I Read What?!

So last time, poor F'lessan's discovery got upstaged in the very first line. There was some cool stuff in space, admittedly. And some speculation about Aivas's ultimate plan!

But also, poor F'lessan.



So this chapter starts promisingly, with Lessa. We're told that she's a bit put out when Ruth (with Jaxom, Sharra and Oldive) joins the big dragons in their trip to the Yokohama.

Jaxom is unapologetic. I'm not sure why he'd need to be apologetic, but also he's a smug git in general, so I'm irrationally annoyed. He tells us that Sharra and Oldive volunteered to dissect the Thread egg.

...so, per last chapter, there were a decent number of volunteers to study the egg and Lytol and company were supposed to choose. And they chose Jaxom's wife. I am shocked. This honestly would have read better without that scene at all, since Oldive, as main healer, is the logical choice.

...actually, IS Oldive the Masterhealer? Technically, he was the healer at Harper Hall. Surely there is a higher ranking healer at their OWN hall, right? But McCaffrey's never bothered to introduce him.

Of course, Jaxom has nobler reasons that are extremely Ruth-and-Jaxom shilling:

Anyway, Jaxom is there to help with the telescope (and secretly, to allow Ruth to give the bigger dragons advice on free-fall if necessary, though apparently the green dragons haven't had any problem.)

So the big dragons get their first view of the cargo bay:

Ramoth made an odd little noise in her throat as she viewed her surroundings, her eyes idly whirling. Mnementh lowered his head, sniffing at the scarred deck plates, peering into the corners, his eyes calm. D’ram’s Tiroth stretched his neck until his head reached the ceiling. At that point, his feet lifted slowly from the floor, startling the big bronze into a bellow of protest.

So Ruth does get to give the bigger dragons some tips, it's all very reasonable though, so I can't complain. I'm just so sick of Jaxom (and to a lesser extent, Ruth) getting shilled for stuff that is just randomly mentioned and undeserved that I get annoyed even when they're genuinely useful.

It's the "bitch eating crackers" thing.

Jaxom scolds Ruth for showing off, while F'lar, of all people, seems to be the fastest to adjust:

“I think you’ve made your point, Lord Jaxom,” F’lar said, a ripple of suppressed amusement in his voice. “Easy does it, right?” Moving carefully, F’lar swung out of his accustomed perch between Mnementh’s neck ridges and found that he had propelled himself deckward. “An incredible feeling! Try it, Lessa. I know you don’t weigh much under any circumstances, but I just drifted down! Amazing sensation! No strain for you, Robinton.”

I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense. F'lar is older than McCaffrey wants to admit, but still a generation younger than Robinton and still quite physically active. We don't see Lessa or Robinton dismount, but one assumes it goes well. They split off, with Jaxom going to the bridge.

He admits that he's pretty eager to show off his expertise and I do sympathize with that impulse. And they don't disappoint with their genuine awe from seeing Pern from above. They even get to see the Thread specimen, via laboratory cameras, and note that the larva is much smaller than expected.

So they get ready for Thread. Ruth updates us that Ramoth has adjusted better than the boy dragons to free-fall and is enjoying it a lot. Apparently, while she's bigger, she isn't using as much shove. That actually kind of makes sense.

Mirrim arrives on the bridge to play taxi. Lessa and Robinton are offered a ride. Lessa's not too good to ride a green. F'lar gets to join Jaxom on Ruth. And I admit, I rather like this bit.

“You know the drill?” Jaxom asked the Benden Weyrleaders.

Lessa gave him a hard stare as she floated across to Path, but F’lar chuckled and replied meekly, “I assure you, we’ve been practicing hard, Jaxom. My thanks, Ruth,” he added as he glided up to the white dragon’s back and settled himself.

“Bit easier to bestride than that great hulk of yours, isn’t he?” Jaxom replied, grinning at the mild surprise on the bronze rider’s face. “Have a good destructive time! You’ve got three minutes before contact.”

So Robinton gets the honor on this ship. Poor D'ram just gets to watch. But both enjoy the experience. Robinton suggests they ought to get Lytol to come, since he'd never had a chance to destroy Thread as a rider. (As a reminder, poor Lytol's dragon, Larth, was killed in a training accident quite some time before Dragonflight.)

Jaxom checks in on the healers, who are having trouble getting into the shell of the Thread. Of COURSE, Jaxom is the one to suggest diamond cutters as a solution. Hmph.

It really isn't unreasonable that he'd think of it, but meh. Fuck Jaxom.

