All The Weyrs of Pern Read online

  Ruth rumbled again. Here comes the Masterhealer. He veered sharply, descending at such an angle that Jaxom reflexively grabbed the riding straps and arched backward against the steep

  "You could have warned me," Jaxom remonstrated mildly. Ruth had a habit of sharpening up his rider's reflexes with unexpected maneuvers. The white dragon grunted with satisfaction at the success of his trick as he back-winged to land neatly a length from Master Oldive, who shambled up to them at a surprisingly rapid rate for a man with legs of unequal length and a humped back. He had a large satchel thumping behind his normal shoulder, but he waved a greeting, a huge grin on his face.

  "Ho, there, Jaxom! I feared that you'd forgotten me in all the furor." He leaned against Ruth for a moment to recover his breath. "I'm not as fit as I think I am," he said. They both heard the shouts and saw folk in harper blue charging out of the courtyard archway. "Quickly. If they catch you, we'll never leave."

  Ruth crouched down on his forequarters, crooking his left foreleg as a step for the Masterhealer. Jaxom leaned down to grasp Oldive's arm. Winded the man might be, but he exerted a powerful pull as he hauled himself to Ruth's back and settled behind Jaxom.

  Immediately Ruth sprang aloft, his white wings taking the first important downstroke and beating upward so that the disappointed cries were quickly lost.

  "When you're ready, Ruth," Jaxom said, picturing the Aivas building and being very careful to detail the alteration of the mounds in front of it so as not to have Ruth land out of time. Since the initial excavation, enough space had been cleared there for several dragons to land.

  The cold of between sucked warmth from their bodies, and then they were suddenly in the bright, hot southern afternoon sun. A good-sized fair of fire-lizards swirled up to welcome Ruth, who was a particular favorite of theirs. As usual in the South, there were as many wild ones as those whose necks were banded in the colors of the people they were beholden to.

  "By the first Egg, I don't recognize the place," Oldive said in an awed voice as Ruth glided in to land.

  "Um not sure I recognize it either," Jaxom said, grinning over his shoulder at Oldive. "Master Esselin has already got one annex up." He pointed to the swarm of men working furiously to erect walls on the right-hand side of the Aivas building.

  "Oh, you're using parts of the old building!" Oldive exclaimed.

  "F'lar suggested it! Makes sense, instead of having to haul in building materials when there are all those empty buildings."

  "Oh, true, true." Oldive's tone did not indicate complete approval.

  "And only from the smaller buildings-the family units, Aivas called them. There are several hundred of them," Jaxom went on reassuringly. During their rummaging in the Catherine Caves, Terry had given Jaxom an account of the morning's session with Aivas and the renovations planned.

  "Is every Weyrleader here?" Oldive went on, suddenly aware of the long line of sunbathing dragons on the ridge above the settlement.

  Jaxom laughed. "Since Aivas promises to help obliterate Thread, they wait on his every word." He held up a steadying hand as Oldive dismounted from Ruth's back.

  "How?" The old man almost lost his footing in surprise. Jaxom braced him, catching the pack before it could swing around and totally unbalance the healer.

  "I don't exactly know." Jaxom shrugged, experiencing another surge of annoyance at being out of things so far that day. "I was hoping to find out more this morning, but I've been otherwise occupied."

  Oldive put a sympathetic hand on Jaxom's arm, his expression apologetic. "Conveying the curious to the new wonder?"

  "Oh, I don't mind, Oldive." He grinned slyly at the healer. "If you will remember to ask Aivas about those two patients Sharra's so worried about."

  "They are first on my list, I assure you, Jaxom. Marvelous woman, Sharra, always giving of her own energies and as selfless as you are yourself!"

  Jaxom looked away, his embarrassment made all the more acute by the awareness that he would have preferred to have spent the morning learning new things from Aivas. But he was here at last, and he eagerly anticipated Master Oldive's reaction to Aivas.

  Inside the building, Esselin's craftsmen were making an appalling amount of noise with their hammering. There was dust everywhere. Jaxom was amazed at how much had been accomplished. Walls had been washed clean, revealing bright, cheerful colors. He wondered how color had been impregnated into the material, for it didn't look like any painted surface he had ever seen. He could hear lively conversations off to the left; F'lar's voice was recognizable, as were T'gellan's and R'mart's. He guided Master Oldive to the right and relived the thrill of the previous day's discovery as they faced the closed door to Aivas's room.

