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

23. Chapter 23: Hello and Goodbye

Chapter 23: Hello and Goodbye
Benden Weyr, Jan 2, 2035...
Cifan was running at a full gallop. Icepaw clung to his back on the thick pad The Weyrleader had suggested they use. It had taken the two unusual friends a while to get used to the device, but now, with Icepaw's help, Cifan was able to actually get into and out of it easily enough. This was a lot more comfortable than having Icepaw dig his claws into Cifan's back to keep from falling off.

It had taken longer for Icepaw to become comfortable riding on it, but they both felt the extra height would allow Icepaw to see further and, therefore, let them cover a larger area faster. At first, while Icepaw had been growing accustomed to riding on a Centaur's back, Cifan had walked. Now, as long as he made no sudden, unexpected moves, Icepaw was much more confident in his perch.

They had requested, and been granted, a delay of four weeks before information about the next artifact being somewhere near or in Benden Weyr was released. The first week, they had startled many of the Weyr's inhabitants simply because centaurs and cheetahs were not a common sight, much less seeing the two of them often together. They had searched every public area they could think of and gain access to without telling why they needed to search. Usually, it was enough for them to say they were 'Seekers' and people would leave them alone.

Now, on the first day of their third week of searching, they had covered almost all the area outside the old volcano as well. They had started at the outer gates on the west side of the volcano holding Benden Weyr and had worked their way methodically around the outside in a clockwise direction out to about two miles all the way. Now they were approaching the huge old lava flow on the western side again but from the south side.

"You realize, Icepaw, if we don't find anything by the time we get back to the Outer gate, we have run out of places to search, don't you?" asked Cifan.

'Yes, I know,' replied Icepaw, dejectedly. 'Surely it wouldn't be somewhere we haven't been allowed to go!'

"I hope not, or that doesn't bode well for finding any other artifacts."

Suddenly Icepaw tensed and yelled, 'There. Up against the mountain, right next to where the lava flow starts!'

Cifan looked, but couldn't see anything, but turned towards the indicated location anyway. As they got closer, Cifan slowed so he wouldn't overshoot. He needn't have bothered. The artifact was right up against a solid rock cliff in the volcano. It looked like a piece of the mountain had broken off and collapsed millennia ago and the artifact was hard up against the rock wall.

'If we had only gone the other way when we started, we would have found this so much sooner!' exclaimed Icepaw.

"Or we might not have seen it at all," commented Cifan. "Look how it's tucked down at the bottom of the cliff, right next to the old lava flow. It would have been easy to miss coming this way."

'I suppose you're right. Now we know where it is, I guess we'd better get the other Finders here. What does that look like?'

Even though he was touching it, he had no clue what it was supposed to be. It looked almost like a cracked, upside-down bowl. As soon as Icepaw jumped down, Cifan hurried over to the Weyr to find a dragon to relay a message for them.

When the rest of the Finders arrived and had joined in fixing this one in place, they all puzzled over what it was supposed to be. What was obvious was that, again, the tiny fleck of light indicating an artifact location was again in the northern hemisphere, but considerably closer to the equator.

'It looks like a jump image,' said Chekiath.

"A jump image for where?" asked Remus.

"Red Butte!" exclaimed all the Dragonriders and dragons present.

"The only species who haven't found an artifact yet are goblins," said Harry. "This could be a real nightmare. Goblins hate bright places and that's about as dry and bright as it gets on this planet. I suppose I'd better go meet with Ragnok at Gringotts Pern."

Red Butte Weyr, Apr 23, 2035...
Fotnog hated being outside. At least the other, more senior miners, in his group got to search the crevasses, so the fact they were above ground wasn't as apparent. He was on the actual dome of the Butte, slowly working his way upward in a circular search pattern from the circular drainage valley where the entrance to Red Butte Hold was located all the way to the top. At least they gave him this neat suit. It kept him the right temperature, no matter what it was outside and the helmet visor was dark enough that the light above ground didn't bother him. As long as he kept his eyes down, he should be OK. Sometimes it really sucked to be the most junior goblin in a group. No one else wanted to search up here.

He halfway listened to the joking and grumbling going on between the other goblins searching the lower slopes of the Butte. That was another good thing about these suits, not only did they make him much more comfortable, he could talk to everyone else, even from a great distance. He wondered if Ragnok would get some for when they were working on large projects.

At first, he didn't realize he was seeing anything, there was just a kind of flickering shadow in the corner of his eye. He was so high up on the dome, he dared not look at it or he would be looking across the top of the dome right at the open sky!

Finally, when he had dutifully completed his complete search pattern, there it was at the highest point of the dome. It wasn't bright like he'd heard the others were, though. This was more like a shadow until he took his glove off and actually touched it. Then it jumped into full visibility as a comfortingly jet black object. This had to be what they were looking for, so he called his find in. Soon he was joined by the Finders.

"Good work, Fotnog, I know you must hate the open air above ground," said Harry as he walked up. Once he placed his hands on the object, however, he immediately said, "I know where the last artifact is and have a feeling I know who is behind them all."

The artifact looked like a tree growing on top of a tall, sheer-sided hill.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, Oct 9, 2035...
Harry looked up from the report from Earth with a feeling of relief and despair. He had just learned that Gordon Chapman had died from self-inflicted wounds when he tried to escape by jumping from a fourth-floor office window in the hospital he was interned in.

He felt relief that he no longer had to worry about the man who had attacked him and that the man would no longer be suffering. If he were honest with himself, it would probably be in that order too.

He felt despair because he still felt he should have known something more was wrong. If he had acted sooner, with more compassion, both Chapman and Kirteth might still be alive and a productive part of their community. Again, if he were honest with himself, the loss of a dragon hurt more than the loss of this particular rider. He had to work harder to find alternate anchors to keep bereaved dragons from jumping between.

Hermione and May both arrived shortly after Cheki let them know how Harry was feeling and dragged him over to the sofa in the meeting area. There they sat with him in the middle and just held him and let him know, in no uncertain terms, they loved him and that, no, he wasn't a terrible person.

HMP Erlestoke, November 10, 2035...
Nylah Harper, Snape's Internet 'friend' was now 18. Her daughter, Paige, was 4 and had never met her grandparents. At Snape's urging, she had gone back to school and was almost ready to graduate. By this coming summer, she should have finished her twelfth year of school just in time to enroll Paige in her first. With tutors provided by Snape, she had gotten really high marks on all her SAT, GCSE, and AS-level exams and was now, surprising to her, on the fast track to college. Snape had no idea where all this was going, but, while he had excess funds, he didn't mind investing in something, even if it was speculative, that might help him in the future.

He still had to maintain his physical conditioning, as there always seemed to be some idiot, like Otto Monsooni, who was out to get him for one reason or another. Usually, any who tried, except Otto, only tried once. Snape hadn't had to actually kill anyone since he'd been imprisoned, but he had been instrumental in causing quite a few extended infirmary stays for the more aggressive of those foolish enough to attack him. As for Otto, he was becoming more of a nuisance than a real threat.

Fortunately for Snape's peace of mind, none of the rest of the prison population knew him enough to wonder at the ever-growing apparent disparity between his age and Otto's. When he had arrived, he had appeared older than Otto. Now it was the other way around, by quite a margin.

His Internet activities were almost running themselves now. He was still the go-to man if anyone, prisoner or guard, wanted to make some money investing through the Internet. Because of his knowledge, most of the older prisoners did their best to intercede on his behalf with the more belligerent new inmates. Snape didn't care one way or the other at this point. If someone bothered him enough, he would react and then they didn't bother him again.

Benden Weyr Hatching Grounds, Nov 25, 2035...
Around the end of October, Benden had a mating flight consisting of only Pern-standard dragons. Harry had agreed to the older riders' request and ordered all Earth-standard dragons to the Southern Continent until the mating flight had completed. Now, the resulting eggs were ready to hatch. This month marked the 81st Earth dragon hatching since Chekiath was hatched back in February 1995.

Every one of the old Pern Gold dragons had risen and were now, three days after the Spath's Weyr hatching, watchfully tending their eggs in an unprecedented show of solidarity. From the original six Pern Weyrs, there were seven Queens mature enough to clutch. Juni, the Benden Weyrwoman, had gone to the Southern continent with her friend Enith when Harry had made the recall. Now there were 245 Pern eggs hardening on the hot sands.

Harry watched with interest as over three times as many prospective riders as there were eggs squeezed into the Benden Hatching Grounds. The Pern Queen dragons had learned to live together, mainly by watching and talking to the Earth dragon Queens and had carefully scheduled their mating flights so no more than one rose on any given day. They still found it odd that all Earth-standard female dragons, including Greens, could, and did, lay eggs that hatched into just as many types of dragons as did a Gold's eggs. Harry wondered what would happen when they got close to the optimum number he had calculated could be supported on both planets.

All the dragons present had been humming for some time when, suddenly, there was a loud crack as the first egg abruptly almost exploded open, tumbling a dragonette onto the hot sands. It was a Bronze and all the candidates that had been helping to tend to the egg moved into an arc in front of the small dragon, leaving a clear path to any one of them. The hatchling's head moved around and immediately fixated on one of the boys present.

