Kathryn Draconna
15th December 2004, 12:42 AM
I'm posting this story on the New KT in hopes of a lil more feed back on it... and mayhap the prodding that I need to write more on it... since it is not supposed to end where it does...
Lost and Found
Earth Prime Jeff Raven sat behind his desk reading the latest report on Kat and her pet cougars, She prefers mountain lions, Jeff’s wife, the Rowan, touched his mind affectionately. What trouble has your young charge gotten into this time?
All the Talents I have sent to work with her have asked to be reassigned after a short period of time, and I am sorry to say that Sarah Kline, one of the best T-1’s, is no different. She sent me her request just a few minutes ago. Jeff smiled amusedly at the trouble Kat had given the Tower in her month of residence. She seems to enjoy telling everyone to, in her words, “Bug off.” She absolutely refuses to cooperate. You would think we are trying to torture her instead of teaching her how to use her latent telepathic abilities. I will be relieved when we find her father. Has there been any success? I know she didn’t give us much of a description, other than he is a Talent.
The Rowan’s amusement seeped into Jeff’s mind along with her thoughts. Yes, we found him, or rather he found us. When we started asking around, he suspected it might be Kat and came forward today, as soon as he heard about the accident.
Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me something, my love?
Laughter filled Jeff’s head before the Rowan answered. Her father is T-2 Edward Mika, and he will be arriving, with his partner, on the Dricon tomorrow morning.
Ah, yes, the Dricon. Jeff scanned the Tower schedule for the next day. Scheduled as the first transfer tomorrow. Kat should be in for a nice surprise.
From what Edward has said, he and his partner, T-3 Gadfreed Picer, had been seeing a lot of Kat before the accident, so I wonder why she didn’t tell us who he was right away.
She hasn’t said more than two or three words together to any one person since she arrived. Is it really so surprising after saw her mother and the only father she had growing up die right in front of her eyes? I can feel your weariness, and, since it is already night for you, I don’t want to keep you up too long. Goodnight, love.
Goodnight, and you should really get some rest yourself when you done in the Tower tonight. I know you didn’t sleep much last night. The Rowan broke her contact to Jeff after sending him one final surge of love.
Just then Jeff’s office door burst open to admit a very pale and haggard-looking Sarah Kline. Startled, Jeff looked up and, sensing the panic Sarah seemed to be radiating, asked, “What has happened?”
Sarah took a deep breath to help her gather her thoughts and with a groan, answered, “Kat is gone! I was trying to get her to come inside and calm down after one of the other teens took a swing at one of her cougars, I think it was Jem, and she punched the girl and ran off with her cougars right behind her. I wish those ijjits would have just left her and her cats alone.”
“Slow down and tell me what else happened. I would like to know exactly what you meant by ‘gone’.”
“She hid inside that fighter that her dad had built, the one she was found in, and when I reached up to open the hatch, it just disappeared. I don’t know how considering she can’t teleport herself or anything else, but it happened.”
“I think I may have the answer to that,” Steve Collins said as he stepped into the room behind Sarah. “My daughter is missing, too, and I believe that she and Kat often shared the fighter as a hiding place. I believe they may be together; furthermore, I believe that Cassy teleported the ship involuntarily to keep them from getting into any trouble. Unfortunately, they are in more trouble now.”
Jeff sighed heavily and took charge, “If I remember correctly the fighter has a rather strong tracking device installed in it which is how Kat was found in the first place. If it is still operational, we should be able to find the girls easily enough, and, even if we are too far away from them, one of the other Towers or maybe a ship should be able to pick up the signal. Let us just hope that the tracker is still operational and has power.”
Fifteen minutes later. “They’ve been located sir. They’re in the Rukbat system and on a crash course for the third planet, Pern. They’re moving too fast, at the moment, for even you to catch them and teleport the ship back, let a lone them. I’m sorry, sir, it’s too late for them,” the T-1 wearily told Jeff.
“Let us hope that you are wrong, for the sake of our young friends,” Jeff walked out of the room and called mentally to all the Towers to organize a massive Merge, but by the time everyone was ready the tracker had malfunctioned. The fighter’s position could not be accurately calculated for a blind intercept, due to the fact that the ship's speed was slowing at an erratic rate before the signal was lost.
•••
“Where are we?” Cassy asked nervously.
“How should I know? You teleported us here,” Kat retorted.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, and when it happened, I was only thinking ‘someplace safe’, not any thing specific.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. We’re in the same boat, so to speak. I’ll look in the ship’s database and see if I can find out where we are.” Kat started tapping in inquires to the guidance system on the main control panel. “Gawdamit! The stupid auto-pilot just kicked in I thought the engineers said they fixed that. I knew I should have done the repairs myself!”
“You also said that you didn’t think you could get away long enough to do it.”
“True. Hey, I found out where we are, and you are not going to believe this. We’re in that system where that colony called Pern was, you know the one that by the time they were rescued there were less than twenty survivors left on the whole planet because of that Oort cloud organism they named Thread. Man, I wonder what it looks like now.”
“Do you really think we should be sight-seeing at a time like this? I mean shouldn’t we try to get back?”
“You work on that and I’ll try to get this stupid excuse for an auto-pilot to disengage. Stupid, little f…”
“Kat just because you read what the old swear words were in the archives does not mean you are allowed to say them, and I’m going to need your help to teleport us back. I don’t have enough conscious control of my power to do this without Merging. I hate this.”
“Um, you remember the last time we tried to Merge? ‘Cause I do. We both blacked out and had headaches for three days, and you know that I avoid lessons whenever possible. I don’t want to hear other peoples’ thoughts. Animals are fine, especially the mountain lions. My mom had one of those mind enhancements, those telepathic and intelligence ones, done to their DNA before she would ok the bioengineering of them for me, but people are too scatter-brained for my taste.”
“Ok, if we can’t do a Merge, what are we going to do? We can’t wait for help. I think this system is the Rukbat system, which is fifteen years away from Earth’s solar system if we have to fly straight. Did you get that auto-pilot fixed yet?”
“No, I didn’t, and I have no idea how to get back in except to hack my way in. That will take forever; we made sure of that when we designed the system.”