  Jaxom rapped on the door in a courteous warning and then opened it on a scene of great industry, which only served to reinforce his niggling resentment. Seated in front of a table made of a board supported by empty cartons, Piemur, Jancis, and Benelek were crouched over the units that he had helped resurrect from the Catherine Caves. And, adding insult to his sense of injury, the sharding things were working. His three friends were tapping away industriously at the keyboard units in front of them. He inhaled deeply through his nostrils to disperse his pique: a reaction he found unacceptable in himself.

  Piemur craned his neck around to see who had entered. "Good day to you, Master Oldive. Welcome to the hallowed Aivas chamber. Where've you been all day, Jaxom?"

  "I see you've made good use of your time," Jaxom replied, trying very hard to neutralize his ill feelings and not quite succeeding. He caught Oldive's sideways glance and made himself smile. "But I'm here now, and you can teach me what I need to know."

  "No chance of that," Piemur replied with his usual impudence. "You have to start from the same point we did. Aivas's orders."

  "I'm quite willing," Jaxom said, trying to see the writing on Jancis's screen, the closest to him.

  She had stopped whatever she had been doing to smile at her old friend Master Oldive. Now she wrinkled her nose at Piemur. "You are the limit sometimes. The components are all carefully set out in the next room, Jaxom. I'll help you, even if he won't."

  Benelek didn't look up from his work. "He's to muddle through all by himself, Jancis, or he doesn't learn."

  She rolled her eyes at Benelek's uncompromising attitude. "Oh, he'll have to do it himself, but a wink is as good a nod at times. Besides, I think wed all better move into the other room. I can't stand it when Master Oldive goes into gory details. And that's what he's here to do with Aivas." She winked at the healer. "Every Craft has its hazards, I suppose."

  "Oh, yes, we certainly should allow him some privacy," Piemur agreed, rising from his stool.

  "Interruptions, always interruptions," Benelek muttered sourly. But he got up, too, and carefully began to start the transfer.

  "I heard the Weyrleaders back there," Jaxom began, wanting to effect the introduction protocol for Aivas. "Should I get one in here?"

  "Won't be needed," Piemur said. "Special dispensation has already been recorded by Aivas. Just go ahead and introduce Master Oldive."

  Which Jaxom did, exceedingly grateful that he would have no further delay in catching up with his friends.

  "It is a pleasure to meet a man who is so highly praised by all," Aivas said.

  The rich voice, so humanly inflected, caused Master Oldive to stare about in considerable consternation.

  "Aivas is, so to speak, all around you in this room," Jaxom said encouragingly when he saw how disconcerted the healer was. "He's a bit much to get used to at first, I agree. Scared the lot of us."

  Busy disassembling the makeshift table, Piemur shot Master Oldive an indulgent grin. "You'll get used to a disembodied voice real quick, the kind of sense Aivas talks."

  "Go teach yourself to be sensible for me, young Piemur," Aivas said in a jocular tone that startled everyone.

  "Yes, sir, good Master Aivas, yes, sir," Piemur quipped, bowing humbly as he backed out of the room, carrying the table boa
rd and nearly knocking himself down when he forgot to lower the board to get it through the door.

  Jancis, following Piemur and Benelek, pulled the door shut behind her as she left.

  "Please make yourself comfortable, Master Oldive," Aivas suggested. "Did you by any chance bring recent Records from your Hall? Those from the Harper, the Mastersmith, and the Woodsmith have already been assimilated, but for a proper assessment of your society's achievements, Records from every Hall, Hold, and Weyr are gratefully accepted."

  Master Oldive had absently seated himself, and his satchel, heavy with the notes he had brought with him, began to slide from his shoulder. He caught the strap and, with a shake of his head, recalled his wits.

  "Lord Groghe said that-" Master Oldive hesitated briefly, not knowing the appropriate form in which to address the entity, -you know, well, everything."

