At the end of the ninth Pass the inhabitants of Pern were starting to believe that Thread was gradually starting to become less of a threat. The last half of the Pass was far easier than was expected, with Falls tapering off to become quite infrequent. The golden queens began laying less and less eggs, indicated a smaller need for the draconic warriors to protect their planet. It was hopeful and jubilant and as the last predicted Fall grew near there was almost a sense of disappointment that not everyone who flew into that last fight even got to char some of the enemy, but regardless Pern was happy that it was over. Perhaps the next time there would be even less to worry about, was the new thought.
Society began to settle into its new way of life with a sense of freedom. Many riders migrated out of the Weyrs to pursue crafts or hold-life while the population of the planet began to spread themselves to areas of the world that weren't safe before. The warmer climates of the southern continent were popular and exploration moved that way in earnest. Southern Weyr was the first to begin expanding outward, staking as much claim as they could before the North started making its way to them.
The first sign that something wasn't quite right was a few months before the end of the Pass when High Reaches queen Evareth laid a staggering clutch of forty-one eggs, more than double what average during an Interval. There was worry that someone had miscalculated somewhere and the Weyrs met to pour over the charts, but they couldn't find anything to indicate that there was any threat. The next queen to lay was Southern Weyr's gold Shevath with thirty-two eggs including another queen.
Again the Weyr came together, but they couldn't find any solid reasoning and the next few weeks brought nothing so the world started to relax again. After all, the Red Star was clearly receding and there couldn't be Thread without the rogue planet. They would never have had the technology or astrological understanding to know that the fiery explosion that could be easily seen near the dwindling Red Star could very well be the end of Pernese civilization.