The Dragons Return

by viningc

Harry had a war with Earth but he had been given the gift of a lifetime, a place where his dragons and riders would be unconditionally safe. This story continues the trilogy by Bobmin356 and Alyx started at: /s/7591040/18/The-Queen-who-fell-to-Earth

17. Chapter 17: A Royal Visit, Part 1

Chapter 17: A Royal Visit, Part 1
Spath's Weyr, just beyond the canopy ground-level entrance, Day 1, Nov 19, 2029...
All the Weyr's Dragonriders were lined up in precise formation, waiting for Queen Elizabeth II's arrival. Harry was sure it was an imposing sight, given that there were 2,400 riders in full dress uniform with their dragons standing behind them. Their formation was forced to stretch out from the base of the mountain far out onto the plain below the Weyr entrance. Harry had a Division of unbonded dragons and another Division borrowed from Condron Sea Weyr for airborne security. He hoped it would be an impressive sight for his royal friend when they came out of Between from Earth.

Unlike similar, military, forces back on Earth, this entire formation had started taking shape only 5 minutes prior to the Queen's scheduled arrival. Being in mental contact with their dragons did wonders for cooperation and coordination. It helped that everyone present wanted to make a lasting impression on the Earth Queen and her retinue. When he sent the Transport to pick her up, he had told the Dragonrider 'pilot' to make sure he had all his cameras running when they arrived. Though he suspected she would, he didn't know for sure that the Queen would want a copy, but he knew he would. He couldn't see much, down here on the ground, waiting for the Queen to land, but it had to look impressive.

He had watched old films of the Queen visiting other countries. For some reason, she always seemed to start her visit with an inspection. There was no way she would be able to inspect all the massed dragons in the short time she would be here, so Harry had all the Weyrleaders and Weyr Seconds from Pern and Earth standing with him in case she felt she had to inspect someone. He had invited all the Weyrleaders and their seconds, but had only informed the 8 from Spath's Weyr, the 4 each from Condron Sea Weyr, Sakushima Weyr, and Red Butte, and the 2 from Nutan's Weyr for 22 from Pern, that they would be standing with him and Lee Jordan as representatives of the Dragon Nation for inspection. Then he had also invited the 4 each from Dragon Isle and the New Campbeltown Weyrs as well as the 2 each from Joensuu and Minnewanka Weyrs, which brought the total standing for inspection to 36 riders and their dragons. That, she might manage to accomplish.

Five minutes after everyone had finished lining up and were standing calmly, waiting for their visitor, Harry saw a D2 Egg materialize in the distance and slowly start its approach to the Weyr. Harry had requested that Narth be one of the dragons involved in transporting the Queen and her party. He felt she would like to have her dragon friend available if she wanted to go flying. This was Narth's first trip to Pern, so she wasn't in charge of the Egg, but she was a part of the lift team, so she and the Queen could have pleasant memories to share later.

Queen Elizabeth II Arrives...
As the Dragon Egg settled gently down to the ground in front of Harry, he stepped forward, opened the front access door, and pulled down the boarding stairs. After making sure everything was firmly planted and secure, he stepped back into formation with his fellow Weyrleaders. As Queen Elizabeth stepped into the doorway, she was met by absolute silence … except for the plainly audible thrumming of 2,431 dragons expressing their approval.

As she stood there, slightly unsure how to react to such a novel situation, Harry stepped forward and offered his hand to help steady her as she walked down the short flight of stairs to the ground.

"Your Majesty, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Pern. May you find peace and shelter under our wings," said Harry, formally, as he bowed slightly to her, one world leader to another.

'It has been too long since we have had a proper visit, Lady Holder,' said Chekiath. 'Harry told me he doesn't really expect you to inspect all of us.'

Harry was absolutely mortified, but the Queen just gave a little laugh at the literal-minded greeting of a dragon. She had spent many enjoyable hours with Narth and was familiar with their unvarnished mode of communication.

"Thank you both for your welcome," said the Queen. "I don't think I have ever been greeted by such a huge gathering. I think I will be most grateful to accept your deferral of any inspection at this time."

"I thought you might like to enjoy a more relaxed protocol while on Pern," said Harry. "I did want to show you what massed dragons looked like on the ground. We have assembled here today, every dragon and rider currently assigned to Spath's Weyr. Not counting the 3 that are currently on detached duty to Earth, we have 4 complete Weyrs housed in Spath's Weyr, normally totaling 2.400 dragons and their bonded riders. We also have representatives from every Pern Weyr we have created and every Earth Weyr as well.

"Since we are going to dispense with the 'inspection', I will dismiss them, with your permission."

"Granted," said Queen Elizabeth.

Harry gave a silent command to Chekiath and two minutes later, Harry and Chekiath were the only ones remaining with the Queen's party.

"Most impressive," said one of the military men in the Queen's retinue. "If we had to scramble that many aircraft, it could take hours without involving multiple airfields and launch platforms! You didn't even seem to give any command and minutes later they were all gone."

"Weyrleader, may I present our Lord High Admiral Connor Moore," said Queen Elizabeth, decorously. "He is new to his post and I thought it would be a good way for him to gain some perspective.

"In that case," said Harry, with a smile, "we will have to be sure you get to see our mighty Navy here on Pern. For now, if you would follow me, I would like to start your tour of our first home here on Pern."

Harry extended his arm to the Queen, and she accepted by placing her hand just so, in the crook of his elbow.

"I had Narth join the lift team for your transport to Pern," said Harry to Elizabeth. "I thought you would enjoy a familiar person to discuss your daily excursions with."

"That was very thoughtful of you. I noticed you indicated we would all have flight suits available. Does that mean we will be doing a lot of flying?" asked the Queen, trying not to sound too excited.

"If you want to see Pern, the only way to do that is by dragon back," said Harry, loud enough for all to hear. "We have four widely spaced Weyrs on the southern continent and one new one on the northern continent. There are also several older Weyrs that were here before we arrived. Unfortunately, most of the dragons and riders that were originally here have died fighting thread."

"Is it really that dangerous, then," said Elizabeth, showing concern for those involved in the fight.

"It is if you are a Pern-standard dragon and rider. Our Earth-standard dragons have protections that are unavailable to the older dragons. We tried to talk them into allowing us to handle all threadfall but they refused and died because of it, even though we sent extra reinforcements in the hope we could spare them. All the surviving Pern dragons and riders are currently living in one Weyr after we finally convinced the last of them to stop wasting their lives.

"That ability to move quickly your Lord High Admiral commented on, is just one of the requirements to be able to battle thread. Even that isn't always enough. Thread doesn't fall in even sheets. The winds aloft cause it to rise on thermals and fall again later, so what from a distance appears to be a grey curtain, up close can be seen as clumps of dirty grey, worm-like objects.

"We are expecting threadfall during your visit and think you would find it an interesting evolution to see it being fought. There will be absolutely no danger to you, even if you decide to enter a cloud of thread. I will ensure Narth and all dragons your party are using have the required protection. You will be issued binoculars to view the battle with, though. I don't expect you will come anywhere near any thread.

"Think of Thread as being like a bomb. If it reaches the ground, it will immediately burrow into the ground as it eats any biological matter in its path. Water, stone, and extreme cold will stop it but, the only way to fight it is with fire. If thread lands on a rider or their dragon, their only defense is to immediately go Between where the intense cold kills the thread. I have seen some horrendous scars, called thread score, from just such encounters. The first time you encounter it, it is terrifying, even if you know you will be safe."

The group continued on towards the Canopy in front of Spath's Weyr, thinking about the perils of living on an alien planet.

As they walked under the canopy, Harry started explaining what they were seeing, basically the last line of defense against thread. If thread fell and there were no dragons to fight it, you would be safe if you got under the canopy. They were all amazed to see dragons diving into the lake on top of the canopy and staring back at them through the quartz bottom.

He briefly indicated the stone apartment shield wall and greenhouses up against the mountain. Some said Spath's Hold appeared to be a fortress and Harry agreed.

"When we first came here," said Harry, "we had no idea what we would encounter. We knew about thread, but we didn't know anything about any of the rest of the life on Pern. We wanted to make sure we were protected from the air as well as from the ground."

He then gave them a brief tour of their "Zoo", allowing them time to see the different life forms safely contained behind transparent barriers and read the placards explaining why each particular life form was dangerous. Harry heard one man say, "And I thought Australia was dangerous!"

