'I know that,' she said softly, 'but I can't tell why. I've got to talk to one of the clanker operators.'

'Ky-Ara is the only one still alive. He should be here tomorrow. He's been putting a new controller into his clanker. He's not happy!'

He wouldn't be, Tiaan thought. The bond between operator and machine was intimate. To have a controller fail on him would be like losing a brother. To then train himself to the idiosyncrasies of a different controller would be gruelling, physically, mentally and emotionally.

'What have you come up with?' Gi-Had persisted.

'There are… t-two possibilities. Either the crystals have invisible flaws or the field has somehow burnt them out…' She broke off as a third, more alarming possibility occurred to her.

'Or?' grated Gi-Had. His heavy-lidded eyes narrowed to slits. 'Or what, artisan?'

'Or the enemy has found a way to disable the hedrons,' she whispered.

'Better hope they haven't, or we'll all end up in the belly of a lyrinx.'

'I'm working as hard as I can.'

'But are you working as smart as you can?'

'I -'

'I've got my orders. Now I'm passing them on to you. If you can't do the job I'll have to find someone who can, even if I have to bring them a hundred leagues. You've got a week to fix this problem, artisan.'

Opening the wooden case, he placed two controllers on her bench, next to the one she'd been working on. 'Twenty soldiers died because these failed. Another three died recovering them. A week, Tiaan.'

'And if I fail?' she said slowly.

'Have you given any thought to your other responsibility?'

She stared at him, white-faced. Tiaan could not think what he meant.

'Your responsibility to mate!' he said testily. 'Your foreman spoke to you about it yesterday.'

Was every single person going to remind her of it? 'N-not yet!' she stammered. Just the thought of it made her heart race. 'But I will soon, I promise.'