Chap. 244 The Magic Potion

 

Chap. 244 The Magic Potion

Getting up much too early, K'ndar found himself wandering in observatory's empty dining hall.

I absolutely loathe the time change, he thought, and yet again wondered if he should just return to Landing.

But he wanted to collect more data and specimens, as well as go to the bulwark and try to figure out what it had been built for in a region so remote.

The hall had the air of a community kitchen rather than a formal dining hall, like the ones at Landing, or at his Weyr.

"There's 35 people living here permanently," Rahman had said, "So it's more like a large cothold. Everyone has access to the kitchen at any time, because the whole purpose of this site is to spend night hours working. Take what you need if you're hungry, you can cook if you like, but you must always clean up after yourself."

A slate board was the prominent feature in the hall. It was comforting that even in this state of the art, technologically advanced observatory, mundane things such as a slate board were still used.

The board served as the main source of community information. There was a list of of what foodstuffs were getting low, apparently added to by anyone. The Sea Dragon was due the end of the week with fresh produce. There was a duty roster for the permanent staff. He counted 35 names, but some had the words "Off Island". The rest of the names had checkmarks showing who had what duty. Again,he found comfort that, amid some of the more technical tasks, many were typical of any Weyr or Hall: "compost pile turning", "service solar panels","clean latrine", "clean kitchen".

At the top was writ large: "All Staff, Guests and Visitors: you are welcome to use the facilities but CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF." Someone had scrawled underneath it, "This means you, M."

There was one person on the staff list who's name was just listed as M.

He moved to the drainboard next to the sink and found it half filled with used, uncleaned mugs.

"Well, M, it appears there's no punishment for your crimes," he said.

Dutifully, he began to clean up the sink and the mugs.

Siskin appeared, and landed on his shoulder. The blue was confused by the time change as well.

Why are you up and awake? Raventh asked.

Because in our time zone it's morning.

Why don't we go back to our home, then?

Because..well, you know why. I want to go check out the bulwark again. And I need to collect some specimens.

If it weren't dark I'd say let's just go home and we can come back. I don't mind going between multiple times.

I know. I told Rahman I'd stay.

Yes. But your mind is foggy.

So what else is new?

Raventh laughed.

He finished up the mugs and wondered if there was something edible. He wasn't really hungry, but he could do with a snack.

Siskin chittered a warning.

That woman in the room with the telescope? She is coming towards the hall Raventh warned.

He did NOT want to discuss anything with her. The look in her eye had made him feel like a crawler in the talons of a wherry.

Was there a second way out of here?

Before he could find a second exit, the woman entered.

"Ah, hello, K'ndar! I wondered where you'd gone. You're up late," she said.

"It's early, early for me," he said, nervously.

"The time change?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, "I'm having a hard time adjusting to it."

She approached him.

Siskin hissed, having picked up his apprehension.

The woman stalled a few steps from him.

"Is your fire lizard dangerous?"

"No, ma'am, but, to be bloody honest, I'm afraid of you and he feels it."

She was shocked.

"Afraid? Of me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Whatever for?"

He remembered his uncle Fland advising him before he was taken away to attend Weyrlingschool.

"Kandar," he'd said, "I'm so very proud of you, being Searched! I'm sure you'll Impress a dragon. I want to warn you of something. Dragonriders have an admittedly deserved reputation for being sexually promiscuous. You'll find yourself having sex with a woman while your dragon is mating, and you might not like her, and wonder, later, why you did it. If you happen to impress a bronze, I guarantee you'll be in that situation. That's part of being a dragonrider. But most people on Pern are not so promiscuous. Some people despise us for what they see is unbridled lust. They think we're sex fiends ALL the time. That's not true, but they don't know any better.

And then there are people who are not dragon riders and want to find out what it's like to bed one. Again, if you impress a bronze, you'll find people who will try to use sex with you to get something they want. Power. Money. Some will just want to 'try you out', as if you were merely a herd stallion. It's hardest on the women riders, I'm sorry to say.

I think I know you well enough to say that you're the type of person who is choosy as to whom he beds. So, never forget this: you have the right to say no. When dragons are mating, it's difficult to control yourself, but it IS possible. You'll learn how to control those feelings in Weyrlingschool. But, always, K'ndar, you have the right to say no. Everyone has the right to say no. If a person-it doesn't always have to be a woman, it could be a man, comes on to you and you're not comfortable with it, be open about it. Say "I'm not interested, thank you." If they continue to pressure you, you can be rude, saying "Leave me alone," or say, "I know what you want and I'm not giving it." If they lack the civility to take no for an answer, they don't deserve civility in return."

He remembered Jenmay, the Oldtimer gold rider who'd pursued B'rost with relentless sexual intensity, crossing all sorts of proper bounds. She had never learned that the blue rider had been gay. Or if she had, she didn't care. She wanted the shy, slightly built B'rost. The boy had been so frightened of Jenmay that he begged K'ndar to protect him.

He saw something of Jenmay in the woman's eyes.

"You're a dragonrider and you're afraid of me?" the woman said.