'I am confused,' fretted the young dragon, to his new rider. 'There are many dragons here who say I should call you "Vustux", but there are a few that say it is only proper to call you "V'tux". What should I call you, my rider?'

The young, sixteen-year-old, Weyr-raised boy thought for only a moment and replied, 'It is only proper that I be known as V'tux from now on.'

'Hello, V'tux, I am Meyarth. Do you have any food?'

V'tux hugged the pony-sized head to him as he shouted happily, "He says his name is Meyarth and I am V'tux!"

As the new Dragonrider led his new partner over to the waiting Weyrling Masters, a shout of joy and approval rose from all the older Dragonriders and soon echoed by everyone else present. It appeared that at least the first hatchling and rider were going to help maintain the Pern tradition of renaming the rider in the dragon/rider pair. It was probably auspicious that the boy chosen had been Weyr raised.

Harry watched, as he always did, with a huge grin on his face. He was so happy that 'his' dragons were prospering, happy, and safe. He didn't care what they called themselves as long as they were Dragonriders.

-oooOOOooo-

As the last of the eggs hatched, it was apparent that somehow the dragons had known that no new queens were required, as no queens had hatched. They had, however, adhered to the new Earth standard of male humans bonding with male dragons and female humans bonding with the green female dragons. He hoped that they were able to maintain their line and that at least one Pern-standard Queen was hatched before any of the current seven grew too old to lay more eggs. It would be a shame for such an honored line to die out.

"Dragons, Riders, and Guests," Harry said, using a sonorous charm, "today we have been honored to witness the birth of 240 new Pern Dragonriders. This proves that there is still a need for all three lines to continue; Pern bonded, Earth bonded, and unbonded dragons. Many of the riders today chose to honor their Pern heritage by assuming the shortened name of a Pern Dragonrider, some did not. To me, it doesn't matter what they call themselves as long as they call themselves Dragonrider. They and their life-bonded partners will continue to keep Pern and her skies as well as Earth and her skies safe for many years to come. Our unbonded dragons and their adopted families help us all to prosper and help to support their brothers and sisters. All dragons deserve our thanks and love.

"Welcome to our ranks … Dragonriders!" Harry canceled the charm as he heard voices around him rising in cheers and happy laughter. He had just verified for the older Dragonriders something that he had known all along; they were still a viable part of the Pern heritage, and still necessary. He had also let the unbonded dragons know they were valued and necessary as well.

Benden Weyr Hatching Grounds, Dec 26, 2035...
"Today we start a new phase in our Nation's history," said Harry to the new graduating class of Dragonriders at Benden Weyr. "Ronan Clark and his researchers had found a way to allow magic spells to spread across our Dragon Armor. Because of this, we are now able to inscribe the Protego Thread and other protective runes on medallions attached to the armor and make it available to soft-skinned dragons. When you go out on your 'World Tour', all your dragons will be outfitted with this new armor. We ask that you be safe, but we need to know if this will, in fact, work. It has been tested on scaled dragons with no problems, now we need you to verify it works for you. If it does, we need never lose another dragon or rider to loss from thread."

He paused, waiting for the cheers of new and old riders to subside before he continued. "It took them a while to get the spells to work the same as for our scaled dragons, but we now feel that you should have the same abilities … as long as you're wearing your new Armor. You will still be able to be invisible if you wish, but the Armor will allow you to add additional badges if you wish, such as Weyr Flags or Wing identifiers. In most cases, we have matched the color of the dragon the armor was created for. In a few cases, some dragons requested something more along the line of a uniform such as the dragons working with our Aurors wear. We have come up with what we hope you will consider a 'Dress Uniform' for dragons.

"Even though it doesn't cover every inch of your bodies, the Stealth Suit base allows the magical protection to extend out far enough that every bit of your bodies and anyone riding on you will be protected. Please remember that the protection is not unlimited. The magical accumulators added to the Armor will only hold enough of a charge to allow you approximately 50 continuous minutes of attacks before the accumulators must self-recharge. They will recharge on their own, but the recharge rate is much slower than the discharge under attack. Please give yourself plenty of time and don't allow them to discharge completely. Your safety and that of your rider depend upon you remembering this.

"Now, go on your first 'World Tour' and learn all you can about both our worlds!"

With that 240 new Dragonriders and their escorts rose almost as one and disappeared. Harry would have to talk to the Pern Dragonriders to find out what they wanted to do. If their numbers were increasing, it only made sense to allow them to spread out to all the Weyrs as they had once had. He felt that they would need to continue the special hatching sessions though. They were just too far outclassed, as a species, by the larger, faster Earth dragons. If they were to increase in numbers again, they needed to be able to breed among themselves without interference from the larger dragons.

The entrance to The Pern Mother's Cavern, Mar 30, 2036...
Harry was worried that it had taken so long, but he somehow knew that all the Finders would need to attend this search together. In order to do that, major modifications had to be made to the original goblin-bored entrance to The Pern Mother's cavern. The drop shaft had been replaced with a dedicated Turbolift. It would hold all but the dragons. That problem was overcome by removing the ramps and enlarging the original entrance to a shaft big enough for several to fly down at once. It would have been considerably simpler if the 'mobile support systems' for the Mer and the Dolphin hadn't been so bulky.

Once down in the entrance hall, the connecting corridor had to be enlarged as well. The only thing left unchanged, was the huge door that blocked off the Main cavern from the entrance. That had been purposely made large enough for dragons to enter.

As the group made their way into the chamber, Harry heard several gasps from the others. This was the first time any of the other Finders than himself had actually entered the chamber itself. It had changed somewhat since his last visit, almost eight years ago. Somehow filters had been added to the 'sun' and now a cold blue light permeated the cavern. The shutters were mostly closed, making the light dim and the temperature cooler than normal.

As they approached the central hill, Harry could plainly make out a glittering band around the base of the hill. By mutual agreement, all the Finders and any associated dragon or human partners spread out so they could all touch the band at the same time. They each reached out, almost touching it, waiting for Harry to give the signal. When Cheki let Harry know everyone was in position, he gave the command, "Go!" and each of those present touched the band.

Suddenly, the most desirable witch he had ever seen appeared before Harry. She looked at him and then at the others surrounding her, and said, 'Hello, boys, like my doorbell?' The image of the Pern Mother looked around at all those in attendance and said, 'How clever! You actually managed to include one of each of your intelligent species. I hadn't thought you would be able to include any that lived in the water.'

Harry smiled at the playfulness of the Pern Mother. He had a feeling she appeared differently to each of the unique species here. To Harry, she was a cross between Hermione and May. Even as he thought of the two, her features flickered slightly, until she frowned at him and stabilized on a unique set of features. She nodded her head at him as if to say, 'Well done.'

"It is unique, Pern Mother," said Harry with a smile. "Why have you called us all here?"

'Ah, ever to the point, Weyrleader. Perhaps that is one of the reasons you are so effective,' she said and smiled at him. 'I have a special project that needs only the most trustworthy guardians. My way of calling you each here was my way of verifying you were the most trustworthy of your species.'

"And what is this project, Pern Mother?" asked Harry.

'I want to revive my children, but they will need protection and training in the way you have changed my world. They are used to great biological cities, growing in the tall skybroom trees which used to cover the southern continent from coast to coast. The topsoil was deep and rich in nutrients and had been that way for millennia before the Red Star arrived ...

The Pern Mother Remembers...
The native intelligent Pern lifeform had a high culture, even though it was not mechanically based. Most of their 'heavy' industry was built on the slopes of the southern barrier range at the urging of the Pern Mother, who had been in constant, almost daily contact with her children from the start. She created the fire lizards so they would have easy access to fire. There was a special class of the citizenry called 'Fire Starters'. Membership was open to anyone wishing to join, but it was only a part-time profession. Each year, they would band together to teach new apprentices the long, labor-intensive method of creating fire using friction. Once that method was mastered, they were then introduced to fire lizards and never had to worry about how to start a fire after that.

She taught them that sand, when heated to a high enough temperature, melted and could then be molded into many useful items. In order to create a high enough temperature, they needed to learn how to mine coal and build bellows to blow air into the fire to make it hotter. The molten glass would be poured into clay molds to create many useful items. Most of the Fire Starters became professional Glass Molders.

Later, they learned how to blow air through hollow clay tubes and were able to eventually create some very beautiful glassware. Many of the Glass Molders became Glass Blowers. One of their most popular products was a small open-topped, circular glass jar that was strong enough to withstand heavy weather and was ridged so several could be tied to a line of jars. They were popular, because they could be filled with specific mosses and then a stopper used to plug the hole. When the moss was exposed to light, it stored the energy and started to glow. The cities of the People twinkled late into the night from the long lines of such jars strung up along major and minor travel ways.