  "The memory banks of this facility contain the most comprehensive data available at the time the colony ships set out for their destination of the Rukbat system. That includes medical information."

  "May I ask how that information is organized?"

  "Basic anatomy, microanatomy, physiology, autocrinology, medical biochemistry, and many more categories, such as immunology and neuropathology-which, it is fair to suggest, may no longer be known to you."

  "In that you are correct. For we have lost so much knowledge, so many techniques." Oldive had never been more keenly aware of the gaps in his Craft.

  "You distress yourself unnecessarily, Master Oldive, for all those whom I have met so far are in excellent health and well above what was considered normal weight and height by the medical standards of your ancestors. There is much to be said for a non-industrialized civilization."

  "Industrialized? That term is unfamiliar to me, though I recognize the root word."

  "Industrialize, " Aivas intoned. "Transitive verb: to organize large industries in; as, to industrialize a community; to introduce the economic system of industrialization into; as, to industrialize a new nation. An industrialized society, in contrast to an agrarian one like yours."

  "Thank you. Why would an industrialized society produce less healthy folk?"

  "Pollution of the atmosphere and environment by industrial wastes, noxious fumes, chemical effluents, contamination of field-grown edibles, among other evils."

  Master Oldive was speechless.

  "Those who settled Pern wished to found an agrarian society. To that end they were receptive to many anti-industrial cultures, like the ancient gypsies, as well as retired military types. Their objective has been attained in this, your present," Aivas said.

  "It has?" Master Oldive was surprised that Pern had succeeded in anything other than surviving nine Passes of Threadfall.

  "In more ways than you might imagine, Master Oldive, being too close to have an objective view. Apart from the inconvenience of the organism, Thread, you have achieved much."

  "Addressing you, Aivas, I perceive that we have also lost much."

  "Perhaps not as much as you think, Masterhealer."

  "In my Craft, I know that we have lost the capacity to alleviate much suffering, prevent the plagues which have all but decimated the population from time to time..."

  "The strong survived, and your population was renewed."

  "But so much knowledge was irretrievably lost, especially in my Craft."

  "Those losses can be remedied."

  Master Oldive was caught up short by what sounded very much like a pun to him. But surely a machine... He cleared his throat, but it was Aivas who continued speaking.

  "Would it ease your mind to know that even the most astute medical. practitioners among your ancestors sometimes felt themselves helpless against plague? That they constantly sought new methods of easing pain and correcting afflictions?"

  "It should, but it doesn't. But, to urgent matters, if I may, Aivas?"

  "Of course, Master Oldive"

  "There are several patients, three suffering severe pain which we are unable to relieve, wasting in both flesh and spirit. If I tell you their symptoms, would that be sufficient for diagnosis?"

  "Proceed with the symptoms. If they can be matched with cases on record, a diagnosis is possible. As there are three point two billion documented histories that can be consulted, a similarity may be found that would suggest suitable treatment."

  With fingers fumbling with hope, Master Oldive opened his casebook to the first of Sharra's two patients. He owed Jaxom that courtesy.

  "What're you doing?" Jaxom asked, mystified by the way the others were intently regarding their gray screens. Aivas's main screen was not at all like these smaller ones.

  Benelek gave a snort of impatience and bent further over the board. He pecked about with his index fingers in no pattern that Jaxom could discern.

  "We're becoming familiar with the keyboard configuration," Piemur said, with a malicious grin at Jaxom's ignorance. "We're learning our way through the commands. Don't let us keep you from contrapting your own. You're a half day behind us already.

  "That's mean, Piemur," Jancis said. Taking Jaxom by the hand, she pulled him over to the boxes and cartons that had only been partially unpacked. "Take a keyboard, then one of those larger boxes. Put them on the table, and take one of the liquid-crystal display screens."

  "The what?"

  "One of those." She pointed. "And be careful. Aivas said they're fragile, and we only have so many of them. Take off the plastic, and you'll need your knife. That stuff is unbelievably tough. Then," she continued, handing him a very small-headed screwdriver and a magnifying glass, "unscrew the big box. You'll have to check over all the circuits to be sure none of them have come adrift. The glass will help you quickly locate any breaks."

