All The Weyrs of Pern

"Q.E.D.," Aivas said.

"Cue ee dee?" Piemur asked.

"That has been demonstrated."

14

On the bridge of the Yokohama the next afternoon, Jaxom and Piemur leaned over the engineering console.

"I know we emptied all those sacks in," Piemur said in an aggrieved tone, "but you wouldn't know it from the gauge."

"Big tank," Jaxom said, giving the dial a tap. "Drop in the bloody bucket."

"All that work for nothing," Piemur added, disgusted. They had had to suit up, because the fuel auxiliary intake pipe had been in a low-pressure section. The harper did not like the restrictions of a suit and the smell of tanked air. Despite weightlessness, the sacks had been awkward to manage: they could only take two at a time to the engineering level from the cargo bay where the dragons had transported them. And they were even more awkward to empty into the intake, following Aivas's instructions on the procedure for handling fluids in free-fall.

"Not for nothing," Aivas replied. "It is now safe from any tampering."

"Then it was dangerous?" Piemur asked, shooting Jaxom an I-told-you-so look.

"The fuel was not flammable, but if it were spilled, there would be toxic effects. Also, soil impregnated with the fuel becomes sterile. It is wise to avoid any u

Jaxom rotated his shoulders, easing tense muscles. Sometimes working in these free-fall conditions was harder than performing a similar task on Pern.

"We have quite enough trouble as it is," Piemur said, and then turned to Jaxom. "Klah?" He lifted the hot bottle, one of Hamian's new contraptions: a large, thick, glass bottle, insulated by teased fibers of the same plant Bendarek was using to make paper and set inside a casing of Hamian's new hard plastic. It kept liquid warm or cold, though some people could not understand how the bottle knew the difference. "Meatroll?" He held out several wrapped rounds.

Jaxom gri

Piemur rolled his eyes expressively. "Aivas said it was a thermos, and harpers traditionally try new things out! And besides, I'm resident at Landing, where Hamian has his manufactory, and you're just a ru

Jaxom refused to rise to the jibe. "Thanks for the food, Piemur. I'd worked up quite an appetite."

They had taken off their helmets and gloves upon entering the bridge and now made themselves comfortable in the console chairs. After the first edge of their hunger was allayed, Piemur gestured to Ruth, Farli, and Meer, who were plastered across the window, staring out.

"Do they see something we don't?" he asked.

"I asked Ruth," Jaxom said. "He says he just likes to look at Pern, all pretty laid out like that. With the clouds and the differences in light, it never looks the same twice."

"While you are eating," Aivas said, "this is an opportunity to explain another very important step in the training process."

"Is that why we got the sack duty?" Piemur asked with a wink and a grin at Jaxom.

"You are as perceptive as ever, Piemur. We have a secure cha

"We're all ears," Piemur said, then added hastily, "figuratively speaking, naturally."

"Accurate. It is essential to team how much time dragons can spend in space unprotected by such suits as you are now wearing."

"I thought you'd figured that out, Aivas," Jaxom said. "Ruth and Farli suffered no harm at all during the time they were on this bridge. They didn't seem to notice the cold and certainly weren't in oxygen debt."

"They were on the bridge for precisely three and a half minutes. It is required that dragons function normally for a minimum of twelve minutes. Fifteen would be the upper time required."

"For what?" Jaxom asked, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. Piemur's eyes were bright with excitement.

"The exercise is to accustom them to being in space-"

"Having already become accustomed to weightlessness?" Jaxom asked.

"Exactly."

"So we're at the walking stage?" Piemur asked.

"So to speak. The level of adaptability of your dragons is commendable. There have been no unfavorable reactions to the experience of free-fall."

"Why would there be?" Jaxom asked. "It's on a level with hovering, or being between, and dragons have no problem with that. So now, they're to go extravehicular."

"Wouldn't they float away?" Piemur asked, casting an anxious look at Jaxom. "I mean, like the Thread eggs do?"

"Unless a violent movement was made, they would remain stationary," Aivas said. "As they will exit from the Yokohama, they are moving at the same speed, not at a different velocity as the incoming Thread spheres are. However, to prevent any panic-"

"Dragons don't panic," Jaxom said in flat contradiction, speaking before Piemur could utter a similar rebuke.

"Their riders might," Aivas replied.

"I doubt it," Jaxom said.

"Perhaps dragonriders are a breed apart, Lord Jaxom," Aivas said at his most formal, "but records of many generations indicate that some humans, despite training and reassurance, can find themselves overwhelmed by agoraphobia. Therefore, to prevent panic, the dragon should anchor itself-"

"Himself," Jaxom automatically corrected.

"Or herself," Piemur added, waggling a finger at the white rider.

"For the dragon to be anchored securely to the Yokohama," Aivas finished.

"Lines? We can get rope or some of that strong fine cable Fandarel's been extruding," Piemur suggested.

"That will not be necessary, as something suitable is already available."

"What?" Jaxom asked contritely, realizing that their banter was delaying details that they had wanted to hear for Turns.

The screen in front of them lit up, showing a graphic of the Yokohama profile. The display altered to a close-up of the long shaft on which the engines were fitted-and the framework of spars that had once held the extra fuel tanks in place.

"Dragons can hang on the frames!" Jaxom cried. "That would definitely offer a secure grip. And, unless I've misread the dimensions, those rails are as long as a Weyr Rim. Imagine, all the Weyrs of Pern, Piemur, out in space, along those girders! What a sight!"

"The only drawback to that," Piemur said pragmatically, "is that there aren't enough space suits for all the riders of Pern."

"There will be sufficient space suits available when required," Aivas informed them calmly, "though not quite all the dragons in the Weyrs of Pern will be needed. Since you are still suited, Lord Jaxom, and have taken nourishment, perhaps you and Ruth would attempt an extravehicular activity today?"

Piemur's eyes grew wide and round as he assimilated Aivas's astounding suggestion. "By the first Egg, it's not the humans you've got to be wary of, Jaxom. It's Aivas who's trying to kill you!"

"Nonsense!" Jaxom replied hotly. But he had felt his stomach leap almost in time to the accelerated beat of his heart at the notion of an EVA. "Ruth?"

I'll see a lot more from there than I can from the window was the white dragon's thoughtful response.

With a laugh that was only a trifle shaky, Jaxom told Piemur what Ruth had said.

The harper gave him a long incredulous look and sighed. "I don't know which of you two is more outrageous. You'd dare anything, the pair of you would." Then in a wry tone, he added, "And I'm supposed to be the reckless one."

"But you aren't a dragonrider," Jaxom said gently.

"The dragon makes the man?" Piemur shot back.

Jaxom smiled, sending a loving look at Ruth, who was watching the two humans. "With a dragon to guide and guard you, you tend to feel secure."