Chap. 177 Career Change

Chap. 177 Career change

Risal was waiting for him outside the dining hall, as they'd planned to meet for breakfast.

"Good morning! How'd you sleep?" she asked.

He grinned. They'd talked long into the night before. He'd thought that, once he'd get to bed, he'd toss and turn after two hectic days, but, no.

"Like the dead. I got a shower, fed Siskin, lay down with every intention of writing up the days in my journal and didn't wake up until sunrise," he said. It had felt good.

She laughed. "Not surprising, I guess, considering all you've done in the last two days. I couldn't sleep."

"Why? Not comfortable?"

"Oh, no! Hariko is a wonderful hostess, she put me up in a weyr by myself. You have a lot of room here, I'm so surprised! My room was comfortable, warm but not very quiet. I had no idea you had so much nocturnal wildlife around. I kept hearing night songs, I think they're from birds?"

"I know what you're talking about, but I've never discovered what makes those calls. That's something I think I'll start researching," he said.

As they entered the hall, she noticed the large sign next to the doors.

No Firelizards or Dogs in Dining Hall

"What's with this sign?" she asked.

K'ndar laughed. "I've never really had the time to find out, but I imagine it's in response to a hungry fire lizard going for someone's lunch," he said. Siskin was with Raventh at the moment, precisely because of the prohibition. "The problem being, fire lizards can teleport. It's not easy, convincing yours that they need to stay outside," he said.

"Probably the same thing with dogs," she said, as they entered. "They don't let dogs in the hall at Landing, but then, there aren't very many there."

"Same here, it's only been fairly recently that people started keeping them as pets, and even more recently, fire lizards. In fact, one of my friends works here, she has a queen who mated, unbeknownst to anyone. She laid her first clutch in the weyr's hatching sands, right in the same spot as our queen dragon! No one knew where the eggs were, until the kids in the weyr found it, kept it secret, and impressed a whole bunch of fire lizards. It was pandemonium until our Weyrlingmaster decided, big dragons or little 'uns, they need to be trained. Now they're an auxiliary of the Weyrling school, and are used for sending messages and delivering small packages and things. They're quite useful," he said.

He led the way to the end of the line of weyrfolk going through the breakfast buffet.

"I was watching your Siskin. He's quite the character, isn't he?" she said.

"He is. He's as devoted as any dragon," he said.

"I was thinking I'd like one. But at the moment, I don't have the time or the experience to actually handle one. Oh, this smells fabulous! This bubbly pie, it looks fantastic!" she exclaimed.

"I should hope so, I made it," said Lindea, on the other side of the serving line.

"Oh, hi, Lindea!" K'ndar said, looking up to see Lindea's eyes fastened on Risal.

"Good morning, K'ndar. Who is your friend?" she said, her voice frosty. She did not take her eyes off Risal. Risal didn't meet her gaze, but she could feel the freeze.

Lindea looks like a queen dragon, K'ndar thought, and not a happy one. Or an alpha mare, her ears pinned.

"Lindea, meet Risal. Risal, this is Lindea. Risal's from Landing, Lindea, and she wanted to see what our weyr looks like! Risal, Lindea and I have been friends from the first day we got here at Kahrain. Lindea makes the best bubbly pies in the world," he said.

"They look fabulous," Risal said, taking one.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Lindea asked. It sounded like the north wind on a winter day. K'ndar realized she'd not heard a word he'd said. He was about to repeat it when a voice behind K'ndar said, "Hey, there, mate, there's folks behind you waiting for breakfast, too."

"Oops, sorry," K'ndar said, feeling relief at the unexpected 'rescue'. What in the world was wrong with Lindea?

They made their way to a table and sat down opposite each other.

"She's a bit cold, isn't she." Risal said, tucking into her breakfast.

"Not usually," K'ndar said, wondering, "Usually she's cheerful as can be. She's like the sun, usually, warm, friendly, never a cross word from her. I can't imagine what has gotten into her," he said.

She spluttered.

"Really, K'ndar? Are you serious?"

He gawped, completely at a loss of what she meant.

"Um, I…I was, but obviously, I haven't a clue what you're talking about," he said.

"Well, maybe I'm wrong. We females have this sixth sense, especially when it comes to…um, male friends. She's-well, again, maybe I'm reading her all wrong, but she took one look at me and made assumptions. She's jealous," she said.

It was K'ndar's turn to splutter.

"Jealous? Of who? Me?"


"No, you dunce! Me!" she said.

"You? You just met her! She just met you! We're just friends, it's not as if I introduced you as …"

"As a girlfriend?"

No, it wasn't that way!

"Girl friend, not girlfriend. I just met you, Risal! Oh, I don't know WHAT I mean, I'm totally gobsmacked at the concept. Lindea and I, we're just friends. You got 'jealousy' from Lindea, just from a few words?"

Risal laughed. It was the infectious type, one that you couldn't help but join in, even were you the butt of a joke.

"I agree, girl friend, not girlfriend. K'ndar, I've been a female all my life, and there's communication links between us that most men don't seem to know exist," she said. "Sort of what I imagine the way riders and their dragons communicate," she said.

He shook his head. "There's never been any sort of relationship between us," he insisted.

She sighed. She didn't want to get too deep, not this soon, not this fast. He is a nice man, she thought, but he's right, we've just met.

"Oh, maybe I'm just reading her wrong," she said. "Maybe she's just having a bad day. No matter, she's a lovely girl and her pies are…oh my gosh, just terrific," the last came out covered with crumbs.

How in the world could she see that much in just a few words from Lindea? he wondered.

Maybe I need to talk to someone about females.

A shadow occluded the sunlight streaming in. K'ndar looked up, fearing for just a moment it was Lindea. But it was B'rost, holding his breakfast tray high to avoid hitting Risal in the back of the head.

"May I join you?" he asked. The person sitting near Risal looked up and silently moved further away to give him room. HE remembered, very well, who B'rost was.

K"ndar remembered the last time B'rost had joined him for breakfast. That had ended with his nose being broken…but B'rost had changed. A lot.

His eyes met B'rost's and the memories of that incident leaped in both their minds. K'ndar smirked.

"I dunno, B'rost, my nose is all healed up," he said, smiling as broadly as he could, hoping B'rost didn't over react.

"I promise to leave your nose alone," he laughed.

"What?" Risal said.

B'rost sat down next to her.

"Long story, but it ended up with me breaking K'ndar's nose. Hi, I'm B'rost," he said, grinning at K'ndar.

"I know. I'm Risal. I want to hear about your punching K'ndar in the nose, but first-I saw your briefing. You did beautiful work on excavating the skeletons in the cave," she said.

He gawped. "How…you saw it? You were in the briefing? But, wait, no, you saw it here? I’m totally confused," he said.

"Long story, B'rost, to make it short, Risal, here, was working in Flight Ops the first day I was at Landing. Then I brought her here, and then you and me and the others went to the island."

"Fast off the mark, aren't you!" B'rost said, admiringly.

"Not you, too! NO! It's…oh, I give up," K'ndar said, so befuddled he just wanted to go back to bed and start the day all over again.

"He's not fast, B'rost, it was a favor for me," she said.

B'rost didn't believe it, but he kept his opinion to himself.

"So tell me, why did you break K'ndar's nose?" Risal asked, "Why? You worked as a well trained team on the island," she said.

B'rost looked at her. "I've done a lot of growing up in the last six months, Risal. To be bloody honest, I was so jealous of K'ndar I did a VERY stupid thing and punched him. I didn't know why at the time, but now I do. K'ndar was good enough to let me get away with it," he said.

"You punched him out of jealousy?" she said.

"Yes. Boys do that, sometimes, when they can't-or refuse-to communicate," he said.

K'ndar admired B'rost for his honesty. Oh, jealousy, what an ugly feeling, what it makes us humans do.
Lindea? Jealous? This is getting so ridiculously thick and sticky.

"Even so, B'rost, your work in that cave, makes our job at Landing so much easier. It was as professional a piece of work as can be imagined," she said.

"Thank you. I used to be a geologist. When you are excavating a site, like a fossil, or bones, you have to be careful, not to lose or disturb the site, displace the rock or soil. A fossil find is useless if you lose the context of the soil or rock it's resting in," he said.


"USED to be a geologist?" K'ndar said, even more confused, now.

B'rost looked at him.

"I'll always BE a geologist, K'ndar. Like you being a horseman, I was born to it. It's been my passion since I was a kid. I 'borrowed' the cothold's carpentry hammer and hammered on anything I could find until my mother threatened to hammer my head. But, well, K'ndar, it's one of the reasons I was hoping to run into you before I left."

"Left?" K'ndar said, "B'rost, you just returned, what, a month ago?"

"Where did you go? You left?" Risal asked.

B'rost held up his hands. "I know, I know. I'm a feather on the wind, K'ndar, always have been. Here and there, flighty, never landing in the same spot twice. You know me, probably better than anyone other than my mum. But,well, K'ndar, it was Harve's legs. And the bones in the cave. The moment I saw the bones, all cleared of overburden, I had a very good idea what happened to her. Jansen, she couldn't bring herself to say it. Bones and fossils tell stories, if you know how to read them. Do you know what happened to her?" he asked.

Both of them shook their heads. "Not really, but..oh, go ahead. Otherwise I'll be wondering forever," K'ndar said.

"I might be wrong but it was apparent to me that she'd been beaten. Some of the breaks were healed, if badly, that may have been caused by the shipwreck. But other breaks were all centered on her abdomen and surrounding ribs. Others were fresh, unhealed. Meaning, she died of being beaten, or soon afterwards. She was pregnant. I'd bet my best harness Shipfish beat her. I bet he was trying to get her to abort the baby. She escaped him and climbed to that cave, wearing chains AND pregnant, probably to save her baby. She was there, what, 35 days?

I think what happened is, Shipfish found where she was hiding and beat her, and then left, maybe when he learned the baby was stillborn. It didn't come all the way out. It got stuck. She was dying, she knew it, but lived long enough to scratch her indictment of Shipfish on the wall.
If she hadn't, we'd never have known that Shipfish murdered her. And an unborn baby," he said.

The three just stared at each other in horror, their breakfasts suddenly unappealing.

"She climbed that pinnacle in chains AND pregnant," K'ndar said, "and I could hardly do it without," he said, awed at the unknown woman's courage and determination.

"I have a feeling Harve fed her, kept sneaking food to her," B'rost said. "There were marks on the sides of the rock I belayed to, marks from what must have been a chain. I think he climbed up there, in chains, maybe ran a rope or a chain down from it, so she could pull up a basket. As many caves are on that scrap of island, I bet the only way Shipfish could have found her was to follow Harve. I bet he beat the daylights out of Harve when he found out," B'rost said.

