All the Weyrs of Pern - Chapter Seven

[kalinara]

I think I mentioned this in my last AtWoP review, but I think one of the big reasons that I keep harping on the crap society of Pern and the vague elitism of the main characters is because, for the first time in a while, I haven't actually been horrified by either the characters or the narrative structure of this novel.

It's a strange feeling. But yeah, credit where it's due, this is not terrible.

And this chapter starts with Lessa, so I'm immediately like ten times more into it already.



So we rejoin Lessa as she wakes up. And this is cute.

LESSA ROUSED ABRUPTLY, opening her eyes to a darkness which suggested that daylight was still hours away. F’lar lay sprawled beside her, his forehead touching her shoulder, one arm thrown across her, One leg pinning hers down. Their bed was oversized, but he invariably managed to occupy more of it than she did. In fact, there were only finger lengths between her and the edge. She must have told herself to wake up at this barbarous hour—she had always had that ability. But why? Her mind was too sleep-fogged to provide an immediate answer.

Aw. Sometimes I remember back to Dragonflight and how I hated him then. Lessa was always awesome, admittedly, but I won't lie, these two are generally the highlight of any book they're in for me. Even when Robinton is being an ass to them.

So anyway, Lessa's annoyed. The dragons are asleep. So is the watch dragon by the way, something that Lessa intends to get quite angry about once she remembers why the fuck she's awake.

We also learn the downside of new technology: she has a light-up clock now. Which is good and convenient, to be able to see the time when it's dark, but also really fucking frustrating when she's up way too early. I fucking feel you, Lessa.

I also feel for F'lar, who apparently is hard to wake up unless Mnementh calls him. Hah, I bet he wakes up instantly when that happens. But anyway, they've an appointment with Aivas early in Landing's morning, and since Benden is on the easternmost end of the Northern continent...

Wait, actually, if Landing is west of Benden, then their morning should be Benden's afternoon. Of course, that's assuming Pern rotates like Earth does and I don't actually know if that's true.

Anyway, Lessa's enthusiasm for the project is somewhat faltering. But fortunately, she can exercise spousal sadism by stealing her husband's sleeping fur.

Heh. This is cute:

“You’ve got to get up.”

“It’s the middle of the bloody night, Lessa,” he complained. “We don’t have Fall for another day and a half.”

“Aivas wants us there at five of the clock Landing time.”

“Aivas!” He sat bolt upright, wide-eyed, pushing his tumbled hair back from his face.

Lessa snorted at F’lar’s response to that name.

“My shirt!—” he cried, shivering convulsively in the predawn cold. “Heartless woman!”

She snatched shirt and pants up from the chair and tossed them to him. “I am not at all heartless!”

I love that he immediately knows when Thread will fall and that he's immediately awake for Aivas. Also, proving their a match made in sadistic genius heaven, Lessa tells him about the sleeping watchman, and F'lar tells her he's already sent Mnementh to scare the shit out of them.

They share some cute amorous moments and banter. We also see that rank has privileges:

“Have we time for porridge?” he asked hopefully.

Considering that days at Landing were apt to be spent in nonstop work, Lessa thought a good breakfast was only prudent, even if they were already behind the appointed hour. “We’ll make time,” she said, a ripple of mischievousness in her voice.

“Now, now, Lessa,” he began in a tone of mock reproof, “if we don’t let anyone else time it . . .”

“Rank has some privileges, and I’ll think the better for a decent breakfast in my guts,” she said. “So we’ll make a little time. Especially since you’re so hard to wake up.” She laughed softly when he sputtered a protest. “If you please, Ramoth!” And the queen crouched to allow her rider to mount. “You won’t mind giving F’lar a lift, will you, dearest? I don’t want him falling off that upper ledge, trying to mount Mnementh in the dark.”

I'm pretty sure if you save the world by bringing a bunch of dragon weyrs forward in time, you can break the rules with impunity.

Did I just bitch about Jaxom last chapter doing the same thing? Sure. But I like Lessa and hate Jaxom, so there.

We do learn that F'lar has a sweet tooth, and spoons an "almost indecent" amount of sweetener into both klah and porridge. That actually surprises me a bit. He never really seemed the sort. Lessa, apparently, has lectured him before about how it's a miracle that he hasn't gained weight or lost his teeth, but fortunately for us all, F'lar's still pretty.

