“We could get some now,” Jaxom suggested. “There’re plenty out there.”
There was a significant pause, and Jaxom winked at Jancis. It wasn’t often that Aivas was caught speechless.
“You fail to recognize the hazards of such a venture,” the Aivas replied at last.
“Why? We could stash the thing in Airlock A, for instance, and it would stay frozen. As you keep telling us, it takes the friction of the atmosphere for Thread to metamorphose into its dangerous state.”
Jancis was mouthing words at Jaxom, shaking her head violently. Under her arm, Trig struggled with renewed vigor to free himself from restraint.
“The
Yokohama
is moving at approximately 38,765 nautical miles per hour or about twenty thousand miles per hour relative to the Thread ovoids. To attempt to capture one would be an impossible maneuver even for persons trained in extravehicular activities. It would also be essential to have nonheat-conducting tongs.
Trig squawked.
I would capture a Thread egg for you,
Ruth said, turning his head at an impossible angle over his shoulder to his rider.
Jaxom looked in alarm at his white dragon and regretted his spontaneous suggestion. “Oh, no, you don’t.” At Ruth’s crestfallen expression, he added, “No one else can keep those greens under control.”
“Did Ruth just offer to go get a Thread?” Jancis asked, holding more tightly to the writhing Trig. “Let Trig go.”
“You heard what Aivas said about the velocities and nonheat-conducting tongs.”
“It doesn’t look as if we’re traveling anywhere near that speed,” she replied. Then she sighed. “Even if I know we must be. Anyway, fire-lizard talons aren’t exactly heat-conductive, are they? Trig seems to think he can.”
“What!”
Belterac demanded, his eyes bulging with horror. “Bring one of those—those things in here with us?”
“Not in here,” Jancis told him. “Into the airlock, where we can examine it closely. In its frozen state, it poses no danger.”
“Do you really think Trig would be able to manage?” Fandarel asked, his insatiable curiosity getting the better of an ingrained revulsion to Thread.
“If he thinks he can,” Jancis said. She looked down at the struggling fire-lizard. “Letting him do something about Thread may calm him down.” She looked out at the barrage.
“It has been noted,” Aivas said, “that fire-lizards are particularly courageous in the presence of Thread. It has also been noted that, in both fire-lizards and dragons, the
thought
becomes the deed by some method which does not bear investigation, if Trig should
think
he can retrieve a specimen, despite the obvious difficulties, it would greatly facilitate a useful examination of the organism. Placing it in Airlock A would, of course, keep the specimen frozen, dormant,
and
impotent. Then it could be examined at leisure, a procedure your ancestors scheduled but did not implement. It would complete their biological investigations of this organism.”
Jaxom looked warily at Jancis. All in all, he wasn’t sure they should ask this of Trig. Didn’t they know as much as they needed to know about Thread? And yet, to have a Thread impotent, at their disposal, locked in a primal form, would be subtly gratifying.
It wouldn’t be at all hard to do,
Ruth told Jaxom.
“Ruth!” Jaxom vetoed that with a sharp chop of his hands. “You stay out of this fire-lizard assignment. Show-off!”
To his surprise, Jancis laughed. “Does Ruth think he’d fit in Airlock A?” she asked, grinning at Ruth’s reproachful expression. “First, let’s see if Trig is certain he can manage. Now, dear . . .” She lifted Trig up level with her eyes, took his triangular head, and pointed it toward the window. “We want you to get one of those big eggs and put it in Airlock A. You remember where that is. It’d be like catching a wherry midair.”
I’m telling him, too, in case he doesn’t understand,
Ruth said, turning a reproving eye on his rider.
I’d be perfectly safe. I’m much bigger than the Thread eggs. I wouldn’t be thrown off balance as a little fire-lizard would be. And it’s no more than a jump
between.
Trig gave a cheep, turned his head toward Ruth, and cheeped again, the whirling of his eyes speeding up with anticipation and resolve.
He understands. He says he can easily do that.
“Ruth has now briefed Trig thoroughly,” Jaxom told Jancis.
“You’re sure you can do this, Trig? You don’t have to, you know,” she said, but Trig’s eyes were orange-red with challenge and confidence. With a sigh, she bounced him off her arm. He disappeared. A moment later they all saw him through the bridge window, catching an ovoid nearly as large as himself. Briefly, the force of the capture sent him spinning backward, but before he hit the window, he abruptly flipped out of sight again. Three heartbeats later, he reappeared on the bridge, chittering with satisfaction.