The tears started in his eyes, and in K'ndar's and Risal's.

"That shaffing monster," K'ndar said, suddenly furious. "B'rost. We need to go back, hunt him down and kill him, just so I can sleep at night."

"You won't be lacking in help, K'ndar, but..please, I can't. I didn't have the courage to stick him when I had the chance," B'rost said. "I knew what had happened to the woman, none of you did, I could have killed him and later, with the evidence, been cleared. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I just couldn't," he said, in despair. "Even when we had him disarmed and beaten, I was afraid of him."

He sighed. "I've been like this all my life. I was called a sissy because I can't bring myself to kill something any higher than a bug. I can't even hunt! I didn't realize it at the time, but I'm lucky I grew up in a cheesecrafter family, you don't need to kill the cow in order to get her milk" he said, attempting to lighten the conversation. It helped, a little.

"That's okay, B'rost, I know how you feel. But I am betting that all I need do is ask for volunteers to go and I know F'mart will help. I don't look forward to killing Shipfish, but he has it coming," K'ndar said.

"No," Risal said, shaking her head, "Don't, K'ndar. Don't. You all did the right thing. You took away everything he had. I’m not saying he doesn't deserve to be killed. I would like to kill him, too. But don't you see? You did the right thing. You, and B'rost, and the rest? You're all good people. You'd kill him quickly. It'd be over in a moment. That sort of killing, it's too good for the likes of him. Now HE can suffer. He won't ever repent. He's smart, though. He will realize that you had the opportunity to kill him, and didn't. He won't understand that it's because you're better than him, no, he'll feel you did it to torture him. Let him stew in his own mess. I hope he dies slowly and miserably, especially now, as Landing has contacted every Hold and Hall, every Weyr, every port, every harbormaster on Pern, and put the island off limits to everyone. And K'ndar, you told the dolphins. They know, now, too. You did the right thing. All of you," she said.

K'ndar sighed, and then nodded.

"It doesn't feel that way, but you're right. I've had to kill animals to put them out of their misery, I always make it as quick and painless as I possibly can. I want to kill them, not hurt them. But Shipfish? I want him to hurt, for a long time," K'ndar said. He shook his head. "Oh, that poor woman."

He looked up to see Lindea looking at them from her spot on the serving line. She looked desperately unhappy. Oh, this lovely morning has grown so turbulent.

The three looked at each other, but their gazes were inward.

Risal broke their reveries. "You said you were leaving, B'rost? Leaving the Weyr? Permanently?"

B'rost nodded.

"Not nomading again, B'rost? Skyhooting off on a whim? AGAIN?" K'ndar snapped,aggravated.

B'rost shrugged. "Not this time, K'ndar. I liked nomading, K'ndar, it was fascinating, every day a new horizon. We'd close our eyes, spin around and point, and when we'd open our eyes, that's the direction we'd go. But it had its downsides, like not eating regularly, or not being welcomed," he said. "I'll be back, K'ndar, eventually."

"Before you ask why, or tell me not to, listen. I gave a lot of thought to that woman, alone and dying in the cave. I wanted to help her, prevent her pain and death. I looked at Harve's legs, and I thought, I want to fix them. I want to someday see him running around, fast, like a normal boy. I want to be able to say, there goes so and so, she was sick and now she's not and it's because of my help. So, I've decided I'm going to move to the Healer Hall, up north, and learn to be a healer. Of people. I want to heal people, I want to help them get better. And when I'm done with schooling, I'm going to go wherever I'm needed, on Rath. I'll be a nomad healer. My hammer in one hand, my healers bag in the other. The best of three worlds, K'ndar! I'll wander the planet on my dragon, seeing new rock formations while I'm healing people's wounds."

Chap. 176 Telling the dolphins

Chap. 176 The dolphins

"Thank you for understanding, Risal, I had no idea I'd spend the majority of the last two days the way I have. I am exhausted-not so much physically as mentally," K'ndar said to the girl.

They had found a bench seat in the pavilion. Siskin, seeing other fire lizards roosting in the rafters, flew up to join them. The breeze from the ocean was a bit cooler than was comfortable, so they appreciated that someone had started a fire in the pit.

She nodded. "I know. I've seen it before. That was quite an amazing-well, I shouldn't say amazing, actually,it was disturbing-that clearing, with all the skulls on pikes and the skeletons," she said, "that was something I didn't expect. I'm afraid it will be in my mind for a while," she said.

"Mine, too. You can't imagine the stench in the clearing. Even worse, the boy stank, Shipfish stank, it was dreadful. But, how is it you saw it? You were here the entire time,yes?" he asked.

"Yes, but, K'ndar, I work with computers and the cameras on the Yokohama every day! I accessed the briefing through your library's datalink. Apparently no one knows how to use it! And even more surprising, your Ops is still using old style slate boards, although I did see paper records, now, but still…don't you have anything newer than that?"

K'ndar felt embarrassed at the relative poverty of his weyr. He felt backward and provincial.

"Well, as far as I know-mind you, I don't work in the weyr, but I don't think Landing has ever,um, what's the word I’m looking for? They've never shown any inclination to give us the fancy computers that you have at Landing. It's like we hardly exist except when they want a dragonride to somewhere else, or to carry out an action, like we did today.

Maybe it's because we're a small weyr? Or the newest one? I don't know, but you're right, we're still doing things the old way. As for the datalink at the library? Well, I found the original artifacts when we were surveying the steppe. I donated them to Landing on condition that my weyr gets two of everything when they made copies. They did that, and I gave the team their choice. For instance, I got the binoculars. I made sure the library got one of all the things.

But no one at Landing has ever actually come down here to show us how to USE them. Nor have they come here with the express purpose of giving us new equipment or training. D'mitran and D'nis learned how to use theirs on their own. There's still some artifacts-for instance, a notebook, that we found and haven't heard a thing about them since. It's as if they really don't want to teach us, just use us," he said, growing heated.

She put her hands up. "Please, don't get defensive, it was just a question. I should have known better, especially since Pattis runs your Ops. I know her, she is as cantankerous as an eggbound wherry. I have no doubt she'd resist new technology with every bit of her being. It would mean she'd have to listen to someone other than herself," she said.

K'ndar laughed at the mental image of an eggbound Pattis."She DOES look that way, doesn't she!"

"You're right, though, in your assessment of Landing's interactions with the Weyrs. Part of it is we're so busy, but still, it's not fair for the Council to demand things such as your action today without reciprocation. I am too low in rank and too young in age to go in and demand parity, but I will talk to my supervisors and see what they say about sending a few techs with some computers and such down here to do what they call 'upgrade'. I'll be glad to be one of them!

The hard part will be finding someone here at your weyr who is able and willing to learn how to work with computers. It's not difficult, but we've found that the older the person is, the harder it is for them to learn. So they try and recruit young people. Kids. Like me. We moved to Landing when I was five and within a year, my parents had taught me how to use a computer. I'm not boasting when I say I'm better at it then they are, and they were trained by Aivas. He told them kids were more likely to be willing to experiment, without fear of breaking something, to adopt new terms and new technology. Then, of course, he shut down, but by then, the people he'd taught, like my parents, had learned and are teaching the kids," she said.

She looked up at the thatched roof overhead. The fire lizards in the rafters were talking quietly amongs themselves. I'd love to have a fire lizard, she thought, when I have the time. Right. Like I have time?

"This pavilion, it's nice. I wish we had something like this at Landing," she said.

"It is nice. D'nis, our Weyrleader at the time, designed and built it after the hurricane trashed everything. It's used nightly, as you can see, there's more people coming out now, after dinner. Later on, someone will bring out their musical instruments and sing," he said.

"Do you sing?"

K'ndar laughed. "You do NOT want to hear me sing. I'll get in trouble for starting the dogs to howling."

She laughed. "Then we are the same. I can't carry a note," she said, "to be honest, I really don't care for singing or dancing. I don't even drink, well, not alcohol, at least," she said.

"I'm the same way. I don't tell many people this, but…I'm allergic to alcohol. It makes me sick. It's made it hard, sometimes, to be a dragonrider who can't drink. But I've come to the conclusion that it's who I am, and if someone has a problem with it, well, that's THEIR problem, not mine. I'm not going to make myself sick because someone else wants me to be what I'm not," he said.

"Dragonriders drink a lot?"

"Well, not always, but, we're no different than anyone else. Some people like to drink, and some don't. When we'd fight Thread, afterwards, we'd get together and talk about the fight, and most of them would drink just to relax, and forget how scared they were."

"It was…scary?"

He looked at her with an odd expression.

"I was always scared. Spitless."

He remembered the black hissing rain of death, being so close to Thread that he could smell it. He shivered.

"Anyone who tells you he or she wasn't afraid of Thread was lying…or foolish," he said.

"And yet, dragonriders went out every Fall, every time," she said.

"It..it was what we did. Now, though..life is wonderful. No more Thread means I can have a life," he said.

He shook his head, dispelling the remnants of fear.

"Let's return to your seeing the briefing. How did you do that?" he asked.

"Jansen is a dear friend of mine. I was in the library, saw the datalink gathering dust on the shelf and got in touch with her. She told me you'd all just returned and were about to report on your actions."

She stopped. "You were all so brave. I could not believe that clearing, it was so TINY! You and your dragon, it's amazing how well you handle him."

"It's not me handling him. It's him handling himself, and me gripping my harness in terror," he said, laughing, "those trees were THIS close. But he's smart. He knows to the last centimeter where his wings are."

I do. It wasn't easy, but I knew exactly where I was Raventh said.

You did it perfectly. I don't want to do that again, though

"And then, what that boy did, chaining that man's legs! Talk about poetic justice! Oh, my, K'ndar, his legs. I wonder if he'll ever be able to walk normally?"

K'ndar shrugged. "I hope so. He's determined to work with the healer to fix them. He's an amazing kid, I don't know how he survived as long as he did under those conditions. We'll find out later just what happened. OH!" he said, suddenly worried, "You…did you talk to the dolphins? About them..um, doing what we thought?" he said, sotto voce.He didn't want the many other people in the pavilion to hear.

He hoped not, fervently, now that the cryptic message "Shipfish killed me" had been clarified.

"No, thank the stars. No. I put it off, really. I was so busy, meeting so many of your friends here, I talked to Hariko, she is a sweetheart and Oscoral! He's so BIG, he's like a mountain. But no, I didn't talk to the dolphins, and I'm glad, because I didn't know one, how to, and two, I didn't know how to tactfully broach the subject of a dolphin..um, you know," she said, immediately knowing why he'd dropped to almost a whisper.

K'ndar was relieved. "Good. Because now we know it was NOT a dolphin. Would you like to meet one?"

