Chap. 229 Innovation

 

Chap. 229 Innovation

Breakfast over, he walked to his office. The concept of having a workspace all to himself was still something he was learning to accept.

The red sky told him that wet weather was coming. Harve had said they were expecting a storm.

I want to return those ropes, he thought. Serengeti will be heading for Southern...but do I wait until I know they're there? Or...

Arggg. Do I want to go to Ops to see if that idiot has actually posted the weather for Cove? Or figure out how to work it myself on the datalink?

Siskin chirped on his shoulder.

"Duh," he said to the fire lizard, "I'm such a dolt!" It'd been a while since he'd used Siskin as a courier.

He sat down at his desk, took a pen-such wonderful things pen and paper were! and dashed off a note to Harve.

Hello, Harve, K'ndar here. I'd like to return the ropes. Please return this message with your estimated time of arrival at Southern. Thank you for the skull, it arrived safe, if stinky.

Folding the paper, he harnessed Siskin with the special mail pouch. I don't have a Landing badge for it yet, he thought. I don't think Landing HAS such a thing, so few of us have lizards. I'll fix that!

He tucked it into Siskin's mail pouch. The fire lizard, recognizing the special harness attachment, chipped excitedly. He loved going on Special Missions.

"Siskin. Take to Harve. Harve? The ship?"

The fire lizards eyes whirled a delighted bright blue.

He launched and disappeared.

Harve surveyed his desk. He'd spent most of the last morning organizing it. Lefsa was a good scientist but her desk had been 'messy'. I wonder if this will get that bad, once I really get to...hello, what's this?

There was a tightly capped container on his desk, and a note.

For an instant he was bothered. Someone had been in here. Memories of last night's altercation with Marsh rankled. But this was an office, among the many here at Landing. It was a place of work, not a home, and he couldn't expect it to be sacrosanct, like his quarters.

The note said, K'ndar, welcome to Landing. This bottle contains powdered smanda saliva. As you were the first person to learn (the hard way!) what it does and how it works, we here at Research and Development thought you might be willing to experiment with our refined and synthesized product. The anesthetic substances have been removed from this specific blend. We're calling it 'smanglu'. Please use it or give it to someone with the caveat that they must let us know how it works in the field. As a reminder, in its present form, it's a powder and easily handled when dry, but when it's wetted, it's extremely sticky, expands and solidifies into a waterproof coating. We're already experimenting with it on clothing. If you have any questions, I'm Nashua, in R&D, 3200 Eridani. Thank you!

He took the bottle, resisting the urge to open it. He knew only too well how hydrophilic it was and how sticky it could be.

Smanglu, huh? Interesting. He put it aside. What to do with myself today? It will take the Serengeti several days to get to Southern. I could...yes, I'll go and uncover the skull. Harve said it still had tissue on it and...

Siskin reappeared, chortling.

He's happy this morning. He loves going on missions. He's seen the ship Raventh said.

The fire lizard glided to the desk top and shoved his chest forward, proudly.

"Good lad! Do you have a message for me?"

Siskin arched his neck, proudly.

"You are the VERY BEST lizard anywhere!" K'ndar said, wishing he'd brought a treat. But praise worked just as well, as well as a good head scratch.

He scratched Siskin's head for several moments, then removed the lizard's harness. Opening the pouch, his note had been refolded and the blank side filled.

Hello, K'ndar!! We're still here at Cove Hold. Once we emptied the holds, we found several leaks and are working to stop them all before we depart. Cap'n Disko said we aren't going to be leaving until this storm is over. Looking at it, I think it will hit us this afternoon and go on for a day. So, if you can, return the ropes this morning. Harve

K'ndar ran for his harness.

_________________________________________________________________________

"Smanglu"? Captain Disko held the bottle gingerly.

"Yes, sir. It's a long story, but essentially, this stuff in the bottle? It's a powder. Be very careful it doesn't get wet until you have it where you want it to get wet, because once it's in contact with water, it gets sticky. Then it expands and solidifies and as long as it's in contact with water, it's waterproof. Harve mentioned your ship has some leaks? Would you please, use this and tell me how it works? Because you're my test case. Tell me how it works or if it doesn't work, that's part of the deal with Landing." K'ndar was on the wharf next to the Serengeti, a beaming Harve crowding behind him. The ship's First Mate looked skeptical.

"Smanglu," Disko repeated. K'ndar saw his focus turn inward, and knew the man was exploring the possibilities in his mind.

"Cap'n,.." the First Mate said, "I'm wondering if it would work on the leaks?

"Firstie, I'm thinking the same thing. Take this bottle below, and..." He was thinking hard, "put this stuff on all the leaks on the port side of the hull. Mark the 'smanglu' leaks with a double circle, so we know where it's been put. Don't unpack the leaks that've already been packed. Sprinkle? the powder atop the oakum. Hmm, okay, if a leak hasn't been packed yet, put this stuff on the leak FIRST and then oakum. I don't dare unpack the leaks, so we'll see if this stuff works with oakum or without. K'ndar, I trust your judgment, but...this is an experiment that I'm concerned might not work," the Captain said.

