Chapter 6: A New World Order
Red Butte Weyr entrance, Aug 9, 2018...
Lobsang looked out over the dry, windy Granite slope that his Weyr tunnel opened onto. The opening was near the southern face of the laccolithic dome called Red Butte. Immediately below him to the east was a dry stream bed where water would flow down off the 1,000 ft. high dome when it rained. A wide switchback path connected this tunnel to the Hold in a hogback valley halfway down the south-south-western side of the dome.
The Hold itself was cut back into the side of the dome, high enough above the floor of the valley to be free if any water flowed down the dry stream bed but low enough to give easy access to its ground-bound inhabitants.
Governor Kane Bryant, first Governor of Red Butte Hold, craned his neck around to his right, trying to see his Hold nestled into the side of the dome but it was too far around the corner of the wide crevasse to be seen.
"This is a dry, inhospitable place," said Bryant. "If it weren't for our superior technology, any kind of settlement here would be on the surface and quite unthinkable. As it is, the only things that make it livable are the huge cisterns embedded around the sides of the dome giving us a reasonable supply of water."
"True," replied Lobsang. "but it fits all the requirements otherwise. It's fairly central to all the northern Pern Holds and it's in an area that no one else would want to live in. The only thing we produce here is Government."
"That's one of the things that worries me about this location," said Bryant worriedly. "Right now, The Weyrleader is supporting us almost totally. We have a few greenhouses where we can grow our own food with more scheduled to be delivered, but eventually, the lawmakers are going to realize that they are going to have to impose some sort of tax on the rest of Pern in order to ensure their continued existence. When that happens, there is going to be a huge uproar."
"You might appreciate your isolation when that happens," laughed Lobsang. "Unless the Legislators approve an internal staircase from the base of the dome up to your Hold, the only easy way in is via dragonback or Dragon Egg. Even then, there is nothing around for miles but a rock and sand desert. Anyone wishing to get here would have to cross all that first and then climb up the surface of the strata surrounding the dome. They would have to be really good mountaineers to make it up some sections!
"I'm just glad we don't have the old 200-mile restriction on our hunting range for the dragons, they would starve! Even then, most of our food is imported. There is just no place near enough to grow our own self-replicating herds. The closest civilization is Keroon Hold over 50 miles almost due south near the coast."
"Well, at least we don't have to walk miles to go between the Weyr and the Hold like you do at Spath's Weyr. That place is insane!" exclaimed Bryant. "You only have four small Levels for the dragon apartments which means you have room for your 1,200 dragons with only a few extra apartments for guests. The Hold isn't much bigger but it's mostly Conference Rooms and offices. If they decide they need more people, someone is going to have to create more apartments somewhere, probably under the dome again."
"Speaking of which," said Lobsang. "Shouldn't we be getting on down to the Hold? Administrative duties never sleep. We still need to assign duties to my Dragonriders and their dragons so they don't go stir crazy!"
"Government make-work," grumbled Bryant. "Gotta love it … NOT!"
Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, Aug 14, 2018...
"I don't know," said Harry, doubtfully. "It's just so … black!"
"That's part of the beauty of it," said Ronan enthusiastically. "At night, you would be virtually invisible. During the day, you could be mistaken for a shadow. There is only about .02% light reflection, meaning that it's like a black hole. People see this and they don't see Harry, they see 'Shadow'."
"I like the helmet with the heads-up display, but much prefer our current flight suits with their identifying colors," said Harry. "Maybe the new Auror force could use them?"
"We could always wear them under our flight suits, kind of like a liner, I suppose," said Ronan hopefully. "It would insulate us better from the cold of Between and we could build in electronics, like a satellite phone with a hands-free option so you could talk without taking your eyes off the road!"
"Ha, ha," said Harry with a slight grin. "Cheki is my autopilot. I don't need to pay attention. He's capable of having his own accidents!"
Cheki looked up at that and responded, "I said I was sorry for destroying that hut. Dragons don't notice anything else during a shagging flight. It's not my fault I caught up with Trath too close to the ground!"
Harry just smiled at his dragon as Ronan chuckled. "I know," said Harry lovingly. "It's just that you make so few mistakes we need to take advantage of those you do make."
"You know," said Ronan excitedly. "If a dragon was wearing one of these, they would be invisible to infrared heat-seeking missiles! An invisible dragon wearing a carbon nanotube suit would be the ultimate in stealth technology."
"Now that's something to think about," said Harry thoughtfully. "I'm all for anything that would better protect our dragons. Wouldn't it be awkward for them, though?"
"Not really," enthused Ronan. "The wings wouldn't need to be covered, they don't radiate heat, only the body. This stuff is expensive enough right now without trying to cover yards of extra area for each dragon. The dragons would only need a single layer, as well, since we only need to mask their heat signature, not insulate them."
"OK, get together with Karen and work up a cost per flight suit and another for a dragon suit," said Harry reluctantly. "If this stuff is as nearly indestructible as you say it is, it might even save us money when we don't have to replace our flight suits so often."
Harry watched as Ronan happily rushed off to talk to Karen. Other than flying with Garanoth or interacting with his family, Ronan seemed the happiest working with new and emerging technology. Harry wanted to encourage his friend to live life to the fullest, while he was young enough to fully enjoy it.
Sakushima Hold Docks, Nov 10, 2018...
Harry wondered if they would ever have a normal shipbuilding industry. Their only dry dock was hundreds of feet under a mountain, far from the sea. All they had launched, so far, were enormous, steel-clad monstrosities that didn't move with the sea like a sailboat as much as they beat it into submission. At least, since he had been the one to pay for this one, he got to name it. The Southern Pern Ship (SPS) Dronth was due to appear from the dry dock shortly. The dragon the newly refurbished ship was named after was even going to be participating in its delivery.
Suddenly a huge shape blocked out the sun as the lifting dragons gently settled it down into the water, near the, recently lengthened and strengthened, Sakushima Hold pier. Ronan had convinced Harry about the advantages of repainting the exterior a shiny shade of marine white that would be easier to see against the ocean's surface. Now it would be much easier for dragons to spot it.
"I saw you added the sonar bubble on the bow like we suggested," commented Carla Christensen, Lady Holder of Sakushima Hold.
"Yes," replied Harry. "It actually made sense. If we are going to go to all the trouble of bringing such a huge vessel to Pern and refitting it to help us here, why not also make it capable of studying the ocean we will be traveling through. I expect now you and some of your friends will want to spend a lot of time aboard."
"Of course!" exclaimed Carla. "What an opportunity this represents. We will probably know as much or more about Pern's oceans as we know about Earth's oceans in far less time than it took us there. Here, at least, we are partnered up with two other intelligent species willing to help."
"I'm not too sure how much help the Mers will be," responded Harry. "The species we brought with us from Earth are all freshwater adapted. You will have to talk to them to see if they have any saltwater adapted relatives we could entice to join us."
"Yes, there is that," said Carla unhappily. "And most of them are currently trying to clear all the inimical life forms out of the great inland freshwater sea between Spath's and Sakushima."
"I wish them luck with that," frowned Harry. "There must be thousands of cubic miles of water area there for just about anything to hide in. Perhaps one of the first things we might do is take the SPS Dronth to the inland sea to help out."
"That's quite a monstrous ship you have there, Harry!" exclaimed Børge Christensen as he walked up. "Don't let my wife try to take it away from you," he joked.
"That wouldn't be any too likely," said Harry softly. "I bought this to help us all learn more about our new home. Anyone who helps in that endeavor only helps. Therefore, your wife and her friends are a part of the solution, not a part of the problem."
"What a wonderful way of looking at things, Mr. Potter," said Carla with a bright smile. "Now, let me drag my husband over to your new toy so we can see for ourselves what wonders you have brought us."
Spath's Weyr, Kitchen 0R, Jan 22, 2019...
Harry was just getting his morning tea when he spied a familiar face. He walked over and sat down across from him.
"Haven't seen you around for a while, what brings you here today?" asked Harry.
