I Read What?!

Hey, we made it to the penultimate chapter. Which means, I suspect, we're going to get the final attack on the Red Star pretty soon. Which is good, because I don't think there's much plot left to be resolved.

Except maybe when Jaxom will finally decide to be honest with his wife...



So we start off the chapter with Deus Ex Aivas explaining what Fandarel and Bendarek are supposed to be doing to the casing of the antimatter engine. It occurs to me that 99% of the book is just Aivas telling our characters what to do and our characters doing it. I can imagine that being annoying for some readers.

I don't really mind it here, since we do need something big if we're going to see the end of the Red Star/Thread, and there's no way these characters at their current tech level were going to be able to figure a solution out on their own. But I could wish there was a little more opportunity for the actual characters to discover things. Maybe if it were a more collaborative process, where Aivas provides the tools but human creativity provides the answers, I'd be more satisfied...

I don't dislike the book, don't get me wrong, but I do wish our heroes got to THINK more, rather than just do. (It's probably one of the reasons I actually like Skies of Pern - the characters actually do think of their solutions themselves.)

Aivas and Fandarel bicker back and forth about the exact amount of agenothree needed for the job, and naturally, Aivas is right. Fandarel is still a bit boggled about how two hundred grams of fuel could power a ship the size of the Yokohama, which is a fair thing to boggle at.

Aivas does make a point of praising Fandarel, and we actually get a time frame for how long this book has been going on: four years and nine months. Good to know. Anyway, Fandarel hasn't had the opportunity to really experiment with antimatter in a lab, because, well, kaboom. So Aivas has the edge int heir arguments.

I do love Bendarek though, as one of the few characters allowed to be obnoxious or snarky while still being competent:

“I could do it in my sleep,” Bendarek muttered.

“It would be unwise to fall asleep in space, Journeyman Bendarek,” Aivas replied immediately.

Bendarek grimaced and shot Fandarel an apologetic glance.

I know he's young, but Menolly became a Journeyman after a week at Harper School, so you think the guy who invented paper could be a Master finally?

Oh, hey, F'lessan cameo, he and "his bronze dragon" are waiting in the cargo bay in case of emergency. That's pretty clever and notes one of the many things dragons could do once Thread is done for good. Teleporting, telepathic emergency personnel would be awesome.

Also, poor F'lessan, I'm sorry that being the son of the original leads doesn't actually matter, since Jaxom is there taking all the attention. If it helps, I genuinely like your book better than either of his.

So we get a glimpse of the engine shaft:

Big as the Mastersmith was, he was dwarfed to insignificance by the immensity of the metal mass that contained the so-efficient two hundred grams of antimatter. For once in his life, Fandarel felt inadequate as he made his lumbering way: a grain of sand beside a dune. However, there was work to be done, for which he was quite capable, so he suppressed the comparison and, without looking back, gestured for Evan and Belterac to follow him. Pern was spread out below them, and with an accustomed glance, he located the odd pimples that were the Landing volcanoes. It comforted him in the grandeur of space to be able to identify something he knew. He proceeded, feeling the vibration in the walkway as others set foot upon it.

Oh, hey, we're told that, to Fandarel's surprise, Terry - a journeyman who gets namedropped a lot throughout the series, is actually unable to deal with either the vastness of space and the lack of gravity, though he's fine on dragonback. I like that. Not everyone would be able to deal with the idea, and Terry generally gets a reasonable enough portrayal that I can't accuse McCaffrey of doing her usual "all of the good people are competent while all of the bad people are the incompetent ones" schtick.

...the cynical part of me wonders how much of that might be the influence of whichever child may have helped her write the book. But that's mean, and honestly, I don't know anything about McCaffrey's health at this time.

We're also told that there had been five space mishaps, fortunately not lethal since dragons were about. Random dude Belterac was the only one who continued with the exercise after since he's phlegmatic by nature.

I like you, unflappable dude whose name I will never remember.

So Fandarel does techy stuff, musing about how the dragons, wearing special gloves, will be the ones who actually carry the engine between. Fanderal has doubts, but tries to maintain his faith in Aivas.