"OH, yes! When?"

He looked up at the sky. There was still a few hours before sundown.

"How about now? I have something to discuss with them," he said.
_______________________________________________________________________
He rang the bell with several hearty tugs. Several people joined them at the sound.

"Where are they?" Risal asked, scanning the sea.

"Sometimes it takes a few minutes, they might be far out there. But they'll come, no doubt," he said, fervently hoping he wasn't lying. He'd only used the bell a few times before.

"What you going to do with the dolphins?" asked a man behind them.

"I am just going to talk with them, it's nothing important," K'ndar said to the crowd behind them. "My friend, here, has never seen one, so I'm going to introduce her," he said, hoping they'd leave. He wasn't sure how the dolphins would react to his news.

Most of them then wandered off. Two children stayed, though, always enchanted by the Sea People.

They waited. And waited.

"You are sure they heard the bell?" Risal asked.

"I think so…their hearing is said to be phenomenal, but if they don't come in a few minutes, either they're too far out to sea or? I don't think I've ever heard of them NOT coming to the bell. We'll wait a few more minutes and then I'll ring again," he said.

The children got bored with waiting and left.

"Whew," he said, "I didn't want them overhearing us," he said.

He was just about to pull the bell's lanyard again when he heard a whistle. Far out to sea, three lithe forms, shining wetly in the sun, came at high speed, leaping from the sea in graceful, fluid bascules.

"I see them! Here they come! So beautiful!" Risal cried, "I've never seen them before. They go so fast!"

K'ndar smiled. "Actually, they're taking their time. You should see them riding the bow wave of a ship, then they're flying, almost as fast as a dragon."

He felt smug, using phrases like 'bow wave' as if he were an old hand at dolphins and being on ships. Telling her he'd never seen it from shipboard could wait.

"They talk, I know, but, in our language?" she asked, impatient to finally actually meet a dolphin.

"Of course! It takes a few minutes to understand their speech," he said, "but once you get the ear for it, you shouldn't have any trouble," he said.

The dolphins arrived, clicking and giggling in their dolphin way, and stood on their tails.

"Hello, is there emergency?" asked one.

"No. I am K'ndar."

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, Keendar! You are Swash friend! Take bloodfish off him!"

"I did! I am! Where is Swash today?"

"He is hunting. Far north. You want him now? You want talk Swash only?"

"No," he said, growing serious. He sat down on the dock and looked at the three dolphins.

"Who are you, by the way?" he asked.

"I am Loki. Not original Loki, my sire's sire's sire's name," one said. "I named for him because I look like him."

"Loki, when you see Swash, tell him I said hello. I called you because I have information for all dolphins. And something to take to Tillek," he said.

That sobered them. Tillek was the dominant dolphin on all Pern. One didn't interact with her on just a whim.

Then, with Risal standing beside him in utter fascination at the dolphins, he told them story of the man who killed dolphins.

The dolphins were upset. The whistled and squeaked amongst themselves, then Loki said, "We know something bad happen, but not know this. We not know if mosar got dolphins, or if they die in fireball wave, or just make mistake. Thank you."

He didn't want to tell them about the skulls. He assumed there were more, but no way did he want to go back to that horrid clearing to try and collect them. Better they not know of what happened to their brethren after they were murdered.

"This island. Is where?"

"The far eastern chain. Near the equator. Just north of it. It has a tall pinnacle of rock on the north end, a lagoon on the west side of the island, and a small, rocky cove, on the southern end. There was a wrecked ship on the shore past the cove, but our dragons burned it," he said.

One of the dolphins squeaked to the others.

"We know that island. We see the ship wreck when fireball waves hit. Dolphins try to rescue but seas too rough, very, very bad waves. Many people there?"

"No, not now. Just the one human," he said, and he described Shipfish as well as he was able.
Then he took a deep breath, and began.

"This human, I do not know his name. He did terrible things to dolphins and humans. He was left on the island as punishment. He has chains on his legs, down here," and he touched his ankles, "so he will never be able to swim right again. Tell every dolphin to not rescue him! He pretends to need rescue and when your friends came to do so, he stabs them in the blowhole. He is still on the island. Don't go near it," he said.

Loki nodded. "Keendar, you are good friend to dolphins. I tell Tillek and every dolphin will know about this bad human with chains on legs at the island."

With a heavy heart, but believing it was the best thing to do, he said, "He had this. He wore it around his neck. We took it from him. I didn't know what to do with it, so I give it to you, to allow you or Tillek to decide."

He pulled the dolphin tooth necklace out of his pouch. Harve had removed the keys from it, but K'ndar had kept it, not knowing quite why. He hadn't thought it through but, to have returned the necklace to that evil man would have been too much. It was not something he wanted to keep for himself. Just the knowledge it was in his pouch had bothered him. It reeked of tragedy, despair, and murder.

The sun shone on the white teeth as held it out for Loki.

The three dolphins squealed in shock.

The look in their eyes was indescribable. K'ndar knew he'd never forget it.

How, he wondered, could a dolphin trust any human after this?

"I am sorry," he said, "I thought you would want it to let the dolphins know."

Loki pushed upwards to take it from K'ndar's hand. Taking it gently in his jaws, he allowed it to settle between his own teeth.

He clicked in thanks, not wanting to risk dropping the necklace.

"Please," Risal said, breaking her silence, "Please. Don't think all humans would do this," she pleaded.

One of the other dolphins looked at her.

"Is okay. No worry. We know there are good humans and bad humans. This one not first one. No. We not hold it against all humans. Just the one who killed us. Now we know him as bad," she said.

The other dolphin said, "Thank you, Keendar. We take this to Tillek. Now we know who died-and how."

Chap. 175 After Action Report

Chap. 175 After Action report

(Author's note: my posts normally write themselves. Sometimes I feel as if Anne McCaffrey is dictating them. I originally posted this with misgivings, and after doing so, felt the need to go back and edit out part that is rather gruesome.)

K'ndar, D'mitran and B'rost had each verbally reported their part of the rescue of Harve from the island.
Jansen, one of the many techs who lived and worked at Landing, had finished downloading the data from D'mitran's datalink and B'rost's borrowed camera.

They were sitting in a large conference room. The three dragon riders were unnaturally quiet and restrained, as the Council was there. There were several other people who'd been introduced but their reasons for being there went unsaid.

"This was the first time we've had a live connection to this sort of action," Jansen said, as she coaxed the computer to finish processing the entire video from the datalink.

"Having heard your testimony and reports, this video will probably merely corroborate your reports," said someone whose name K'ndar couldn't remember. He acted as if he were in charge and knew the entire situation, so K'ndar thought of him as a team leader.

I don't like this I don't like this I don't like this, K'ndar kept thinking. The people in the room were far too stratospheric in rank than he, and he felt as if merely opening his mouth would get him in some sort of trouble in regards to 'protocol'. He glanced over at D'mitran, his Wingleader.

D'mitran caught his eye-and winked.

That made him feel better.

D'mitran says to relax, these people will not eat you Raventh said

Then why do I feel like a wherry surrounded by a bunch of hungry dragons?

Because you're hungry?

He was that, for certain. They'd been in the briefing for most of an hour.

The team leader,as if hearing, said, "We'll take a look at the video and then let you men go home. I imagine you're hungry?"

"Starving," B'rost said, making them laugh.

"Right then, here we go," Jansen said, and the room darkened (magically, as K'ndar had found earlier) and the screen in front of the audience lit up.

It was amazing, K'ndar thought, this-moving picture, showing their activities from D'mitran's point of view. He saw himself. Am I really that dorky looking?

Once he got used to seeing the video, he was caught up in it. It was interesting to see how it differed from his memory. The sound was virtually useless, the microphone catching mostly the sound of the wind and Careth's beating wings as they flew over the jungle portion of the island. The scene was jerky and hard to watch.

Ah. There. There was Harve, calling for help in a clearing far smaller than it had seemed when he'd actually landed in it. He heard his own voice for the first time in his life. Sheesh, I sound like a little kid, he thought. He was mesmerized, to see himself on Raventh, lowering with precision into the clearing.
By the egg, there was literally NO room between the trees and Raventh's wingtips.

"That's some serious flying, K'ndar," someone said.

He felt proud, but said, "If I'd known it was that close, I don't know if I would have attempted it," he said.

Down, down, he went, and finally Raventh was on the ground. The clearing..it was lined with…

Oh.

"STOP!" K'ndar cried, without thinking.

Everyone looked at him, and Jansen hit the pause function.

"What?" someone in the audience asked.

"When I landed, I saw something in the clearing there, something…that I didn't pay attention to when I was trying to grab Harve, but…look..can you make the picture bigger?" he said, a stone growing in his stomach.

"Of course. Magnifying now."

The scene enlarged. Someone said, "Oh, my stars."

Then there was utter and complete shocked silence.

The picture, frozen, showed K'ndar manfully hauling Harve up onto Raventh's back. The clearing was so full of refuse that, at first glance, you saw nothing for the mess. Only a portion of the clearing was visible from D'mitran's airborne viewpoint.

But that portion showed part of what was an entire circle around the clearing. Gleaming white things drew your attention.

Lining the clearing were poles. Bones were piled haphazardly beneath them.

Skulls topped each one.

Skulls of humans,some of them still bearing skin and hair. At least one was a dolphin's skull.

Eventually, someone cleared his throat. Someone else said, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Don't be sick here, please," said the manager.

"I..Okay. Um, can you go on?" K'ndar said, gulping.

"Yes, please," said someone else.

Jansen, as shocked as the rest, gratefully set the video in motion again.

K'ndar was so bothered by the gruesome scene that he really didn't pay attention to the rest of it. He'd be able to see it again, if he wanted, once they got home. D'mitran's datalink was always available.

Then they were flying back to the beach. The view jumped when Careth landed on the beach.

In the middle ground, F'mart had just knocked Shipfish down.

The microphone caught the sounds much better now.

B'rost's comments with the spear evoked laughs…almost too forced, but everyone was relieved by it.

Having been involved with taking Shipfish down, K'ndar hadn't seen Siskin leave. But now, as he watched as the three of them piled onto the raider, he saw Siskin overhead, coming BACK from..from where?

It ended with Siskin taking the keys out to sea.

The lights came up and the audience all looked at the dragonriders.

"Well done, gentleman, well done," said one of the Council.

"Sir, thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead such an action," K'ndar said. He wanted out of there, and he wanted no more of this leadership stuff, but he didn't say so.

"You were the best man for it," one said.

"I couldn't have done it without my team," he said, and he meant it.

Jansen's computer chirped.

"The preliminary report on the skeletons in the cave has come in," she said, reading it quickly.

Then she put her hand to her mouth and said, "Um. Oh my."

