"I had hoped that Aivas would insure a bright future for us all..." Robinton began, raising his arms in an expansive gesture before letting them fall limply to his knees.
"That's because you're the eternal optimist," Lytol said with a sad smile.
"That's no bad way to be," Piemur said firmly, shooting Lytol a quelling glare. It pained the young journeyman to see his master so depressed and listless. The warder shrugged and turned away to hide his cynicism.
T'gellan dispatched a rider to bring Swacky from Paradise River Hold in the hope that he might recognize one of the intruders. Jayge, reckoning that he, too, might be of some help since he had seen so much of the Eastern Holds during his trading days, arrived with Swacky.
"Yeah, I recognize this pair," Swacky said, reaching out to turn one lolling head from side to side. "Bitrans, if I remember rightly. Bitrans'll do anything if you give 'em enough marks."
"Any name come to mind, Swacky?" F'nor asked, frowning.
Swacky gave a shrug of his thick shoulders. "No. Bitrans aren't friendly, and I don't think you're going to get much out of this lot. They're too stubborn to give in and too stupid to give up. They do stay bought," he added with grudging respect.
Jayge, kneeling by another man, shook his head. "I know him. I don't know where I know him from. I'll tell you one thing, though-he's worked fishnets. Look at these three-corner tears on his fingers and palms. That's net damage."
Robinton heaved a long sigh, and Lytol looked grimmer than ever.
When the first of them finally regained consciousness late that evening, he stared around with bleak panic in his face; it soon became obvious that he had lost his hearing. To written questions he merely shook his head. Consultations between Aivas and the healer about a return of hearing produced no helpful results.
"As a consequence to the extreme deterrent required to prevent their entry, regrettably permanent damage may have been inflicted," Aivas said.
When the vandals' animals were brought in, none of the gear identified its source. The saddles were new but bore no leatherman's stamp; the runners were not ear-notched or branded and betrayed the nervousness of very green animals.
"Probably stolen from Keroon or Telgar herds before spring culls" was the opinion of Masterherder Briaret, who came the next day to assist in the inquiry. "Whoever chose them knew his runners and picked those that don't show any particular characteristics from sire or dam. They was rough broke," he added, looking into the mouth of one and pointing out biting scars, "never been shod, and came by sea." He indicated the marks on hips, rumps, and shoulders that had been caused by rubbing against the sides of the narrow stalls used to transport animals by ship. "Don't think we'll find out where they was stolen from, but I'll put the word out to my Halls."
The tack, he said, was all apprentice-made, pointing out the flaws that would have made them unsalable at any reputable Tannerhall.
"These could have been picked up from various Halls over the course of a Turn or two, from 'prentices needing Gathermarks. I'd say that whoever planned this has planned long and well," the Masterherder stated.
The sturdy but worn clothing was of a style and fabric available all across the continent, and the camping equipment had seen considerable use.
"Could've staked out here for a spell, just waiting for a good opportunity," Briaret guessed. "Like the ceremony at Telgar."
In one saddlebag the searchers found a small collapsible telescope of the sort used by fishermen, but it bore no other mark than the usual Telgar Smith stamp on the metal rim of the eyepiece.
When Master Idarolan was asked his opinion, he was outraged that any of his Craft could have been involved. He promised to investigate, admitting that there were some who were, unfortunately, no credit to their calling and were not above making a clandestine voyage for a full purse of marks after a bad season. He would name no one as yet, but he knew whom to watch, he assured everyone.
Swacky volunteered to stay at Landing as warder of the invaders, hoping that he might yet get one of them to confide in him.
Jayge lingered, too, finally admitting to Piemur and Jancis that he would very much like an interview with Aivas, if that was at all possible.
"No problem, Jayge," Piemur reassured him. He grinned broadly. "Beginning to think all this new technology has some use?"
Jayge gave a wry chuckle. "I need to know if Readis and Alemi are both losing their wits. They swear they've had more conversations with shipfish-dolphins. The dolphins say they came with the original settlers." Jayge set his jaw as if waiting for derision.
"Dolphins did come with the settlers, Jayge," Piemur reassured him. Jancis nodded, as well. Then the young harper's expression turned rueful. "We've been so busy with space that we really still haven't caught up on other important details. Croon. Everyone else's busy with the intruders right now, so Aivas is free."
