Kadith says the Fall is ragged. Widen the formations. Second stack is closing. Southern wings have contact. Orlith would keep up her commentary until the queens’ wing was called to use its flamethrowers. Then her attention would be totally involved in keeping herself and her rider unscathed. High level is dropping down now. No injuries.
There rarely are, Moreta thought, not in the first few exciting moments of Fall, no matter how badly it drops. The riders are all fresh, their dragons eager. Once they assessed the Fall, thick or thin, racing or languid, then mistakes would occur. The second hour of a Fall was the most dangerous. Riders and dragons lost their initial keenness, they overshot Thread, or they misjudged. Falls don’t al-ways follow the pattern of the leading edge, particularly at the end of a Pass.
Kadith is checking. Kadith is flaming. Char! Excitement tinged Orlith’s previously calm tone. He’s between. Back again. Flaming. All wings are now engaged. First flight returns/or second sweep.
The wind yanked at Moreta’s body and she tugged briefly to settle the flamethrower strap on her shoulder. Now the wind carried with it tiny flecks of black charred Thread. On a stormy day, sometimes her eyepieces would be covered by a muddy film. They were under the first edge of Fall now.
Nothing passed the wings, Orlith said.
Sometimes great gouts of Thread would descend on the leading edge and riders would be hard put to acquit their duty. Some older
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern 121
riders preferred the first drop to be heavy, swearing that the heavier the leading edge, the lighter the die-off. So many Palls, so many leading edges, so many, many variations possible and so many comparisons. No two accounts, even by riders in the same wing, ever seemed to tally.
Old L’mal had told Moreta that the efficiency of the dragon was only hampered by his rider’s ability to brag. However a rider flew, so long as no Thread reached the ground, the flight was well done!
The plains of Crom flowed beneath them. Moreta kept her eyes ranging ahead as did Orlith, in a synchrony of alertness long perfected. Moreta now caught the overvision from Orlith as the dragon saw hers. Moreta often experienced the desire to dive on Thread as the fighting dragons did, swooping down on the target, instead of having to wait passively for stray Thread to appear. Sometimes she envied the greens, who could chew firestone. That effectively steril-ized them, which was all to the good or green dragons would overpopulate the planet. The danger was in the fight, but so was the excitement, and the golden queens could not indulge.
Thread!
“Haura!”
Worth sees. Werth follows!
Moreta watched as the younger queen veered, swung, and came up under the tangle of the deadly parasite. The flamethrower spat. The ash dispersed in the air as Werth accomplished the brief mission.
They are all alert now, Orlith told Moreta.
Tell them to broaden the interval since we’re past leading edge. Kamiana is to stay with Leri and Holth. We’ll go south. Haura, north!
Obligingly Orlith turned, gradually picked up air speed and altitude.
That was the hard part of Fall, coursing back and forth. The rich dark soil of the plateau held sufficient mineral nourishment to sustain Thread long enough to waste fields that had been brought to fertility over hundreds of Turns of careful husbandry.
They were nearing the initial rank of hills and the first of Crom’s holds. The symmetry of the windows with their metal shutters tightly closed was visible against the protecting hillside. As Moreta and Orlith passed over the burning fire-heights, she wondered if all within the hold were healthy.
“Ask the watchwher, Orlith.”
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Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern
123
It knows nothing. Orlith’s tone was a shade contemptuous. The queen did not enjoy interchanges with the simpleminded beasts.
“They have their uses,” Moreta said. “We can check with all of them today. Sh’gall may not wish us to contact people but we can still leam something.”
Orlith gained more altitude as the second fold of hills loomed. Rider and queen kept the silvery shower in sight, angling from one edge of their appointed line to the other. Over the next plateau they saw Lidora and Ilith swinging along their .route.