As the queen slowed her forward motion into a leisurely glide,
126 Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern
Moreta leaned wearily into the fighting straps, the nozzle heavy in her tired hand. She felt the dull ache in her head from having to see too much at once, from having to concentrate on drift, and glide, and angle of the flame.
“Casualties?”
Thirty-three, mostly minor scorings. Two badly damaged wings. Four riders with cracked ribs and three with dislocated shoulders.
“Ribs and shoulders! That’s bad flying!” Yet Moreta was relieved at the total. But two wings! She hated having to mend wings, but she’d had lots of practice.
B’lerion hails us. Bronze Nabeth flew well. Orlith was admiringly craning her neck as the High Reaches bronze matched their speed and level. B’lerion waved his arm in greeting.
“Ask him if he had a good Gather.” Any diversion not to think of the Thread-laced wings to be mended.
He did. Orlith sounded amused. Kadith says we should get back to the injured wings at the Weyr.
“First ask B’lerion what he’s heard of the epidemic.”
Only that it exists. Then she added, Kadith says Dilenth is very
badly injured.
Moreta waved farewell to B’lerion, wishing that Sh’gall or Kadith, or both, did not consider B’lerion and Nabeth rivals. Perhaps they were. Orlith liked B’lerion’s bronze, and Moreta thought it would be far more pleasant spending the Interval with someone as merry as B’lerion.
“Take us back to the Weyr.”
The utter still coldness of between acted as a bracer to Moreta. Then they were low over the Bowl, Orlith having judged her reentry as fine as that blue weyrling had earlier. The ground was studded with wounded dragons, each surrounded by a cluster of attendants. The piercing cry of wounded and distressed dragons filled the air and imbued Moreta with the most earnest desire to reduce their keening
to a bearable level. “Show me Dilenth,” Moreta asked Orlith as the queen swung in
over the Bowl.
His main wingsail is scored. I wfll soothe him! Pity deepened the queen’s tone as she circled as close as was prudent above the thrashing blue. Riders and weyrfolk were trying to apply numbweed to the injured wing, but Dilenth was writhing with pain, making that iro—
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern 127
possible. As Orlith obligingly hovered, Moreta had a clear view of the crippled wing, its forestay tip flopping awkwardly in the dust.
It was a serious injury. From elbow to finger joint, the leading edge of Dilenth’s wing had taken the brunt of the havoc wrought by Thread. The batten cartilages had wilted and were crumpled into the mass of the main wingsail; Moreta thought there was also some damage to the fingersail between the joint and batten ribs, where Thread had glanced off as Dilenth had tried to take belated evasive action. More damage marred the lub side of the wing than the leech. The spar sail appeared relatively whole. Nor could she discern if the finger rib was broken. She devoutly hoped it wasn’t for without ichor to the head of the mainsail, the dragon might never regain full use and fold of his wing.
Dilenth’s injury was one of the worst a dragon could sustain since both the leading and trailing edges of the mainsail were involved. Healed wing membrane might form cheloid tissue and the aileron would become less sensitive, imbalancing the dragon’s glide. First Moreta would have to sort the puzzle pieces of the remaining tissue and support it, hoping that there was enough membrane left to structure repair. Dilenth was young, able to regenerate tissue, but he would be on the injured list for a long time.
Moreta saw Nesso bustling about in the group attending Dilenth. His rider, F’duril, was doing his best to comfort the dragon but Dilenth continually broke loose from his rider’s grip, flailing his head about in anguish.
Orlith landed just in front of the blue dragon. As soon as her hind feet met the ground, Moreta released the fighting straps and slid to the ground. Weyrlings appeared to take the agenothree tank, her outer gear.
“Where’s redwort to wash in?” she demanded loudly, more to mask the sound of the keening that beat between her ears. Orlith, control him!