Chap. 252 Pacing the Thought Out

Chap. 252 Pacing the Thought Out

Jansen turned the corner on her lunch time walk to see K'ndar pacing back and forth in front of his work building.

She watched for several moments. It was obvious he had something on his mind.

Do I interrupt him? she wondered. He didn't seem unhappy, just...oh, shards, Jansen, just go ask him.

He is really deep in thought, she thought, as she approached.

Siskin had left his usual perch on K'ndar's shoulders to perch atop the building.

She stopped at the corner of his building and cleared her throat.

"Oh!" K'ndar said, stopping. "I'm sorry, I'm thinking, I didn't mean to ignore you."

"You didn't. I just got here, I see you walking kilometers in a few meters. Are you okay?"

He stopped.

"I'm okay. I've got this thought stuck far back in my mind that just refuses to come out, and it's driving me crazy," he said. He realized he had been pacing for a fairly long time.

"And walking back and forth helps?"

"Sometimes I make it come out by doing this. Pacing. What's even odder is, you know how sometimes you enter a room or a weyr and forget why you did so?"

"Arrgh, yes, I do that all the time!"

"I seem to be doing it more often as I get older. I figured out how to remember what it was. I walk backwards through the doorway or portal."

"Backwards," Jansen said, muffling a laugh.

"Aye, backwards. It's odd, but it usually works. But this? I've got this thing twitching in the back of my mind, it's demanding I think of it but it Won't Come Out."

Jansen nodded, grimacing. "I know the feeling. What I do is try to figure out the pathway to the thought. Or I'll get into the shower! The water pounding on my head? It's where I do my best thinking, and I don't know why."

"It's too early for my shower, but I'll try that. Are you busy? How do you like your new office?"

"I have to walk at lunch time. I sit too much, I'm getting fat! It's nice to get outside at least once in a day's work. I like the new office, it's not as cozy as the old one, but I have a lot more room for all my stuff. I've been working on getting the museum going, I think you know? And there's stuff EVERYWHERE. I just hope I get it all properly labeled. THEN I have to find room for it. At least I didn't have to find room for the deep diver, that is being assembled in front. It was just too big."

Siskin, seeing his mount had stopped pacing, dropped from his perch to land on K'ndar's shoulder. He absent mindedly reached up to give the fire lizard a head scritch.

"He's so pretty, K'ndar," she said. She idly contemplated the idea of getting a fire lizard, and then returned to her same argument..no time. But she had time for a cat, why not a fire lizard?

"How do you like your new quarters?" she asked, to distract herself.

"They're nice," he said, "but sometimes I miss living high in the air, with the ocean as my front ledge. And Raventh liked being able to just drop into the air from it rather than having to launch. But I will admit, I like the toilet, and the little kitchen. I sometimes feel guilty, knowing people like my family are still using a pit latrine, a well, and cooking over a hot fire."

She nodded. "It didn't take me long to get used to these amenities.I'd have made a pitifully sad colonist," she said.

He laughed. "They did have to start from scratch, eh? I can't imagine what a shock it must have been, to leave Earth with what had to have been the best technology, sleep for years aboard the starships, then come here to nothing but wilderness? You're right, I wouldn't have managed, either."

"I read a book from thousands of years ago. I didn't understand most of it, but it was called "Giants in the Earth". It was about colonists on Earth. These people left their home hold and moved out to the steppe. They had a wagon pulled by an ox, and the husband had a horse. All of their belongings were on the wagon. They walked beside it, there was no room for them to ride. Except for a baby, I think the baby got to ride in the wagon. They went a long ways out onto the steppe, it was called 'prairie' and then the husband said, stop, we're here. And there was NOTHING but grassland. Nothing, not a soul, not a tree, not even water," Jansen said.

"Why did they leave their hold? What was the giant? A giant what?"

"I don't know. There was nothing about giants. I'm not even sure what the author meant by 'giant'. They left their hold, I think, because they wanted to start their own hold. Like Wanderers, they didn't get along with others, there were too many people where they lived."

"And they just stopped? They went out a hundred kilometers onto the steppe and then decided this is where they were going to live?"

"Yes."

"They lived in the wagon? But you said they had no room in the wagon?"

"They slept underneath it. Then they dug up pieces of the prairie, they called it 'sod' and piled it up into a little hut, I guess, and lived in that."

K'ndar shook his head. "That's primitive! Even the Wanderers have nice little caravans to live in. What did they eat? Was the wagon big enough for a year's supply of preserved food? Unless they had a giant ox to pull a big wagon? Maybe that was the giant?"

"I don't know, K'ndar!! I said a lot of it didn't make sense to me. It was a very sad book, a sad story," she said. "It was like the prairie was their enemy, they had to fight it, rather than live with it. There were people who lived on the steppe, already, they were um, called indians, I think, they rode horses and hunted and did very well on the prairie. Why these people didn't talk to the indians, or live with them until they learned how to go it alone, I don't know. They would have been better off, I think."

"If it was like our steppe, there was no firewood?"

She thought for several seconds. "No, no firewood, no trees. There were wild cattle out on the prairie called buffalo. I looked them up, they look nothing like our cows. They probably killed them to eat and picked up the dung and burned that. I think."

K'ndar nodded. "I can say that that works. When I'd go out wandering on the steppe, I'd use cattle dung for fire, but it's smoky and everything you cook over it smells like...well, like cattle dung."

Jansen laughed. "If it had been me, I'd have given it a go, but after a while, I'd have said to my husband, I'm done, I'm going back home. But he wouldn't have gone in the first place."

