Anne McCaffrey - Pern06 White Dragon
Synopsis:
Serve these unusual animals. These dragons—named for the mythical Terran beast they resembled—had two valuable characteristics: they could get from one place to another instantaneously and, after chewing a phosphine-bearing rock, they would emit a flaming gas. Because the dragons could fly, they were able to char Thread in midair, and then escape from its ravages.
It took generations to develop to the fullest the potential of these dragons. The second phase of the proposed defense against the deadly incursions would take even longer. For Thread, a space-traveling my- corrhizoid spore, with mindless voracity devoured aU organic matter and, once grounded, burrowed and proliferated with terrifying speed. So a symbiote of the same strain was developed to counter this parasite, and the resulting grub was introduced into the soil of the southern continent. The original plan was that the dragons would be a visible protection, charring Thread while it was still skyborne and protecting the dwellings and the livestock of the colonists. The grub-symbiote would protect vegetation by devouring any Thread that managed to evade the dragons' fire.
The originators of the twostage defense did not allow for change or for hard geological fact. The southern continent, overtly more attractive than the harsher northern land, proved unstable and the entire colony was eventually forced to move north to seek refuge from the Threads in the natural caves on the continental shield rock of the north.
The original Fort, constructed in the eastern face of the Great West Mountain Range, soon grew too small to hold the colonists. Another settlement was started slightly to the north, alongside a great lake conveniently formed near a cave-filled cliff. But Ruatha Hold, as the settlement was called, became overcrowded within a few generations.
Since the Red Star rose in the east, the people of Pem decided to establish a holding in the eastern mountains, provided a suitable cavesite could be found. Only solid rock and metal, both of which were in dis- tressingly short supply on Pem, were impervious to the burning score of Thread. The winged, tailed, fire-breathing dragons had by then been bred to a size that required more spacious accommodations than the cliffside holds could provide. But ancient cave-pocked cones of extinct volcanoes, one high above the first Fort, the other in the Benden mountains, proved to be adequate and required only a few improvements to be made habitable. However, such projects took the last of the fuel for the great stone- cutters, which had been programed only for regular mining operations, not for wholesale cliff excavations. Subsequent holds and weyrs had to be hand-hewn.
The dragons and their riders in their high places and the people in their cave holds went about their separate tasks, and each developed habits that became custom, which solidified into tradition as incontrovertible as law.
Then came an interval of two hundred Turns of the planet Pern around its primary—when the Red Star was at the other end of its erratic orbit, a frozen, lonely captive. No Thread fell on Pern. The inhabitants erased the depredations of Thread and grew crops, planted orchards from precious seed brought with them, thought of reforestry for the slopes denuded by Thread. They even managed to forget that they had once been in grave danger of extinction. Then the Threads fell again when the wandering planet returned for another orbit around Pern, bringing fifty years of attack from the skies. The Pernese once again thanked their ances- tors, now many generations removed, for providing the dragons who seared the dropping Thread midair with their fiery breath.
Dragonkind, too, had prospered during that interval and had settled in four other locations, following the master plan of interim defense.
The significance of the southern hemisphere—and of the grub—had been lost in the immediate struggle to establish new settlements. Recollections of Earth re- ceded further from Pernese history with each successive generation until memory of their origins degenerated into legend or myth and passed into oblivion.
By the Third Pass of the Red Star, a complicated socio-political-economic structure had been developed to deal with this recurrent evil. The six Weyrs, as the old volcanic habitations of the dragonfolk were called, pledged themselves to protect Pern, each Weyr haying a geographical section of the northern continent liter- ally under its wing. The rest of the population agreed to tithe to support the Weyrs since these fighters, these dragonmen, did not have arable land in their volcanic homes. They could not afford to take time away from nurturing their''dragons to learn other trades during peacetime, nor could they take time away from pro- tecting the planet during Passes.
