A/N: Here is a story that's been bugging me. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Disclaimer: The Dragonriders Of Pern is a trademark of and copyrighted to Anne McCaffrey. This is fan fiction which garners NO MONEY WHATSOEVER for the author of this work.
Chapter One
Jordan Tillek got off the school bus and headed in to the house to put away his books and such before he went to do chores. He actually liked the chores. Well, the mucking out of the stalls wasn't fun but he liked the rest of it.
He consulted the list his dad had written out and groaned. It was his turn to muck the stalls. Actually that was first on the list. Jordan was actually glad it was first. That was the one chore he hated and wanted to get it over with quickly.
After he finished the last stall, he breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of the chores were fun, but mucking stalls was no fun at all.
He grabbed a pitchfork and headed out to bail hay. His two brothers, Jerry and Jim were already at it.
"Glad you could join us, runt," Jim said. He always loved reminding his youngest brother of the fact he was small for his age.
The three brothers chatted about the things boys talk about as they used their pitchforks to put the hay in somewhat neat piles for the bailer.
Suddenly Jordan felt light headed and woozy. The scene seemed to swim around him and he fell unconscious.
Talaya, headwoman of Ista Weyr, rose at her accustomed time and headed for the kitchen to get the day started. As she passed, she banged on the doors to the kitchen drudges quarters to wake them up for the day. "Come on, you lot. Time to wake up. Don't make me come in and dump you out of bed!"
She walked into the main room of the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks. A young boy of what looked to be about nine or ten turns was laying in the middle of the floor. He was wearing odd sweat stained clothing.
"What have we here?" she asked the room at large. He looked too young to be a candidate and she didn't recognize him as a weyr brat.
She walked over, bent down and gave him a shake. "Come on, boy. You can't sleep on the kitchen floor."
As she touched his shoulder she noticed that the material of the clothing he was wearing felt oddly smooth.
The boy opened his eyes and tried to scramble to his feet. He got to a sitting position when his head started swimming. He put a hand to his head, feeling if there were any bumps or cuts.
"Are ye alright, boy?"
He looked at her in confusion and said, "Who are you? Where am I?"
"I'm Talaya, Headwoman. You're at Ista. The weyr, not the hold. So what's you name, brat?"
He shook his head slowly trying to assimilate what she had said. She was Talaya. A woman who was in charge. But what was Ista? And what was a weyr?
"I'm Jordan. Jordan Tillek. What's a weer? And I've never heard of Ista."
"Jordan of Tillek and you've never heard of a weyr? Have you been sick lately, boy?"
Jordan shook his head. "No. Not Jordan of Tillek. Jordan Tillek. Tillek is my last name."
"You have two names? When did people start giving their whelps two names?"
"As long as I can remember, Ma'am. Say, what's going on here?"
"I don't know boy," Talaya said, Then something seemed to dawn on her. "Where you from, boy?"
"Kansas. Just outside Manhattan. I live on a farm."
"Kansas? Never heard of any hold named Kansas with farms on it or otherwise. What planet?"
"What kind of question is that?" Jordan demanded. "Same planet everyone comes from. Earth."
Talaya nodded. "I thought as much. I'm sure you're folks are worried, but we can fix that. I'll turn you over to the Weyrwoman and she can contact the ambassador who can get a message to Earth on the dragon net."
These words were incomprehensible to Jordan.
"Can you stand, son?" She asked him.
Jordan carefully got to his feet. His head was no longer swimming.
"Let's go." Others had arrived and were staring at the boy. "Stop your gawking and get the porridge and Klah going. People around here wake up hungry. I'll be right back." So saying she led the boy out into a passage.
They took several passageways and finally Talaya stopped at a door and knocked.
"Who is it? And this had better be good," came a woman's voice from the other side of the door.
"Talaya, Weyrwoman. I have a problem that needs your attention."
"At five on the clock? Just a moment while I get decent."
Shortly the door opened showing a young woman in her middle to late twenties. Jordan thought she looked beautiful.
"Come in, Talaya. And who's this?"
After they had entered the woman's quarters, Talaya said. "I found him sleeping on the floor of the kitchen. He say his name is Jordan Tillek. Not of Tillek. Tillek is his last name. He says he's from Earth. Kansas. A farm outside of someplace called Manhattan."
Ellen looked at the boy skeptically. There were no farms in that area. It was all automated factories; the industrial center of the North American continent.
"So how did you wind up in our kitchen, Mr. Tillek?
"I don't know, Ma'am. I was bailing hay with my brothers and suddenly felt dizzy. The next thing I know I was on a hard floor."
"Don't lie to me boy," Ellen said. "Where are you from? I know you aren't from a farm in Kansas. There are no farms in that district."
"What are you talking about?" Jordan wasn't understanding this. "No farms in Kansas? We're famous for farms. And it's not a district. It's a state."
Something was niggling at the back of Ellen's mind. She couldn't place it, but something wasn't right here. All of a sudden it hit her.
"What's the date?"
Jordan was nonplussed. "The date? August 12, 2005. What does that have to do with anything?"
Ellen stared at him in shock. This wasn't possible. This boy came from almost 3000 years in the past? And how would he have gotten here?
"I think you need to sit down, Jordan. I have some shocking news. As much to me as to you," Ellen told him. She looked at Talaya and said, "You can go. I've got this from here."
"Thank you, Weyrwoman. I don't like leaving the kitchen this early in the morning. Some wherry-headed fool is likely to burn the Klah or such."
With that she exited gracefully, closing the door behind her.
"So what's going on, Ma'am?"
"You'd better brace yourself, Jordan. The year is 4617, Standard calendar."