"What else did it say?"

"When I read it, I remembered your report on your steppe survey. Remember, you discovered the locusts?"

K'ndar nodded, remembering that day. The locusts had suddenly appeared in a roiling, malevolent cloud, and had landed near the survey team. Within seconds, they'd eaten up all the grass, even B'rost's boots, as he'd been slower than the rest to jump aboard his dragon and escape into the sky.

"I sure do. There were millions of them, millions. They ate everything. They were like a carpet, they came at us and I'm sure they would have eaten US if we'd stood still long enough."

"I remember reading your report. These people on the prairie, they had locusts, too. Only they didn't call them locusts, they had no idea what they were. The author didn't either, I think, didn't say that word. Just described it as a metallic, hissing thing, a million creatures that ate all the crops. They almost starved."

"Huh. Why do people DO that? Intentionally subject themselves to such privations?"

Jansen shrugged.

"Why did the Ancients come here? To escape a dying earth. They were tired of fighting the Nathi, tired of a poisoned planet, they wanted a clean place to live and raise families. They were lucky, they didn't come with just a wagon. The starships provided an awful lot of equipment, they made these buildings! They built all these very nice homes, and then Mt. Garben decided to make one last eruption before it died for good. They left here and moved to Northern. The eruption was all ash, pretty much, hardly a bit of lava. And now we're removing the last of the ash and finding wonderful buildings to live in. AIVAS helped, so much. I'd never have read the book if it hadn't been in the database's library."

"AIVAS definitely changed the course of our lives. I'm glad I'm alive today, being the last generation of dragonriders to fight thread. The kids coming up now in Weyrlingschool will never know what it was like. And even then, I didn't have too many Falls. Not like some of our older dragonriders. D'nis grew up fighting it from the age of 16."

He regarded the tree line. Landing was so much different than his natal cothold on the steppe. He loved the steppe. It had never been an enemy, just a large thing to learn to live with. Prairie. It was Earth's steppe? Nice word, prairie. Maybe the prairie was the giant. Ours is certainly big.

"Did they ever go back?"

"To their original holds? No, others joined them, from their own people. They all spoke a different language then the rest of the world," she said.

"That's one thing I find confusing. So many languages on Earth! I'm so glad we have only Pernese. I can't imagine what it would be like to meet someone who didn't speak Pernese."

"I think Pernese is a collection of all the languages. The Ancients came from all over Earth. I guess they all spoke the same language on the ships? I don't know, K'ndar."

He looked at the sky over his head. There were many things he didn't know about the Ancients. So much had been lost or forgotten, and only now, in the last fifty years, had the database become available for all sorts of research. What was sad was how Pern's history stopped being recorded ten or fifteen years after Landing. Why did they stop? Thread? The database had more information about Earth, about Vulcan, even, than it had for Pern. How did Thread affect that? It had killed half the population, he remembered reading. Someone had even tried to send a call for help back to earth.

The sneaky thought in his mind went 'ping'. He mentally grabbed at it, but it slipped away again.

"SHARDS!", he shouted.

Jansen startled, the said, "Almost had it?"

"Yes," he said, "something about research, something about sending a message."

"To Earth?"

Frustrated, he pulled at his hair. "Arrgh,it's driving me nuts! Not to earth, something..something to do with Greta. I told you about finding Greta's remains at the base of the Western Straits cliff side?"

"I heard a little about it," Jansen said. "Such a nice girl, but so odd. Very wild, in a way. Feral."

"Yes. I don't know for certain how she died. I can't figure out why she was there in the Strait. She KNEW how strong the winds are. They're ferocious," he said.

"Was she looking for something?"

The thought emerged. He allowed it come out.

His eyes suddenly wild, he said, "Yessssss! Rahman told me the dolphins report there's something at the bottom of the strait. An artifact, a big one. And I found a bulwark, a bulwark on the very edge of the cliff, and no obvious reason for it. I don't know if it's rock or that substance the ancients created. It's big, big enough for a couple bronzes to land on..oh, and I remember the pictures at Honshu Weyr of the vessels they used to transfer things down here from the starships! That bulwark! It was made for a shuttle! It was MADE FOR A SHUTTLE TO LAND ON!" he shouted.

Jansen covered her ears, protesting, "Too loud, mate!"

"Sorry," he said.

"Why so far out, on Western? Didn't you say there's nothing out there?

"Yes, yes." he deflated, realizing that he was probably wrong. There was nothing out there but the bulwark amidst vegetation. No sign of transport.

"No, it probably wasn't. You're right. There's absolutely no sign of how it got there, how it was made, or even why it would be right THERE. There's nothing on the other side, D'mitran thought it might have been for a bridge. But the winds are terrifying, I can't believe even the Ancients could make a bridge that could withstand those winds. Even if they did, a bridge to nowhere? The southern island is exactly the same-armored willows, rocks and sand," he said.

"You can't farm or raise livestock on Western, it's just too extreme."

The thought was clarifying, though.

"Did Greta.." she asked.

"Shh, please?" he held his hand up to Jansen. He relaxed his mind.

The picture came to him.

Greta, swooping through the strait, trying to find the 'thing' at the bottom, the thing the dolphins said was man made. He'd tried it, on Raventh, when the winds were gentle and manageable. But the waters were too deep, too dark, too violent, keeping the artifact secret from a dragon's height. How in the world did Greta's dragon manage? For he was certain the winds had been howling. Even as good a flier as any green was, they couldn't have been successful in hovering.

He remembered seeing Greta running transects and establishing baselines. Her dragon flying straight and true, Greta would lean over the green's shoulder, holding her lidar. She'd done it every day in the field.

