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Authors: Anne McCaffrey
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share, but nearby.
She understood, on one level, that the prospect of “After” did not obsess F’lar: “During” was his responsibility, and hers. Finishing this Pass honorably and still as Benden’s Weyrleader—even knowing Thread would no longer threaten Pern—was his committed goal. Especially since they had both made such a point of urging their younger dragonriders to learn an alternative skill,Lessa kept trying to insinuate After in their private conversations to see what he’d really like to do then. Idling on a sandy beach in Southern would quickly bore a man who’d always been active. And, if he would not contemplate the options, maybe she’d have to make the decision for both of them for where they’d live After. Only where?
Suddenly both dragons reared, staring up into the night sky, the color of their eyes briefly reflecting the orange of alarm. Startled, Lessa glanced over her shoulder and grabbed F’lar tightly.
“Oooh!” she exclaimed. The night cold was nothing to the fear that surged through her, making her heart race at the brief trails of fire in the north. Then she was disgusted with her primitive reaction to what she now knew were meteorites burning up in the atmosphere. As a child she’d believed her nurse—that those flares across a night sky were the Ghost Dragons of the First Pass.
“Erragon said we’d have a lot of Ghosts this Turn.” F’lar chuckled at the old explanation, his breath puffing white. “So long as they keep their distance.” Another flare caught his eye, barely a finger length in the northern sky. His sigh drifted white in the frosty air.
“There really are a lot more of them this Turn, as Toronas complained last night at Benden. They certainly are bright. Why that one—” She pointed her finger, following the arc in its path before it blinked out. “—looked like it might land.”
“They never have.”
“Well, you heard Toronas. All that nonsense about it is all”—she altered her voice to mimic the Benden Lord Holder’s slightly nasal speech pattern—“because we let Aivas change the orbit of the Red Star and this is the result of meddling with things we don’t know enough about.”
F’lar laughed, because her imitation of the Benden Lord Holder was so accurate. “One of the reasons Aivas delayed the blast was to put the Red Star far beyond affecting any other of the planets in this system. The mathematics was accurate to the tenth decimal point. Or so Wansor assured me at the time. Or ask F’lessan. He’s into astronomy with that old telescope in Honshu.”
“I might indeed ask F’lessan,” she said. “It’s something like thisthat would agitate the Abominators into doing more harm than they’ve already done.”
“You think they’re behind some of those peculiar incidents of vandalism Sebell reported?”
“Who else would be that vindictive and destroy only
new
medicines or materials, or waylay traders carrying components from one Smithcrafthall to another?”
“Let’s talk about it in the weyr. It’s far too cold to dawdle out here, woman.”
He tugged her into a jog, throwing an arm about her shoulders to prevent her from slipping on the icy ground, and they quickly reached the stairs up to her quarters.
Are you two coming in?
he asked the two dragons, who had not moved from their ledges.
We will watch the Ghosts until they leave
, Mnementh said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
As you wish
, F’lar said.
“Silly beasts,” Lessa murmured, smiling as she pushed aside the entrance curtain. Sometimes she wished she had a hide as impervious to weather as a dragon’s. Or was it just that this winter was unusually cold?
Between
is colder
, Ramoth remarked.
Once she was inside, Lessa swiftly made for the nearest heater unit, putting Manora’s basket, still warm, on the table as she passed it and stripping off her long fur. She hung it on the hooks to the left of their sleeping room.
“I didn’t think we’d
She understood, on one level, that the prospect of “After” did not obsess F’lar: “During” was his responsibility, and hers. Finishing this Pass honorably and still as Benden’s Weyrleader—even knowing Thread would no longer threaten Pern—was his committed goal. Especially since they had both made such a point of urging their younger dragonriders to learn an alternative skill,Lessa kept trying to insinuate After in their private conversations to see what he’d really like to do then. Idling on a sandy beach in Southern would quickly bore a man who’d always been active. And, if he would not contemplate the options, maybe she’d have to make the decision for both of them for where they’d live After. Only where?
Suddenly both dragons reared, staring up into the night sky, the color of their eyes briefly reflecting the orange of alarm. Startled, Lessa glanced over her shoulder and grabbed F’lar tightly.
“Oooh!” she exclaimed. The night cold was nothing to the fear that surged through her, making her heart race at the brief trails of fire in the north. Then she was disgusted with her primitive reaction to what she now knew were meteorites burning up in the atmosphere. As a child she’d believed her nurse—that those flares across a night sky were the Ghost Dragons of the First Pass.
“Erragon said we’d have a lot of Ghosts this Turn.” F’lar chuckled at the old explanation, his breath puffing white. “So long as they keep their distance.” Another flare caught his eye, barely a finger length in the northern sky. His sigh drifted white in the frosty air.
“There really are a lot more of them this Turn, as Toronas complained last night at Benden. They certainly are bright. Why that one—” She pointed her finger, following the arc in its path before it blinked out. “—looked like it might land.”
“They never have.”
“Well, you heard Toronas. All that nonsense about it is all”—she altered her voice to mimic the Benden Lord Holder’s slightly nasal speech pattern—“because we let Aivas change the orbit of the Red Star and this is the result of meddling with things we don’t know enough about.”
F’lar laughed, because her imitation of the Benden Lord Holder was so accurate. “One of the reasons Aivas delayed the blast was to put the Red Star far beyond affecting any other of the planets in this system. The mathematics was accurate to the tenth decimal point. Or so Wansor assured me at the time. Or ask F’lessan. He’s into astronomy with that old telescope in Honshu.”
“I might indeed ask F’lessan,” she said. “It’s something like thisthat would agitate the Abominators into doing more harm than they’ve already done.”
“You think they’re behind some of those peculiar incidents of vandalism Sebell reported?”
“Who else would be that vindictive and destroy only
new
medicines or materials, or waylay traders carrying components from one Smithcrafthall to another?”
“Let’s talk about it in the weyr. It’s far too cold to dawdle out here, woman.”
He tugged her into a jog, throwing an arm about her shoulders to prevent her from slipping on the icy ground, and they quickly reached the stairs up to her quarters.
Are you two coming in?
he asked the two dragons, who had not moved from their ledges.
We will watch the Ghosts until they leave
, Mnementh said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
As you wish
, F’lar said.
“Silly beasts,” Lessa murmured, smiling as she pushed aside the entrance curtain. Sometimes she wished she had a hide as impervious to weather as a dragon’s. Or was it just that this winter was unusually cold?
Between
is colder
, Ramoth remarked.
Once she was inside, Lessa swiftly made for the nearest heater unit, putting Manora’s basket, still warm, on the table as she passed it and stripping off her long fur. She hung it on the hooks to the left of their sleeping room.
“I didn’t think we’d
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