K'ndar grew anxious. He wanted this to work, and he wanted his friends to benefit. And he wanted to repay the Captain in SOME way.

"I understand, sir. But, if you look at my fire lizard's hind legs, see the scars? That's what it did to skin. It solidifies on just about anything, as long as it stays wet. The smanda is an ugly little creature that lives in the marshes far south of here. It's an 'amphibian', a creature that needs to be wet. It makes a nest for the dry winters, a round capsule made of reeds. It lines the INSIDES with this stuff, allows water to enter it, sealing the nest full of water. The nest holds water for as long as the smanda is hibernating, even in dry, hot weather. It works. Remember, it's a powder, now, and is sticky when wet, and I mean STICKY. Once it dries out, it returns to powder form," K'ndar said, growing increasingly excited. "I've seen it work, sir, and I bet my lunch it will stop any leaks your ship might have."

"Why...why me, K'ndar? Why my ship?" Disko asked. The concept-if this stuff worked, every seaman on Pern would want it. It could be extremely profitable.

"Sir. You said it, I'm family, so YOU are family. You shipped that skull for me despite the fact that it cost you sleep and clean air."

The Serengetis laughed.

"Only because Harve's my best nephew, K'ndar. Otherwise it'd be back on the bottom with curses to keep it there," Disko said.

"That, and you loaned me your ship's ropes, and had a net damaged. I would like to repay you for the damage, and the busted block."

"You will NOT," Disko growled, in a voice that brooked no dissent.

K'ndar nodded his head.

"Tol' you so," Harve whispered.

"I know. That's what Harve said. But, sir, if this works, will that work as compensation?"

Disko looked at him, his mind awhirl.

"K'ndar, if this stuff works, it will be a gold mine. Every captain on Pern will be clamoring for it. Will I be able to be the one to make money on it?"

K'ndar shrugged. "Sir, I know nothing of trading, or making money. Landing creates things to make money so that it can keep creating things. I will be your advocate for, um...I don't know the word," he said, realizing he was now out of his depth.

"Agent", said Firstie. She had grasped the lucrative possibilities it immediately.

"Agent. Sir, I don't know how to arrange these things, I hope you understand. But if you come to Landing with your report on how the smanglu worked, they might be willing to give you a..a..contract?"

Disko looked at K'ndar with an unfathomable expression. Firstie nodded. Had she the authority, she would have signed one right then and there.

"I don't promise a report right away. Serengeti is still so new that I expect leaks to pop up. An empty ship handles differently than a fully loaded one, and we're done with fishing for the year. So I'll get a message to you, one way or another, on how it works, and I'll meet with the people at Landing."

Firstie was about to leave with the bottle when she turned. "You said it get sticky when wet?"

"Too MUCH!"

"If it gets on my skin, what do I do?"

"Whoa, great question. Vinegar. That'll dissolve it in an instant," K'ndar said, "I'm sorry I forgot to mention it."

Disko looked at the sky. It's getting on, he thought.

"I don't mean to be rude, K'ndar, but I have a ship to run," he said.

"Aye, sir, and thank you, again," K'ndar said. He looked skyward at the gathering clouds.

"I'd better leave, I don't want to be flying in storm weather," he said.

"Safe skies," Disko said. He shook K'ndar's hand and returned to his ship.

"Safe voyage," K'ndar called after him.

He headed for Raventh, who had landed near the wharf.

Harve came with him. Once he was out of hearing of the crew, said, "Thank you, K'ndar, for returning the ropes so soon. I sort of went over the Captain's head doing that. After the fact is not a good thing."

"Harve, don't do that again, hear me? I don't want you getting into trouble."

"I was worried, okay, I was scared. But Cap'n is a good man and my best uncle. But still, thank you. And it was good to see you," the boy said.

"You, too," K'ndar said.

Harve hesitated. It was clear he had something on his mind.

"K'ndar, I don't know how to ask this but there's something I'd like to have..."

"You want?"

"A fire lizard. It was such a thrill to have Siskin appear over head and he went chipchipchip! to ME! HE remembered ME!"

K'ndar smiled. "He's smart, Harve, and he knows who my friends are."

Harve beamed at Siskin. Siskin beamed back.

"I'd like one because..well, because of the communication abilities. You are here because Siskin passed the message like THAT!" he said, snapping his fingers.

K'ndar had a thought pop up. If a fire lizard was good, a datalink would be better.

He pulled his datalink out of its pouch.

"I can get you a fire lizard egg, Harve, when, I can't say as I don't know when someone will have a clutch to sell. But in the meantime, would you rather have one of these?"

Harve looked at the datalink.

"Is that a datalink?"

"It is. And Landing is making them for whomever might want one."

The plan blossomed in his mind, complete in form. Yes. I'll get you a datalink AND a fire lizard egg, Harve.

