Wansor muttered protestations and apologies as he bounced up the short distance to the platform. He did indeed look, Jaxom noticed, as if he’d been sleeping in those clothes. He probably hadn’t changed since the last Threadfall to judge by the sharpness of the creases in the back of his tunic.
But there was nothing sloppy about the charts of star positions which Wansor now tacked up on the wall. Where did Wansor get that lurid red color for the Red Star-the color almost pulsed on the paper. Nothing dithering about his spoken presentation. Out of deference and respect for Wansor, Jaxom tried to pay close attention but he had heard it all before and his mind returned inexorably to N’ton’s parting shot. “Don’t let anyone catch you giving Ruth firestone!”
As if he would be that foolish. Here Jaxom hesitated. Although he knew in theory the whys and hows of teaching a dragon to chew firestone, he had also learned in his classes that between theory and practice anything could happen. Maybe he could enlist F’lessan’s help?
He glanced at the friend of his boyhood, who had Impressed a bronze two Turns ago. Candidly, Jaxom did not consider F’lessan more than a boy and certainly not serious enough about his responsibilities as a bronze rider. He was grateful that F’lessan had never told anyone that Jaxom had actually touched Ruth’s egg when the dragon was still in its shell on the Hatching Ground. Of course, that would have been a serious offense against the Weyr. F’lessan would scarcely regard teaching a dragon to chew firestone as anything at all remarkable.
Mirrim? Jaxom glanced toward the girl. The morning sun slanted through her browny hair, catching golden glints which he’d never noticed before. She was oblivious to anything but Wansor’s words. She’d probably give Jaxom an argument about not precipitating the Weyr into more problems and then set one of those firelizards of hers on him to be sure he didn’t set himself ablaze.
Jaxom was privately convinced that T’ran, the other young bronze rider from Ista Weyr, thought Ruth was essentially an overgrown firelizard. He’d be even less help than F’lessan.
Benelek was out, too. He ignored dragons and firelizards as completely as they ignored him. But give Benelek a diagram or a machine, even the assorted parts of a machine found in the old holds and weyrs, and he’d spend days trying to figure out what it was supposed to be or do. Generally he could make a full machine work, even if he had to dismantle the whole thing to find out why it wasn’t operating. Benelek and Fandarel understood each other perfectly.
Menolly? Menolly was just the person, if he did need someone, in spite of her predilection for putting anything she heard into a tune-a trick that was occasionally a real nuisance. But that talent made her an excellent Harper, in fact she was the first girl to be one in living memory. He stole a long look at her. Her lips were vibrating slightly and he wondered if she were already putting Wansor’s stars to music.
“The stars mark time for us in every Turn and help us distinguish one Turn from another,” Wansor was saying and Jaxom brought his attention guiltily back to the speaker. “The stars guided Lessa on her courageous trip back through time to bring the Oldtimers forward.” Wansor cleared his throat at his somewhat unfortunate mention of the two dragonrider factions. “And the stars will be our constant guides in future Turns. Lands, seas, people and places may change but the stars are ordered in their courses and remain secure.”
Jaxom remembered hearing some talk of trying to alter the course of the Red Star, deflecting it away from Pern. Had Wansor just proved that that couldn’t be done?
Wansor went on to emphasize that once you understood the basic orbit and speed of any star, you could compute its position in the heavens as long as you also calculated the effect of its nearest neighbors at conjunction; at any given time.
“So, there is no doubt in our minds that we can now accurately predict Threadfall, according to the position of the Red Star when in conjunction with our other near neighbors in the skies.”