So here we are on Pern at last. Quite a contrast to space stations and red dwarfs.
"Stand by for transfer. Two minutes to transfer."
Saska put her texter down and reached for her safety harness. She had been reading some of the history of Pern, and singing the old ballads in her head, wondering yet again how people could rise to the challenge and conquer something as inimical as Thread, with its total disruption of their world and the course they had planned for their colony.
Buckling herself into her comfortable seat, Saska glanced around the cabin. This last drop to Pern itself had brought about a change of passenger. From Benden World outwards to the asteroids of the Benden system, it had been miners. From the asteroids through the first long drop between, it had been scientific types. Then from Ruatha World to Telgar World and now to Pern itself, the passengers were colonists; mostly farmers and traders. Saska knew there were dragons and their riders on board, but they travelled together in the specially adapted holds of the dragon-ship, whereas the other holds held trade goods. Saska understood two bronze dragons were taking the drops in turn, which made sense in such a large ship.
"Are you all right there, Doctor Freeman? Do you need any medication?"
"I'm fine, thanks. Between doesn't seem to bother me very much."
"That's nice for you."
Saska watched the steward move along the aisle, his professional queries to every passenger being much the same as he had spoken to her. She admired people who could do that; personal interaction with complete strangers, seemingly friendly yet completely professional.
Wondering why between was different from anaesthesia, Saska leaned back in the seat and began her counting game, coming to with a gasp and a gulp of air; the combination of the High Council and the Committee had ensured she travelled in comfort, but she could feel the ache of between in her bones and appreciated why the cabin had been gradually warmed in time for the drop. The steward was handing out high energy drinks, and she took one and sipped at it as she began to organise her belongings.
"Tetherpoint in five, repeat, Tetherpoint in five."
Saska glanced at the digital display in the back of the seat in front of her; it was ticking down what she presumed were Pernese seconds. She had taken the precaution of recalibrating her digital items to be in accordance with the time periods on Pern. A year was a Turn, she reminded herself, and although they had had precise timekeeping from the end of the Ninth Pass, some isolated farming communities might still rely on the rising and setting of the sun for their timekeeping.
A very slight judder was the only indication the dragon-ship was tethered, but Saska imagined the dragons standing down from their observation posts, their riders making much of them, and the relief of having made a successful drop.
- you will like it here
Saska stared around the cabin; that had not been Laroth's voice, but a deeper more vibrant voice in her mind.
"All right, Doctor Freeman? This way, please, there is someone to meet you, I believe. I hope you enjoy your stay on Pern."
"I'm sure I will. Thank you."
Saska followed the people coming out of the ship, half listening to their chatter. Unlike Benden, where the ship landed directly on the planetary surface, here on Pern lifts led down from what was to all intents and purposes a platform in the sky; the lifts would take the passengers down to the surface. Saska paused to look out onto an expanse of glittering ocean with the distant hazy shapes of land.
The Port was on an island, she amended, and it was not like the rocky outcrops of Benden world, bathed in a dull red light and surrounded by an acid green sea. The ocean was blue, the sky was blue, the sun a fierce yellow. Natural primary colours where she was used to artifice.
"Doctor Freeman?"
"Yes?" Saska turned to the young woman who had approached her.
"Journeywoman Tefir, from the Flight Crafthall. Welcome to Pern. This way, please, to the ID desk. Once you're out of the terminal, transport has been arranged to take you to Respite Weyr."
"Thank you."
Saska surrendered her travel documents, had them stamped and returned, and followed the young woman to the baggage area, reflecting that this at least was the same in all terminals. A youth wearing the same colour shoulder knot brought over Saska's single square box, and both he and Tefir looked doubtfully at it.
"Is this all your baggage? Tefir asked.
"That's all I brought, apart from my flight bag, yes."
"You do know - this will seem rude - you do know we aren't like a Terrvert world?"
"I know that, and I've lived and worked on scientific expeditions. It'll be sufficient."
"If you say so. Take it down, Jegan."
The two followed the youth, watching him jump into the lifts, and waited for another.
"Did you have a good flight? You weren't troubled by going between?" Tefir asked.
"I seem to be able to cope with it. Flight Crafthall - is that here?"
"Yes, it's based here at the Port."
"You and Jegan work with the dragon-ships and their riders?"
"Jegan's still an apprentice, a junior. We run the logistics of the Port, and learn the mechanics of the dragon-ships. Is there anything you want to know about the Port?"
"I read what information there is, on the way to Pern from Benden. This is quite impressive - is it all stone built?"