Harve's eyes lit up. "Whoa. That would be wonderful," he said. Then he frowned. "But they're expensive, I bet."

"I was given this, so I'm not sure," K'ndar dodged, "but I'll find out."

No matter, Harve, yours will be free. I've plenty of money, he thought.

"This way, you could contact me or anyone with one, from ANYWHERE on Pern. And talk to me, and check the weather, and ...the possibilities, Harve! I'm just learning how to use it, and it's ..well, I hate to say this, because I love Siskin, but it's far more convenient than a fire lizard."

Siskin hissed.

K'ndar was shocked. The blue's eyes whirled an upset orange.

"He..I'm so amazed at how they understand what you say," Harve said, "He looks insulted!"

"His feelings are hurt!" K'ndar said, unhappily. He began to stroke the fire lizard, trying to change the orange to blue. "The more I know of him, the smarter he gets. I'm SO SORRY, laddy, you're the best fire lizard on all Pern. FAR better than any datalink!"

Chap. 228 The Burglar

Chap. 228 The Burglar

"It looks pretty stable, K'ndar. You might want to drop that crate downwind of the composting station," G'aryk said.

He, his wife Leana and K'ndar had launched with their loads. Raventh hovered, getting the feel of the heavy crate beneath his belly.

"Good idea!" K'ndar called.

Below them, Harve waved at them.

"See you, K'ndar!!"

"I'll return the ropes tomorrow!" he called.

To Landing, please? Downwind of the stables and the composting station.

It stinks!

_____________________________________________________________________

His arms full of harness, he tried to get the dragon bay door to open by waving his elbow at the wave plate.

It didn't work. Sighing, he placed his harness on the ground when a sound from the inside made him stop.

The walls were thick enough to make the sound just barely audible, but it was unmistakable. It sounded like something wooden hitting the floor.

"Siskin? Do you hear that?" he asked, knowing the lizard's hearing was far better than his.

The blue fire lizard turned his head, focusing his hearing. He chipped softly in agreement.

Someone was in his quarters. The repairmen weren't scheduled to be there. Even if they had been, he would have been contacted the day before.

He quickly went around the building to check the human door. It was closed.

Did you see someone go into our weyr? he pinged Raventh, who was drinking deeply from the water trough in the dragon meadow.

No.

Someone is in our weyr.

I'm coming.

On this side of the building, the sound was much louder. Someone was in Raventh's bay.

Anger flared in his mind. The concept of someone entering his home without his knowledge or permission was so alien to him that he was unsure what to do. No one at Kahrain-or any Weyr, for that matter, would ever enter someone's private quarters without permission. It just wasn't done. You couldn't lock a curtain, so the concept of entering without permission was a ingrained cultural taboo. Sometimes little children wandered in, but it was always for some harmless reason, and they quickly were trained to not enter without asking.

Things at Landing were a little different, in that workmen/repairmen would come in during one's absence...but you were notified early, and could be there when they arrived.

He listened, Siskin listened.

Ah. Definitely.

He pushed a vision of Siskin teleporting into the bay into the lizards mind.

Don't let the person see you. Show me who is in there and what he is doing he said.

Siskin chirped, always up for spying. He launched and vanished.

Within moments, he sent his view back.

Oh, yes. There was the person in the dragon bay. He'd opened the crates K'ndar had used to move with. K'ndar saw the person stuff something into his shirt.

Marsh.

Siskin. ATTACK.

Siskin's motions were a sudden blur.

K'ndar ran around the corner to the dragon bay door.

He heard screaming. For several moments, he heard the teen blundering about in the bay, then the dragon's bay door whooshed open and Marsh ran out, Siskin riding the teen as if he were atop a bucking horse, clawing the teen's face.

His arms flailing trying to dislodge Siskin, Marsh ran blindly, straight towards Raventh.

Siskin. To me, lad! he sent. The blue fire lizard obeyed and flew back to K'ndar, chortling in glee.

Want me to stop him? Raventh asked, sounding amused.

He's all yours.

Marsh saw him at the last second and tried to stop, but skidded on the wet grass and fell.

Hold him, Raventh. I'm coming. Oh, and call Motanith's Francie, I need witnesses.

Already done. Motanith says Francie is coming right now. She's on her horse. How hard should I push on him?

Only a little. Don't kill him. Scare him, that's okay.

Raventh...who, like all dragons, was incapable of killing a human even if ordered, laughed. He rushed towards Marsh, stopping just as the teen regained his feet.

The teen froze. The dragon was in his face.

Roaring, Raventh spread his wings, tripling his size. With a mighty forward thrust of his wings, he blew Marsh backwards. He carefully placed one forefoot on Marsh's chest. It covered the teen from neck to navel.

His bones are so light. I could easily kill him with just a little pressure. He's nothing like a wherry. They're hard to kill. There is something hard on his belly. It feels like a rock.

K'ndar ambled towards Raventh, enjoying the spectacle. Marsh was whimpering. Siskin launched and flew to Raventh's head, still chortling.

