Dolphins of Pern

by Anne McCaffrey

  "And keep ringing until someone comes, Alemi said, with a twisty grin since he'd been roused out of his bed a time or two. Still, the occasions have been emergencies. Once, would be settlers from the North being overturned in their totally inadequate skiff, and the other time a dolphin displayed a nasty gash. Temma had sewn it up as neatly as a healer could have. The dolphins had been very grateful. Aivas very kindly printed out medical information for any healers who encounter dolphins.

  He paused. "I remember once finding six dolphins dead in a cove up Nerat way. We never did know what had affected them because there weren't any visible marks. Dolphins can get just as sick as humans and with the same sorts of problems, with digestion and lungs and hearts and kidneys and livers.

  "Really?" The Harper regarded Alemi with surprise. "One never thinks of fish excuse me, and he corrected himself before Alemi dared to, mammals as being subject to the frailties that beset human flesh. What on earth would cause a heart attack in a dolphin?"

  Alemi shrugged. "Stress, physical exertion, even birth defect, according to the report." Then Alemi remembered that stress and physical exertion had retired Master Robinton well before the man had been ready to step down. He stole a nervous look at the Harper who was apparently considering the information he'd been given.

  "Six heart attacks at the same time?" he asked, surprised.

  "No, that incident had to be caused by something else. Aivas' report mentioned ‘beachings’ were not uncommon on old Earth and were thought to have been caused by polluted waters that poisoned the dolphins. But our waters are clean and clear."

  "And they will stay that way!" Master Robinton said with unexpected vigor. "With Aivas to guide us we shall not repeat the mistakes our forebears made on their world." He paused a beat and then went on with a wry grin. "At least not the same ones and for the same reason. We can ‑ perhaps ‑ be grateful that what the Ancients had, Pern's resources will not provide. That will be our saving."

  "Oh?" Alemi wasn't above a little prompting.

  Master Robinton's mobile face lit with a knowing smile.

  "Despite all we have endured since the Dawn Sisters took their orbit above us, this world has stayed remarkably well in the parameters set out by the colony founders. Of course, we couldn't know that we were abiding by those precepts,” and he grinned roguishly at Alemi, "but the fact of the matter is that we did keep to just the technology needed to survive. Once the threat of Thread is abolished, we can improve the quality of our lives and still remain within those precepts: a world that does not require as much of the sophisticated doodads and technology that so obsessed our ancestors. We'll be the better for it., "And the Weyrs?" Alemi was burning to ask that.

  Robinton's smile abated but his expression was more pensive than anxious. "They will, of course, find a new level for themselves but I sincerely doubt that dragons will disappear because Thread does."

  His smile returned, slightly mysterious as if he had information he would not impart to Alemi, which was fair enough, the Master Fishman thought. It was comforting enough to be reassured by the Master Harper, however circumspectly.

  Alemi was loath to leave the porch and the easy companionship which emanated from Master Robinton but he was also aware that he couldn't justify monopolizing the man's attention for much longer that morning. There were so many other demands on the Harper's time and his reserves of energy. Alemi felt much pride at being awarded as much of an interview as he had.

  T'lion was, perhaps, a little indignant about being constantly warned by H'mar as Weyrling Master not to neglect his dragon for his new enthusiasm, the dolphins. But he kept his tongue in his mouth, especially when Gadareth protested vehemently to him, and more importantly to bronze Janereth, that he was not for a moment being neglected and the dolphins were even helping keep him clean. Most evenings, he was the rider assigned to collect the Paradise River Harper, Boskoney, and bring him to his work at Admin.

  He liked Boskoney so the task was no sinecure. It also meant he could arrive a little early and spend a few moments getting to know the Paradise River pod, Kib, Afo, and exchange greetings from Natua, Tana and Boojie. Sometimes he encountered Alemi, thanking the pod for good fishing or warnings on weather.

  "The pod's also sweep‑swimming,” Alemi said, grinning for altering the Weyr term, "along the Paradise Holding to prevent any more intrusions. That way we won't compromise you, T'lion, though I assure you we were very grateful to you for your help two months back."

  T'lion shrugged and grinned. "Just so long as my Weyrleaders don't hear about it."

  "Of course not."