“What do you mean? You have to hack into you own ship’s systems? How did this happen?”
”I’ve been locked out of the systems; all the passwords even the back ones have been changed. I think the engineers did it when they tried to fix the auto-pilot; the only problem is they didn’t tell me the new passwords. I also know that, with a really good systems hacker, it could take any where from two to four hours, and I’m not very good at hacking, even in my own systems.”
“How long do you think you’ll need to hack into the system?”
“Truthfully, the last time I tried, it took me ten hours. Creeping-cruddulen!”
“What is it?”
“The auto-pilot has us on a crash course with the third planet; that’s Pern. It looks like we’ll get to see anything that’s left from the failed colony after all.”
“How long till we get to the planet?”
“On current settings, five hours till we reach the planet, but on the bright side if these settings are right, we will survive the crash will only minor or no injuries. That is, of course, only if the ship holds up to reentry, and it has never been tested.”
“What are our odds of survival, Kat? Tell me the truth.”
“Truthfully? Fifty-fifty is the best I can do, Cassy. Sorry, I really can’t give you better odds, and there is no way I can hack into the systems and change the settings before the estimated crash time.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who teleported us here in the first place.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you, and look on the bright side. At least if we die, it’s in good company.” Kat and Cassy both smiled at that even if the similes were a little forced.
•••
Weyrwoman Lessa, queen Ramoth’s rider, and her weyrmate Weyrleader F’lar, bronze Mnementh’s rider, of Benden Weyr were startled awake just before dawn by screeching fares of fire-lizards and the bellowing of all the dragons in the Weyr. What’s going on, Ramoth, dear?
There is something falling from the sky. Ramoth’s answer was punctuated by a loud bang as the “something” hit the ground. The fire-lizards disappeared, and the dragons went silent. Someone is in the thing, and they’re asking for help.
Who is asking for help?
She says her name is Kat and that her friend Cassy is hurt and unconscious. She sounds really worried. She seems nice; are we going to help her?
Yes. To the rest of the dragons Lessa said, Tell your riders to get ready to fly. We don’t know how many we’ll need, and I’ll grab numbweed we don’t know how bad the injuries are.
“F’lar?” Lessa turned to her weyrmate.
“Mnementh told me. We’ll go on ahead and see how bad things are while you organize the rescue,” F’lar said as he ran out to harness Mnementh. A few moments later, F’lar and Mnementh took off and Lessa started giving preparation orders for the rescue. When F’lar reported through Mnementh, his news was heartening. F’lar says we’re going to need the numbweed, but the injuries aren’t that bad. There were only two people. Kat is really nice, and F’lar is getting a calm earful from her on handling her big cats. The cats are rather nice as well. We’ll be back with the injured soon.
What was the thing that fell from the sky? Lessa asked Mnementh as most of the Weyr went back to their normal morning activities.
A very small spaceship, it is only made for two people.
Thank you, Mnementh. Tell F’lar that we’re ready to treat the injuries. Lessa saw Mnementh appear in the sky above Benden Weyr a moment later. Mnementh set two small objects down and landed. Laughing rather hard, F’lar dismounted and helped Kat down off Mnementh’s back. As he took a second, limp figure off Mnementh, F’lar’s mood sobered, and Kat’s expression was so worried that Lessa hurriedly reassured her and led her to the hall for a mug of klah, “Your friend will be fine. I’m Lessa, Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr. Just relax and have a mug of klah. That’s better. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened and … What are those?!”
At Lessa’s reaction to Jem and Jewel, Kat laughed and answered between giggles, “They are mountain lions or North American cougars if you prefer. They’re native creatures of my home planet, Earth,” pointing at Jem and Jewel each in turn, Kat explained, “This is Jem and that is Jewel. They are my only close companions besides Cassy.”
“Earth! We didn’t think we would ever meet anyone from Earth.”
“That’s what F’lar said. Truthfully, I didn’t expect to meet anyone on Pern, either. Pern is marked as a failed and deserted colony.”
•••
Jeff sat slouched behind his desk. He was deeply disturbed by Kat’s and Cassy’s deaths. He sat there all night, thinking about the tragedy. When dawn finally arrived, he was starting to feel better about the whole situation, even if he still felt responsible for it.
Jeff kept himself busy with the tower that day. He tried not to think about his up coming meeting with Kat’s father; managing the Tower and Transferring was hard enough without distractions.
“Sir, may I come in?” Edward strolled into Jeff’s office. “Before you say anything, I heard what you think happened, but I don’t believe it. If Kat was dead I would know it.”
Jeff sighed, “How can you be sure of that? Kat didn’t learn much while she was here, and we don’t know how strong she would have been.”
“Kat’s knowledge and strength has nothing to do with it. Let me explain. She makes these unconscious connections to people she cares about. When she first told me about it, I really didn’t think she knew what she was talking about, but, later, I figured it out. She connects to the edge of your awareness, just as this vague presence, and all you can really tell is that she is alive and whether or not she is seriously injured. The sensation really takes a little getting used to, especially if she decides to cut off the connection for a while. I can still feel her, so she is alive and not hurt that I can tell. We, that is Gadfreed and I, would like permission to search for her.”
“Though I would like to see you find her and Cassy, I cannot knowingly send you out based on a connection this, as you said, vague. I’m sorry.”
“Sir, if you don’t approve it, we’ll go anyway.”
“I won’t officially approve this, but neither will I try to hinder you. I’m sure you already have this arranged?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t have come here otherwise. We’ll see you when we get back.”
“I hope you’re right, but, from what I know of Kat, I doubt it.”
•••
Cassy recovered completely from the concussion and cuts she suffered in the crash, and, a week after their arrival on Pern, she and Kat had settled in to life in Benden rather well. With Fall not expected for three days, the Weyr had a much-needed break from fighting Thread.
Taking advantage of their short break from work in the Weyr, Kat and Cassy were exploring the various tunnels and rooms of the Weyr’s cave structure. They had started at the lowest level they could access and ambled their way upward, avoiding the most crowded sections to steer clear of anyone who might give them another task of some sort.