Raventh mantled his wings over the teen. He lowered his head to just out of arm's reach, his eyes whirling an alarming red.

He huffed a lungful of breath into Marsh's face. Dragons do not brush their teeth. Ever.

Marsh gagged.

K'ndar stopped just at the edge of Raventh's wings. The dragon raised them and furled them alongside. K'ndar's boot was just inches from the top of Marsh's head. The teen could not move. Nor could he see who was behind him.

"Well, well, Raventh, what have you caught here? It's a skulking tunnel snake! Who in the world would have the audacity to go into someone's home without permission? By the egg, it's Marsh!! Did you find what you were looking for in my quarters, you little shit?"

The teen's eye's rolled upwards but not enough to be able to see K'ndar.

"I...was there to check..to check on the repairs...''

"My arse you were. Orlon fixed the wave plates last week."

"I..can't talk..."

"Oh, why? You certainly had no problems talking the other day. Sneering at me, among other things. Oh, and let's not forget that shifty little hack you engineered on my datalink. You've been eavesdropping, what? Knew I'd be out of the area? But you lost track of time, didn't you. Can't talk, eh? Is it because you have a dragon on your chest? My, why would a dragon do something like that to someone...unless that lout was a THIEF? Dragons do not like thieves," he snarled.

"I...didn't..."

"Didn't WHAT? Did you get lost? Suddenly forget that my quarters were MINE? And rummaging about in my belongings? Searching for what?

"No, it's not that way, it's not...he's so heavy.."

"Nah, he's not heavy. You haven't even begun to feel heavy. He's being gentle as a kitten with you."

"Get him off me."

"Hmm. That sounds like an order. I don't take orders from thieves. Nor does my dragon."

"Please," Marsh gasped.

"Ah, you do have a scrap of manners! Too late, arsehole. You have to understand, thief, that I'm not on your chest. My DRAGON is, and he's not happy with you. Not at all."

"Please, please," Marsh begged, "he's crushing my ribs."

"Might do you some good, I'm thinking. Maybe you'll remember this, next time you get the urge to steal? Oh, but probably not. You don't strike me as someone who has a gram of ethics," K'ndar said, his steam building.

He looked at Raventh. The dragons eyes were whirling orange.

"I can hardly breathe," Marsh whined.

"What? That didn't sound very polite," K'ndar said.

"I said please, now get him off me!"

"Can't do that, Marsh. I don't take orders from you. Nor does my dragon. He's pissed at you, you rooting through our home. He wonders, what were you doing there? Stealing? He's not really inclined to let up a bit of pressure," K'ndar said. "He's a big dragon, I can't make him let you up. You have to give him a good reason."

Marsh started to cry.

"Oh, now that's not going to work, laddyboy. Tears don't work on a dragon."

"I'm not crying, he's going to squash me," Marsh said.

"Hmm. Oh. You're lucky, Marsh. Do you know what a dragon does when he's caught a bird? If he's not angry, he kills the bird and then burns its feathers off. But when he's pissed, I mean REALLY angry, like Raventh is right now, sometimes a dragon gets the two steps mixed up. I wonder how it would feel if he roasts your clothes off, what's left of them, anyway."

"Nooooooooooo!"

He heard hoofbeats.

Francie galloped up on Donal, the most beautiful horse in the world.

She reined up a ways from Raventh. Donal was not afraid of dragons, but it was still wise to maintain a little distance. Motanith, her green dragon, flew in and landed on the other side of Raventh. Her three fire lizards circled overhead. Siskin joined them and excitedly related his story.

"Well, what a surprise," she said. Motanith had told her what had transpired. "Raventh has caught himself a skulker!"

"A thief, Francie. A thief," K'ndar growled.

"I was just looking..." Marsh gasped.

"Looking for what? Money? You've got bad reputation, Marsh, just this is the first time you've actually been caught," Francie said. She turned to K'ndar, a wicked glint in her eye.

"Well, K'ndar? Raventh's hungry, I bet. Wonder what he's going to do...squish this crawler or just eat him right off?"

K'ndar grinned at Francie, immediately getting the game. "I told Marsh how a dragon eats a bird," he said.

"Oooh, that's not pretty. Mind if I don't watch? It turns my stomach, especially the screaming," Francie said, her eyes dancing.

I think he's having trouble breathing. Beg me to let up and I'll let him go

K'ndar stepped over the teens head to get a better view. He leaned down and looked at the teen's bloodied face...the scratches bled freely but weren't deep enough to scar.

"My, but all your girlfriends are going to be repulsed by your face, Marsh. All those scars, oh my!" Francie said.

"He's lucky, " K'ndar said, "Siskin was going for his eyes."

"Now let me think. You want my dragon to let you up, right?"

"Please...get him off me, please."

"He learned to say please? Amazing," Francie said.

"Marsh, you have to give him some reason to do so. Right now he thinks you'll run, fact is, he wants you to run. He wants to chase you and let my fire lizard rip the skin off your back," he said.