  Then T'lion frowned a bit. "But that only protects you,” and he waved to the east. "There's an awful lot of unpatrolled coast from here to Southern Hold."

  Now it was Alemi's turn to shrug. "Well, that's not my problem. Not that I won't mention ‑ where it will matter ‑ if in my sailing I happen to see other incursions.”

  "There's such a lot of land here,” T'lion said, shaking his head slowly at the immensity.

  Lad, you can't worry about everything, though it's a credit to you that you take additional responsibility. Now, help me feed these fish faces."

  "Sssh,” and T'lion made an exaggerated gesture of dismay at the word. "They don't like being called and he mouthed the terrible word.”

  Alemi laughed. "I have dispensation. I'm a Fishman." And he formally introduced T'lion.

  "No need,” Kib told him, raising his head up out of the water.

  "Tana ‘n' Natua tell. Good man, dragonrider."

  "Thanks,” T'lion said, rather pleased to be acknowledged so warmly.

  "Stitch Boojie,” and Kib ducked his nose in the water and flicked it at T'lion.

  "I'll get my death of a cold talking to dolphins,” T'lion said, wringing the front of his sopping shirt. "Oh, well, I've learned to carry a spare and he didn't get my jacket."

  "I've learned to not wear a thing,” Alemi remarked with an understanding grin, his tanned body bare to the folded clout so many wore in the hot season. "So where's tomorrow's fish, Afo?"

  Afo gave the information, which included sonar readings.

  "They know where the school is but the only way they can express that to me is to give me the return time of their sonar responses,” Alemi said, "I'm getting good at figuring distances that way."

  "That's that's amazing,” T'lion said, awed.

  "Not as much as you getting Boojie stitched. Oh, and Alemi grinned at T'lion's surprise, "we heard all about it.”

  They can pass quite a bit of information around ‑ if they feel like it."

  "Dragons are still the most responsible." T'lion said, proudly glancing up at his splendid bronze.

  "Don't deny that for a moment, lad. Each to his own purpose on Pern."

  "Which reminds me, I'll be late collecting Harper Boskoney,” and T'lion clambered back up the ladder to the pier, tugging free his wet shirt as he made his way to his dragon. He finished changing to the dry one from his pack as Gadareth flew the short distance.

  When he and Gadareth glided in to land in front of Boskoney's cothold, the harper peered around the door at them.

  "Be a moment,” he called.

  T'lion knew these harper ‘moments' and laid his shirt out on the nearby bush to dry, hunkering down to lean back against Gadareth's haunch to wait.

  A darkly tanned youngster came out and, grinning to see a dragon there, came confidently up to him.

  "You must be T'lion and this is Gadareth." The boy reached a hand up to the dragon's muzzle. Gadareth touched it in polite greeting. "Boskoney said you'd come to collect him so I could run along now."

  "And you are?" T'lion asked, amused at the boy's poise. He couldn't be more than seven Turns.

  "I'm Readis, son of Holders Jayge and Aramina. I wash Ruth, Lord Jaxom's dragon whenever he comes to visit. Can I wash Gadareth sometime too?" Then he eyed the bulk of the bronze who had not yet reached his full stature. "There's a lot more of him than Ruth but I could
help.

  T'lion laughed. "You can, if we ever have a chance to stay long enough. Generally, though, the dolphins help me wash Gadareth."

  The boy's ogle‑eyed reaction made T'lion laugh.

  "You're speaking to dolphins'?"

  It was T'lion's turn to be surprised: the boy not only knew that the dolphins spoke but he pronounced their name correctly.

  Have you spoken to dolphins'?" T'lion asked. Maybe the boy answered the Dolphin Bell for Alemi. It would be a good task for a young lad and a holder 5 son.

  "Only the day they saved my life. But Unclemi said they ask him how I'm doing."

  "They saved your life? Tell me how." Sometimes T'lion missed the youngest of his brothers, Tikini, who had much the same ingenuousness about him as this holder's son. He and Tikini had been very close.

  Just then Boskony came out of his cothold, sweat breaking out on his forehead from the heavy flying jacket he was wearing.

  You scoot on home now, Readis,” he said to the boy, "and let's get above this heat, can we, T'lion?"