"I wanted to handle courier duty today instead of working on more paperwork," grinned Ismo Sippola, Weyrleader of Joensuu Weyr, Earth. "Just because I'm the Weyrleader of the best Weyr on Earth doesn't mean I can't get to enjoy some of the benefits of travel my dragon affords me. I'm sure the planet and all its problems will still be there waiting for me when I get back."
"Sounds like there are problems," said suddenly concerned Harry. "Anything, in particular, I should know about?"
"Nothing that affects us directly, no," said Ismo thoughtfully. "The Muslims are still trying to take over the world and more countries have had increasingly violent clashes with them. Some still don't understand the danger they are in, but that doesn't affect us directly.
"We've had a few Muslims approach us for jobs at Dragon Isle or to immigrate to Pern. Most don't even make it past the preliminary interview. They want all sorts of benefits that we just aren't going to give them. The immigrants are the worst of the lot. They want to set up an enclave just for Muslims and everyone else has to be kept out. That isn't going to happen here. Can you imagine what would happen when they first experienced Threadfall!? I'm sorry, I just think they are too selfish to take seriously. It's like they are all 5-year-olds, throwing a tantrum because their parents won't let them have their preferred toy!"
"Well, it might be interesting to see if any immigrants would conform," said Harry thoughtfully. "After all, every immigrant must take a magically binding oath not to harm, or cause harm, to any other intelligent life. I wonder how that would impinge upon their beliefs. It shouldn't if they are truly as peaceful as some of them claim but ..."
"Yeah, I know," said Ismo with disgust. "They are peaceful as long as everyone does exactly what they say and follows their 'laws'. I think it's nothing short of barbaric!
"On a more hopeful note, the Dumbledore Plan had another reveal recently. 'Researchers' have found what they consider may be a possible cure for Alzheimer's disease. It's basically a combination of the 'Wit-Sharpening Potion' and a new antidote for the 'Confundus Charm'. I hope it works out. I've had friends die while suffering from Alzheimer's."
"Well, that's encouraging at least," agreed Harry. "I'm sure there are all sorts of other little reveals that don't make the major news outlets but that help to lead up to even further reveals. I just wish Albus had lived to see his plan finally start to make a difference.
"I understand the United States had another election fairly recently. How is their new President working out?"
"He doesn't have a political background, so he actually seems to be making a difference," said Ismo thoughtfully. "The biggest problem he faces right now is the other political party and the previous President. They are all doing everything in their power to undermine him and bring his government down. I have a feeling that, if someone doesn't talk some real sense into a lot of people, there is going to be a new American Revolution that may be even bloodier than the first one. If that happens, we may want to leave just a skeleton crew on Dragon Isle and bring everyone we can here until it settles down.
"The old political party seems to have even promoted 'Muslim Brotherhood' and invited all sorts of supposed refugees into the country, only to find that most of them were only interested in creating a Muslim America. Their beliefs just don't mesh at all with the US Constitution. Anyway, I need to get off that track or I will ruin my one-day vacation to Pern!"
"Best of luck to you, Ismo," said Harry calmly. "Try to enjoy yourself while you're here."
Somewhere on the plain below Spath's Weyr, Feb 22, 2019...
Right now, Harry and Chekiath were just relaxing and enjoying themselves by watching some of Miststar's kits practice chasing prey. Cheki was lying on his side with Harry nestled near his dorsal spines at the highest point of his back.
"Harry," said a worried Chekiath. "I think Fishkit has chosen poorly."
Harry looked up from his relaxed perch on Cheki's side and looked around. Finally, he closed his eyes and accessed Cheki's vision. There, about a half-mile away, the young Cheetah was inexpertly stalking an apparently slumbering rocksnake.
"Those are poisonous, aren't they," asked Harry, worriedly as he started to rise from his resting pose.
Suddenly, Fishkit sprang for the snake and the obviously not slumbering snake struck at the kit but was almost instantly jerked up, high into the air, well beyond the reach of the kit.
"Cheki, did you do that?" asked an awed Harry.
"We didn't want him to get hurt, did we, Harry?" asked a confused Chekiath. "I couldn't go save him, you were on my back wrong and might have been hurt!"
"It's fine, Cheki, I just didn't know you could do that!" said Harry. "I think we've just uncovered a new area for Sir Stanley to research. Let's make our way slowly over there and make sure the kit will be OK. Just don't drop the snake on his head!"
Harry had by now moved up to his more normal position on Chekiath's neck and Cheki took off and slowly flew over to where the kit was trying its best to jump up and grab the huge snake's tail. Miststar saw them moving towards his kit and wandered over as well.
"What is this, Harry?" asked Miststar puzzledly. "Trying to taunt my kit with something he shouldn't be attacking yet!?"
"No, Miststar," explained Harry calmly. "Cheki saw your kit about to pounce and lifted the snake high into the air before it could bite your kit. We came over to see what we should do next, if anything."
Miststar quickly told his kit off for attacking something so dangerous and had him move over behind the dragon where he would be safe but still have a good view.
"Release the rocksnake, dragon," commanded Miststar. "I will show my kit how to handle one of these, once he is bigger."
Cheki released the snake, which dropped to the ground and immediately tried to slither away. Miststar made a mighty leap onto the snake's back and bit into its neck, just behind its head. The snake immediately tried to lash out with its tail and bite with its teeth, but the teeth were immobilized and the tail couldn't do any damage.
Once Miststar was satisfied the snake was dead, he called his family over and showed them how to eat such a snake and leave the poison glands alone.
"May we take those?" asked Harry about the poison glands still inside the snake's head. "We might have to save someone from a snake bite later and having the venom might help us find a cure for the poison."
"Take it," said Miststar. "I would have only buried it to avoid accidents."
Harry carefully levitated the head up to where he could reach it and let it drop into a sample bag that all Riders carried with them when they traveled around Pern. He carefully warded it against accidental punctures and put it into a bag specifically designed to carry such samples.
"Let's go home, Cheki," said Harry. I have a feeling someone will appreciate the rocksnake venom and I know Sir Stanley will want to ask you quite a few questions."
"He does ask a lot of questions, doesn't he?" commented Cheki.
"That's how people learn new things, Cheki," Harry said with affection. "To tell the truth, I'm curious about this new ability too. It might mean we can stop bad people without actually having to touch them. If it's safer for my dragons, I'm all for it!"
Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, June 20, 2019...
Harry was glad now that he had allowed Ronan to research his Carbon nanotube flight suits almost a year ago. Every member of his hired hit team wore one and they were virtually invisible. When they wore invisibility cloaks on top of the 'Shadow Suits', no one, not even troops equipped with night scopes could find them. The only way they could be detected was by dragons, who could sense they were near but couldn't precisely locate them. It made the dragons nervous, so Harry had them try to develop friendships and talk with the dragons while on patrol and that had helped some.
All the riders on Earth had finally been issued the new flight suits and any on Pern due to rotate back to Earth on duty were issued them as well. The new flight suits all had their normal name tags, Weyr, and unit designations but everything that wasn't made of the special carbon nanotube cloth was on a black velcro patch so it could be ripped off at a moment's notice. Many of the dragons also had the new 'body armor' which wasn't armor so much as it was a covering that left the neck, tail, and wings uncovered but hid the dragon's body from infra-red detection. They were as safe as Harry could make them under the circumstances.
He had also arranged for special coverage from King's Cross station in London all the way to Hogwarts when the Hogwarts Express was running. Heaven help anyone who even appeared like they were going to even try to attack the train while there were students aboard.
Of course, the Ministry of Magic knew nothing of all these preparations. Harry was prepared to do anything necessary to protect his children, the heirs to Pern, and he wasn't going to allow anyone to try to tell him he couldn't. He hadn't even had any contact with the new Prime Minister, Theresa May, even though she had replaced David Cameron back in July 2016. He had more important things to think about than Earth politics.
So far they had been lucky. One terrorist had been apprehended by some of his specially equipped Aurors who found out that their new suits really did protect them from just about anything. They had stunned the suspect and removed him from the immediate area when he had revived and detonated his bomb. The terrorist and several square feet of open ground suffered blast damage but his Hit Squad was barely even inconvenienced.
A small Mosque, Damascus, Syria, July 25, 2019...