They discuss Aivas, figuring that this early meaning is an indicator that Aivas intends to start "the Project". F'lar is pretty all in on the idea they can stop Thread, which makes sense as this has been his driving cause for his entire life basically. Lessa's on board too, but a bit more cautious. She notes that Aivas said that it's possible to destroy Thread, he didn't promise it will happen.

Lessa also points out that if things go poorly today, it might reduce their effectiveness at an upcoming "Conference" at Tillek Hold. Apparently it's to choose Oterel's successor. Aw. I don't remember which one Oterel was.

F'lar acknowledges that risk, but notes that Aivas may have scheduled it because of that, and he and Lessa muse about his foray in politics with Lytol. Actually, I'm quoting this:

“He and Lytol are really into the political aspects, aren’t they? I could almost wish that Lytol was still Ruathan Lord Warder. That’d give Groghe the support he needs. Even I have heard the grumbling about Ruatha’s young Lord Holder spending so much time down here instead of in his Hold.”

That's because in three books where Jaxom has either starred (White Dragon) or featured prominently (the crappier half of Renegades, this one), we have NEVER seen that twerp do his fucking job. Of course there is grumbling. I'm oddly happy that there is.

F'lar notes that Oterel's likely successor, Ranrel, can't be considered too young as he's in his mid-thirties, with five children, and has shown some initiative with a port renewal project. (He also used Hamian's stuff to do it - which is how we know he's a good guy. The good guys always go with the good guys' methods, after all.)

So anyway, this guy seems like a good choice. And his "mate" is a Masterweaver who likes the idea of a power loom. I mean, fair. So he's pro Aivas.

Lessa is exasperated that everyone's gone "power" mad, but F'lar points out that it reduces sheer drudgery. Lessa doesn't argue with that.

Amusingly, Ramoth does NOT approve of them "timing" it to the Weyr. But they do.

So who's present?

The others were already assembled in the main hall when the Benden Weyrleaders arrived. Robinton looked sleepy, but Jaxom, Mirrim, Piemur—with gold Farli curled about his shoulders—and the three male green riders all appeared very wide-awake indeed.

Conveniently everyone we care about, and three nameless guys. THOUGH. I have to admit, I appreciate that McCaffrey's making a point of utilizing green riders for the heroics here. I've never been of the interpretation that McCaffrey is maliciously homophobic. The tent peg quote is...ridiculous of course, but I do think it's worth noting that she does include a place that is basically explicitly occupied by gay (or bi, I suppose) men.

I've always had a bit of an issue with the fact that green dragons were so often dismissed or insulted, the promiscuity stereotype is not good, and the fact that we didn't tend to meet a lot of notable green riders who weren't petty assholes who stabbed F'nor. Even Lytol, who was described as a greenrider in Dragonflight, was conveniently made a former brown rider in Dragonquest.

I don't really have a point to this, but I do like the idea of green riders getting to be the big heroes. So cautious yay!

Everyone's nervous. And we get names for the greenriders: L'zal, G'rannat, and the previously mentioned S'len. They're all awful, but at least pronounceable. Thank god.

So...the project!

Then the screen displayed a clear picture of the view with which they had all become familiar the bridge of the Yokohama. Only this time there was an addition: a space-suited figure slumped over one of the control panels. There was an almost simultaneous intake of breath at the realization that the body was that of Sallah Telgar, who had died so valiantly to save the colony. This, then, was the actual bridge of the Yokohama—not the image that Aivas had supplied during their training. Then the focus of the picture slid across the consoles beyond the figure to rest on the board marked LIFE-SUPPORT SYSTEM.

Oh good, the dead rapist. Woo.

(I still think it's convenient that Sallah becomes a symbol for the colony for getting kidnapped and dying without doing anything useful, while Lemos and Nabol get absolutely no recognition for their own sacrifice. That said, I suppose they do get a Hold named after them.)

Jaxom and Piemur realize that the console board is familiar: Farli, Piemur's lizard, had been training on a mock-up version to push at toggles and press three keys in a sequence.

Okay, I have to admit, this is pretty cool.

We've also time skipped hard, it's revealed here. Aivas has, we're told, spent the past two Turns subtly collecting facts about dragons and fire-lizards. A key fact here is that they can maintain oxygen levels in their systems for ten minutes without harm. Possibly fifteen if pressed.

