Страница 40 из 114
Halfway down the corridor, F'lar caught Lessa by the arm. "You may be furious, Lessa, but we can't intervene in this. And I probably lost as many seconds of my life as you did over Ruth's leap."
"Ruth ca
"Ruth and Jaxom were not Weyr-trained. But don't think Ruth's going to get off easily for this escapade." He managed a droll grin. "Judging by the look on Jaxom's face, he's had a fright he won't forget. That will inhibit Ruth far more surely than threats from you and me." He gave her one of his little shakes. "More important, the less furor there is right now, the fewer rumors will abound."
Lessa let out a heavy sigh, glared at him, and then gave herself a shake, releasing herself from his grasp.
"Yes, we don't want this bruited about-at least, not quite yet. But I tell you, and I'll tell Jaxom, too, I don't want to live through another few seconds like that again. All I could think about was how under the heavens would we explain to Lytol."
F'lar gri
"And just won't he!"
Discretion muted the congratulations for the brave venturers, but everyone patted Ruth and scrubbed at his eyeridges until his eyes were whirling with delight. When Farli finally settled down again on Piemur's shoulder, she also received extravagant caresses. False dawn was just lightening the eastern horizon, so there was a good chance that few were awake to wonder at the fuss being made of Ruth.
"I think," Robinton began when the elation abated, "that we'd better return to Aivas. I, for one, would like to know what's next."
"Well, that depends on what Aivas learns from the instrumentation that Farli just turned on," Jaxom replied. "If the bridge is intact, warms up, and there's enough oxygen left in the tanks that supply that area, Ruth and I go up-together." He gri
That was, however, not quite all that Aivas had in mind when, late the next day, the bridge atmospheric conditions were found to be satisfactory.
"Piemur, I would like you to accompany Jaxom," Aivas said when the group reassembled.
"I'm not supposed to go with him this trip," Piemur exclaimed.
"Originally, no. Two men will be needed for what should now be the first project. To demonstrate proper respect for Sallah Telgar, it is fitting that her mortal remains be brought back to Pern and properly interred. No doubt, Lord Larad would like to attend to whatever burial rituals are currently practiced."
A profound silence prevailed until Robinton cleared his throat.
"Yes, that would be not only respectful and appropriate, but a long-overdue honor for such a valiant lady. I'll inform Lord Larad immediately."
"Would her space suit be usable after all this time?" Piemur asked, curious. When he saw the shocked expression on Jancis's face, he belatedly realized how callous that sounded and, groaning, hid his face against his arm. Farli curled her tail consolingly around his throat.
"With some minor repairs, it is to be hoped that the space suit is usable," Aivas replied so calmly that Robinton was certain that recovery of both body and suit had been pla
Jaxom was unmoved by that information, since he was used to the absolute cold of between, but Piemur gave a dramatic shudder and hunched his shoulders as if already warding off the chill.
"Can Farli come, too?" he asked.
"That would be advisable," Aivas said. "If Jancis's Trig will accompany Farli, there would then be two fire-lizards who understand this sort of between transfer."
Despite an obvious reluctance, Jancis instructed her young bronze Trig to settle himself on Piemur's right shoulder. Jaxom and Piemur left the buildings by themselves so as not to suggest to anyone outside their small group that this journey was anything unusual. The bulky tanks of oxygen, which Aivas had insisted they bring in case of emergency, had already been secured to Ruth's back, but Jaxom checked the ropes before he and Piemur mounted.
"Ready, Piemur?" Jaxom asked over his shoulder.
"As ready as I'll ever be," the harper replied, resettling his grip on Jaxom's wide belt. "But I'm awfully glad Ruth's already been there."
Tell Piemur not to worry. It's fun to float! Ruth remarked as he launched himself.
As Jaxom passed on that encouraging message, he felt Piemur's spasmodic tug on his belt and knew that the harper was also nervous. Not that he didn't trust Ruth to get them there. It was just such a long way!
Between never seemed so cold nor the transfer so long, yet Jaxom, counting silently, reached ten seconds just as they emerged onto the bridge deck of the Yokohama.
"Are we there yet?" Piemur asked. His hands were rigid on Jaxom's belt. As Jaxom looked over his shoulder to reassure the harper, he realized that Piemur had his eyes squeezed shut.
Rather than laugh at his friend, he cleared his throat and turned his head forward-and began to slide sideways off Ruth's neck.
"Shards! What's happening?" Piemur exclaimed, opening his eyes as he and Jaxom continued to slide to their right until they came up against the cold wall.
Don't make sudden moves, Ruth warned both of them.
"I heard you, I heard you," Piemur replied. The freezing wall seemed to burn through the leather of his helmet and his jacket. "It is cold up here!"
Jaxom only nodded. "I'm going to pull us back up on Ruth, Piemur," he said. Carefully grabbing a neck ridge, he slowly righted them. Farli unwrapped her tail and peered up at Jaxom, chirping encouragingly.
"That's all I need," Piemur said wryly. "My fire-lizard telling me how to handle free-fall! " Farli pushed off from his shoulder and floated upward. Trig squeaked; when Farli answered him in an encouraging tone, he let go of his perch and, following her example, also drifted away. The two came to rest on the ceiling, chittering animatedly.
"That's enough, the pair of you," Piemur said, disgusted.
"They're not coming to any harm," Jaxom said, "and Ruth says if we move slowly enough, we'll be all right. We've got a lot to do. Look, Piemur, I'll dismount-carefully-and then you can untie the oxygen tanks. Ruth says the tanks are bulky and he doesn't move until we've untied them. He wants to look out the window."
"He would!"
Jaxom heard the note of self-disparagement in Piemur's voice and gri
"Hmmmm! The air here smells peculiar, sort of dead."
"It'll probably improve with the fresh tanks," Piemur said cheerfuly.
Cautiously, Jaxom dismounted on the right-hand side of the white dragon. Keeping between Ruth and the wall might prevent him from floating about.
Your placement is perfect, Ruth, he told his weyrmate approvingly, hanging on to a neck ridge as he judiciously lowered himself.
It's the only place I'd fit, Ruth remarked, slowly turning his head to his right to observe the margin. I'll hook my tail so I won't drift when you unload me.
Now I know why dragons have tails! Jaxom replied, giving a nervous chuckle.
"Don't laugh," Piemur warned. He had just swung his leg over and had to clutch at Ruth's wing joint to keep from floating upward.
"I wasn't laughing at you, Piemur. Ruth's just found out how to anchor himself. Watch his tail. And dismount to the right, not the left. Don't grab that wing joint so hard. Wings are fragile."