Kat stumbled and dropped her glow-basket, “Creeping-cruddulen! I guess I really should watch where my feet are going on this uneven floor.”
Cassy caught Kat’s arm to help steady her, “Are you alright? No damage done to the glows that I can see, so if you’re not hurt we can keep going. I think we’re almost at the top level.”
“Yea, I’m fine. Hand me that ijjit glow-basket and we can carry on,” Kat cautiously took the offered glow-basket from Cassy and, carefully feeling where she was placing her feet, she walked ahead. “It certainly is easier to explore through the back tunnels than the front ones.”
“Yea, there’s no dodging the endless list of people who just happen to always have something for us to do. Kat, you think they want to drown us in work so we won’t think about the crash and what we left behind?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, if we were back home that would be exactly what they would do, but here they seem to think we’re adult enough to deal with it. I think they just enjoy grabbing people off guard to do the less desirable tasks. Look how everyone else tries to avoid those jobs, too, and someone has to do them no matter how distasteful they may seem.”
“I’m just glad we get these little breaks that we can use to explore. This place is amazing!”
“You’re telling me! Look at this! If you look through this tiny hole you can get a good view of the Hatching Ground.”
“What is that sound? Is there an earthquake or something?”
“No, I think it’s the dragons, and there’s Ramoth and the other dragons. Can you see them?”
“Yea… I think the eggs must be hatching because everyone is gathering and sitting down. We better get going if we want to watch with everyone else. Unless, of course you want to take turns looking through this little hole. I didn’t think so.”
Kat shook her head, and they started back to the main caverns. As they made their way back, Cassy used what little control over her powers she possessed to remove the dirt from their clothes and hair while she simultaneously straightened their hair. They paused in their rush only long enough to deposit their glow-baskets back on the wall they had taken them from originally.
They slowed to a walk to calm their breathing before entering the Hatching Ground behind some of the other last minute arrivals. Cassy hesitated when she saw that the seats were almost full. Kat gave her friend a gentle, firm push from behind and kept pressure on Cassy’s back when Cassy almost stopped again halfway across the sands.
After Cassy took a seat in the front row, Kat took a back row seat where she could sit alone, except for Jem and Jewel, in the shadows. Kat smiled at Jem as he jumped onto the seat beside her and made room for Jewel to sit on his other side. The cougars sat up as straight as possible not only to see over the crowd to where the candidates were lining the edge of the sands but also to take up as little room on the seat as they could so no one would notice them.
Everyone was barely seated when the first egg started to rock, from side to side, and crack loudly. Soon after the first, many other eggs started to break, and the awed gasps of the onlookers was lost under the loud cracking of dragon eggs. As the first egg, the queen egg, hatched, the smallest egg, which was off to one side, began to slow in its rocking as if its occupant didn’t have enough energy to break free of the hard shell. The little, golden queen stumbled to and fro, looking increasingly frantic at each step. She looked at each of the female candidates in turn, but when one of the girls tried to approach her, the little queen ran in fright to side toward one side of the Hatching Ground. As she ran, she tripped and fell on top of the smallest egg and in consequence freed her sibling.
As the little queen backed away from the broken shell, a black dragon only half the queen’s size emerged from amidst the fragments. Kat couldn’t understand why most of the crowd seemed horrified by the newest arrival and smiled at the black dragon. Kat thought the black dragon was beautiful because it reminded her of the ebony necklace that her blood father had given her when they first met. The wobbly queen steadied the ebony dragon, when it stumbled and almost fell.
Having already dismissed the all the candidates on the sands, the petite queen started toward the crowded seats. Realizing that she was alone, she gave a sharp chirp at her ebony sibling before she continued across the sands followed closely by the very precariously balanced black dragon. Kat, caught up in the happenings on the Hatching Ground, almost missed Ramoth’s comment to Lessa. She doesn’t want any of the candidates. This has happened before… Who says there should not be a black dragon? Ruth is white and small, and he is no less that any other dragon.
As Ramoth’s comment sank in, Kat’s attention snapped from the Hatching Ground, and she asked Ramoth about it. Black and white aren’t supposed to be dragon colors? I thought they were just rare.
Ruth was the first white dragon, and this is the first black. We have always been gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green like the fire-lizards. Ramoth’s answer was short as she turned her attention back to the young dragons. As Kat thought about Ramoth’s answer, understanding of the crowd’s reaction to the ebony dragon suddenly shined brightly in Kat’s mind. She glanced at the two young dragons trying to climb the steps of the seating area; instantly she thought of Jem and Jewel as cubby, wrong-footed cubs so like the young dragons. Were they really like us? The question, spoken by two voices, caught Kat off guard. Two sets of blazing, blue dragon eyes looked straight at Kat as two new bonds slid into place in her mind. The little queen and her little, ebony sister had both chosen Kat.
I was never so wobbly! Jem’s dignified response made Kat laugh before she could answer the expectantly waiting dragons.
Oh, no. You were worse. Jewel’s eyes sparkle as she teased her brother.
Recovering her composer, Kat cut in, Do you mind saving you spat for later? Yes they were like you in some ways, though I couldn’t take them home right away. Are you both sure you want to be stuck with me? I mean, you have to share me with those two, not to mention each other.
I don’t mind. My name is Draconna, was the prompt reply from the golden queen.
My name is Ebony, and I don’t mind either. You are worth sharing. We’re both really hungry, responded the tiny, black female a moment later.
Draconna, Ebony, this is Jem, and this is his sister Jewel. I hope you four will all be friends. Don’t worry I’ll get you both meat. Who would have thought one person can be so lucky? I have four life friends. Wow, I guess I finally found my place… As Kat lead her group down to where bowls of meat waited for all the new dragons, her last mental remark was cut off by the angry voice of one of the jilted candidates.
“She got two dragons? She already has her two stupid cats. Why does she get to just crash here on our planet and take dragons from good, hard-working people who deserve them? Who said we even want her kind here? The ancients came to Pern to get away from people like her.” Lacé’s face was red and contorted with anger as she stamped her way toward Kat.