"The dolphins are indeed capable of communicating with humans," Aivas told Jayge when he asked. "Mentasynth enhancement is genetically transmitted, so that the ability would have survived through any number of generations. They were the most successful of the mentasynth experiments. It is good to know that the species has survived. Are they numerous? It would appear from the question, Holder Jayge, that contact has not been maintained. Is that so?"
"No, it has not," Jayge admitted apologetically. "Though my wife and myself, as well as my son and Masterfisherman Alemi, owe our lives to them."
"The species has always been considerate of humankind.
"And they do speak a language we humans could learn?"
"Since humans taught them the language, yes. But it would be the language of your ancestors, not that which is in current usage. This facility was able to make linguistic adjustments that would not be available to the dolphins, despite their great intelligence."
"The shipfish have great intelligence?" Piemur asked in surprise.
"They possess an intelligence measurably equal to, if not surpassing, most human intellects."
"I find that hard to believe," Piemur muttered.
"Believe it," Aivas replied. "Holder Jayge, if you are interested in reviving the communications link with dolphins, this facility would be glad to assist you."
Jayge grimaced. "It's not me, Aivas. I was just here and wanted to know. It's my son, Readis, and our Masterfisherman Alemi, who thought the dolphins were speaking."
"The resumption of that link could be of great value to fishermen and all who use the seaways. Time can be allotted to that study."
"I'll tell Alemi. He'll be delighted to hear it."
"Your son?"
"Oh, Readis is a child."
"A child has fewer inhibitions in learning new languages, Holder Jayge."
Jayge's eyes bulged in surprise. "But he's only five!"
"A most receptive age. This facility would take great pleasure in instructing young Readis."
"I'd really thought you all were embellishing your accounts of that Aivas of yours," Jayge said in a low voice to the grinning pair who escorted him out of the room, "but you were harpertrue this time."
"Aivas doesn't need embellishments," Piemur assured him smugly.
"You will bring Readis, won't you?" Jancis asked. "Tell Ara that I'd take very good care of him while he's here." She giggled. "I think it's the best thing I've heard yet. Shipfish are smarter than us humans!"
"I think we better keep quiet on that score," Piemur said, his expression solemn. "We've got enough trouble as it is. That opinion'd really start a snake hunt. Even with folks who've got a lot of common sense."
"I think it's marvelous," Jancis repeated, grinning in broad malice. "It's perfect. Alemi'll be over the moons."
Jayge looked chagrined. "Ara'll beat him there. She swore blind that the dolphins talked to her when they saved us from drowning."
"Then bring Ara, too," Piemur suggested. "There ought to be more than just two to learn dolphin talk. Say, you know it might be smart to teach more kids than just Readis. Not meanin
g to detract from him, Jayge, but if, say, we put it about that Aivas was teaching mainly kids, no adults would get suspicious. Because I'm serious, people. I don't think we ought to spread this intelligence thing about."
"I agree," Jancis said.
Jayge shrugged. "I'll accept that judgment. And I'll bring Readis, Alemi, and whoever else he thinks we should include. Talking to shipfish! Wow! That's a real stunner." And he shook his head slowly as his friends escorted him back to where V'line and bronze Clarmath waited to convey him back to Paradise River Hold.
The day before the Lord Holders Conference, the Benden Weyrleaders held a short meeting at Cove Hold to decide whether to bring up the matter of the attempt to disable Aivas.
By then all eight men had recovered from the sonic coma: two would never be of use to anyone; none had recovered their hearing. Three wrote messages asking for relief from unbearable head pains, which finally abated after considerable dosing with fellis juice. Since none of them were willing to divulge any information about those who had hired them to attack Aivas, his guardians had no recourse but to have them all transported to the mines of Crom to work underground with other incorrigibles.
"Why do we have to bring the subject up at all? Let's just let rumor work for us," Master Robinton suggested with a devious smile. "Let them ask us for explanations. That is, if any are required."
"Seeing it my way for a change?" Lytol asked sardonically.
"The rumors are alive and exploding with inventiveness," Jaxom said, grinning at Piemur.