"The LIDAR!! She was using the lidar to see what was on the bottom!"

"Greta?"

"Yes. YES!' he shouted, the realization unfolding like a relaxing origami.

"That's what happened. Rahman told her what the dolphins had seen. She'd been with us when we examined the bulwark. I thought the bulwark was made for a shuttle, but no. It was involved in someway with the thing on the bottom of the seaway!! By the egg, she must have got readings and then..oh, poor Greta, got killed by the winds. Blew her and her dragon right into the rocks. Oh, poor Greta."

"She'd have taken that risk?"

He looked at Jansen.

"Not a doubt in my mind, Jansen. She was afraid of nothing. She could fly like nobody's business."

"But she was killed. The lidar is useless, they've just about given up getting anything out of it. Any data is lost."

Jansen shook her head, then she brightened.

"Didn't you upload data every night?"

"I didn't, I didn't have anything electronic, just my mind and my nocs," he said."I wrote up my notes and data in notebooks. Then when we'd get back home, I'd re-write them neatly, make all the sketches readable, and turn the neat ones in. So I have all my data in my messy notes. But D'mitran and Greta did, they'd upload every evening. It was part of our routine."

"If she uploaded it, it is probably somewhere in the database," Jansen said. "I know the rest of your survey's data has been digitized, even your drawings. I didn't do the digitizing, one of the people in Imaging did. So if she did upload, it's there."

"Maybe," he said. "How would you know? She probably didn't take the time to upload. She died trying to find the thing. I wouldn't dream of trying that strait with those winds. I was lucky to have the hour or so of light winds when I had them."

He sighed. So that's what she did. Greta! What a lion in courage, what a fool in common sense.

"And here we all thought she'd tried to go to the starship," he said, shaking his head.

"What?" Jansen gasped.

"B'rost. He said she'd mentioned she wanted to go to the starship. And Rahman said she'd studied the Yokohama through the old scope."

"That's crazy! And forbidden!"

"I know. You know, she knew. But she would have tried, but why?"

"To use the starship's lidar?"

The epiphany was like a thunderclap.

"What did you say?"

"I said, to use the starship's lidar."

"It has a lidar?"

"Of course. It has everything we have down here, only ours is miniature. Of course the Yokohama has a lidar."

"By the egg, Jansen, that's it!! Even Rahman didn't think of it! If we can access the Yokohama's lidar, we can SEE what's on the seaway floor!"

 

Chap. 251 The Daylight Star

Chap. 251 Daylight Star

They had mounted their dragons when a tumult arose. Ista Weyr's residents who were outside began to point skyward and shout in fear.

"Look! Look up! There's a star!"

"In the daylight! It's a star in the daytime!"

"It's so bright, it must be coming right at us!!"

"Nooo, not another fireball!!"

K'ndar and B'rant both looked up. Despite the bright sunshine, a brilliant star had suddenly appeared in the blue skies over the Northern island.

Several people began to run, but from atop the ridge, a young woman called out, "Don't worry! It's not a fireball! It's okay, don't panic! Don't be afraid, it's harmless!"

B'rant frowned. "Let's go up there, I think there's room for our dragons," he said.

They launched and flew up to the peak of Ista Weyr's volcanic rim. The watch dragon, a green, warbled a greeting to Banarth, B'rant's bronze.

I greeted her and she ignored me. It's as if I don't exist Raventh said, sadly.

Females are like that, sometimes

But I am handsome, and Banarth is old.

It's okay. You ARE handsome, it's just, he's a bronze

He says he's not old.

Never mind. Can you land here?

If this big brute of a bronze moves, yes.

Banarth folded his wings and shuffled closer to the green. Raventh, miffed, stayed on the far side of the bronze.

"Good on you for trying to calm everyone. What IS that, do you know?" B'rant asked the girl aboard the green.

"Yes, sir, it's the black hole. Our star smith told me the black hole at the center of our galaxy is feeding right now, right now we're seeing 'jets'."

K'ndar grinned. Rahman had passed on the sighting of the suddenly active black hole to the planet's astronomers!! That was smart. Of course people would be afraid, after the fireball of how many years ago? had caused so much destruction to Pern. No, it was the resulting tsunami's that wrought such devastation. Still, no one would ever forget the fireball. It was why so much attention had been paid to astronomy in general. Now every Weyr, Hall and Hold had a telescope to watch the sky, and plans in place on what to do in case of another fireball.

B'rant broke through his reverie.

" "Feeding? A black hole?" B'rant said.

K'ndar felt the odd sense of superiority over his former Weyrlingmaster. He didn't know of the black hole? But not everyone had had the intense curiosity he'd had since childhood, of wanting to know everything. Not everyone had thirsted for knowledge of things you couldn't always see. Not everyone was as scientifically minded as he was, or had a mentor-Rahman-who'd lent four science books to him when he was a new Weyrling. He still could not quite grasp how a black hole worked, or even what it really WAS, but, as Rahman had said, "neither did Einstein."

"You're right, ma'am, I was with Rahman, the astronomer when it first started feeding. He didn't mention that we'd actually be able to see it, but your starsmith is correct. I think the 'star' will only last a few weeks."

K'ndar saw T'mos, Ista's Weyrleader, come out into the bowl of the Weyr and hold his hand over his eyes, looking up in the sky. Shirvan, his Weyrwoman, was alongside, calling out to her weyrfolk to calm down.

"Watch dragon, report!" T'mos bellowed, his voice amplified by the surrounding crater's walls.

