their greed, and need to be off-planet.Only the thought that she and Lars were making eighty thousand credits for this kept her from exploding.
Well, that and wanting to keep Brendan's good opinion.He had turned out to be the most excellent of escorts.Not only did he sing good baritone, but he had the most astonishing repertoire of lewd and salacious, prim and proper cantatas and languishing lieder.He wasn't as fond of opera as Killa was, but he knew all the comic operettas, musicals, lilts, pattern songs, and croons, and a selection of the best of every decade back to the beginning of taped music.He also had the most amazing and catholic files.
"Boira's a mezzo, you see, and while I can only sing the one voice…"
"Is the ship who sings… whatsername?"
"Helva?Yes, she still is, but no one knows where."Brendan had chuckled."There's a reward if she's spotted, but I don't know a ship worth its hull who'd tell."
"But couldn't she sing any range?"
"So legend has it," Brendan had replied, amused."It's possible.I could make modifications to my diaphragm and voice production, as she did, but frankly, it'd be damned hard to match the 834.Then, too, Boira likes me being baritone."
"Can't fight that," Killashandra said, grinning at Lars.
But now they were orbiting Opal and musicality was irrelevant.
The pock-holed orb was more moon than planet, one of a dozen similar satellites weaving eccentric patterns about the primary.Opal had no atmosphere and only seven-tenths standard gravity.Its primary still emanated the unusual spectrums, coronal blasts, and violent solar winds that had so adversely affected its dependent bodies.Exploration HQ had decided that circumstances might possibly have resulted in unusual metals.Artifacts from some long-gone alien civilizations had been composed of previously undiscovered metallic components-some not kind to human hands but workable by remote control-that had proved to be invaluable to modern metallurgy, electronics and engineering.Since those first discoveries, such substances continued to be assiduously sought.Which was why this star system had been surveyed.
"Leaving no turn unstoned," Bren had quipped.
According to the log, the now-deceased team had also discovered some very interesting slag on one of the outer satellites of Libran 2937, samples of which were still being analyzed-and their possible uses extrapolated from the all too small supply.
"Where did the geological survey land, Bren?"Lars asked.
"Their landing of record," Bren began, "is… right… below us."He magnified the image of his main screen, and the iridescent nauseous green paint that exploration teams used to mark their sites became clearly visible.
Lars and Killashandra turned to examine the close-up of the site, which was being displayed on one of the smaller bridge screens.
"Shall we?" the ship asked in a wry tone.
"Ach!Why not?"Lars said.
"We've time to eat," Killa said, feeling hunger pangs though she was certain they had eaten not too long before.
"Is it that time?"Lars asked with a startled expression."We've done nothing but eat since we came aboard."
"They used to term it singing for your supper," Brendan added.His chuckle ended abruptly."Oh, I see.You mean, your home planet's going through one of its Passover periods?"
"It was due to," Killa said."It must have started.That's the only time we can't stop eating."
"Hmmm.Well, we've plenty aboard," Brendan replied soothingly.
Killashandra grimaced."But we're going to have to suit up to move around down there, and suit food's not very satisfying."
Lars considered this aspect of the unusual hunger of their symbionts at Passover time: an urge which would overtake their bodies no matter how far they were from Ballybran, since it was generated by the symbiont, ever in phase with its native planet."We could work in shifts, one of us eat while the other explores."
"No!Absolutely not," Brendan vetoed firmly."As a team always.How long do you last between snacks?"
Killa laughed."Snack?You've never seen a singer eat!"
"Well, tell me how much and I can deliver it to the lock so you don't have to unsuit completely to assuage your need."
Killa brightened."That's a thought."
"We'll certainly give it a try," Lars said with a grin."Now, just let's see if we can plan our excursions around our appetites."He accessed the log files of the fateful geology ship.
"How about I land you near the biggest of the vaults?This one!"Bren suggested, calling up the most remarkable of the liquidlike ribs."That's not the landing of record, but it's certainly the most interesting site they found.Of course, I'm far more flexible than the Toronto was.We can pit hop as much as we need-while you're chowing down a good feed."