Farkin lifted another huge shovel-full of Plutonium chips and slammed them into the fuel-port of the Enterprise's reactor. It was hot work, and the ice-man could feel the icicles forming on his chin and nose. His boots were quite full of slush now, and a large pool of water had formed within his work-space. He glanced over at the Foreman, a lazy Maltoonian who had his nose buried in a copy of Playcreature's Girls of the Known Universe. Farkin had been employed in the Enterprise Engine Room for 143 years, and knew everything there was to know about its operation. He had applied several times for the Foreman position, but his application was invariably overlooked. "Snowcones", as the Ice-Giants of the Third Moon of Jupiter were disparagingly called, were seldom considered management material.

Farkin glanced at his wristwatch. Five more hours of toil and melting until his shift was done. Someday, he thought, they'll realize that an ice-giant's mind is like a recording device: Everything Farkin had ever seen or heard was archived in his brain. From the depths of his mind, he summoned up one of the old songs that had been sung by the man who trained him at his job so many years ago, Dylan Woodrow. The man was at least 1/2 Terran, and he told Farkin that he owned a replication system that had been passed through his family since time immemorial. He called it a Fonogram, and it had taught him many of the ancient so-called Sacred Songs. Farkin began to sing in his low rumbling voice

"Mike Eisner's seen the Glory..."

and he stopped. That was the version taught him by the digital recordings in the Library of the Enterprise. Woodrow's had been different. Farkin began again

"Mine eyes have seen the Glory
Of the Coming of the Lord..."