"Excuse me," the watch rider called, "I've got to launch, please."

"Aye, ma'am, we're leaving now, before things get crowded," B'rant said.

"Aye," K'ndar said.

"Launching," B'rant said to the watchdragon's rider. The green huddled to allow their two dragons enough room to launch.

As they circled for height, K'ndar watched as the "star" grew in intensity. Soon it might outshine the sun!

"A black hole, K'ndar?" B'rant called, puzzled. "How can a 'black' 'hole' be brighter than the stars in the night sky? It's even brighter than Betelgeuse!"

"It's a long tale, sir, and I'll tell you when we get home. I think Rahman said we wouldn't be able to see it from Southern, so take a long look now. It's the first time in thousands of years that something like this has ever been visible."

They caught an obliging thermal that carried them safely into the sky.

Just before going between, K'ndar noticed something.

Where's Roany?

Siskin chipped, a worried note to his voice.

He disappeared a few moments after we landed at Ista.

Dismayed, he felt a rush of guilt. He'd lost Greta's fire lizard!

Not lost. I shouldn't feel any guilt, he thought. We rescued him, we didn't impress him. He'd never 'made friends' with us, he'd always kept himself to himself. Distant and aloof.

"Not like you, Sisk, my always happy little one," he said, reaching forward to scritch his blue fire lizard, who was firmly settled just in front of his riding harness. Siskin weeked in agreement.

Funny how two creatures of the same species could be so different in temperament. But then, every animal was like that, just like humans. He could remember a dozen horses, all with a different mind and temperment.

He remembered how engaged Roany had been with Greta. Quite unlike the lonely and rather forlorn lizard they'd brought back from Western.

How do you comfort a pet who'd lost his family?

I didn't realize how much I'd come to like him. He'd made himself a member of our family, even being cold as he was he said to Raventh.

That was just him, returning to the wild. He'll never forget Greta or Earth, but he won't forget us, either. He's free to be himself Raventh said, in a comforting tone.

I was, well, I don't know what to feel. He's free to go, of course, but I've gotten sort of attached to him. Now I'm worried.

He'll be okay. He's regained a lot of weight. I believe he was hatched near here. Don't worry. He knows where we are, now. If he wants to stay with us, he will be back.

"K'ndar, now that we're out of hearing range, are we in any danger? It's getting brighter by the moment!"

He felt so odd, giving his elder advice.

"Don't worry, sir. It's 25,000 light years from us, give or take a couple hundred. What we're seeing is ancient history. It can't hurt us, we're much too far away to see anything but the light," he called back.

"That's a relief. Do instruct me on black holes when we get home," B'rant replied, then slapped his forehead. "Oh, wait. I forgot, you're at Landing, now!"

"If you come with me to Landing, sir, I'll have Rahman do that...he's the master of the stars!"

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Chap. 250 Ista Weyr

Chap. 250 Ista Weyr

K'ndar and D'nis were finishing off an excellent meal in the dining hall.

"I remember having to dispose of a rider's gear," the bronze rider said. "It was never easy. But death comes to us all, K'ndar. Losing teams was always heartbreaking. I am content that when it was my job to do that sort of thing, I did it to the best of my ability. That's all you can expect, really. You already did the right thing, offering the braid to the mother."

He tapped the table top to dispel the angst that welled up in his heart.

"It's the braid that I'm concerned with, primarily," K'ndar said. "Greta trained at Ista. So I plan on turning it over to their Weyrleader. Do you know who it is?"

D'nis smiled. "Now that I'm a Councilman, yes, I do. They recently had a mating flight. He's T'mos, his Weyrwoman is Shirvan." D'nis was quiet for a moment. "Have you been back to Kahrain, lately?"

"Well, only to pick up and drop my sister off for our Turnover trip to our cothold. That took but a few minutes, and I didn't dally. Why?"

"Two things. I suggest you talk with B'rant, maybe even ask him to go with you. He's experienced with dragonrider protocol, especially in this situation. The Weyrlingmaster is in between classes right now, and I'm betting he'd love to go see some other weyr," D'nis said.

"Would you like to come, too?"

D'nis grimaced. "I'm sorry, K'ndar, yes, but I'm Councilman, now, and that job keeps me busy."

K'ndar nodded. "I understand. I'll get with B'rant. And the other?"

"Well," D'nis said, "Mirth rose last week."

K'ndar thought of Kahrain's gold queen dragon, and her rider, Weyrwoman Siena. She and M'rvin, the Weyrleader, had never seen eye to eye. Their mutual antipathy had only grown more and more obvious. It had strained relations in the Weyr, even beyond M'rvin's increasingly antagonistic management of his dragonriders.

"That's good news. She hasn't risen to mate in over a year. I know everyone was getting worried. I know Mirth was in good health, so I'm thinking the reason she just didn't come into heat was because she was upset with Siena and M'rvin arguing so often. I guess they've made up now?"

D'nis grinned. K'ndar realized he was holding something back.

"Well, I will say that they've stopped arguing." He looked smug.

"Really! That's great! It's so much easier when the Weyrleaders get along. Like you and Danelle did," K'ndar said.

He immediately regretted his words, seeing D'nis wince at the loss of his beloved Weyrwoman.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to open old wounds."

"It's okay, K'ndar. I'll never be over her, not completely. But in the Weyr's case, the mating flight was unusual in that the Weyrleader, M'rvin, declined to participate."

It took a moment for it to sink in.

""Declined?"" How do you keep a bronze from flying his queen?"

"Simple. You remove yourself and your dragon from the vicinity before the queen rises," D'nis said.