The skybroom trees were so pervasive that any of the People could climb to the top and move at will from one tree to the next. Since they lived in the trees, the Pern Mother had given them retractable claws on all six limbs. They could walk along a branch in any orientation using one, two, or all three pairs of limbs. The hind limbs were the strongest and most used for locomotion. The center pair were the next strongest and were often used for walking when speed was required. The upper pair of limbs developed into quite useful grasping appendages, useful for fine, detailed work. All limbs had four central toes with two outside 'thumbs' useful for grasping tree limbs or other objects. The People could move at quite respectable speeds through the trees. On the ground, however, they found it a bit more difficult, as there wasn't anything to grasp and push against. Needless to say, they seldom descended from the trees unless their job required it.

Over time, their preferred gait became four legs for walking and two hands for manipulation. Since the People were omnivorous and the tree nuts had hard shells, the jaws of the People were extremely strong. They would routinely pop one of the hard nuts into their mouths and slice it open with their many sharp teeth and swallow the entire mass. They even farmed the rocksnakes and found them quite tasty, though it was hard to keep them contained to a single area. It became great sport for youngsters to go on a hunt to help clear an area of any overabundance of the creatures. The People didn't consider the rocksnakes dangerous, some were even kept as pets, but they did tend to get underfoot more than was desired.

As Harry watched the vision, he saw a creature that looked like a clawed Centaur with a long flexible tail, almost like a lizard except the legs were situated more like on a horse. The body forward of the middle set of legs could easily be rotated forward to put the upper portion of the body in line with the rest of the body or kept upright so it more resembled a centaur. Since the top pair of legs was a bit shorter and not as strong as the other legs, this was the preferred orientation.

Their heads looked almost like an iguana's, with a very strong jaw and many fine, sharp teeth in the mouth. Unlike an iguana, however, there were no scales. Evidently, the Pern Mother had never really thought about scales. The skin was soft, pliable, and warm. The People were warm-blooded egg layers. From what Harry could see in the vision, the People had a very high culture. They got along well with each other, everyone seemed to work towards the common good, and the few problems they had, the Pern Mother resolved for them.

Then came Thread.

The very first fall caught everyone by surprise. Vast swaths of the planet were denuded of all life seemingly in an instant, right down to the bedrock. Those pockets of civilization left were in turmoil until the Pern Mother called her children to order. The People weren't really diggers, but there were creatures on the planet that were. The problem was, they needed to dig down through solid rock to the Pern Mother's chamber. It took them fifty years just to dig down to the same level. By then, Thread had stopped falling, but there was no real civilization anymore.

With the cessation of Threadfall, the sense of urgency abated somewhat, but they kept to the Pern Mother's plan. The sole goal of the entire planet now was survival. When the diggers finally broke through to the main chamber, they proceeded to dig out the floor and expand the area of the entire chamber. The Pern Mother's tree had initially been on the floor of the chamber. Now it was atop a sheer-sided pillar that topped out at 100 ft above the terraced floor that led to it. The outer terrace was probably 200 ft below the bottom of the pillar.

Once the chamber was completed, the Pern Mother called her creations to her and put them into a deep sleep against a time when they might be able to return to the surface. She carefully considered what would be required to restart life on the surface and called on multiple members of each species. The People who entered her chamber carried baskets full of every seed for every plant that remained. If they could be assured that Thread was no longer a threat, they could replant and repopulate the surface. Once her chamber had been filled to her satisfaction, she shut the entrance from the edge of the chamber to the surface. Every creature in the chamber was in complete stasis. When and if she woke any of them, it would be as if they had never gone to sleep.

She never even considered creating a space for her sea creatures. She had seen that water destroyed thread, so she modified them slightly to enjoy eating thread when it fell into the water.

For hundreds of years, she monitored the surface and noted the floundering landforms resurge and die back again and again when Thread returned. Eventually, some species died out entirely. One was her beloved People. Finally, after thousands of years, a heartbroken Pern Mother decided to sleep as well. She had no idea how much time had passed until something knocked on her tree.

The Pern Mother's Cavern, Mar 30, 2036...
As Harry woke from the Pern Mother's vision, he realized tears were streaming down his face. Such a disaster on such a colossal scale. He wouldn't have been able to survive and wondered how the Pern Mother had been able to remain sane.

"What would you have us do, Mother?" asked Harry.

'I wish you to start by being guardians and teachers for my People whom I am going to awaken. I want to see my surface flourish again and they will be necessary to help me bring that about. I am more comfortable working directly with them. I am still getting used to your people.

'My People must be given a name to identify them to the rest of my new inhabitants. I know of this Equality Oath you require all your newcomers to take. I don't mind if you require it of my People, but am not sure it would be necessary. They are inherently peaceful … for now. I have no idea what will happen when they learn of the newest inhabitants and cannot even guess what will happen when they try to live amongst you.

'I would have you redirect a good portion of your biological waste to the area around the building you have placed on the surface. Mix in certain ingredients which I will supply and soon I will be able to start regenerating the topsoil.

'Once a sufficiently large area has been created, at least a 144 ft radius circle, I want you to start planting skybroom trees. You should start with four 60 ft out from each corner of the building. Once the trees are of sufficient height, I will awaken the People who sleep here and tell them what has happened. They will live in the trees, but will also interact with you, my 'Champions'. You have proven yourselves able to fulfill my requirement to help my People.'

"How long will it take the trees to grow sufficiently for your People to live there?" asked Remus. "If we are to teach your People, they may have to start living with us before the trees are ready."

'I can force growth of the trees as long as no other living creature is near. Once the seeds are planted, the trees should be high enough to start a city in less than 2 solar cycles. The trees will need a constant source of water though and the ground will have to be deep enough to support them. The entrance house will have to be raised by at least 24 ft and you should dig out a circular trench in the bedrock 24 ft below that. The center of the trench will be 60 feet from the corners of the building and it will be 100 ft wide. Forty-eight feet should be enough depth to start the center and the trench will allow the trees to interconnect at the root level.

'Eventually, the ground level all over the southern continent will be raised to meet that in the local area and the later trees will be able to extend their roots deep into the bedrock on their own … with a little help from me. Before we begin, you must assure me that you can control Thread so it never again damages my children.'

"About four years ago we discovered an old artificial intelligence computer left behind by the original settlers from Earth," said Harry. "It had originally told us of a plan it had developed to change the orbit of the planet that brings Thread, but we felt it would waste a valuable resource we might need later, so we have been working on an alternate plan. Until our new plan is ready, we have more than sufficient dragons to stop Thread before it even enters the atmosphere. We don't bother if the fall is over water, though, it seems your aquatic life appreciates the extra food and water destroys Thread."

'I accept your assurance. Come back and let me know when the trees have been planted and you have set up a suitable temporary habitat for my People, and I will revive them. There are 288 of them, but I will only revive 24 to start. The rest can wait for the skybroom trees to be big enough.'

"How big are your People?" asked Harry. "I didn't see anything in your vision that gave me a useful point of reference."

'The head of a fully grown adult standing in his normal posture with four feet on the branch and the rest of the body upright should reach to the middle of your chest. If they stand on their last pair of legs, they would be about three feet taller than you.'

"We are going to have trouble with the children when they find out," said Remus with a grin. "They will want to play with them like they do now with the Centaur foals."

'I imagine the teeth and the difference in appearance will slow that somewhat,' said the Pern Mother. 'Even though my People are not violent, I have seen the reaction of your people to even your more familiar cheetahs. My People are different enough that it should take longer to become accustomed to. I don't mind any interaction between the species, but think it should wait until my People are more sure of their new circumstances.'

"I think we can create a new, limited access habitat in the Weyr off the end of Spoke Tunnel 4," said Harry. "We can install its own 'sun' and transplant some trees and vegetation to help them feel a bit more comfortable, basically set it up similar to the central garden in the Weyr. Will that do for a temporary habitat?"

'That sounds excellent. If you make it high enough, you can even plant a skybroom tree in the center. There are not enough of the seeds they like to eat right now, but they like to eat rocksnakes and those are plentiful. That and clean water should be enough to keep them happy until they can start growing their own food.'

After a few more questions verifying specific aspects of the project, everyone left the Pern Mother's cavern deep in thought about what they personally and as a race could do to help the project. Harry had not been wrong. Every species that had a unique leader went back to report that the Pern Mother looked just like them and needed their help!

Balmoral Castle, UK, Earth, May 15, 2036...
A loud keening started at Balmoral Castle and spread almost instantly across the entire planet and then across the galaxy to another planet. Soon after there was a steady mechanical tone that sounded from Queen Elizabeth's bedroom as medical personnel rushed in to try to save her. As they worked to revive her tired body, the sky above slowly filled with all the dragons of Earth, unbonded, led by Narth, the personal friend of Elizabeth, and bonded with their riders. Even as the doctors worked, the dragons gathered and keened their sorrow. They knew she was gone, even as the doctors vainly tried to revive their elderly head of state.

Within half an hour there were over 10,000 Dragonriders flying in formation above the castle. Every dragon, bonded and unbonded, from Earth and Pern, was circling over Balmoral. They were carefully leaving a flight path for approaching and departing helicopters, so those non-Dragonriders who needed access could still attend, but they all wanted to pay their respects.