Aivas is a bit irritating sometimes:

“You do not have the technology necessary to produce a narrow heat beam such as a laser that would be effective on such a casing,” Aivas added. “Another area in which you will have to make great progress over the next Turn.”

“Oh? Why?” Jaxom asked, noting the quick interest of both Robinton and D’ram.

“There is no point, at this juncture, to elaborate on device or need,” Aivas replied. “It is a matter that has been placed in the Mastersmith’s hands but does not have priority over other, more essential, projects.”

You know, you COULD tell them a bit more, dude.

Sharra asks if he has helpful suggestions. He notes the diamond cutter edge will be effective, and Sharra testily asks why he didn't suggest they bring one. I'm not sure that's reasonable. Aivas hasn't been this close to a Thread egg either.

But she's not wrong:

“The trouble with you, Aivas,” Sharra continued with some asperity, “is that you only tell us what you think we should know: not necessarily all we need to know or what we want to know.”

D'ram and Robinton note that she's not wrong. And that Aivas didn't refute the accusation either. They consider that none of them would have thought about using a diamond cutter, except maybe Fandarel. Why Fandarel doesn't get to be here is an interesting question no one asks.

Actually, kvetching aside, I rather like this. It's logical to bring healers to study a living object. But Thread is also an alien substance. So having an expert in inanimate technology would have been a good person to have too. But I think it's reasonable that they wouldn't have considered that.

--

So they go to Cove Hold, feeling pretty content. The dragons are comfortable in free-fall. The humans got to destroy Thread in a new way. It's fun!

Heck, even Ramoth is actually becoming friendlier to fire-lizards!

Ramoth had become so accustomed to fire-lizards by now that she did not object when wild ones came to assist the riders in scrubbing their dragons. In fact, she insisted that because she was the largest, she needed more to help Lessa scrub her, Lessa being not as big as the other riders. And Ruth has Jaxom and Sharra to bathe him, she added imperiously.

When a laughing Lessa repeated Ramoth’s remark, Robinton announced that he was more than willing to scrub a queen. Then D’ram said that there were far too many fire-lizards helping Lessa, whereas Robinton had been flown to the Yokohama by Tiroth and so the Harper ought, out of courtesy, to wash the bronze. In the end, all the apprentices and journeyfolk working at Cove Hold, save Lytol, waded into the waters and helped bathe the five dragons.

I included this bit because it's genuinely adorable.

Oh, we do get something to try to convince us that Jaxom isn't a shirker:

After a very pleasant evening meal spent in most congenial company, Jaxom, Sharra, and Oldive reluctantly departed for Ruatha. Jaxom was growing as accustomed to these long days as Sharra. Making use of the extra hours allowed him to acquit his Hold responsibilities while continuing to indulge himself in the Aivas schedule. While Sharra and Oldive dealt with the patients in the Hold infirmary, he located Brand and oversaw the enlargement of the beasthold at Riverside, and checked over the improvements to two more minor hold properties.

Hold responsibilities my ass. Notably, the very next sentence is about how annoyed he is after a twenty-hour day to be awakened from sleep by a message from F'lessan. (Translation: Brand does all the work.)

But hey, it looks like F'lessan actually DOES get the discovery of Kenjo's fuel. Or at least an unnamed discovery in secret room revealed when the roof of Honshu caved in.

Hey, McCaffrey, the fact that the fuel is useful millennia later doesn't excuse all of your characters being blase about a literal crime, while blaming someone who hadn't done anything yet.

Jaxom is a dick, who resents being roused, while Ruth "almost contritely" points out that Golanth never bothers them unnecessarily. Poor F'lessan. You need better friends.

Hey, Jaxom, if you're sick of Hold responsibilities, you can always offer Lessa or her son their kingdom back.

Jaxom asks if Aivas has a response (since he's among the people who received a message), and Ruth has to remind him that unless Jaxom's in Aivas's presence, Ruth can't hear him.

Tiroth then sends a message that all three from Cove Hold are coming, Lytol says it could be important, and Aivas is insistent. Ramoth and Mnementh are also coming, which means that F'lar and Lessa, who would have had about as long a day as Jaxom, far more responsibility, and are twenty-to-thirty years older than Jaxom are doing their jobs. So Jaxom finally has to stop whining (there was a lot of narrative whining), and get up.

Oh, by the way, the narrative points out that he does not actually check his riding harness. (The one hanging up, which he doesn't use anyway. He uses the covert harness instead.)