K'ndar shook his head. "What? He left? And Arcturuth accepted it?"

"From what I hear, yes, he left. No, Corvuth told me Arcturuth did not want to leave without mating his queen.

M'rvin had stopped even trying to appear he was leading the Weyr. He washed his hands of it, leaving Siena to run the entire operation. Which was no problem, as she's been running the weyr in both positions for quite some time. His depression, K'ndar, had made him virtually useless. He didn't believe he had depression. He refused to take the herbs the healers offered. They work to cure depression but only if the sufferer actually TAKES them."

"And then he just left? Did he know Mirth was going to rise?"

"Arcturuth knew. I'm certain Siena did, too. I don't know the timing, but his last act as Weyrleader was to declare the mating flight open to any bronze, and then he renounced his position as Weyrleader, and signed out of the Weyr."

K'ndar was astounded. "Where did he go? He's still alive? He didn't suicide, did he?"

"I don't know, but I don't think he's dead," D'nis said.

"Wow," K'ndar said. "I can't imagine the tumult all that caused at the Weyr," he said.

"Probably not as much as you might think. Siena had things well in hand even before M'rvin's departure. B'rant, and the other senior riders, what was left of them, so many have left! They all stepped up and took hold. Hariko, of course, was the mainstay, too. She's a treasure, what a Weyrwoman she would have made! When you talk to the weyrfolk one on one, they're all fairly relieved that the drama is over."

He felt a bit of shame.

"Drama! M'rvin pissed me off, sir, and I'm not the only one. But now I feel as if I ran away rather than take it and try to carry on."

"K'ndar, did I? Run away?"

"You? You were the best Weyrleader, sir!"

"No, not even close. But I did leave, just like you. I was Selected, as you know. Would I have stayed had I not been selected? Probably, but more out of sense of duty than desire. You shouldn't feel as if you 'ran away'. You were a rank and file dragonrider, doing what you were told and not being a problem. I'm certain if you'd been given a leadership position you would have stayed," D'nis said.

"I never wanted a leadership position, but yes, I would have stayed had one been hung on me," K'ndar said.

"Don't short yourself, K'ndar, you didn't run away when Thread was still a danger. Without Thread, you had...every dragonrider has..the right to take the an opportunity to further yourself, and the staff here is very happy with you," D'nis said.

"Thank you, sir, but...a Weyrleader just doesn't run away. Or maybe he thought no one else could see it." K'ndar said.

"Depression must hurt, K'ndar. I'm not apologizing for him, but I think he came to the realization that the Weyr was coming apart at the seams and he was the cause of it.

Why he didn't take the herbs, I don't know. He may not have been able to accept that he was ill. He wasn't able to ask for help. It may have come down to the point where it was a matter of survival. He had no control over his own feelings, so he kicked over the traces and left for, I hope, a new start. Wherever he is, I hope he is taking the herbs. He was a good dragonrider and did his share of killing Thread."

K'ndar shook his head. "Such a simple solution and he didn't take it." He sighed. "Funny, isn't it, that we can cure an animal by giving it herbs to make it feel better, and yet we can't force a human to do so."

He looked at D'nis. "Sir, please, if you ever see that sort of thing in me, please. Slap me upside the head until I come to my senses."

D'nis laughed. "Only if you promise me the same thing."

"Right. And be put in a cell for assaulting a Pern Councilman?"

"Come on, K'ndar. I have to have SOMEONE do the deed for me. I don't have a wife to make me mind."

They both grinned. Then, without a word, they bumped fists.

"Hmm. So, who flew Mirth?"

D'nis laughed. He was about to say 'Guess', but he knew that K'ndar hated guessing games.

"Kenth."

Shock ran through K'ndar's mind.

"KENTH? F'mart's bronze? F'mart is Weyrleader?" K'ndar shouted. Others in the dining hall turned to look at his outburst and cringing, he mouthed the words 'sorry'.

"Amazing, isn't it? He's younger than you."

K'ndar was astonished. F'mart. F'mart?

"F'mart. Weyrleader." It felt so strange to refer to his classmate as 'weyrleader'.

"Aye. Possibly the youngest man to be weyrleader in a generation, maybe more. Part of it was the dearth of bronzes. M'rvin had done a good job of driving dragonriders away from Kahrain. What Kahrain bronzes were left were too young to fly a queen. But from what B'rant told me, it was no contest, even though M'rvin had declared it an open flight. A few bronzes came down from Northern, but none of them were even close to catching Mirth."

"Huh. Well, Kenth is fast for a bronze as big as he is. F'mart! That's amazing." He thought of what F'mart had been-a brash, arrogant bully who, somehow, had managed to tame his abrasive personality. But still, F'mart?

"What does the weyr think of it?"

"I'm not sure, but the atmosphere seems to be happier, with M'rvin gone. D'mitran told me it was as if a huge black cloud had been blown away."

"Whew. What kind of Weyrleader will he make?"

D'nis shook his head. "I don't know. When I was Weyrleader, I wanted nothing more than to wring his bloody neck. He was a conceited smart ass, always pushing the limits. B'rant and I doled out more punishment to him than all the rest of your class combined. The senior dragonriders were hard on him, and he had it coming! But something changed him. I think the testosterone gave way to dragon sense. Someone got to him, and I think it was Kenth.

Kenth's a highly ethical dragon, he's a lot like Corvuth. He very much follows convention, he's a leader, always thinking of the dragons he leads. Mind you, I'm only repeating what Corvuth has told me, and being Kenth's sire, he's a bit biased towards his get."