By the time Lacé reached Kat, it was no longer just Lacé; there were also five of Lacé’s relatives ready to back her up. Kat tried to ignore Lacé and started feeding the two dragons without so much as glancing in Lacé’s direction. Agitated severely by Kat’s seemingly complete indifference, Lacé surged forward, seized Kat’s right wrist, and snarled “I was talking to you, twit! Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
Kat arranged her bowl of meat so she could continue feeding Draconna and Ebony, even without the use of her right hand. She touched Kat. Want to get her, Jewel? Jem remarked.
Kat raised an eyebrow at Jem. Jem, you will do no such thing. If she does not let go and leave soon, I will deal with her by myself.
Jem and Jewel glared at Lacé, but the two dragons only spared a single glance for Lacé. Thinking that Kat was afraid to answer her, Lacé laughed. “I guess you’re not as confident as they say.”
Kat’s words were faint, “Talking about me.”
“What was that, cat-girl?”
“You were talking about me not to me. If you were talking to me, you would have addressed me as ‘Kat’ or ‘you’ not as ‘she’ and ‘her.’ Would you mind? You happen to be bruising my wrist. Though, it really doesn’t hurt that much.”
“Daddy, do you see what kind of nonsense I have to put up with from her.”
“Sir, I don’t mean to sound rude, but, if your daughter would just quit trying to start fights with me, she would not have to put up with anything from me. Truthfully, I don’t care what she thinks about my friends, or myself, but she crossed a fine line when she touched me. I don’t like violence much, and I’ve already had enough violence in my life to last for ten lifetimes.”
Lacé‘s father nodded thoughtfully and backed into the crowd behind him without a word, leaving Lacé and her brothers alone. Outraged that her father had abandoned her, Lacé put more force into her voice as she snorted, “Violence, ha! Your kind doesn’t know anything about it. You wouldn’t be able to fight if you life depended on it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you. I happen to know quite a bit more than you give me credit for. Now, if you don’t mind I would like to get these two settled down and get something to eat for Jem, Jewel, and myself before the evening is over,” Kat tried to get by Lacé but was blocked by Lacé‘s brothers.
“Yes, I do mind. What could you possibly know about fighting? You’re all flesh and fat; there is not a muscle to be seen anywhere on you,” with another sneer, Lacé twisted Kat’s hand behind Kat’s back and gave it a sharp jerk out of spite.
Kat handed the then empty meat bowl to one of the bystanders and in one smooth motion flipped her arm in front of herself. Kat turned so that the same motion that freed Kat’s arm also rapped Lacé‘s arm behind Lacé‘s back. When one of Lacé‘s brothers moved toward her, Kat gave him a sharp look, and he stepped back again. Kat delivered, with her fingers, a sharp flick to the back of Lacé‘s knee, and Lacé fell onto her knees as if her legs were made of mush.
“Where did you learn that?” Cassy moved to the front of the crowd, “I’ve never thought you could fight like that, or at all really. You’ve always walked away from fights. Can you do more?”
Kat smiled grimly, “I learned that real fast during the raid that cost my parents their lives. If I hadn’t watched the crew as they fought and copied what I had seen, I would most likely be dead. That is the only reason I ever learned to fight, so I could survive. I can do a lot more than this, but there is no point.” Kat’s smile turned sad as her mind taunted her with the memories of the raid.
“I don’t get it. You could have pounded her and all the other ijjits at the Tower, but you just quietly took their taunts.”
“Like I said before; there is no point. They didn’t do any real harm and, though sometimes they made me mad, fighting them would have only caused hard feelings and in turn more problems. Plus, I knew I could deal with them if I had to, even if they didn’t have any idea what I’m capable of.”
Kat turned her attention back to Lacé and said very calmly, “I’m going to let you go now, Lacé, but, before I do, I just want to say that I’m genuinely sorry that it came to this. I hope that we can put this little snag behind us and in the future, at least, be civil toward each other.”
Lacé‘s voice cracked as she answered Kat, “I…I’ll leave you alone, okay, fine, but I don’t have to like you.”
“I didn’t say you have to like me, just treat me decently. Oh, one more thing, leave the mountain lions and the dragons out of this. They never did anything to set you off, and they don’t need any grief from you, no matter how mad you get at me.”
Lacé says sullenly, “Fine.”
•••
Edward Mika shook his head as he tried to concentrate on what his partner, Gadfreed Picer, was telling him, but Edward’s mind kept straying and replaying the strange dream he had the night before. Gadfreed droned, “…I just don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have these coordinates that we took from the Tower…We would never be able to teleport without them; although, it’s still going to be next to impossible to know for sure where we’re going to end up… Edward, have you heard a word I just said? …Edward, can you hear me? …Edward! …Edward!! …EDWARD!!!” Edward snapped back to reality as Gadfreed slapped him on the arm. Gadfreed shook his head sadly, “What has gotten into you, Edward? We are out here searching for your daughter, and you can’t even keep your mind on task for a few minutes!”
Edward looked at his partner sheepishly and stated, “I am sorry, Gad. I just had the strangest dream last night and can’t seem to stop thinking about it.” Gadfreed regarded Edward quizzically as Edward continued, “In my dream I was talking to Kat, and she told me not to worry about her because the people she’s staying with will take care of everything she needs. I asked her if she didn’t need a dad anymore, and she just faded away with the saddest look on her face. I cannot help feeling that I was actually speaking to her, even though I know that it’s silly.”
Gadfreed wrapped his arm around his partner and whispered to him, “Maybe it is not so silly after all. I mean your connection to Kat is still in place, so maybe she was talking to you without knowing what she was doing. I don’t believe she would have said that otherwise, Edward.”
“What if she doesn’t need me, Gad? I was not a father to her when she was growing up…what if she decides she doesn’t want me to be one now?”
“She loves you even though you weren’t there, and she understands that that was her mother’s doing, not yours. She will always need a father even if she does not realize it. Now, stop worrying so over this; there is nothing for you to worry about.”
“Alright, Gad, but I hope you are right about this… I guess we should Merge if we are going to make the last teleport today, shouldn’t we?”
