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Blossom says-"
"If the fire-lizard is still well, that would be a good time," Wind Blossom
said, slipping out of the tent. "Please tell Janir."
"I will," Moira replied with a bob of her head. "Janir sends his apologies
and
says that he'll be along later in the day."
"Janir is always busy," Wind Blossom said. Tieran gave her a look, not quite
certain how to take her statement. "Please tell him he must make a stockpile
of
nitric acid-"
Moira looked confused.
"My mother means HNO3," Emorra said, stepping out of the tent to stand beside
Wind Blossom. She looked at her mother. "Why should he do that?"
"Precaution," Wind Blossom said. She looked back to Moira. "Tell him to get
at
least thirty barrels."
"Thirty barrels," Moira repeated with a nod.
"Quickly," Wind Blossom added.
"Very well, I'll tell him," Moira answered. She turned to leave. "I must get
back to the College, to start the next meal."
"Someone wake Kassa," Emorra said, "or Tieran will eat her breakfast, too."
Janir came by that afternoon, stopping a good ten paces upwind of the tent.
Tieran was on watch and called to the others.
It was raining, a cold, steady drizzle. Emorra carried an umbrella to cover
their group; Janir protected himself with an umbrella of his own.
"Moira said that you wanted thirty barrels of nitric acid, is that right?"
Janir
began.
"Yes," Wind Blossom answered simply.
"Why?" Janir asked. "I thought burning the tent and its contents would
sterilize
the area enough."
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"Not for the tent, for emergencies," Wind Blossom corrected.
"For other fire-lizards," Emorra said.
"Or dragons," Wind Blossom added. "Have we heard any news?"
"About other fire-lizards getting sick?" Janir asked. At Wind Blossom's nod
he
replied, "No."
"It's hard to believe that this infection is an isolated incident," Wind
Blossom
said.
"Maybe we were lucky," Emorra suggested.
"How much luck can we have?" Wind Blossom asked. "Do you want to bet on luck
when one of the fire-lizards is dead and all our antibiotics are gone?"
"Has anyone asked which Holds are beading their fire-lizards?" Tieran
wondered
suddenly, holding up the bead harness that the fire-lizard had worn. The
little
brown saw it and gave a chirp of recognition.
"We'll get it back on you soon enough, little one," Tieran told him
apologetically. The fire-lizard made a small noise and rubbed his head
affectionately against Tieran's hand.
Janir shook his head. "We've heard nothing so far."
"It's been nearly three weeks," Emorra said with a touch of heat in her
voice.
"How long can it take?"
"The holders aren't being as responsive as we'd like," Janir confessed. Wind
Blossom quirked an eyebrow.
"There's some feeling that this is a bit of a tempest in a teapot," he
explained. "There have been no reports of holders even considering putting
bead
harnesses on the fire-lizards. There just aren't all that many of them, and
everyone pretty much recognizes each fire-lizard."
"Then where did he come from?" Wind Blossom demanded. "Are there others like
him? Other sick fire-lizards?"
"Wouldn't they all have died or recovered from the infection by now?" Janir
asked her.
"What if the infection can be passed to dragons?" Emorra demanded. "What
then?"
Janir raised his hands. "No dragon has gotten sick like this-"
"Before now," Wind Blossom interrupted him, "I have never seen a fire-lizard
sick like this. Ever."
"But he recovered, didn't he?" Janir protested. "I'm sorry, Wind Blossom, but
you know the backlash we got from Mendin over what will happen to his best
festival tent-"
"Not important," Wind Blossom cut him off. "We must find out where this
fire-lizard came from. We must know more about this infection. We must know
how
it spreads, what its symptoms are, and how fatal it is."
"Right now you have a baseline of fifty percent mortality," Janir pointed
out.
"And this one survived only with the last of the antibiotics," Emorra added.
"We
don't know if a fire-lizard could survive unaided."
Wind Blossom raised her hands and said, "We know how hard the human
population
was hit by the Fever Year forty-two years ago. Can you imagine what would
happen
to the dragons if half of them died?"
Janir's face slowly drained of all color.
ELEVEN
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Bronze for golds,
Brown, blue, for greens,
So do the dragons
Follow their queens.
Telgar Weyr, End of Second Interval, AL 507
And you're sure, D'nal, that the watch dragon has her orders right this
time?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]