The vehicle was roughly oval in shape with a sleek dome. It rested on its flat belly. But the alien shape of it wasn't nearly as fascinating as the material from which it was made. It was crystal clear and yet it wasn't. It guttered in the light, but the eye couldn't quite focus on that brightness. There was an impression of wide, flat, oval objects inside the ship, but one couldn't quite make out the details. The whole thing was lit from inside with a soft, pulsing glow.
Sariana peered at the ship for a long moment. "It's like looking into ice cubes," she finally announced. "Living prisma crystal," Gryph said softly. "I've never seen prisma in this condition, although I've heard
it described a thousand times in song and story." He strode farther into the room. "Targyn was right. This ship is much larger than any other ship found on this planet."
"Perhaps it was some sort of supply ship," Sariana suggested as she followed Gryph slowly into the room. "Perhaps it's bigger than all the others because it carried weapons to resupply the smaller ships."
Gryph nodded. "It's possible. Or perhaps it was designed for some major assault that was never launched."
"We'll never know." Sariana examined the vehicle more closely. "Something's moving inside it, Gryph!" He followed her gaze and nodded. "Targyn said he had primed it. He had been experimenting.
Somehow he started a reaction within the weapons. He thought he could control that reaction."
"What now, Gryph?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted.
"Somehow you being unsure about anything gives me cold chills."
"Sorry," he said with a wry smile. "I'll try to sound more in charge. Here, give me your hand."
Sariana held out her palm and he closed his fingers warmly around it.
"Remember that first night together?" Gryph asked as he tightened his hand on hers. "Remember how it felt when we touched the prisma lock together?"
"How can I ever forget? It was every woman's dream of a wedding night." "This is no time for sarcasm," Gryph observed. "Save it for later. Concentrate on the sensation of
linking with me."
Sariana closed her eyes and let the feeling of being linked sweep through her. It was easy to summon up that odd sense of awareness now. Almost immediately a wave of Gryph's emotions poured through her. She couldn't identify any single one, but she knew they were all from him.
The huge wave crested, broke and then coalesced. She felt Gryph testing himself against the image of a mirror she presented. Shafts of light in varying hues danced through her mind. Sariana flinched when the
first ones arrived. The memories of the bright, lethal bursts of light Targyn had wielded were still fresh.
But after a moment it became clear that Gryph was in firm control of the energy he was using. The lights in her head flared brighter. A rainbow of a million hues vibrated within her mind and
bounced off the mirror she was creating.
In some manner, Sariana knew, Gryph was starting to take back the energy she was reflecting. It was stronger on the return trip, more concentrated.
Time became meaningless to Sariana. She stood perfectly still, her body poised, her mind alert but unfocused. Gryph's hand tightened on hers. Sariana's eyes were still closed so she didn't realize anything was happening to the ship until she felt the temperature in the cavern rise several degrees.
Her lashes lifted and she stared at the alien ship. It was no longer as clear as it had been. Portions of it were losing clarity, turning opaque. The change seemed to be starting from deep within the ship and working outward. The glow from the inside was fading.
"It's all right," Gryph whispered, his voice tight with the strain. "It's working. I've got it now." She stared at the ship, concentrating harder as she tried to somehow free up more of her own mind
energy for him to use. She didn't know what she was doing or how she was doing it, but she sensed the new strength within herself. She felt Gryph reach for that strength with the eagerness of a lover and then he was adding it to his own and projecting it toward the ship.
The crystal became more opaque, huge sections of it turning the familiar color of valuable prisma. Slowly, methodically, Gryph worked the prisma through Sariana. She sensed the deliberate way he
was projecting into the ship, finding the oval disks first and neutralizing them. Then he worked the structural material of the ship itself.
Suddenly it was all over. The ship in front of them was solid, gem quality prisma. The interior glow was gone. Sariana felt the weary rush of relief that seeped into her awareness and knew it was Gryph's reaction, not her own. She turned to look at him and found him staring at her, his features taut with the effort the task had taken. But he was grinning his familiar, slightly predatory grin. He pulled Sariana into his arms and hugged her as if he had just returned from a long trip.
"We did it! My sweet, unpredictable Sariana, we did it. Who would have guessed that you and I could work together like that? What legend spinner could have invented a tale this good? A whole ship full of weapons and we neutralized all of it, every last centimeter without the aid of a lock. By the Lightstorm, wait until they hear about this out on the frontier."
Sariana gave a shaky laugh, clinging tightly to him. "What makes you think they'll believe us?" "They'll believe it. After all, they'll have the word of a Shield on it," Gryph stated with his familiar
arrogance.
"Yes, of course. I almost forgot." "Are you laughing at me, woman?"
She shook her head, her eyes full of euphoric relief. "I wouldn't dream of it." "The hell you wouldn't." Gryph laughed, holding her as if he would never let go. "There is little you
wouldn't dare, Shieldmate. But we can discuss the matter later. I think it's time we found that cutter and got out of here."
"What about Rakken and that third bandit?"
"My guess is that the last bandit is long gone by now. He probably got a good look at the mess in the corridor outside and decided there were easier ways to make a living. As for Rakken." Gryph shrugged. "Who cares? The man is a nuisance. If he has any sense he'll stay out of my way."
They found the Avylyns' precious cutter near the entrance of the chamber that housed the alien ship. It had been left rather carelessly on a low worktable.
"It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that could cause all this trouble, does it?" Sariana asked as she picked up the tool.
The prisma cutter looked like nothing more than a thin, square box. One side of the square disappeared when a hidden spring was pushed. When that was done a smooth, rounded edge was exposed. The edge was not sharpened or serrated. A child could play with it and not cut himself. But when it was applied to prisma by a skilled craftsman using just the right pressure and angle, it cut through