Imam Ja'qub Al-Bahrani was incensed. He had spent a small fortune to get a trusted ISIS soldier into Britain to destroy one of the London train stations and something had gone wrong. He wasn't really expecting his man to report back. That would be rather hard if he had been able to explode his suicide vest. No, it was worse, there had been not the slightest information over the BBC. Either he had failed, his bomb had gone off prematurely, or he had defected. Any of the possibilities were disturbing. He would have to pray and decide on a new plan now. He had acted rashly last time, thinking he didn't have to include Allah in his plans. The next time he would not make that mistake.
Regents Park, west of King's Cross Station, London, June 15. 2020...
Two children stealthily crept into the line of trees on the south of Regent's Park's Boating Lake's eastern extension and north of the Open Air Theatre. They were searching for the perfect tree, not in plain sight but not too very far from a major source of potential witnesses.
"Are you sure about this, Daniel?"
"Of course I am, Mary. I've practiced with other spells and other objects enough to know that I have discovered a new general law of spell casting. If you ask me, I'm not the first either. Just look at some of the fantastic spells that Dad has come up with since he impressed. I'd be willing to bet that he's known about this for decades. If nothing else, he knows but doesn't know."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he knows enough to use the law, even if he doesn't consciously understand the rules for the law. Basically, magic is a tool of the mind, right?"
"Yes ..."
"Well, I finally realized that if it's 'in the mind', then nothing external really has any relevance except to help you visualize 'in your mind' the results you wish to see."
"But that means ..."
"Yes, you can memorize a line of absolute, pure nonsense and, if you have schooled yourself to see that as having a definite outcome, then it will happen. Given that you have access to magic in the first place."
"So this spell you've worked up will cause Clabberts to stick to the tree just enough so they can't escape unaided but not hurt them."
"Exactly," grinned Daniel. "There, it's the perfect tree!"
Mary looked up and saw what most muggles had come to think of as a Christmas Tree, though this one was still alive, which to her was much preferable. Daniel just stood there, looking at the tree, as he visualized what he wanted to happen while Mary quietly looked on. She could see something magical happening but couldn't quite make out what.
"OK, that's done then. Ready to go back?"
"Yes," said Mary quietly. "It won't do to get caught before our 'trap' is ready!"
The two children turned and cautiously made their way out of the wooded strip, back to the open area of the park. When they reached a specific place, they both reached up as far as they could and, giving a little jump, seemed to disappear.
"Done?" asked Harry as he pulled his son up in front of him on Chekiath.
"Of course," replied Daniel. "Was there ever any doubt!?"
Regents Park, west of King's Cross Station, London, June 16. 2020...
The two children crept to the edge of the line of trees. Daniel's plan had worked perfectly. The day before, they had selected one specific tree and he had applied a light sticking charm to it, one specially designed to only stick if a Clabbert stepped into it. Now the tree was absolutely covered in Clabberts!
"That was especially nice of you to make sure that the tree had an overabundance of lizards handy," said Daniel.
"Not especially nice for the lizards," said Mary regretfully. "It helped to get the Clabberts to the tree though."
"I've got two in this cage for the police, now if we can just find those two who were nearby last night."
"I thought I saw them over by the Triton Fountain as we were landing," said Mary. "They should have had time enough to work their way back along the paths so they shouldn't be that far from us by now."
"OK, Operation Dumbledore it is," said Daniel with a wicked grin. "This should make your birthday really memorable!"
"Hey!" exclaimed Mary. "We waited until tonight because Mums and Dad are going back tomorrow. This is just as much for yours as it is for mine."
"Never said otherwise," grinned Daniel with a little chuckle. "Love you, now let's get out there!"
Two children came crashing out of the woods almost at the feet of two bobbies, a young woman, and an older man.
"Officers," called Mary excitedly. "You must come to see this, it's absolutely incredible!"
"Yeah," added Daniel. "If we don't get someone to verify we saw it, no one will believe us, even if we were able to capture a couple!"
The two officers looked at the cage Daniel was waving about. Inside were two of the ugliest things they had ever seen. They looked something like a cross between a monkey and a frog with smooth, mottled green, hairless skin. They had webbed hands and feet at the end of long and supple arms and legs. The head had two horns and a wide smiling mouth full of what looked like shark's teeth. Most amazing of all was the bump on their foreheads that was glowing a bright red!
The bemused officers followed the exuberant children back into the tree line until they came to a Christmas Tree literally covered in the monstrosities!
"Here," said Daniel to the female officer, whose name tag read Rose Walsh. "Please hold this for me. We've got to go get our parents!"
With that, he shoved the cage into Rose's hands and bolted for the treeline to the south.
"Hey!" yelled Mary. "Wait for me! You aren't going to take full credit for this. I saw them first!"
Mary rushed after Daniel.
A bemused Rose turned to her partner, John Bennett, and said, "What was that you said about life getting strange after your son emigrated to Pern?"
The children never did re-appear. Finally, John called it in and a large contingent of bobbies soon arrived, not just to see the wondrous Christmas Tree but to help search for two missing children. If either Rose or John had been watching the children when they left, they would have been amazed to see them jump up, into the air, and disappear.
With the arrival of the additional contingent of bobbies, there was a sudden blast of cold air and then relative quiet reigned once again in Regent's Park.
Somewhere in Austria, June 20, 2020...
Imam Ja'qub Al-Bahrani had spoken with Ayatollah Miswar Ibn Muhammad about his attempt to disrupt the British rail system and had found a like-minded leader. In fact, Muhammad had not only given him advice but financial support as well. His small 5-man task group had crossed through Turkey at Istanbul and were now about to cross over into Germany along with thousands of real refugees from Syria. They had followed the river through Linz and were now well on their way to Passau. For refugees, they were remarkably well funded and equipped. They planned to go through Frankfurt, to Brussels, and then on to Coquelles, France for their insertion, through the Chunnel, into the UK.
"Quit complaining, Hammad," ordered Guntaal, a Somalian ISIS recruit who had gained the Ayatollah's trust. "I know she's a woman. She's my sister! If she were not here, you would be the one cooking and cleaning for all of us!"
"But she stinks!" exclaimed Hammad Al-Fazari, the Syrian that Ja'qub Al-Bahrani had promised command of the team.
"You would stink too if you had to wear that hot Burqa and haven't washed since leaving Syria! I would send her home and let you cook if I didn't think you would kill us all."
Guntaal, son of Ayax, wished they could take some time to truly rest and get cleaned up but they had agreed to meet a time-table and were running slightly behind. This had now turned into a nightly argument that didn't seem to be getting any better. He wished their task was over and they could go back home. At least this attack didn't require any of them to take their own lives along with the infidels.
Filan, daughter of Ayax, was thoroughly fed up with everyone else on this trip. At first, she had looked at it as an adventure, her opportunity to get out and see some of the world. What 16-year-old Somali woman ever had a chance to do that. Then they had stuffed her into this horrible bag they called a Burqa and forced her to do all the chores!
Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, June 20, 2020...
The worldwide tensions on Earth had apparently subsided somewhat since they last visited their children. This year had been special, as they had assisted in helping with the Dumbledore Plan. Daniel and Mary had 'found' a small fir tree near London that was 'somehow' absolutely infested with Clabberts. Of course, nothing happened when magical people approached, but the children had some non-magical bobbies along with them. As the group approached the tree, the large boil on the Clabberts' foreheads had started to glow a bright red. After making sure the bobbies were completely engrossed with the magical creatures, the children had disappeared by the simple expedient of climbing up on their parent's dragons. The two bobbies would soon become famous for 'their' discovery.
Quietly, he had significantly increased the dragon coverage not only around Hogwarts but around the Hedge Academies they had protected all those years ago. At that time they had provided protection from terrorists intent on harming the Dragon Nation. Now they tried to mitigate any damage done by the hordes of terrorists flooding the country, intent on global domination. He didn't like doing it, but he had instructed the special hit team he had hired to keep an eye on Hogwarts, that if a problem developed, they were to coordinate with the dragons and just make it all 'go away'. None of them owed the UK their allegiance, but they were not unhappy with Harry's orders.