K'ndar grinned.

Then he decided. "Right, then. I'll go to Kahrain, I guess, to get with B'rant. Thanks for the suggestion, I was a bit unsure of what to do. I guess I'll congratulate F'mart, too. Although I wonder how Siena will manage, with F'mart?"

"Trust me. It's the other way around. F'mart's 'just' a bronze rider. Siena is to her last cell the rider of a Weyr's queen. She can fly rings around a cocksure lad like F'mart. She had the self discipline to not kill M'rvin...and that's saying something," D'nis said.

_______________________________________________________________________

It'd been a very long time since he'd flown alongside Kahrain's Weyrlingmaster, he reflected.

He remembered the days of being a Weyrling, when the sight of Banarth flying above the class was reassuring. He had felt that, as long as B'rant was watching over them all, that they were somehow safer.

Banarth was always telling me to be quiet Raventh said.

Well, you WERE quite the loquacious one. They called you chatterbox.

Lo..?

Loquacious. It means "talks too much"

I just had a lot of questions.

I know. By the egg, do I know! But it's okay. You were smart then, and smarter now. Oh, look..it's Roany! He's following us!

The blue roan fire lizard had appeared in the sky. He flew alongside Raventh, eyeing Siskin, who was perched just behind Raventh's head.

He wants to ride on me.

And?

What is it your ship humans say?

"Permission to come aboard"

Roany flew to just above K'ndar's head, and met his eyes. The blue roan's eyes rolled an uncertain orange.

"Come on, Roany, you can ride behind Siskin."

Roany moved to just in front of K'ndar and landed on Raventh's withers, just in front of K'ndar.

He resisted the urge to reach out and stroke the fire lizard. This was a huge step for the orphaned fire lizard.

"Ready to go between, K'ndar?" B'rant called.

"Aye, sir!" he called, instantly remembering the many times he'd heard the same question.

"Dragonstone in your mind?"

"Yes, sir!"

"On my mark then...three, two, one..between!"

_______________________________________________________________________

K'ndar gasped.

Ista Island ! He didn't need a dragonstone. The Northern Mainland's Igen Peninsula pointed at the island. You'd have to be blind, he thought, to miss it.

As they dropped, he saw Ista Weyr on the western coast. The weyr was a single volcanic cone, heavily forested on the outsides. The inside floor of the cone was an impossibly green meadow. He could see a fence made of rock separating the meadow from the herd animals enclosure. Dragons didn't have to go far to feed! At the very edge of the enclosure, a waterfall plummeted to the sea below. He could see young dragons, obviously a Weyrling class, flying in and out of the falling water.

"It's beautiful!" he called.

"That it is. But small," B'rant called back.

"I see that," K'ndar said. "Isn't this the weyr that the Oldtimers moved to? Didn't they have an open mating flight here?"

"You remember your history, K'ndar! Yes. Imagine that floor filled with over 25 bronze dragons AND a queen. Amazing, what?"

He couldn't imagine that many bronzes crammed into the meadow. Never mind the smaller dragons, wanting to try for a queen, despite the bronzes.

He could see weyrs on the outside of the cone as well as inside. How lovely the place was!

Ista's watchdragon roared.

_________________________________________________________________________

T'mos and Shirvan accepted the proffered braid.

"No one would have blamed you if you'd just left it on the rocks, K'ndar."

He looked at the Istan Weyrwoman.

"Ma'am. It was easier than I had expected. My dragon, Raventh, had it all in hand. And I'm sure you would have done the same, ma'am, had you been there."

She smiled, wanly. "Don't be too sure, K'ndar. T'mos would have beaten me if I'd told him."

T'mos laughed. "Risk my Weyr's queen? I don't think so....but K'ndar, she would have, sure as sunrise. And I would definitely have beaten her afterwards."

He winked, telling everyone that he would never have even thought of beating anyone.

Shirvan handed the braid to G'ver, Ista's Weyrlingmaster. He'd brought a small redtree chest, with a dragon carved on the lid. He held the braid, gently.

"I remember putting it on her shoulder," he said, sadly. "No one was here to see her graduate."

Shirvan growled, softly. "I knew a little about Greta," she said. "Most of it being her reputation as a rebel. But, from what Glorus said to you, much of that came from escaping her mother." She shook her head in disgust. "No tears were shed when Glorus left the weyr."

G'ver opened the chest, and tucked the braid atop a small pile of other braids.

Just like the one at Kahrain, K'ndar thought.

G'ver blinked, hoping no one could see his eyes were wet. Greta. A green rider with the heart and courage of a gold. Such an ending for such a nice kid.

He closed it. "Thank you, K'ndar, for taking such a dangerous risk recovering it. Perhaps you have a bit of Greta in you? She was very brave, always willing to take on the toughest Thread falls. She never gave me any trouble, but she certainly gave me heart attacks at some of the risks she'd take!"

They all laughed. It made the solemnity of the transfer easier.

"You're welcome, sir. I have her personal effects, too, if you'd like it," he said.

He handed the bag to Shirvan. The Weyrwoman opened it and took out the contents.

G'ver said, "May I?"

"Of course," Shirvan said.

He picked up the ring. "Did she tell you whose ring it was?"

"No, sir, I never saw it on her finger," K'ndar said.

"Probably because it's a man's ring, too big for her to wear without fear of losing it. She told us who was the original owner. I can't remember the man's name, but he was one of her forbears. He was a crewman on the Bahrain. This was his class ring. He'd graduated from Starfleet Academy."

Everyone gasped.