"Most of it, yes. Stone is still in far greater supply than metal, on Pern. Since the mechanised stone-cutters have been rebuilt and remodelled it's easier to build in stone."
Saska nodded. She had seen very little metal on display, but presumed the lift they entered, although faced with wood, was made of metal. She ran her hand lightly down the wooden panelling, marvelling that something so valued by Terrvert should line something as mundane as a lift cage.
The lift door opened and the passengers surged out, and Saska followed Tefir.
The entire terminal appeared to be open to the sky, and the first thing Saska noticed were the plants; tubs and troughs of plants placed to give splashes of colours and a myriad of greens to break up the strictly functional stone surfaces.
Metal struts soared overhead, held up by carved and painted stone pillars, and holding huge panes of glass. The floor was laid with an intricate mosaic which Saska recognised as a copy of the famous tapestry from Ruatha Hold that had been instrumental in saving Pern in the Ninth Pass. She paused to look at the sweep of the floor, and Tefir paused by her side.
"Does the Hold still look like that? Dug into the cliff face?" Saska asked.
"Oh yes, although it's quite a lot larger, and there are gardens now, where you see those bare stone terraces."
"Is green allowed so close to the building?"
Tefir glanced at her and then nodded.
"Thread has gone, Doctor. Really gone, and Terrvert has supplied the High Council with satellites to watch out for any return, or incidental incursions from Thread that might have been left on a stray asteroid."
"I didn't know that."
"Yes, the satellite defence has been in place for at least a generation. This way, please."
Saska followed the brisk young woman outside, realising the port was on the southern side of the island from the angle of the sun. Some of the people wore a knot of ribbon, sky-blue and edged with silver, like Tefir. Their clothes were different, Saska decided. Instead of the utilitarian overalls and practical jumpsuits of Terrvert, the Pernese wore well tailored loose jackets and skirts or trousers, and some of them even wore shoulder cloaks. Saska glanced at Tefir's feet and saw she was wearing brown boots that came up to her ankles.
Several people seemed to be taking notes by the entrance, and there was a flash of light and Saska blinked as Tefir hurried her into a car.
"Reporters," the young journeywoman said, shaking her head. "They evidently heard a Terrvertian was coming, and a biologist at that."
"Why would they be interested in my profession?"
"Oh - I don't know - anyone new would be good for an article and a photograph. We do have newsvids here on Pern, but I doubt if they're as sophisticated as those on Terrvert."
"I've never been there," Saska said. "But I certainly wouldn't describe the newsvids as sophisticated."
Tefir laughed and pointed out some of the features of the small Spaceport. There was no need for anything to take away fumes or smoke, Saska realised, because the ships were brought out of clean vacuum and tethered within the atmosphere. She could see the soaring lift towers reaching to the tethering platforms, and appreciated the elegance and style of the supporting pylons.
"Does the cold of between have any effect on the climate?" Saska asked.
"I'm not sure why it should," Tefir answered. "We're taught that the cold dissipates quickly when the dragon-ships come in, in much the same way as when dragons used to fight and go in and out of between more frequently. A dragon-ship only tethers on average once every two or three months. Do they move more frequently in Terrvert space?"
Saska frowned as she thought about that.
"I don't think so," she said at last. "I know the ships are always full, so I suspect if they have a fixed schedule, say four times a year - Turn - then people would book passage. I can quite see it wouldn't be feasible to have dragon-ships just popping in and out at unscheduled times."
"Yes, because the dragons need fixed reference points in space and time," Tefir agreed. "We in the Flight Crafthall have to learn their reference points as well, and sometimes there doesn't seem to be anything particularly memorable about them, but dragon eyesight is more powerful than ours."
The car came to a stop before Saska could think up any more useful questions, and Tefir came round to open the back when Saska's box was stored.
"This will be sent by net," Tefir said obscurely. "It should reach you by tonight - were you told it would be slower that your own transport?"
"Yes, I was fully briefed. Thank you."
"Respite Weyr is around the other side of the Southern Continent - I think K'var and Lateth are going to take you there. I hope you might visit Flight Crafthall before you leave Pern?"
"It would be useful," Saska said, an innate caution not mentioning her main claim to fame. "I'm not sure even now what I'm supposed to be researching here on Pern, but I'd like to see the Crafthall."
Tefir nodded and stepped back into the car and Saska shouldered her bag and looked around, to find a tall well built man in the most improbable and extravagant leather costume coming towards her. Beyond him a bronze dragon glimmered and gleamed in the sunlight, and Saska sucked in her breath and tried to calm her heart as she realised she would ride a physical dragon out to Respite Weyr.