I rather like this bit:

With Aivas’s diagram firmly in mind, he stepped carefully to where the tanks were to be positioned, nozzles end to end and joined by the junction that would permit their contents to drip-drip relentlessly into the metal. The waste of all that incredible metal distressed Fandarel, especially after Aivas insisted that they did not have some of the basic raw materials on Pern to reproduce such an alloy. He contented himself with the knowledge that he had seen it, felt it, and yes, even destroyed it. There was nearly as much destruction in smithing as there was creation.

Smiths and their metals.

It is an interesting idea though, does Pern have metals that don't exist elsewhere? We only tend to hear about familiar metals, but there likely would be, right?

-

We end up shifting scenes to Hamian, talking to F'lar. Apparently he's got a shirtless scene, stripped down to his pants. He, someone named Zurg, Jancis and others are trying to make a shit ton of plastic that, while very pliable and tough, does not assemble well. It's meant to be the outer skin of the new space suits, so it can't be sewn together, and Hamian is trying to figure out a glue that'll be effective.

F'lar, apparently, is being antsy, though he's polite enough here. Jaxom suggests an alternative: sending the engines in three sections and swapping over suits. Of course, if you did that, you could just have the same dragonriders doing each role, but that would somehow get in the way of Jaxom's personal heroics, I think.

Anyway, if you recall, this was always the plan:

“You know as well as I do, F’lar, that there’s a wide window available,” Jaxom said, arguing as subtly as he could so that F’lar would not realize that Aivas intended that there be only two hundred suits. Jaxom hated the necessity of manipulating his best friends, but it was essential if he was to bring off Aivas’s plan. He didn’t like it any better than F’lar did, but he had come to realize that Aivas was not all that confident about the dragons’ abilities. The zebedees were a slower way of destroying Thread, but a second option seemed prudent. “It isn’t as if the engines have to be deposited at the same instant.”

Okay, I get why the backup plan exists, but I don't understand why you can't tell them that. First of all, poor Hamian could actually devote his skill to something that matters. And F'lar is pragmatic and hates Thread as much as anyone. They're not children who need to be misled.

Jaxom talks about how long it takes to shuck space suits, and I STILL don't get why they need multiple teams at all then. Go one at a time and rest in between, you're timing it anyway. But we need to set it up so that only Jaxom is taking the truly heroic risk of multiple jobs, I guess.

This still pisses me off though:

Although Jaxom knew that F’lar was scrutinizing him all during the meal he pretended not to notice. He intended to have a few private words with Aivas about easing up on Hamian. The man was trying—and could have no idea that Aivas was deliberately rejecting space gear that was probably suitable in all respects. Two hundred finished and acceptable units—and no more—would solve Jaxom’s travel problems.

Hamian should get to punch Jaxom in the face, as a treat.

--

So we're told that the last month is ticking down, and we're given the rundown of various projects. Oldive and Sharra have drafted as many healers, as well as some gem cutters, as possible for Thread dissection and virus experimentation. Clever thought, actually. Apparently it was Master Nicat's idea. I'm just impressed it didn't come from a Favorite Character.

Mirrim, of course, gets to be the one expressing frustration at their progress, and gross people out at the idea of keeping some of the Thread ovoids to study and learn from. I wish I knew what McCaffrey has against that girl. Is it just that she's realized that Mirrim really does have the most interesting feminist story since Lessa, and she doesn't feel like telling it?

Oh, hey, this bit is gross:

Two hundred suited riders on two hundred gloved dragons awaited the signal in their Weyrs. Another nine suited riders were ready to do their part in this great enterprise, scattering the “disimproved” ovoids. The three leaders, F’lar, N’ton, and Jaxom, were in the Yokohama cargo bay. Lessa was there with Ramoth, who was breeding, and Jaxom did not dare ask how F’lar and Mnementh had timed that so precisely. She had accepted the fact that she would not take part in this venture, but she didn’t like her exclusion one bit.

McCaffrey, for the last god knows how many books, you've sold me on the idea that the abusive bullshit in Dragonflight was not the true nature of this relationship. Why are you ruining it now?

WHY is it so important to exclude Lessa from this final project anyway, when she was your original heroine and has the most dramatic triumph to her name??

...actually, I probably answered my own question. Jaxom is getting the heroic moment this time, and that's not a bad thing per se, but he's being walked through everything by Aivas, with space suits and supplemental oxygen, knowing exactly what to expect. Lessa did the fucking impossible. She would upstage him by existing in these scenes.

I'm still pissed on her behalf though. Fuck you, F'lar.

(Oh the nostalgia...)

