All The Weyrs of Pern

"What I don't understand," Sharra said when he mentioned the matter to her over their midday meal, "is that with all that has been explained so carefully to everyone who would listen, how they can possibly misconstrue what you and the Weyrs were doing, and its immediate consequences."

Jaxom gri

F'lar and Lessa are up on the Yokohama, Ruth said in a sleepy voice. Ramoth says Aivas thinks the explosion wilt be any time now.

Sharra politely cocked her head at Jaxom, knowing that Ruth had spoken to him. "What woke him up?"

"It should be any moment now. The explosion. Want to go?"

"Do you want to?"

"Let's not play the you-first, no-you-first game. Do you want to go?"

She blinked rapidly, considering, and looking so like Jarrol that he gri

He laughed, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips. "I think I won't. This moment should be F'lar's."

Sharra eyed him long and thoughtfully, her eyes begi

"Don't be silly," he replied. "It took all the Weyrs of Pern to do it."

"And a white dragon!"

As she turned back to her soup, Jaxom wondered exactly what she meant by that. Could Sharra have guessed Ruth's unusual role?

After so many long days of watching the round ball that was the Red Star, the explosion, when it became visible, was an anticlimax. An orange-red fireball blossomed on the side of the wanderer planet.

"Only one?" F'lar exclaimed, feeling a certain chagrin that half the planet had not exploded, too, after all Aivas had told them about the awesome power of the antimatter.

"That is how it would appear at this distance," Aivas replied.

"It is rather spectacular," Robinton murmured.

"Then all three engines went off at the same time?" Fandarel asked.

"It would seem so," Aivas said.

"Well done, Aivas, well done." Fandarel beamed, evidently not bothered by a tinge of disappointment. "That junction was successful."

"And efficient," D'ram said, unable to resist the opportunity to tease Fandarel.

"It's odd, you know," Piemur began, more to Jancis than the others. "You work your butt off to achieve an end, and suddenly you've done it! And all the excitement, frustration, sleepless nights, and involvement are over! Gone!" He snapped his fingers. "In one large and impressive fireball! So what do we do with all that extra time we have on our hands now?"

"You," Robinton said, pointing a stern finger at the journeyman, "will now have the unenviable task as a harper of explaining the true facts of the achievement to those who didn't understand that this effort would not alter the path of Thread during the remainder of this Pass."

To Lytol's surprise, Robinton had not been at all dismayed by Jaxom's report. In fact, the Harper had seemed to expect such disgruntlements.

"Menolly's already composed one ballad," Robinton went on, "with a chorus to hammer home the point that this is the Last Pass for Thread, that Pern will be forever free from the end of this Pass."

"A point!" Piemur said. "Is that certain, Aivas?"

"That is now guaranteed, Piemur. You must realize, of course, that an immediate alteration of the Red Star's orbit will not be perceived," Aivas said, "for some decades."

"Decades?" F'lar exclaimed, surprised.

"Naturally. If you consider the size of the object you were trying to move," Fandarel said, "and the scale of this solar system, there is no such thing as sudden change. Even chaos takes time to develop. But in several decades, that alteration will be measurable."

"Rest assured of that, Weyrleader," Aivas added in a tone so laden with certainty that F'lar's consternation eased.

"It's too bad Jaxom and Sharra didn't come," Lessa said, slightly irritated by their absence. "I knew that Ruth would strain himself, taking part in the second lift."

"Jaxom is quite capable of making his own decisions now, my dear," F'lar said, amused at her proprietary concern for the Ruathan Holder.

"There is one more minor adjustment to make, however," Aivas said, "which it is recommended to be undertaken by the lesser colors."

"Oh? What?" Lessa and F'lar were very much aware that the brown, blue, and green riders were somewhat aggrieved by their exclusion from the project. "All the Weyrs of Pern" had been limited to most of the bronze dragons and only a few of the other colors, even if it had been obvious that there wasn't space enough on the spars to accommodate every dragon who wished to take part, much less space suits to protect their riders in space.

"The matter of the Buenos Aires and the Bahrain."

I 'What about them?" F'lar asked just as Fandarel emitted an "ah" of comprehension.

"Readings on the orbits of the two smaller ships have shown a marked increase of frequency of adjustments. The adjustments take more and more power, and the prognosis is that their orbits are likely to decay over the next decades to the critical point. The Yokohama, of course, has the fuel to remain in a stable orbit and must be maintained as long as possible, since its telescope will be used to track the Red Star. But the other ships ought to be moved."

"Moved?" F'lar asked. "Where?"

"A slight alteration in their speed and altitude will break them out of orbit and send them coasting harmlessly off into space."

"Eventually to be captured by the sun's gravity and pulled into it," Fandarel added.

"Burned up?" Lytol asked.

"A heroic end for such valiant ships," Robinton murmured.

"You mentioned nothing of this before," F'lar said.

"There were more urgent priorities," Aivas replied. "It is certainly a task that must be accomplished sooner rather than later when the orbits have decayed, and while the skills your riders have learned for the more essential task are still fresh in their minds."

"It would certainly ease the tension in the Weyr," Lessa said. "We hadn't anticipated that."

"What exactly does this entail, Aivas?" F'lar asked.

"As stated, the dragons are to alter the direction of the two ships and give a 'push'; that is, transport the ship between, all moving at the same cue. There are many handholds on the exterior of the ships to give dragons a grip. Judging by what you were able to accomplish in transferring the engines, such a maneuver is well within the scope of your smaller creatures."

F'lar gri

"In no way, Weyrleader."

"What is the time frame on this?" Fandarel asked.

"Preferably within the next few weeks. There is no immediate danger, but do not let the dragons and riders lose the edge."

"I think that will be good news," F'lar said, nodding acceptance.

"Then you will set a time for this maneuver?"

"As soon as I can discuss it with the other Weyrleaders." Oddly enough, F'lar's spirits rose with the thought of another project. Flying Threadfall had become less exciting since the removal of the engines to the Red Star.

"It seems ungrateful to condemn those ships to death," Lessa murmured.

"It's a crime to waste all the material," Fandarel added.

"These ships were never designed for planetary landings, Master Fandarel," Aivas said.

"In one piece, that is," Piemur added.

"Yes, Piemur, the pieces could have lethal consequences if they were to enter the atmosphere without disintegrating entirely."

"I'll let you know," F'lar said. "Shall we go, Lessa?"

Watching the fireball soon lost its appeal for many on the Yokohama bridge that day. Shortly thereafter, when D'ram and the Eastern Weyr rider were ready to take the last watchers back to the Landing, Fandarel and Piemur cycled the life-support systems down to the holding mode.