So they make it to Honshu. It's dawn, and too misty to see. But the sky looks quite pretty:

Grudgingly, Jaxom agreed as he contemplated the view. To his left, both moons were visible, half full, hanging in a sky of an unusual clear and cloudless blue as night retreated westward—where he should still be in his bed, he thought ruefully. He suppressed the urge to lean forward in his saddle, rest his head on Ruth’s neck, and go back to sleep until the mist cleared. But the longer he looked on a day so beautifully beginning—he hadn’t known that Ruth could be so lyrical—he found it increasingly difficult to look away.

Dude is STILL fucking whining. Jaxom, you don't DO anything.

Anyway, Golanth helpfully makes himself visible on the cliff and they arrive to klah and food.

“Thanks for coming so promptly,” F’lessan said, grinning broadly. “I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Sorry to get you out of your bed, Jaxom, because I know you had a long day, but you’d hate me to leave you out of this.” The young bronze rider threw a companionable arm about Jaxom’s shoulders, his expression so uncharacteristically anxious that Jaxom felt obliged to reassure him.

...you know, Lessa had some pretty scary mental powers when she tried. I wonder if F'lessan couldn't actually feel Jaxom bitching before he arrived. Also, can he hear other dragons? I've never thought to ask. Maybe I do need to read Skies of Pern.

(I'm guessing no, since that seems to be something that McCaffrey saves for her favorites, and would make him more special than Jaxom.)

So F'lessan does get some retroactive appreciation though, as Jaxom is amazed by the decorations. F'lessan is cutely enthusiastic and protective of it.

“Rather spectacular, isn’t it?” F’lessan asked, turning back to his old friend. He spent a long moment admiring it, too. “The place is not really big enough for a Weyr, though Golanth says that there’re plenty of good ledges to lie on. And good eating.”

“Southern Weyr had less than this originally,” Jaxom reminded him.

“True. But it’s arranged as a hold. I just don’t want anyone lording it in here,” F’lessan said with unexpected fervor. “People know they can come and go freely in a Weyr. C’mon, you’ll want to see the stuff I found. And now that I’ve got you here at last, you’re going to see the whole place. It is remarkably well preserved and full of the most fascinating tools and equipment. All the smiths are drooling over them.”

I'm not sure I quite understand what he means, but I like the spirit and the desire to show one's friends every cool thing you find.

Killjoy Jaxom says he got the full inventory from Jancis. Yeah, but you never got a wristwatch, so shut up.

So yep, definitely the fuel. It's "liquid carefully stored in plastic bags". F'lessan states that he opened one to see what it is, having assumed it was water. He notes it's not though: as water would have evaporated. It smells funny and he didn't taste it.

They make plans to take the one sack to Aivas. There's forty in all. Six in this room, thirty-four more, then some empty sacks that might have indicated leakage or tunnel snakes.

They explore further. We actually get an exchange between F'lessan and his parents for a moment:

“Well, the steps weren’t completely cut. Just a toehold up the final curve. We didn’t bother to explore that level—until Benmeth crashed through.”

“You didn’t say whether she hurt herself or not,” Lessa said almost accusingly.

F’lessan grinned, rarely affected by his mother’s moods. “Scraped her right hind leg, but J’lono’s slathered numbweed all over her. She’s down in the workroom.”

“Show me where the stairs are, F’lessan,” F’lar said, and when the young bronze rider had indicated the doorway, the Benden Weyrleader led the way, followed closely by Fandarel, Lytol, K’van, and T’gellan.

...I mean, it's a very natural interaction. But Jaxom-disliker that I am, I resent that Jaxom has, so far, gotten more on page acknowledgement and praise from F'lar and Lessa than their own son has.

But F'lessan does get some recognition when we skip ahead to Aivas. He identifies the liquid as fuel, and Robinton thinks he hears jubilation in his voice.

“The fuel does not deteriorate with age, nor does the sample you brought appear to have suffered any contamination. Since this discovery is in Honshu, Kenjo Fusaiyuki’s Stakehold, it is logical to assume that this is part of the fuel he had diverted for his personal use. Mention was made of this cache in Captain Keroon’s records; a search for the fuel cache was conducted at Honshu, but it was never found.”

Still mad that no one bothered to confront Kenjo about this. Serves the ancients right that they never found and used it.

Sadly, the fuel isn't useful for sleds that work on power packs. But Aivas has plans: the fuel is used for in-system propulsion (as opposed to matter/antimatter drives which are for interstellar flight).

Sadly, there's not enough for flight TO the Oort Cloud and moving the ships to interfere with Threadfall isn't feasible either. The shuttles aren't working.

Fandarel really likes the idea of blowing up the Oort Cloud, but...