The man placed the ring on the table. Worn thin from 2500 years, missing its gemstone, still, it seemed to shine from within.

"The rest, I don't know, K'ndar. I think we'd like to keep the ring, with the braid? As for the rest, your plan on returning it to her resting place is appropriate. Unless there's something you'd like? I'm sure she'd approve."

K'ndar thought for a moment. He'd not really thought of it until now. He reached down and picked up the carved dragon.

"I think..I think I'd like this. It's beautiful."

"Then it is yours, K'ndar, rider of brown Raventh. I'm sure, if Greta were alive, she'd thank you for solving the puzzle of her disappearance."

 

Ista Weyr by Aysha S. of Pinterest. 

Netsuke Dragon unknown artist, URL:

dragon+netsuke&newwindow=1&safe=active&hl=en&authuser=0&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1172&bih=573&ei=1AxVYNCvGNTB7gL4zo3QCg&oq=dragon+netsuke&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgIIADIECAAQGDoFCAAQsQM6CAgAELEDEIMBOgYIABAFEB46BggAEAgQHjoGCAAQChAYUKoBWNgXYK8saABwAHgAgAGaB4gB_yKSAQkwLjMuNC42LTSYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZw&sclient=img#imgrc=E5d5m5qayvE7ZM

Chap. 249 Survivor

Chap. 249 Survivor

"I don't know, K'ndar. I'm still pretty new at this job. We knew when Greta signed this lidar out that it had been calibrated and was in good condition. I'm sure she didn't abuse it. But you're right, I believe it's going to prove to be damaged beyond repair. I don't even know if any of her data can be extracted. I'll let the bright ones in Tech figure that out."

Leana, the new Acquisition chief, was going through the backpack.

"The journal-nope. What a shame, she had a lot of data compiled, if this lump of paper is any indication. What pages aren't sticking together are completely washed out."

Next was a tangled clump of rotten leather.

"What's this?"

She untangled it.

"That's a harness my sister made for Greta's fire lizard."

"It looks to have been very nice work. She's very good. Does she create things on commission?"

"Um...yes."

"I might have her do some leather work for me, later."

She continued emptying the pack.

"Two ditty bags, one has personal items, the other, self care items," she said. She gingerly emptied the personal bag. They were just things, the sentimental value of which were unknowable.

"Doing this makes me feel as if I'm a voyeur," she said.

She picked up a small metal ring. It had been worn smooth of any engraving. There was a spot that may have held a stone. "Who knows what this meant to her." There was what remained of a tiny notebook, now reduced to a lump of wet paper. Another was a tiny dragon, carved out of what appeared to be bone. Two tiny sapphires served as eyes.

"Someone had talent," she muttered. The last item was a small container. With a bit of hesitation, she opened it.

It contained a small bit of eggshell, the length and width of her thumb.

She laughed. So did K'ndar. It broke the heavy atmosphere.

"I'd bet my best boots this was from her dragon's egg. I wish I'd kept a piece of Marith's," she said. Thinking of her green dragon made her smile.

She tucked the things back into the bag. "If you ever go back to Western..."

"Drop the bag over the side where she is?"

"Aye." She sighed. She handed it to him.

"I think that's the best we can do," K'ndar said, taking the bag.

"The rest of the stuff, the rocks? They're interesting specimens, I'll have Geology look at them. But there is no context to where she found them. So they are probably worthless for any sort of scientific inquery. This one's an opal, though, by the way, did you see it?"

"I did see it. It's pretty, isn't it?"

"It is. I'm no judge of gemstones but I know opals are valuable," she said. "She would have been able to sell it for a nice sum. Any idea where she got it?"

I do, he thought, but I'm not going to say. Maybe she found another source. I thought she'd given them all away. But an oath is an oath, he thought, a promise we all made to each other. I don't make promises I don't intend to keep. I don't usually lie, but this time it's permissible.

Leana saw the momentary hesitation. "Do you?"

"I was trying to think of where, but I don't know. I didn't spend much time with her other than on survey. Greta was a nomad's nomad, she went all over Pern. When I worked with her she was always picking up rocks." He felt a moment of irritation. Don't go prying into my private life. Please.

"Well, I think it should go into the museum. Have you been watching its development?"

"No, ma'am, I've been busy!" he said, grateful for the change of subject.

"Jansen took the reins after seeing that no one really was interested. I've been trying to help her when I'm not doing this. It's coming along nicely. That big deep diver skeleton you found, on the southern coastline? It's all cleaned up, being wired together now. It's not going to fit inside any of the buildings here, so they're planning on putting it outside, to designate the museum. Good idea, eh?"

"It IS!"

He's hiding something, she thought, but there's not much I can do other than accept it. It's not greed. He obviously knows the opal is worth something, and had he kept it, no one would have been the wiser. Maybe they had something more going on than professional business. If so, it's none of my business. Whatever, he's an honest bloke.

She continued searching the pack. "The clothes-they can be recycled, maybe. The pack, too...oh. Oh, dear."

Her fingers told her what she'd found before her eyes confirmed it. She pulled it out.

Greta's dragonbraid.

She looked at it and felt her heart twist with dismay and a whiff of dread.

She cleared her throat. "No one told me I'd be doing something like this," she said.

"Makes it hit home, doesn't it." K'ndar said. It wasn't a question.

She nodded. "Yes. Up until now it's just been someone's wet bag of things. Now it's...a dead dragonrider's wet bag of things."

She put it down gently on the desktop.

She remembered getting her own braid. It was one the best days of her life. To this day, it was one of her most cherished possessions.