Harry and some of those who had become closest to the Queen landed outside the walls and simply stood there, at attention while those people in and around the castle looked on in awe and some slight trepidation at the immense display of dragon might. Once it was explained to them that this was an overwhelming display of sorrow at the Queen's passing, many of the servants and staff finally broke down and cried. Their Queen was truly someone they all admired and obviously, seeing the very sky darkened by her admirers, they weren't alone.

'Narth, would you land and stand just behind me, please,' Harry requested when he saw someone approaching from the castle.

'On my way, Weyrleader.' Narth landed and moved up next to Chekiath shortly before the person from the castle arrived. She watched curiously as the elderly gentleman in Royal livery approached hesitantly.

"Weyrleader?" asked the man, obviously unsure of himself and slightly apprehensive about the huge dragons towering over him.

"I am," replied Harry. "How may I be of assistance?"

"His Majesty, King Charles, has asked me to invite you into the castle to speak with him," said the royal manservant.

"In that case, I shall follow you immediately."

The man bowed slightly and turned back towards the castle while Harry walked behind him.

'Narth, I thank you for letting everyone know in such a timely fashion,' said Harry to the Queen's almost constant companion as he walked along.

'It was something I knew you would want, Weyrleader. She was a great help when you were first getting started. I knew you would want to honor her.'

'That I do, Narth. That I do, but I feel you should also be honored. You made her last days much more enjoyable. Even though she could talk to no one else, she was able to talk with you until the very end. I know it helped ease her passing.'

'You do me honor, Weyrleader.'

'You do honor to the entire Dragon Nation by showing what we hope will come to pass for us all.'

Once again, dragons everywhere heard and felt renewed faith in their chosen leader who not only took care of them but recognized their contributions to the Nation.

-oooOOOooo-

Harry was led into a sitting room where King Charles was waiting. As he entered, the Prince turned to face him and shook his hand when he got close enough.

"Thank you for coming, Weyrleader. The doctors tell me they heard the dragon guard keening moments before the Queen's life support alarms even went off. That you have all arrived so quickly is an honor she would have appreciated.

"One nurse even tells me she was told, one day not long ago, in no uncertain terms by 'a voice in her head' that the Queen was in pain. When she checked, she found the Queen's foot had cramped and was able to massage it until it relaxed. I assume that was Narth?"

"It was, Your Majesty. She stayed very close in the last few weeks as the Queen slowly declined. She tells me she was in constant contact with the Queen and was telling her stories from her past up until the very end. She said the Queen went suddenly, with no forewarning."

"Thank you for that, Weyrleader. We have relied on her for far longer than we should have and will be a poorer Nation with her loss. I can only hope that what she has started with your Nation we will be able to continue."

"That is my hope as well, Your Majesty. Would you like for the Dragon Guard to remain in service?"

"If possible," said King Charles, "I would appreciate it. I also have a favor to ask of Narth, since she was so close to my mother."

"What is that, Your Majesty?"

"I would appreciate it if she were to walk behind the Royal Family in the funeral procession. It would show our Nation that we consider you almost members of our family and it would be a visible reminder to them that our fates are inescapably linked."

'Narth?' asked Harry.

'I would be most honored to attend, Weyrleader.'

"She will be there, Your Majesty. You may wish to make sure there are no horses immediately behind her, though. They can be a bit skittish around such large predators."

"I will make sure that is noted in the program."

"Might I also suggest a short over-flight during the procession?"

"Our Blue Herons Flight Demonstration Team were scheduled to fly overhead at some point during the procession. I would hate for there to be a collision," said a concerned Prince, "but it would definitely be visually impressive."

"If we can get a copy of their flight plan, I can assure you that no dragons will be anywhere near their corridor of approach when they do their flyby."

"That would be suitable," said King Charles. "I will have it added to the NOTAMS for the flight, so they won't be surprised."

"Tell them that the dragon flight will split apart up the middle as they approach and rejoin as they leave. It should nicely highlight their participation."

"How many dragons will be taking part?" asked a puzzled Prince.

"Probably as many as you've seen overhead today. We will start the overflight when the Gun Carriage leaves for Westminster Hall until she arrives. If you like, we can also provide a similar overflight escort on her way to Windsor for internment."

"That would take quite a few dragons if none of them are to repeat," said King Charles.

"Have you looked at the skies recently?" asked Harry with a sad smile.

King Charles walked over to the window and looked outside, obviously for the first time since the dragons had arrived. "Good Lord!" he said in awe.

"I think we may have enough dragons that wish to honor her that we will be able to provide adequate coverage."

"I think so," said the startled … and impressed … new Sovereign.

London, UK, Earth, May 16, 2036...
His Majesty, King Charles III (formerly known as Prince Charles Philip Arthur George) was enjoying himself, despite the somber occasion. There had been some talk about him riding a horse or in a carriage behind the Gun Carriage holding Queen Elizabeth II's body, due to his advancing age. When he arrived, though, Narth was already waiting. He had discussed it with her and now he rode in comfort on the back of a dragon.

Of course, Harry immediately sent for the flight suit they had waiting for the King and he was even now wearing it under his robes. As Narth walked slowly along, the new King and the old dragon discussed mentally the years she had spent with the Queen, remembering the enjoyment the Queen had derived from their friendship.

Earlier the Blue Herons had made their overflight 500 ft. above the Dragon Flight. None of the dragons altered their flight paths in the least but it was as if a moving window followed the British aircraft. From half a mile ahead to half a mile behind, the dragon simply seemed to vanish, allowing those on the ground an unrestricted view of the tribute. From their altitude, the pilots could see the dragons below them and marveled that they had such precise control to be able to fade in and out of view based on the location of their aircraft. They also realized it was a subtle, if unintended, demonstration of the Dragon's power. They were immensely grateful the dragons were their allies!

As he talked to Narth on their way to Westminster Hall and watched the endless flights of dragons overhead, King Charles reflected that his would be an interesting reign.

Clarence House, London, Tuesday evening, Nov 18, 2036...
Charles had never bothered to change his official residence to Buckingham Palace. When his official duties were finished for the day, if he was in London, he returned to his long-time home at Clarence House. It gave him a sense of comfort that a huge Palace simply couldn't. He also enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere from his family and servants. They were all used to each other and the location, so he was better able to mentally 'escape' from events. He was looking forward to the weekend when he could return to his family home at Highgrove House near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. The gardens there helped to relax him as no other place could.

Today, however, he was unable to escape everything. He'd had a quiet dinner and was enjoying a quiet read in his library when he suffered the first stroke. Fortunately for him, his man-servant had just come in to ask if there was anything else he needed. He looked up, his eyes went wide as the pain hit, he dropped his book, and the alarm was sounded. Within five minutes, a doctor was on-site tending to his royal patient.

By nine that evening, he had been moved to King Edward VII Hospital in London and placed in intensive care. Narth followed the King and maintained a constant vigil. At 11:23 that night, she sent word to the duty Weyrleader at Dragon Isle to immediately send word to The WeyrLeader that they had lost yet another ally. Several people in the surrounding area wondered at the quiet keening that could be heard for miles around. They probably would have been worried if they'd realized the sound came from hundreds of dragons who had gathered to help honor the passing of the new King. There would have been more, but it was in the middle of London and there wasn't really any appropriate place for dragons to congregate.

In the waiting room outside the ICU, Prince William heard the keening and knew what it meant. The reign of King Charles III had not been long, but it had affirmed certain events started by Queen Elizabeth II. A few minutes later, a doctor entered the room and talked to the leader of the King's security detail. The man nodded and approached Prince William.

William looked up and, before the agent could say anything, he said, "I will keep my name and be known as William the fifth."

The man stood to attention and said, "The King is dead, long live the King!"

Buckingham Palace, UK, Earth, Nov 19, 2036, 0900 hours...
"Your Majesty, the Ambassador to the Dragon Nation, Wayne Hopkins, is here and would appreciate a few moments of your time."

"Send him in," said William. "Maybe he will be able to help me make some order out of all this chaos."

"Your Majesty, my sincere condolences," said Wayne as he moved into the room.

"Thank you, Ambassador Hopkins," said William. "You know, I was looking forward to being King one day, but not quite so soon. I'm assuming you're here to offer your dragons for a similar flyover as for my grandmother."

"I am, Your Majesty, but I also need to let you know there will be some differences."

"Oh? How is that?"

"First of all, I would like to get you wearing one of our flight suits under your official robes or clothing as soon as possible. It is light-weight and hardly noticeable once donned, yet is extremely comfortable while giving excellent protection against any number of ordinarily lethal actions up to and including high-speed sniper rounds. With the gloves and hood properly attached, you will have an independent air supply that will last slightly more than an hour, how much longer depends on how calm you remain. And, if you remove the outer covering, you will be effectively invisible at night and appear as an absence of light during the day. It takes about half an hour to explain all the options available with the HUD, but the primary advantages are that you will have constant communications available over several bands, including cell phone, police band, multiple military bands, and private, highly encrypted Dragon Nation only bands.