“His hide is so cold,” Jancis said as she stroked him. “He’s got stuff on his talons! Freezing! Ugh!” But, for all of that, she didn’t dislodge him from her shoulder.
Everyone made much of him, including Ruth, with the notable exception of the two greens, who were sullenly rumbling their discontent at being kept inside the
Yokohama
.
“Apparently the extravehicular activity was successful?” Aivas asked.
Jaxom activated the optics in Airlock A and saw the ovoid floating gently above the lock floor.
Eyes widening in surprise, Jancis jiggled her finger at the screen showing the airlock. “Look!” she exclaimed. It took a moment for the others to realize that the ovoid was gliding across the lock. It hovered briefly by the wall and returned to approximately the same position in the center of the facility.
“Excellent demonstration of an incident of magnetic levitation,” Aivas remarked.
“And congratulations from Master Robinton and D’ram. Warder Lytol is already mobilizing a team to examine the specimen.”
“Is he indeed?” Jaxom asked flippantly, wondering who Lytol would tag with the unenviable task.
“The extent and density of this stream would be useful knowledge,” Aivas went on. “Jancis, such readings can be taken from the navigator’s console by activating the exterior optics, using the
EXAM.EXE
code.”
“It occurs to me, Aivas,” Jaxom began, winking at Jancis, “that this phenomenon was not on your agenda for today in space?” He was amused to see Fandarel regard him with astonishment for such an impudent question.
There was so profound a silence from Aivas that everyone on the bridge exchanged amused glances. Twice in one day they had confounded Aivas? Fandarel began to chuckle, a deep rolling sound, when an answer finally came.
“Regrettably, this facility did not compute that possibility, though calculations now indicate that the
Yokohama
and her sister ships have been in the line of Thread showers every fourth Fall.”
“Well, imagine that!” Jaxom remarked, his eyes glinting with mischief. He had never thought to catch Aivas unprepared.
With what Jaxom decided was considerable aplomb, Aivas asked, “Is the shield destroying the ovoids, or is it deflecting them?”
“Deflecting,” Jaxom replied. Then he absorbed the nub of that remark. “The shield has a destructive mode? We could destroy what’s raining down on us? What an ingenious concept! There’d be just that much fewer to fall on Nerat. And that might persuade old Begamon that all this”—he gestured about the bridge—“is worth the effort.”
“Jaxom, the destruct capability can be activated from either the captain’s chair or the pilot’s console. Call up the shield function program and alter
DEFL
to
DEST
.”
“I hear and obey,” Jaxom said eagerly, his breath quickening as he slid into the pilot’s seat and activated the console. “Program altered.” For a moment, he let his finger hover above the
ENTER
tab. “Engaged!”
In the next instant, the pellets streaking toward them dissolved in puffs, clearing a path so that the width and depth of the stream became all too visible.
“If you will activate the rearview screen, Jaxom,” Aivas went on, “you will see how effective the destruct mode is.”
Plainly a wide swath of Thread had been eliminated.
“That’s beautiful! Just beautiful! Charring Thread in the air is one thing!
This
is much better. Much better!” Jaxom muttered. He turned the forward view back on and continued to watch the visible destruction of Thread with intense satisfaction. The green dragons had stopped spitting and were rumbling in delight.
“Is there any way to extend this destruction beyond the
Yokohama
?” Master Fandarel asked.
“No,” Aivas replied. “The shield’s main function is to deflect ordinary space debris. Considering the width, breadth, and depth of the stream, it would be analogous to trying to destroy a snow shower with a candle.”
“Then how, Aivas, do you propose that we shall destroy this menace—as you promised we would?” Jaxom demanded.
“By removing the vector that brings Thread to Pern. That should have been obvious to you all by now,” Aivas chided them. “The path of the eccentric planet must be altered sufficiently so that it does not come close enough to spin Thread into Pern’s orbit.”
“And how can we possibly do that?” Master Fandarel demanded.
“That will become apparent as you continue with the Plan. Everything you have learned, every seemingly simple exercise either here or on the ground is directed toward preparing you for that end.”
