“In due time. If you knew the answer, why did you ask, Jaxom?”
Jaxom batted both hands at the Aivas. Little escaped that entity—even silent flippancy.
“Just checking,” he replied amiably. “In case due time had arrived while I was gone.”
“There is a great deal to be prepared before that time is accomplished. Surely you, of all people, who have been on the
Yokohama,
should realize that.”
“Two more Turns?”
“Five months, and twelve days, with respect to the position of the eccentric planet. Meanwhile the fire-lizards can become messengers even as they are here on the surface, transporting items required on the
Yokohama
which are within the scope of their abilities.”
Jaxom kept his resignation to himself. They had no option but to proceed at the pace Aivas set. But what—eventually—did Aivas intend the fire-lizards to transport? Jaxom couldn’t imagine.
Aware that further questioning of Aivas would be futile, he joined the others to prepare for the day’s exercise. There were plenty of willing hands to help them load Ruth, Path, and S’len’s Bigath with oxygen tanks and water barrels, although Mirrim fussed inordinately about how the tanks were situated on her beloved Path.
“You’re wasting time, Mirrim,” Jaxom said finally, when she insisted on padding the knots across Path’s back. “The load sits fine and we’re not flying straight, you know.” Privately he wondered if Mirrim was covering up a case of nerves. Sharra was composed enough, and so was S’len, though his face was flushed with excitement.
“I just don’t want them shifting,” Mirrim replied stiffly.
“Shift they will. All the way to the
Yokohama
,” S’len remarked, grinning at her.
“Enough. We go! Now, Ruth!” Jaxom said, and felt Sharra’s hands work tighter onto his belt. Then he gave Ruth the mental vision of the bridge and heard the white dragon pass the instructions on to Path and Bigath.
If there were many things Jaxom did not understand about Aivas, the artificial intelligence had some problem understanding dragon capabilities. For instance, how much weight could a dragon carry? For which the answer was: How much weight did the dragon
think
he could carry? An answer Aivas found specious—and certainly not helpful when what was needed was hard numbers.
Then there was the question, How do dragons know where to go? “Their riders tell them,” did nothing to explain the actual process to Aivas. While Aivas did accept teleportation, it could not understand why telekinesis was so impossible a concept to explain to the dragons and the fire-lizards. Especially when Ruth had indeed understood what Farli had not: to go to the
Yokohama.
In checking the details of this joint trip to the spaceship, Jaxom had asked Ruth if he could carry two riders, as well as two padded barrels, one of pure water and one of carbonated water. Ruth’s reply had been affirmative although, as Aivas saw the load, it was more than the dragon’s slight frame ought to be able to bear.
“If Ruth thinks he can, he can,” Jaxom could only reply. “And it’s not that far.”
It might be easier,
the white dragon remarked to his rider as he launched himself into the air,
to just go
between
from the ground instead of lifting.
Is the load too much for you after all?
Jaxom asked, teasing.
Of course not. Just bulky! Everyone
’
s set. Here we go!
There was a squawk from the five escorting fire-lizards, and the next moment the tanks clanked against the bridge walls. Exclamations of surprise from the three newcomers punctuated their arrival. Jaxom heard Sharra inhale in astonishment. Grinning, he skewed about on Ruth’s neck and saw the expression of wide-eyed awe on her lovely face as she viewed the incredible vista of Pern spread out beneath them, framed by the vast blackness of space beyond. Meer and Talla, her fire-lizards, plus Mirrim’s three, Reppa, Lok, and Tolly, had made the successful transfer and were tumbling about, shrieking with delight at the experience of free-fall.
“Oh!” she said, her eyes luminous with the dazzle she beheld. “Now I understand, dear heart, why you’re so involved with this! Pern is so beautiful, so serene from up here. If only some of those contentious sour old men could see our world from this vantage point . . . Isn’t it incredible, Mirrim?” There was a pause. “Mirrim?”
Jaxom turned to the green rider, who was staring out the wide window with bulging eyes.
“That’s Pern?” Mirrim asked in a cracked voice. “Down there?” A limp hand pointed a finger to the deck.
“That’s Pern! Isn’t the view great!” Jaxom tried to sound reassuring—Mirrim was patently overwhelmed. “S’len? You all right there?”
“I th-think—ssso,” the other green rider said with little confidence.