"Second, we are concerned about having so many dragons in the same place at the same time. We have had … disagreements … with governments in the past and are aware some still hold us in contempt. It is not beyond the possibility that some other nation might try to take advantage of such a mass of dragons to launch a preemptive attack with the idea to wipe out all dragons at the same time. It would never succeed because actually, only a small portion of our dragons are ever actually in your airspace, but the perception is there.

"Because of the second problem, for our protection, we are going to be carefully monitoring ALL military satellites in orbit and known launch sites for missiles that have the capability to possibly reach this far. During the ceremony, we will block any military signals from the satellites that appear to target this country, that includes visual as well as electronic. If we detect any launches of missiles or any other aggressive moves against this area before, during, or after, we will take 'appropriate' action.

"With your permission, we would also like to suppress cell phone frequencies for about a mile around the entourage, since many terrorist groups seem to prefer to use cell phones as detonating devices. We can have sufficient dragons spotted around the area to watch for any valid medical emergencies and will have a Dragon Ambulance standing by if needed, in any case.

"I am telling you now so that you will not be blindsided by this information should your own advisors inform you of any 'irregularities'."

"Thank you, Ambassador," said a troubled new monarch. "It is a sign of the times, I suppose, that requires such draconian measures, no pun intended. I only wish it were not required. When would you need to fit the suits?"

"I have four here, right now. One for you and your wife and one for your brother and his wife. The fitting takes only moments, as the base suit is, to a large part, self-adjusting, but may require some smaller adjustments for optimal comfort. The longest time is the briefing about how to properly use the suit and its HUD."

"I think the four of us can get together tonight, in the Palace, if that is convenient with you, perhaps around 2000 hours?"

"That would be acceptable, Your Majesty. I don't want to intrude any more than required on your personal time, but we, as a Nation, feel obliged to do whatever we can to protect our nearest Ally."

"That is very reassuring, Ambassador. I will have to get back to you later about the cell phone disruption. If it is to be done, it might be better if we were to handle that portion of the protection. I can see why it might be needed though. Will the same dragon be available for the procession as for my grandmother's funeral?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Narth has grown very attached to the Royal family and considers you all to be an immediate part of her family. She would be honored to carry both you and your wife during the procession if you desire."

"Hmm, that may take some preparation. Catherine has not had any real exposure to dragons and may need some time to become 'acclimated'. It's not something that should be sprung on one at the last moment."

"I agree, Your Majesty. If you are going to be at Buckingham Palace, I can have her available in the inner courtyard from now until the procession, if that would be convenient for you."

"No need for her to be there now, how about from right after we get our flight suits fitted. Then we can all go down and get reacquainted, or, in Catherine's case, meet her for the first time."

"It will be as you say, Your Majesty."

Buckingham Palace, UK, Earth, Nov 19, 2036, 2030 hours...
William and Catherine stepped out into the courtyard of Buckingham Palace to meet with Narth. Catherine visibly hesitated when she first saw the dragon lying on her stomach, talking to her children. It was only a momentary hesitation, though. She had been aware of dragons since before her marriage to William but had never seen any reason to actually meet one. Now, it seemed, she would be riding one tomorrow.

Since there were going to be two 'passengers', both of whom would be involved in formal ceremonies most of the day, Narth had suggested to Harry that some sort of formal seating arrangement be made, especially since Catherine would be wearing a full skirt. Harry had quickly done some research and purchased a Howdah which Ronan and his team had modified to fit Narth. She was somewhat concerned because it was awkward to fly while wearing it, but she said it was 'comfortable enough for a short time'. It was held in place by an unbreakable harness and had a small rope ladder that could be used in case of emergency.

'Good evening, Lord and Lady Holder,' said Narth as William and Catherine drew near. 'May you find peace and shelter under our wings.'

"Thank you, Narth," said King William. "I really appreciate your willingness to wear that device. I know how much dragons hate to think of wearing anything that makes them appear to be simply beasts of burden."

'It is my honor to accommodate your wife. I know your family knows I am an intelligent person, so making this compromise in the circumstances is acceptable. I do not think it would be very comfortable for you if I needed to fly, however.'

Catherine watched Narth with fascination. She knew dragons were intelligent, but to hear one carrying on a conversation with her husband resolved any doubt in her mind.

London, UK, Earth, Nov 20, 2036...
The previous night they had found that the Howdah had an unfortunate tendency to move back and forth when mounted over Narth's shoulders, so Ronan and his team had quickly repositioned the device to the middle of her back so the motion of her shoulders wouldn't affect the orientation of the Howdah. Since it was rather cold and drizzly, the Howdah had been fitted with optically clear, bullet-proof glass all around. The left side was fit into a frame that allowed it to easily be opened or closed and there was a small Hot-Rock heater in the front where the passengers could adjust the temperature. Charms had been applied to the glass so nothing would stick to it. To anyone viewing the royal couple, there were only four supports holding up the canopy.

Harry had further protected the passengers by adding Protego Defens wards to the Howdah, connected to overpowered magical accumulators. Anyone trying to attack them would be in for a nasty surprise. Harry needed to take as many precautions as possible because he wouldn't be able to be there personally. There were eggs on the Hatching Grounds. He and many others needed to be on Pern. There were enough dragons and riders attending that their absence would never be realized.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Nov 22, 2036...
Harry had received word earlier that a certain Middle-East Nation had suffered a minor catastrophe when a rocket they had tried to launch on Thursday, Nov 20 had experienced some kind of control malfunction when it was only a half-mile over the launch pad. It had turned end for end and had rammed into the facility under the full thrust of the rocket engines. The entire facility had been destroyed and there was a rumor that there was a fairly high level of radioactive debris in the rubble. Fortunately, there had been no nuclear explosion and no winds, so there was no worry about any fallout for any of the surrounding countries.

Evidently, the controllers had tried to send a self-destruct signal to the rocket when the malfunction first occurred, but the signal had no effect on the rocket. A large number of the country's ruling clerics and radical military leaders had been present for the launch, so the country was now trying to determine who their next leader would be. He wondered if he should send his condolences. He had already let the Red Crescent know that his dragons would be willing to aid in the disaster relief effort if the country allowed them in.

Of much more importance to the Dragon Nation, however, the hatching had gone well. There were now 40 new bonded and 40 new unbonded dragons. Two sisters from Aymn's group had impressed as well. Naima Atiyeh impressed Prolath and her sister, Sally, impressed Horanth.

Benden Weyr, Dec 7, 2036...
H'Lok, the Benden Weyrling Master had died at 65 years of age. A respectable age for a Pernese, but not for a Dragonrider. Harry was keeping a close tally of the ages of Pernese at the time of death and the overall ages were slowly increasing, but not very fast for some reason. Churirth, his dragon chose to go Between when his rider died, even though Harry did his best to console the dragon and try to keep him alive. There was just no other reason for the dragon to stay behind.

At least he saw his idea of Pern-standard only mating flights work and work well.

The Pern Mother's Cavern, Mar 30, 2037...
Harry stood at the Pern Mother's tree, ready to let her know the temporary habitat had been completed and was, as far as he knew, ready for the first 24 of her People. He knocked on her tree and was greeted by a vision of her human avatar.

'Welcome, Weyrleader. What can I do for you?'

"The temporary habitat for your People has been completed, I think we are ready to accept the first of those you would awaken so we may begin training them."

'They will be at the base of my hill by the time you get down to them. Please treat them gently. I have already told them how strange you will look ,,, and how large. All those I am wakening will be full-grown adults of only about 30 to 40 turns of age, the oldest of those put into hibernation. They have a mix of skills and can let you know what they need to live comfortably.'

"Have you warned them about how violent we can be?"

'Not yet, but I'm sure they will be calling me when they first encounter that problem. After all, if you weren't violent, you wouldn't be fighting Thread.'

"You might also wish to warn them that most of us are not used to mind-to-mind communication. We are used to our thoughts, no matter how violent, sad, or otherwise emotional, being private to ourselves only. Even the most peaceful of us is capable of a blast of mental violence if we are pushed enough. Just reassure them that, though we may 'leak' violence, we are usually quite adept at maintaining control over any violent tendencies."

'I will do that, it may help them to adapt a little faster.'

"Do they have names or anything we can use to identify individuals?"

'Since they use mind-talk exclusively, they tend to just send an image of themselves as others see them. That way there is little room for mistaking one another. From your question, I gather this might be a bit awkward for your limited experience. Why not explain your naming preferences to them and ask if they would mind using names more familiar to your culture?'

"That sounds reasonable. What happens if we need to get in touch with you quickly? Is there any quicker way to contact you without having to come down to your tree? If something comes up that we feel needs your immediate input, I would prefer not to wait until we can manage to get down here."

'I had thought you preferred this arrangement. All you really need to do is visualize knocking on my tree. I will answer from anywhere on my surface or within a reasonable distance above it.'

"Thank you, Pern Mother. I will pass that information along to the other Finders." With that, Harry stepped to the side of the hill and stepped off. As he levitated down, he watched the small herd of People approach the bottom of the hill. He could tell when they finally saw him floating down because they were startled and looked steadily at him.