Several of the party, including the Queen, stopped at some of the stalls permanently set up and attempted to purchase different items as souvenirs. Harry quickly talked to the vendors and asked them to keep track of what was 'purchased' and he would personally pay for it. After about 45 minutes of shopping, they were ready to move on. One of the merchants approached Harry and gave him a quickly written list with a total at the bottom. Harry dug into his belt pouch and gave the man twice what was listed to ensure there was enough.

Spath's Weyr, Wizards and Elves and Dragons, Oh My!...
When they got to the outer end of the entrance tunnel, they all boarded a special goblin trolley Harry had arranged to be available. In a matter of minutes, they traveled the almost mile distance to the central cavern of Spath's Weyr. As they were disembarking, Harry pulled the Queen slightly aside and quietly asked her, "Does everyone in your party know about magic?"

"I don't think the Lord High Admiral knows yet," said the Queen, with a faint smile. "I'm sure he will be most interested to learn about its existence."

"Have you all already had breakfast? We could introduce him to some of our other intelligent species in the serving line for the kitchen."

"We all ate before we departed, but a cup of tea would be delightful," responded the Queen.

Harry led them over to the Kitchen 0R seating area and made sure the Lord High Admiral was seated across from him and the Queen, so she could see everything. Once everyone was seated, Harry called, "Dobby."

"Harry Potter called?" asked Dobby, as his sudden appearance was accompanied by a slight popping sound.

The Admiral's eyes widened slightly, but he seemed to take the sudden appearance of a strange new creature in stride.

"Dobby, we are being visited this week by the Lady Holder of the land we used to live in on Earth. She will be with us for a week and I will be showing them around. Would you please ask some of our house-elves if they will get to know our guests and do what they can to help them if they have trouble with our ways?"

Dobby nodded and popped out of sight, only to return a moment later with a large group of house-elves who started to introduce themselves to the Queen's party. Tisky, Dobby's wife, walked up to Queen Elizabeth, curtseyed, and said, "I is called Tisky, ma'am. If you needs me, just call my name and I will come."

The Queen looked inquiringly at Harry, who nodded at her. The Queen turned to Tisky, smiled, and said, "Thank you very much, Tisky. I'm sure you will be a big help."

Joddy had approached the Lord High Admiral in a similar manner, but the man wasn't near as smooth as his Queen. He wasn't sure how to react and hadn't observed any of the interactions between Tisky and the Queen. Harry saw his difficulty and said, "These are house-elves, Admiral. They are a very intelligent species that were treated little better than property for years on Earth. When we came here, we brought as many with us as wanted to come. Unfortunately, a few years of freedom haven't seemed to be enough for them to lose their ingrained servile attitude. Please treat them as you would a human child who wants to help.

"Unlike a human child, however, these elves are quite capable. When we were on Earth, at the old Campbeltown Weyr, a team of house-elves tore down and reconstructed a series of hangars for our use. In each case, they took a beat-up, dilapidated building and turned it into a sound structure that was more than habitable. They love to help and are eager to please, just don't think they are less than human, they are more.

"Dobby, would you bring the luggage from the Dragon Egg please and set it down next to our table, please."

"Yes, Harry Potter, Sir!" Dobby popped out of sight and, just moments later popped back in carrying a huge mound of luggage. He carefully set each piece down and never showed the slightest strain.

As he finished, Harry said, "Thank you very much, Dobby. You are the best house-elf I have ever known."

Dobby blushed, as he always did at Harry's praise, and said, "Thank you, Harry Potter, Sir. We is pleased to helps you."

Harry looked at the stunned Admiral and could hear the soft laughter coming from the Queen next to him. "Admiral, house-elves are just one of several magical people we brought with us from Earth to begin a new life of liberty and equality on Pern. We treat every intelligent being as an equal, including, when they deserve it, humans. Did you know there are two types of humans on Pern and on Earth?"

"Of course," said Admiral Moore, upset at the stupid question, "men and women."

"Actually, you're wrong," said Harry, calmly. "The two types of people are magical and non-magical. When we first got to Pern most of our riders were non-magical. In the years since, the magical percentage of our population has grown by leaps and bounds. There seems to be something on Pern that likes magic and we have prospered." As he talked, Harry had held his hand out, palm up and a small blue and red flame appeared in his palm. The Admiral stared at it with widened eyes.

"Many in positions of power in your country know about us and we are working together to eventually reveal the magical world to the non-magical. Until that happens, most normal people on Earth know nothing of magic. Everyone on Pern knows, it is one of the requirements of coming here to live. You will find many strange things in our home, house-elves are only the beginning. There are centaurs, intelligent cheetahs, dolphins, and merpeople, Our Weyrling Master and his wife are half-giants, and our banking system is run by goblins.

"There are many non-magical inhabitants in our world, so we must find ways to accommodate them. Initially, I tried to do everything without magic, because I wanted everyone to feel equal. It isn't fair that one person requires most of the day to repair and clean a room while another can do it with a wave of their wand in seconds. Here on Pern, we had to build our first home inside a mountain. The floor of each level is 300 feet from the floor of the level above or below it and we have 20 levels in this Weyr. How can we get from Level 1 to Level 20 without using stairs? We did not have the technology for elevators and, even if we did, we would have had to create shafts inside solid granite. How do you run wiring and plumbing through solid rock?

"Fortunately, one of our riders is a Star Trek fan. He talked to one of our wizards and from their discussion was born not only our Turbolift system which we use to get around the Weyr but also our indoor plumbing! I hope you can keep an open mind Admiral, you are going to need it."

Admiral Moore looked over at the Queen and saw she wasn't surprised by any of this, so just shook his head and said, as he indicated Joddy, "I will do my best, Weyrleader. If I have any questions, I'm sure this young gentleman here will be able to help."

"This is an excellent tea," said the Queen. "Is it grown locally or imported?"

"Almost everything we eat is grown locally, your Majesty. I can have a package made up for you to take back with you if you really like it."

"I think I would, thank you."

As they finished their tea, Susan Bones appeared with their room assignments. They had all been placed in Level 20, Ring 1 apartments with an excellent view of the central cavern. The Queen was right across the spoke corridor from Harry's inner office.

"Part of the experience of visiting Pern on a Royal Planetary Tour," said Harry loud enough that they could all hear, "is that you are going to experience some of what it is like to be a Dragonrider. Each Dragonrider lives with his or her dragon in what we call a dragon apartment. I won't bother describing it to you, as you will see one soon enough. Right now, our house-elves are taking your luggage to your assigned quarters. We will eventually make our way there, but first, I want to introduce you to another of Pern's intelligent species. They will be your constant companion and mode of transportation while you are here. Those flight suits you were issued aren't meant to be just a souvenir, they are quite functional and you will need them when flying from place to place.

"If you will all look towards the center of the cavern, you will see your combined partners, protectors, and transportation while on Pern."

With that, Harry rose from the table and gestured to where 53 dragons reclined on the cavern floor. There were several startled gasps from amongst the group, but Queen Elizabeth immediately got up and walked over to Narth and started scratching her eye ridges and talking about their new, shared experiences. With the Queen setting the example, none of her party dared to be timid. Some quickly, some hesitantly, all eventually found the proper dragon. Each dragon, except Narth, had a large placard in front of it that gave the dragon's name, the name of the person they would be paired up with for the week, and their apartment assignment.

"Just walk up and talk to your assigned dragon," said Harry. They cannot talk to you out loud but, if you talk out loud to them, they can communicate mentally with you. They cannot read minds, which is why you must speak to them out loud. If you have any questions, just ask them. Be advised, they are very intelligent but also very literal. If you don't phrase your question carefully you may not get the response you were expecting."

After they had time to get to become comfortable interacting with their dragons, Harry called them all back over near the tables. "I have taken the liberty of getting your flight suits, so I can make sure they are fitted properly. They are made of man-made materials but have been charmed to be auto-sizing. When you put them on, they should automatically adjust to your correct size.

"I'm glad to see that you were all instructed to wear trousers and shirts. If any of you had worn dresses or skirts, you would have had to remove them prior to donning the flight suit. The applied spell would not have known how to compensate otherwise."

As everyone donned their flight suits, Harry and a group of his magical riders circulated making sure everyone knew how to get the best fit, how to fasten and unfasten the fittings, how to extend and put on the gloves, how to retract the gloves, and how to properly put on and take off the helmet. Everyone was astounded that the helmet would fit easily in the belt pouch.

He then explained about the built-in HUD which was available when the helmet was on and the faceplate shut. He also explained about the integrated radio/telephone communications system which would allow them to remain in contact while they flew. He explained a little about proper radio protocol and ended up telling them that, if all else failed, just talk to their dragon directly. They could communicate with anyone in the entire solar system at the speed of thought, no radio necessary.