Jaxom grinned back at Sharra. “It is awesome,” he agreed with the nonchalance of one who has overcome astonishment. “But stir yourselves. Remember how Aivas keeps reminding us we can’t waste oxygen.”
“Why not?” Mirrim demanded in her usual assertive way. “All we have to do is haul more tanks up here.” With crisp motions, she unbuckled her riding straps.
“Careful now, Mirrim. You’re in—ah—oops.” Jaxom broke off; Mirrim had indeed forgotten how she was supposed to move in free-fall and was drifting ceilingward. “Just hold out one hand, and very carefully push away from the roof. That’s right.”
Mirrim had been too startled to cry out; also, she had no great wish to show to disadvantage. Now she did as directed and managed a weak grin as she grabbed Path’s helpfully extended muzzle. Fortunately, the green was wedged fairly tightly between guardrail and wall and thus was not susceptible to the whimsies of free-fall.
“Make every motion slow and easy, S’len, when you’re dismounting. Hang on to a neck ridge or something,” Jaxom advised. Before he detached his riding straps he nodded to Sharra to follow the same advice.
Keeping up a running line of encouragement and advice, he supervised the unloading. S’len crowed in delight when he realized that the heavy tanks could be shifted by the judicious prod of one finger.
“They’re still awkward,” Mirrim said, poking one of the tanks toward the storage area. Then she grinned. “T’gellan should see me now. But I understand why Aivas specified green dragons.”
“For once greens get the best assignments,” S’len added proudly.
“Green dragons are far more versatile than anyone knows,” Mirrim added staunchly. “Can’t say the same for green fire-lizards,” she went on, sourly observing the absurd antics of Reppa and Lok, who were tumbling end over end overhead, chittering ecstatically. Meer, Talla, and her own brown Tolly had abandoned such nonsense and were plastered against the window, their wings limp in their utter fascination with the view.
As soon as the dragons had been unloaded, Ruth encouraged Path and Bigath to join him at the window. While the white dragon floated serenely from the upper level, Path and Bigath had a few problems that the human observers found hilarious.
“They get the hang of it quickly enough,” Jaxom said, watching approvingly. “After all, they’re used to flying.”
Once the oxygen tanks had been secured, the others had a chance to view the magnificence of the vast planet beneath them.
“Does the view stay the same?” Mirrim asked. “I can’t see Benden from here.”
“Or Ruatha,” Sharra added.
“I can barely make out Eastern Weyr,” S’len put in, “and I thought it was pretty big!”
“That’s what a geosynchronous orbit means, my friends, the ship stays in the same position relative to the surface of the planet,” Jaxom said. “However, if you’ll move over to that first console—easy does it!” He grabbed Mirrim before she could propel herself too forcefully away from the window. “We can see the coast of Nerat and something of Benden on the rear screen, but,” he added with a nod to Sharra, “Southern Hold’s over the horizon.”
“Then don’t let Toric up here, because all he wants to see is Southern spread out before him,” she replied with a wry smile.
They all managed to transfer without incident to the navigation console, where Jaxom activated the rear screen.
“That’s nothing,” Mirrim said bluntly. “Too small.”
“Just a minute,” Jaxom replied, holding up one hand as he mentally rehearsed the procedure for altering the view on the main screen. He tapped it out and was gratified to see the screen alter.
“By the Egg, that’s incredible!” S’len sighed, eyes round with amazement. “How’d you do that, Jaxom?”
Jaxom recited the sequences, and S’len nodded, repeating them in a mutter.
“Now, I’ll help the girls get the barrels to Environment. If you’d rather Ruth and I accompanied you to the
Bahrain
. . .”
“No, no, that’s hardly necessary,” S’len said, affronted, and started to fasten his jacket.
S’len mounted Bigath.
Ruth, check their direction, would you?
Jaxom asked his dragon.
Bigath knows exactly where he’s going. Be easy,
Ruth replied without turning his head from the window.
When Bigath and S’len had departed, Jaxom clapped his hands briskly.
“All right, girls, let’s get these barrels down to Environment,” Jaxom said, beckoning to them. “The section we’re using is only one level down. It would keep the bridge supplied in case of emergency.”
They got the barrels into the lift and down to the next level.
“I thought you said Aivas warmed this place for us,” Sharra exclaimed, rubbing her arms vigorously.
Jaxom grinned. “It’s warmer than it was, believe me.”
