Diamond Star Read Free Page A

Del tapped his fingers on the ticker. "I don't like the third part. The first line is too long. 'Rescue' clunks. And 'Wavering crypt sublime' is idiotic."
    "Why?" Mac asked, intrigued. "The sounds fit."
    "The sounds, yeah. But the words are dumb. Crypts don't waver." He tilted his head. "Winnowing. Winnowing crypt sublime."
    Mac smiled. "Crypts don't winnow, either."
    "Sure they do. They winnow you out of life." Del pointed the ticker at Mac. "You can live for decades and never find answers." He lowered his arm. "Until death winnows you out of humanity and makes room for someone more useful."
    Mac spoke quietly. "I hope you don't see yourself that way."
    Del just shook his head. He had that far-off look that came when he wanted to practice. "I need to work."
    "Would you like me to go?"
    "I don't mind if you listen," Del said. "But it can get pretty boring when I'm working on a song. I just go over and over the same parts."
    "It's not boring for me," Mac said. "I'd like to stay."
    "Well sure, then." Del got up and walked around, holding the ticker. And he sang. He kept changing words, pacing like a caged lion. He sang a verse fluidly, then snarled the chorus. Yet somehow it all fit.
    Although Mac liked to watch him sing, he knew it made Del self-conscious. So he closed his eyes and leaned his head back, enjoying the music. It was easy to submerge into Del's rich voice. The youth had trained his entire life, using techniques passed through generations in his family. Although Del could sing opera exquisitely, he preferred a far different style. He could croon one line, scream the next, wail and moan, then stroke the notes as if they were velvet, all without harming his voice. No one did anything that commercially risky in the mainstream, but undercity artists threw in all sorts of noise. Mac knew why Del had fascinated them that night in the bar; he easily achieved what they struggled to attain because he had the technique they lacked. To break the rules, they had to master them first.
    Del wanted nothing more than to sing. He didn't care about the politics surrounding him. Although no one had physically hurt Del, Mac knew he had suffered emotionally. His people were torn by hostilities that had begun long ago, when humanity splintered into three civilizations: the Allied Worlds of Earth; Del's people of the Skolian Imperialate; and the Trader Empire. The Skolians and Traders had just fought a brutal war that had nearly destroyed them both and ravaged Del's family.
    The Allied government had remained neutral, safe in their isolationism, but they agreed to shelter Del's family on Earth. When the war ended with no victor, Earth had feared the Skolians and Traders would send their world-slagging armies back out, again and again, until they wiped out humanity. So they refused to release Del's family. It did no good; the Skolians just sent in a commando team and pulled them out, all except Del, who happened to be apart from the others. So here Del remained, while Earth's government argued over what the blazes to do with him. Some thought having Del gave them a bargaining point with the Skolians. Others wanted to let him go and be done with the whole mess. Personally Mac didn't see the point in keeping him. What would they tell his family, the Ruby Dynasty--that if they started another war, they would never see their youngest son again? The bellicose Skolians were more likely to attack than bargain . . .
    "Hey!" Del said. "You awake?"
    Mac opened his eyes drowsily. "Just drifting."
    "Admit it," Del said, laughing. "I bored you to sleep."
    "Never." Mac stood up, stretching his arms. "I do have to go, though. I have a client who is auditioning today."
    Del regarded him curiously. "What sort of audition?"
    "It's with Prime-Nova Media, for a holo-vid cube."
    "Oh. Well." Del squinted at him. "Good."
    He smiled at Del's attempt to look as if he knew what the hell Mac had just said. "You've watched holo-vids, haven't you?"
    "Not really. I see