Page 13 of Life-Debt

“Then you’ll probably be fine. So, this unit uses a clear shiftgem crystal. The replacement cost is a quarter of a million standard tokens, so I strongly recommend against breaking it.”

At my encouragement, he sat on the table, and once positioned, he raised his hands. “I will look and not touch for the moment.”

That worked for me. I placed the unit beside him, opened the protective casing, and exposed the shiftgem and its mounting brackets. “Most shiftgems use a quartet of mounting brackets, although drive cores may use up to twenty depending on the size of the crystal. Each gem would have an equal number of mounting brackets. When the crystals are paired, the stones are cut to be the exact same shape and size, allowing for less than a millimeter of variance. In most systems, the sets can handle up to two millimeter differences, but when you are in space, you can’t afford problems. Mismatched sets tend to explode under certain circumstances.”

“The captain knew about that, and the stones were in sets. He had no idea what the thresholds were.”

“He did the smart thing, then, because a mismatched set can completely destroy your engine.” I eased the brackets away from the clear stone and removed it, holding it up for him to admire. “Clear stones of this quality are exceptionally rare, and they’re typically core stones taken from active shiftgem planets. Treasure seekers go to the planet when it is at its most volatile and make exploratory trips to capture shiftgem ejecta from volcanoes. Revival unit stones, like this one, are sold at a fraction of the price.”

“Is that a core shiftgem?”

I nodded, and I replaced the stone into the brackets, explaining how to secure the gem and test it was mounted correctly. Once done, I returned the unit to its shelf, pulled out the locked metal case carrying its certification paperwork, and opened it. I held out the crystal’s identification. “This is a legal stone, taken as a salvage op from an intact planet. I do not condone core shiftgems from busted planets.”

“Nobody with a scrap of sense or morality does,” Delta replied, reading over my certificate. “This is an Earth core shiftgem?”

I shrugged. “Homo sapiens from the generational ships get first crack at them, and I’d done a chain of successful revivals on inferior equipment, so I was offered the stone.”

In reality, the gem had been recovered from the final flight from Earth, having been mistaken to be a simple quartz crystal taken from a deep mine. It had ventured for over a thousand years in space before being evaluated as a shiftgem crystal of unusual clarity and unmatched color—or lack of color, as the case was.

“This is worth far more than a quarter million tokens.”

“It was onboard my parents’ generational ship, and nobody knew what it was. And anyway, it made its way back to me as a gift following a rescue. I couldn’t afford a stone of this caliber.”

“That’s your heritage and birthright, then. How many others from your generational ship venture into space?”

“Very few.” To be specific, there was one: me. Everyone else had stayed happily nestled on their new home world. I’d left for training in space at the age of twelve.

By the time I’d turned five, everyone had realized I longed for the stars. I’d been the last to figure it out but the first to embrace the reality of the situation.

I’d been born to fly.

“Earth is quite the valuable shiftgem planet,” Delta stated, and he handed the card back. “That crystal alone would make you a prime target among pirates. The entire planet is essentially one giant mass of shiftgem material. It’s the planet’s primary mineral.”

“Is it?”

“It is. The last resource scan puts Earth at having a thirty-five percent composition of shiftgem minerals, with high-grade material estimated to be up to fifteen percent. It’s under constant surveillance and protection from planet busters wanting to profit from Earth’s destruction. It’s estimated at least five percent would be usable core shiftgem material.”

I grimaced at the thought of Earth being blown to smithereens to induce the conditions necessary to melt the mineral and allow it to reform into viable shiftgem crystals, which could be cut into the appropriate shape and sizes.

Mine had come in its natural crystalline structure, a double-pointed spear. “I see you’re interested in the manufacture of shiftgem crystals.”

“I was onboard to negotiate for our cargo, handle base inspections, and check the certifications of all the gems to make certain they’re legal. I inspected all the crates upon entry, and I registered them into the ship’s log.”

Interesting. His statement implied he had no idea about the additions to his cargo bay. Hidden at the top would make the most sense if a smuggler hoped to sneak the box off the ship upon arrival.

It had been of small enough size to tuck into a bag of personal items without drawing attention.

“Well, I’ll apologize for making a mess of your inventory, then. I used a few of the crystals to bring your ship back into general operation. I already notified your home world of their usage, and they approved it.”

“I would have approved the usage as well, so that’s not a problem.”

“May I inquire what sort of gems are on board? I will be bringing your ship’s engine back to life after you’re better recovered from revival so we can head to the gate.”

“It’s just a shipment of standard shiftgems, nothing nearly as impressive as your core crystal,” he replied. “I’ve never actually seen a core crystal up close.”

I grinned at his wistful tone, retrieved the revival unit, and freed the gem from its brackets. “I don’t really consider it to be a core crystal, although it is registered as one. It came from a deep mine, though. Hold your hands out. This one has no history of waking latent talents, but it’s something to behold, isn’t it? I’ll support your hands. You won’t drop or damage it.”

Delta’s eyes widened and he cupped his hands together and held them out. I placed the shiftgem into his hand and closed his fingers around it. “There. Now you can say you’ve held a core shiftgem. The core gems work best in revival units. My theory is they are the core of life of a planet, so they work best in machinery meant to restore life.”