"More bad news?" the team leader asked.

"Um…yes. This is merely preliminary, you understand," she said, still reading. Her face contorted.

She cleared her throat. "Is it necessary to show the pictures of the skeleton?" she asked the manager.

He looked over her shoulder at her screen. Then he straightened up and cleared his throat.

"I think, given that we haven't had a chance to talk to the rescued boy, that a verbal report is all that's necessary at this time," he said, a queer look on his face.

The audience wondered at that, but remained quiet. They would get a chance, later.

"Okay, I…I'm going to read it," she said

She cleared her throat.

"Comment 1: Investigator B'rost is to be commended for his expert and meticulous clearing of the site. It made clear and will result in a thorough examination and explanation of the skeleton(s).

B'rost brightened. He received several nods of appreciation.

"Comment 2: there are two skeletons. Number one is of an adult female, age as yet undetermined. The skeleton shows numerous poorly healed fractures of arms and ribs. Further examination will determine the cause. There are chains on the ankles of the adult. The chains caused severe deformation of the ankles and lower leg bones.

Number two skeleton is of an infant. The infant skeleton is..is intertwined with the pelvis of the adult female. Further examination will determine the cause of death, but preliminary guess is that the adult female died during childbirth," she said.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, but..I can't continue. It's..heartbreaking."

Lord Lytol intervened. He had a small datalink in front of him, and he'd just seen the pictures.

"I think we've had enough shocking things for the day," he said.

Jansen turned to look at him.

"Thank you, my lord," she said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exiting the conference room was a relief. They were all deeply shocked by the reports. The last two days had been the most intense of his life, K'ndar thought, and he felt exhausted. The bright sunshine was a welcome relief.

"I should have killed him when I had a chance," B'rost said.

"And now we have to go and do it all over again, with M'rvin," K'ndar said, mournfully.

D'mitran shook his head. "Maybe not. He usually doesn't require that detailed a report, and I can do it, K'ndar, if you can't."

K'ndar shook his head. "I regret ever letting myself be talked into leading it. But I know that it's the last step of the action. So thank you, but…I can do it."

"I'll be with you, if you want, B'rost said.

"And I," D'mitran added.

He looked at his teammates.

"Thank you," he said. "Let's go home."

He didn't want to think about Shipfish, ever again. But the sight of seeing Siskin flying BACK to where the dragons were nagged him. What was that all about?

He looked at his blue fire lizard as he mounted Raventh. There was nothing in the lizard's mind that suggested what had caused him to fly away and then return.

Raventh and the other dragons opened their wings and leaped into the air. He suddenly remembered. Shipfish-the first day, he'd had a seawherry on his shoulder. Right?

Right said Raventh.

And today, he didn't.

Correct.

I wonder why? Where was the sea wherry?

Siskin killed it.

WHAT?

Siskin killed it. When we landed on the beach, Shipfish was laying on the ground after F'mart fought him.
I saw the seawherry behind them. It was far back, near the tree line. It flopped around. It couldn't fly because its wings had been cut off. It seemed weak, and I could see its ribs. Siskin saw it and attacked it, but the seawherry didn't make any attempt to fight back. It just rolled over and looked up at Siskin. It wanted to die. I know I would want to die if my wings had been cut off. Siskin obliged. He didn't even try to eat it. He just killed it, quickly and cleanly.

Oh, the poor thing.

That human was evil.

That he was..and is.

He reached out and stroked Siskin.

"Good lad," he said, "that was kind of you."

Then they went between.

Chap. 174 Robe and a Haircut

Chap. 174 Robe and a Haircut

Raventh landed in Landing's dragon meadow. K'ndar's team was right behind him.

"What was THAT?" K'ndar heard the rescued boy exclaim. F'mart had dismounted and began to unbuckle the boy's harness.The boy's face was grim.

"THAT? That was 'between', F'mart said, chuckling.

"It was so cold, and black! I thought I was dead," the boy said.

"Sorry. I should have warned you. But here we are, at Landing, in just a few heartbeats. Far faster than any boat, what?"

The boy nodded, shivering. "A lot colder, though. It's so cold here," he said.

F'mart helped the boy down from Kenth. The boys legs had stopped bleeding, but they still didn't work right. It took the boy several moments to regain his balance.

"My legs…they feel so light, now, like I'm on a cloud!"

"I believe it. You're cold, probably because we're further south than your island, and you haven't a stitch on," F'mart said. He still couldn't bring himself to do anything more than glance at the boy's wounds. Sheesh, the chains must have grown right into the flesh. I hope he put those chains on TIGHT on that bastard Shipfish. If I'd seen that earlier, I think I would have beaten him senseless.

"My clothes, they all rotted off, even my boots. Will…can I have some clothes? It's so cold here," he repeated.

"Not to worry, lad, the folks here will see to it that you're cleaned up, clothed, fed and whatever you want or need," F'mart said.

"Is this where you live?" the boy asked, looking around. It was so different from the island..no palm trees. The ocean was nowhere near. The relative silence sounded so strange.

The other men gathered around him.

"No," F'mart said, "We live at Kahrain Steppe Weyr. This is 'Landing'. It's where the colonists first landed and set up homes. See those buildings over there? That's where you'll be living, I think, although I don't know which one. I'm sure they'll show you around. Don't worry, you can't get lost, it's a big place but fairly easy to get around," he said.

The boy seemed to shrink. He went pale underneath his deep tan and dirty face.

"You're leaving me here? By myself?" he asked, his fear showing.

It has to be a shock, D'mitran thought, to go from a tiny tropical island, where one was virtually alone and a prisoner, to Landing where he's going to see dozens if not hundreds of people-and all of them strangers.

"Um…yes," D'mitran said, "See, no one expected to find you on that island. It's why we were sent, because Shipfish attacked K'ndar, here, yesterday, and as you well know, he wasn't supposed to be there," he said. Everyone thought the island was uninhabited. Now we know it was not. People are going to be asking you what happened, how it came about that you were there."

K'ndar could feel the fear emanating from the boy.

"Don't worry," he said. "I can imagine how you feel, you've been on that island for how long? And suddenly you're here. I bet you can hardly believe you were rescued. You were so smart, to call us down from the sky! I know you don't know a soul here, even us, we're strangers to you. I know if it were me, I'd be terrified. But the people here are friendly. They want to know what happened, how you came to be on the island, and I promise you, whatever you want, they'll give it to you," he said. He hoped the first thing would be a bath.

B'rost said, "They'll clean up your legs. A healer will talk to you, I think, then you'll get a good meal and a bunk to sleep in."

"A bunk…I've not slept in a bunk in forever. I've not had a bath or a haircut forever. I want it all, but do I have to stay here?"

K'ndar could see a few people approaching them. One had a robe. That was smart, because there was a nip in the air, despite it being almost noon.

"I think, given what you've gone through, you'll get all that. As for now, I think the best place for you is right here. But don't be afraid! I'm sure that, once these people have fixed you up, and talked to you, they'll ask YOU what and where YOU want to go. Take your time thinking that through, please? They'll be very good to you, I promise. I know plenty of people here, and they're all nice,"K'ndar said.

D'mitran could see the doubt on the boy's face. He was afraid, no doubt, and managing it as best as he could. To distract him, he asked, "How old are you?"

That stumped the boy for several moments. He unconsciously scratched his head. His fingers disappeared in the mass of ropes that was his hair.

"I can't remember," the boy said. "I was nine when the big fireball hit. It was so bright, so loud! It went right over our heads! And then it hit the sea and all of a sudden, this giant wave came from all around, it picked up our ship. We were on top of it, then we broached to and the masts came down on top of us. The rigging went over the side and almost dragged us under! The wave carried us like we were nothing. It went FAST. But the ship, she still managed to get us through the reef onto the rocks. How many Turns has it been? Since that big fireball?"

"That happened a little over four years, Turns, ago. So that would make you 13," B'rost said, trying hard to ease his transition from island to Landing. It was a big change, and sudden. He felt so bad for the boy.

Oh, his legs. They looked like withered, twisted sticks. Lad, you should have done more to Shipfish than just chain his legs. I wouldn't have blamed you if you tried to club him to death. Maybe I SHOULD have stuck that monster a couple times with his own spear. Don't know what I'll do with it, but I'll be shaffed if I was going to leave it with him. Hope he starves to death, he thought.

"Hello, hello!" the group's leader said. The boy quailed and sidled behind F'mart. F'mart looked embarrassed.

One of them, a woman, followed him and handed the boy a robe.

"What is this?" he asked, nervously.

"It's a robe. Put it on, I imagine you're a bit cold right now," she said, kindly.

"I am…but..well, thank you," he said. He put it on. She could see he had never worn a robe before. "Here," she said, bending down to help him with the belt, "pull the ends tight to close the robe, and tie a knot in it to keep it closed."

He obeyed, his fingers never having lost their knowledge in tying knots. The group went silent for a moment, aghast when the belt went around his torso twice. He was withy thin.

"That feels good," he said, appreciating the warmth.

A man looked at him, his eyes expression unfathomable. "Hello, there. I'm Marl. I'm the Master Healer here at Landing. I would like to examine you, if I may, talk to you about what you've been through. But I have to ask you, what would you like first?"

The boy's eyes were glazed. "Ex…amin?"

"It means that I’m going to check your physical condition. I can see, for instance, that your legs have been injured. I can clean them up, put numbweed on them if they hurt, heal them up for you."

"This is all…it's all so.."

The woman laughed. "I imagine it's overwhelming, right now, after all you've been through. Tell you what, how about a hot bath, then maybe a haircut? What would you like?"

"Cut this hair off NOW," the boy said.

"Right here and now?"

"Yes. It's heavy. It stinks. It's hot. It gets tangled up all the time. I've not had a haircut since before we wrecked," he said, exasperated.

"But, I don't know how to cut hair," she said.

"Who has a knife? I'll cut it off myself," he said.

F'mart grinned. "Here, lad, I have a knife, I'll cut it off but don't blame me if it comes out looking ragged."

"I don't care what I look like, I just want it off. Then, I think I'd like a bath? And something to eat?"

"We can do that," the Healer said. He looked at F'mart.

"Alright, lad, stand still. Here goes your hair," he said.

It took a lot longer, with more effort, than he would have guessed.

"Woof, this is like cutting through wet rope," he said. He couldn't help but pull the boy's scalp, but the boy stood steadfast and silent. "This is what it must feel like to shear a sheep," he said, grunting with the effort. But the knife was sharp, and in a little while, a pile of hairy ropes lay at their feet.

"Thank you. Thank you," the boy said, "I feel like I've lost ten kilos."

"We'll get you a decent haircut later. So, off we go, to the bathing pool. It's nice and warm, I promise, with plenty of sweet sand," the woman said. She took his hand and turned away from the men.