Spath's Weyr, Conference Room, July 10, 2020...
Harry looked around, pleased to see all those present in such high spirits. The Dragon Nation had never been in a better position and today, he was going to recognize one of those responsible for that.
"Ronan Clark, would you please step up here," called Harry through his sonorus charm.
Ronan looked a little startled, as he hadn't been expecting to be called up in front of everyone. As he moved up to stand next to Harry, there was a smattering of good-natured catcalls from all over the audience. When Ronan finally stepped up on the small stage, Harry turned to the audience and began.
"Ronan Clark has always loved working with new toys. He is the one who introduced me to the joys of Radio Controlled model airplane flying, or crashing, in my case!" Harry waited for the expected laughter to subside before he continued.
"Today, I want to make public the Dragon Nation's appreciation to Ronan for his latest boon to us all. He discovered something interesting on the Internet over three years ago. A little over a year later, he presented me with a prototype Carbon nanotube flight suit, the same one that has now become our default standard across every rider and as many of the dragons as we've been able to outfit." Harry turned to Ronan and held out the Dragon Friend Medallion.
"Ronan Clark, I wish to officially present you with this token of the Dragon Nation's appreciation. In addition, one thousand Galleons will be deposited into your account on your next payday. Because of you, we are all much warmer when going Between, we are better protected from accidental injury, and we all have built-in space enhanced and weight-reducing pouches as a part of our flight suits. Our visible flight suit is now little more than a light covering for our 'Shadow Suits' so that we appear normal to others instead of a walking shadow.
"Weyrs of Pern, I give you Ronan Clark, inventor, instigator, and an all-round great guy!"
Thunderous applause greeted Ronan as Harry finished his little speech. Ronan accepted his medallion and grinned self-consciously at his gathered Weyrmates. After this much attention for something that he had thought of as just an interesting project, he was afraid to tell them how he had already designed the next generation Shadow Suit. It had built-in computing power, an HD video camera, a unique square targeting reticle just so you would know what you were getting pictures of, and built-in, auto-load bandoliers for the pneumatically fired 'crossbow' bolts that fired from the back of either hand. He couldn't help it, he really enjoyed tinkering.
As the applause quieted down, Harry continued. "Sir Stanley Scott has been investigating a recent discovery made about our Dragons. I would like him to come up here and let us all know what he has discovered so far. I have a feeling it will make us all a lot safer. I give you Sir Stanley Scott!"
"Thank you, Harry," began Sir Stanley. "Back around the end of February, Harry came to me about something he had seen Chekiath do. Rather than go into what caused the discovery, I will just tell you that it appears that your dragons have an ability that we have called 'Telekinesis'. Though we have a name for the phenomenon, we have never actually witnessed it until now. Telekinesis is the ability to manipulate matter with your mind. The research we have been conducting has been under the tight security of a 'Weyr Secret'. No one but Harry, Chekiath, myself, and a few unbonded dragons knew anything about it.
"Basically, if a dragon wants to move something with their mind, they only need to visualize it moving and it does. This is most likely the reason your dragons can fly, especially when carrying such heavy loads. They are using telekinesis to move, not just wing power. If you decide to experiment with this knowledge on your own, I would recommend using caution. Some of our test dragons indicated that using telekinesis is almost as tiring as actually moving something the normal way. If you aren't careful, you could seriously harm your dragon.
"We will be continuing our research to try to determine any limitations as far as weight moved, distance from dragon to objects of different weights, whether or not the dragon must actually be able to see any affected object directly, etc. As we discover new information, I will keep Harry informed."
"Thank you, Sir Scott," said Harry thoughtfully. "I would like to maintain this as a 'Weyr Secret' for now. All dragons, Riders, and immediate adult families may know, but I don't want anyone knowing who is not directly connected to a bonded dragon at this time. An ability our enemies don't know about could mean the difference between life and death for us. I may seem paranoid, but if being that way means we are all safer, I would rather be safe than sorry.
"Sirius, I forbid any dragon from allowing you to use this newly found ability to use in any pranks!"
Harry smiled as the room erupted in laughter, then continued. "I recovered the head of a rocksnake that Miststar had killed. Dr. Sheppard has told me that they have now developed a potential anti-venom for any snakebites. No one in the Weyr or Hold should have any problems, because almost everyone wears the protection charm now but, if you find someone suffering from snakebite and can get them here fast enough, we hope we can now cure them.
"I don't have anything else. If anyone has anything to add, please raise your hand and we will continue."
The meeting lasted another 2 hours. The discussions centered mostly around how well the Earth dragons were doing against Thread and the continued slow losses of Pern-standard dragons. All the Pern Weyrs had Earth-standard dragons in them by now. Some were almost all Scaled dragons and at a few, the rider of a scaled dragon had actually taken over as the Weyrleader. There seemed to be no way to convince the Pern natives not to fight Thread.
Cheriton, UK, Aug 20, 2020...
Guntaal was extremely frustrated. They had waited in Austria for weeks waiting for safe transport, eating through their now badly needed and dwindling funds at much too rapid a pace. Finally, someone had gotten them in touch with a merchant who shipped Halal meats into the UK. They had spent three days in a stuffy, poorly ventilated compartment in the back of a refrigerated truck. They had moved, stopped, started, moved for quite a while, and then stopped and started until, just now, the truck owner finally opened their compartment to let them out.
"We are in Ashford, UK, which is my first delivery and the first place I could safely let you out," said the driver. "It would probably be safest for you if you found alternate transportation. All the rest of my deliveries take me further away from London."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked Guntaal, irritably. "We speak the language poorly and are filthy from months of travel!"
"The customer I am delivering to has agreed to let you use his home to get cleaned up in. He has clean clothing that will help you to blend in and will provide you with bus tickets to get you to London."
"Finally! Things are starting to look up," thought Guntaal. "We accept your offering graciously," said Guntaal.
Telgar Hold, Nov 15, 2020...
"Garackeath, please come immediately!" called Lady Bridai.
Seconds later, Garackeath landed just outside Lady Bridai's room in the large courtyard where the Lady waited.
"Garackeath," Lady Bridai, called plaintively. "My Lord Maustan has been bitten by a rocksnake and I don't know what to do!"
"Is he nearby?" asked Garackeath.
"Yes, in the room next to mine."
"If you can bring him and your healer here to me, I can take all three of you to Spath's Weyr. They may be able to save him"
"Even though he has always denied the influence of the Earth Weyrs?"
"It matters not what he believes," said Garackeath. "If he can be saved is all that matters. Please hurry."
Moments later, three well-bundled passengers were on Garackeath's back. He lifted up slightly, activated the sticking charm The Weyrleader had given him and leapt Between for Spath's Weyr.
Spath's Weyr, ER1...
When Garackeath landed, an Emergency team was waiting for Lord Maustan because the duty dragon had let them know an emergency was on the way in and what was involved. The first thing they did was apply a tourniquet to his leg. The bite was near his ankle but, since it wasn't immediately after he was bitten, they applied the band to his upper thigh figuring that the blood had traveled a ways already. Then they rushed him into the operating theater. They didn't have much trouble with him because Lord Maustan had been unconscious since before Garackeath had picked them up.
Harry walked over and escorted Lady Bridai over to one of the nearby tables associated with Kitchen 0R. As he helped her down to a chair, Dobby appeared with a cup of hot chocolate, which he remembered she had really liked last time she had been here.
"I hate to say this," said Lady Bridai, sorrowfully, "but, if he hadn't been so stubborn, this would not have happened. Your charm would have protected him."
"I know," said Harry, regretfully. "At least we got him here right away. I just hope they can heal him. We have never had a chance to even test out the anti-venom. So there is no guarantee it will even work."
"I'm just surprised that you even show us any consideration at all," she said. "After all the trouble he's been about not wanting to have anything to do with you or your new ideas."
"That is his choice," said Harry. "Yours was to take advantage of anything that might save your husband. I hope, for both your sakes, that he gets better."
"What will you do if he gets better but still rejects your ways?" Lady Bridai asked softly.