No amount of wheedling or blustering could move Aivas to elaborate. “You cannot run before you walk,” he repeated to almost every rephrasing of that question from Fandarel, Jaxom, Jancis, and Belterac.
Finally, Jaxom desisted and turned to the immediate situation. “Don’t the
Buenos Aires
and
Bahrain
have similar shields?”
“They do,” Aivas replied.
“Well, then.” Jaxom rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
“Now wait a moment, Lord Jaxom,” Jancis said. “You’re not going to have all the fun today. I want my turn at destroying Thread.”
“And I,” her grandfather said, a rapturous grin replacing his usual composure.
“It would be a dangerous task for a young woman, a young mother,” Belterac said, glancing anxiously at Fandarel to support him.
“I will not be done out of my opportunity on those grounds,” Jancis said, her stance so belligerent that Belterac nearly recoiled in surprise. “Besides, I fit into a space suit. You’re much too big, Belterac.”
“I’m not,” Evan said, speaking up for the first time.
“I thought that life-support systems had been reactivated on both the smaller ships,” Fandarel said. “Am I not correct, Aivas?”
“You are, Master Fandarel.”
“Well, then, space suits are not required.”
“A knowledge of the sequence is, Granddad, and you always leave console work to someone else.”
Fandarel drew himself up to his full height, swelling his massive chest importantly. “It did not seem too difficult. A few pecks and then the enter.” He threw a quizzical glance at Jaxom.
“Cease!” Jaxom said, throwing up his hands and nearly propelling himself out of the pilot’s chair by mistake. “As Lord Holder, I outrank everyone else, so I will make the decision. Master Fandarel deserves the chance for many reasons, and Jancis, too. However, Bigath and Beerth brought all you Smithcrafters up here, so they can just haul you across to the other ships, as well. You—” He pointed at Belterac. “—can be trusted with switching the screen from deflect to destroy. And you—” He indicated Fandarel. “—can then engage. Jancis, you reprogram the shield, and Evan, you can hit the
ENTER
key. So you’ll all take part.”
“It must be pointed out,” Aivas said, “that the amount of Thread that would be destroyed, even utilizing the destruct mode of the shields on all three ships, is only point-oh-nine percent of an average Fall. Is this trip necessary?”
“That’s point-oh-nine percent the dragonriders don’t have to worry about, Aivas,” Jaxom said jubilantly.
“Then let us make this efficient use of the available technology,” Fandarel said eagerly.
“It is apparent that such participation would give immense psychological satisfaction, far outweighing either the risk or the actual destruction ratio,” Aivas said.
“Immense satisfaction,” Jaxom agreed.
“Raising morale to a new height,” Jancis put in. “And to think I can have a part in it!”
“That is,” Jaxom said, turning to the green riders, “if you and your dragons are amenable . . .”
S’len and L’zan were more than amenable. Jaxom drilled everyone on the steps necessary to alter the shield to destruct mode. Aivas did insist that everyone was to take along emergency oxygen equipment. The atmosphere on the two smaller ships was only minimal, and oxygen deprivation could not be risked.
When the greens, well laden with riders, departed, Jaxom found the bridge remarkably quiet.
“Jaxom,” Aivas began, “how much weight can the green dragons carry? Their burdens today weigh more than their body weight.”
“A dragon is capable of carrying as much as he thinks he can,” Jaxom replied with a shrug.
“So if the dragon thinks he can carry any object, irrespective of its actual weight, he will?”
“I don’t think anyone’s actually tried to overload a dragon. Didn’t you tell me that the earliest ones were used to transport loads out of Landing following the eruption?”
“That is true. But they were never, as you surmised, permitted to carry great weights. In fact, Sean O’Connell, the leader of those early riders, resented the fact that the dragons were used in such a capacity.”
“Why?”
“That was never explained.”
Jaxom smiled to himself. “Dragons can do a lot of inexplicable things.”
“For instance,” and Aivas’s voice altered subtly, “arriving in very timely fashions?”
Jaxom chuckled. “That’s one.”
“How did you contrive such a serendipitous entrance?”
“Jancis was clever enough to put down the time. When I visualized the bridge for Ruth, I also visualized the bridge clock”—Jaxom pointed to the digital face—“at a minute before the one she gave. So, of course, we arrived—” He chuckled again. “—in time!”