He pulled his hand away and looked at the dragonmen.

"Aren't you coming with me?" he asked, his face ashen.

The four dragonriders were stunned.

"Um…well, no, to be honest, we had nothing planned in the way of a rescue. I'm sorry," K'ndar said. "But it's not as if we are just dumping you!" K'ndar said, feeling suddenly guilty of abandoning the boy, "Me, D'mitran and B'rost, we all have to report to the Council and Flight Ops. Then we're going back to our Weyr to do the reporting all over again to our Weyrleader."

"But not all of you?" he begged.

"Ummmmm," K'ndar stammered.

"Even F'mart? F'mart, are you going too? Can't you stay here? I don't know anyone else," he pleaded.

"Me? Stay here?" F'mart was gobsmacked. The boy had ridden behind him on Kenth as the bronze dragon had incinerated the wrecked ship. He'd not paid a bit of attention to the boy then, fully engrossed and fully enjoying the forgotten thrill of his dragon breathing fire. But now, it seems the boy had bonded to him.

He was annoyed, not wanting the responsibility of a boy. He wanted to go home to the Weyr and enjoy replaying the fight with Shipfish, and his dragon's burning the ship in his mind, maybe have some ale, enjoy the rest of the day, and tomorrow was rest day.

But the fear and uncertainty in the boy's eyes was impossible to ignore.

He looked at D'mitran for rescue, his eyes rolling.

D'mitran, trying to hide his amusement and failing, said, "What does your team leader say?"

Oh, that's right, K'ndar was team leader today. He looked at K'ndar.

K'ndar sighed. Again, an unexpected twist to this entire action! I was perfectly happy with D'mitran taking over when I was fumbling. I am NEVER going to lead another action, no matter how glorious it may be, he thought. I'm just not cut out for this. But right now, F'mart needs to see that the boy needs him.

He summoned up every bit of leadership he had to make F'mart see the need. Submit, F'mart. Yield.

"You have nothing on the duty roster until late next week, F'mart," he said, thanking the stars that M'rvin had insisted he check the duty roster before recruiting. "It's apparent this lad has found a friend, a supporter, in you. If you would like to stay here, to reassure this rescued boy, I'm sure our Weyrleader will approve. If necessary, I can fill in for you should a task come up with your name on it, and I'll brief him on your part of the rescue. I'm sure he'll be happy to wait for your after action report when you return to the Weyr."

That wasn't what F'mart wanted. But the boy's eyes were desperate and beseeching. He was afraid, F'mart could see, and was trying manfully to keep it from consuming him. But shaff it, he didn't want to hang around here.

He's a good human. He had no idea what between was, but he trusted us. He's like a hatchling, he looks to you after Impression. Kenth, his dragon, said.

He's not MY hatchling. I really would rather not. It's just too much, I have things I want to do.

Kenth was quiet for a moment. Then he said, in a strange tone of voice,

Did you know it hurt him while riding me?

No. It hurt him?

I could feel it. His legs. They were useless, there was no strength in them. It felt as if he couldn't spread them wide enough. He almost fell off at one point.

Oh, noooooo. If he'd said something, I wouldn't have..I would have told you to go easier when flaming the ship. The poor kid. He never said a thing.

I DID go easy. I could feel him gripping the harness so tightly, it was because his legs, he wasn't gripping my sides. It hurt him. So I balanced him as well as flame the ship. He is very brave. He is trying very hard to not show his fear.

I'm..not ready to be a father figure to him. I don't want the responsibility.

Kenth was silent for a moment, then hissed in a tone dripping scorn and venom.

It is time you stopped thinking like a Weyrling. It is time you started to think beyond just you for yourself Kenth admonished.

F'mart was shocked. He'd never heard his dragon speak like this.

Bronze dragons are alpha, dominant over all others save the golds. Other dragons look to us. Like my brothers here: Careth. Raventh. Rath. They look to me for guidance. They do not question me, because I am a bronze. They trust me to look after them, to lead them, to make the decisions they aren't capable of doing.

This human. He didn't tell you it hurt to ride on my back. He trusted you, he knew without thinking that it would hurt to ride me, but he chose to trust you to make it right. He trusted you to punish that human. He trusted you because you ride a bronze, and bronze riders are LEADERS. Other humans look to bronze riders to make decisions they aren't able to make.

There is something about him that is unusual. There is greatness in him. Maybe he will ride a bronze someday. Like you. So do right by him. If nothing else, do it for me. Because I chose YOU, remember. The moment I hatched and my eyes met yours, I chose YOU, because I thought there was greatness in you.

Kenth was silent for a heartbeat, then thundered,

Was I mistaken?

F'mart's guts turned to water.

No, no, but it's not what you think. I'm …

I believe the word is 'selfish'. I ask again, did I err when I chose you? Should I have chosen someone else to be my partner? Kenth said.

Shame…a feeling he'd never felt before…flooded his mind. Alongside it was terror.

No. No. You are right. I am selfish. Again. You didn't make a mistake.

Make it right by this human. Do the right thing.

F'mart was glad no one could hear this conversation. He sighed. Even his dragon. Shaming me into submitting to what, the unavoidable?

Someone has to do it. No human can get to you in the way I can. Trust me. I am right.


Oh, what the shaff, it's not forever. It's a nice place, Landing. Lots to do here, he thought.

He shrugged and said, "Sure, kid. I'll stay here, keep an eye on you," he said, trying to sound as if it had been his idea all along. The others didn't buy it.

The boy smiled, for the first time, his eyes flooding with gratefulness.

"Thank you, F'mart. Thank you," the boy said.

"Right then, now that you have a sponsor, let's go to where I can fix you up," said the Healer.

"Can you, will you fix my legs?" the boy asked. "The chains. They made it so that I can't walk very far, and I can't spread them wide, like F'mart does on his dragon. Can you make it so that I can walk, like normal? Maybe even run again?"

His words ripped holes in everyone's heart.

The Healer's face melted with sympathy.

"I can try. It's called physical therapy. If you work with me, we can probably get you fixed up good as new," he said.

"I can work. I will. I want to be able to walk right again," the boy said.

K'ndar fought his tears. He knew he wasn't alone.

"Come with us, then, um, what is your name, lad?" asked the Healer.

The boy straightened up, proudly.

"It's been so long since anyone called me by my name. I'm Harve. I'm out of Nerat, of the ship We're Here"

Chap. 173 Retribution

Chap. 173 Retribution

It was a strange standoff. Shipfish, the raider, had backed off from the four dragon men, but he wasn't finished threatening them. He didn't come too closely, though. The four dragons were behind their riders, all of them watching him closely. Siskin, perching atop Raventh's head, growled softly.

D'mitran had been recording the entire proceeding.

"Now what do we do this monster?" K'ndar asked.

"Monster? Nay, I'm Lord Holder. You are trespassing. I will kill you all," Shipfish sneered.

"With what, arsehole?" B'rost sneered back, "You lost your spear. Oh, wait! I see one!"

He strode right past Shipfish (nervously, as he purposefully went very close), leaned down and tugged the half buried spear out of the sand. I'll have to find out how that happened, he thought.

Kenth pushed it Rath said.

He pushed it? With his forelegs?

No, with his mind. It's complex. I don't know how to explain it. Raventh taught us.

Okay. I'll wait til later to find out.

He rejoined the other dragonriders, turning the spear over and over in his hands, appreciating the heft of it.

"Look what I found!" he said, smirking.

Shipfish snapped, "That's mine!"

"No, it isn't. I found it on the beach. It's mine, now," he said, enjoying this.

"Whelp, I'll kill you with me bare hands," Shipfish said, stepping forward.

B'rost's face fell.

"Oh, that's not very kind of you. I'm a human, not a dog. You've hurt my feelings. Maybe I should stick this into you?" he asked, brandishing the spear at the naked man's genitals.

Shipfish instinctively covered them and paled.

F'mart put a hand on B'rost's shoulder and said, "B'rost, don't kill him outright, okay? Leave some for me."

"Just a few swipes, F'mart? Just a few, right down there?" B'rost begged, tickled.

"Okay. Just leave the arms and legs for me, what?" F'mart said.

Shipfish swallowed nervously.

D'mitran retreated behind the others and messaged Landing,

Request advice on what to do with this man. Under whose jurisdiction is he?

It was plain that someone at Landing was watching, because within seconds, the datalink chirped with a return message.

Name of subject unknown, but records show he was involved with the first attack on Aivas and possibly involved with the abduction of Robinton. Marooned as punishment but NOT on this island. As island is not under any jurisdiction, proceed as you see fit. Do not bring him to Landing. DO bring the boy.

"So, your name is Shipfish. What Hold are you from?" said K'ndar.

"I don't claim no name of Shipfish. It were what his folk dubbed me. You don't need to know any more than that," he said.

"And where are his folk? Anybody else on this island?" D'mitran asked.

"No," the boy said, "he killed them all. All of us. Even his OWN people, he killed. Except me."

"That boy is mine," Shipfish said,"and this is MY island, dungboot, mine. You are trespassers," he snarled.

F'mart shook his head. "I don't appreciate your lack of respect towards my wingleader. Maybe B'rost SHOULD stick you, like the pig you are," he sneered. B'rost brightened.

"Respect? Shards! It's YOU what's wanting in respect. I want you all to kneel in fealty to me. That boy is mine," he said.

The boy laughed. "No, I belong to ME," he said, gaining courage now that he'd been rescued, "and we were here FIRST. We saved you, remember? And then you killed us. All but me," he said.

Shipfish sneered."Ah, you all were sheep, you were. It were easy to kill you. I'll kill you now."

D'mitran, his datalink still recording, pounced.

"You admit to killing people?"

Shipfish mimed holding a knife, and made stabbing motions. He giggled.

"Shards, it were easy. This boy, his crew…so easy. Fishermen! Stupid! They're so trusting. Dragged us from the drink, they did, oh, let us help you, you almost drowned! Fed us up, shared what they had which weren't much. Fisher fare isn't fit for pigs and they love it! All I had to do is pretend, you know? Pretend like I was their friend. Then, gish! gish! stab 'em as they slept. Or chain 'em till they starve. Easy! Just as easy as killing shipfish," he chortled.

"You killed shipfish? Why?" K'ndar cried.

"Why not? 'Tis easy. Flounder in the water, they come up, stab 'em in the blowhole. Easy. See these! I got three of 'em, but not seen in my waters lately."

He flourished the necklace around his neck. It bore the teeth of many dolphins.

"That's why they called him Shipfish," the boy said.

"Landing tells me you were involved with the abduction of Robinton," D'mitran said.

Shipfish's jaw dropped in shock.

