Welcome back, to yet another chapter. One crime happened, and now Hed'ron strives to find out one question. Who was it?

That said, Dragonriders of Pern belongs to Anne McCaffrey. The only thing I get out of this is creating a detective story within a story.

Chapter Eleven

Broken Dreams

Gante lounged in the common room, a small smirk on his face. The candidate had little care that a fellow Candidate had just been forcibly raped and beaten. In fact he didn't give a Sixteenth mark about whoever it had been. Goldflights happened, and the girls had to get used to the fact that things could be rough if they weren't careful. So relaxed was the boy that he actually was smiling a bit, providing an extreme contrast to the gloom and sorrow around him.

He watched casually as the rest of his so-called class came in and settled down. Really, what was the big deal, why did the whole class have to be involved with this? Gante supposed that they were going to get yet another stern talking to and that would be that. Life would go on and everything would slowly get back to normal. Then Hed'ron was walking in the room, and the look on his face wiped any smart remark he would've made from his mind. This was a vastly different CandidateMaster than he was used to; the man looked like he would just love to whip the next person who made trouble. So, Gante sat a little straighter, not much mind you, but enough to show that yes, he could read a person's attitude and react properly. He watched as the CandidateMaster stopped in the center of the room, and slowly turned, meeting every Candidate's gaze with cold, hard eyes. When his gaze met Gante's, the boy flinched, and wondered to himself why he had. This man was nothing to him; he was here for the fun and for a dragon, simple as that.

Another long moment of silence, and then the CandidateMaster spoke in such a quiet tone that Gante had to actually lean in to hear.

"You all know what has happened. I do not know who has done it, but I know it is among a selective few people. Meaning one of you. Each will come to my office, one by one, and we will have a conversation. Be ready to tell me where you have been, and who you were with. We will start with the closest to the Hall."

Gante let out an involuntary groan; the closest to the Hall was none other than himself. Then he noticed Hed'ron staring at him and in the CandidateMasters gaze was a multitude of emotions; anger, sadness, pity, and more. Gante knew that all eyes were on him, and opened his mouth to make a remark- but on second thought, Hed'ron had raised a questioning eyebrow and from what Gante had seen before, this was not a good thing for his chances of staying. So he meekly closed his mouth, and stood.

"After you CandidateMaster."

Hed'ron nodded and led the way, Gante trailing close behind. Down the Cot Hall, an all too short trip, then a quick right, and here they were. The CandidateMaster's office was familiar territory of Gante, thanks to several smart remarks at an unfortunate time. That, hadn't been such a big deal, if one ignored the Sevenday of latrine duty he had been assigned as punishment. This was something different, and every nerve in Gante's body was telling him to say his small piece then get the Shards out of there. The office was in its usual pristine state, no random hides spread on the desk, no trash in the bin, just a stylus, a single sheet of Hide positioned exactly in the center of the desk, and the chair directly in front of the desk. Hed'ron had taken his seat, and with one hand gestured for Gante to sit in the other.

Guste sat, and Hed'ron growled two words.

"I'm waiting."

Cursing mentally, Gante rattled off his day's activities to the best of his memory, hoping to Faranth he didn't say anything that sounded vaguely suspicious.

"I did morning chores as normal sir; I was with Brennon today changing out the glows in the Lower Caverns. Then everyone had lessons until lunch. That was the last time I saw Rephi. I had just finished eating and was heading for the exit and I remember looking over and seeing her with Sri, talking about something. I came back to the Barracks after that and tried to take a brief nap, but the gold rose. I, ah, was with Emli, sir. She'll back my story."

Then, he shut his mouth, hating the awkwardness that his little speech had given him. Gold lust made you do some very stupid things. But he dared not think about that now. He kept his gaze on Hed'ron, watching as he finished jotting notes. Then, the CandidateMaster looked up and gave his brief verdict.

"Very well, get out of here and tell the next person to come in. Then take your seat. No one leaves the Common Room until I'm finished here. "

Relieved to be out of the line of fire, Gante stood quickly, and exited the office, making sure to hold his sigh of relief until he was out of hearing range. Stopping a moment to lean up against the stone wall, Gante reflected on how bad that could have been. If he hadn't been with someone else, well, that would have shot him right up to the very top of the suspect list. He was safe though, and as soon as his emotions were back under control, the Candidate went back to the Common Room, gesturing at the person next to him.

"Alright Rephal, you're up. Go talk to the big man."

He watched with some amusement as the boy nodded and stood, before making his way out of the room. With that he settled himself more comfortably in his chair, if he had a while to wait he might as well catch up on some much needed sleep. He closed his eyes, and let his head rest against the high back of the chair. As he settled himself, Gante became aware of the uneasy murmuring going around the room. It was nothing definite, but the low tones spoke of anger, fear, and sadness. Shifting again, Gante tried to ignore the whispered conversations. This went on for some time, and Rephal came back. He gestured for the next Candidate to go, and the cycle repeated.

On and on this went, and try as he might, Gante could not find an easy sleep. He might drift off for a moment, but then he'd be wide awake again. Finally he gave up, wondering why he felt so restless. Looking around he saw that most everyone else was the same way. Shifting positions for what seemed to be the millionth time, he caught a few words from one of the older candidates.

"It's the Queens, they can broadcast emotions in a general sort of way, and if I had to guess, I'd say that people are learning that there's trouble."

This told Gante just enough to confuse him even more, so he said nothing and leaned back in his chair. Faranth, why couldn't Hed'ron get this done with faster? If this was how things were going to be until the mystery was solved, Gante would drop everything and help, because this was stupid it was wasting time. His time! That said, what could he do? It wasn't like he could sneak over to Hed'ron's office and listen in. Aimlessly, he let his gaze drift over the Common Room, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three...

Mentally he paused a moment, thinking very hard. Twenty three, there should be twenty five total, three older ones, the one talking with Hed'ron, and the rest of his class. He looked around again, counting faces he knew. Everyone was there, except for Emli, who was talking with Hed'ron now, and Sather. All other thoughts were lost when, at that moment Hed'ron reentered the Common Room.

"Where's Sather?"

For the rest of his life, Gante would remember that voice and question. It was a voice so kept in check, it was chilling. The CandidateMaster did not yell or shout, but spoke quietly. It was the eyes that did it, narrowed and grim. It was the look of one who had found his prey. At that moment, Gante did not envy his fellow Candidate.

Dramtic music anyone? I guess we'll have to wait and see if our missing Candidate is guilty. Any bets?

Furthernote, Thanks to Miz for catching a numerical mishap. If anything refering to the numbers is causing confusion, PM me and I'll re-reedit.