Settlements, called Holds, developed wherever natu- ral caves were found—some, of course, more extensive or strategically placed than others. It took a strong man to hold frantic, terrified people in control during Thread attacks; it took wise administration to conserve victuals when nothing could be safely grown, and it took extraordinary measures to control population and keep it productive and healthy until such time as the menace passed.
Men with special skills in metalworking, weaving, animal husbandry, farming, fishing, mining formed CrafthaUs in each large Hold and looked to one Mastererafthall where the precepts of their craft were taught and craft skills were preserved and guarded from one generation to another. One Lord Holder could not deny the products of the Crafthall situated in his Hold to others, since the Crafts were deemed independent of a Hold affiliation. Each Craftmaster of a hall owed allegiance to the Master of that par- ticular craft—an elected office based on proficiency in that craft and administrative ability. The Mastercrafts- man was responsible for the output of his halls and the distribution, fair and unprejudiced, of all craft products on a planetary rather than parochial basis.
Certain rights and privileges accrued to different leaders of Holds and Masters of Crafts and, naturally, to the dragonriders whom all Pern looked to for pro- tection during the Threadfalls.
On occasion, the conjunction of Rukbat's five natural planets would prevent the Red Star from passing close enough to Pern to drop its fearful spores. To the Pernese these were Long Intervals. During one such Interval, the grateful people prospered and multiplied, spreading out across the land, carving more holds on of solid rock, just in case Thread returned. But the; became so busy with their daily pursuits that they pre ferred to think that the Red Star had indeed passec beyond any danger to them.
No one realized that only a few dragons remainec to take to the skies and that only one Weyr of dragon- riders was left on Pern. Since the Red Star wasn't due to return for a long, long while, if ever, why worry? Within five generations, the descendants of the heroic dragonmen fell into disfavor; the legends of past bra- veries and the very reason for their existence fell into disrepute.
Volume One of THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN:
DRAGONFLIGHT begins when the Red Star, obeying natural forces, began to spin closer to Pem, winking with a baleful red eye on its ancient victim. One man, P'lar, rider of the bronze dragon Mnementh, believed that the ancient tales had truth in them. His half- brother, F'nor, rider of brown Canth, listened to his arguments and believed in them. When the last golden egg of a dying queen dragon lay hardening on the Benden Weyr Hatching Ground, F'lar and F'nor saw an opportunity to gain control of the Weyr. Searching for a strong-minded woman to ride the soon-to-be- hatched queen, F'lar and F'nor discovered Lessa, the only surviving member of the proud Bloodline of Ruatha Hold. She Impressed young Ramoth, the new queen, and became Weyrwoman of Benden. Then F'lar's bronze Mnementh flew the young queen in her first mating, and F'lar became Weyrieader of Pern's re- maining dragonriders.
The three—Lessa, F'lar and F'nor—then forced the Lord Holders and Craftsmen to recognize their im- minent
danger and to prepare their almost defenseless planet against Thread. Obviously the scant two hundred dragons of Benden Weyr would not be able to defend the sprawling settlements. Six full Weyrs had been needed in the olden days when the settled land had been more limited in area than it now was. An abortive attempt was even made to develop the by-now almost forgotten southern continent. But that didn't work. However, in learning to direct her queen dragon between one place and another, Lessa discovered that dragons could also move between one time and an- other. Risking her life as well as Pern's only queen dragon, Lessa and Ramoth went back in time, four hundred Turns, before the mysterious disappearance of the other five Weyrs, and just after the last Pass of the Red Star had been completed. The five Weyrs of that ancient time, seeing only the decline of their prestige and bored with inactivity after a lifetime of exciting combat, agreed to help Lessa's Weyr. These people from the past came forward to her time and saved Pern.
Volume Two of THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN:
• DRAGONQUEST picks up the story seven Turns later, whea the initial gratitude and relief of Holds and Crafts had faded and soured. The Oldtimers themselves did not like the Pern of the future in which they were now living. Four hundred Turns had brought too many subtle changes. The Oldtimers, used to a more sub- servient and grateful population, found themselves at odds with the Lord Holders and the Crafthalls—and especially with Benden Weyr and its liberal leaders.
