“Hello, Mother,” Emorra said to her. “Did you have a good vacation?”
“Yes, thank you,” Wind Blossom replied, wincing inwardly at the formality of her own tone. Emorra’s face took on a strained look. Trying to smooth things over, Wind Blossom added, “But I missed you.”
“We’ve been busy while you were away,” Tieran told her. Emorra glowered at him.
“I shall be delighted to hear about it,” Wind Blossom replied.
“What are all these things?” Tieran exclaimed in awe when Wind Blossom met him and Emorra in one of the laboratories the next day.
Janir poked his head in curiously. His eyes widened in amazement and he crowded up behind Tieran to get a better view.
“Where did you get these?” he asked excitedly as he started visually cataloging the items. “Are the power packs full?”
He reached forward, longing to touch one of the precious instruments, only to have Wind Blossom bat his hand away. He withdrew with all the alacrity of her onetime student and exchanged rueful looks with Tieran.
“She’s fast,” Tieran muttered to Pern’s head physician.
“She always was,” Janir returned. He looked down at the elderly woman. “Wind Blossom, these are invaluable to us. Where did you get them?”
Wind Blossom shook her head. “I cannot say.” She looked up, shaking a finger at him. “And don’t you think to borrow them, Janir.” As Janir raised his arms in protest, she added, “Remember what happened the last time.”
Janir opened his mouth to object, but Wind Blossom just shook her finger at him again, and with a sigh, he dropped his head resignedly.
Wind Blossom pointed to one of the instruments. “This is a code viewer and sequencer.”
“What’s it tuned to?” Janir asked.
“Pernese genetic code,” Wind Blossom told him. “It was one of the first units we adjusted.”
“What’s it do?” Tieran asked.
“It can read genetic material and sequence it,” Wind Blossom explained. “It can also produce new genetic sequences or alter existing ones.”
“But reading genetic material isn’t good enough, is it?” Emorra asked. “I mean, you have to know what you’re reading, what it means.”
“You need a map,” Janir added in agreement.
Wind Blossom pointed to another, smaller device. “This is a mapper,” she said. “When we built the dragons, we had a fully integrated unit, which in turn was integrated with AIVAS and the Yokohama.”
Tieran looked confused.
“AIVAS-Artificial Intelligence Visual Audio System,” Emorra translated. “A smart computer.”
“Much more,” Janir corrected. “And the Yokohama was the largest of the ships that brought our ancestors to Pern.”
“I’ve seen them,” Tieran said excitedly. “The astronomy students brought a telescope up to the Drum Tower just before dawn one morning.” He shivered at the memory of the three huge starships hovering in orbit above the planet. “The students call them the Dawn Sisters.”
Janir turned back to Wind Blossom. “What are you hoping to do with this equipment?” When she didn’t answer, he persisted, “I thought you’d said that if the fire-lizards came from the future, then obviously your solution had failed?”
Wind Blossom nodded. “I am thinking,” she told him. “There must be a solution that works.”
“Wouldn’t it just make more sense to leave the equipment for those that need it?” Tieran wondered.
“It would,” Wind Blossom agreed, “if they could learn how to use the equipment in time.”
SIXTEEN
Kindan’s stomach lurched as Caranth began a sharp descent the moment they came out from between over Benden Weyr. Their drop was so steep that Kindan was pitched forward, hard, against Lorana when Caranth suddenly stretched his wings to cup air and slow them for a landing. Even so, the dragon hit the ground with a jolt.
Lorana was off and rushing toward her weyr before either B’nik or Kindan could move. Kindan followed quickly, with B’nik not far behind.
K’tan was waiting for them in Lorana’s quarters. Arith’s eyes were whirling, and when she saw her rider she gave a happy chirp-which ended in an unmistakable sneeze.
I’m all right, Arith told Lorana over and over as Lorana wrapped her arms around the young dragon’s head. I’m all right.
No you’re not, Lorana chided her gently. But you will be, I promise. We’ll find something. We found something at Fort Weyr.
She looked up at K’tan. “We found something at Fort Weyr,” she said. Kindan raised his eyebrows in surprise-in their haste to get back to the Weyr, they had not even spoken.
“What?” K’tan asked.
“The Records at Fort say that something was built here, at Benden Weyr, just at the start of the First Interval,” B’nik explained. He looked keenly at K’tan. “Some special rooms. Do you know of any such rooms?”
K’tan frowned and shook his head. “There’ve been some cave-ins; perhaps the rooms are buried,” he told them.
“If they’re buried, we’ll dig them up again,” B’nik declared fiercely.
K’tan looked at Lorana. “It could only be a cough…”
“Dragons don’t get coughs,” Lorana corrected him in a flat, dead voice.
“It’s only started,” B’nik said. “She’s young-she could fight it off.”
I don’t feel too bad, Arith added comfortingly with a soft croon.
K’tan motioned for Lorana to come to him. She followed and he brought her out of her rooms and into the corridor.
“I know this is hard,” he told her softly. “But you have to understand that your attitude and strength are the best hopes for Arith right now.”
A hand crept up on her shoulder and she turned to see Kindan standing behind her. “He’s right,” the harper said.
Lorana took a deep breath. “I know,” she told them. She squared her shoulders. Kindan tightened his grip reassuringly before dropping his hand back to his side. She turned and went back to Arith.
“I haven’t been giving you enough attention,” she told the young dragon.
You have been doing your work, Arith said staunchly. And you always come when I need you.
Lorana knelt down once more and wrapped her arms around her dragon’s neck.
“I love you,” she said out loud.
I know, Arith responded, firm in her knowledge and wondrously grateful. She nudged Lorana with her head. Go! I’ll be all right.
Lorana pulled back from Arith and looked up into her whirling faceted eyes. “Are you sure?”
You can’t find these rooms while you’re here, can you?
“I’ll check on you every hour,” Lorana promised aloud.
Check on me when I ask, Arith responded.
“You are stubborn,” Lorana chided her dragon.
“I can’t imagine where she learned it,” B’nik remarked teasingly. He stretched out his hand to her. “If you would, Weyrwoman, I believe you can help us in this search.”
Lorana smiled, although her eyes still held a lingering fear, and took the Weyrleader’s hand.
“We are as ready as we’ll ever be,” J’lantir told Dalia as the rest of Ista Weyr’s wingleaders filed out of the Council Room.
“You did an excellent job, J’lantir,” Dalia agreed. “C’rion would have been proud.”