"AND it tells me you were one of the men who attacked the Aivas facility, and were marooned out here. NOT on this island. So YOU are trespassing."

Shipfish, flustered at how D'mitran knew, shook his head.

"Aivas is an abomination, and it were my duty to destroy it," he snapped.

"Was it your duty to abduct Robinton? You killed him doing that, by the way."

Shipfish laughed. "He had it coming. But no, it weren't me what done that, not me. No. It were someone else," Shipfish said, "How do you know that?"

"Aivas told me. He also told me that I can do with you as I please. That means..oh, I could break your legs and throw you into the sea, for the shipfish to exact revenge. Or…I could.."

The boy spoke up.

"Sir, I've been dreaming, I've been hoping for this day for years. Years! That necklace on his neck? It has the keys to these chains. I'd like them off, please?"

B'rost, K'ndar and F'mart reacted immediately. As one, they leaped forward and before Shipfish could react, they'd tackled him and put him face down on the sand.

Struggling in fury, the man started to screech, until F'mart, on his shoulders, somehow managed to shove his face into the sand. The boy stumbled forward, his chains dragging, and fell on the man's back. He tore the necklace from the man's neck.

Then, crawling away from the fray, he sat and tried several times to get the keys to turn in the locks until he succeeded.

Flinching, he began to unwind the chains.

His skin came with them.

The dragonriders looked at his ankles…and then looked away, nauseated by the deep grooves and scars on the boy's skin. He'd worn the chains for years.

"Hold him. Don't let him loose. I've planned this, planned it. For years," the boy said.

B'rost and K'ndar were holding the man's legs. The boy crawled back to them, wound the chains around Shipfish's, and quickly locked them. He made sure the ankles were just barely shoulder width apart.

"Just like mine," he snarled, tears of anger and pain on his cheeks, "Just like mine." He backed off.

Blood began to run from where the skin on his ankles had been torn off. The sand stung the raw skin, but he ignored the pain. He got to his feet, unsteadily.

"Okay. Let him up." They released Shipfish. Spitting sand from his mouth, he struggled and finally gained his feet. Then he began to wail.

"No, this isn't fair! Gimme those keys!" and he lunged at the boy-and fell over. The boy laughed.

He dangled the keys in front of Shipfish's eyes.

"See how it feels! Now you'll know…now you'll know! You bastard, I'll never walk right again, I won't ever forget what you did to my family, my crew…''. He sobbed.

Shipfish couldn't take his eyes off the keys.

The boy turned to F'mart, who was closest to him. F'mart couldn't bear to look at the boy's legs.

"Sir. Sir. My ship. She's on the other side of the island. He's been scavenging her for years. Iron. Blocks. Tools. These bloody chains. Cable, all our stores, he even tore her to pieces to get wood to make a boat. He's got a boat, sirs, that's how he gets from island to island, even though he's not supposed to be here. He's not. Can you…can you burn my ship? So that he can never abuse her again, so that my family and friends"…he sobbed again, "can rest in peace, now?"

Shipfish screamed, "NO! That's my ship, she's mine." Again he lunged and again he fell down.

F'mart laughed. The others looked at him. "Oh, we can burn your ship, lad AND his boat, so that he can never go anywhere again. I just so happen to have fed my Kenth firestone before we left our weyr, he's got a belly full of fire!"

"Clever, F'mart, I didn't think of that. That was good thinking," D'mitran said, "I can show you exactly where she is."

"Gimme those keys!" Shipfish screeched.

"If I could walk that far, I'd throw them into the sea, and you could go swimming in your chains to find them," the boy said.

K'ndar said, "Allow me, lad." He chirped for Siskin, who immediately flew to his outstretched arm.

"Put your hand out, like this. With the keys in your fingers," he instructed the boy, stretching out his own.

The boy, bewildered, obeyed. Shipfish could not drag his eyes away.

"Siskin. Take the keys. Take them out past the reef and drop them into the sea. There's a good lad!"

Siskin looked at the boy. Gently taking the keys in his forepaws, he chipped and leaped into the air. He whirred away, chittering happily at being able to show off.

He flew far out, past the reef bordering the lagoon, then hovered high. The sun glittered on the keys as they fell into the white capped waves.

The boy began to laugh. Shipfish screamed.

Chap. 172 Return to the Island

Chap. 172 Return to the Island

The four dragons swirled at a great height over the northern tip of the island, assessing it's overall shape. B'rost and F'mart looked for their landing spots.

"I see my target," B'rost called, and put Rath into a shallow dive until he hovered over the top of the pinnacle. Having pinged Raventh as to its exact configuration, the blue had no problems landing. B'rost dismounted, and within moments had found a suitable boulder on which to secure his rappel line. Having done that, he then unloaded his equipment: gloves, a camera, collection bags, a face mask and a pitchfork.

Rath reports safe on target and B'rost dismounted. Kenth is just now landing on the beach and will post guard in moments. Raventh said.

"You're going to find the floor covered in bird nests, and it's kind of stinky in there," K'ndar had advised.

"No problem," B'rost said, "I've cleaned out enough chicken and wherry pens to know how to clean one. It's the dust that will get to me, so I'll wear something around my nose and mouth," he said.

K'ndar, having gone without much sleep the night before, was tired beyond belief. Still he was ready. He nodded with a smile. "And the pitchfork is for?"

"Uncovering whatever might lie beneath the top layer. It's called overburden, and geologists deal with it all the time. Usually I use a pick and shovel to move rock, but this time I think a pitchfork will do the job," B'rost had said.

"Be careful, you don't want to disturb the forensic (he'd just learned the concept) layout of the bones, if there are any left."

"I KNOW what I'm doing, K'ndar. It's like searching for fossils, you don't want to disturb the configuration of the find. Please, trust me. I know you already do, thank you so much for choosing me, for giving me a chance. Trust me. I won't screw it up," B'rost had pleaded.

F'mart had begged for guard. "Please, let me beat his arse. I've not had a good fight in months," he said.

K'ndar had laughed. "I guess it's up to the crazy man. Maybe he'll submit without a fight," he said.

"With my luck, you're right," F'mart sighed, forlorn.

Raventh and Careth, the two browns, separated into search formation. Once on the agreed station, D'mitran and Careth hovered, waiting for K'ndar to reach his point.

Rath reports that B'rost is ready to rappel.

Careth reports he is ready to search.

Tell them I am on station and ready to search. Let's go.

He flashed the signal to D'mitran to proceed and Raventh began a slow steady flight southward.

"I'll take the windward side, the eastern coast side, sir, you take the lee side, westward side," K'ndar had said, having had a chance to better assess the geographical attributes of the island. "If Meteorology is correct, we have about an hour and a half, maybe two, before the rain hits. Hopefully it will be enough time for B'rost to gather all his data," K'ndar had instructed.

He'd felt so very odd, giving the orders to his Wingleader. But D'mitran, who'd enthusiastically joined the team without a moment's hesitation, was wise enough to let K'ndar be the leader. We all had to learn, and this is excellent training, he'd thought. Whether K'ndar likes it or not, he does have leadership qualities.

D'mitran unlimbered his datalink and set it to record. This would be a bit dicey, handling it, but Landing wanted a recording, and he'd made it so that they had a live link, the connection being made through the Yokohama and back down to Landing. Someone at Landing was watching, as were the computers, he knew, so, "lads, let's watch ourselves and what we do," he'd advised.

The island was very old, the remnants of a volcanic outpouring that had then been colonized by coral reefs, then uplifted. It was a mishmash of coral and metamorphic rock and heavily vegetated. It was riddled with caves.

You could hide a wing of people here and no one would be the wiser, K'ndar thought, no wonder the thermal imaging thing didn't see anybody. Of course, it was one man, alone, in this jungle of green and rock. No, wait. Two.

They'd flown for about ten minutes. K'ndar thrilled at seeing D'mitran in the sky four or five kilometers abreast of him. Just like when we fought Thread, he thought, flying in a formation with other dragons was always a thrill.

The island was larger than he'd expected. They reached the far southern end of the roughly oval shaped island. Below them was a large, sandy beach, exposed to the sea, with a small cove filled with rocks. The tide pools glittered in the sunlight below them. They flew out over the sea and turned around. Below them, the tide pools formed showed that, at least at this time of low tide, the cove was probably too shallow for a seagoing vessel but suitable for a small boat.

D'mitran reports a shipwreck on his side.

!!!!

It is in bad shape. Exposed, no sand. It looks to have been heavily scavenged.

Part of him wanted to hurry over to see it, but no, K'ndar, you are in charge of this, stay the course. Exploring may come later.

D'mitran is descending to get a better recording

Tell him take the time to get it right, then resume his course

K'ndar maintained course, scanning the ground below them as they headed north. There was a definite trail below him, inland from the rocks that formed the sea's edge on this eastern coast. The trail, while covered by tree and palm canopy, was easily seen.

B'rost reports that he has successfully entered the cave and you're right, it stinks. But the uncovering is going easily. F'mart reports all quiet on the beach. D'mitran has finished recording the wreck and has resumed search on his course. Raventh said, then continued,


This is fun, but it's busy. My mind is full of three other dragons. It must be confusing to be a bronze or a wingleader in full formation.

I agree. Thank you, you are doing a great job keeping me informed. It's so much easier than having to shout.

Yes.

They continued flying. He turned to see D'mitran on Careth far back on his left, the brown dutifully flying a 'search' and D'mitran scanning with eyes and datalink. That datalink, he thought, will make searching far easier, although I doubt there's much to see or find on this island.

I smell human. I smell dead fish. I smell …pig? It smells like pig.

Huh. Human and fish, he could understand, but pig?

Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes dirty humans smell like pigs.

OH, that's a new one! K'ndar laughed, I hope it's not me that you learned that from.

Definitely NOT! Raventh laughed.

B'rost has found them. More bones. Oh. It is sad.

What is sad?

Two skeletons. An adult. And a tiny one, like a hatchling. A tiny human. Like a newly hatched dragon.

A…baby?

A 'baby' human. Very small. Smaller than Siskin.

Oh my.

No more markings on the wall.

Oh. B'rost is crying.

CRYING?

He says, 'chains'. Chains. That's all he can say. Chains.

Chains? He was seized with the need to rush to the pinnacle. But no. B'rost had been assigned to do the recovery. He was to do a recon of the island. Let each dragonrider do the task he'd been assigned, to include myself, K'ndar thought.

Careth smells what I smell. !!!

What? What?

D'mitran reports a clearing, with signs of human habitation. There is a young human. He is staring at Careth. Now he is jumping up and down, calling for help.

D'mitran whistled the signal for "Converge on my position". Without resentment, K'ndar immediately turned west and they flew to where Careth was hovering.