Aivas has been trying to teach dragons and fire lizards telekinesis, which they ought to be able to do since it's related to how they go between (I'm reminded of the Rowan series which also links the idea of telekinesis with teleportation). So far, it's not really worked. I'm kind of pleased to know Aivas failed at something. I like him, but no one's perfect.

Anyway, the plan is to send Farli to the Yokohama, to activate the life-support and send a status report for the ship to Aivas.

Piemur tries to send Farli, but because he's not one of the chosen paragons, he has trouble getting her to understand what he wants. The problem is that no one's been there before. And Aivas unfortunately can't help, as his databases don't have info on Pernese animal behavior. Fair enough.

That's when Lessa has the idea: Canth!

...Canth has been to the Red Star, yes, but not to the Yokohama. But we have to get another of McCaffrey's pets involved I guess. Anyway, Lessa realizes that while Canth is too large for the trip, he can try to explain it better to Farli.

So F'nor and Canth show up, there's a lot of back and forth, especially as neither Canth nor F'nor really know exactly how they managed to get up there.

But don't worry, we have an option that allows Jaxom to steal the glory. RUTH understands and can fit on the bridge. Actually, to be fair, Jaxom acknowledges that won't work. At least not without life-support. And there aren't any suits left.

But Ruth impulsively goes to the ship, without Jaxom, leading the way for Farli. They can even see him on the monitor, slightly bewildered by free-fall. Farli gets there and does what she needs to do. There's some free-fall hijinx for both dragon and fire-lizard, but they both make it back.

Jaxom is triumphant and relieved. F'lar and Lessa are furious at the risk. That said, F'lar holds her back, reminding her that they can't intervene.

“Ruth cannot be allowed to be so irresponsible,” she said, fuming. “Jaxom isn’t. I don’t understand how Ruth gets away with such disobedience. Ramoth wouldn’t.”

“Ruth and Jaxom were not Weyr-trained. But don’t think Ruth’s going to get off easily for this escapade.” He managed a droll grin. “Judging by the look on Jaxom’s face, he’s had a fright he won’t forget. That will inhibit Ruth far more surely than threats from you and me.” He gave her one of his little shakes. “More important, the less furor there is right now, the fewer rumors will abound.”

a) Jaxom is TOTALLY allowed to be irresponsible all the damn time, Lessa.

b) ...they were supposed to be Weyr-trained. They had training in the Weyr. They didn't LIVE there, but they had a lot of special treatment.

But, okay fine. Maybe Jaxom's matured enough that this will help. I'm cynical though.

So anyway, now, once the life support's on, the plan is for Jaxom and Ruth to go back. Or so they think. Aivas amends the plan though, he wants Piemur to go too, so that they can bring Sallah's body back to Pern to be interred respectfully.

...you've got to be kidding me. Not only did Sallah get treated like a legend in Dragonsdawn with all the funereal shit there, she gets ANOTHER set of honors in the modern day?!

...I mean, to be fair, it's a decent thing to do. None of these characters know what a rapist fuckhead Sallah actually was. So I shouldn't blame them. I'm still kvetching though.

Piemur asks if Sallah's space suit might still be usable, a question that horrifies Jancis and makes him feel like a dick when he realizes, but Aivas answers calmly that it might be. He urges both men to dress as warmly as possible as it's ten degrees below zero.

Jaxom is unconcerned, being used to Between. I wonder how cold Between actually is. They take Farli and Jancis's Trig along too. (Trig is a bronze, by the way, so one presumes they get to have hot fire lizard mating sex sometimes. Heh.)

Interestingly, they do seem to be "between" a lot longer than normal, Jaxom counts to ten before they emerge. Piemur is a bit shellshocked by the whole experience and Jaxom decently does not laugh at him. I'm annoyed that he even thinks about laughing at him, but unsurprisingly, Jaxom is a dick.

Interestingly, among the things they brought is oxygen tanks. Piemur seems to be getting the hang of freefall pretty well. Though Aivas gently reminds them that the cold temperature will be an issue and they should avoid gymnastic displays.

