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.