"Yes, I am. Perhaps I am wrong, but I get the impression that you'd like to share my bed with me, and I am not interested."

She gasped, her face writhing in dismay. He could see he was right.

But then she shut her mouth and shrugged.

"That arrow certainly hit the gold. I admit, I like the cut of your jib, dragonrider, and yes, I was interested. But, no means no."

He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for understanding."

"No problem. I'm probably a little old for you, anyway. But this island gets small and lonely after a while," she said. She moved past him to the sink and saw the mugs he'd cleaned.

"You...did you clean up this sink?" she looked at him, amazed.

"I did. I am wide awake, I saw the sink full of Someone's mugs, despite the slate board saying clean up after oneself."

The woman laughed. He felt better, her tone had changed to a normal, non-predatory one.

"Well, I know precisely who does this, and he knows better, but he's jerking me around because it's my turn to clean the kitchen. You saved me some time, K'ndar, thank you."

"You're welcome."

There was a strained silence for several moments.

"Right! Now that we've clean mugs, would you like some klah? I came in here to make some, I'll be happy to make for you, too."

"Um, that would be nice," he said.

She showed him where in the cupboards the klah was kept. A teapot was soon singing and she poured two mugs and handed him one.

He took a sip of it, unsure of what to do. She moved to one of the trestle tables and sat down on a bench. She motioned to the other side. "Come on, sit down, I shan't bite you."

He grinned. He sat down across from her and was struck by her appearance. There was something oddly familiar about her.

"That's a lovely fire lizard, K'ndar, what's its name?"

"He's Siskin. He's a wonderful companion."

"My daughter bought an egg with pay from her very first job. I sometimes wonder if I'd like to have one, but I have a cat and I don't know if the two would get along. No matter, I don't have the time anymore. Now that I'm working here, they keep me busy."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a geologist," she said, "What about you, are you 'just' a dragonrider?"

"No'm, I'm also a biologist. Which is one of the reasons I was pretty eager to come here, the last time I was here was as part of a survey team and I didn't get to do the rock turning that I usually do."

"So, you were on the original survey team?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"It's Glorus, K'ndar. I should have introduced myself. I'm just Glorus, although I appreciate your courtesy. Some kids these days don't know how to be civil."

"Well, ma'am, Glorus, one, my mum taught me manners, and in Weyrlingschool it's mandatory. Sometimes we deal with upper crust folks, like Holders, and they get stuffy if they think you're being disrespectful."

She laughed. "Oh, I do know that!! It doesn't seem to strike some of them that us 'lower' forms of life deserve just as much courtesy as they demand." She pulled at her mug. "Ah, that's good."

"I don't remember seeing you here when I was here last time," K'ndar said, wondering where he'd seen her before. Had he? "But we were out in the field most days, and there were fewer people here then."

"I wasn't here, I was on the Sea Dragon, we worked around the entire Western Continent, looking for a good site for the new 'scope. Your team did a wonderful job, finding this spot.

I remember the reports from your geologist and engineer both gave it high marks," she said.

He remembered Greta. She had been a very diligent scientist, but she'd been so flighty. Like a flutter in a high wind. Whatever happened to her?

He shook his head.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just this bloody time change, I just cannot get my brain to think right," he grumbled.

"No one gave you the 'cure'?"

""Cure"? Cure for what?"

"For the time change, silly, everyone here uses it. One draught of the potion and you're right as rain for the time change."

"REALLY?"

"Of course. Admin!! I swear, they don't bother to tell a guest a thing. Here. I know we have some here in that cupboard right..over...there." She got up and retrieved a small, heavy glass bottle from a cupboard. She put it on the table and sat back down across from him.

"This potion is a tincture of a plant that grows near my natal hold in Ista. Do you want to try it?"

"It will, um, alleviate the brain fog?"

"It will. Drink it, and in fifteen minutes, you had better be in bed because your body will say, it's midnight, I should be asleep. In the morning, you'll be on Western time."

"Amazing. Can I take some with me when I leave?" What an advantage, he could imagine how this potion could make life so much easier being a dragonrider...or a scientist! Why hasn't it been synthesized?

"I wouldn't. When you return to Landing, I'd say just let your metabolism take its lead footed time re-adjusting. This stuff exacts a significant metabolic price if you take it more than two or three times, you don't want to keep taking it. It can really mess up your circadian rhythms, sometimes so badly that you don't ever really get a good night's sleep for months. But one dose today shouldn't hurt you."

"Why isn't this common knowledge? Why can't everyone use it?"

"Because it's not a very common plant. It's quite rare. I think the Ancients harvested so much of it that it almost went extinct. Now we grow it in small quantities. It's a very fussy plant. It wants conditions to be Just Perfect."

She pulled a dropper from the bottle and measured the contents judiciously. Then she added it to K'ndar's mug.

"Now drink this, and head back to your quarters, because it works quickly. When you wake up, you'll be on Western Time," she said.

She dropped a single drop into his klah.

"Just a drop?"

She grinned. "You DO want to wake up in the morning, don't you?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Then one drop is all you need. Now drink up and go to bed. And no, I shan't get into it with you."

They both laughed.