But, I mean, look at this bullshit:

Aivas had appointed F’lar to take the Yokohama’s unit and deposit it in the approximate center of the great Rift on the Red Planet. Jaxom was to take his group to one end of the Rift, while N’ton was to take his to the other, more or less, close to the immense craters. Only Jaxom knew what had caused those craters—and when. The trick would be to keep N’ton from guessing.

WHY do you have to keep N'ton from guessing? Why not just TELL him? It's not like the man doesn't risk his life every damn Threadflight!

(Hey, though, more power to Mirrim, her hundredth attempt actually did get what they needed. Go Mirrim!)

There's an interesting glitch though, when the computer refuses to activate and initiate the required separation in the engines. They determine that the mechanisms, left in space for twenty-five hundred years, have had no maintenance. It's a mechanical issue.

...you...didn't actually think of that, Aivas? I'm not blaming these guys, since this is new for them, but really??

Fortunately there's a solution, Fandarel has to craft some special lubricant. The dragonriders are a bit impatient at the wait, but it happens and they still have a window to work with.

Eventually, we're told it was a few days, which Jaxom waits out in Cove Hold with Sharra and Robinton. Because he doesn't have a kingdom to run or anything.

Robinton maybe isn't as recovered from his kidnapping as last chapter seemed:

Jaxom was distressed to see the change in the Masterharper, a subtle one, but he could tell that Lytol and D’ram were also aware of it. Robinton had recovered from the physical shock but not from the mental one. He seemed himself when in company, but too often Jaxom would catch him deep in thoughts—disturbing and unhappy ones, to judge by the sadness in the Harper’s eyes. Also, he seemed to drink less, and with less relish. He was a man going through the motions of living.

Zair is worried, Ruth told Jaxom when he caught his rider worrying about the Harper.

“It may just take a little more time for Master Robinton to recuperate,” Jaxom said, trying to reassure himself. “He’s not as young as he was, less resilient. And it was a ghastly experience. When this is over, we’ll think of something to rouse him from his apathy. Sharra’s noticed it, too. She’ll talk it over with Oldive. You know how testy he gets when he thinks you’re fussing over him. We’ll do something. Tell Zair. Now, just once more, let’s go through the star pattern for our first timing.”

I won't make fun of this. I may seriously dislike Robinton and think he gets way more accolades than he deserves, but he's just been through a truly traumatic experience.

Finally, there's the call to assemble. The engines get separated. We're told, by the way, that F'lar commands wings from Benden, Igen and Telgar, while Jaxom has Eastern, Southern, and Ista. And actually, why IS Jaxom in charge here?

I know he's been working with Aivas all along, because he doesn't have a kingdom to run or anything, but there are how many Weyrs and how many experienced leaders? Jaxom may occasionally fly Thread, but that doesn't mean he has any experience leading. I know they need Ruth for his bullshit, ill-defined ability to "know exactly when he is", but Jaxom could serve as navigator instead of Wingleader.

And just to piss me off more:

There would be no confusion over that formality: the dragons expected to receive their destination from Ruth. None of them had been to the Red Star. All the riders had been told that it would appear to be a longer jump than they were accustomed to making, and that they should remember to breathe regularly in the interval.

This is fucking bullshit. The OLD TIMERS, who McCaffrey loves to demonize, took a jump to the future on a hope and a prayer. These guys risk their lives far more often and steadily than Jaxom, who pouts whenever he doesn't get the recognition he thinks he's owed for one damn trip. How DARE you not tell them what they're doing and that they're risking their lives more than they think?! How fucking DARE you?!

Also, hey, some asshole Lessa bashing.

It was a long jump, even if it was expected. Jaxom counted thirty carefully inhaled and exhaled breaths. Too bad Lessa hadn’t remembered how long it had taken her to go back four hundred Turns—that knowledge would have been reassuring. On thirty-two breaths, Jaxom’s anxiety began to ooze out of his control.

So sorry that the woman suffering oxygen deprivation after having done the literal impossible couldn't count for you, Jaxom. How are you doing at ruling the kingdom SHE GAVE YOU?!

So anyway, we get a few pages of them placing the devices. K'van's there, by the way, going by the mention of Heth. I'm not surprised as he's one of McCaffrey's random favorites and in charge of Southern, despite being, like, twelve. But I'm still offended on his and the others' behalf.