  "I'll see you around, Readis,” T'lion called as he speedily mounted Gadareth and then helped Boskony aboard. Circling upwards away from the sultry air of the steaming hold, T'lion saw the boy waving as long as he could be seen.

  Over the next several weeks, in the course of collecting the harper, T'lion and Readis met again. Readis invariably asked what was new with his pod, and who was sick, and who had been cured, and T'lion was only too glad to talk to someone who avidly soaked up his tales. He hadn't realized how he had bottled up his interest in the dolphins until he began to talk to Readis who responded so enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling, his whole body almost vibrating he was so intense.

  "Look, you can speak to the dolphins again, if you want to,” T'lion told Readis one day.

  "I'm not "sposed to be near water alone,” Readis said. "I promised."

  "Well, if you're with me and Gadareth, you're scarcely alone.”

  Readis considered this, thoughtfully and wistfully, digging at the sand with his bare toe. "Yes, a dragonrider and a dragon would keep me my promise." He gave T'lion a radiant grin.

  "But where?" and his arm swept to the wide expanse of the river mouth.

  "Oh, that's the easy part and very safe,' T'lion said. "D'you know where Master Alemi anchors? Are you allowed to go that far?"

  Readis nodded vigorously, bouncing the dark curls on his head, his eyes solemn and his expression so eager it was hungry.

  "You meet me there tomorrow afternoon, say, at the fourth hour, so we'd have a whole one before I'm due to collect Master Boskoney.”

  "Oh, I will, I will, I will. Thank you!”

  Begun innocently enough, the afternoon sessions with the dolphins became a happy routine for them both. If his mother asked Readis "where have you been?" "who was with you?", he could honestly reply that he was with T'lion and Gadareth. The fact that he was also swimming with the dolphins off Alemi's float simply was not mentioned.

  T'lion was delighted not only with the boy's fearlessness in the water and with the dolphins, but in how quickly Readis seemed to understand their odd speech. They, in turn, liked his high pitched young voice and, having been warned by T'lion that the "calf' was young and must be carefully handled, never swamped or roughed him up, even when Readis dove under the water to swim with them.

  "You've got lungs like a dragon to stay under so long,” T'lion said, one afternoon when he had almost feared the boy had gone too deep, only to have him and Afo's latest calf, Vina, burst out a good two dragon lengths from the float. "Don't do that to me again, Ready,” he shouted. "Now come on in. Take a breather!”

  Laughing, Readis allowed Vina to tow him into the float. He climbed up, grinning and thoroughly pleased with himself. "We got way far down but not to the bottom. Vina clicked it too far for us. So we surfaced. She's great to swim with."

  "I can see why your folks want someone with you when you do swim." T'lion said, still recovering from that long moment of fright. "You can promise me that you won't stay under so long again."

  "Sure. I promise. But it was great fun. You try it. You can get ever so much deeper with a dolphin!'

  "I'm sure. but next time, we'll do it together! Promise?" Then Readis looked irritably down at Afo who was pushing her nose at his foot.

  "T'orn. Bad t'orn,” she said and squeed urgently up at T'lion.

  "Your foot hurting you'?"

  Readis looked blankly at his friend, then down at the foot.

  Oh, now and then. I stepped on somethin' but it doesn't hurt when I swim.

  "Lemme see.”

  Readis swirled on the float so he could obey and, while T'lion prodded the strong, callused foot, he didn't strike a sore spot.

  "Bad t'orn,” Afo insisted.

  "Nothin's there, Afo,” Readis insisted and twisted so his face was on a level with hers. He reached out one hand and scratched her chin just where she liked it. "Nothin' hurts."

  Afo ducked her head vigorously, scooping water at them with her nose.

  "Maybe, Readis, you better show your foot to your mother, or your Aunt Temma. She's Hold Healer, isn't she'?"

  "Ah, it's nothin.” Let's swim again

  "No,” T'lion said so firmly that Readis knew better than to coax him. "I've got to collect Boskoney."

  "He's always late,” Readis said with good‑humored scorn.

  "That doesn't mean I shouldn't be on time. C'mon now."

  It so happened that that day either they were later than they should have been or Boskoney was actually on time. T'lion deposited Readis on the ground and helped Boskoney up so he had no time to remind the boy to get the foot seen to. Dolphins had always proved right in such matters.