Gadfreed smiled, and the two Talents Merged. With the effortlessness of long, practice they teleported themselves and their ship close to the coordinates where Kat’s ship was last detected.
Lost and Found
Earth Prime Jeff Raven sat behind his desk reading the latest report on Kat and her pet cougars, She prefers mountain lions, Jeff’s wife, the Rowan, touched his mind affectionately. What trouble has your young charge gotten into this time?
All the Talents I have sent to work with her have asked to be reassigned after a short period of time, and I am sorry to say that Sarah Kline, one of the best T-1’s, is no different. She sent me her request just a few minutes ago. Jeff smiled amusedly at the trouble Kat had given the Tower in her month of residence. She seems to enjoy telling everyone to, in her words, “Bug off.” She absolutely refuses to cooperate. You would think we are trying to torture her instead of teaching her how to use her latent telepathic abilities. I will be relieved when we find her father. Has there been any success? I know she didn’t give us much of a description, other than he is a Talent.
The Rowan’s amusement seeped into Jeff’s mind along with her thoughts. Yes, we found him, or rather he found us. When we started asking around, he suspected it might be Kat and came forward today, as soon as he heard about the accident.
Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me something, my love?
Laughter filled Jeff’s head before the Rowan answered. Her father is T-2 Edward Mika, and he will be arriving, with his partner, on the Dricon tomorrow morning.
Ah, yes, the Dricon. Jeff scanned the Tower schedule for the next day. Scheduled as the first transfer tomorrow. Kat should be in for a nice surprise.
From what Edward has said, he and his partner, T-3 Gadfreed Picer, had been seeing a lot of Kat before the accident, so I wonder why she didn’t tell us who he was right away.
She hasn’t said more than two or three words together to any one person since she arrived. Is it really so surprising after saw her mother and the only father she had growing up die right in front of her eyes? I can feel your weariness, and, since it is already night for you, I don’t want to keep you up too long. Goodnight, love.
Goodnight, and you should really get some rest yourself when you done in the Tower tonight. I know you didn’t sleep much last night. The Rowan broke her contact to Jeff after sending him one final surge of love.
Just then Jeff’s office door burst open to admit a very pale and haggard-looking Sarah Kline. Startled, Jeff looked up and, sensing the panic Sarah seemed to be radiating, asked, “What has happened?”
Sarah took a deep breath to help her gather her thoughts and with a groan, answered, “Kat is gone! I was trying to get her to come inside and calm down after one of the other teens took a swing at one of her cougars, I think it was Jem, and she punched the girl and ran off with her cougars right behind her. I wish those ijjits would have just left her and her cats alone.”
“Slow down and tell me what else happened. I would like to know exactly what you meant by ‘gone’.”
“She hid inside that fighter that her dad had built, the one she was found in, and when I reached up to open the hatch, it just disappeared. I don’t know how considering she can’t teleport herself or anything else, but it happened.”
“I think I may have the answer to that,” Steve Collins said as he stepped into the room behind Sarah. “My daughter is missing, too, and I believe that she and Kat often shared the fighter as a hiding place. I believe they may be together; furthermore, I believe that Cassy teleported the ship involuntarily to keep them from getting into any trouble. Unfortunately, they are in more trouble now.”
Jeff sighed heavily and took charge, “If I remember correctly the fighter has a rather strong tracking device installed in it which is how Kat was found in the first place. If it is still operational, we should be able to find the girls easily enough, and, even if we are too far away from them, one of the other Towers or maybe a ship should be able to pick up the signal. Let us just hope that the tracker is still operational and has power.”
Fifteen minutes later. “They’ve been located sir. They’re in the Rukbat system and on a crash course for the third planet, Pern. They’re moving too fast, at the moment, for even you to catch them and teleport the ship back, let a lone them. I’m sorry, sir, it’s too late for them,” the T-1 wearily told Jeff.
“Let us hope that you are wrong, for the sake of our young friends,” Jeff walked out of the room and called mentally to all the Towers to organize a massive Merge, but by the time everyone was ready the tracker had malfunctioned. The fighter’s position could not be accurately calculated for a blind intercept, due to the fact that the ship's speed was slowing at an erratic rate before the signal was lost.
•••
“Where are we?” Cassy asked nervously.
“How should I know? You teleported us here,” Kat retorted.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, and when it happened, I was only thinking ‘someplace safe’, not any thing specific.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. We’re in the same boat, so to speak. I’ll look in the ship’s database and see if I can find out where we are.” Kat started tapping in inquires to the guidance system on the main control panel. “Gawdamit! The stupid auto-pilot just kicked in I thought the engineers said they fixed that. I knew I should have done the repairs myself!”
“You also said that you didn’t think you could get away long enough to do it.”
“True. Hey, I found out where we are, and you are not going to believe this. We’re in that system where that colony called Pern was, you know the one that by the time they were rescued there were less than twenty survivors left on the whole planet because of that Oort cloud organism they named Thread. Man, I wonder what it looks like now.”
“Do you really think we should be sight-seeing at a time like this? I mean shouldn’t we try to get back?”
“You work on that and I’ll try to get this stupid excuse for an auto-pilot to disengage. Stupid, little f…”
“Kat just because you read what the old swear words were in the archives does not mean you are allowed to say them, and I’m going to need your help to teleport us back. I don’t have enough conscious control of my power to do this without Merging. I hate this.”
“Um, you remember the last time we tried to Merge? ‘Cause I do. We both blacked out and had headaches for three days, and you know that I avoid lessons whenever possible. I don’t want to hear other peoples’ thoughts. Animals are fine, especially the mountain lions. My mom had one of those mind enhancements, those telepathic and intelligence ones, done to their DNA before she would ok the bioengineering of them for me, but people are too scatter-brained for my taste.”
“Ok, if we can’t do a Merge, what are we going to do? We can’t wait for help. I think this system is the Rukbat system, which is fifteen years away from Earth’s solar system if we have to fly straight. Did you get that auto-pilot fixed yet?”
“No, I didn’t, and I have no idea how to get back in except to hack my way in. That will take forever; we made sure of that when we designed the system.”
“What do you mean? You have to hack into you own ship’s systems? How did this happen?”