Below them was a clearing in front of a large cave. A human was waving at them, its hair so long and matted it covered the person's body. They heard it shouting "Dragons! Help me! Help me PLEASE!!"

"K'ndar, do you see him?" D'mitran called.

"I do!"

"That clearing…," he called
"HELP ME!!! PLEASE!" the human yelled, frantic, fearful. It sounded like a boy.
"…it's too small for Careth, I think."

"Aye," K'ndar said.

It's not too small for me, Raventh said.

Are you sure?

If I can go in straight down and leap straight up, I can fit. Ready?

Um……… But Raventh was already lowering, controlling his descent with fierce concentration.

"On the ground! Get out of his way! We're coming down, don't be under him!" K'ndar yelled.

"What?? Hurry! He'll be here any minute!"

"GET OUT FROM UNDER MY DRAGON DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The boy lurched to the entrance of the cave.

As delicately as an insect, Raventh landed in the only space in the clearing large enough for him to fit. His wingtips were a scant meter from the trees.

This is scary.

It's okay. I have clearance above me, as long as Careth clears the way for me to leap.

D'mitran was overhead, filming all the while.

The clearing was of the utmost squalor K'ndar had ever seen in his life. The stench was nauseating. There was filth and refuse everywhere. Something struck him about the clearing, but he had so much on his mind that it was filed away for future review.

The trees and palms were menacing forms, crowding in. This was tight quarters for a dragon, he thought, thank the stars Raventh is 'small'.

The boy came scuttling out of the cave, in utter terror.

"Help me, please, get me out of here, please!"

K'ndar looked at the boy. He was so utterly filthy K'ndar could not tell what age he was. He was completely naked. His dreadlocks reached to his waist.

"Come on, grab the harness and step on his knee. Then climb…"

"I can't…"

K'ndar reached down, a bit irritated that the boy seemingly couldn’t climb up?

Then he saw the reason for the strange gait.

The boy's ankles were chained together, no more than a shoulder width apart.

He reached down, grabbed the boy's outstretched hands, and gave a mighty tug. The boy came up so easily he almost went over Raventh's back. Instead, he fell sideways, his ribs lodging him between the ridges on Raventh's back. No way would he be able to straddle.

"Oh, are you okay?"

"I'm okay! Hurry, he's sure to have seen you, HURRY!" the boy cried.

"Now listen. Feel the harness straps. Hold on to them as tightly as you can, because Raventh is going to jump straight up. Can you do that?"

"I will. I have to. He'll kill me for sure," the boy gasped.

Clear my sky, Careth Raventh called to D'mitran's brown.

"Boy, hold on tight," K'ndar ordered.

With a mighty leap, Raventh jumped skyward, his wingtips just barely clearing the tree limbs that seemed to be trying to grab them.

Then they were safe in the sky, hovering.

Well done, Raventh. My compliments Careth said.

Whew. I can smell him even with the wind in my face Raventh said.

It was true. The boy stank.

"Thank you, thank you, oh thank you," he was saying.

"Can you hold on like that?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, just please, get me out of here, take me anywhere off this island," he said.

Hmmm. Now what to do? He'd not expected to do a rescue.

"D'mitran? Your advice?" he called. Now he was glad he'd recruited D'mitran. There was no shame in his asking for advice on this, his first "action". That was why he'd wanted his wingleader to begin with.

"K'ndar, take the rescue to the beach. I'll continue with this leg of the scan. What in the world is wrong with his legs?"

"They're chained," he called back.


"WHAT?"

Kenth reports a man with a spear is approaching his position. B'rost is still in the cave, he is beginning to exit. He is having some trouble with the gear and the bags.

Kenth says the man threw the spear at him. He knocked it away! Now he is furious.

Tell F'mart to engage at will.

"D'mitran!"

"I heard. Continue with taking the rescue to the beach, I'm heading to the beach NOW," and Careth burst forward at full speed.

With a bit of relief, K'ndar turned Raventh towards the beach.

Kenth reports F'mart is fighting the man.

I do NOT want to miss this, he thought, and urged Raventh to hurry.

No. The boy is having trouble holding on. He weighs nothing and hasn't much strength.

Tell D'mitran that I have to go slowly. 

F'mart is…Kenth says he sounds like us when we've caught prey. He is beating the man and shouting and laughing.
 
Yeah, that sounds like F'mart, alright.

By the time they'd reached it, the fun was over.

F'mart stood on the beach, hands on hips and a grin wrapped three times around his head. The man who'd attacked K'ndar yesterday…was it only yesterday? was laying on the ground, groaning.

"You've broken me head, you bastard, you've broken me," he was crying.

"Ah, you wuss, you weren't no fun at all. Think I'm afraid of your big talk and pointy spear? Shaff... tell you what, get up, I'll let you have first go at me, again, aye? I'm just getting warmed up," he laughed.

Raventh landed gently, and the boy slid off with nerveless fingers. He landed on unsteady legs, almost falling over.

"Thank you, please, don't leave me here, please," the boy cried. K'ndar dismounted, and didn't know what to do first. Help B'rost?

D'mitran called from overhead, "B'rost, what can we do?"

K'ndar felt overwhelmed with all the sudden decisions he needed to make.

The blue rider had climbed back up to the top of the pinnacle.

"It's okay, now, I'm alright, just had a bigger load than I expected, and this bloody pitchfork, good tool but not for climbing! I'll be coming down in a minute," B'rost called.

Within moments, Rath landed and B'rost dismounted.


These humans. They stink Rath said.

They took a good long look at the man. He got to his feet but made no attempt to move towards the dragonmen.

"Your name and Hold?"

The man glared at them, then he snapped his fingers at the boy. The boy stayed a good distance from him, knowing he was safe, now.

"Your name and Hold?" K'ndar asked, relishing the phrases of power.

"Tol' you yesterday, you pig, I am Lord Holder of all the Islands. This is my Hold. You are trespassers. I will kill you all," he snarled.

"Sheesh, he stinks worse than a boar hog," B'rost said, "and that's doing a disservice to a hog."

"You, you're a whelp, you are," the man spat at B'rost. Rath rumbled, and stepped forward. The man stepped back.

"Aye, maybe so, but, shards, I missed seeing the fight. Maybe F'mart should teach you manners?" B'rost said, enjoying the taunt.

"Oh, YES! Only this time, I'll keep one of my hands behind my back, that way it'll make the fun last," F'mart shouted!"

"No! You, boy, get them!" he shouted at the boy, standing next to K'ndar.

The boy spat on him. The man screeched and lunged for him-and Siskin was in his face, all four clawed feet out in preparation to shred the man's face. The man fell backwards, his arms up in protection. Siskin got in one good claw before K'ndar called him back.

"Siskin, to me," K'ndar called, and Siskin reluctantly obeyed. "Last chance, scum.Your name and Hold."

"I am Lord Holder of all the Islands," the man said.

"No, you aren't, you're nothing but a murderous raider," the boy snapped.

He turned to K'ndar.

"His name is Shipfish," the boy said.

Chap. 171 The Plan

Chap. 171 The Plan

K'ndar looked across the table at M'rvin, his Weyrleader. B'rant, the Weyrlingmaster, had tried to excuse himself from the meeting, but K'ndar held up his hand.

"No, sir, please, I value your advice as much as M'rvin's. Please. I asked you both to poke holes in my plan, so please, feel free."

B'rant smiled. "You always were one to think things through, K'ndar. Sometimes I found you a little TOO circumspect. Your skyhooting off to the island without any plan other than wanderlust surprised me. Your candor in telling us how you screwed up…several times, to include burning off your eyebrows, tells me that you've one, learned the value of planning ahead and two, admitting mistakes."

K'ndar rolled his eyes.

M'rvin said, "Other than a few questions, I really can't see any real problems with your plan," he said.

K'ndar, still smiling, nodded in thanks.

His fingertips steepled, the Weyrleader looked past K'ndar to a map of Pern on the wall behind him, then turned his eyes onto K'ndar's. They looked mixed, a part pleased, a part troubled.

"This is an excellent opportunity for you to practice leadership skills, K'ndar, and I'm grateful Landing is charging you with it. Once my wingleaders begin to retire, I'm going to need replacements," he said.

B'rant grinned. "Not to mention yourself, sir…"

M'rvin laughed. "Aye, but K'ndar is no threat to me, mate. He's a brown rider," he said, grinning.

"Trust me, sir, I don't want your job. Not ever. You never get a minute to yourself," K'ndar said. He relished this interchange. He felt as if he was no longer a junior rider, he was being accepted by his seniors as one of them. It gave him a heady feeling. He checked it. You're still just a colt, K'ndar, you're not even close to being these men's equal.

"Alright, then, tell me again, why you chose who you did to go with you," M'rvin said.

"Well, sir, Lord Lytol said he didn't see the need for an entire wing to go, and that's wise, as I haven't re-conned the island, I only know where a maximum number of four dragons can land safely. That, and I doubt I could 'manage' more than three others. I KNOW D'mitran, he's been my wingleader and even chose me while on Search. Plus, I know he's always been able to keep a cool head when things got crazy, no matter if it was an unexpected twist in threadfall or someone hunting a certain dragonrider at Toric's gather. Finally, he's willing to check ME should I need it, and sometimes, I do."


"D'mitran is definitely cool headed," M'rvin said. "Now, then, F'mart? Didn't F'mart and you butt heads during Weyrling school?"

"Not so much butt heads, sir, as I endured his taunts and antagonizing. I chose to ignore him, but he did make it easy to despise him. Oh, sure, there were times when I wanted to fight him. But, my Uncle Fland used to quote someone named Sunsu. He said, "He wins who knows when to fight and when not to fight," K'ndar said.

"Your uncle is a wise man, K'ndar," M'rvin said.

"F'mart butted heads with EVERYONE, even senior riders. That is, until he tried to outdrink a wing that had just come in from fighting Thread. Headstrong is a mild word for him, then, he was always pushing my limits. He was a pain in the arse, through and through," Brant added.

"Sir, in my experience, F'mart has…matured. He seems to either have grown up or grown out of the bullying phase. I've not had a chance to talk to him in a while, but, sir, I've seen him fight. I need some muscle, some thinking muscle there, and I think F'mart's just the man to provide it," K'ndar said, a small part of his mind amazed at the transformation from mouthy bully to steady, if hot headed at times, bronze rider.

That didn't happen often with bullies. SOMEONE had gotten through to him, and the Weyr was better for it.

"That, and his Kenth is BIG. This crazy man, he wasn't afraid of Raventh. I want him to be face to face with a dragon that is physically imposing and psychologically intimidating. And, if it comes down to fighting, I can't think of a better man to kick the man's arse. I don't ever want to go up against F'mart, he'll be walking off whistling while I'm still wondering where my head went," K'ndar said.

