Chap. 108 Change of Plans

Chap. 108 Change of Plans

A drudge called at the entrance to K'ndar's weyr.

"Yes?"

"Sir, D'nis and the Weyrleaders would like to see you in their office," she said.

Hmmm. "Okay, thank you, I'll be right after you," he said. Siskin made to come along but he said, "Siskin, stay here with Raventh."

Siskin's eyes whirled an unhappy orange, but he obeyed.

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He entered the Weyrleader's office. Siena and M'rvin, D'nis and D'mitran were there. So was a man K'ndar had never seen before, but he bore the look of a dragonrider.

"K'ndar reporting as requested," he said.

"Have a seat, K'ndar, we're discussing plans," M'rvin said. 

K'ndar felt a little nervous, but…these were his leaders.

"Is this about the skeleton recovery?" he asked, "if it is, I can be ready to go in a few minutes."

D'mitran laughed. "Slow down, sir, you're ahead of the game."

"No," Siena said, "although in a way, it is connected.  We ARE helping planning our part of the  recovery, but no, it's not going to affect you. We're pulling you off the recovery operation."

He felt dismay. "Is it..is it something I've done?"

"No, of course not. It's…well, we've been asked to contribute the steppe exploration team to another survey," she said.

"Another…you mean, us four?"

"Not with B'rost," D'nis said, "he's neck deep in the geological portion of the recovery and is needed there." In his deepest mind, D'nis was relieved. While B'rost was a good dragonrider, he could be impetuous. And, he acknowledged in the deepest soul, he resented B'rost's failure to respect him as leader of the team. This was a holdover from his days as Weyrleader, and while he no longer held that position, still…he didn't give orders often, but when he did, he expected them to be obeyed. Does this make me hidebound, he wondered? After all, B'rost did find things they never would have if he'd not taken risks. But that was the point. Risky behavior in an unknown situation sometimes ended up in broken wings and backs.

You're not hidebound, if it means what it feels like. You're …experienced. Just like me. Rath can be difficult to manage Corvuth, his bronze, said. 

D'nis grinned.

Siena nodded to the stranger.

"K'ndar, this is T'ovar. He's from Tillek Hold, now. T'ovar, this is K'ndar, one of our brown riders and a darned good explorer."

"Sir, pleased to meet you," K'ndar said, wondering.

T'ovar, an older man, nodded politely. "Pleased to meet you, K'ndar. I've a brown myself. I'm just T'ovar, you can drop the sir."

"I'll cut to the chase," M'rvin said. "I'm certain you remember Rahman, the astronomer."

"Yes, sir, haven't seen him in a while, is he okay?"

"Aye. He's involved in the establishment of a second observatory on Far Western Continent. The continent has never been fully surveyed, and you, D'nis and D'mitran are well qualified to do a survey the likes of which you did on the steppe. Not only does Landing want you gentlemen specifically, but Rahman 'demands' you go, too. He likes you."

Another expedition! To the Far Western Continent, a landmass that even to this day had had very little exploration. 

"He's a wise man, " K'ndar said, smiling, "he taught me a lot. Will he..be going on the expedition with us?" That was worrisome, Rahman was ancient. 

"Oh, nay," T'ovar said, "he's far too old. I hesitate to even take him between, but he insists he's fine. He spends a lot of time at Tillek Hold."

K'ndar nodded. 

"So-what does it entail?" he asked.

D'nis said, "Pretty much what we did on the steppe except for we'll be staying at Tillek Hold, which is why T'ovar is here. He and a few others will be accompanying us for part of the survey, to learn how it's done," he said.

"I thought that a survey of the Western side  had already been done?"

T'ovar said, "Yes and no. We did begin one, but the Council was constantly being stymied by Lord Toric, who, I'm going to say, had no reason to do so other than there was something there that he wanted. I think all of Pern resents the man," he griped. 

They all nodded. They all did.