Another of Aivas’s curious silences ensued, and then suddenly the Rukbat system came up on the screen, the sun dwarfing its satellites. Abruptly the picture altered, the brilliant sun diminishing to a pinpoint of light, the planets reducing out of visibility on the new scale, and the swirling nebulosity of the Oort Cloud appearing to flow across the screen, blotting out even the distant Rukbat. As in so many previous demonstrations, a red line began to describe the orbit of the Red Star, moving through the Oort Cloud and back into the system, swinging around the primary, inside Pern’s conventional path.

“Aivas certainly knows how to cut us down to size,” Piemur murmured.

“Oh!” Fandarel said, resigned. “It is indeed difficult to appreciate the massive scale of the Cloud and the insignificance of our tiny world.”

I do rather like this bit.

And poor F'lessan:

“And when will you tell us how we accomplish that?”

“The research and technology required will shortly be completed.”

“Then finding the fuel makes no difference?” F’lessan slumped in disappointment, his usually merry expression glum.

“It may make a difference in another area, F’lessan. It is always good to have alternatives. You have all done exceedingly well.” That, from Aivas, was praise indeed. “Do not succumb to apathy.”

Poor kid. His ONE accomplishment. I'm sorry that McCaffrey likes Jaxom better than you, F'lessan.

So now the plan is to get all of the bronze and brown dragons and riders some time in free-fall to adjust. We're told that most are enthuasiastic except maybe the riders of elderly dragons, for whom hunting is even becoming difficult. I really would like to know more about the lifespans of dragons, since Tiroth seems to be doing well enough and D'ram's old enough to retire and have a grown son.

...hey, why don't these other dragonriders get a chance to retire just like D'ram?

This is boggling though:

Three days later, fires were set among the fuel sacks, but fire-lizards gave the alarm so no harm was done. On hearing of the near disaster, Aivas was unperturbed and, in an offhanded tone, informed the agitated Lytol and D’ram that the fuel was nonflammable. The relief was palpable, but when Fandarel heard, he immediately wanted to know exactly how such fuel provided the desired effect. Aivas responded with a lecture on the intricacies of seven kinds of jet engines, from the simple reaction engines they had learned about, which made little sense even to Master Fandarel, to more complex multistage affairs.

Um, shouldn't you guys wonder where the fire came from?

Especially as later Master Moulton tells them that someone destroyed all the lenses meant for microscopes and telescopes. While Fanderal's metal barrels for the lenses have been thrown into the forge fire.

We're told, if not for the success with the dragons, morale would be low. But happily Oldive and Sharra manage to penetrate the shell with a black diamond cutter.

(The mention of black diamond makes me think briefly of the Crystal Singer series, and how that crossed over with the Brainships. Is Pern a much later glimpse into the same universe?)

We do get to learn what Thread looks like:

“The most astonishing mess,” she said, frowning in perplexity. Then she gave a disparaging chuckle. “I don’t know what I thought it’d look like. In fact, I never thought about it at all. But the ovoid is coated in layers of dirty, rock-hard ice, with all kinds of pebbles and grains and—and junk mixed up. It’s sort of whitish, yellow, black, gray . . . Is the yellow helium? Were you there for those lectures on liquefying gas? No, that was Piemur and Jancis.

“At any rate, there are rings that wrap round and round. You can separate the rings from the other material. There are tubes, and patches of bubbling stuff. Aivas said it was a very disorganized life-form.”

Sadly their tools aren't really durable enough to deal with the cold. They'll need special glass.

And hey, for the very first time, Jaxom is about to do Hold business, while Ruth gives Sharra a ride to see Oldive. And guess who forgot to tell anyone about the covert gear he uses?

At the same moment that Ruth replied, She’s safe, her two fire-lizards screamed so loudly that Lamoth, the elderly bronze on Ruatha’s heights, bugled a warning. As Jaxom watched paralyzed by shock, he saw Ruth slowly descending, Sharra clutching him tightly about the neck; Meer and Talla hooked their talons in the shoulders of her riding jacket. The main riding strap dangled loosely between Ruth’s legs.

Trembling in fear for what might have been, Jaxom forgot dignity and duty as he tore out of the Great Hall. In his wish not to worry her with an incident he had almost forgotten, he had nearly cost her her life. As Ruth delicately landed in front of him, his hands were still shaking as he helped Sharra down from her precarious perch and embraced her tightly.

Congratulations, Jaxom, your idiocy almost got your wife killed.

Ruth is apologetic, he should have asked which harness Sharra grabbed. Nah, Jaxom should tell people things going on. Poor Ruth is lowkey traumatized, while Sharra borrows Lamoth and G'lanar for her trip.