Tensions between the two factions came to a head in a petty quarrel involving F'nor and an Oldtimer Fort dragonrider. F'nor was sent off to the newly resettled southern continent to recover from his wound. Mean- while P'lar confronted the Oldtimer, T'ron of Port Weyr, in a meeting of all but two Weyrleaders. Little was decided at the meeting but it became apparent that the Oldtimers were not taking as much responsibility for their duties as they should. F'lar's arguments caused D'ram, Ista's Weyrleader, and G'narish of Igen Weyr, both Oldtimers, to take a good look at their con- temporaries. Thread had begun to fall at unexpected times and the charts, carefully prepared by F'lar from the old Records, had somehow lost their validity. At that point Robinton, the Master Harper of Pern, and the Mastersmith, Fandarel, joined forces with the Benden leaders to try to cope with the new emergency. To help matters Fandarel developed a device that he hoped would provide communication among the Holds and Halls.
Meanwhile in the Southern Weyr, F'nor was being nursed by a young queenrider, Brekke, when he accidentally discovered that fire-lizards, previously dismissed as mere legends or fantasies, actually existed and could also be Impressed at Hatching in the same way their genetic cousins, the dragons were. Kylara, a passionate and disgruntled Weyrwoman of Southern, found a clutch of fire-lizard eggs which she took to Lord Meron of Nabol, one of the most troublesome of the Lord Holders.
Summoned by F'nor's message about the fire-lizards, F'lar headed for Southern Weyr where he observed that T'bor, the young Leader, was having trouble with his Weyrwoman, the sensuous Kylara. When Threadfall came to Southern, F'lar joined in the fight. Observing a very curious phenomenon in the dense vegetation, he discovered a curious and very active insect in the soil and brought samples back to the Masterherdsman, Sograny, an opinionated man to whom the grubs were anathema. F'lar, remembering what he had observed, took issue with the man and pursued his investigation of the grubs with the aid of F'nor, now returned to the Weyr, and N'ton, craftbred young rider of bronze Uoth.
Soon Lord Lytol, guardian of the young Jaxom, the youth to whom Lessa had ceded her Bloodright to Ruatha Hold, visited Benden Weyr to discuss the tense situation with F'lar, Lessa, Robinton and Fandarel. He brought Jaxom with him as his ward was friendly with Felessan, only son of F'lar and Lessa. While the adults were talking, the two boys sneaked into the unused passageways of Benden Weyr for a peek at Ramoth's latest clutch of eggs in the Hatching Ground. The boys became frightened by the unexpected return of the queen and quickly lost their way in the dark corridors, inadvertently discovering some long-forgotten rooms. A search party found the boys unconscious and dis- covered musty rooms in which they found a variety of curious objects, including an instrument which en- larged small things that quickly became the Master- smith's special treasure. F'lar suggested that a discreet search be made of the older Holds and Weyrs to see if anything interesting should turn up to fill in the gaps of lost knowledge.
Shortly thereafter Kylara and Lord Meron appeared at the wedding of Lord Asgenar and Telgar's sister at Telgar Hold with fire-lizards on their arms, causing con- siderable commotion. Suddenly a dragonrider appeared, disrupting the wedding feast with the news that Thread was unaccountably falling at Igen. F'lar requested the , help from the other Weyrieaders and T'ron found this an excuse to challenge the Benden Weyrleader to a duel from which F'lar, though wounded, emerged the victor and banished T'ron and any other Oldtimer who would not acknowledge that he was to be the overall Weyrleader. Lord Holders and Craftmasters alike sup- ported F'lar. Oldtimer Weyrieaders, D'ram of Ista, G'narish of Igen and R'mart of Telgar, likewise stood by him. T'kul of High Reaches joined T'ron in exile with seventy other Oldtimers and Dragonfolk. F'lar, despite his wound, insisted on flying Thread at Igen, by going between time to the start of Threadfall.
