Thom Gustav, a Bureaucrat with the Reservations Bureau must journey to an outpost world run by an Overlordly Envoy, Schrek to speak about an expansion of the outpost’s territory.  After some difficulty in finding anyone who will travel to the planet, he and his partner Ellen eventually arrive and finding very few people about in the downport, is collected by and meets with Envoy Schrek personally.  The Envoy wants to build a giant Music Hall on the planet to let the grandeur of the music bring all here.  He wants the Bureau to allocate the land of a nearby cave structure to house the building.

Gustrav comments that it’s a rather grandiose plan for such a small world.  The Envoy becomes angry but controls his temper and invites Gustav to stay in the Envoy’s residence.  Gustav comments on his partner, back at the hotel, and the Envoy says she can join them NextCycle.

When Gustav awakens he cannot seem to get a tune out of his head, but when pressed cannot remember it.  He consider’s the Envoy’s request impractical, but sees no reason to refuse, so prepares the endorsement documents.  Ellen joins him at the Envoy’s residence, and the envoy seems quite taken with her. 

The next Cycle neither Ellen nor Gustav can get the song out of their heads.  The Envoy invites them to go on a tour of the caves he wants to convert, and drives them there.  Inside the caves, a visually impressive crystalline set, Ellen complains she can hear music that won’t go away.  The Envoy uses a pretext to separate them and invites Ellen to ‘a place where the cave’s musical effect is heightened.’  Meanwhile, Gustav finds the frozen bodies of dozens of people, all who bear the signs of surgery on their ears.  He runs to find Ellen.

Ellen and the Envoy have reached the top of the cave where the music is loudest.  The Envoy exclaims, “At last, another who hears it clearly as I do!”  Ellen appears to be about to succumb to the strange effect when Gustav arrives and pushes the Envoy onto the central crystal structure that seems responsible for the effect, gruesomely impaling him.  Gustav turns to Ellen, “He was mad!”  he exclaims.  Ellen says, “But I do hear it!” and pushes Gustav after the Envoy.   

 

Why Blooddrinker? There wasn’t any blood drinking!