Oh, hey, random let's shit on Mirrim moment:

They are, the white dragon said equably. Mirrim landed Path once to look at the ovoids in the dust. There are many many more than she thought there would be.

Tell Path that Mirrim is not to bring a sample back. We have enough of them, Jaxom said firmly. The last thing they needed was an artifact from eighteen hundred Turns before.

Path says a lot of them are rotten.

All the more reason to leave them where they are!

Path will not bring one.

Well, maybe if you TOLD them what was going on...

(Also, I feel like having an 1800 year old Thread sample might be able to tell you really interesting things about how it evolves, but fuck you, Jaxom.)

We also get a bit where Jaxom needlessly nags Ruth about dragon capabilities:

Impress on every dragon, Ruth, that he is to return to his own weyr. We will have been gone fourteen minutes, so there is really no chance that they will collide with themselves on the way back—is there?

I have told you many times, Jaxom, that I do not think they will become lost. Every dragon knows his way back to his own weyr.

Every dragon is to impress on his rider that there are to be no exceptions to this order, Jaxom insisted.

I will tell them that they are too far away from Pern to disobey. They will not. The dragons certainly will not. Ruth paused briefly. I have told them. I may not be a queen, but dragons trust me.

It occurs to me that I'd gripe less if Ruth's prominence was less about the very ill-defined ability that Jaxom insists is special but doesn't seem any different than any other dragon, and more because of his particular status as being technically without gender, and thus having an interesting social position that gives him something akin to a Queen's influence.

Or maybe not, since greens still get shit upon.

Also, I think Ruth probably has a better idea of what dragons can do than you can, you fuckhead.

Anyway, they're to go to their weyrs, get out of their suits for the next batch. Jaxom, of course, gets to go on both trips.

F'lar and his team are back too, having apparently taken their full fifteen minute allotment because they're not as awesome. They're okay too.

Per Ruth, Heth says that everyone's back, but some are in bad color. Ruth seems to feel guilty, but Jaxom blows it off, saying there's nothing a good meal won't cure. Fuck you, dude.

F'lar is already celebrating:

Jaxom was so startled by the loud cheer from F’lar that he nearly lifted himself from Ruth’s back. The white dragon, eyes whirling in amazement, also turned his head to see F’lar propel himself off Mnementh and go shooting toward the equally surprised Lessa. When he grabbed her, his momentum spun them off in a lazy twirl until they careened into Ramoth. The great gold dragon arched her neck to look down at the extraordinary behavior of the Benden Weyrleaders.

“We did it! The dragons of Pern did it! Aivas’ll have to eat sand on this one! He never thought we could do it!” F’lar was yelling at the top of his voice and laughing when echoes bounced back at him.

“Really, F’lar . . .” Lessa struggled to regain her balance, but Jaxom could see that she was smiling. “Yes, it is a splendid moment for the Weyrs! A splendid one! You’ve kept your promise. Indeed you have. That’ll show the Holds and Halls!”

I'm still mad you excluded her, but this is sweet. F'lar does admit that there's still N'ton's wing to go, then they have to witness the full explosion.

Jaxom gets to be smug:

Jaxom rubbed his hand across his lips. Knowledge of the future was a parlous asset. But it was enough that Jaxom knew this great enterprise would work.

Go fuck yourself. I suppose it's too much to hope for that Jaxom would pull a Moreta.

Ruth, by the way, is fine, because Jaxom's been "stuffing him". You know, something the other dragonriders might have done if they'd known what they were undertaking.

F'lar notes that he hadn't seen Jaxom's wing on the Red Star, and Jaxom lies about how they don't really appreciate the mammoth size of the rift, and I still do not understand why this is necessary.

Lessa notes, that oddly, Ramoth couldn't hear Ruth. Jaxom pretends to be just as puzzled.

Anyway, they report to Aivas, who offers significant praise. He says their achievement is historically equivalent to that of the first dragonriders and their names will be remembered with Sean O'Connell, Sorka Hanrahan...

Jaxom points out that no one actually does remember them, but F'lar notes that Sebell found the corrected Harper Hall records, proving that the original eighteen riders were honored in their Turn.