"I..won't run..promise.."

"And you'll confess?"

"Uh huh.."

K'ndar looked at Raventh with a big grin.

"Raventh, would you please let this crawler up? Please?"

Raventh's eyes whirled an impish green.

He didn't move his foot.

"PLEASE, Raventh? I know you're very angry, but please don't eat him. I don't like smelling burnt flesh," K'ndar said.

Raventh heaved a theatrical sigh. He lowered his head to within inches of Marsh's face. He rumbled, deep, deep, the sound coming as if from the bowels of the earth. He removed his paw from the teen's chest. He looked up at K'ndar with what could only be described as a smirk. K'ndar bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Marsh took a deep breath.

"Stand up," K'ndar ordered.

Marsh struggled to his feet. He bent over, breathing deeply.

Siskin eeped and flew to K'ndar's shoulder. Francie's three fire lizards swirled over her head, then landed on Motanith. They were suddenly subdued.

The reason flew over all their heads.

It was Fafhrd, Grafton's bronze fire lizard. He flew with a regal air.

"Ah, there's Fafhrd. Marsh," she said, from her horse, "Looks like Grafton knows, now."

He wants to land on me. I know Siskin and the others are subordinate to this one, but I don't take orders from a fire lizard.

Of course not. It's up to you.

He wants to watch what you do with Marsh and then report to his human.

Grafton is his human, and he's a very important human. Life will go much easier for us both if we treat Grafton like a weyrleader. Tell him we caught Marsh in our weyr.

"What were you doing in my weyr? My quarters? Tell the truth or I'll have Siskin...now he's got three friends...to work you over," K'ndar snapped.

"I wasn't in your quarters," Marsh said, defiant.

"Was I dreaming, then? Didn't I see you run out of my quarters, with my fire lizard on your back? Lies!! Siskin!"

The blue fire lizard went for the teen. Marsh screamed and swatted him away.

Francie's three swirled over his head. For a moment four fire lizards were swirling around the teen's head, hissing.

Something fell from the front of his shirt.

"Let's try this again. What were you doing in my quarters? And may I remind you, Grafton is hearing everything you say. Understand?"

The teen hung his head. "Nuthin'," he mumbled.

Francie reached for the rock and handed it to K'ndar.

"What is this?"

Recognizing it, he said, shocked, "It's my opal rock. It's quite valuable."

Controlling his fury, he said, "What else did you steal?"

"Nothing, I found that rock in the forest," the teen said.

"No, you didn't, you stole it from my quarters."

Marsh shrugged.

"Leave me alone. You got your rock. Now I want to go home, I'm all bloody, you and your fire lizard have scarred me for life," Marsh said.

"No doubt. But not right now," K'ndar said. Now what to do with this punk?

"Get his datalink, K'ndar, that will tell us more than he will," Francie said.

K'ndar reached for the boy's datalink pouch. Marsh pushed him away.

The four fire lizards pounced on him. As one, they shoved Marsh til he fell onto his back, then pinned each limb to the ground.

"Very clever, lizards!!" K'ndar said. He reached down and pulled the datalink out of the pouch.

"You trained them to do that, Francie?"

"No," she said, her eyes glowing with pride, "But from now on, I will!"

"'Ere, now, wots this?" a male voice said behind them.

K'ndar looked back to see two large men, with Grafton between them, one hand on the arm of one of the men. In the other he held a sturdy cane. Fafhrd flew to his shoulder, chittering. "I see," Grafton said.

Francie said, "Security! And Grafton! Thank you for showing up!"

K'ndar handed the datalink to one of the men. "I took this off this punk," he said. He'd had no idea Landing HAD security personnel. The man activated the data link.

"Hmmm, this datalink tells me you, Marsh, were in K'ndar's quarters, going through is belongings as if you owned 'em. What were looking for?"

The teen, defiant, said, "Nuthin, just looking. My father said it was okay."

Grafton said, gravely, "I doubt that. I know your father. And I know you."

"That's not what the datalink recorded, lout, your every move is here. Fancy a thief doing that! You went through K'ndar's quarters, looking for things. Under his bunk even! Opening books. Picking up a rock and stuffing it in your shirt. Data says it's an opal. Opals are expensive, Marsh. Why did you take K'ndar's belongings? Why did you go into his quarters uninvited?"

Marsh closed his eyes. "I don't remember," he said, insolent.

Grafton said something to Fafhrd. The bronze chipped and the four fire lizards holding Marsh down released their hold on the teen.

The teen sat up.

"Now I'll ask you, Marsh. Why did you go into K'ndar's quarters uninvited?" Grafton said. His tone said he would brook no lies.

"I don't know," Marsh said, petulantly. He wiped the blood that was trickling down into his eyes.

One of the men shook his head, controlling his irritation. "At it again, Marsh? Appears you don't learn very quickly."

