Time is what we dont have, Asgenar said wearily.
Then lets use what time we have to the best possible advantage, Flar said decisively, his moment of doubt and disillusion behind him. Lets work on Telgar. Fnor, how many riders can Tbor spare us to hunt larval sacks between time at Southern? You and Nton can work out coordinates with them.
Wont that weaken Southerns protection? asked Robinton.
No, because Nton keeps his eyes open. He noticed that a lot of sacks started in the fall get blown down or devoured during the winter months. So weve altered our methods. We check an area in spring to place the sacks that survive, go back to the fall and take some of those which didnt last. There were a few wherries who missed a meal but I dont think we disturbed the balance much.
Flar began to pace, one hand absently scratching his ribs where the scar tissues itched.
I need someone to keep an eye on Nabol, too.
Robinton let out a snort of amusement. We do seem beholden to the oddest agencies. Grub life. Meron. Oh yes, and he chuckled at their irritation, He may yet prove to be an asset. Let him strain his eyes and crick his neck nightly watching the Red Star. As long as he is occupied that way, well know we have time. The eyes of a vengeful man miss few details he can turn to advantage.
Good point, Robinton. Nton, and Flar turned to the young bronze rider. I want to know every remark that man makes, which aspects of the Red Star he views, what he could possibly see, what his reactions are. Weve ignored that man too often to our regret. We might even be grateful to him.
Id rather be grateful to grubs, Nton replied with some fervor. Frankly, sir, he added, hesitant for the first time about any assignment since hed been included in the council, Id rather hunt grubs or catch Thread.
Flar eyed the young rider thoughtfully for a moment.
Think of this assignment then, Nton, as the ultimate Thread catch.
Brekke had insisted on taking over the care of the plants in the Rooms once she was stronger. She argued that she was farmcraftbred and capable of such duties. She preferred not to be present during the demonstrations. In fact she went out of her way to avoid seeing anyone but weyrfolk. She could abide their sympathy but the pity of outsiders was repugnant to her.
This did not affect her curiosity and she would get Fnor to tell her every detail of what she termed the best-known Craft secret on Pern. When Fnor narrated the Telgar Lords bitter repudiation of what the Weyrs were trying to accomplish, she was visibly disturbed.
Larads wrong, she said in the slow deliberate way shed adopted lately. The grubs are the solution, the right one. But its true that the best solution is not always easy to accept. And an expedition to the Red Star is not a solution, even if its the one Pernese instinctively crave. Its obvious. Just as two thousand dragons over Telgar Hold was rather obvious seven Turns ago. She surprised Fnor with a little smile, the first since Wirenths death. I myself, like Robinton, would prefer to rely on grubs. They present fewer problems. But then Im craftbred.
You use that phrase a lot lately, Fnor remarked, turning her face toward him, searching her green eyes. They were serious, as always, and clear in the candid gaze was the shadow of a sorrow that would never lift.
She locked her fingers in his and smiled gently, a smile which did not disperse the sorrow. I was craftbred, she corrected herself. Im weyrfolk now. Berd crooned approvingly and Grall added a trill of her own.
We could lose a few Holds this Turn around, Fnor said bitterly.
That would solve nothing, she said. Im relieved that Flar is going to watch that Nabolese. He has a warped mind.
Suddenly she gasped, gripping Fnors fingers so tight that her fingernails broke the skin.
Whats the matter? He put both arms around her protectively.
He has a warped mind, Brekke said, staring at him with frightened eyes. And he also has a fire lizard, a bronze, as old as Grall and Berd. Does anyone know if hes been training it? Training it to go between?