"Nothing," stated Harry firmly. "What he does in the Hold he rules is his business. As long as it doesn't affect anyone or anything outside his holdings I refuse to allow anyone associated with me to get involved. If he recovers and goes back to his same ways with his same attitude, he is the one who has to live with it, not us."
"But I have to live with it too, as well as all the rest of those poor wretches in the Hold. None of them know any better but I do. I hope this opens his eyes but, if it doesn't, I will have to do something about the way things have been run. He is not a bully or a hard man but he is proud and very controlling. He must have things done his way or he will turn people out of the Hold and make them Holdless. His Holders are terrified they will have no safe place to go during Threadfall!"
"He will probably have to stay here for a while to recover, no matter what else happens. Perhaps if you passed the word that Telgar Weyr will take in anyone wishing to leave your people would be less fearful. For that matter, the Holds and Weyrs on the southern continent have more than enough room to take in a large number of refugees as long as they take the required oaths and help support themselves.
"If we run out of room, we can always build more Holds. I don't know how big your Hold is, but Spath's Hold currently has well over 3,000 inhabitants with room for another two or three thousand more. It isn't much but it's home to a lot of people and it was built in just a few months."
Lady Bridai looked at him in shock. "I never realized your hold was so huge!" she exclaimed. How do they feed themselves?"
"They grow more than enough food for themselves and us in exchange for a place to live which we provide them. There have even been a few groups who have insisted on striking out on their own but we never make anyone 'holdless'. They all can come back and live here if they run into trouble. Their oath allows for that."
"What is this oath you speak of? You make it sound like something that is unbreakable, yet how can simple words force people to live together peacefully, especially when so many are so very different?"
Harry allowed a small flame to rise from the palm of his hand. "You know that some of us can do magic. We have a process which we call a magically binding oath. If someone takes the oath willingly with an oath taker, then it is binding unto death. The oath itself is simple and something no one in their right mind would object to. If someone takes the oath and then tries to do anything against the oath it can lead to some rather interesting consequences.
"If the break isn't that bad, they may only suffer a severe headache but if they deliberately try to kill another intelligent species, they will die instead. It is a very effective deterrent." He let the flame fade from sight as Lady Bridai's gaze lingered on his palm.
"Are there many like you?" she asked, curiously.
"Not many as far as a percentage of our population but when we marry, even if our spouse is not magical, all children born of the union are magical. A couple of the things about us is that we live longer than non-magicals and, if we bond with a non-magical spouse, the spouse will live longer as well. It is good for both partners."
"How long do magical humans live?" she asked, curiously.
"Ordinarily, a magical human will live to be about half again as long as a non-magical, given the same circumstances. A mixed marriage will see the non-magical partner gain an increase of 10 to 20 years while the magical partner loses a similar amount."
"But if the magical partner loses so much, why do they do it?" asked a very puzzled Lady Bridai.
"Because it is worth it. We use a form of magical bonding which evens out the life spans of the partners. It doesn't make it equal but it means that, when a non-magical partner dies, the magical partner doesn't have to suffer through outliving the love of their lives. It is not something either partner enters into lightly.
"So, how old are you? You don't look much older than my eldest son who is only about 16!"
"About half a turn from now, I will be over 41 turns," said Harry sorrowfully. "My problem is that I am not a normal magical human. I am what is known as a mage. I will live to see many of those I have come to love die while I am forced to stay behind."
Lady Bridai looked at Harry with horror. "It is not such an advantage after all then, is it?"
"No, but I have successfully kept you occupied and not worrying about your husband. Here comes the doctor with good news, I hope, about your husband."
They both looked up as Dr Maxine Kelly walked up to them. "Lady Bridai, may I introduce you to Doctor Maxine Kelly, Glarenelth's rider and one of the Weyr's fully qualified physicians."
Maxine held her hand out to shake hands with Lady Bridai, who looked a bit startled. As she shook hands with Maxine, she said, "You have Riders who have other crafts than just being riders!?"
"All of our Riders have other occupations," said Maxine, confidently with a grin. "It would be terribly boring otherwise, wouldn't it, Harry?"
"That it would, Maxine," said Harry back with a grin of his own for the outraged look on Lady Bridai's face. "We are all equal here, Lady Bridai. That's part of what makes our life here worthwhile. I may be The Weyrleader because my dragons will not allow anyone else to hold that position. That doesn't mean that anyone else is any less important."
"Well," said Lady Bridai in shock. "I never looked at it that way. Here some are educated to lead, others are educated to farm, others educated to do other things that need to be done in the Hold. Some, who cannot seem to be able to be educated to do anything else, work as common drudges."
"We don't have that problem," said Harry. "Everyone here is educated with a similar level of knowledge. If she had to, Doctor Kelly here could take over the Weyr and keep things running quite well, couldn't you, Maxine?"
"I could," Kelly said, "but why should I have to put up with all that aggravation when you do such a fine job and I can do what I want, heal others. Which reminds me, your husband is out of danger but still very weak. For best results, he should stay here for at least the next three days until the effects of the poison are completely flushed from his system. We have very comfortable apartments on the medical level where you can both stay while he recovers if you would like."
"Stay here?" asked Lady Bridai. "What will happen to our Hold while we are away? I must get back!"
"Don't you have a supervisor who can run the Hold for you for the few days it will take your husband to recover?" asked Harry. "Not only would it give you a short holiday but it would allow you to see how effective he or she was at running things without you there looking over their shoulder. I bet they would love to show you how capable they are."
"Well," started Lady Bridai doubtfully.
"I can send a Rider with a note to whomever you choose and Garackeath can stay there and give you updates as you want them," suggested Harry.
"Oh, why not!" enthused Lady Bridai. "I've never been away from the Hold for long and would love to get a better chance to see how you run things here."
"Well, that's settled then," said Harry decisively. "Dobby has brought paper and pen for your note and, once written and sealed, I will have it delivered to whomever you designate. Once the note has been sent, I will ask Tisky, Dobby's wife, if she would be so kind as to take personal care of you herself. Please remember, she is not a servant but an equal who is willing to help."
"If you would like to stay a little longer, we are due to have a hatching soon. We would be more than happy to host you for longer and let you see our version of a hatching."
Lady Bridai looked thoughtful. This could be quite a learning experience if she approached it the right way. She reached for the paper and strange writing implement and, at the last moment remembered to thank the small strange creature who had brought them. He looked quite odd but not unkind. If he and his wife were like the Weyrleader, this could be just the escape she had dreamed of almost all her life.
Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Nov 22, 2020...
"There do not seem to be near as many eggs as for the hatching we went to at Telgar," said Lord Maustan, importantly. "Aren't you afraid you will not have enough dragons to fight thread?"
"Actually, we have more dragons than we need right now, even without this hatching," replied Harry. "Counting these 40 new dragons, we now have 8, 880 bonded dragons total. While 2,400 of those are on Earth, that still leaves us with 6,480 bonded dragons to use against thread. Of course, we also have between 4,000 and 5,000 unbonded dragons on Pern as well. I think we have it fairly well covered, don't you?"
A startled Lord Maustan looked back at Harry as he tried to come to grips with the numbers quoted to him. "My God, man!" he exclaimed. "You will overrun the planet with dragons soon at this rate!"
"Actually, I think that is part of the reason why the dragons have cut back drastically on the number of eggs being laid," explained Harry. "We have calculated that using our methods of animal husbandry, we can maintain enough food stock for 7,200 bonded dragons on Pern with a smaller number of unbonded dragons. The dragons themselves probably realize they are getting close to our maximum limit, so are voluntarily limiting their egg production. Since we never lose a dragon or rider when flying thread, our numbers can only increase until we stop."
"Voluntarily stop? Never lose a dragon!" muttered a very confused Lord Holder. "How can you never lose a dragon!?" asked Lord Maustan, finally latching onto, what was to him, the most important part of the conversation. "We lose dragons all the time! It wasn't that long ago that we lost the Benden Weyrleader to thread!"
"I know," said Harry, sadly. "I met with him January of 2013 and asked him to please let us fight all the threadfall until the end of the pass. He threw me out of his Weyr."