"I think you do know, Marsh," said Grafton. "You're a thief, young man, and now that you've turned sixteen, you've crossed that boundary between child and adult. Now you will suffer the consequences of your crimes as an adult. Earlier, gentler measures such as reasoning with you have not improved your behavior. Now you will be treated with harsher measures than when you were a 'child'."

Fafhrd turned his head towards K'ndar in unison with that of Grafton. K'ndar felt a strange chill..it was eerie to see the fire lizard acting as the man's eyes.

"This isn't his first foray into someone's home. He's become an unrepentant thief. It's just the first time he's been caught red handed in the act."

Francie snickered. "Looks like you've been through the grinder, lout. All clawed up!!"

Marsh tried to spit, but came up dry. One of the men clouted him.

"Do that again and I'll shut your mouth for you," he hissed,"permanently."

They pulled him to his feet. One of the men held him while the other searched his pockets.

He pulled out a small roll of hide from one of them and handed it to K'ndar.

K'ndar didn't have to unroll it to know what it was.

His mind exploded in fury. He lunged for Marsh, but Grafton's cane came up to rest gently on his chest.

The part of his mind that wasn't inflamed obeyed the cane. The rest of his mind, though, was volcanic. "I'll kill you, you little thief," he hissed.

Marsh snickered.

"Your girl friend sounds awfully young, K'ndar," he sneered.

"Girlfriend? That roll was from my six year old sister."

The other security guard clouted Marsh.

"Don't know when to stop digging, do you, Marsh?"

Grafton moved the cane's tip from K'ndar's chest to Marsh's.

"Insolence will get you nowhere, Marsh. Last week, and the month before, and the year before, I and others have tried to reach you. We've been easy on you, Marsh, and you've not once turned from this path. We are not fools, Marsh, despite your convictions. I've run out of chances to give you. You have shackled your own feet, Marsh. Sirs, please put him in confinement until Administration decides what to do with him," he said.

"With pleasure, sir." With one move, both men took Marsh's arms and pushed him forward.

"My dad will have it out with you, K'ndar," Marsh shouted, as the men took him away.

"You'll be lucky if your father doesn't banish you himself, lout, the trouble you've caused him," one of the men said.

"D'ya like mining, Marsh? Hope so, as you're going to find out real soon," the other said, laughing.

K'ndar's head throbbed as his anger receded.

Grafton looked at him through Fafhrd's eyes. K'ndar forced himself to speak to the fire lizard's face rather than Grafton's.

"I'm glad you held me back, sir," he said, "I wanted to kill him."

Francie nodded in understanding. So did Grafton.

"Very soon, he'll probably wish you had," the man said.

 

Chap. 227 Dolphin recovery

Chap. 227 Dolphin recovery

K'ndar looked with dismay at the size of the giant crate.

"My harness isn't going to be able to handle that big a load," he said.

"We're just about to warp it over the side," Harve said.

K'ndar saw two crewmen finish harnessing the slatted crate. Inside was a large lump covered in canvas.

"For some reason I thought you'd have to carry it off, " he said.

Harve laughed. "No, K'ndar, it's far too big. Block and tackle and a good boom, that'll make short work of her. What do you mean, your harness won't fit?"

"What I meant was, ordinarily, cargo is a lot smaller, and I have extenders on my harness that can sling load it under Raventh. But that thing is huge," he said.

G'aryk, waiting for the fish he was tasked to transport to be unloaded, looked at the crate with a doubtful eye.

"It's pretty big, K'ndar. Do you think Raventh can handle it? He's small for a brown," he said. "Do you want to swap loads? Corth is a lot bigger," he said.

"Umm," K'ndar was torn.

I can do it. As long as it doesn't swing Raventh said.

We'll launch and then go between. There shouldn't be too much swing. Are you certain?

Of course. I can do anything Corth can do. Anything.

K'ndar smiled.

"Thanks, G'aryk, but Raventh says he can lift it."

G'aryk's expression said he understood. "Browns."

"Aye. Browns" K'ndar agreed. Brown dragons were always a bit on the defensive, being smaller than bronzes and golds, but larger than blues and greens. Bronzes sometimes teased browns for that. So they were always trying to prove to the larger bronzes that they could do anything a bronze could do.

Leana measured it with her eye.

"Your harness isn't much longer, G'aryk," she said, "and we didn't bring extensions."

"Neither did I," K'ndar said, fretting.

"Is it the weight you're worried about? Because I don't have the weight on it," Harve said.

"No, it's not the weight, Harve, and besides, the crate is slatted. That reduces a lot of weight. I can see you covered the skull with canvas?"

"Had to, K'ndar. The thing stinks. It's pretty fresh, it still had scraps of flesh on it," Harve said.

"It's not the weight, Harve, we don't go by weight, anyway. Dragons can lift just about anything as long as they believe they can. It's my harness. I don't have a long enough harness for Raventh to transport it."

But the ropes, now...

"If I can keep the ropes? I can tie them to the harness," he said.

Harve frowned.

"Ropes...ropes belong to the ship, K'ndar. I'll have to ask Cap'n Disko."