"These flight suits are for your use while on Pern. The house-elf who has agreed to help you will clean it every night while you sleep and take care of anything else you may need. Unfortunately, except for the Queen, we cannot allow any of you to keep the flight suits. They contain proprietary technology we do not wish to share with Earth at this time. If you think you may wish to go flying with your Queen while on Earth, talk to her and, if she vouches for you, we may allow you to keep yours.

"There are name tags and special patches on the flight suits, however, that we will remove just prior to your departure. They will be placed on jackets which you will be allowed to take with you as a reminder of your visit here."

Spath's Weyr, The Hospital, Level 1...
"If you would please follow me this way," called Harry to The Royal Tour. "We will pass through the Level 1 Emergency Rooms again on our way to your first real encounter with the usefulness of magic. You will notice, as we pass through, how large all the passageways are. That is to ensure that any dragon has access to almost the entire Weyr. Dragons and riders don't like to be separated anymore than necessary.

"On the left is ER#1 and on the right is ER#3. We have facilities capable of handling any of the intelligent species we currently know about on Pern. The two ER's on this Level are mainly for human-type patients, house-elves, goblins, humans, and even centaurs can be seen here on an emergency basis. If, for some reason, a dragon is on Level 1 and cannot fly up to Level 2, where our main hospital is, there are two ramps, one on either side of the tunnel, that accommodate goblin carts capable of handling the largest of our dragons and taking them anywhere on the Hospital Level above.

"The ERs on this level are capable of closely monitoring 50 human-sized patients or smaller, or a lesser number of the larger species. These are true emergency rooms in that, once a patient is stabilized, they are moved to more private and comfortable quarters on Level 2. No one stays down here any longer than necessary. Sometimes our different children like to come in and get some of our colorful children's band-aids applied to one imaginary hurt or another, just so they can show off their new decoration. We don't mind playing along, all our children are loved and important to us all. By the way, every non-human intelligent species on Pern except the Cheetahs and the Dolphins are magical. The Cheetahs and Dolphins are still special in that they are fully capable of 'talking' to us. The Dolphins are even capable of limited vocal communication.

Spath's Weyr, This is not your standard Star Ship...
"And here we have our Turbolift," continued Harry, as they arrived at the heavy brass door with only one button next to it. "If you look across the tunnel, you will see one of 16 staircases. The staircases and Turbolifts are paired in exactly the same way and similar locations throughout the Weyr. If you don't trust our magic, you are welcome to climb the stairs. Be warned though, each Level is 300 feet from the floor of one level to the floor of the next and you will be sleeping on Level 20 tonight.

"Would someone mind opening the door for us?" asked Harry, looking for a volunteer.

A petite, thin young woman stepped forward and placed her finger on the button, clearly expecting some kind of interaction. Instead, the button lit and the brass doors slid quickly and silently aside. "There was no movement!" exclaimed the young woman.

"That's right," replied Harry. "We use magic to power many of the interactions you find in the Weyr, including the Turbolifts. Before we enter the room, I would like to point out the area just next to the Turbolift. As you can see, there is no door blocking access, there is just a large open area. This is the Turbolift Arrival Room. When you take the Turbolift from one location to another, you do not end up in another Turbolift, you end up in the Arrival Area. This allows for the safe simultaneous movement of large numbers of people.

"Now, if you will step inside the Turbolift, you will see a series of 'buttons' next to the door." As the last Tour member stepped into the room, the doors silently closed. "You can see two columns labeled 0 to 20, with a star replacing the circular button next to the number 1. Those buttons indicate the levels you can go to. Level 0 was added well after the Weyr was finished and we thought we would have to house everyone, riders and non-riders, in the Weyr. Now it is used mostly for non-perishable storage, but there are still quite a few finished apartments down there.

"Level 1 is reserved for non-riders only. We have house-elves, goblins, humans, both magical and non-magical, and centaurs cohabitating there peacefully. When everyone is treated with equal respect and dignity, it seems there is not near as much to argue about." Harry grimaced slightly, remembering one mediation he had conducted between two adjacent shop owners. "There are most of the fixed shops, though we also have smaller, independent vendors who set up outside under the canopy. Inside, we have newspaper and magazine publishers, jewelry shops, sweet shops, clothing shops, just about anything you might want if you lived here.

"On either side of every spoke tunnel is a kitchen. They are labeled 0L through 15R clockwise from the main ground-level entrance. Each one has all the same amenities, but they may choose to specialize in a particular type of food. We had tea at Kitchen 0R, where I usually choose to start my day. I understand that Kitchens 8L and 8R tend to specialize in goblin preferred fare since that is the tunnel that leads to where most of them work. Each kitchen has seating on the main cavern floor for at least 1,000 diners, which means, if we had to, we could accommodate 32,000 meals all at once. A good thing, since this Weyr, unlike any other Weyr on Pern or Earth is capable of housing over 28,000 dragons and riders and a similar number of non-riders."

Harry noticed Admiral Moore give a start of surprise at the number of inhabitants mentioned.

"Level 2 is entirely given over to the hospital. There are the two emergency rooms, ER#2 and ER#4 as well as operating theaters, patient accommodations, and housing for all medical staff not housed elsewhere.

"Level 3 has four sectors that were recently reassigned to be student housing only, but except for those sectors, everything from there up to Level 19 is reserved for dragons and their riders.

"Level 20 is our Admin Level where we have offices for everyone on my personal Staff as well as guest apartments. We also have a gymnasium that some fan of the old Star Trek series has labeled the "He's Dead Gym". If you like to run, you might try out the world's largest indoor track that takes the place of Ring 2 on other levels. Make sure you are in good shape, it is a circle approximately 6,600 feet in diameter.

"Now, Miss?" asked Harry.

"Miss Anne Garret," replied the young woman who had opened the Turbolift doors. "I am the Queen's Personal Assistant."

"Miss Garret, would you mind reaching up and pressing the 20 at the top of column 2?" Harry waited until the button was illuminated.

"The buttons in a circle to the right represent the Sectors of the Weyr. They are numbered from 0 at the very top incrementing in a clockwise direction up to 15. Since we are going to Sector 0, would you please press the 0?"

Anne pressed the zero which also lit up.

"Now," continued Harry, "there are a series of 4 buttons underneath that all have different actions. Please let me finish my explanation before we press any more. 'Open' will simply cancel any buttons already pressed and open the door so we can exit without continuing on. 'Exit' will cancel any buttons pressed and port you to the ground-floor entrance tunnel, not far from where the canopy ends. We felt this would be handy if someone wanted to get out of the Weyr in a hurry. 'Hospital' will again cancel any buttons pressed and take you to one of the four Emergency Rooms on a rotating basis. 'Port' will actually take you where you indicated you wanted to go if two buttons are lit." He didn't bother mentioning any of the disillusioned buttons they couldn't see that led to restricted parts of the Weyr.

"Why does it say 'port'?" asked Anne, timidly.

"It says 'Port'," said Harry, "because that is what happens. You will be magically transPORTed to your destination. Before I ask Miss Garret to press the 'Port' button, you might all wish to take as stable a stance as possible and don't lean on any walls."

Harry watched as some people slightly shifted their stance and others moved away from the walls. Once everyone was again still, Harry turned to Anne.

"Would you please press Port?"

Spath's Weyr, How to Train your Dragon … Apartment...
Instantly they were at their destination. Harry was pleased to see no one had suffered any ill effects or imbalance from the transition. To the startled Tour members, it appeared as if the entire wall with the door had just vanished leaving them facing the tunnel.

Harry let them stare for a moment and then spoke up. "We are now on Level 20. If you look into the stairwell across from us, you will notice it goes down but it doesn't go up." Harry waited while a few die-hards actually walked over to look.

"If you'll come this way, please," said Harry moving off to the left, past the Turbolift doors and towards the central cavern, "I would like to show you one of the two best views on the planet."

They walked up to the dragon ledge opening onto the central cavern at Level 20 and Harry wasn't surprised to see everyone holding well back from the edge.

"It's quite safe to come right up to the edge to look," said Harry, amused but understanding.

"Not all of us are Dragonriders, Mr. Potter," said Admiral Moore, disapprovingly. "We are more familiar with heights being dangerous."

"Joddy," called Harry.

"Yes, Harry," said Joddy, as he arrived at Harry's summons. Harry had noticed a distinct relaxation of address in the recent generation of house-elves. Something Hermione had also noticed and appreciated.

"Would you please jump off the edge here?" asked Harry. His question was followed by a gasp of horror and surprise as the Tour members realized what he had just asked this young elf to do.

