[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Easy now, Shelmith. We have you. Relax, will you?
I still fall, Torene heard Shelmith say, frightened.
Of course you do, but I fall right under you. You are caught. Feel my back
under your belly.
I do! I do!
 What about Shelmith? she asked N klas now. She hadn t had time to check on
the injured yet. The queens wing always made contact with ground-crew
leaders before returning to the Weyr.
 He s only got holes in one wing, but body scores and some bad tracks down the
right hindquarter, N klas said, wrinkling his nose at the extent of the
injuries.  We need rearview mirrors.
Torene laughed.  Where on earth would we attach them?
 Oh, shoulder, peripheral vision reflex mirror, maybe.
Torene stopped at the sight of the crowded dining tables.  Lord, we ll have
to take front seats tonight, she said, noting the only vacant spots at the
tables perpendicular to the slightly raised Weyrleader and Wingleaders table.
 You did great, N klas said.  You ve got no cause to feel guilty. Too bad
you aren t bigger, he added with a grin, for he was heavy through the
shoulders and chest.  I could hide behind you.
 You ve nothing to worry about. You brought Petrath in with no scores, didn t
you?
N klas paused before he answered, his remorseful expression verging on the
comical.  Not exactly. Though, he hastened to add,  he won t be out of
action more than a week, I d say.
 I m sorry, I didn t know. She glanced up at him with a rueful smile.
N klas shrugged his wide shoulders.  Nothing a bucket of numbweed didn t
soothe. Dragon hide grows back quickly, thanks be!
The kitchen crew were quick to serve the riders as soon as they seated
themselves. The top table was not occupied as yet: Torene knew that Sean
would be having a few words with Wingleaders over poor performance. But Sean
knew that clump Falls were always the trickiest, and while a lot of dragons
had not finished this Fall due to minor wounds, there had been very few put
out of commission by major ones. Every wing had missing members, and some
wings were off on R & R, so the Weyr was flying a bit short. Only queens
never got official vacation: queens got time off only for clutching. As
Alaranth had yet to experience her first mating flight, Torene had been on
duty for over two years without a break.
We fly well as a team. We do excellent rescues, Alaranth said.
Oh, beloved heart, Torene said, immediately chagrined that she d been thinking
so negatively, we do, we do. But I am tired. Like most of the riders.
Everyone needs some time off, not just a visit home or to the east coast.
Well, she added to herself, maybe Sean would announce that some of those
recuperating at Big Island would be reporting back for duty, and that would
take the burden off the short-manned wings.
The meal was good: one of Yashma s special casseroles, more of the beef, plus
legumes and tubers, served with fresh hot bread and slabs of butter. Torene
grinned as she slathered her bread with it before passing it on to the
impatient rider next to her. Butter in this quantity obviously had come in
from Ierne Island. Would they be able to have dairy products when Longwood
settled on the east coast? She d miss them. In the Hold, milk products had
been reserved for babies and growing kids. What was being tired to the many
advantages of being a rider. . . not the least of which was having
Alaranth?
You like me better than butter?
Page 74
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Of course I do, but there s absolutely no doubt that you couldn t be spread on
hot bread!
Bread is all right. Alaranth was unenthusiastic. From time to time, because
Alaranth was curious, Torene had given her queen samples of what she ate.
But not for a carnivore like you, darling. You aren t hungry again, are you?
No, but you were!
Alaranth also found it hard to understand why her rider had to eat several
times a day, when once or twice a week sufficed the much bigger dragon.
Before the casseroles were passed around the tables for the second time, the
Weyrleaders and Wingleaders took their places. Torene thought they all looked
relaxed as they conversed pleasantly with each other. That did not jibe with
her notions of the Weyr getting a lecture on recklessness and inefficiency.
A spicy nut-filled bar provided a sweet, and then ale was served, along with
refills for anyone wanting just klah.
 He must really be going to take slices from our hides, N klas muttered in
her ear.
 Then why is F mar grinning from ear to ear? Toren asked. The young
Wingleader was looking excessively smug. Of course, she realized, mentally
reviewing the day s injuries, his wing had come through unscathed, so he could
afford to be at his ease. But she wondered why F mar kept trying to catch her
eye.
Torene listened for Tallith, but the bronze was asleep. Alaranth, did I miss
something?
What?
I don t know, and F mar s grinning like a fool at me.
He does that all the time.
Torene caught an almost impatient and irritable note to her queen s remark.
Don t you like F mar? she asked. Or is it Tallith you don t fancy?
Torene often asked her queen which bronze she preferred. As she had no
particular favorite among the riders, maybe her queen had one among the
bronzes. Torene did have to think in terms of her queen s mating flight, an
event that could happen soon now. Sorka had no difficulty in telling her
queen riders exactly what to expect--and Torene hoped it would be as thrilling
for her as reputed.
Sorka never exaggerated.
Bronze dragons are much the same in a mating flight. But I will be hard to
catch!
Torene burst out laughing.
 What s so funny? N klas asked her.
 Alaranth, Torene said and shrugged, indicating a private joke.
She nodded at him to pour some ale into her glass after he d filled his own.
She was getting to like the stuff; certainly she preferred it to the jarring
taste of quikal. And tonight, she had the feeling that she d need the
loosening beer provided.
Suddenly noise in the dining area subsided and Torene saw that Sean had risen.
 Uh-oh, N klas said, scrunching himself small beside her.
 Oh, don t be an idiot, she said rather sharply. She was well acquainted
with N klas s tendency to dramatize.
This time he was right. Unexpectedly, Sean was holding his glass in one hand.
 You all know that the wings did not perform very well today, but I take the
nature of today s Fall into consideration. We all know that clumps and
tangles are the worst types to combat, and that the very nature of such a Fall
can cause injuries to even the most alert rider and clever dragon. I don t
excuse you, and I shall have words with some of you who were caught unawares,
and those of you who managed to escape when you bloody well deserved to be
scored. Sean s expression was harsh as he looked over the crowded tables. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]