A thoroughly shocked Lord Holder looked at Harry with something approaching respect. "So, he refused and died," said Lord Maustan. "He probably didn't want to be put out to pasture by a child."
"My Rider is The Weyrleader! He is better than anyone on this planet or Earth!" shouted an angry Chekiath for anyone nearby to hear.
"That's alright, Mate," said Harry. "He just doesn't understand."
Harry looked at Lord Maustan with pity. "If you believe that I am a child, then you should know that this child was the cause of two old nations back on Earth being almost destroyed because they wouldn't leave us alone. One was a so-called Super Power that most of the other nations on Earth were afraid of. In less than a day they were almost driven back to the stone age by my dragons.
"We came here so we could try to find a little peace. We don't want to run anyone's lives, we don't want to take over anyone's jobs, we just want to be treated as equals. We are willing to do more than you, because there are more of us. We have ways of protecting ourselves that you will never have but we don't try to lord it over you. We don't pretend to be anything other than what we are, Dragonriders able to support ourselves without any input from anyone else.
"For your information, I was 40 years old back in July. How old are you?"
"You can't be 40 turns," said an incredulous Lord Maustan. "You don't look over about 17!"
Harry let a small flame grow in his palm as he replied, "You forget, 'My Lord', that I am a magical being. I have already talked to your wife about this. How long do you expect to live here on Pern? 50, maybe 60 turns? Earth years are about 3 days longer than Pern's and I am every one of 40+ years old. I will probably live to be over 200 years old. Is it any wonder that I don't want to have anything to do with your politics?
"Why should I try to run your life, when I have a life of my own that I am still trying to live without anyone else's interference."
With that, the flame in Harry's palm grew to a raging inferno and then blinked out as if it had never been there. Those seated nearby had early on moved away from the pair as they talked, sensing the growing frustration in The Weyrleader. With the sudden burst of flame, many of the Pernese audience yelled and ducked for cover, not understanding what was going on. The Riders present all knew because they had been listening in through their dragons ever since Chekiath's outburst. They quickly calmed the rest of the audience down as Lord Maustan gazed in fear and awe at the retreating back of someone who looked younger than his son but was apparently older than he was.
Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleaders Inner Office, Nov 23, 2020...
"Someone to see you, Harry," said Jeofrey. "He says he's Lord Holder Maustan. He has Lady Bridai with him."
"Show them in," said Harry with a sigh as he rose from his desk chair to move to the small, slightly more friendly meeting area to the side of his office.
"Weyrleader, I have come to apologize for my rudeness yesterday ...," started Lord Maustan.
"No, I should be the one to apologize," said Harry, with a heavy sigh. "As often as I have had to deal with others, I should have more patience than I do. You just don't understand. I have had to deal with people who did understand and still wanted to take what they wanted, over my dead body if they had to. I apologize, I don't know why I overreacted."
"Be that as it may," said Lord Maustan. "My wife has made it abundantly clear to whom I owe my continued life. I feel I owe you something for that, at least."
"No, Lord Maustan," said Harry. "We don't operate that way. We give freely of ourselves to help those in need, regardless of their attitude towards us. You have never been actively fighting us, you just wanted to be left alone. I can understand and respect that, it's what we wanted for so long."
"Well, I was more than a little afraid of you," said Lord Maustan, quietly. "You appeared out of nowhere, with all sorts of things we had never even dreamed of. To me, you looked like someone intent on taking over everything. I may not have the best run Hold on Pern but it's mine and I wanted to keep it.
"My wife has opened my eyes. I can now see that, if you had wanted to, you would rule all of Pern now, no matter what the rest of us wanted. I'm a bit ashamed that I couldn't see that sooner."
"Instead of blaming ourselves," said Harry, persuasively. "Why don't we look to the future, one day at a time. If you want our help, or just want to talk, I am here. I set one of our unbonded dragons to be liaison between us and Lady Bridai, in case she needed help. I'm willing to allow Garackeath to remain if you wish it."
"Yes, about that," said Lord Maustan. "My wife explained how I happened to receive such timely care. Our healer said he was in awe of your facilities and could not have saved me. I don't know what we might have to offer but I would like to try to develop some kind of trade agreement between us that would at least allow my healer to learn his job better and get some of the equipment he can use to help our people."
"Unfortunately, I cannot help you there," said Harry apologetically. "We agreed that all questions about healers and upgrading any abilities would have to go through the Healercrafthall. You will have to talk to Masterhealer Med. We have made copies of all of our healing information available to him and have even taken many of his Masterhealers as apprentices in our hospital here. Perhaps you could talk him into sending you a better trained healer while yours was upgrading his knowledge?"
"Ah," said Lord Maustan, unhappily. "I have had dealings with Masterhealer Med before and getting something from him is like pulling teeth out of a Roller, it's just not possible."
"You might find he has changed quite a bit," said Harry with an evil grin. "I told him that I would abide by our agreement only so long as he was able to provide any health information anyone desired. That includes, but is not limited to, healer education."
"Hmpf," grunted Lord Maustan with surprise. "You must be older than you look. I don't know anyone who has ever gotten the better of Masterhealer Med in a deal before!"
"Is there perhaps something else we might be able to help you with?" asked Harry.
"We would love to have the same efficient indoor plumbing that you enjoy here in your Weyr. What would it take us to get something like that installed in our Hold?" asked Lord Maustan.
"I'm sure you can come to an equitable agreement with our Master Plumber, Brad Tomlinson. His shop is at 0110-1-5. To make that easier to follow, that means Level 1, Sector 10, Ring 1, Room 5. He has trained up quite a few teams on how to install the plumbing, but it will require some additions to your Hold. I can 'suggest' they give you the best price they offer."
"Hmm, we don't use Galleons like you do. What is the current exchange rate?"
"I'm not sure," said Harry, cautiously. "We have a branch of Gringotts Bank here in the Weyr. I can have someone escort you there and help set up an account. Make sure you tell them you are setting up a Pern Holder account so you get the best exchange rate."
What Harry didn't tell them was that he was underwriting the 'Pern' accounts out of his own income to allow them to get nearly double the exchange rate. He wanted them to think they had been able to pay for their Weyr and Hold improvements through fair trade. What he didn't want them to know was that they really had very little, other than labor and some pharmaceuticals, that his Nation needed. He would rather slip them extra money through Gringotts than have them feel like poor relations.
"Thank you, we will go visit this bank of yours as soon as we finish here. As you know, our Hold is built into the side of a great cliff. What would we have to do to get a great canopy installed like you have that would cover our Great Court?" asked Lord Maustan.
"It could be done easily enough," said Harry, "but you might get some complaints from those who lost their windows. Also, the guards in your watchtowers wouldn't have near as large a field of view as they have now unless you added watchtowers to the top of the canopy."
"Let us think on that," replied Lord Maustan. "I hadn't thought of the loss of view. My wife likes to watch travelers arriving into the Great Court and she wouldn't be able to do that any more with a canopy in place. I think we should visit your bank, and then make our way home."
"Actually," said Harry with a small smile. "The bank belongs to the Goblins. I simply asked if they would do us the honor of opening a branch on Pern to help us keep our finances in order. I have worked well with Ragnok in the past. I'm sure if you let him know I sent you and that you are opening a Pern Holder's account, he will ensure you get the very best rates."
With that, they all rose from the comfortable chairs, shook hands and the Lord and Lady walked out. Jeofrey, with a nod from Harry, led them to the Turbolift to take them to Gringotts.
Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleaders Inner Office, Dec 7, 2020...
"Harry!" exclaimed Chekiath, excitedly. "It's the Green Lady and she's brought White Beard with her!
"I thought White Beard died!?" added a very confused Cheki.
Harry rose from his desk with a smile of welcome on his face, mixed with a look of confusion about the person who came in with her.
"Harry, it pleases me to introduce to you, Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' younger brother," said Eddie Took. "I found him last time I went through Hogsmeade and, once he learned what his brother had been up to, he decided that he would like to try to help out by teaching magic."