"I'd really rather not," said Joddy.

"And why is that?" asked Harry. He noticed that he had everyone's attention now.

"Because it's embarrassing. It takes so long to reach the bottom it's no fun anymore!"

"You know, your response is exactly why I called on you instead of your father. Dobby would have just said 'Yes, Sir, Harry Potter, Sir' and jumped. Your reply has given our guests here something to think about. How hard is it to jump from the edge on any level?"

"Very hard, you must fight past the wards that are designed to keep people from jumping," explained the young elf. "It used to be fun. We could jump from here and be at the bottom in a few minutes. Now it takes 30 minutes … for each level!"

"OK, now that we have explained all that to our guests, I would appreciate it if you would do it anyway. Once they see how hard it is to get past the wards and terribly boring the trip down is, you may go back to what you were doing before I called you."

"Alright," said the disgusted elf. "I just hope none of my friends are watching."

"Just tell them I asked you to jump as a demonstration for the Lady Holder and her friends," said Harry. "None of them can say anything if The Weyrleader asked you to do it."

With that, Joddy ran as hard as he could for the edge. His audience, except for Harry, gasped in horror, but right at the lip of the ledge, he seemed to hit an invisible barrier. He continued to push as hard as he could against the resistance and slowly moved away from the safety of the solid floor. Once far enough that his feet no longer were on the floor, he simply acted like he was lying on an invisible bed in the middle of the air and looked extremely bored as he slowly sank towards the floor almost 6,000 feet below.

The first one to move right to the edge was Anne Garret. She was obviously braver than she had initially appeared. "It feels like a bedsheet, tightly stretched across the opening. I can push against it and push myself back from the edge, but I can clearly see through it!"

Not to be shown up by a mere slip of a girl, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, moved up to the edge and looked down. Her visage softened as she said, "It's beautiful!"

With that, the rest moved up and looked. Harry moved up as well and waved to Joddy, now well below floor level, "Thank you, Joddy, you have accomplished what I wanted. You can go now if you don't want to take the long way down."

With a pop, Joddy disappeared from below them, reappeared next to Harry, and said, "Thank you, Harry. You're right, my father would not have asked, he would have just acted. I hope the rest of your tour goes well." With that, he disappeared again.

"Now it's time to show you your apartments and how to get to them," continued Harry. "Obviously, the easiest and fastest way is to arrive on the back of your dragon. Barring that, you can come up here and simply walk along this ledge until you get to the apartment you have been assigned."

"But that ledge is barely four feet wide," complained Admiral Moore, "with one edge next to a sheer drop over a mile high!"

"Please don't forget the wards," replied Harry, calmly. "They are applied to all ledges at all levels of the Weyr. Sometimes people go wandering in the night and don't look before they take a step. We don't want there to be any accidental deaths in the Weyr."

Admiral Moore had the grace to look embarrassed as he remembered the young elf's recent demonstration.

"The apartment I am going to show you has never been finished. We are going to name it 'The Royal Suite' because it will be where Her Majesty will be staying. Right now, it is a base dragon apartment, consisting of a 50-foot cube for a dragon to sleep in with a 20-foot cube attached to the back for the dragon's rider. Again, right now, they are both bare. The dragon side doesn't even have the dragon bed installed.

"If you would please step back into my office, I have called for Lee Jordan, our Public Relations Officer and the man, before any other, who is responsible for our rediscovery of Pern. He will use my office computer and some special software he has been working with to create what we want to transform the dragon apartment into.

"The dragon side will not appear to be anything special. It will be larger or smaller depending upon how many dragons we think will need to sleep there. The rider side, however, will be transformed in a matter of hours into a fully functional guest suite of any size we desire." Harry looked at Admiral Moore, "And before you ask, we use magic to create the space and then house-elves use their magic to transform the room or rooms into something that is truly wonderful to live in."

As they stepped back into Harry's inner office, he escorted Queen Elizabeth over to a chair behind his desk so she could watch and make comments as Lee worked. Lee stood and bowed deeply to her, then sat after she did and proceeded to bring up his software. He showed her an image of a basic apartment, which they would see later. Then he showed her other apartments they had converted and asked her what features she thought would go well in a Royal Guest Suite if no space or expense were spared.

They eventually decided on a suite with four large double bedrooms each with their own bath/shower/jacuzzi. Each bedroom had copious closet space, desks, comfortable armchairs, small tables, and optional twin or double beds.

There was a large central sitting room with a large formal table to one side, suitable for private dining or for planning a war. There were large screens around the walls that could be set to various views either in the Weyr, outside the Weyr, or canned views from the Network.

While Lee was working with the Queen, members of Lee's department were talking with other members of the tour, getting their input on what additional suites should look like. Admiral Moore's ideas had a distinctly nautical appearance. Some of the tour members, realizing that huge suites could be created, opted to share a suite for convenience … and so they wouldn't have to walk so far along the ledge. In the end, only 12 dragon apartments were going to be required to house all 53 guests. The oddest creation Harry happened to see had eight bedrooms, four on the ground level and four reached by a staircase and balcony on a second level with a large almost ballroom sized common room with bookshelves along the two end walls and view screens along the third and inside the bedrooms.

Once Lee finished, which, surprisingly, didn't take long, Harry escorted them back past the Turbolift to the tunnel-side entrance to the rider apartment that was going to be converted. He allowed them to wander through, taking 'before' pictures and wondering about the deep pit where the dragon bed would be. Harry answered some of their questions but told them they would have to wait to see the finished product. He then asked them to all step outside and started casting the various required space-enhancing charms for the two rooms. The dragon bed was determined to be big enough for 4 dragons, so Harry did that first, as it would be the easiest.

Once he finished, he allowed more pictures, then he moved on to the rider side of the apartment. This was trickier since it was going to be a central room with four rooms around it. Since he knew most of the bedrooms would be constructed inside a larger space, he decided to simply create a space large enough to fit everything inside with room to spare for the extra infrastructure, like water pipes, power generator, and wiring. Once he finished that, he again allowed pictures, but all they saw were two large empty caverns.

"If anyone wishes to watch the construction, I must ask you to stay in the tunnel at all times. If you even stick your head inside the doorway, you might get hurt and you still wouldn't be able to see much more," said Harry, hoping no one really wanted to see a confusing mass of blurry figures building the room's features at high speed. He was right, no one took him up on the offer.

Spath's Weyr, Office Space and Other Revelations...
Harry led the group back through his Assistant's office with its comfortable waiting area into his inner office with its small conference room. After showing them the view from his window of the Central cavern, he took them through Cheki's private access tunnel through to his outer office so they could see his view of Pern from over a mile above the surface, right next to his private dragon ledge where Cheki could come and go as he pleased. Everything from one end to the other was more than large enough to allow any dragon passage,

He then took them through Jeofrey's outer office, which looked almost the same as his other office, and on into the Main Conference Room where Daniel was holding Dragon's Mast. They quietly watched as he successfully resolved his last mediation and dismissed those present.

As Daniel walked over to the group, Harry said, "Your Majesty, may I present my oldest son, Daniel James Potter. Daniel, this is Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and numerous other realms and territories."

Daniel took the Queen's hand and bowed over it slightly deeper than his father had and said, "It is a pleasure to finally meet the woman who was so instrumental in the founding of our great Nation."

"It is my pleasure to meet The Weyrleader's first son and heir apparent," replied the Queen formally. "I see you were having a meeting of some kind when we arrived."

"Yes, we have a Dragon's Mast at least once a week to hand out awards and mediate disputes that the principals don't wish to take to the courts. Since my father is involved in escorting your Majesty on this tour, I have been handling the Weyr's business so there will be no disruption in routine."

"But he's only a child!" blurted out the Lord High Admiral, indignantly.

"You forget, Admiral Moore," said Harry. "My son is not only a magical being, he is a mage, which is a power of magnitude more powerful than an average wizard. Once he reached puberty, his apparent age has not seemed to progress. On May 16 of this year, he turned 23. Though he looks barely 7, he already has a vast knowledge of Pern, Earth, and many subjects that even I have no knowledge of, since he usually studies on his own. Not only is his memory photographic, but he seems to use all dragons as an extension of his own brain, using thousands of dragons to help him craft some of the most unusual, yet satisfying mediation results. Being a mage, he will probably live at least well into 200 years of age and probably many more.

"How old do I look, Admiral?"

"You hardly look old enough to have children," said Admiral Moore. "If I had to guess I would say mid to late teens."

"I am 43," said Harry. "I was born in 1980 and am myself a mage. I fully expect to outlive everyone in this room except my son.