”I’ve been locked out of the systems; all the passwords even the back ones have been changed. I think the engineers did it when they tried to fix the auto-pilot; the only problem is they didn’t tell me the new passwords. I also know that, with a really good systems hacker, it could take any where from two to four hours, and I’m not very good at hacking, even in my own systems.”
“How long do you think you’ll need to hack into the system?”
“Truthfully, the last time I tried, it took me ten hours. Creeping-cruddulen!”
“What is it?”
“The auto-pilot has us on a crash course with the third planet; that’s Pern. It looks like we’ll get to see anything that’s left from the failed colony after all.”
“How long till we get to the planet?”
“On current settings, five hours till we reach the planet, but on the bright side if these settings are right, we will survive the crash will only minor or no injuries. That is, of course, only if the ship holds up to reentry, and it has never been tested.”
“What are our odds of survival, Kat? Tell me the truth.”
“Truthfully? Fifty-fifty is the best I can do, Cassy. Sorry, I really can’t give you better odds, and there is no way I can hack into the systems and change the settings before the estimated crash time.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who teleported us here in the first place.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you, and look on the bright side. At least if we die, it’s in good company.” Kat and Cassy both smiled at that even if the similes were a little forced.
•••
Weyrwoman Lessa, queen Ramoth’s rider, and her weyrmate Weyrleader F’lar, bronze Mnementh’s rider, of Benden Weyr were startled awake just before dawn by screeching fares of fire-lizards and the bellowing of all the dragons in the Weyr. What’s going on, Ramoth, dear?
There is something falling from the sky. Ramoth’s answer was punctuated by a loud bang as the “something” hit the ground. The fire-lizards disappeared, and the dragons went silent. Someone is in the thing, and they’re asking for help.
Who is asking for help?
She says her name is Kat and that her friend Cassy is hurt and unconscious. She sounds really worried. She seems nice; are we going to help her?
Yes. To the rest of the dragons Lessa said, Tell your riders to get ready to fly. We don’t know how many we’ll need, and I’ll grab numbweed we don’t know how bad the injuries are.
“F’lar?” Lessa turned to her weyrmate.
“Mnementh told me. We’ll go on ahead and see how bad things are while you organize the rescue,” F’lar said as he ran out to harness Mnementh. A few moments later, F’lar and Mnementh took off and Lessa started giving preparation orders for the rescue. When F’lar reported through Mnementh, his news was heartening. F’lar says we’re going to need the numbweed, but the injuries aren’t that bad. There were only two people. Kat is really nice, and F’lar is getting a calm earful from her on handling her big cats. The cats are rather nice as well. We’ll be back with the injured soon.
What was the thing that fell from the sky? Lessa asked Mnementh as most of the Weyr went back to their normal morning activities.
A very small spaceship, it is only made for two people.
Thank you, Mnementh. Tell F’lar that we’re ready to treat the injuries. Lessa saw Mnementh appear in the sky above Benden Weyr a moment later. Mnementh set two small objects down and landed. Laughing rather hard, F’lar dismounted and helped Kat down off Mnementh’s back. As he took a second, limp figure off Mnementh, F’lar’s mood sobered, and Kat’s expression was so worried that Lessa hurriedly reassured her and led her to the hall for a mug of klah, “Your friend will be fine. I’m Lessa, Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr. Just relax and have a mug of klah. That’s better. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened and … What are those?!”
At Lessa’s reaction to Jem and Jewel, Kat laughed and answered between giggles, “They are mountain lions or North American cougars if you prefer. They’re native creatures of my home planet, Earth,” pointing at Jem and Jewel each in turn, Kat explained, “This is Jem and that is Jewel. They are my only close companions besides Cassy.”
“Earth! We didn’t think we would ever meet anyone from Earth.”
“That’s what F’lar said. Truthfully, I didn’t expect to meet anyone on Pern, either. Pern is marked as a failed and deserted colony.”
•••
Jeff sat slouched behind his desk. He was deeply disturbed by Kat’s and Cassy’s deaths. He sat there all night, thinking about the tragedy. When dawn finally arrived, he was starting to feel better about the whole situation, even if he still felt responsible for it.
Jeff kept himself busy with the tower that day. He tried not to think about his up coming meeting with Kat’s father; managing the Tower and Transferring was hard enough without distractions.
“Sir, may I come in?” Edward strolled into Jeff’s office. “Before you say anything, I heard what you think happened, but I don’t believe it. If Kat was dead I would know it.”
Jeff sighed, “How can you be sure of that? Kat didn’t learn much while she was here, and we don’t know how strong she would have been.”
“Kat’s knowledge and strength has nothing to do with it. Let me explain. She makes these unconscious connections to people she cares about. When she first told me about it, I really didn’t think she knew what she was talking about, but, later, I figured it out. She connects to the edge of your awareness, just as this vague presence, and all you can really tell is that she is alive and whether or not she is seriously injured. The sensation really takes a little getting used to, especially if she decides to cut off the connection for a while. I can still feel her, so she is alive and not hurt that I can tell. We, that is Gadfreed and I, would like permission to search for her.”
“Though I would like to see you find her and Cassy, I cannot knowingly send you out based on a connection this, as you said, vague. I’m sorry.”
“Sir, if you don’t approve it, we’ll go anyway.”
“I won’t officially approve this, but neither will I try to hinder you. I’m sure you already have this arranged?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t have come here otherwise. We’ll see you when we get back.”
“I hope you’re right, but, from what I know of Kat, I doubt it.”
•••
Cassy recovered completely from the concussion and cuts she suffered in the crash, and, a week after their arrival on Pern, she and Kat had settled in to life in Benden rather well. With Fall not expected for three days, the Weyr had a much-needed break from fighting Thread.
Taking advantage of their short break from work in the Weyr, Kat and Cassy were exploring the various tunnels and rooms of the Weyr’s cave structure. They had started at the lowest level they could access and ambled their way upward, avoiding the most crowded sections to steer clear of anyone who might give them another task of some sort.
Kat stumbled and dropped her glow-basket, “Creeping-cruddulen! I guess I really should watch where my feet are going on this uneven floor.”