Harry reached out to shake Aberforth's hand. "Glad to meet you Aberforth," said Harry, graciously. "Please excuse my dragon, he tends to get a little over excited when he gets surprised."
"Well, he looked like White Beard when I first saw him," said Cheki. "Now that he's here, he smells like a goat.
He's old, like White Beard, so I guess we can call him Old Goat."
"CHEKI!" exclaimed Harry, thoroughly embarrassed. "That's not very polite!"
Aberforth chuckled and said, "That's quite alright. I had heard that dragons were literal but now I have heard it for myself. I am old, and I do love to tend goats, so 'Old Goat' won't be near the insult it might be for someone else.
"Actually, I was more interested in teaching magical dueling than just magic. I'm not nearly as good as my brother was, but I'm an excellent dueler."
"Goats are good to eat aren't they?" asked Cheki.
"Yes, they are, mighty dragon," said Aberforth, calmly. "But it would take many of mine to even make a mouthful for you and I would really rather keep them all safe. I have become very fond of them."
"None of our dragons would dream of touching any animal that is not in the holding pens or roaming free on the surface," said Harry. "I'm not sure that will be something we need here on Pern, but we could teach it to anyone who is going back to Earth on a protection detail," said Harry, thoughtfully. "We don't have any use for it here, because there are no magical beings living on Pern who would knowingly attack any other intelligent species."
"That may be so," said Aberforth, calmly. "But what about accidents? Do you have a reflective surface in here somewhere?"
"How about the window looking out over the main cavern?" asked Harry, pointing to the sidewall of his office.
"That's a window!" exclaimed Aberforth. "I thought it was just another opening into the cave. Eddie, why don't you stand over by the dragon, so you don't get hurt accidentally?"
"I am called Chekiath, Old Goat," grumbled Chekiath. "I am The Weyrleader's dragon and the biggest dragon on two worlds!"
"My pardon, mighty Chekiath," said Aberforth with a smile. "Your Rider must never have to worry about anyone attacking him because you are always right by his side to protect him."
"I …," began Cheki with a growl.
"That's OK, Cheki," soothed Harry. "I'm sure he is just trying to make a point, and not saying you cannot protect me."
"Even so," said Aberforth, as he moved parallel to the window and a few yards from Harry. "Are you ready, Harry? I will only use a light stunner, but it should be enough to show what could have happened if you were attacked with a more powerful spell."
Harry waited calmly without even drawing his wand. He nodded to Aberforth to continue.
Aberforth drew his wand and fired off the stunner, not directly at Harry but at the window some feet in front of him. The spell could be seen to ricochet off the window and head straight for Harry. Just before it reached him, it rebounded towards the window and went straight through, disappearing in the distance.
"Hope there's no one on the other end of that," commented Harry, calmly. "That was an interesting way to cast a spell. I have never thought to reflect one off a smooth surface before. If you have other, similar tricks, our fledgling, magical Auror Corps will definitely be able to make use of your training and our Hit Wizards on Protection Details will also."
Aberforth looked at Harry incredulously. "How did you do that? I didn't even see you move!"
"We have an amulet that protects us from physical objects. I had a feeling that part of the spell on the charm would also protect from low level magic as well. I was right. Now that I've seen your different method of attack, I think I need to beef up the magical protection on the amulet as well. Like I said, there isn't any use for it here, but any of our people who return to Earth may need it."
Harry walked over to his desk, took an amulet out of one of the drawers, and tossed it to the old wizard. "Here, if you are going to be working for us, you may as well have one of these now. You will also have to take a magical Loyalty Oath to work for the Dragon Nation, but it's a very simple oath."
"If it's anything like the Equality Oath which I had to take to even be able to travel here, it won't be any trouble. It actually made a lot of sense to me," said Aberforth.
Harry and Aberforth moved back towards the chairs and Harry saw that Eddie was passing her hand back and forth over Cheki's eye ridges. There seemed to be green tendrils attaching her hand to Cheki's eye ridges.
"What is Cheki making you do now, Eddie?" asked Harry with a laugh.
"I know how well he likes to have his eye ridges scratched, I thought I would try a little 'Deep Cleaning' with the Goddess's help."
"It's really nice, Harry," said Cheki dreamily. "Can we keep her?"
Harry and Eddie laughed at that.
"I felt led to move to Pern and continue to lead my converts in their spiritual growth," said Eddie. "I know many of you don't need me anymore, but I feel there is so much more that I could do here rather than on Earth."
"You will always be welcome here or anywhere dragons live Eddie," said Harry, sincerely. "You have helped us in some of our darkest hours when all the other religions held us at arm's length and tried to ignore us. If you like, I can give you an office here on the Admin Level where everyone will know to look for you if they need anything."
"I think I would prefer to live down where the rest of the non-riders live and work. Dragonriders, and dragons in general, know what I have to offer. It is the rest of your people I'm hoping to be able to help."
"Do you have any preference as to location?" asked Harry.
"Let me wander around for a while, so I can see the 'circulation' of the Weyr. Once the Goddess shows me where I should live, I will let you know."
They spent the next half hour renewing old ties, over tea and small cakes, or getting to know each other, in the case of Aberforth. All too soon for Harry, his guests were ready to leave and explore the Weyr and he had to get back to work.
King's Cross Station, London, Dec 23, 2020...
Fortunately for the terrorists, all the Hogwarts traffic had already left the station, so the Protection Detail was relaxing a bit and didn't discover them.
Unfortunately for the terrorists, all the explosives they had been given had been stored in a damp basement, so failed to explode as they were supposed to.
Guntaal was furious! He was just glad they had decided to try out the explosives on his sister first. They had locked her into the vest and sent her out to the train platform. She had not wanted to go, which was most un-Muslim of her, but they had finally forced the vest onto her and aimed their guns at her until she was well on her way. When she got to the platform, they had tried to remote detonate and nothing had happened. For some reason, they had even failed to get his sister to return for another attempt at another time. Women were so unreliable!
Filan was crouched behind the support pillar on the opposite side from where her brother had just tried to kill her. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know where she was, and she couldn't even understand the language. However, she was determined not to return to her abusers.
"What is wrong, Little Mouse," suddenly sounded in her head. "You seem afraid but there is no one else near. Why do you cry?"
"Great!" she said. "Now I'm hearing things. It isn't bad enough that my brother is trying to kill me, now I'm going crazy!"
"Who is trying to kill you, Little Mouse," said the voice. "Where are they?"
She visualized her brother and his team and where they had been when she had left them. Suddenly a loud siren sounded and a lot of soldiers appeared where she had left her brother! "Good," she thought. "I hope they get caught!"
"So do I," said her voice. "Did you know you could be a Rider?"
"Rider," she thought, puzzledly. "What's a Rider?"
"A Dragonrider," said her voice. "How was your brother trying to kill you?"
"He strapped explosives to me!" she yelled, angrily. "They were going to use me to blow up the station while they stayed safe!"
Suddenly, shadows materialized around her and she was spread-eagled on the platform, unable to move. One of the shadows opened her Burqa and started picking at the wires on the vest. Filan didn't care though. She had fainted dead away when the dragon had materialized right next to her.
Dragon Isle, Weyrleader's Office, Dec 24, 2020...
Luna Lovegood sat looking dreamily at the petrified young girl seated across from her. She had been called in by Special Courier from Pern when this young female potential rider had been discovered. The circumstances intrigued her but not as much as the fact that she hadn't been able to get any information from the girl about what had led up to her being in the situation she had been in. The girl was now dressed in Western jeans and a t-shirt and seemed more than a little embarrassed about it.
"Jack, dear, would you please go send for Harry and his wives?" asked Luna of her husband who was in the room as well. She carefully stressed the word 'go'.
"Of course, love. Anything I can do to help," he replied as he left the room.
Interesting, the girl seemed to relax a bit as her husband left. Perhaps she was afraid of men. She couldn't really do anything but wait for Harry to show up. The girl had been captured by the Weyr Protection Detail at the King's Cross Station but the British Police had been alerted to the thwarted terrorist attack and they were crawling all over the area looking for clues. It would be up to Harry what happened to this girl but Luna had a feeling the girl would not be going back to the police.