Spath's Weyr, New Habitat, Mar 30, 2037...
Harry, the other Finders, and their 24 new charges had just passed the Disillusioned entrance at the end of Spoke tunnel 4. After a walk of another 500 yards, slowly trending upwards, they came to the new habitat that had been created for the Pern Mother's People. From a distance, they looked like Centaurs, and up close, they looked like a form of iguana, so the Finders had christened them Centaunans.

Harry watched as their new partners on Pern nimbly jumped down the two-foot drop to the artificial tree branch provided as access to the skybroom tree in the center. They had seemed wary of the Finders, probably due to the mental bleed-over of violent thoughts which the new immigrants took for granted. Harry was pleased to see that, even though there was a huge size difference, the Centaunans seemed to actually like Hagrid and Joddy the best of all the humanoid types and were positively friendly with the dragons. He sent Joddy after them, since he was by far the most agile of them all, to explain what had been set up for them and to get a list of their initial requirements.

Acting on the Pern Mother's suggestion, Harry had broached the subject of names. With the Pern Mother's help, he was finally able to get the totally foreign idea across to the Centaunans. The eldest decided to use the nomenclature "Swift Runner", since he, of all the Centaunans, was the fastest in traversing the trees. It was mutually agreed that he would be the primary point of contact for all the Centaunans for now.

"Hagrid, would you mind being our primary contact between the rest of Pern and our new guests while they become acclimated to us?" asked Harry.

"Sur' thing, Harry. They do seem to be more comferble wit' me."

"Ask Joddy and any dragon to help if you need it. They seem to get along with our dragons even better than with you. For now, please consider this your primary duty. You have enough other Weyrling Masters and apprentices to take care of any hatchings."

The new habitat was only 2000 ft across, so it was one-third the cross-section of Spath's Weyr, but the entire area was one big garden, filled with native Pern plants. Off to the right, Harry could see water flowing out of the wall, down through a series of waterfalls to a small, shallow lake off to one side of the habitat.

The floor of the habitat at this point was below the level where the tunnel exited. The water could be seen flowing through a wide, shallow stream until it exited the chamber off to the left, well above ground level outside the mountain.

In the center of the space was a seedling skybroom tree. The Pern Mother had been enhancing its growth, so it was already over 100 ft tall, but soon it would reach to about 500 ft from the bottom of the 'sun', 3,000 ft above. At that height, the Pern Mother had told Harry the skybroom tree would be almost 100 ft in diameter. The entire habitat had been optimized specifically to be able to support the huge tree, as well as the rest of the Pern vegetation. Near where the stream left the chamber, there were several clearings where forges could be set up for glassworks. A space-enhanced storage area for sand had already been installed and filled with quartz sand. Additional storage areas were available, but empty until the new inhabitants let them know what they needed. The materials for the forge were available, but the new tenants would build their own forges.

This was already a popular location for fire lizards to congregate since it contained everything a fire lizard could ever want and it was under rock, therefore protected from Threadfall. Harry and his companions could clearly hear the odd sounds caused by the already plentiful fauna peculiar to Pern, some of which were actively inimical to Earth life. Fortunately for the other inhabitants of Spath's Weyr, they had made the access tunnel inaccessible for any but the intelligent occupants, plus the entrance was warded and disillusioned against accidental entry.

In the last year, the shaft leading from the top of the entrance to the Pern Mother's Cavern had been extended, as she required, and most of the dragon dung output and the leftover vegetation matter from creating numbweed had been earmarked for the creation of the initial topsoil around the new shaft. The topsoil was now mounded up to about 20 ft around the entrance and reached out another 80 ft before it started sloping off. There had been a couple of cracks in the surface that had taken quite a bit of the material to fill in and the 24 ft deep circular trench had also slowed down the expansion. It shouldn't take much longer to finish, though. Another four ft in overall height and another 64 ft around the outside. Fortunately, there were no more cracks in the surface, just the trench.

Some of the water coming from the Weyr had been diverted to the circular trench on one side and a runoff channel had been cut into the opposite side which would allow excess moisture, not trapped by the trench, to runoff back to the river.

Harry had wanted to go ahead and plant the skybroom seeds, but the Pern Mother insisted that no one would be able to enter the area once the seeds were planted until they had been force grown to an appropriate height.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, May 10, 2037...
Harry read the dispatch from Earth as the courier waited for a reply. Sir Robert March, one-time Weyr Science Advisor and honorary Dragonrider had died after 100 years of enjoying life, most of those helping others. Harry sent out word that every manned Weyr was to fly their flags at half-mast for thirty days and make an announcement in the local papers about why. He made a note to ask Remus about ensuring he was added to their Memorial.

On a lighter note, he saw one of their new immigrants who had imported grapevines from Earth. He was hoping to be able to not only sell grapes to eat but to create a distinct vintage of wine and perhaps be good enough to go into competition with the Benden Winery. He had come by earlier with a small container of his grapes for Harry to sample. They were large, pale green, and quite sweet. The only drawback as far as Harry was concerned was that they each had a seed in them.

Harry looked up as Swift Runner wandered in. He was getting more and more used to being around the 'huge barbarians' and had actually developed a surprising sense of humor. At least Harry hoped it was humor.

'Hello, Swift Runner, is there something I can help you with today?' asked Harry, doing his best to make his mental contact as pleasant and free of any overtones as possible.

'I just brought a new group of younglings up to expose them to the visual vistas available from this level of your city. They wouldn't believe me when I told them this was even higher than a skybroom tree. I also noticed your guard was missing and thought you might enjoy some company.'

Harry realized that his 'guard' was Jeofrey. The Centaunans still had a hard time understanding some of the conventions in the new civilization they had been so rudely thrust into. One was the fact that a leader would have someone else block ready access to him by just anyone wishing to spend time with him.

'Thank you, Swift Runner. I always enjoy spending time with you, but aren't you afraid your younglings will panic if you are not there?'

'That is part of the reason I brought them up here. This group of younglings has reached the point where they need to be able to explore on their own and learn to control their fears of the violence you all reek of,' said Swift Runner, sadly.

'I wish it were otherwise,' said Harry, 'but if we were different, we wouldn't be so successful against Thread.'

'True, and that is something we all must come to term with, not just our younglings.'

'Perhaps one day, if we all survive contact with each other, you will help us find our way to a less violent lifestyle.'

'It can only be hoped for. What is that you have been playing with?'

'I just got a sample of some new food which we enjoy. Would you like to try some?' asked Harry, as he popped a grape into his mouth to demonstrate that it was, in fact edible. He offered the container to Swift Runner, who politely took one of the small, globular fruits from it and placed it in his mouth.

'It is an odd experience. It is a tiny, almost tasteless water sac. I did, however, enjoy the seed that was inside though. It was a tiny burst of surprising flavor where none was expected.'

'If you think you would like them, I can arrange for you to get a supply of them. The fruit grows on a vine, which could probably be coaxed to grow on your trees.'

Just then Jeofrey stuck his head into Harry's office and saw his visitor.

'It appears your guard has returned and is emanating frustration at not doing a proper job of keeping you sequestered. I should be going before he gets worse.'

'I think we will all survive his frustration, even him. It is good for him to realize his limitations so he does not get too frustrated.'

'As you say. Until next time,' said Swift Runner as he left the office with what Harry had come to recognize as a Centaunan grin.

Benden Weyr, Sept 13, 2037...
Weyrling Master N'dain, formerly of High Reaches Weyr, had died in his sleep early this morning. The entire weyr was awakened when Rimoth bellowed out in anguish and jumped Between. Harry had been jerked out of a sound sleep himself when it happened, due to his connection to all Dragons.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Nov 22, 2037...
Today 52 new Dragonriders were welcomed into the Nation as well as 20 new unbonded dragons. Harry now did his best to have entire families available to 'adopt' the just hatched unbonded dragons, so they would start to feel like they belonged from their first day.

Sometimes a Lord and Lady Holder would show up with a group of retainers in the hope of 'adopting' an unbonded dragon to live at their hold. Harry was fine with the idea, as long as the dragons were treated fairly. He was ready to 're-home' any hatchling that wasn't properly cared for. Anyone wishing to adopt an unbonded dragon was required to attend the dragon care classes given by the Weyrling Masters.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Feb 15, 2038...
Thirty eggs were impressed at today's hatching, but twenty-six of the 99 remaining older Dragonriders had perished fighting thread. 'Why is it,' thought Harry, 'that once I come up with a way to protect the older dragons, they go out and basically commit suicide!?'

'They seem to want to die doing what they trained for all their lives,' Cheki answered his musing question. 'Now that they know more Pern dragons can be hatched and impress, they no longer feel they need to stick around, especially since they know the hatchlings will be safer than they were.'

'It still isn't right,' fretted Harry. 'There is so much they could teach us!'

Harry looked to his right and up and saw two of the Centaunans watching the impressions with interest. He'd had an artificial tree installed near the entrance to the Hatching Grounds so any interested Centaunans could safely watch the hatching from the safety and privacy of its branches. They could move over the ground, but much slower than they could move through tree branches. An Earth pine tree had been planted nearby and the artificial tree would be removed once the pine tree was mature enough to serve the same purpose.