The former Southern dragonriders, ousted by T'ron, settled in the High Reaches Weyr which had been left in a shocking state. Brekke, unaware that her queen Wirenth was about to rise for her first mating, began to restore order to the Weyr while Kylara enjoyed her- self with Lord Meron. Unfortunately Kylara's queen, Prideth, was also close to mating and when Wirenth rose, so did Prideth. A battle ensued between the two queens in which the other queens tried to separate the combatants. Canth desperately attempted to save Wirenth. But both queens were mortally wounded and went between, leaving Kylara a mindless idiot and Brekke hanging on the edge of sanity. Only F'nor's love and Canth's devotion, and the constant companionship of the little fire-lizards kept her alive.
Meanwhile, guided by the principles of the Benden device, Fandarel and Wansor constructed a powerful distance-viewer that made it possible to see both the cloud-swirled surface of the Red Star and something of the other planets in the system. Lessa, Robinton and the dissident Lord Meron among others, arrived at Fort Weyr, intent on testing the new far-viewer. But Meron insisted that now that the face of the Red Star could be seen, dragonmen somehow ought to be able to get there. So he attempted to send his little fire-lizard on the journey. The little creature not only disappeared in fright, but managed to frighten the other fire-lizards as well.
When Ramoth's clutch was finally ready to Hatch, among the many guests were Lord Lytol and young Jaxom. An attempt to rouse Brekke from her stupor by presenting her as a candidate to the new queen failed but her bronze fire-lizard, Berd, succeeded in scolding her out of her grieving trance. When Jaxom noticed that the smallest egg—the very one he had been drawn to during his fateful peek at the clutch—was rocking but not cracking, he went to the assistance of the crea- ture and made an Impression on the small white dragon he rescued. Jaxom, who had to remain Lord Holder of Ruatha, nonetheless became a weyrling. So it was decided to permit him to take Ruth to his Hold as it was possible that the tiny dragon might not survive his first Turn. F'lar, recovered from his wounds, used the opportunity of the Hatching to prove to various Craft- masters and Holders that grubs do attack and devour Thread. They also seem to restore and protect vegetation Thread damages. Then Masterfarmer Andemon re- membered an ancient warning: Watch the grubs, and he realized that this saying had been misinterpreted and grubs had been systematically burned from the land when they should have been encouraged to proliferate.
So, after centuries, the secondary phase of protection initiated by the colonists was finally recognized as such. That being the case, F'lar began two campaigns with the help of P'nor and N'ton: the first to seed the Northern Continent with the grubs; the second, the dissemination of special knowledge to insure that no more important information would become lost or dis- torted.
But Lord Hol
ders, prodded by Meron, continued to agitate for the dragonriders to go to the Red Star and remove the menace of Thread at its source. To forestall such dangerous attempts by F'lar, F'nor directed Canth to a cloud formation on the Red Star's surface. They took the massive leap between and nearly died in the Red Star's turbulent atmosphere, but were somehow called back from certain death by Brekke's need of them. F'nor's attempt made it obvious to every dragon- rider and to everyone possessing a fire-lizard that the Red Star could not be attacked directly. It was just too dangerous.
Having come to grips with the reality of the situa- tion, F'lar directed his energies to spreading grubs and keeping a discreet watch on the South which, for the time being, would have to remain the province of the dissident Oldtimers whose situation, with no queens young enough to mate, was rapidly becoming critical. Other pressures, too, were being felt, pressures which Robinton believed were equally critical.
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And now we begin THE WHITE DRAGON—the Third Volume of THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN...
Chapter I
At Ruatha Hold, Present Pass, 12th Turn
"IP HE ISN'T clean enough now," Jaxom told N'ton as he gave Ruth's neck ridge a final swipe with the oiled cloth, "I don't know what clean is!" He wiped his sweaty forehead on his tunic sleeve. "What do you think, N'ton?" he asked politely, suddenly aware that he had spoken without due regard for his companion's rank as Weyrleader of Fort.
Anne McCaffrey - Pern06 White Dragon Page 1