"Harve, you know me. I promise I'll bring the ropes back as soon as possible. Tomorrow. The crate can be a problem, though. I don't know when I'll return it. Will you still be here tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure, K'ndar. Normally we're in port for two, three days. We'll spend the rest of today unloading, tomorrow mornig, we'll clean the hold, inspect it for leaks or damage. Ordinarily, we'd start loading tomorrow afternoon. If the weather's good, we'll leave on the evening tide. But this is Cove Hold, unlike other Holds, they don't have much in the way of cargo to ship out. So we'll be heading out 'deadhead', meaning no cargo in the hold. That's a pain, K'ndar, because with no cargo, we're always having to re-arrange ballast at sea, and that can be dangerous. Not only that, but we don't make any money shipping air," the teen said.

He looked at the crate, now ready for lifting.

"I'll ask the captain about the ropes. As for the crate, I'm thinking he'll be glad to be rid of it, for now. It caused him nothing but worry, K'ndar. We had to cobble it together, and it was too big to fit below. That and the crew would probably have mutinied had we put that stinking thing below. So it rode all the way here on the deck, and no seaman likes having cargo on deck. Cargo on deck has an ugly habit of breaking loose and causing all sorts of damage. Sometimes, even sinking the ship," he said.

"What?"

"Aye. Loading cargo is a science, K'ndar, one I am breaking my brain trying to learn. An unbalanced load in the hold can sink a ship. My uncle, Captain Disko, is a scientist, K'ndar. He knows to the centimeter the capacity of his ship. We'll line up all the cargo we're going to load, and he'll walk back and forth, placing the crates, the nets, whatever, into the hold in his mind. Then he'll close his eyes, think for a moment, and then say "this one, stow it aft, starboard side, just inboard of the ladder, and parallel to the keel." A well balanced cargo makes the ship go 'sweetly', nice and even. And don't stow it wrong, K'ndar. We don't cast off until he's looked at the load, checking every single crate, and the stars help you if you've put something wrong. Cap'n finds a box or a crate misplaced, the person who did it will spend every hour of his or her off duty time watching the crate,making sure it doesn't move. That means even sleeping on it, K'ndar. Cap'n Disko doesn't like having to re-arrange cargo, especially at sea," Harve said, "doing that is a guarantee of someone getting hurt. That and the crew probably would have mutinied to have that stinking thing in the hold. Truth is, K'ndar, Cap'n wanted to toss that skull overboard, especially after it tore up a new net. I had to beg him to keep it. I knew you'd want it," the teen said.

"You're right, Harve, and thank you. I owe you and your Captain. And I can pay for the net," K'ndar said, glad that he'd brought his pouch. "I don't know how much a net costs, but I'll pay for the damage."

"They cost a lot, Harve, but Cap'n will probably say no to that. We've already repaired it. He's just happy to be getting the thing off his ship," Harve said.

K'ndar felt overwhelmed. It took him several moments, then he said, "Thank you, Harve. I have to insist, though. I want to pay for the net."

Harve shook his head. "The ropes, I have to ask about, K'ndar. The rest? No. Cap'n said it. You're family, K'ndar, and when a Nerat takes you in, you're in for life." Pride filled his eyes.

How you've grown, K'ndar thought, how far you've come since we plucked you off that fly speck of an island. You might be only fifteen, but you're a man, Harve. Unlike that little shit Marsh.

"Thank you, Harve. I'll return the ropes tomorrow. I'd return them tonight, but it'll be dark by then. How long do you think you'll be here?"

Harve looked at the sky.

"Ordinarily, I'd say two days, one to unload, one to upload. But two things are pushing us..the sky looks ugly, K'ndar, there's a storm brewing from the east and we want to be out to sea as soon as we can. I give it two days, three at the outside, before it hits. The other thing that's making us hurry is that we'll be leaving without much cargo. If we can outrun the weather, we'll be heading west, where we can hole up if necessary and get a hold full of goods from Southern," Harve said.

"You're better at weather forecasting than I ever hoped to be," K'ndar said, admiringly. "So, you won't be here tomorrow?"

"Probably not. We're about unloaded already," Harve said.

Possession of the ropes was weighing heavily on K'ndar's shoulders, until a simple thought hit him.

"Duh. Sometimes I wonder where my brains are. Depending on the weather, I'll take the ropes to Southern Hold. Or wherever you happen to be."

Harve brightened. "That will work!"

"You, on the dock there! Hi, Harve! Hi, you landsmen! Move ashore, we're about to warp this beastly crate over the side!" called one of the crew.

Harve hustled K'ndar, G'aryk and Leana off the dock.

It was a good thing he did.

The boom, bending slightly under the weight of the crate, screeched slightly as it swung outboard.

"Is it too heavy?" K'ndar asked, alarmed.

"No, no, the boom can handle it, easy. We have nets full of fish that are heavier. It's the...." Harve started to say when something went 'SPANG!"

K'ndar saw a block at the top of the boom explode into pieces.

