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"I'm ready when you are," she a
"Easy, girl!" Jaxom laughed. Her association with T'gellan had calmed her considerably, but she still tended to become a bit overzealous in her enthusiasms. Not necessarily a bad trait, Jaxom realized, but it could be wearing on her companions.
"Well I am ready, with only the two barrels and tanks to be positioned on my green Path. And if we don't know what we're supposed to do by now"-she shot a glance at Sharra– "we never will. It's so simple. Open the packets, add water, and stir."
"Not quite," Sharra said with a grin. "It's the setting of the mirrors that'll take time, and their positioning is crucial to the success of the algae propagation."
"I know, I know." Mirrim impatiently dismissed that with a flick of her fingers.
"Is S'len ready, too?" Jaxom asked.
"Him!" Mirrim gave an amused grunt. "He's studying the photos of the bridge area in spite of the fact that we're supposed to get our placement directly from Ruth."
"Who's to carry the water barrels?" Sharra asked. Taking Mirrim by the hand, she led her away to check on that detail.
"Heard you told Toric what to do," D'ram commented to Jaxom, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
"No," Jaxom replied smoothly. "Lord Groghe told Toric. Anything else I should know about Landing?" he asked pointedly.
"Aivas will tell you what you need to know about Landing." D'ram shooed him down the corridor. "He's expecting you."
Just as if Jaxom had not been absent for several days, Aivas outlined the schedule.
"There is sufficient oxygen in the Environment Sector now, but the duties are nevertheless to be carried out as expeditiously as possible. The fire-lizards are to accompany Lady Sharra and Greenrider Mirrim, as they would be sensitive to any sudden drop in pressure or in oxygen level. It is also an integral part of these exercises to accustom as many fire-lizards as possible to the act of transferring from the planet to the Yokohama."
"When will you explain that particular wrinkle in your master plan?" Jaxom asked. Silently he mouthed the response he had come to expect.
"In due time. If you knew the answer, why did you ask, Jaxom?"
Jaxom batted both hands at the Aivas. Little escaped that entity-even silent flippancy.
"Just checking," he replied amiably. "In case due time had arrived while I was gone."
"There is a great deal to be prepared before that time is accomplished. Surely you, of all people, who have been on the Yokohama, should realize that."
"Two more Turns?"
"Five months, and twelve days, with respect to the position of the eccentric planet. Meanwhile the fire-lizards can become messengers even as they are here on the surface, transporting items required on the Yokohama which are within the scope of their abilities."
Jaxom kept his resignation to himself. They had no option but to proceed at the pace Aivas set. But what-eventually-did Aivas intend the fire-lizards to transport? Jaxom couldn't imagine.
Aware that further questioning of Aivas would be futile, he joined the others to prepare for the day's exercise. There were plenty of willing hands to help them load Ruth, Path, and S'len's Bigath with oxygen tanks and water barrels, although Mirrim fussed inordinately about how the tanks were situated on her beloved Path.
"You're wasting time, Mirrim," Jaxom said finally, when she insisted on padding the knots across Path's back. "The load sits fine and we're not flying straight, you know." Privately he wondered if Mirrim was covering up a case of nerves. Sharra was composed enough, and so was S'len, though his face was flushed with excitement.
"I just don't want them shifting," Mirrim replied stiffly.
"Shift they will. All the way to the Yokohama," S'len remarked, gri
"Enough. We go! Now, Ruth!" Jaxom said, and felt Sharra's hands work tighter onto his belt. Then he gave Ruth the mental vision of the bridge and heard the white dragon pass the instructions on to Path and Bigath.
If there were many things Jaxom did not understand about Aivas, the artificial intelligence had some problem understanding dragon capabilities. For instance, how much weight could a dragon carry? For which the answer was: How much weight did the dragon think he could carry? An answer Aivas found specious-and certainly not helpful when what was needed was hard numbers.
Then there was the question, How do dragons know where to go? "Their riders tell them," did nothing to explain the actual process to Aivas. While Aivas did accept teleportation, it could not understand why telekinesis was so impossible a concept to explain to the dragons and the fire-lizards. Especially when Ruth had indeed understood what Farli had not: to go to the Yokohama.
In checking the details of this joint trip to the spaceship, Jaxom had asked Ruth if he could carry two riders, as well as two padded barrels, one of pure water and one of carbonated water. Ruth's reply had been affirmative although, as Aivas saw the load, it was more than the dragon's slight frame ought to be able to bear.
"If Ruth thinks he can, he can," Jaxom could only reply. "And it's not that far."
It might be easier, the white dragon remarked to his rider as he launched himself into the air, to just go between from the ground instead of lifting.
Is the load too much for you after all? Jaxom asked, teasing.
Of course not. Just bulky! Everyone's set. Here we go!
There was a squawk from the five escorting fire-lizards, and the next moment the tanks clanked against the bridge walls. Exclamations of surprise from the three newcomers punctuated their arrival. Jaxom heard Sharra inhale in astonishment. Gri
"Oh!" she said, her eyes luminous with the dazzle she beheld. "Now I understand, dear heart, why you're so involved with this! Pern is so beautiful, so serene from up here. If only some of those contentious sour old men could see our world from this vantage point... Isn't it incredible, Mirrim?" There was a pause. "Mirrim?"
Jaxom turned to the green rider, who was staring out the wide window with bulging eyes.
"That's Pern?" Mirrim asked in a cracked voice. "Down there?" A limp hand pointed a finger to the deck.
"That's Pern! Isn't the view great!" Jaxom tried to sound reassuring-Mirrim was patently overwhelmed. "S'len? You all right there?"
"I th-think-ssso," the other green rider said with little confidence.
Jaxom gri
"Why not?" Mirrim demanded in her usual assertive way. "All we have to do is haul more tanks up here." With crisp motions, she unbuckled her riding straps.
"Careful now, Mirrim. You're in-ah-oops." Jaxom broke off; Mirrim had indeed forgotten how she was supposed to move in free-fall and was drifting ceilingward. "Just hold out one hand, and very carefully push away from the roof. That's right."
Mirrim had been too startled to cry out; also, she had no great wish to show to disadvantage. Now she did as directed and managed a weak grin as she grabbed Path's helpfully extended muzzle. Fortunately, the green was wedged fairly tightly between guardrail and wall and thus was not susceptible to the whimsies of free-fall.
"Make every motion slow and easy, S'len, when you're dismounting. Hang on to a neck ridge or something," Jaxom advised. Before he detached his riding straps he nodded to Sharra to follow the same advice.