Jordan's mouth fell open. "No. You're lying!" he yelled. "That's not possible!" He jumped to his feet and seeing a large opening rushed toward it. He emerged into a large cavern where an enormous gold creature slumbered. 'That's a dragon!' He thought to himself. 'Dragons are a myth!'
The dragon had opened it's eyes. Yes. I'm a dragon. What is a myth?
Jordan stared at the dragon with wild eyes. He had to be losing his mind. He couldn't have heard that thing talking to him. And without words?
The dragon rose and was bringing her head closer to inspect the intruder.
Jordan bolted back the way he came. "There's a monster out there! It wants to eat me!"
Ellen just shook her head. "No. That's not a monster. That's my queen dragon. And she doesn't want to eat you. She wants to get to know you. Did you not hear her when she spoke to you?"
"That was real?"
Ellen sighed. "I forgot you aren't from here or now. Yes. It was real."
What is a myth? Saylath repeated.
"It's a made up story, sweetheart," Ellen told her aloud.
I am not a made up story. I am as real as the youngling. You hear me youngling? I am as real as you.
Jordan couldn't believe he was hearing a voice in his head. This was surreal.
Ellen had caught him by the hand and pulled him out into Saylath's quarters.
When she lowered her head to inspect him, he cringed, sure he was about to be eaten alive.
I am not going to eat you, you silly boy. It would take five of you to make a barely decent snack. And dragons don't eat humans. You'd probably taste worse than my own tail.
"She likes to have her eye ridges scratched," Ellen said, chuckling.
He reached out and scratched one carefully. Saylath crooned.
Then to her rider only she said, I'll tell Granth to give this one a looking at. She is much better at searching than me, but I feel something from this one.
Ellen nodded mentally giving no outward sign.
All of a sudden, his plight hit him and Jordan burst into tears. "This r-really is 4617? A-a-and I'm really on another p-planet?"
"I'm afraid so, Jordan. I don't know how it happened. It seems impossible, even to me, but here you are."
"My parents? And Brothers?" He already knew the answer but was hoping against hope.
"Unless they're immortals, they'd have to be dead," she told him gently. "I'm sorry."
He hung his head. "I knew," he said despondently. "So what's next for me? The out of date freak?"
"You don't look like a freak to me," Ellen said. "A huge amount has changed in the intervening time. Earth is a founding member of The Confederation of Sentient States. While there are not many non-human members, mainly because for the most part non-humans don't think anything like us, there are a few. And the only thing the CSS will see is a ten year old boy; a sentient being with the same rights as any other child."
"I'm thirteen," Jordan said. "I've always been small for my age. My brother Jim loves to tease me about it. Loved to, that is." The tears started anew.
Ellen was about to tell him about the possibility of him being searched for candidacy, but wisely decided against it. There was no need to get the boy's hopes up and then have them dashed if Granth disagreed.
The next few days were a real eye opener for Jordan. The dragons fascinated him the most. These were not the dragons of Earth legend, even though they fit the general physical description. These were engaging, fascinating creatures. None had spoken to him, aside from the queen, but they regarded him with intelligent eyes. And he somehow knew when they were speaking to their riders. He couldn't hear the exchange, not even the dragon side of it, but somehow he just knew when the dragon spoke.
One day right after breakfast, he was crossing the bowl when a green dragon carrying a pretty young woman landed. The woman dismounted. "You'd be Jordan Tillek?"
He nodded. "And you?"
"Tremeka, rider of green Granth."
The dragon had brought her head down and was carefully inspecting Jordan. Then she withdrew.
After a short time, Jordan asked, "So, what did she say?"
"How did you know she spoke to me?"
"I don't know. I can feel when a dragon speaks. Can't hear what's being said, but I feel something."
"Are you sure, Granth? This one seems like he's dragon deaf."
"I am not dragon deaf," Jordan asserted. "The queen spoke directly to me and I heard and understood her."
After a moment, Tremeka nodded. "Very well, then. I'd like to congratulate you. You've been searched and found worthy. It's up to you, though."
"Found worthy of what?" Jordan had no idea what she was talking about.
"Worthy of being a candidate and standing on the hatching ground at the next hatching."
"A candidate for what? I don't understand. And why would I stand near hatching eggs? Wouldn't the mother dragon be upset if someone other than her rider was around her children when they were born?"
"Not from Pern?" Tremeka asked.
Jordan shook his head.
Tremeka nodded. "I see. When a dragon hatches, he or she must bond to a human. We have candidates standing by on the hatching ground as they hatch. The hatchlings choose the person they want and the two, human and hatchling form a life-long mental bond."
Jordan was staring at her open-mouthed. He could have a dragon of his own?
"And the dragon talks to the rider?"
Tremeka chuckled. "Yes. But it's more than that. You can always feel your dragon and your dragon can always feel you. Your dragon will never leave you. As long as you both live, you will never be alone. When you die, you're dragon will follow you, as a dragon can't bear being without his rider."
This was too much for Jordan. What she was saying was incredible. But it sounded like a life changing decision. Of course what was there for him here, now? His family was long dead. He had no one but himself. He nodded slowly. "I accept."
"Since you aren't from Pern, I want to make sure you understand, there is no guarantee you will impress. It's up to the hatchlings. We accept whatever they decide. I wasn't even a candidate. I was a spectator. And this darling," she indicated her dragon, "wanted me above any of the remaining candidates. It wasn't exactly approved of, but the decision of the hatchlings is final."
"I understand," he responded.
"There are no eggs on the sands right now, but we are expecting Tenanth to lay a clutch within the sevenday. I'll inform the candidatemaster. The Weyrwoman will show you where you can report and when." She mounted her dragon and the dragon took wing.
A/N: That's it for chapter 1. Just a note. This is set entirely in the Reunion AU. In this AU there weren't any Dragonriders of Pern books published. See you next time.