"Enough of that for now, if you don't mind. I brought you in here, so you could see a part of our planet before you went out in person." He gestured towards the window at the back of the huge Conference room and the group moved over to admire the planetary surface that could be seen from such a height.

"The colors seem a bit off," said Anne Garret. "Is this glass tinted?"

"No," replied Harry, "this glass is the finest, optically clear glass that can be created. The colors look off because the sun in this system emits light at a slightly different wavelength from the sun you are used to. Earth's sun emits a yellow-white light, Pern's sun emits a more greenish hue.

"While we wait for your accommodations to be completed, I thought we would take our first flight on a dragon and fly down to the main cavern floor and tour the gardens there."

Spath's Weyr, The (not so) Secret Garden...
Since everyone was already wearing their flight suits from earlier in the day, Harry and his assistants only had to help the newcomers learn how to mount and dismount a dragon. Some of the younger, more limber, tour members caught on right away. For the others, usually older men and women, including Admiral Moore, Harry finally arranged for the house-elves to create a rider lift they could use to lift a novice rider to the right height and distance to step across and sit astride a dragon's neck. Narth and the Queen were thoroughly amused by the entire situation.

Narth lay on the ground and the Queen managed to climb up on her dragon's leg and then to her recumbent neck. Once firmly in place, Narth carefully rose and they made their own way down to the gardens. Harry just watched with a smile and asked Cheki to let Tisky know her charge was on her way.

Finally, everyone else was mounted. "Dragons," Harry called to the 52 who bore the other tour members on their backs, "remember to use your telekinesis to make your normal initial jump into the air as smooth as possible. Your riders have never ridden a dragon before. We don't want them to have any accidents. Now, please make sure your sticking charm is engaged and let's go down to the gardens."

Every one of the new riders seemed to be having the time of their lives, including Admiral Moore. When they finally landed and everyone had been able to dismount, the Queen was nowhere in sight.

'Narth,' called Harry. 'Where are you?'

'We are by the lake in the center,' responded Narth. 'I can see some curious Mer near shore.'

'We will be there soon. If you would, let the Mer know I would like our guests to meet them if it's OK with the Mers.'

"OK, the Queen has already beat us to the lake. There is someone there I would like you all to meet, so let's just go right there. If anyone has questions about the gardens, I will be happy to talk about them later or you could ask your assigned house-elf. They helped plant much of the plants you see here. If you look up, above the treetops, you might be able to see Grawp, a young giant, who is living with us. If he approaches, please stay calm. He is a very caring person, but a little simple. He wears one of our smaller dragons as a necklace and the dragon helps to keep him from doing anything accidentally that might harm anyone else."

At this disturbing piece of news, there were a lot of wide-eyed looks at the forest they were approaching, but it had the desired effect of keeping everyone together and as close to him as they possibly could. Harry just smiled. He knew Hagrid and Grawp were out by the beach fishing together right now.

When they finally passed through the gardens and the forest to the lake in the center of the cavern, Queen Elizabeth was idly watching what she thought were large fish swimming in the deeper water a short distance from the rocky shallows.

"Elizabeth," Harry greeted her, familiarly. "I see you have found one of our other intelligent species."

She looked at him startled, "I have?"

"Yes," replied Harry. "See those shapes swimming in the deeper water? Those are visiting Mer. Usually, they only visit if they need medical attention or if there is a special meeting where they feel they need a closer representative in the Weyr. I don't know why these are here, but Narth tells me they are willing to meet some new friends."

Harry turned to the rest of the group and said, "You are all wearing your flight suits. It may not seem possible, but they are air-tight, therefore waterproof once the gloves and helmets are sealed properly. You can see from the shore here that there appears to be a shallow ledge under the water leading to deeper water. That's exactly what it is, a ledge over a portion of the lake allowing us to get into the water and swim if we wish.

"Mers used to be quite violent on Earth because everyone who met them immediately tried to hurt them. Here, they know we treat them as equals. The ones in this lake have agreed to meet us as friends. I must ask for a very limited part of your group to enter the water with me to meet them. There are only 5 Mers and I wouldn't want them to feel we are ganging up on them. They are very fast and graceful in the water, but, much weaker than humans since they have never had to fight gravity like we do. If you reach out and they touch you, please do not grasp them as you would another human when shaking hands. Just hold your hand out and allow them to touch your hand when they feel safe enough.

"I will take groups of 5 at a time for anyone wishing to meet them. If they get tired, we may have to terminate our visit. This is, after all, their home-away-from-home, and we are the interlopers here. Later in the week, we will be visiting the Mer village near the center of our inland sea. Those who do not get a chance to meet with Mers today may get a chance later."

Harry made sure each group joining him in the water had their gloves and helmets sealed properly, He showed everyone how to switch on their external speakers so they could talk with the Mers, and he then slowly escorted them, five at a time into the deeper water. After three groups, he called a halt to the excursion, as the Mers told him they were getting tired. One of them, a young child, was here to have an infection from a bloodfish bite cured and was still recovering.

Everyone who met the Mers were enchanted and the Mers had an opportunity to meet humans who treated them as equals. Harry was pleased.

Spath's Weyr, Home is Where...
After spending about 2 hours in the gardens, answering all kinds of questions and having to ask others to join them to answer even more, Harry asked if they would like to see the new guest suites.

"I know it's been less than 3 hours but, Kinny, the head of our construction crew has let me know they are finished," announced Harry. "I think you will be amazed at what they have accomplished. Let's use our dragons to get back up to Level 20."

After everyone was mounted, Harry gave the signal, and all 54 dragons rose from the floor of the cavern in tight formation, arriving at land in the Level 20 spoke tunnel to discharge their passengers. Once everyone had dismounted, one way or another, Harry took them over to The Royal Suite and ushered them through the now ornate door with a gold plaque that declared this to be the entrance to "The Royal Suite".

Everyone was amazed at the wonderfully outfitted rooms, tastefully decorated with the finest fabrics, woods, and metals. If they hadn't seen it before, they would have assumed it had been just this way for centuries, well and lovingly cared for during all that time. The Queen looked into the dragon side and found Narth with three of her friends already comfortably ensconced on the warm sands of the dragon bed. After more pictures, Harry called the house-elves to escort their guests to their own apartments.

Before they separated, he said, "You have about an hour to relax and refresh yourselves. If you would like, I will meet you back at Kitchen 0R for the evening meal or, if you prefer, you can request your assigned house-elf to bring you something to eat in your rooms. Be warned, there is usually a larger selection in the Kitchen than you will find if you eat in your rooms and you won't have a chance to meet some of our other residents. All our meals, unless we make special arrangements, are served cafeteria-style, so you can come, get what you want, sit where you like, and eat at your leisure.

"I look forward to seeing you in about an hour. By the way, flight suits are a perfectly appropriate mode of dinner dress!"

Spath's Weyr, The Royal Tour, Day 2, Nov 20, 2029...
The first day on dragon back...
Everyone had been in high spirits this morning at breakfast. Everyone, from the Queen down to the least of her entourage, said how relaxing their tour had been so far. No formal dinners, no inspections, no expectations, just friendly, helpful people, interested in showing their Monarch how they had prospered in their new home. Even Admiral Moore had mellowed after he'd gotten over his shock at learning about magic and other intelligent species. They were now preparing to start their second day after a relaxing night in their new quarters.

"I have asked members of my Staff to join us today," began Harry. "That way, there will be many more available for you to ask questions of and I won't be so embarrassed when I don't have the answer for you! Those of you who are still having trouble mounting your dragon, please make friends with one or more of the magical members with us today. They will be able to levitate you gently up onto your dragon with no problem.

"Today we are going to join up with our dragons outside. You have already experienced our Turbolift. Dragons have a mode of long-distance travel which is similar. It's called 'going Between' and, no matter the distance, it takes 2.6 seconds. Yes, Admiral, 2.6 seconds from here to Earth. Many scientists on Earth are still puzzled by that fact and are trying to develop experiments that will explain it. We just use it.

"Having said that, I don't want your first experience of going Between to be leaving from inside Spath's Weyr to going outside. Since your helmet will be closed, you will be able to breathe and your suit is impervious to the cold for the short time you will be exposed, but it can still be a bit unnerving for those new to the phenomena. By the end of the day, you will be intimately familiar with the process."

They all made their way out of the Weyr and out from under the canopy to where their dragons waited for them, along with the Wing of additional Dragonriders. Since there were only 53 guests and Hermione would be flying with Harry, they only needed 53 additional riders to fly second to the guests' lead. That left seven extra dragons and riders to fly airborne cover and help watch for any possible problems.