Mirrim’s teeth started to chatter, and she rolled her eyes and hurried to palm open the double doors just in front of the lift. “Wow! This is bigger than I thought it would be,” she said as she entered the white room, glancing at the cabinets that lined one wall and the huge spirals of trays that would slowly revolve on their posts to allow each section the required amount of deflected light to propagate the algae.
“Come back here, Mirrim,” Jaxom said as he gently kicked a barrel out of the lift.
It didn’t take the three long to set up the supplies. Jaxom offered to help prepare the trays with the wet padding that would moisturize the algal spores, but the girls shooed him away. He watched while they found the supplies they needed, the packages of algae and nutrients that had to be added carefully to the fluid.
“Where’s the con—” Sharra began, and then spotted the console that had been meticulously covered by whoever had decommissioned the facility. “All right, dear,” she said, smiling absently at her bemused mate and flicking her fingers at him to leave, “we’ve all we need. You’d best get on with your chores.”
Jaxom made no move to leave. Mirrim, hunkered down by the shelves, glowered at him. “Git!”
Back on the bridge, Ruth and the five fire-lizards were still plastered to the window. Jaxom activated the link between the two ships and located S’len as he was painstakingly soaking the padding in a tray, holding one hand to prevent water from flowing out of the barrel.
Reassured that the others were doing fine on their own, Jaxom at last settled himself at the navigation board and activated the telescope to begin his own chore. He opened the channel to Aivas and received the new sequences for the telescope, which he was programming to scan the visible stars above Pern. By the time he and Aivas had double-checked the installation of the program, Sharra and Mirrim had returned to the bridge, moving with considerably more confidence in the weightlessness.
“S’len’s working away?” Mirrim asked. “Time for us to do the
Buenos Aires,
then.” She buckled up her jacket, nodding at Sharra to do the same. “Aivas, Farli has turned on the life-support systems there, hasn’t she?”
“Yes. There is now oxygen in the relevant areas of the
Buenos Aires
.”
Sharra gave Jaxom a look that was tolerant of Mirrim’s predilection to take charge.
Ruth,
Jaxom began, for although he did really trust Mirrim and Path, it was Sharra they would be taking to the
Buenos Aires
.
If Path caught me looking in, Mirrim’d never forgive you,
the white dragon replied, giving his rider a doleful stare.
All right, all right. I trust her or I don’t. And I do. I’ll restrain myself.
So will I!
And the white dragon dropped his jaw in a draconic grin.
When the girls were mounted on Path, Mirrim gave him a salute. “Don’t wait for us. We’ll go straight back to Landing.”
Before he could protest, Path disappeared, along with the fire-lizards. Jaxom’s fingers flew on the console, calling up the link to the
Buenos Aires
just as Path, with the girls and the fire-lizards, arrived.
Ruth gave such a scornful snort that he blew himself slightly away from the window.
“All right then, big eyes,” Jaxom said, closing down the console. “Since my work’s finished, we can go back to Landing.”
When Sharra and Mirrim returned to Landing, Brekke and Master Oldive were there. Brekke, F’nor’s introverted wife, had agreed to learn more about the treatment of wounds, since she often worked as an aide to Benden Weyr’s healers.
“Master Morilton delivered the petri dishes today,” she told them. “Aivas says that if you are not too tired, he can elaborate on his last lecture about bacteria and how to overcome them with what he calls an-tee-bi-ah-tics.”
Sharra and Mirrim exchanged glances, but they were more exhilarated by their morning’s work than tired. Sharra had been fascinated with the concept of isolating certain bacteria and finding ways to combat infection by developing special bacteriophages. So they filed into the laboratory room—and exclaimed in pleasure at the sight of sufficient microscopes for all. Brekke smiled quietly.
“We won’t have to take turns!” Mirrim cried. “For my eye only!” Slipping onto the high stool, she peered through the eyepiece. “Hmmm. If you’re looking at nothing, that’s what you see.”
“Please take positions at the microscopes,” Aivas told them in a tone that meant they should listen carefully. “Not only has Master Morilton been able to deliver the petri dishes in which you may culture the bacteria of your choice, and the microscopes so that each of you may progress at your own speed, but Master Fandarel has contrived an ultrasound device by which we can break the bacteria up so that we may examine their structures chemically. Master Fandarel has put to good use his studies in electromagnetics. This is but one application—but, for you, a very important one.