And then there's this:

Moving carefully, Jaxom ducked under Ruth’s neck and took a firm hold on the railing. To his surprise, he saw that Piemur was hovering motionless on the wide steps down to the command level of the bridge. Looking up from his circumspect movements, Jaxom, too, was transfixed by what had stunned the harper: Below them lay Pern, its blue seas glistening to port, while to starboard was visible the coastline and vivid greens, browns, and beiges of the Southern Continent.

That is, admittedly, pretty cool.

(And I feel a strange pity for F'lessan, who was once Jaxom's partner in crime, but has been abandoned to the mediocrity of normal dragonridering. Despite being the child of the original leads though, he's not the stand-in for McCaffrey's own son, so he doesn't get the cool adventures.)

So anyway, Jaxom and Piemur get to business, strapping in and doing what they've been trained to do. The fire lizards and Ruth also enjoy conversing about what's happening, and there's some momentary excitement as they sense some debris hitting the ship.

Anyway, the cold starts to get worse, but the boys get things done. Apparently the Yokohama's equipment is considerably better than what they're training on. Which makes some sense, given that it had to keep everyone alive in space.

They do more stuff, including hooking up the oxygen, and then...

As they lifted it from the chair it had occupied for 2,500 Turns, the rigid space-suited body retained the position in which it had originally collapsed across the console. Jaxom tried to feel reverence for the personality that had once inhabited the frozen shell they were handling. Sallah Telgar had given her life to prevent the defector, Avril Bitra, from draining the Yokohama’s fuel tanks in her bid to escape the Rukbat system. Sallah had even managed to repair the console Bitra had wrecked in her fury at being thwarted. Odd that a Hold had been named after such a woman, but then, Bitrans had always been an odd lot. Jaxom chided himself for such thoughts. There were some very honest, worthy Bitrans—a few, anyway—who were not given to gambling and the other forms of gaming that fascinated so many of that Hold. Lord Sigomal kept to himself, but that was far preferable to the late Lord Sifer’s well-known unsavory appetites.

Ah, so that's the heroics that Sallah is remembered for. It's funny how it's utterly useless until NOW. But well, it IS useful now. I like how McCaffrey doesn't even try to think of a plausible reason that Bitra had a Hold named after her. And how Sallah's heroics might have been less necessary if Kenjo hadn't spent so much time stealing fucking fuel.

...no I'm still not letting that go. Hah.

Jaxom thinks about the creeping cold, wondering if that's what Sallah felt when she died. They get back on Ruth and go back to Pern.

We shift scene to later in the evening, Lessa musing about the entire thing. She wonders how Aivas (possibly/probably with Lytol's help) managed to pull off the politically advantageous move of bringing Sallah's body back.

Apparently over the past two years, the Harpers had done a lot to immortalize her legend, and bringing the body back will be a "vindication" for Landing.

Poor Larad is stuck trying to figure out the proper way to honor a retrieved fallen ancestress. Fortunately, Robinton is useful here. And since it makes sense that it would be, I don't even have anything to bitch about.

I hope Tarvi/Telgar had a long and happy life free of his rapist though.

Larad's wife, Jissamy, has a suggestion of where to entomb her, a cave recently revealed by a rockslide, that would be easy enough to reseal while being accessible in the meantime.

This all means that conveniently the funeral is timed for two days before Oterel's Conference.

Larad, not being an idiot, is suspicious:

Larad shot him a quick glance. “You couldn’t possibly have planned it this way, could you, Masterharper?”

“Me?” Years of practice made it possible for Robinton to affect genuine surprise. He waggled his hand in denial.

F’lar came to his assistance with a disgusted snort. “Hardly, Larad. We knew she was there. So did you. Aivas included her sacrifice in his historical narrative. Today was the first chance to actually get to her. And it just doesn’t seem proper to—well, just to leave her remains there.”

And I mean, he's not wrong.

So now Sallah's laid to rest in a very nice coffin made of Bendarek's best wood. The space suit, now clean, is able to be mended. Apparently Lytol and Aivas end up talking about superstition and religion which sounds fascinating, but we don't get to hear. Robinton is glad to leave, which just shows he's still crap at his job. A Harper probably should know this stuff too.

To be fair, Robinton actually regrets leaving "what was certain to be a fascinating debate", but he likes bearing important news.

And everyone seems pretty pleased with the auspicious beginning of their endeavor. The chapter ends here.