"OK, if anyone has any trouble getting a full seal indication on their suit," said Harry, "please let your wing second know so they can take care of it for you. Your wing second will be the dragon and rider behind your assigned dragon." Harry waited until everyone had sealed their suits and then continued.

"If you can hear me over your suit transceiver, please raise your hand." Harry was pleased that only one hand was not raised and the Wing Second moved right in to fix the problem. After trying again and getting a 100% response this time, Harry moved on to the next check.

'Everyone who can hear me in their mind, please raise your hands.' Harry watched as his message was transferred from dragon to rider and everyone raised their hands.

'Your dragon will be paying close attention to you all the time you are with it. All you need do is talk to him or her and they can transfer messages for you. Let's all mount our dragons now and get airborne.' Harry mounted his dragon and waited until the last of the guests were levitated up to their dragons. Once everyone was seated firmly in place and the sticking charms activated, Harry pumped his arm and all 122 dragons and riders rose into the air in unison.

As the Wing rose ever higher in a corkscrew pattern, Harry again addressed his guests, 'If you will look towards our Weyr, you will see we are approaching its summit. Soon you will see the observatory we have placed on top. This is a remote-controlled observatory because the air is too thin up here to allow for any extended observation time and survival. This is the first external structure we added to Spath's Weyr and we used it to search for and plot the orbits of everything in this solar system, including the "Red Star", which brings the thread.' Harry decided to switch to the built-in radio for the rest of the flight after a couple of dragons told him their new riders were having problems with his 'mind speech'.

"We are now over 13,000 feet above sea level and, if you weren't wearing your flight suit, you would pass out in minutes. If you look down, you can get a good view of the observatory before we go Between for the first time. Remember, it only takes 2.6 seconds to get anywhere we want to go." Harry initiated a straight flight towards Nutan's Weyr and then said, "If you look in the distance, you can see the typical conical mountain formed by an erupting volcano. That mountain is no longer active, but it is still higher than the mountain Spath's Weyr is carved into. Everyone keep watching the mountain and in a moment the sky will go black and in 2.6 seconds we will be right over the mountain almost ready to fly to the opposite side." As Harry said this, he gave the command to jump Between and they were there.

As they crested the caldera, Harry continued his commentary, "You can see, a long time ago the main caldera blew out on this side. At some time later, three new volcanoes formed in the ruin. When we arrived, the central peak was still active enough that it was spewing smoke and the odd bits of lava would leak down the remaining mountainside.

"When Nutan explored the mountain hoping to create a new Weyr here, he discovered far more than he could have hoped for. Below, at the base of the old mountain, you will see where we are carefully excavating the remains of what appears to be the original Pern colonist landing site. Our goblin allies have ensured none of these volcanoes will erupt for thousands of years, if at all, making it possible for Nutan to create his Weyr in the original caldera sides, low enough that the air is breathable and close enough to act as a base for our archeological teams as they dig into Pern's past.

"We are not going to stop here, because there is really nothing of note to see yet. I did want you to see it, though, so you could get an idea of the scope of what we are doing here. If you look high on the horizon, you will see what appears to be a bright light. In fact, it is the reflection of sunlight on what we call 'The Dawn sisters', the three original colony ships that brought the colonists to this planet. We don't plan on exploring them until after thread fall has finished. Right now, we aren't exactly sure how long that will be."

Condron Sea Weyr Rest Break...
"Our next jump between will take us to Condron Sea Weyr. Right now, we are facing in a roughly easterly direction. When we come out over the Sea of Azov, we will be facing west and you will see the largest inland sea on all of Pern." Harry gave the command and 2.6 seconds later, they were looking at a vast sheet of water.

"The inland sea below you is over 400 miles wide at its widest point and is the new home for our Mer people. They have allowed Condron Sea Weyr to keep a large pontoon raft anchored near where their Village is located, to expedite visits when desired. We will go there after we have had a quick visit at Condron Sea Weyr."

As Harry had been talking to his guests, the dragons had been swiftly spiraling down to the Weyr on a point of land sticking out into the inland sea. As they landed, a large, barrel-chested, older man approached them.

"Harry!" exclaimed Skip Taylor, heartily. "I see you've brought us visitors. Since I understand they are on a timetable, we have a light tea set up in the Weyr and will not keep you longer than necessary. You know, you really irritate me sometimes!"

"Why is that, Skip?" asked Harry, unsure what was coming as he shook hands with his old friend.

"You don't look much older than you did when we first impressed our dragons back in early 1995. I, on the other hand, have grey temples! My wife now, she looks as beautiful as the day she bewitched me into marrying her."

"Your Majesty, may I present Frank Taylor, better known to those of us who know him as Skip, and his wife Katherine Taylor," said Harry, belatedly remembering who his guests were. "Skip, Kat, it is my pleasure to introduce Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and numerous other realms and territories."

Skip and Kat greeted the Queen as between similar world leaders and led their guests down into the Weyr for their refreshments and a chance to rest before continuing their tour. As they left the roof, Admiral Moore approached Harry, obviously confused about something.

"Yes, Admiral?" asked Harry, politely.

"That man that greeted us looks old enough to be your father, yet he intimated that you were compatriots. How can that be?"

"Well, let's see. Skip is one year older than I, so that makes him 50 and I'm 49, so we are fairly close in age."

"But he looks so much older than you!"

"Remember what I told you earlier about the average life spans of wizards? It is also our curse. While we live longer, we also have the 'opportunity' to watch most of our friends die before us. Skip is not magical, so his average human lifespan of 100 years was increased by about 20 years when he bonded with his dragon. Since his wife is a witch, and they performed a bonding ceremony, her life was shortened by about 10 years to extend Skips by a like manner, so he now has a maximum life expectancy of about 130 years and will show his age at the rate of about seven years of apparent age for every eight years of actual age.

"I, on the other hand, have a minimum life expectancy of 200 years, which was extended when I married a witch and seem to be showing my age at the rate of approximately one year of apparent age increase for every three years of actual increase. I will have the distinct 'pleasure' of watching two people I have come to trust and love wither and die and there is nothing I can do about it. Does that adequately answer your question?" Harry didn't bother to mention his non-magical wife and the three dragons he was bonded with as well.

"Yes, ah, thank you, Weyrleader. I apologize for being so indelicate."

"It's alright, Admiral," said Harry, sadly. "It's just one of the burdens I have been trying to come to terms with as this role has taken over my life. I apologize to you for reacting so badly. It is a valid question, it just doesn't make it any easier for me."

Harry and Admiral Moore followed the others downstairs, the Admiral mulling over this new piece of intelligence he had finally realized was true and Harry sadly trying to remember some of the good things in his life.

'It will be OK, Harry,' said Chekiath, sensing his distress. 'We will find a way to make things right.'

'Thank you, mate,' replied Harry, knowing that Cheki didn't really understand the long view. He did, and in later years it was going to get really lonely. For Cheki's sake, he hoped he would be able to 'keep it together'.

Mer Town...
"The pontoon raft isn't big enough for all of us and our dragons, so only a few of us will land at a time and then our dragons will go aloft again so others can join us," explained Harry. "Once we land and dismount, we need to move down to the lower level to make more room for the others."

The dragons came down in groups of 10 and it didn't take long for the entire tour group and their wingmen to gather on the lower deck of the raft.

"I am going to attach tethers to all our guests so you are all attached to me. Your flight suits are proof against anything in the sea, but it might be a bit disconcerting if something were to come up and try to swallow you. Your wingmen will be guarding our group against any incursions of unwanted sea life, but it never hurts to be careful.

"There is a lift in the center of this deck that will lower us so we are completely underwater. Once down, we will swim on down to the bottom to meet with the Merchieftainess and take a short tour of her village. From what I understand, they now have positive control of most of the Sea of Azov, so our visit should be fairly trouble-free. Please remember what I said yesterday about greeting Merpeople. They do not have your strength and can easily be hurt. Please be careful."

After they were all in the water, Harry and the other magical tour guides, transfigured their boots to include fins, Their gloves had automatically extended a skin between the fingers when they got wet. Now at least it would be easier to swim.

A short time later, they were all approaching Mer Town. As they swam over a slight rise, they could see a lighted area in front of them. The Mers used their own magic to light their town and the different colored lights twinkled in the water giving their town a magical appearance. As they drew nearer, the wingmen stayed back so as not to seem to threaten their hosts. Half of them even faced out from the Town to watch the surrounding waters for possible danger while a few swam higher and adjusted their buoyancy to stay at the same level in the water, so they could guard a different sector.