Both the men roared in laughter. F'mart was always willing to drop everything in order to fight. If he'd ever been beaten, it wasn't while he was at the weyr.

"I'm sure he'll jump at the chance. Just..well, don't let him kill the man. I'm sure Landing wants to know who the shaff he is. Although I suspect, given what he said to you, it will be No Name and No Hold,"

"Yes, sir, I agree."

M'rvin sobered.

"Now, finally…B'rost? Seriously, K'ndar? B'rost? He's…

"Flighty as a wherry, sir, yes. He runs hot and cold. He's given to rash and reckless behavior; he's impulsive and makes bad decisions at times."

"As we all know. He's still on probation, you know, we've not decided whether to re-admit him to Weyr rolls," M'rvin said.

K'ndar nodded. "I can understand your reticence in re-admitting him. He's the personification of what my Weyrlingmaster used to say, there are old riders and bold riders but…" he looked out of the corner of his eye at B'rant.

The other men finished in unison, "no old, bold riders."

"Ah," B'rant said, smiling, "You WERE listening."

"Yes sir. But there is no question that B'rost is brave, and willing to take risks on his blue Rath that, in my experience while on survey, paid off. Rath is extremely athletic and can extricate himself from dicey situations that my brown Raventh wouldn't be able to do," he said.

Yes I could. I can do anything Rath can do, only better Raventh protested.

No, you can't Arcturuth, M'rvin's bronze interjected.

Give him a break, Arcturuth, he's smaller than most browns. Raventh's pretty nimble on his wings Banarth, B'rant's bronze argued.

The three men looked at each other, wryly.

"Our dragons are arguing," B'rant said.

M'rvin laughed. "Okay, okay. This isn't so much about dragons, anyway, it's about the team. Is that all about B'rost? Did you choose him because he's a friend?" M'rvin asked.

"No, sir. Quite honestly, I wanted one of the women to go, I wanted sinala on her green to go. But I'm thinking that, if there's fighting involved, while I know she can handle herself, still…sometimes, it needs to be all men. This time."

The two others nodded. That was wise. "Don't let the girls know, though. They'll be insulted."

"I know. I chose B'rost because he's small. And he's a geologist…one that knows how to rappel. I have done it once or twice, but this cave, where I found the skeleton, and the statement on the wall, it's small and hard to get into. I intend to send B'rost in with a couple collection sacks, to collect any bones, which I neglected to do. They've already lent me a camera, so he can take photos of the markings on the wall," K'ndar said.

"So he'll be going in by himself?"

"Yes, sir. There's not much room in that cave, for more than one person to work. Oh, and it's covered with bird and wherry nests. He can do it, I'm certain. I know, I know, he's a wild card, sir, but he'll listen to me. He always has. Sometimes I wished he wouldn't lean on me as much as he did in school, but it paid off, and maybe, this time, he'll see that this might be his only chance to restore himself in your eyes as worthy of being re-admitted to the Weyr. I think being abandoned and on his own scared some sense into him," K'ndar said. He'd not thought that part through, but he realized it was probably true.

"What about the crazy man? Is he to be taken into custody?" M'rvin asked. "I don't know what sort of holding facility Landing has, but I can tell you, I don't want him HERE. Nor would Lord Dorn want him. I really can't think of just WHO has custodial jurisdiction of the islands."

"They didn't direct me to take him. They just want more information of the person who claimed to be killed by dolphins. That is so unheard of, so disturbing, they want as much information as they can. As for the crazy man, I believe they're content to leave him on the island, and mark it as inhabited and off limits," K'ndar said.


"It seems to me that you've thought things thoroughly," B'rant said, testing. "You've given this a lot of thought, what?"

"Sir, I thought it while enroute, which didn't take much time, I admit, but it just sort of fell into place all at once," K'ndar said.

"So you've been justifying your choices right here and now? Thinking on the fly?"

K'ndar wondered and thought, well, it's true.

"Yes, sir."

"Ah. THAT'S the mark I was looking for. That's what we call empirical knowledge, and it's the mark of a leader, to be able to come up with solid reasons for choices from experience, without really thinking it through beforehand. I think your choices are sound, K'ndar," M'rvin said. "But…well, can you think of anything that you might have missed, or forgotten, before you put this plan into action?"

Actually, K'ndar thought, I thought I'd done a GOOD job planning, given the brief amount of thought I'd given it. But the doubt in M'rvin's voice mirrored the concern that had been in his eyes.

"Um…obviously, from your question, I have forgotten or missed SOMETHING, sir, and I am suddenly too scatterbrained to think of it," K'ndar said, feeling less confident.

B'rant said, gently, "Think slowly, K'ndar. THINK. How is it you have the time to actually take on this action?"

"Well, sir, I'm on a three day pass, you know that," K'ndar said, just a little peeved.

M'rvin pounced.

"Aye…but are the others tasked for something else?" he said.

Oh.

"Oh. I didn't check the duty roster in Flight Ops," he said, feeling the heat of embarrassment rising on his cheeks.

"Correct. You don't KNOW if D'mitran or F'mart are available, you don't even know if B'rost is even here, to take on what is pretty much a scheme concocted by you."

"It was suggested, no, asked for by Council!" K'ndar protested, smarting from the stern tone of M'rvin's voice.

"Okay, yes, I neglected to go to Flight Ops. But I came to my leaders first," he said, heatedly.

"That is true, and it's why I am not going to hammer you too hard on the second part you 'missed'…that of assuming we are able to provide the support," M'rvin said, "If it hadn't been requested by council, it could be construed as 'going over MY head as Weyrleader'."

K'ndar's mouth went dry, and he gulped. The last person he wanted angry with him was his Weyrleader. His grand plan fell into pieces. And now he had pissed off his Weyrleader.

"I'm…I'm sorry, sir. I am so sorry, I didn't think. I was so excited, so honored to be asked by the Council to do this, I didn't come to you with it first." K'ndar said, feeling sheepish.

B'rant interrupted. "Sir, that's not quite fair. He DID come to us, yes, with a plan already hatched. I agree that he didn't ask you if he could. If it hadn't been direct from Council, you have all the right in the world to slam him. But you have to admit that, despite the roundabout way of laying it out for you, he DID bring it to your attention before recruiting," B'rant said.

M'rvin thought of that for a moment, then nodded.

"Agreed. Sometimes I forget what it was like to be a dragonrider without the chains of command weighing me down. I miss those days, sometimes."

"And, let's be frank, Landing DIDN'T coordinate with you first. I'm not going against Landing, but sometimes they are a little too ready to assign us tasks without seeing if the Weyr can actually satisfy the requirement. We're the closest Weyr to Landing, now, and I think they forget that there are others," B'rant said.

M'rvin looked rueful. "That's true. Sometimes I think they forget I have a weyr to run, despite my not having been in the job all that long."

"Sir, I think you're as good a Weyrleader as D'nis, and I thought he was the best," K'ndar said.

"Thank you, I like to think that. I try very hard, and I try to follow D'nis's lead. But never mind. I think your choice of a team is a good one, K'ndar, and don't take me too literally. I was never one to stand on rank rather than principle. I think you've learned something important in regards to policy and protocol. I'd rather have a dragonrider who strikes when the iron is hot rather than consider all the ways it can keep him from getting in trouble. And sometimes, the moment to act must be immediate."

He stretched his arms over his head, wanting to be out of the office on this lovely day. "You've got a lot to do before you sleep tonight, K'ndar, so I suggest you head to Ops now, check their boards for your team's availability for tomorrow. Should you need some equipment, let Ordnance know. I'd take some weapons, just in case. How are you with a sword?"

K'ndar felt as if he'd been on a bucking horse, one moment let down, the next uplifted. "Um, sir, I probably shouldn’t be allowed near one, I would probably cut my own leg off. But I'm fairly good with a dagger and I'm good with a bolo and a rope. The man had a fairly long spear but I didn't see any other weapons. I don't know if there are other people on the island, and if they're armed-which is why I wanted all men on the team, and F'mart in particular," he said.

"Take a net, then. I'll call up F'mart and D'mitran…and B'rost, for I know that they're all off duty tomorrow. We'll see if they want to play. After that, you must brief them, bring them all on board. THEN you need to plan your attack, and troubleshoot it. You've a long night ahead of you, and you still need to get some dinner and sleep," M'rvin said.

K'ndar nodded. "Now I KNOW I would never want your job," he said.

M'rvin laughed.

He left the Weyrleader's office feeling giddy.

Risal was waiting patiently outside, Siskin alongside her.

Oh by the egg. I forgot. I forgot all about bringing a guest! I don't have the time, he thought, what a cad I am! What was I thinking? What did I do that for? How do I tell her I'm suddenly too busy to talk with her? And I take her back tomorrow? Now I have to plan a trip to Landing BEFORE going to the Island? I better talk to her first.

"Risal, I am so sorry you've been waiting. I feel like a fool. I brought you here without knowing that my day tomorrow is going to be VERY busy, in fact I don't have any time to talk with you tonight. I am sorry," he said, shaking his head. This day had been very long and full of errors, and it still wasn't over.

"Oh, thank you, K'ndar, but it's okay. I've worked Flight Ops long enough to know a mission when I see it, and it takes precedent," Risal said.

"Yes, but, now I feel as if I led you on into coming here and now I'm abandoning you? You'll see me for what, half an hour and then I take you home tomorrow?"

"It's OKAY. First off, I don't HAVE to go back tomorrow. Just because I live with my family doesn't mean they treat me like a child. I live with them because I love them, I help my mum with weyrkeeping, her job keeps her so busy. But I'm grown, K'ndar. They know that. I didn't tell them I'd be back tomorrow, I just said I was going off with a dragonrider to Kahrain Steppe Weyr, and I'll be fine. And like I said, I knew the minute you came out of your Weyrleader's office that you're going to be busy tonight and tomorrow. It's okay. I want to walk around your weyr, just to see what it's like. I see that there's a dock, I hope…do you ever get dolphins here?"

"Oh, yes. You can call them by ringing the dolphin bell."

"Well, then, I'll ask them, I'll ask them about a 'shipfish' killing a human."

"That's a good idea, but BE POLITE. Be absolutely diplomatic and tactful. NO accusations. They are smarter than us. They are kind and gentle, but they're not fools. Even the suggestion that they'd kill a human is so far off their charts that they may be insulted. So don't accuse them. They are like dragons…they don't lie. So tell them a human said it, and you know that humans lie," he warned.

"I won't insult them. Now, if you would show me to where your dining hall is, and I can meet your headwoman, I'll take care of myself while you're gone," she said, sounding almost motherly.