Cassy caught Kat’s arm to help steady her, “Are you alright? No damage done to the glows that I can see, so if you’re not hurt we can keep going. I think we’re almost at the top level.”
“Yea, I’m fine. Hand me that ijjit glow-basket and we can carry on,” Kat cautiously took the offered glow-basket from Cassy and, carefully feeling where she was placing her feet, she walked ahead. “It certainly is easier to explore through the back tunnels than the front ones.”
“Yea, there’s no dodging the endless list of people who just happen to always have something for us to do. Kat, you think they want to drown us in work so we won’t think about the crash and what we left behind?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, if we were back home that would be exactly what they would do, but here they seem to think we’re adult enough to deal with it. I think they just enjoy grabbing people off guard to do the less desirable tasks. Look how everyone else tries to avoid those jobs, too, and someone has to do them no matter how distasteful they may seem.”
“I’m just glad we get these little breaks that we can use to explore. This place is amazing!”
“You’re telling me! Look at this! If you look through this tiny hole you can get a good view of the Hatching Ground.”
“What is that sound? Is there an earthquake or something?”
“No, I think it’s the dragons, and there’s Ramoth and the other dragons. Can you see them?”
“Yea… I think the eggs must be hatching because everyone is gathering and sitting down. We better get going if we want to watch with everyone else. Unless, of course you want to take turns looking through this little hole. I didn’t think so.”
Kat shook her head, and they started back to the main caverns. As they made their way back, Cassy used what little control over her powers she possessed to remove the dirt from their clothes and hair while she simultaneously straightened their hair. They paused in their rush only long enough to deposit their glow-baskets back on the wall they had taken them from originally.
They slowed to a walk to calm their breathing before entering the Hatching Ground behind some of the other last minute arrivals. Cassy hesitated when she saw that the seats were almost full. Kat gave her friend a gentle, firm push from behind and kept pressure on Cassy’s back when Cassy almost stopped again halfway across the sands.
After Cassy took a seat in the front row, Kat took a back row seat where she could sit alone, except for Jem and Jewel, in the shadows. Kat smiled at Jem as he jumped onto the seat beside her and made room for Jewel to sit on his other side. The cougars sat up as straight as possible not only to see over the crowd to where the candidates were lining the edge of the sands but also to take up as little room on the seat as they could so no one would notice them.
Everyone was barely seated when the first egg started to rock, from side to side, and crack loudly. Soon after the first, many other eggs started to break, and the awed gasps of the onlookers was lost under the loud cracking of dragon eggs. As the first egg, the queen egg, hatched, the smallest egg, which was off to one side, began to slow in its rocking as if its occupant didn’t have enough energy to break free of the hard shell. The little, golden queen stumbled to and fro, looking increasingly frantic at each step. She looked at each of the female candidates in turn, but when one of the girls tried to approach her, the little queen ran in fright to side toward one side of the Hatching Ground. As she ran, she tripped and fell on top of the smallest egg and in consequence freed her sibling.
As the little queen backed away from the broken shell, a black dragon only half the queen’s size emerged from amidst the fragments. Kat couldn’t understand why most of the crowd seemed horrified by the newest arrival and smiled at the black dragon. Kat thought the black dragon was beautiful because it reminded her of the ebony necklace that her blood father had given her when they first met. The wobbly queen steadied the ebony dragon, when it stumbled and almost fell.
Having already dismissed the all the candidates on the sands, the petite queen started toward the crowded seats. Realizing that she was alone, she gave a sharp chirp at her ebony sibling before she continued across the sands followed closely by the very precariously balanced black dragon. Kat, caught up in the happenings on the Hatching Ground, almost missed Ramoth’s comment to Lessa. She doesn’t want any of the candidates. This has happened before… Who says there should not be a black dragon? Ruth is white and small, and he is no less that any other dragon.
As Ramoth’s comment sank in, Kat’s attention snapped from the Hatching Ground, and she asked Ramoth about it. Black and white aren’t supposed to be dragon colors? I thought they were just rare.
Ruth was the first white dragon, and this is the first black. We have always been gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green like the fire-lizards. Ramoth’s answer was short as she turned her attention back to the young dragons. As Kat thought about Ramoth’s answer, understanding of the crowd’s reaction to the ebony dragon suddenly shined brightly in Kat’s mind. She glanced at the two young dragons trying to climb the steps of the seating area; instantly she thought of Jem and Jewel as cubby, wrong-footed cubs so like the young dragons. Were they really like us? The question, spoken by two voices, caught Kat off guard. Two sets of blazing, blue dragon eyes looked straight at Kat as two new bonds slid into place in her mind. The little queen and her little, ebony sister had both chosen Kat.
I was never so wobbly! Jem’s dignified response made Kat laugh before she could answer the expectantly waiting dragons.
Oh, no. You were worse. Jewel’s eyes sparkle as she teased her brother.
Recovering her composer, Kat cut in, Do you mind saving you spat for later? Yes they were like you in some ways, though I couldn’t take them home right away. Are you both sure you want to be stuck with me? I mean, you have to share me with those two, not to mention each other.
I don’t mind. My name is Draconna, was the prompt reply from the golden queen.
My name is Ebony, and I don’t mind either. You are worth sharing. We’re both really hungry, responded the tiny, black female a moment later.
Draconna, Ebony, this is Jem, and this is his sister Jewel. I hope you four will all be friends. Don’t worry I’ll get you both meat. Who would have thought one person can be so lucky? I have four life friends. Wow, I guess I finally found my place… As Kat lead her group down to where bowls of meat waited for all the new dragons, her last mental remark was cut off by the angry voice of one of the jilted candidates.
“She got two dragons? She already has her two stupid cats. Why does she get to just crash here on our planet and take dragons from good, hard-working people who deserve them? Who said we even want her kind here? The ancients came to Pern to get away from people like her.” Lacé’s face was red and contorted with anger as she stamped her way toward Kat.
