"This is what happens to the unprotected on Ballybran. It could also happen to you, though every effort is made to reduce such risks to a minimum. If you wish to retire now, you are completely at liberty to do so.'
“External danger does not constitute a Code 4 classification,” Carigana said, her tone accusatory.
“No, it doesn't. But these are representative of two of the dangers of Ballybran which the Heptite Guild is required by Federated Sentient Planets to reveal to you.”
“Is that the worst that can happen?” Carigana asked scornfully.
“Isn't being dead enough?” someone asked from the group.
«Dead's dead – crystal, char, or carrion,» Carigana replied, shrugging her shoulders, her tone so subtly offensive that Killashandra was not the only one who frowned with irritation.
“Yes, but it is the manner of dying that can be the worst,” said Borella in such a thoughtful way that she had everyone's attention. She accorded them the slightest smile. “Follow me.”
The grim corridor opened on to a small semicircular lecture hall. Borella proceeded to a small raised platform, gesturing for the group to take the seats, which would have accommodated three times their number. As she turned to face them, a large hologram lit behind her, a view of the Scorian system, homing quickly on Ballybran and its three moons. The planet and its satellites moved with sufficient velocity to demonstrate the peculiar Passover of the moons, when all three briefly synchronized orbits – a synchronization that evidently took place over different parts of the parent world.
“The crystallization displayed in the corridor is the most prevalent danger on Ballybran. It occurs when the spore symbiont, a carbon silicate occurring in an unorthodox environment peculiar to Ballybran, does not form a proper bridge between our own carbon-based biological system and the silicon-based ecology of this planet. Such a bridge is essential for working on Ballybran. If the human host adapts properly to the spore symbiont, and I assure you it is not the other way round, the human experiences a significant improvement in visual acuity, tactile perceptions, nerve conduction, and cellular adaptation. The first adaptations are of immense importance to those who become miners of crystal, the Crystal Singers. Yes, Carigana?”
“What part of the body does the symbiont invade? Is it crystalline or biological?”
"Neither, and the symbiont invades cellular nuclei in successful adaptations – "
“What happens to the unsuccessful ones?”
“I shall discuss that shortly if you will be patient. As part of the cell nucleus, the symbiont affects the DNA/RNA pattern of the body, extending the life span considerably. The rumor that Crystal Singers are immortal is exaggerated, but functional longevity is definitely increased by fifty or more decades beyond actuarial norms. The adaptation provides an immunization to ordinary biological disease, enormously increasing the recuperative ability. Broken bones and wounds such as mine are, I warn you, part of the daily world of a Crystal Singer. Tolerance to extremes of heat and cold are also increased.”
And pain, no doubt, Killashandra thought, remembering not only the test but Borella's lack of discomfort with her deep wounds.
Behind the Singer, the holograms were now views of Ballybran's rugged terrain, quickly replaced by a time lapse over view from one of the moons, so that the planet's twelve continents were visible in seconds.
«On the negative side, once acclimated to Ballybran and adapted to the symbiont, the Singer is irreversibly sterile. The genetic code is altered by the intrusion of the symbiont into the nuclei, and those parts of the DNA spiral dealing with heredity and propagation are chemically altered, increasing personal survival traits as opposed to racial survival – a chemical alteration of instinct, if you will.»
Carigana gave a pleased sound like a feline expression of enjoyment.
«The other, and basically the most important negative factor, is that a Singer can not remain too long away from Ballybran's peculiar ecology. The symbiont must recharge itself from its native place. Its death means the death of the host – a rather unpleasant one, for death from extreme old age occurs within a period inversely related to the host's elapsed life span.»
“How long can a Singer stay away from Ballybran without ill effect?” Killashandra asked, thinking of Carrik and his reluctance to return.
“Depending on the strength of the initial adaptation, and that varies, for periods of up to four hundred days. A Singer is not required to be absent for longer than two hundred days on assignment off-planet. Two hundred and fifty days is suitable for leisure. Sufficient, I assure you, for most purposes.”
Killashandra, seated behind the space worker, saw Carigana draw breath for another question, but Borella had changed the hologram to show a human writhing in the grip of a shaking fever, all too reminiscent of the hypothermia that had affected Carrik. The man was seized by massive convulsions. As the focus tightened first to his hands, then his chest and face, he aged from an athletic person in his third, possibly fourth decade, to a wrinkled and dehydrated, hairless, shrunken corpse in the time it took viewers to gasp.
“He was one of the first Singers to make a successful symbiotic adaptation. He died, regrettably, at Weasust while setting up the black quartz relay station for that sector of the FSP. It was the first time a Singer had been absent for a prolonged period, but that particular danger had not yet been recognized.”
“Did you know him?” Shillawn asked with a perception that surprised Killashandra, for she had wondered the same thing.
“Yes, I did. He trained me in the field,” Borella replied, dispassionately.
Killashandra made some mental calculations and regarded the flawless complexion and erect figure of their mentor with surprise.
“Is that Milekey man still alive?” Carigana asked.
“No. He died during a major fault in the range which bears his name.”
“I thought this symbiont kept you from broken bones and wounds?”
The symbiont provides increased recuperative ability but cannot replace a severed head on a body whose wounds have resulted in complete blood loss. For less drastic injuries and she pulled the gown aside from her left leg.
Rimbol's soft whistle of astonishment summed up Killashandra's amazement, too. They had all seen the purple bruising and lacerations: now the contusions were faintly yellow splotches, and the wounds were visibly closing.
“What about those for whom the symbiont doesn't work?” asked the undaunted Carigana.
"The main purpose of the intensive physical examination was to evaluate rejection and blood factors, tissue health, and chromosome patterns against those of the known successful adaptations." A graph appeared on the screen, the line indicating success rising triumphantly over the past three decades where it had hovered in minor peaks over a span of three hundred or more years. "Your tests indicate no undesirable factors evaluated against records now dating back over three hundred twenty-seven standard years. You all have as good a chance as possible of achieving complete acceptance by the symbiont – " "The odds are five to one against."
Killashandra wondered if Carigana gave even the time of day in that same hostile tone.
“No longer,” Borella replied, and a light appeared on the upward swing of the graph line. “It's now better than one out of three. There are still factors not yet computed which cause only partial adaptation. I am compelled by FSP law to emphasize that.”