Lessa brings out the booze, and Jaxom enjoys that she's treating him like an adult. I wish she'd ask him about his fucking Kingdom. But fine. He's also a tattler:

“Did your team scatter those treated ovoids as Aivas wanted?” Jaxom winked at Lessa. “Mirrim wanted to bring back some examples of empty ones she found lying about.” Lessa looked outraged, but he waved a reassurance. “I recommended that she didn’t.”

Thanks for throwing her under the bus in a way that makes you look better, you fucking cretin.

Anyway, one more trip. It's less dramatic even: only five hundred years this time.

And still more of this nonsense:

Jaxom grinned. “That’s all you’re going to get right now. And we’ve still the third one to go.” Which constituted a major problem for him. He desperately needed a few private words with Aivas, to see if he had come up with any ideas on how Jaxom could insinuate himself into N’ton’s flight and get the dragons to take Ruth’s coordinates for the second time leap of a mere five hundred Turns. Somehow he had accomplished it, for the other crater was there on the southern tip of the Rift. Jaxom had racked his brains and, whenever he was private with Aivas over the past few days, had tried to figure out any way that didn’t involve explaining to N’ton. Not that N’ton wouldn’t believe Jaxom, or that he wasn’t discreet, but the fewer who knew about the time-traveling the better. Lessa would be furious at the risk involved.

WHAT?

WHY?

THEY KNOW ABOUT THE TIME TRAVEL! Lessa brought EVERY WEYR BUT BENDEN from four HUNDRED years in the past! Where do people think they came from?! The Oldtimers' culture shock was a HUGE FUCKING PART OF THEI MOTIVATION.

THIS MAKES NO SENSE.

In Moreta, it would have made complete sense to have no one know about time travel. In fact, them knowing about time travel made her death pointless, since she never figures out she could stop and rest and time it back.

HERE, it's unmistakable! They KNOW time travel exists! TORIC WENT BACK TEN YEARS WITH F'NOR, KYLARA AND ALL TO SET UP SOUTHERN WEYR.

Even if McCaffrey just means the fewer people who know about THIS time travel the better - fucking WHY??? Why can't they know what risk they're taking?!

Because they can't claim an equal share of credit, I suppose. FUCK THIS.

F'lar is considerate enough to shuck his own suit, even though it doesn't seem like anyone would need it. And Jaxom asks Aivas how he gets to join N'ton's trip. Aivas says he's arranging it. And I still don't understand why they can't explain it to him. Even if they kept it from the group, they could share it with the leader.

Aivas doesn't fill Jaxom in though, just saying he's quick and clever and will know the opportunity when it comes and I hate all of you idiots. It would fucking serve you right if Jaxom pulled a Moreta, but he won't.

(It's also anticlimactic. Wise, of course, to have Jaxom do the bigger jump first so he doesn't exhaust himself, but it does spoil the suspense.)

...oh, this is stupid.

Things get stalled when space suits and helmets get mixed up and have to be cleaned. Jaxom realizes the opportunity, as it lets him join up with them. Poor N'ton, has to share the glory with this jackass who lies to him the whole time.

But eventually everything does get sorted. Jaxom finagles himself into the position to give the new coordinates. He realizes that he and Ruth don't technically have to go, since the coordinates are the important thing. But Ruth looks disappointed and Jaxom needs more heroic shilling, so they go anyway.

Sadly, they don't die. They plant the engines and return back. This time, Ramoth and Mnementh have noticed the issue and are pissed. Fortunately, F'lar and Lessa, also pissed, only believe he tagged onto the trip and not why.

I don't know why this secret keeping irritates me so much. It's just so unnecessary. It adds absolutely nothing to the story aside from making Aivas and Jaxom look like callous, patronizing fuckheads who are willing to risk their friends' lives by making them do something really difficult without ever knowing what they're doing. And they'll never get the true recognition for it!

He spoke with no trace of regret or apology, and he felt rather too battered to bother with the deference the Weyrleaders deserved from him. He undid the first of the suit’s fastenings, knowing that they were still angry with him and hoping they would give it up.

“Here, I’ll help,” F’lar said unexpectedly. “Lessa, this Lord Holder deserves another swallow of that ‘sixteen!”

Jaxom gave F’lar a sharp look and then grinned back. By the first Egg, so he had finally come into his own in the cargo bay of the Yokohama.

I hate you so much, Jaxom.

I considered continuing on to finish the book tonight, but I haven't decided what the next one will be, so it can wait. :-D Next time, we'll see if it worked and what the aftermath will look like.