"That, and the Northern Weyrs are just like yours, only now beginning to adjust to life without Thread, and looking about for a way to make ourselves useful. Several of our riders-to include me and my family, have moved out, on to other weyrs and holds. They're getting crowded, as you probably have heard. 

  We know that we're welcome to shift weyrs down here to Southern, but…" he waved a hand at his face, "I have no idea how you all manage to live in this heat. And humidity. So I have no plans on moving down here, but if there's room on Western…it might be a place to establish another place for dragonriders."

The Kahrains grinned at T'ovar's complaint. To them, it was early winter, with cooler temperatures and no rain. If he thought THIS was hot and muggy…

"That, and Landing would like a second observatory on the far end of Western. I'm not a starsmith, I've no idea how observatories can differ, but..."

"Isn't the one on the Eastern part up and functioning?" K'ndar asked.

"Yes, but, apparently, being able to triangulate between two on one continent, as well as the others, will give Rahman and the astronomers a better…um, I can't remember the word. Makes for  a better grasp of what's coming at us, if anything. Don't want to be caught unawares if there's another fireball out there," he said. 

"Me, I'm aching to go, just because. Because it's…unknown," D'mitran said.

"Aye. We at Tillek feel the same way. Being that Tillek is the closest hold and has the bes harbor, we'll be supporting you, and some of our folks will be joining you. For instance, we have a green rider who's a topnotch geologist, she'll be with you," T'ovar said. 

"And you?"

"It depends. I've been tasked with 'logistics'. That's a new one on me, but should you need something, I'm the one to ask. I do itch to go with, though, and while I don't have any specific skills such as you do, if it's my lot to be the man who does the grunt work, I'm fine with that," he laughed.

"Does anyone on your team have a fire lizard? Because we're using them as couriers now," Siena said, surprising K'ndar. He'd thought Siena hadn't really had the time to fully explore the usefulness of a trained fire lizard, but...she was a smart woman. She could see the usefulness of a courier even if it was a fire lizard, rather than a human being. Runners wouldn't be of much help in the unknowns of the Far Western.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure. Everyone knows Kahrain Steppe Weyr has gone lizard crazy, but there's got to be someone on our end that has one."

"If you don't mind, T'ovar," (he felt odd, addressing the older, senior rider by his name. He still couldn't shake the 'sir' habit.) "I'd like to have mine meet you, and your dragon. Once he knows you, I'll be able to send him to you with requests, or information."

"Sure, K'ndar, I don't mind," T'ovar said.

K'ndar called Siskin, who promptly showed up, eyes whirling green with delight.

"He's not wearing it right now, but when I send him to you, he'll be wearing a harness and a bell, with our weyr colors on it. What is your dragon's name?"

"Do they talk to dragons?"

"Yes, they can't talk, not like dragons talk to us, but have no problems communicating with dragons," he said. "But they do understand us, even if they can't make words in our minds."

"Siskin", he said, "this is T'ovar. Remember his face. You will be carrying things to and from him"

Siskin chirped, his head twisted to one side, memorizing T'ovar's face.

Suddenly he vanished.

Siskin is with Firoth. He is T'ovar's brown Raventh said.

"Your dragon is Firoth?"

"Aye!! That was quick!" T'ovar said.

K'ndar smiled, proud of his little blue. 

"We can't order you to do the survey rather than work on the recovery, but…both D'nis and D'mitran want you to go. Do you need some time to think it over?" M'rvin said, knowing what the answer would be.

K'ndar felt so strange, his Weyrleader asking him this? And did he want to abandon the resurrection of the skeleton? Honestly, the recovery sounded like a lot of tedious drudge work, now that he knew WHAT a diver was and how it would look. And, there was the call of the new and unknown continent. 

"Sir, you're my Weyrleader. I'm not going to disobey you, no matter if it's an order or a request-but thank you for the option. D'nis is my team leader and even though we're not wings anymore, still, D'mitran is my wingleader. I don't have to think it over, I'm in. When do we leave?"

Siena laughed and gave an 'I told you so' look at M'rvin.

"You might want to pack a few things," she said, grinning.