One of the first things they had taught them about was the Turbolift system used to navigate through the Weyr. It seemed to confuse them. They had finally settled on a compromise. Harry had a special Turbolift port installed at the Habitat which only took them to the Admin Level, near his inner office. Once there, he had a hidden button added to the existing Turbolift that took them back to their habitat. Once they finally learned how to use it, not a day went by that Harry didn't see one or more small groups of them wandering through to the windows on the outer wall of the Weyr or looking down at the central cavern. Joddy had even managed to talk one of them into following him in jumping off the side and ever so slowly drifting down to the ground. Now they were much more assured about standing on the edge and looking down, even if they were unable to grip the ground like they could a branch.

After the Centaunans had learned that some of the new species they were living with could do magic, they started treating them almost like they treated the Pern Mother. Harry had put a stop to that and, after a few extended sessions of explanation, magic users were no longer treated like demigods. The Centaunans were still in awe of anyone who had the power to manipulate their environment simply by using their force of will.

The Skybroom Tree Grove, Mar 30, 2039...
Harry looked at the tall skybroom trees that had been planted only about 18 months ago. They were already over 1,000 ft tall, near their full growth. Harry visualized himself knocking on the Pern Mother's tree.

'Yes, Weyrleader?'

"How can the skybroom trees remain standing? Surely there is not enough depth of root to support such tall trees!"

'Quite simple, really,' said the Pern Mother, 'the roots go down further than the 48 ft of topsoil you have provided.'

"But how is that possible? There is nothing but solid rock underneath the soil."

'My trees have their roots not only twined tightly with the other trees' roots, but they also go deep into the rock below. Have you not wondered at the vast number of holes in the rocky ground which you have been left with?'

"I never really noticed them. If I thought anything, I must have just assumed they were rocksnake burrows."

'That would be a good assumption, except the rocksnakes did not create their burrows, they just take advantage of them. The holes were created by the skybroom trees that covered the southern continent. I understand your need for open plains, so I will not cover the entire continent again, but I will spread them in loose bands across the plains. My People will need them to prosper.'

"I look forward to seeing it well started," said Harry. He watched as the original 24 centaunans were followed up the tree trunks by an additional 48 that had recently been awakened. He could just make out the special shoes that Ronan's team had created for them slung on their backs in a net bag. It was awkward for them to walk on flat ground, due to the fact that their feet/paws were designed more for grasping limbs. Ronan had taken sections of tree limbs to act as the inside sole of the shoes. Each side was angled to make it more comfortable for the centaunans to grasp. Over that he had added an artificial leather covering that could be laced up if they were going to spend an extended time on the ground or left loose for almost instant donning and doffing of the shoes. The bottom of the shoes were covered in a thick, non-slip rubber tread.

Even though it was non-slip, the centaunans had initially had a hard time learning how to walk while wearing them. The shoes were a weight on the end of their feet that they were not used to. Those that chose to mingle, in order to better assimilate with the rest of the inhabitants of Spath's Weyr, were eventually able to achieve a walking speed slightly slower than they could climb. That meant they could still outrun most of the humans, which they found immensely comforting.

Nybyn, Sweden, Apr 10, 2039...
Sven Odenberg thought that the reason he found the odd creatures was because his car broke down. Actually, his car was temporarily disabled so he could find the creatures.

He was on his way home from a business trip when his car suddenly stalled out and wouldn't restart. Fortunately, he was able to pull over into a small parking lot next to a bus stop. Fortuitously, the next bus along went past the street he lived on, so he decided to go home and come back later with a friend who was a mechanic.

After getting off the bus near his street, he trudged tiredly home. As he was passing his neighbor's house, he spotted some kind of movement in the yard in the slowly brightening morning light. He paused and turned to look into the yard, leaning tiredly on the low stone wall separating the front yard from the sidewalk.

At first, he decided he must have been imagining things, but then it finally dawned on him that the yard was almost covered in fleshy pink mushrooms covered in black bristles. He didn't remember his neighbor's yard looking like this when he had left a couple of days ago.

Just then, he saw a really odd-looking child about a foot high grab one of the mushrooms and start eating it. He started to call out and warn the child not to eat such a disgusting-looking thing when he saw several more of the odd creatures. This was no child! Any human child that small, wouldn't be running around naked in packs eating creepy-looking mushrooms with gusto.

Wide awake now, he moved away from the wall as quietly as he could in case the creatures were dangerous and hurried home to call the police. Perhaps they knew what was going on.

His discovery would end up on page 1 of the local newspaper. It seemed that he had discovered not only a new form of mushroom but a new form of pest as well. He didn't understand why, but he named the mushrooms 'Horklumps' and the tiny creatures that ate them 'Gnomes'. He was really puzzled when he and his friend returned to his car only to find it worked perfectly.

Arthur Weasley smiled when he read the newspaper article. Two more 'discoveries' on their way to revealing the wizarding community to muggles.

Dragon Isle, Private Guest Quarters, Apr 10, 2040...
Remus Lupin looked at the manuscript on the desk. He had finally finished writing his book, 'The Weyrs of Earth'. He had asked for, and been granted, some time off to finish up the manuscript and get it ready for publishing. He was going to have to use a magical publisher because he talked about magic in the book. There wasn't much mention of magic, but enough that the muggles couldn't see the book until the magical community was finally revealed to them. Until then, he was hoping he could have the book published and in magical book stores in time for Harry's birthday.

He looked down tiredly at the manuscript and decided to take a short break before continuing. He made a quick copy using magic, placed one copy in the safe in the suite, and placed the other in a drawer in the desk. Before he closed the drawer, he looked at the top page one more time and re-read the dedication.

This book is dedicated to my wife, Doctor Mildred O'Connor-Lupin, and the adorable daughter we adopted, Kristin. I would also like to publicly voice my appreciation for Harry Potter, his bonded dragon, Chekiath, the unbonded dragon, Cnordth, who became one of my closest friends, and the unbonded dragons Spath, Dronth, and many others, who shared their memories with me so that I could record them for the future of dragon-kind and ultimately gain the wonderful designation of Weyr Historian.

This book will talk about the history of the dragons on Earth and Harry Potter's fight to not only set up the first Weyr on Earth but to gain a first-people status for all the dragons, and ultimately for all the intelligent species, of the world.

This book is set for its first publication date to be July 31, 2040, in honor of The Weyrleader's 60th birthday.

With that in mind, I begin.

He would have to find a publisher soon. He really wanted to get this book published in time for Harry's birthday.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's outer Office, July 31, 2040...
Remus walked into Harry's Office with the very first copy of his book in hand. He had finally convinced Obscurus Books that the project would be profitable, even if it couldn't be fully released until many years from now. There were just too many references to other species as well as magic to be able to allow any muggles to read it right now. He wasn't worried about muggles right now, though. He was here to deliver the very first, autographed copy to Harry.

The date chosen for its publication was specifically to honor Harry Potter, The Weyrleader. Today, Harry was 60 years old. He was sure that he would continue adding bits and pieces of information to the book that would appear in later editions, but this, the First Edition, would probably end up in the Weyr Historical Vaults. The final editing had been almost physically painful as he remembered all those who were no longer with the living that had provided so much of the information contained in the book. At least now, he could concentrate more of his energies on his other project, 'The Weyrs of Pern'.

"Hey, Harry, I thought you might like to have copy number 1 of my book," said Remus when Harry looked up.

HMP Erlestoke, November 10, 2040...
Snape was doing well for himself.

He didn't have to worry about food, clothing, or shelter. There were no snot-nosed kids to try to teach. Almost everyone looked up to him as the genius he was, and those who didn't, feared him enough that he wasn't really worried about them.

He had come to really embrace the muggle world and had found out firsthand how much better parts of it were than the wizarding world. He'd finished his muggle education years ago now with excellent A-Level marks. Nylah, his social media contact, was now 23 and Snape was about to present to her a scholarship to Wellington College he had purchased for her so she could attain her desire of becoming an MD. He had also set up several interviews so that Nylah could pick a proper nanny for her 9-year old daughter Paige. He knew first hand what a drag children were when one was trying to actually learn something.

As Snape walked into the cafeteria for dinner, he was concentrating on how he would word the scholarship so it didn't seem to come from him, so he wasn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been. It was pure luck that he saw someone at a table in front of him looking at something with surprise that was to his right. Immediately, he lunged forward, turned to his right, and put his arm up. His arm received the shiv that Otto had meant for his neck.

Snape grabbed Otto, lifted him bodily over his head, and slammed him down on his back on top of one of the institutional tables in the eating area. The only reason Otto's back wasn't broken was because he landed at a slight angle. Three of his ribs were broken from the force of the impact and another two snapped when the table collapsed.

As the guards rushed over to separate them, Severus looked into Otto's eyes and said, "Otto, I'm tired of fighting you. I regret what I did that put me in prison, but you trying to kill me isn't going to change anything. I'm begging you, please stop attacking me before I'm forced to kill you."

