Chapter 12: Starting Afresh
The six thousand colonists who first settled Pern came from many different planets and many walks of life, leaving their old lives far behind in the past. Mary Sue Smith was no different. She was one of several dozen orphans, and, like many of the others, rather quiet in demeanour. Still, it was only to be expected that some of them were reluctant to talk about their experiences prior to boarding the Colony Ships. She was here for a fresh start, just like every other colonist – well, all except for a few notable exceptions – and the teachers and work group coordinators were happy enough to see her working hard at her assigned tasks. They were sure she'd come out of her shell eventually, and if some were quietly appalled at the gaps in her knowledge of basic tech, at least she made up for it by trying hard. And if she did relapse into depression or psychoses like a handful of other colonists already had, overwhelmed by the enormity of their isolation on a new planet, at least Pern had two superb psychologists on hand in the form of Tom Patrick and Cos Melvinah.
Slowly but surely the first years passed, and Mary's teachers' initial worries faded. Mary was still a quiet young woman, but she'd made good friends amongst the other orphans, and seemed to be making the most of colony life. After a few different placements she settled down into an apprenticeship with the colony's pharmacologists, just another one of Landing's productive, invisible workforce. Life was good, and at times she even forgot about the horrors that were soon to come.
The day that Thread first started falling was one of those times.
She'd volunteered to stay inside and brew the week's batch of numbweed salve, trading her usual day off with one of her colleagues who wanted to celebrate his partner's birthday with a trip to the coast. Had she known, had she subconsciously remembered? The penny had dropped the very moment Boris and Dingo had started screeching and hissing at the window… she'd meant to warn people, somehow, but instead she was stuck alone in a stinking kitchen, weeping and waiting for the first Fall to finish. The two firelizards stayed only long enough to be sure that she wasn't going to try and leave, then left her to fight the Threads. Mary watched from the window for a while, then brushed aside her tears and decided to be useful. Her salve would spoil if she left it unattended and, unlike herself, she was sure it'd be needed in the days to come.
In the end, she proved herself wrong. There was a steady stream of people coming in and out of the pharmacy after that first Fall, seeking sleeping pills, painkillers, tranquilisers and all the usual sundries. They left with whatever their doctors thought they needed, and more besides. Even after the worst Threadfalls, in the darkest hours of the colony when all seemed lost, Mary couldn't hide the fact that she was full of hope, and she couldn't help sharing it either. Not much of a difference to make, but a good one nonetheless.
In fact, it was almost certainly the main reason why she made it onto Kitti Ping's list, so her darling Emelath told her many years later. And who would argue with a queen dragon?
The End...
