Lars's arm came around her shoulders and he nuzzled her ear, kissing fondly but with no hint of sensuality."In Recruitment."
"Recruitment?"
He nodded."You'll understand when you get there.Now go!"
In fact, he walked her to the lift and gave her another kiss when she exited at the shuttle level.Killashandra wasn't happy about Lanzecki preempting Lars's assistance.She didn't really mind about her assignment-she had done it before.
The Ballybran symbiont was the last chance for those whose illnesses could not be cured by modern techniques.In a galactic civilization, minor human mutations could result in major immune reactions to relatively innocuous viruses that refused to respond even with an immense pharmacopoeia and therapeutics cunningly developed from old-world reliables and alien innovations.Exposure to the Ballybran symbiont had proved remarkably effective in almost every single case-at least the ones that reached the planet before the organ damage have gone past the point of retrieval.The obvious deterrent was that the patient must take up whatever new life the symbiont provided-and not always that of crystal singer, since that required perfect pitch.But crystal singing was not the only career available on Ballybran.Support skills and professions were always welcomed.Killa wondered what skills this new candidate might have.Maybe replace that dork in Lanzecki's office?
Lanzecki's personal shuttle was parked at the bay, and the pilot ceased lounging the moment she emerged from the lift, gesturing her urgently to hurry.She gave him a smile, since he appeared to know her.
"What's the gen on this candidate?" she asked as she strapped herself in.
He nodded briefly and completed the formalities with Traffic Control, but he didn't answer until they had cleared Ballybran's atmosphere.
"The daughter of some planetary official…"
"Fuerte."
"Yeah, that's the place.Medic says they got her here just about in time.Some bug's doing nasty things to her spinal cord."
Killashandra gave a shudder.
"The irony is that she was trying to find a vaccine for the same infection."
"She's medical?" Medically trained personnel were valuable on Ballybran, despite the symbiont's benefices.
"Research and Development.Not enough R and very little D," he added.
Shankill Base cleared them immediately to the Guild portal.
"I'll wait," the pilot said with a nod of his head as he opened the shuttle's lock.
The recruitment director, a rather portly and impressive-looking man, seemed immensely relieved at her arrival.
"This way, Killashandra Ree," he said."They oughtn't to have left this so long," he added with a mixture of annoyance and criticism."She may not make it."
Killa started to give a facetious response, but limited herself to a shrug.
"This way," he said, gesturing her away from the interview rooms toward one of the larger accommodations."We have completed all the necessary formalities…"
"Then why-" She broke off for he had palmed the door open and she was momentarily startled by the number of people crowded into the room.From the expressions on their faces, she began to understand some of the problems.The candidate was on a float, to one side of the room, a medic hovering anxiously and fussing with the dials of the support system that evidently kept the girl alive.Five people whose faces were tanned by Fuertan sun and anxious with fear rushed toward her, each addressing her with such urgency she could understand nothing.
"Which of you are her parents?"Killashandra asked."I can plainly see who's the applicant."
Two stepped forward while the other three looked displeased at being excluded.
"I am Governor Fiske-Ulass," the man said, "Donalla's father, and this is her mother, Dian Fiske-Ulass."
"So what's your problem?"
The man gave a twitch to his shoulders that suggested to Killa that he was rarely in the position of petitioner and found it unacceptable.
"We find that we are unable to accompany Donalla to Ballybran…"
"You may-if you wish to remain with her," Killa said drolly.
Irritation flickered in his eyes, but he went on, regarding her with growing suspicion.Fuertan officials hated being challenged.
"That there is absolutely no guarantee that this-this unusual symbiosis will cure her…"
The medic spoke up from the side of the room."It was her option, Governor.Her option when she was still able to speak.She maintains that position."
Killa made eye contact with the medic."She can no longer speak?"
"She can communicate," the medic replied, sending a glance at the governor, who flicked his fingers in repudiation of that statement.
"How?"
"If you have been in attendance on an invalid, you learn to interpret requirements…"
The governor snorted in dismissal, and the mother to stifled a sob.Killa nodded her head in acceptance, however, and waited for the medic to continue.
"One blink of the eyelids is no, two is yes."She stepped away from the float, gesturing Killa to see for herself.
"Everyone blinks," the governor said.
Killa ignored him and approached the patient.Looking at the bleached white face, lines of long suffering and pain drawn on the papery-looking dry skin, Killashandra felt a stab of sympathy for this wreck of a human being.Her head was braced, and Killa had to bend slightly over her to see her eyes, light blue, alive and vivid in a sickly yellow that should have been healthy white.
"Is Ballybran symbiosis what you wish?" she asked.
The eyelids closed firmly once, then twice, and then held Killa's glance with an appeal that was crystal clear.
"What's the prognosis without symbiont?" she asked the medic.
"How she's held on to life this long is beyond me," the medic murmured."A few more days at the most, and that's close to miraculous."
"And there's been full Disclosure, to which Donalla has agreed," Killa asked, lightly stressing the girl's name as she regarded the recruitment officer.
He nodded."In strict accordance with regulations.But the parents have to sign in her place since she is unable to.That's also regs."
"So what is your problem?"
"We've heard tales…" the mother blurted the out while her husband glared suspiciously at Killashandra.
"That the symbiont changes people into monsters?"Killashandra asked, and knew that, indeed, that was their fear.
She snatched an ampoule from the medic's pack, smashed it against the table, and, to the horrified astonishment of those in the room, deliberately gouged her forearm with a shard of the broken glass.The lacerations were satisfactorily long and bled profusely.
"A monster that heals in minutes," Killa said, holding out her arm so that all could see how quickly the symbiont worked to stem blood flow and repair tissue."Sign!" she said to the parents in her most imperious tone."You've got thirty seconds before I leave… without her and her last chance to live."
It didn't take Dian Fiske-Ulass that long to reach for the document and scrawl her signature.She held the stylus out to her husband."What other chance has Donalla got?" she cried.
"None," the medic said firmly, and closed her lips over whatever else she would have added.
With a shrug of angry resignation, the governor took the stylus and scribbled his name, illegible, but embellished with rather fancy amendments."There!You've taken my only daughter from me."
"And you're governor of Fuerte?"Killa asked with contempt and then turned to the medic."Let's get her aboard the shuttle.The Guild Master sent his personal craft."She shot a jaundiced look at Fiske-Ulass.
The others trailed after the float, Dian beginning to sob, the governor trying to recover his public image by appearing sternly resolved.
As soon as the pilot saw them in the corridor, he moved forward to take the front end of the float from Killa, who gently took the other position from the medic.