Snape made his declaration in a dead, flat voice. There was no threat, only promise and almost pleading. Snape had found a worthy adversary in Otto Monsooni and didn't really want to kill him.

As they were separated, something in Otto's eyes died. It was as if he had no further reason to live. He stumbled along numbly as he was led to solitary confinement for trying to kill an inmate as Snape had his arm tended to enough so they could take him to the infirmary for proper stitches. Less than a year later, Otto Monsooni would die from natural causes related to advanced age and the stress he had put himself under to avenge his daughter's death.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Outer Office, Mar 30, 2041...
Harry looked out his window at Pern. Things were definitely changing. It wasn't that long ago that he could look out this window and see the rough, rocky ground covered by gnarled trees and bushes all the way to the northern shore of the southern continent. Now, there was a new, prominent sight. He could still see what he had before, but now there was a Centaunan skybroom tree city taking prominent pride of place in the landscape.

The original skybroom trees with their 100 ft diameter trunks seemed wrapped in light after dusk. Most of the light was concentrated near the upper portion of the trees where the branches suddenly spread out giving the trees their characteristic shape. Thin strands of light also flowed down the sides where some of the more adventurous Centaunans had made their homes along the trunks of the trees instead of the crown branches.

The topsoil had been spreading almost as if by itself at a phenomenal rate. The old entrance to Spath's Hold had been walled off with new apartments and the new entrance was now on the new roof. Now to get to the old entrance, you had to walk down a steep flight of stairs to get to the old ground level. All the rest of the apartments had been extended upwards as well to maintain the 'fortress' quality of Spath's Hold/Weyr.

In the other direction, the new topsoil reached out for almost five miles. Periodically, Centaunans could be seen carefully tending new skybroom tree seedlings, carefully planted in very specific locations.

All 288 Centaunans had been awake for almost a year now and many of them had become comfortable enough with the new immigrants that they openly wandered through the gardens in Spath's Weyr. Usually, one or more house-elves accompanied them, just in case they needed a buffer between them and the more violent other species. That was becoming less and less a requirement as the Centaunans first became used to the violent thoughts and then made it their life's work to civilize these new barbarians.

The grapes that Harry had introduced to Swift Runner had become quite popular with the Centaunans, not because of the fruit itself, but because of the seeds. The Centaunans were now partnered with the new Spath's Winery to not only grow and harvest the grapes but to carefully extract all the seeds before they sent the fruit on to the vintner. The Centaunans felt they had the better part of the deal since they considered the actual fruit almost tasteless and useless.

He had to chuckle when he remembered the first meeting between a Centaur and a Centaunan. Both individuals had been frozen as they looked at each other in surprise. The Centaur had finally reached out his hand towards the Centaunan, who sensing the intent, had hesitantly met the hand halfway with his own.

Harry liked the new direction Pern was taking. Things were definitely working out for the better.

HMP Erlestoke, Aug 16, 2041...
Otto Monsooni had died today, apparently of natural causes. Snape didn't quite know how to feel about that. He didn't particularly like the man, but he did respect him. It was because of Otto that Severus had been forced to assimilate into prison life and learn how to not only survive but thrive. If it had not been for Otto, Severus was sure he would have simply withdrawn into himself and not bothered to learn all he had.

Otto didn't have any family anymore and there was no one else that cared enough to mourn his passing. At least someone noted his absence with nostalgia and hoped he had managed to go to a better place and finally meet up with his daughter again.

As for himself, he had less than 20 years left on his sentence. '19 years, 8 months, and a few days,' thought Severus, 'but who is counting.'

Joyero's Pern, Apr 1, 2042...
Harry stopped outside Joyero's shop and looked in the window. In the center, taking up a considerable amount of room, were several small, delicate bottles that glowed in many different colors. Some even shimmered with multiple colors. Just from casual observation, Harry was able to determine that each one was unique. They were not produced using Joyero's normal magical reproduction method. He turned towards the door and walked in.

As he walked in, he saw Joyero busy with a couple of customers, a centaur and one of his fillies. They were off to one side where the display cases were not as closely spaced as the rest of the shop. Ted himself was waiting on the couple and his son, Ted, Jr, and his apprentice, Dannea, were busy running through the closer spaced display cases gathering different stock for Ted, Sr to show his customers.

The first display case, in pride of place inside the door, was a huge display of the tiny jars like those that Harry had seen on display in the window. He was looking for a birthday present for May and thought one or more of these might just fit the bill. They certainly looked pretty and they were each unique to themselves, though he could see certain details some had in common with others.

As Harry was admiring the display and trying to pick out just the perfect one for a gift, Dannea walked up to him and said, "Welcome, Weyrleader. Mr. Joyero has asked me to let you know he will be over to help you personally as soon as he is finished with his present customers. The young gentleman," and Dannea looked over at the male centaur, "is looking for a bride gift."

"I didn't know that centaurs observed that particular custom," said Harry with a puzzled expression.

"Evidently the young lady with him has a human friend who just got engaged and she liked the idea and the look of the ring. I have a feeling this may be the start of a new custom among Pern's centaurs," grinned Dannea. "Show me a female, and I'll show you someone who appreciates pretty things. I think the biggest hold-up is that the lady doesn't seem to notice the price of anything, but the gentleman is worried he won't be able to afford what she ends up wanting. Sorry, it's taking so long."

"No worry, Dannea, I think I've found what I'm looking for. I'm just trying to pick out the one I want to get. It's to be a birthday present for May." Harry thought for a moment, asked Chekiath a quick question, and then added, "Have you explained how to pay on credit?"

"Oh, yes, but the gentleman is hesitant to use credit. He has heard too many horror stories about goblins collecting on their debts."

"I think I can help resolve the problem if all parties agree. I will offer to co-sign the loan if they will perform a service for me."

"I will go ask." Dannea walked back over to Ted and whispered in his ear. Ted looked up at Harry questioningly who shook his head 'no'. Ted then said something to his customers. They all turned to look at him, but Harry could see neither of the centaurs recognized him. Finally, Ted waved him over.

"Greetings, human, I am Sazran and this is my proposed mate Fliwill. While we appreciate the offer, I am hesitant to accept without knowing why you are willing to help and what you require. We don't even know you. Why would you be willing to help a stranger in such a way?"

"Greetings, Sazran, and well wishes, Fliwill. I am a Dragonrider and my dragon has told me he considers you both to be trustworthy. As for who I am, are you familiar with the term "Finder"?"

"Yes, there was a series of mysterious artifacts a few years ago. Anyone looking for them was labeled a Seeker and anyone who found one was called a Finder. One of our herd, Cifan, became a Finder."

"I am one of the Finders," said Harry, "and it is our job to help the newly discovered intelligent race, the Centaunans, to integrate with our society. It was my thought that, if you were interested, you could help in that process."

"What would that help entail? We both already have responsibilities to Bane's Hold which we cannot allow to go undone."

"I was thinking you could offer to sponsor one or more Centaunans. Let them visit with you and get to know you and you them. Learn about each other and teach them that, though we have violent thoughts, that we very seldom act on them without sometimes extreme provocation."

"That certainly sounds acceptable. We have both been curious about the tiny centaur-shaped beings and would probably have ended up doing something like this in any case. Now, to this credit thing, this human was trying to explain to us. How would you become involved?"

"I would pay for your purchase and expect you to pay me back when you were able to, at your own time. I would not expect interest, which the goblins charge, only that it be paid back. The terms of the purchase are entirely between us. Once you walk out of this store, as far as Mr. Joyero is concerned, you paid in cash for your purchase."

"And you would trust us with this?"

"My dragon trusts you, that is good enough for me. Besides, I need to find a gift for my wife's birthday and I was hoping your future mate would help me pick one out." Harry pointed over at the display of colorful jars.

"Those are a new item we have started carrying," said Ted. "They are individually created by hand by Centaunan craftsmen. I saw some of them strung up on their city trees and asked if I could offer some for sale to others. Once I got them to understand what I wanted, they thought it an 'interesting' idea.

"Evidently they are not used to a monetary medium of exchange, so they provide me with the jars, I sell them, keeping 10% for my fee, and bank the rest with Gringotts Pern in their name. Since I sold the first one two months ago, we have sold over 1,000 of them at ten galleons each.

"They are filled with a photosensitive fungus of some type, which stores light energy. When they are in the dark, they release the energy as colored light. The artisans have added special filters to some, so the light can be reflected in different ways and I have added magical effects to some that allow those filters to rotate for an even more pleasing effect."

The centaur couple quickly finished their business with Ted and then they followed Harry over to the display of colorful jars. Harry, with help from Fliwill, finally picked out a very pretty jar that shone with a pale blue light. Sazran and Fliwill walked out happily, hand in hand.

"That was very kind of you," said Ted as his son carefully wrapped Harry's purchase.

"Not really," replied Harry. "I can remember being young and in love and not having much else to show for it. I wanted to help them, but I also wanted to help the Centaunans integrate. Even if they never pay me back, the help they give will be more than worth it in the end."

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