"I'm not sure that's altogether the wisest course," Lessa said, scowling.
"Who has ever controlled rumor?" Robinton demanded.
"You!" Lessa retorted promptly, her scowl disappearing into a wide smile for the person who had so often deliberately spread rumors.
"Not really," Robinton replied smugly. "Not after I sent off the original version."
"Well, then, what's being bruited about right now?" F'lar asked.
"That Aivas perceives the motives of anyone approaching him and has withered the unworthy," Piemur answered eagerly, ticking off the variations of his fingers. "That he horribly maimed some innocent petitioners who had the audacity to approach him early one morning because they overheard him plotting with Lord Jaxom." Jaxom had apparently heard that variation and only snorted. "That we installed a squadron of Gather champions to defend the place and they'll beat up anyone they didn't like the look of; that there is a full wing of dragons constantly on guard and that they are somehow under Aivas's complete control; that fire-lizards are afraid of their lives to come near Landing anymore; that the Aivas has deadly and powerful weapons that can paralyze anyone not totally committed to his intentions for Pern's future. That Aivas has control of all Weyrleaders and Lord Holders-" Piemur had to wait until the indignation of the attending Weryleaders subsided. "-and was going to take over the running of the planet, and that all too soon the three Dawn Sisters were going to come crashing down on Pern, causing irreparable damage to any Hold or Hall that won't support Aivas. And if the Dawn Sisters lose their position in the sky, all the other stars will go out of control, so that's how Aivas will prevent any further Threadfall, because Pern will be totally destroyed and not even Thread will find it hospitable." Piemur took a deep breath and, his eyes glinting with amusement, asked, "Heard enough?"
"All I care to, certainly," Lessa said with considerable asperity. "Absolute twaddle!"
"Is anyone taking any of it seriously?" F'lar asked, leaning forward.
Lytol sucked in his breath. "Some of that foolishness would account for the extreme tenseness of that delegation from Nerat, that group who applied for advice on how to counteract a blight. Masterfarmer Losacot had to chivvy them to enter the room. I mentioned the fact in my day report."
"Did Aivas notice their reluctance?" Lessa asked.
"I certainly wouldn't ask Aivas a question like that. Totally irrelevant," Lytol said, somewhat surprised and indignant. He gave Lessa a sharp look. "The important point is that they apparently received a positive answer, for they were discussing the ways to implement his advice when they left. Master Losacot stopped to thank me for slotting them in so promptly. I thought the matter quite urgent."
"I still maintain that the more people who encounter Aivas," Robinton said, "the more support any plan of his will receive."
"Not always," Lytol disagreed in a low voice.
Then he smiled at the Harper. "But you and I have agreed to differ on that score, haven't we?"
"We have," the Harper replied affably, but there was a sad shadow in his eyes as he gazed on the old warder.
"So, what attitude do we take at the Conference tomorrow?" Lessa demanded. "Presuming, of course, the Weyrleaders will be allowed into the meeting."
"Oh, you will be," Jaxom said. "Larad, Groghe, Asgenar, Toronas, and Deckter wouldn't permit exclusion of Benden and High Reaches Weyrleaders!" He grinned. "I think we ought to wait until they bring up the subject."
"Tomorrow's a solemn occasion, Jaxom," Lytol said, favoring his former charge with a stern look.
"Not all of it, and I really can keep countenance when I need to, old friend." Jaxom grinned engagingly at Lytol and ignored Piemur's snort. "Since so many of us should be in attendance, T'gellan and K'van have doubled the dragon guard here."
"D'ram's in charge," Robinton added. "Insisted, since both Lytol and myself ought to attend the Conference." "As if you'd miss it," Lessa replied, her eyebrows raised. "This one least of all," Robinton remarked affably.
9
IN THE SPRING of the year, Tillek Hold was at its most attractive, for the vivid blue skies seemed to brighten the Hold's granite cliffs and the sun often. glinted off surfaces that were momentarily silver-gilt. From its position on the heights, the uppermost level of the Hold provided north and south views; on clear days, as today, one could see across the promontory to the southern coastline where the terrain fell away from the Hold height. Today banners flew from every window, brilliant panels in audacious colors bright against the gray stone.