K'ndar picked it up and cradled it in his hand.

"I don't ever remember getting a class in how to handle a dragonrider's belongings, Leana. I know in the past, when Thread killed so many of us, it was pretty much the surviving dragonriders split up the dead rider's belongings. I'm not superstitious, but I never felt the desire to take something from a dead rider's kit. Maybe if I'd needed something, like a pair of boots? But I never had to worry. What to do about the braid was always the Weyrleader's call. Maybe I'm lucky, but in the short time I fought thread, we never lost a team. Injured, yes. Died..no. What do I do with it? She had never signed into my weyr."

"Do you know where she was from?"

He nodded. "Ista. In fact, her mother told me. She works at the new observatory."

"You should have given the braid to her."

He scowled. "Leana, I DID offer it to her, despite my better judgment. They were estranged. Greta never said a word about her mother but Glorus made it quite clear she loathed her own daughter. She didn't even go to her Impression or graduation. She was happy to see Greta leave after being Searched, she said, 'good riddance'. When she said that, it was with a tone that said Greta deserved to die. Even so, I felt I should offer it, hoping all the while she'd turn it down. She turned it down. She said, "Greta didn't turn out the way I wanted her to."

Leana rolled her eyes. "People like that shouldn't breed."

"Sorry to say this, but you're right. My father was the same sort, a bully, cruel and domineering. But I wouldn't be here if he'd not."

"I know. Well, I think you should take the braid to Ista Weyr. This bag of grooming tools isn't worth the travel. We can safely disregard things like her toothbrush. Let them know what happened to that poor girl. Ever been to Ista?"

"No. And I would like to stay here at home for a few days before I go, if only to get over the time change. And to get some work done."

"I understand. There's no rush. Obviously."

_________________________________________________________________________

"There you go, all nicely oiled up," he said, patting Raventh on the neck.

The dragon turned, and spread his wings, checking them.

I think you missed a spot on my left alula talon.

What? Drop that wing.

He checked. He had. He dabbed it with his oily fingers to get the substance into the tiny crevices of the claw.

Raventh flexed the alula. The talon shone dully in the light.

That got it. Thank you.

I'm so amazed at how sensitive your wings are, and yet so tough, strong enough to carry you through the skies.

Not all of my wings are that sensitive, the membranes themselves are not. It's why we can get a hole through them without too much pain. But the alula, especially, is sensitive. I can tell when it's hooked on something, it's like your stubby finger?

Stubby..you mean this one? My thumb?

He flexed one of his thumbs.

Yes. Thumb. My alula is your thumb. He flexed the claw. It was far shorter than the talons on his feet, but it was stoutly built. He could easily snag a good sized fish with it.

Siskin flew past, chittering. Roany was behind, flying slower. Siskin landed on Raventh's head, but Roany continued on past. He flew in aimless circles, wanting to perch on Raventh but unsure of whether he should. Finally he landed on the rim of the dragon's water trough and took a drink, as if he'd meant to perch there all along.

"Hi there, Roany! How are you doing?"

The fire lizard flared his wings as if to bolt, then relaxed. But he was still wary.

He's not afraid of me, is he?

Not afraid. Fire lizards are a little like us in that they can impress, but they don't -I don't have the words. It's as if only half of him is impressed. A dragon that loses his rider is so unhappy he dies.

A fire lizard doesn't. Roany is still physically weak, and still misses Greta, and Earth. But there's also a feeling in him that is not unhappy being alone. It's what all wild fire lizards are, alone. I think his memories of them are not important anymore. Every day he's alone he's further along not missing them anymore.

Right now, I feel what Siskin feels about us. Siskin loves you and me. He knows he could leave any time he wants, but he stays with us because he wants to. If we were to die and he didn't, he might do the same thing as Roany, especially if he didn't see us die.

Roany didn't know where Greta and Earth were, so he stayed where he'd seen them last. When we told him they were dead, when you showed him images of their bones, it was as if something in his mind was released, like a harness being removed. I think, right now, he's half way back to being a wild, unimpressed fire lizard. He doesn't dislike you, but you're not...

Family.

Family?

Family is usually blood relations, but not always. Greta and Mirth were his family. You and Siskin are my family. My sister Glyena is blood family. Family isn't always blood. Sometimes friends are so loved they become family. And sometimes, like Greta's dam hating her, sometimes blood family DOESN'T love you. Sometimes friends are more family than blood.

That is confusing.

It can be! Do dragons have family? he asked.

You mean, other than humans?

Yes.

Raventh was quiet.

No. Other dragons are just other dragons. We have friends that we like to be with, but most dragons are just others. Blood family doesn't mean anything, because we never mate with our hatchmates or our sire or dam.

We don't, either.

Siskin chipped, inviting Roany to join him on Raventh. After several moments of contemplating the consequences, the blue roan fire lizard flew to land just below Siskin's official perch, that being atop Raventh's head.

Raventh laughed, a happy rumble.

He is unsure of what to do. He's grateful that he is here, where he can hunt or just be, without being tormented by the sea wherries. But he also wants to be away from us.

Tell him he's free to do whatever he wants, although I wish we get him to a healer who might be able to patch up his wings. They're so tattered, I know it affects his flying.

I doubt he'll ever let a human handle him again. I don't think the holes in his wings will ever heal, but the edges where they're torn might. Don't worry, he'll manage with his wings being damaged. I think it's better to just leave him alone. I'll tell him he's welcome in our weyr, that anytime he's hungry and hasn't killed, to come to us.

Yes. He's one of us, now, but only as much as he wants.

Siskin chipped in agreement.