Ruth notes that G'lanar is okay for an Oldtimer, but wishes that some other pair were back. And OH, okay:

“You know that pair can’t fly Thread now. G’lanor’s failing and Lamoth can barely chew his food anymore, much less firestone.” Jaxom didn’t think more of Ruth’s comment then but tactfully called to the elderly dragon and rider to convey Sharra to the Healer Hall. He stripped off the dangling harness and rolled it up until he could examine it.

So the watchdragon/transport jobs are basically retirement for elderly dragons and riders. That actually makes sense.

Meanwhile, Brand shows us who is really in charge here:

“You never told her?” Brand murmured in Jaxom’s ear as they sat down.

“I will now. That was too close.” Jaxom saw that his fingers were trembling as he sorted the papers he had scattered in panic.

“Indeed and it was. Does this . . . obvious attempt on your life have anything to do with all the recent incidents?”

“I wish I knew.”

“You will speak to Benden now, won’t you?” Brand’s look was severe and implacable.

“I will,” Jaxom agreed with a faint smile, “because I know that you intend to.”

“So long as that’s understood.” Then in a louder voice, Brand went on. “The first case concerns the alleged misuse of Hold supplies . . .”

Poor guy. HE should be Lord of Ruatha.

Anyway, we are told that Jaxom finally fills Sharra in that evening and she tears strips out of him for "sparing" her anxiety. Sadly we don't see that part. Then they look to see if there are any suspicious entries in the Hold's visitor books.

Even Ruth isn't helpful as, having a life of his own, he sometimes joins the Watchdragons. (Even old Lamoth. They scratch each other's itches. Aw.)

Sharra wants him to tell the folks at Landing. Jaxom is still an idiot:

“That was about succession, Sharrie,” he objected. “The destruction is a different matter entirely.”

“How do you know that?” she demanded, clenching her fists on the armrest and shooting him an angry and reproachful glare. “Especially when you’re the leader for all of Aivas’s plans.”

“Me? The leader?” Jaxom stared at her in complete surprise.

“Well, you are, even if you don’t realize it.” Then her severe expression softened. “You wouldn’t.” She gave him a sweetly condescending smile. “You are, though. Take my word for it, and everyone on the planet knows it.”

Ugh. She's right, though. And honestly, if I didn't hate Jaxom for previous books, this wouldn't bother me that much. But I do. I still don't really think he's done anything to really earn this position. He's basically just lucked into it like he does anything else.

I do laugh at this though:

“Oh, don’t get fussed, Jax. It’s one of your most endearing traits that you don’t get puffed up with importance and irritate people with an inflated self-consequence.”

...HOW many times was the fucking egg mentioned in White Dragon?!

But also, Jaxom's an idiot, because the only reason anyone CARES about the succession is the relationship with Aivas. The conspirators even hinted at that.

And then we get this:

She murmured agreement and laid her head down on his shoulder. “You are being careful, aren’t you, Jax?” she asked in a low and anxious voice.

He hugged her to him. “More than you are. How many times have I told you to check the riding harness before you use it?” he asked. He met her outraged reaction with a grin.

If she decided to murder you, I don't think anyone would complain, you fuckhead.

-

So they do discuss the sabotage the next day. They're pretty calm about it, until Sharra dramatically discloses that someone is trying to kill Jaxom. THIS bit is fun though:

“He was trying to keep me from worrying,” Sharra said in an acid tone. “Brand is trying to find out who could have sliced the leathers. It was done very cleverly by someone who knew exactly what stress would be put on riding straps.”

“A dragonrider?” Lessa’s voice rose to a near shriek, and outside half the dragons on the heights bugled in alarm. “There isn’t a dragonrider on Pern who’d endanger Jaxom or Ruth!” And she glared at the young Lord Holder as if he were at fault. He glared right back.

“Nor any way a dragonrider could do so without his dragon’s awareness,” F’lar said emphatically.

The relationship between Ruth and the other dragons is something that was hinted at but never really defined or explored. Ramoth is protective, but there's never been a real hint that any other dragon really cares that much. Though of course there's a difference between not being very protective and allowing a murder.

But it's like, no one stopped T'ron from trying to knife F'lar. Are you SURE they're all loyal?

They do consider other possible motives: Sharra's involvement with Thread - but no one could have known when she'd ride Ruth.

Either way, everyone's now very protective. There'll be more guards. (Lytol, who is very pale - poor guy, suggests watch whers) Sharra even mentions that Toric's had good luck with feline cubs - but they need to be caged during the day as they're ferocious.

Aww. Kitty.

A lot of the completed items can go to the Yokohama at least, where Aivas can guard them.

The chapter ends here.