The tether joining Harry's guests was plainly visible to the Mers, so they could see the larger concentration was no threat to them and they relaxed from their initial tense stance. Harry had Queen Elizabeth attached nearest to him, so he slowly approached Murkas to introduce the Queen.

"Just treat her with respect," said Harry, privately to the Queen. "They have no special ceremonies or rituals. Remember, they may look strange, but they are just as intelligent as we are."

Queen Elizabeth found herself looking at a very strange vision. From the waist up the Mer facing her was quite evidently female. She had grayish skin, long, wild, dark green hair, large, wide-set yellow eyes, and yellow, sharply pointed teeth. Below the waist, she appeared quite fish-like with scaly skin and long, feathery fins. She appeared to be quite slender seven feet long from the top of her head to the end of her tail.

"Murkas, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Elizabeth, Lady Holder of a vast area of Earth's surface. She is the ruler over vast numbers of surface dwellers. Elizabeth, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Murkas, Merchieftainess of the Sea of Azov and its vast wealth and multitude of life."

"It is our pleasure to meet with Elizabeth," said Murkas, in a croaky, but easily understandable voice. "Harry has told us tales of your country and the help you have given him to free all intelligent species in your lands. You are welcome here."

"It is my pleasure to meet with you, Murkas," said Elizabeth, hesitantly, not sure if she would be heard. She didn't realize that Harry had made sure there would be no problems of that sort. "I am ashamed that I did not know of your plight earlier. The wizards of Earth had been lying to us for years. I am happy they are now, once more, under our firm control and will never again treat others as their property."

Harry settled back and just relaxed for a while as the two women exchanged pleasantries. Soon, they would swim, side by side with Mers, through the village looking at the external surfaces of the artificial grottos the Mers had created to live in here in their new home. He allowed half his mind to keep an alert watch over the Mers and his guests while the other half worried at the problem of the growing visible age differences between different riders. He knew his guests were safe against anything that could come their way while under the surface, he was more concerned none of the Mers were hurt or insulted.

He turned his attention to the Queen's entourage as they watched in awe as their Monarch interacted with another Head of State the like of which they had never seen before. Harry examined each of them as carefully as he could looking for anything that would let him know if they were going to cause any trouble and hoping he did not find it because it wasn't there.

'I don't sense anything wrong, if that helps, Harry,' said Cheki. 'I can sense you are feeling tense. You should relax. We will be home soon enough and you can mate with your consorts.'

Harry smiled at Cheki and just shook his head. No matter how hard he tried, Cheki was always the same, trying to get Harry laid. He looked up and saw Hermione at the end of the line of tethered guests, smiling at him. She had probably heard what Cheki had said. He just hoped no one else had.

They were almost finished with the tour of Mer Town when disaster almost struck. A large grabber, easily 20 feet long, had suddenly appeared and tried to attack one of the Mers. Fortunately, Hermione was able to fire off a cutting hex that killed the fish before it could do much damage. The Mers immediately started butchering the large fish and storing it away for a future feast. Then, one of the older women in the group, who wasn't a very good swimmer, was startled by the attack. Her foot must have encountered some kind of obstruction when she wasn't paying attention because suddenly she started slowly falling towards the bottom. As she fell, she automatically reached out to stop her fall with her hands and almost impacted on one of the Mers accompanying them. She realized with horror what she had almost done and tried to retract her arms so she would not touch the Mer. That gave her companion enough time to move swiftly out of the way and then return and carefully place her dainty hands against the woman's, which gave her enough support to stop her fall. Evidently, Mers weren't as delicate as Harry had been led to believe.

When Harry apologized to Murkas for the near accident involving the woman later, Murkas had replied, "We all realize you humans are slow and clumsy underwater. We have learned to always keep an eye on you to stop you from hurting yourselves. If my Mer had been injured, I would have punished her, because it would have been her fault. But even having a great heavy human fall on her would have hurt nothing but her pride."

When the Queen overheard this discussion, she murmured something about a 'bull in a china shop' which Harry didn't understand but, as the Queen was amused, it couldn't be that bad. After the three leaders, Harry, Elizabeth, and Murkas had said their farewells at the end of the tour, Harry led them back up to the raft on the surface. Within an hour, they were all airborne and on their way back to Spath's Weyr.

Spath's Weyr, Kitchen 0R...
Harry had returned them all to Spath's Weyr in time for lunch. He had told them they had no scheduled activities until early tomorrow and suggested they should wander freely through the Level 1 shops and offices to get to know what the Weyr had to offer. He had told them they could ask the house-elf assigned to them if they needed help. All the shopkeepers knew to keep a running total of anything purchased so Harry could pay for it all later.

Now, he was just sitting enjoying his grilled cheese on toast with his tea while Hermione told May all about what had happened during the day.

Someone came up and sat down near Harry. He turned from listening to his wives and found, to his surprise, that it was Elizabeth.

She laughed at the startled expression on his face. "These suits are marvelously useful for getting away from unwanted escorts! I carefully took most of the badges off that identified me as a member of the Tour and suddenly I was indistinguishable from the rest of the riders in the Weyr."

Harry laughed at her excitement. "You do know you are probably causing undue distress to your security detail, don't you."

"They will survive. I wanted to thank you for providing this wonderful holiday for me. I know it's supposed to be a Royal Tour, but I have been enjoying myself so much I consider it a Royal Vacation. I was particularly pleased that Admiral Moore has become much more human. I don't know what you've said to him, but he seems a lot more thoughtful now."

"Perhaps it was learning that other species existed that were just as capable as his and they have found a safe place to flourish," suggested Harry.

"Perhaps," said the Queen, unconvinced. "Well, I have more exploring to do. I want to be able to shop on my own and interact with your residents without someone roughing them up first to make sure they don't have anything that can hurt me!"

"None of them are capable of hurting you," said Harry, "the Magically binding Equality Oath everyone took takes care of that. Besides, everyone carries a knife to fight tunnel snakes with." Harry reached into his belt pouch and pulled out an extra knife, sheath, and belt. "Here, this will make you a little less conspicuous." He then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen to write a quick note which he then handed to the Queen. "This will allow you to shop for whatever you want without having to worry about having galleons or even knowing what the rate of exchange might be."

The Queen looked at the note:

To whoever sees this note,

I, Harry Potter, offer the woman presenting this note full access to my accounts to purchase whatever she wishes. All purchases should be wrapped for maximum protection, marked with my name, and delivered to the main room of The Royal Suite, #201500-12.

This note is valid until Earth date: November 25, 2029

Thank you for your cooperation,

Harry Potter
The Weyrleader

Harry then handed her a familiar-looking plastic card. "This is my Gringotts bank card. Use the card and only use the note if they question it. One last thing, if they still question these two options, I am going to ask my fire lizard to accompany you. If you have any trouble, just look at him and tell him to come to find me." Harry woke the small brown fire lizard resting, hidden on the back of his neck. When it came around to his raised arm, Harry stared into his eyes and thought, 'Please go with the Lady Holder here. If she asks you, come get me.'

Sam looked at Harry intently for a while as Harry repeated his instructions a couple more times. Then the small brown fluttered over to the startled Elizabeth's shoulder and, curling around behind her neck, promptly went back to sleep. Elizabeth looked inquiringly at Harry.

"We think these are the precursors of our dragons but don't have any proof. While intelligent to a degree, they only 'talk' in mental images. They bond the same way as our dragons, but do not die when their bonded partner dies, they just go live in the wild. His name is Sam and he is very affectionate if you rub his eye ridges gently after he wakes from his nap. Some of their non-rider partners use them to send simple written messages to people they both know."

"Yes, I know all about that from the fire lizard you gifted me two years ago. I was just impressed that you were able to give him such precise commands," said Elizabeth, as she rose and strapped the knife Harry had given her to her waist. "I asked Philip to stay behind. I wasn't sure how well he would fit in, being raised on Earth. I feel almost like a resident now."

"Philip?" asked Harry.

"The brown fire lizard that hatched out of the egg you brought to me at Balmoral Castle," replied the Queen. "He seemed sad to see me go, but settled down as I was leaving."

"Really," said Harry, with a knowing smile. "Did you know that all fire lizards are shown how to get to Pern on their own, as they must supplement their diet with meat from Pern or they get sick? Philip would have fit in just fine here."

"Oh, dear," muttered Elizabeth. "I would have loved for him to be with me too."

"Perhaps he's closer than you think," said Harry. "Think about him for a moment and specifically what he looks like and how he acts when around you. Cheki, would you get the image of Elizabeth's fire lizard and ask everyone if they have seen him? If they can find him, ask him to join us here."