  Benelek suddenly uttered a resounding oath and banged his fists on the table. "I've lost it all. Everything!"

  Piemur glanced up, surprised at Benelek's uncharacteristic outburst. "Well, reboot." The new word tripped easily from his Harper-trained tongue.

  "But you don't understand!" Benelek waved his hands wildly above his head. "I lost all I had typed. And I had it almost done!"

  "Did you save?" Jancis asked sympathetically.

  "Yes, I did, up until just the last bits," Benelek said, his frustration dissipating. Jaxom watched in fascination as the journeyman jabbed at various places on the board in front of him and then ahhed in satisfaction at the result.

  "Don't dally now, Jaxom," Piemur said with a wicked grin. "You must join our jolly band, where one misused key can destroy a whole hour's hard work."

  "Aivas did say we'd have to learn many new skills," Jancis said reasonably. "Oh, shards! I've done something wrong now, too." She peered at the blank screen, then frowned down at the keyboard. "Now what key did I press that I shouldn't have?"

  As he drew his beltknife, Jaxom wondered just why he wanted any part of what was obviously an occupation fraught with frustrations.

  The quick tropic evening caught them unawares. Piemur, cursing under his breath at any interruption, darted around the room, opening the glowbaskets. But the light was not shining at the correct angle to light up his screen so, still swearing, he altered his chair. Absently, still tapping away, Benelek followed his example. Jancis and Jaxom, seated at the right angle, continued with their lessons.

  "Who's in here now?" Lessa's voice said from the hallway. The door opened and she stuck her head in. "So this is where you all got to. Jaxom, Master Oldive needs you and Ruth again, and I think it's high time you left here. Your eyes are burnt holes in your head. And the rest of you are no better."

  Benelek glanced up only briefly. "This is no time to stop, Weyrwoman."

  "This is the time to stop, Benelek," she replied in an uncontradictable tone.

  "But, Weyrwoman, I've got to assimilate all these new terms and be able to-"

  "Aivas!" Lessa raised her voice as she turned her head to the right. "Can you turn these things off? Your students are too diligent. Not that I don't approve-in theory-but
they could all use a good night's rest."

  "I didn't save-" Benelek shouted, spreading his hands in high indignation and staring in horror at a suddenly darkened and unresponsive screen.

  "Your work has been saved," Aivas's voice assured him. "You have toiled without renewing yourself all day long, Journeyman Benelek. Even machines need maintenance. Your body can be considered a soft machine which also needs frequent sustenance. Refresh yourselves. Return tomorrow with energy and concentration renewed."

  For a few seconds Benelek looked as if he might rebel. Then he sighed and pushed himself back from the table over which he had been bent for hours. He gave Lessa a sheepish grin. "I will eat and rest. And begin again tomorrow-but there is so much to be learned, so much more than I ever imagined."

  "Indeed there is," Master Oldive said, emerging from the Aivas room, a thick sheaf of papers clutched in one hand and his satchel in the other. He looked from one to the other in bewilderment. "So much more than I dreamed." And then he sighed with great satisfaction, holding up the sheaf. "But this is a good start. A very good start."

  "You will need some klah before Jaxom takes you anywhere, Master Oldive," Lessa said. She took the healer firmly by the arm and nodded to Jancis and Jaxom to take his encumbrances from him.

  He relinquished the satchel readily enough but he clutched the sheaf to him.

  "Let me at least tidy them up, Master Oldive," Jancis said earnestly. "I shan't disarrange their order."

  "It wouldn't matter anyway," Oldive said with a weary flick of his long-fingered hand. "They're numbered and separated into categories." Jancis still had to gently pry his fingers loose. "I have learned so much, so much," he muttered with a bemused smile on his face as Lessa led him down the hall. The others followed, suddenly aware of their own fatigue.

  You have been in there for six hours, Jaxom, and you had better eat something, or Sharra will blame me, Ruth said. You're very tired, you know.

  Oh, I know I am. I know I am. Jaxom wondered if klah would be enough to revive him.

  "Is it our turn now?" Terry asked as he and several eager faced journeymen came around the corner from the entrance hall. When Lessa nodded, he urged his followers down the hall at a jog trot.