By the time Lacé reached Kat, it was no longer just Lacé; there were also five of Lacé’s relatives ready to back her up. Kat tried to ignore Lacé and started feeding the two dragons without so much as glancing in Lacé’s direction. Agitated severely by Kat’s seemingly complete indifference, Lacé surged forward, seized Kat’s right wrist, and snarled “I was talking to you, twit! Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
Kat arranged her bowl of meat so she could continue feeding Draconna and Ebony, even without the use of her right hand. She touched Kat. Want to get her, Jewel? Jem remarked.
Kat raised an eyebrow at Jem. Jem, you will do no such thing. If she does not let go and leave soon, I will deal with her by myself.
Jem and Jewel glared at Lacé, but the two dragons only spared a single glance for Lacé. Thinking that Kat was afraid to answer her, Lacé laughed. “I guess you’re not as confident as they say.”
Kat’s words were faint, “Talking about me.”
“What was that, cat-girl?”
“You were talking about me not to me. If you were talking to me, you would have addressed me as ‘Kat’ or ‘you’ not as ‘she’ and ‘her.’ Would you mind? You happen to be bruising my wrist. Though, it really doesn’t hurt that much.”
“Daddy, do you see what kind of nonsense I have to put up with from her.”
“Sir, I don’t mean to sound rude, but, if your daughter would just quit trying to start fights with me, she would not have to put up with anything from me. Truthfully, I don’t care what she thinks about my friends, or myself, but she crossed a fine line when she touched me. I don’t like violence much, and I’ve already had enough violence in my life to last for ten lifetimes.”
Lacé‘s father nodded thoughtfully and backed into the crowd behind him without a word, leaving Lacé and her brothers alone. Outraged that her father had abandoned her, Lacé put more force into her voice as she snorted, “Violence, ha! Your kind doesn’t know anything about it. You wouldn’t be able to fight if you life depended on it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you. I happen to know quite a bit more than you give me credit for. Now, if you don’t mind I would like to get these two settled down and get something to eat for Jem, Jewel, and myself before the evening is over,” Kat tried to get by Lacé but was blocked by Lacé‘s brothers.
“Yes, I do mind. What could you possibly know about fighting? You’re all flesh and fat; there is not a muscle to be seen anywhere on you,” with another sneer, Lacé twisted Kat’s hand behind Kat’s back and gave it a sharp jerk out of spite.
Kat handed the then empty meat bowl to one of the bystanders and in one smooth motion flipped her arm in front of herself. Kat turned so that the same motion that freed Kat’s arm also rapped Lacé‘s arm behind Lacé‘s back. When one of Lacé‘s brothers moved toward her, Kat gave him a sharp look, and he stepped back again. Kat delivered, with her fingers, a sharp flick to the back of Lacé‘s knee, and Lacé fell onto her knees as if her legs were made of mush.
“Where did you learn that?” Cassy moved to the front of the crowd, “I’ve never thought you could fight like that, or at all really. You’ve always walked away from fights. Can you do more?”
Kat smiled grimly, “I learned that real fast during the raid that cost my parents their lives. If I hadn’t watched the crew as they fought and copied what I had seen, I would most likely be dead. That is the only reason I ever learned to fight, so I could survive. I can do a lot more than this, but there is no point.” Kat’s smile turned sad as her mind taunted her with the memories of the raid.
“I don’t get it. You could have pounded her and all the other ijjits at the Tower, but you just quietly took their taunts.”
“Like I said before; there is no point. They didn’t do any real harm and, though sometimes they made me mad, fighting them would have only caused hard feelings and in turn more problems. Plus, I knew I could deal with them if I had to, even if they didn’t have any idea what I’m capable of.”
Kat turned her attention back to Lacé and said very calmly, “I’m going to let you go now, Lacé, but, before I do, I just want to say that I’m genuinely sorry that it came to this. I hope that we can put this little snag behind us and in the future, at least, be civil toward each other.”
Lacé‘s voice cracked as she answered Kat, “I…I’ll leave you alone, okay, fine, but I don’t have to like you.”
“I didn’t say you have to like me, just treat me decently. Oh, one more thing, leave the mountain lions and the dragons out of this. They never did anything to set you off, and they don’t need any grief from you, no matter how mad you get at me.”
Lacé says sullenly, “Fine.”
•••
Edward Mika shook his head as he tried to concentrate on what his partner, Gadfreed Picer, was telling him, but Edward’s mind kept straying and replaying the strange dream he had the night before. Gadfreed droned, “…I just don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have these coordinates that we took from the Tower…We would never be able to teleport without them; although, it’s still going to be next to impossible to know for sure where we’re going to end up… Edward, have you heard a word I just said? …Edward, can you hear me? …Edward! …Edward!! …EDWARD!!!” Edward snapped back to reality as Gadfreed slapped him on the arm. Gadfreed shook his head sadly, “What has gotten into you, Edward? We are out here searching for your daughter, and you can’t even keep your mind on task for a few minutes!”
Edward looked at his partner sheepishly and stated, “I am sorry, Gad. I just had the strangest dream last night and can’t seem to stop thinking about it.” Gadfreed regarded Edward quizzically as Edward continued, “In my dream I was talking to Kat, and she told me not to worry about her because the people she’s staying with will take care of everything she needs. I asked her if she didn’t need a dad anymore, and she just faded away with the saddest look on her face. I cannot help feeling that I was actually speaking to her, even though I know that it’s silly.”
Gadfreed wrapped his arm around his partner and whispered to him, “Maybe it is not so silly after all. I mean your connection to Kat is still in place, so maybe she was talking to you without knowing what she was doing. I don’t believe she would have said that otherwise, Edward.”
“What if she doesn’t need me, Gad? I was not a father to her when she was growing up…what if she decides she doesn’t want me to be one now?”
“She loves you even though you weren’t there, and she understands that that was her mother’s doing, not yours. She will always need a father even if she does not realize it. Now, stop worrying so over this; there is nothing for you to worry about.”
“Alright, Gad, but I hope you are right about this… I guess we should Merge if we are going to make the last teleport today, shouldn’t we?”
Gadfreed smiled, and the two Talents Merged. With the effortlessness of long, practice they teleported themselves and their ship close to the coordinates where Kat’s ship was last detected.