After a few minutes, another brown fire lizard suddenly appeared and started squawking at Sam for being on his person. Sam lazily raised his head and returned to Harry with a quite disgusted look, as if saying, "Make up your mind, will you!"

Elizabeth was quite pleased to have her small friend with her again, "Where was he?"

"Evidently, he was in your room. Your scent comforted him since he was forbidden to be near you."

"Oh, Philip, I'm so sorry," said Elizabeth to her tiny friend. "You may always stay with me from now on."

"Philip," called Harry, to attract the fire lizard's attention. 'If she asks you, come get me.' He had to repeat it several times but finally got the impression from Philip that he understood.

"He will come to get me now if you think strongly of me. Just please stay out of any small dark areas," pleaded Harry. "Those knives are meant for defense against tunnel snakes. While the suit you are wearing is proof against their attack, they can climb very fast and might try to attack your unprotected face or hands. Philip will do his best to protect you, but if it's a large tunnel snake, he may not be able to kill it until it's done some damage of its own."

"I don't plan on going anywhere so adventurous," said Elizabeth. "I plan on visiting the woman who invited me here to visit."

"Ah, you mean Tegan's grandmother. She has taken over the job of Weyr Fostering Mistress. Are you familiar yet with the addressing scheme we use in the Weyr?"

"Yes, somewhat," said Elizabeth, not as sure as she normally was.

"The Fosterling Barracks is located at #010602-13, said Harry. "If you like, I can ask 'your' house-elf to take you there. It would be a lot quicker and safer than having you getting lost."

"I think that would be acceptable," agreed the Queen.

"Tisky," called Harry, and the small female house-elf appeared instantly.

"Yes, Harry Potter," said the diminutive house-elf.

"Tisky, the Queen would like to visit with someone in the Weyr and we were hoping you wouldn't mind taking her to them."

"Of course, Harry Potter. Who does she wish to visit?"

"Our Weyr Fostering Mistress, Tegan Andrea Ross. I think she may be in the Fostering Barracks, but am not sure. Would you see if you can find her and come back for our guest?"

"Yes, Harry Potter," said Tisky as she popped out of sight. Harry and the Queen discussed some of the proposed visits of the next few days while they waited. Within a few minutes, Tisky returned. "She is eating lunch at Kitchen 6L. Would Elizabeth like to go now?"

Elizabeth stood and said, "Thank you again, Harry. Yes, Tisky, I would very much like to go now, thank you."

Tisky blushed at being so politely addressed, took the Queen's hand, and they popped out of sight.

Harry looked up to see Hermione and May looking at him sternly. "You are going to get into sooo much trouble with her security detail," said Hermione. "They must be frantic by now."

"Then I guess you should contact them and let them know she is safe as long as she is inside the Weyr and I will personally ensure she is unable to leave without them going with her," said Harry.

Hermione looked like she was going to rebel for a minute and then relaxed, realizing Harry was asking her to help, not pass the responsibility. She nodded and called to her dragon, 'Comaloth, would you please contact the dragons assigned to Queen Elizabeth's security detail and ask them to pass on Harry's message. Tell them where we are if they have any further questions."

Harry hurriedly started to get up to leave but stopped when Hermione cast a sticking charm on the chair he was sitting in, "Oh no you don't. You can talk to them now or you can talk to them later, but talk to them you will. I passed on the message, but I'm not qualified in diplomacy like you are,"

Harry sighed, caught in his own trap. Hermione would always help him if he truly needed it but she had never allowed him to duck his responsibilities. That was one of the many things he loved about her, she cared so much for him that she would always do what was in his best interests.

Several minutes later, eleven large men walked up to their table. As they approached, Harry wandlessly canceled Hermione's charm and stood to meet them. He was amused to see how startled Hermione was at how easily he got out of her charm. After the Pern Mother had awoken, his magical core had started growing again. He hoped it would stop soon or he was going to live for a lot longer than he cared to think about.

"What have you done with The Queen!" demanded one of the men accusingly, apparently the leader of the group.

"I haven't done anything with her," said Harry, calmly, "and it might be a good idea if you moderate your tone with the leader of another nation if you don't want to be accused of starting a war."

The man paled and looked startled at Harry's response. He was evidently used to having others quake in their shoes and immediately give in to his demands.

"I am Major Bradley Clarke and am the ranking officer in charge of Her Majesty's security detail. We were informed that you knew where she was. We need to find her as soon as possible."

"Actually, that is not what you were informed of," said Harry, carefully. "You were informed that she is inside the Weyr, no harm will come to her as long as she is inside, and she would be unable to leave without you going with her.

"She has decided, on her own with no prompting from me, that she wants a little alone time. As one world leader to another, I have decided to allow her the time she desires. I can understand your unease at your charge being out of touch, however. She doesn't realize it, but she has a spy following her very closely."

"A spy!" exclaimed Major Clarke, almost hysterically. "How could you allow someone like that to get near her!"

"Calm down, Major. The 'spy' is her fire lizard. Any of our dragons can instantly tell you exactly where she is, anywhere in the world. Koloth, would you please tell these gentlemen where The Queen is located?"

'She is having a pleasant lunch outside one of our kitchens. She is having a most interesting conversation with one of the Weyr's inhabitants.'

"Thank you, Koloth," said Harry aloud. He had requested privately that he give no exact details that would lead these men to her unless their presence was required to protect the Queen. "Now, gentlemen, you know your Queen is safe, and you know how you can find out more information. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"That information is so ambiguous as to be useless!" exclaimed Major Clarke. "How are we to do our jobs properly if we do not even know exactly where she is!?"

"May I make a suggestion?" asked Harry, as calmly as he could.

"Of course," responded Major Clarke, hesitantly. This person was not like anyone he had ever had to deal with in the past. He appeared to be in his mid-teens, but he knew from their earlier trips that he was the leader of the entire Dragon Nation. It was hard for him to reconcile those two facts.

Harry, almost as if he could read the Major's mind, took pity on the thoroughly scared man. "Major, I know I look young to you, but I'm almost 50 years old. On top of that, I have literally tens of thousands of dragons I can call on for help with anything from asking an opinion to destroying an entire country. Believe me when I say, that matures a person quickly.

"My suggestion is to assign one of your group to actually sit with his assigned dragon and just get to know him. They can sit on the dragon ledge on Level 20 and the dragon will know instantly if the Queen needs your help. The one 'on-duty' can go immediately and your other assigned dragons can alert you to the problem and you can all be following the first within seconds. Your first teammate will be with the Queen in less than 5 seconds and the rest of you not be far behind. If you want to be even faster to respond, your on-duty watch could actually sit on their dragon. It won't bother the dragon and they would be able to get airborne that much faster."

"But …," started the Major, belligerently.

"Major," interrupted Harry, with an icy stare, "I will not tell you exactly where the Queen is any closer than I have already done. If you are not happy with your Queen for what she has done, I suggest you take it up with her when she returns. I have a feeling you won't have any better luck with her than you have had with me.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can try to all attack me. I know I can easily take all of you down without raising a sweat. Even if I were not, I think it might be advisable for you to notice that every dragon in the Weyr is currently trying to decide if they will be the one to drag you away from their Weyrleader and just how much damage they can get away with doing to you when they do."

Major Clarke looked up nervously to find at least three dragons within instant reach of their position, all looking hungrily, directly at him and his men. He instantly decided that a tactical retreat might be the safest course of action at this point.

"I apologize, Weyrleader," said Major Clarke, placatingly. "I am just not used to the situation here and am exceedingly nervous about our charge not being within sight."

"Then perhaps you could work up some drills in coordination with your dragons to ease your mind. Practice to find out just how fast you can respond when a dragon is involved. Call unannounced emergency response drills in the middle of the night if you have to. Remember how fast over 2,400 dragons disappeared on your first day here? Surely eleven of them can be ready well before you and your men are."

"Thank you, Weyrleader, I think that sounds like a good idea." Harry could tell the Major wasn't happy as he and his men left, but he wasn't the one who had left them behind.

"Weren't you a little hard on them?" asked May.

"No harder than they needed," said Harry. "They need to learn that you don't demand things from a world leader, even if he isn't able to control dragons. I'm tired of people thinking they can push me around just because they think it's their right. It would be nice for once if someone approached me as a person rather than as someone they can push around to get what they want. Suddenly I'm feeling tired. I think I want to take a quick nap."

May looked at Hermione and got a nod back. They both followed Harry to see if they could help him get over his frustration. Their dragons could monitor the situation for them for a little while without them having to be down here.

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