"HEADACHE!" someone shouted, and Harve jumped backwards, covering his head.

The three dragonriders, having no idea what the warning meant, witnessed the crate plummet into the sea with a huge splash. It just barely missed the end of the dock.

For one long moment, there was silence, then a cloud of swearing erupted from ship.

"NO!!!" K'ndar shouted. Without thinking, he rushed to the end of the dock, watching the tail end of the rope vanish into the depths.

"Anyone hurt?" the captain yelled.

Harve and the others all looked at each other.

"Well, I'm wet, but otherwise, okay," Leana said. She'd unfortunately caught most of the splash.

"None here," Harve shouted.

"Bloody crate," someone shouted.

"What happened?"

"That bloody block...I knew it were bad! It didn't sound right!

The Captain was at the spot in a moment. "That's the second block that's broken. I'll never deal with that ship chandler again. Nothing good comes from those shysters at Tillek!"

He pointed at two crewmen. "Take down the boom and replace the block. Use one of the new ones! Did the winch break?"

"No, sir, the brake held on 'er, so all the strain were on the block," said one of the crew. "Part of the block almost hit me. It went whizzing right past my ear," she said.

Dismayed, K'ndar, saw a few bubbles rising from the sunken crate.

Shards. Shard! So close to bringing the skull home and now this!

Harve came to look. The Captain was at the same spot as the boom operator, looking over the side.

"I didn't trust that skull," he grumbled, "It was a nuisance from the start."

K'ndar shook his head, saddened.

"Shards. It's a loss, I guess. I guess I don't have to worry about returning the ropes," he said, dejected.

Harve laughed.

"No, it isn't, we've had this happen before."

"What do you do, dive down there and pick it up?" K'ndar said, despairing.

"No, no, no, K'ndar, that's too much work. We'll just pull it up by the ropes."

"Are you serious? It's deep! How in the world can you lift it out of the water?"

"K'ndar. We have friends who are experts at deep sea recovery," Harve said, grinning.

"I know!!" Leana said, "Dolphins! Right?"

Harve grinned. "Yes, ma'am, dolphins. If someone will ring the dolphin bell, they'll come in, bring the ropes up to us, where we can reeve a line up the boom to the winch."

Leana went running for the dolphin bell.

__________________________________________________________________________

K'ndar didn't know the dolphins. But he was, as always, entranced by them. Leana was overjoyed to finally get to see them.

"They're more beautiful than I imagined!" she said, laughing.

Three of them had arrived within ten minutes of the bell being rung. It appeared the entire population of Cove Hold had responded to the bell as well, to include Rahman, the astronomer.

"K'ndar! Hello! Why are you here?" the old man said.

"Sir, I'm 'staff' now at Landing! As their "Field Biologist"!"

"Good on you, lad!! What's going on?"

"Sir, this young man is Harve. I'll fill you in on his story, but his ship, the Serengeti, caught a skull in one of their nets. They want me to have it, I planned on taking it to Landing so I can examine it."

"I see no skull, " the man said.

The crew laughed.

"It's at the bottom, sir, that's why we called the dolphins, they'll bring the ropes up for us to recover it." Harve said.

It was fascinating to see the dolphins quickly grasp the situation, and easy for them to bring the rope to the surface. From there, the crew re-reeved the line and prepared to lift the crate.

"What in box?" asked one of the dolphins, standing on his tail. K'ndar noted a bright, off white mark on his forehead, looking like a star.

"A skull," K'ndar said, "A big one."

"Skull!"

The three dove as one. They pinged it with their sonar and surfaced.

"Where find skull?"

K'ndar turned to Harve, who said, "Ten days ago, we were off the southern half of Western Continent. It was in our net."

"Deep water at Western," said Star. His companions agreed.

K'ndar said, "I think it's a mosar skull."

The three dolphins immediately disagreed.

"No. Not mosar."

"NOT a mosar? As big as it is?"

"Not mosar. How you know mosar?"

K'ndar tried to laugh but was too stunned to do so. Not a mosar! Meaning, something...new?

"I'm K'ndar, Raventh's my dragon."

The three conferred again. He was waiting for them to laugh, then saw that they immediately knew who K'ndar and Raventh were, but that the Tillek's command to never tease him again was obeyed.

"Keeendar! Swash friend!"

"Yes," he said, "and if you see Swash, tell him K'ndar says hello!"

"Oh," Leana said, softly, "I'd love to have a dolphin for a friend."

So what is the skull? He ransacked his brain for the next biggest thing he'd seen come from the mysterious depths.

Ah.

"Is it a paladen?"

The dolphins looked at him with questions in their eyes.

"Not know what paladen is," said Star.

Oh, that's right, dolphins call the paladen a 'deep diver'

"Deep diver?"

Again, all three denied it without hesitation.

"Not deep diver. Not mosar."

"What is it?"

For the first time in his limited experience with dolphins, K'ndar realized that the dolphins were as clueless as the humans.

"Not know what is. Never seen it before. Maybe Tillek knows."