About a half-hour later Harry and his wives appeared. Even with nearly instantaneous transportation, it took time to wake someone from a sound sleep and get them to make the return jump. Harry sat down across from the girl and started a light legilimency spell on her. He just sat and stared at her and Luna could see that she was getting more and more frightened. Finally, Harry relaxed, leaned back in his chair, and turned to the other three women in the room.
"She is terribly frightened because she has been captured by the 'Great devils'," said Harry, disgustedly. "She was brought up a Muslim and her brother is the one who tried to blow her up along with King's Cross Station!"
"Poor thing, she must be terrified!" exclaimed May as she moved over to sit next to the girl and hug her.
Harry stood up and put his hand over the girl and muttered to himself, "Episkey!"
A cold blue light seemed to emanate from his hand and all the minor wounds the girl had suffered recently healed. She flinched back from Harry initially but, as her wounds healed and she felt better, she relaxed slightly. Harry turned to the dragon bed where Cheki lay invisible to the girl but watching interestedly.
"Cheki, would you please make yourself visible now," asked Harry, as he walked over and started scratching Cheki's eye ridges.
The girl instantly went rigid and tried to scream but only a faint squeak came out. Her eyes widened so large that the whites of her eyes were clearly visible all around her pupils. She was clearly terrified. Harry fed the memory he had gotten from the girl to Cheki and the three women in the room with him.
"Cheki, please reassure our guest. Let her know we mean her no harm," requested Harry.
"It's OK, Little Mouse," said Cheki, gently, looking right at the young girl. "You are among friends now. We have rescued you from those who wished to do you harm."
The girl almost screamed something unintelligible to Luna but the others, who still had their translation earrings gifted to them by the Japanese, smiled grimly. Harry sat down again so he wasn't looming over the girl and said to Cheki, "Please tell her we are not Devils. We are humans just as much as she is and you are a very kind, dignified, cowardly dragon."
"I am NOT cowardly!" huffed Cheki, privately to Harry who smiled faintly.
Cheki then turned and delivered the requested message to the girl who just stared at him in horrified fascination.
"This is getting us nowhere, Harry," said Hermione, disgustedly. "There is no way we can turn her over to the police, they will destroy her and she's the victim in all this!"
"You're right, Hermione, we cannot turn her over to them. Not least of which is because she is a potential rider. She is extremely vulnerable right now and we need to do our best to gently win her trust. I think the first thing we need to do is get a full medical workup and right now we cannot do that while she is conscious. Who is the senior human female medical doctor on duty that has magical abilities?"
"We don't have any," said Luna. "Maxine Kelly is the senior human female doctor, but she's not magical. I don't believe we have any magical doctors. Katie Bell is a Weyrhealer and magical, but she's not a doctor for humans."
"Great," said Harry. "OK, what do you think about pairing Maxine and Katie as part of a team to work up a medical profile on this girl. Katie can use her magic to keep her slightly sedated while Maxine works her magic."
"Sounds like the best of a bad situation," said Hermione. "You do realize that this is opening us up to a world of legal problems if she decides she has been mistreated and wants to sue us?"
"I do," said Harry, resignedly. "But I feel she will be better off with us as a Dragonrider. If she knew what the future held, she would jump at the chance. I want to do the right thing for her here, not the legally safe thing for us."
"I agree," said Hermione. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were opening us up to."
"I have a feeling it's all going to work out just fine," said Luna, dreamily.
Dragon Isle, Hospital, Dec 29, 2020...
May walked into Filan's hospital room and was surprised to see the vast improvement in the young girl. She still seemed frightened but wasn't nearly as terrified as she had been when she arrived. She had been placed in a dragon apartment with a convalescing dragon, Besulth, who had eventually convinced the girl that she was not going crazy. The girl looked up from her lunch which she was just finishing. She was relieved to see it was another woman who had come in.
"Hello, Besulth," said May. "How are you today?"
"I am fine, Weyrhealer," said Besulth, happily. "I thank you for allowing me to have a human roommate I could help while I was here."
"I think you have helped each other," responded May with a smile as she checked under the dragon's left-wing root. "I'm happy we were able to catch that bulging scale before it caused any more damage. How is your roommate doing?"
"She seems much calmer than when she first arrived," said Besulth. "It took me much time to convince her I wasn't here to eat her! In fact, she is slowly approaching even now. It seems she is interested in what you are doing to me."
May glanced up to see Filan timidly approaching. She was wearing a huge, fluffy white robe over her hospital pajamas but still looked embarrassed that she was so underdressed. May smiled faintly and hoped they could eventually get Filan to accept their friendship. As she started to back out from under Besulth's wing, she realized Filan was right there beside her. May pointed to the offending scale and said, using her translation earring, "Her scale was buckled and infected. We cut off one side, injected some soothing salve, and laid the scale back down. An injection of antibiotics fought off the infection and she should be ready to leave and go home shortly after you are ready to leave."
Filan's eyes widened a bit before she exclaimed, "You speak my language!?"
"Not actually," May explained with a smile. "I have a special translation device that allows me to understand what you say and makes it seem to you that I am speaking in your language. Only a very few of us have this device. We tried to make sure enough of us who have it were working nearby, so we would know if you needed anything."
"Everything is so confusing here," said Filan, plaintively. "I have always been told that non-Muslims are devils, yet you have all been kind. Even this huge, fierce-looking creature has been most gentle and helped me to overcome my fears.
"What am I to do now?" she cried, bursting into tears.
May gathered the crying girl into her arms for a comforting hug and finally got her quieted down. "Once you are feeling better and have been completely cured of all the problems we were able to treat, you will be free to do whatever you wish," explained May, quietly. "We know what you went through at the hands of your brother. We know what they tried to do using you. We don't care. We know you were being used and we just wish to help you. Once you are ready, we will let you make your own decisions as to what you want to do and where you want to go."
With that, Filan burst into tears again and May did her best to comfort the girl.
"It will be alright, Little Mouse," said Besulth, encouragingly. "You have the potential to become a Dragonrider, just like Weyrhealer May. If you wanted, they will let you try to impress your own dragon!"
Suddenly Filan's eyes widened and she looked back and forth between Besulth and May. May just smiled and nodded her head, then she had to return to her comforting role as Filan again burst into tears.
May had talked to Maine Kelly before entering the recovery room. There didn't appear to be a single major bone, and several minor ones, that had escaped trauma of some sort during Filan's short life. She also had some fairly major scars they had tried to erase and at least one illegal medical procedure they had reversed while she was under. From her body, it appeared she had been tortured in one way or another for most of her life. This had to end!
Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, Jan 20, 2021...
"Harry, the Courier is here," said Jeofrey.
"Send him in," said Harry gratefully, putting down his pen.
"Hi, Harry!" exclaimed Janice McCoy, rider of Starth. "Still can't tell the difference between boys and girls, I see!" she said jokingly.
"Oh, I know the difference, I'm just so tired sometimes, I can't see much of anything. Give me some good news."
"Well, the Americans had a Presidential election and the Islamic Terrorists tried to not only disrupt it but assassinate a lot of important people who were gathered there. I don't have a lot of information, but I did hear that the terrorists had been stopped, just in time, and the only ones who died were the ones whose suicide bombs went off prematurely and those with them."
"I wonder if they have developed a means to detect and remotely detonate such explosive devices?" wondered Harry out loud. "However they did it, I'm happy they managed to stop the attack. I would be even happier if there had been no attack in the first place."
"Know what you mean, Harry. It's not our problem now, though. They seem to have learned their lesson after what we did to Russia and Saudi Arabia. They steer clear of Dragon Isle and any of the old Weyrs that are now museums."
"I have a feeling they are just leaving us until last," said Harry, mournfully. "Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to allow the number of Dragonriders and unbonded dragons on Earth increase a bit more to allow for more security in areas where our Riders' friends and families are located."
"The next courier isn't going back until the day after tomorrow, so it gives you a little time if you want to make any changes."
"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll keep that in mind. Say 'Hi' to Alfhild Gustavson for me when you get back to Sakushima Weyr."
"Will do, Harry. See ya!"
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