  The next day he had to attend the Fall, delivering firestone sacks to the fighting wings far out over the huge inland lake.

  Then he was sent to collect Master Smiths attending one of the endless discussions now held daily at Admin, so it was three days before he resumed conveying Boskoney. He arrived at Alemi's float, eager to see Readis but the boy didn't come.

  When T'lion and Gadareth landed to collect Boskoney, he asked the harper if he'd seen the boy.

  "No, he's ill. Quite ill, I understand.

  T'lion experienced a pang of fear. Shard it! Readis had promised to see his Aunt Temma.

  "Got one of those swift high fevers that kids his age so often have,” Boskoney added, settling himself between the bronze's neck ridges. "He'll be fine in a day or two. Bright child."

  "Yes, he is,” T'lion replied, his anxiety only partially abated.

  A sister had died of one of those swift high fevers but she'd been younger than Readis and not nearly as sturdy as the holder boy.

  "Maybe a dolphin should look at him. They're good at diagnosing."

  Boskoney laughed, giving the young rider's shoulder a comforting pat. "Oh, I don't think it's anywhere near critical enough for your friends, T'lion, but it's nice of you to be concerned.

  "I am. He's like a brother to me."

  "I'll tell him you were asking for him.”

  "Do. Please."

  The next day, T'lion went to the float and rang the bell, asking for Afo when the first dolphin reported in.

  "What kind of thorn was it in Ready's foot, Afo?" he asked urgently.

  "Swim w'us,' Afo squeed, clicking in excitement. "You not ring bell three suns now.”

  "No, Readis is sick."

  "Bad t'orn. Told him.”

  "A thorn could cause him to have a fever?"

  "Bad t'orn. Sea t'orn, not land. Badder.”

  "I'd better tell his mother, then,” T'lion said and promptly had Gadareth fly him to the Holder's cottage.

  There, he found not only the boy's parents, Aunt Temma, but the Master Healer from Landing as well. All looked anxious and the mother drawn and haggard from sleeplessness. Even Jayge showed the strain of anxiety.

  "I heard Readis was ill,” T'lion began. nervously clutching his flying cap. "Anything I
can do'? The dolphins are good at telling what's wrong with people, you know."

  "Dolphins!" Aramina spat the word out. "He's delirious about dolphins." She turned her face up to Jayge. "He can't possibly be reliving that rescue, can he?"

  She afraid of dolphins, T'lion, Gadareth said.

  Why should she be?

  She's just afraid of them for Readis.

  That was when T'lion had his first inkling that he had perhaps done wrong in taking the boy to Alemi's float. But he'd been very careful with him and the boy hadn't broken the promise he must obviously have made his fearful mother.

  The Master Healer gave T'lion a keen glance. "You're the bronze rider who's helped Persellan at Eastern Weyr?"

  "Yes, master, T'lion, Gadareth's rider.”

  "You're kind to offer, dragonrider, but this is a child's fever.

  “More tenacious than they usually are, it's true, but nothing within the problems which the dolphins can solve."

  T'lion hesitated. "Isn't he always running about the place, bare‑footed'? I don't mean that as a criticism, Holder Aramina,' he added hastily when he saw that she was bridling at his comment. "I wish I could,' and he gestured to his heavy boots in which his feet were perspiring, "but I know how nasty thorns are and it would be so easy "His limbs are swollen,” the Healer said slowly.

  "Both legs, Aramina said with such an irritated glance in T'lion's direction that he shrugged as if he regretted making the suggestion.

  "But the right foot is unusually swollen " The Healer spoke on his way down the wide corridor that led to the sleeping rooms and Aramina and Temma hurried after him.

  "I'd better go,” T'lion said to Jayge now that he'd done what he could. "I'll come in again. I collect Boskoney every day,” and he gestured over his shoulder toward the cothold, looking anxiously at Temma and Jayge.

  "You're good to be concerned, dragonrider,” Jayge said kindly though it was obvious to T'lion that his ears were pricked toward the sickroom.

  "Not at all. Not at all, he's such a friendly lad, like my brother."

  T'lion made a hasty retreat, more concerned than ever. We didn't do anything bad, did we, Gadareth? He wanted to speak to the dolphins. He already had spoken to the dolphins.