she’d have two completely new dresses that no-one had ever worn before
her. She had, he admitted very very quietly to herself, hoped that
lantine would notice her in them. Now, with Morath’s information, she
wondered if he’d notice at all that she was wearing new clothes.
Speaking of weyrs,’ Mesla said.
That was half an hour ago, Mesla,” Angie protested. Well?” There
aren’t that many left and the bigger dragons would have first choice,
wouldn’t they?” she went on.
Don’t worry,’ Jule told her, some’ll come free by the time we need
them.” Then she covered her mouth, aware of what she had just implied.
I didn’t mean that. I really didn’t. 1
mean, I wouldn’t think of moving in Just shut up, Jule,’ Sarra said in
a quiet but firm voice.
There was a long moment of silence, with no-one daring to look at
anyone.
Say, who has the salve?” Grasella asked softly from the bunk beyond
her, breaking the almost intolerable silence. My fingers are itching
again. No-one told me I’d have to cope with chilblains while dealing
with dragons.
Angie found it in her furs and passed it on.
After you,’ Debera said softly as she gave it to Grasella.
The easy laughing chatter was over for the night.
*
*
*
I haven’t had much time,.” Jemmy told Clisser in his most uncooperative
tone of voice when Clisser asked how he was coming on the last of the
History Ballads. Had to look up all that law stuff.
Why’d you have to take so much trouble with those fragging guards?
They shoulda all been dropped on the islands, right away. None of this
trial farce.
The trials were not farces, Jemmy,’ said Clisser, so
uncharacteristically reproving that Jemmy looked up in a state of
amazement. The trials were necessary. To prove that we would not act
in an arbitrary fashion You mean, the way Chalkin would have, and Jemmy
grinned, his uneven teeth looking more vulpine than ever in his long
face.
Exactly.
You’re wasting too much time on him. Jemmy turned back to reading.
What are you looking up?” I don’t know. I’m looking because I know
there’s something we can use to check on the Red Planet’s position .
something so simple I’m disgusted I can’t call it to mind. I know I’ve
seen it somewhere Irritably he pushed the volume away from him.
It’d help a great deal if the people who copied for us had had decent
handwriting. I spend too much time trying to decipher it.” Abruptly he
reached across the cluttered work-top to the windowsill and plonked down
in front of him a curious apparatus. Here’s your new computer.” He
grinned up at Clisser who regarded the object – bright coloured beads
strung on ten narrow rods, divided into two unequal portions.
What is it?” Clisser exclaimed, picking it up and finding that the
beads moved stiffly up and down on the rods.
An abacus, they called it. A counter. Ancient and still functional.”
Jemmy took the device from Clisser and demonstrated.
It’ll take the place of a calculator. Most are down now. Oh, and I
found the designs for this, too.” He fumbled around his papers and
withdrew an instrument consisting of a ruler with a central sliding
piece, both marked with logarithmic scales. You can do quite
complicated mathematical calculations on this slide-rule, as they called
it. Almost as fast as you could type into a digital pad.” Clisser
looked from one to the other. So that’s what a slide rule looks like. I
saw one mentioned in a treatise on early calculators but I never thought
we’d have to resort to ancient devices. And mention of an abacus, too,
actually. You have been busy reinventing alternatives.
And I’ll find that other device, too, if you’ll leave me alone and
don’t dump more vitally important, urgent research on me.
I’m hoping,’ Clisser said at his most diplomatic, that you can give me
something to show before the Winter Solstice and Turn’s End.
Jemmy shot straight up in his chair. cocked his head and stared at
Clisser so that Clisser leaned forward hopefully, holding his breath
lest he disrupt Jemmy’s concentration.