Below the Hold, the natural deep harbor and the smaller holds and cots on the terraces that made up the large Tillek settlement were also decorated with banners, streamers, and even garlands of the various yellow blooms of spring. Ranrel's recent labors to improve docking facilities were being put to the test. Many people had elected to sail up the western coast to attend the Conference and the festivities following the confirmation of a new Lord Holder. But so spacious was the anchorage that not even the mass of craft, small and large, strained its capacity.
To Jaxom's surprise, Ruth came out of between over the harbor waters, giving him and Sharra an excellent view of the activity below them. It would appear that every small craft that could be paddled or rowed had been drafted to do lighter duty between the visitors' ships and the new wharf. There was even a line of crafts bobbing at each landing stair waiting to discharge passengers, gay in their festival attire.
Then Jaxom appreciated why Ruth had elected to bring them out over the water, for the congestion of dragons above the Hold itself would have taxed even the white dragon's vaunted ability to avoid collision.
"We really should have brought Jarrol and Shawan to this, Jax," Sharra yelled in his ear. "They would have adored all the color and excitement."
Jaxom shrugged; actually he was glad that Sharra had been dissuaded from that notion. The day was going to be full enough without his having to worry about the antics of two active and inventive little boys. And he wanted Sharra at his side without an incumbrance.
"There'll be other investitures, love, when they're old enough to appreciate it more," he shouted over his shoulder.
Ruth descended, moving with more decorum than usual in order to prevent Sharra's heavy formal skirts from billowing out.
"The unexpected perils of dragonriding," Sharra muttered, gathering the fabric in as much as she could while Ruth circled slowly to find a place to land in the crowded forecourt. Then, continuing the conv
ersation that they had broken off to go between, she added, "Am I really to go up to the Yokohama with you the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes, indeed." Jaxom was pleased by the excitement in her voice. "Aivas says we've got to have the oxygen recycling to spend our time aboard efficiently, even in the few areas we'll be using. Putting breathable atmosphere in the cargo bay and the engine room is going to take a lot of oxygen, and we can't keep lugging tanks up and down. You and Mirrim will do just fine setting it up. You know the programs, and the instructions for starting the algae by heart. I heard you muttering the steps in your sleep." He grinned back at her, thrilled that he would have a chance to share with her the incredible experience of viewing Pern from space and happy for her to have a part in the project that absorbed him almost, he admitted with private candor, to the exclusion of everything else. "Besides, Aivas says the whole program is foolproof but we need the computer-controlled porous-technology CO2/O2 to supply sufficient oxygen. The system just wants starting and then regular checks. Once you and Mirrim understand the system, you'll teach other green riders. And with Path and Mirrim, and you and Ruth, there'll be proper control on the system. Meanwhile, the greens'll be hauling oxygen in tanks to tide us over until the system's fully operational again."
"Ruth would take anyone you asked him to," she reminded him. She wanted more than anything to be the one to join her mate on the Yokohama, but she was also very much aware that the mission could be dangerous. After all, she had two children to think of now, not just herself.
But I like taking you better, Sharra, Ruth put in. Maynooth says it's my turn in the forecourt, but you're to dismount as quickly as you can, he added. Maynooth's rider is terrified of having a collision while he's on duty. Ruth added a contemptuous snort for that possibility.
Jaxom helped Sharra unclip the riding straps and dismount, careful to keep the full skirts of her brand-new gown from becoming entangled in the harness or getting excessively rumpled. The color was an amazingly vibrant blend of green and blue, and the fabric was cut to a pattern that had been found by Masterweaver Zurg in Aivas's files. Jaxom, stunned anew by her subtle beauty, was torn between pride in his beloved and anxiety that others might monopolize her when the dancing began. With a smile, he helped her shrug out of the equally fetching jacket, its leather dyed a slightly darker shade than her dress, its fur lining too warm to wear in Tillek's sun. Then he offered his lady his arm, leaving Ruth free to find himself a spot on the sun-warmed heights, and the tall, handsome couple made their way across the crowded forecourt to the Hold entrance, smiling and nodding at friends and acquaintances.
All The Weyrs of Pern Page 21