The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall Read Online Free PDF Page B

put a kettle of stew, loaves of bread, and a pile of biscuits on the long table in the wharf office and, with little discussion, the hungry served themselves. Then, finding sufficient floor space, they curled up in blankets, old heavy-weather gear, and whatever else sufficed to keep tired bodies warm. Some of those sleepers were among those settlers lucky enough to have bonded with one or more fire-lizards, the beautiful creatures mentioned in the EEC Survey report. Now, while their humans slept, those fire-lizards arranged themselves on the pier, their sparkling eyes rivaling the emergency lights up and down the long installation.
     
    The Big Bell roused all the sleepers and brought Jim and Efram stumbling out of the office to see what the problem was. Kibby and Dart were fighting over who was to pull the chain next.
    “Morning, morning, morning” was the chant from several hundred dolphins, as fresh and eager as they had been the day before for the great new fun their land-friends had discovered to please them.
    Jim and Efram groaned, leaning into each other in sleepy incoherence. A seaward breeze made the coming day’s work arduous: sulfur- and chlorine-tainted air caused eyes to water and irritated throats and nasal passages. The dolphins seemed less affected, which was a blessing; halfway through that day, most of the human swimmers were forced to use masks and oxygen tanks in the water and out. Also, there were more emergencies, caused by tired people, stiff-muscled from unaccustomed labors, valiantly trying to exceed the previous day’s quota.
    Skippering the Southern Cross, laden to the scuppers with a cargo of precious medical supplies, Jim spent more time on the comunit, issuing suggestions and orders, and trying to keep his temper over asinine errors that would never have been so dangerous at any other time. The sea path between Monaco and Kahrain was a mass—and a mess—of ill-assorted craft, struggling to transport beyond their capacities. Twice the Cross passed dinghies afloat only by virtue of the pairs of dolphins keeping them up on the surface of the water.
    The third morning, Jim summarily ordered all small craft under seven meters out of the water at Kahrain. Most of their crews he left behind to help unload the larger ships and the dolphins, who he decided made better, and faster, transporters of small to medium-sized packets.
    “Smart of you, Jim,” Theo Force said that evening when they gathered on board the Cross for the eastward leg. “Kids got a big kick out of how often ‘their’ dolphins made the trip. They even started snatching tidbits for ’em as treats. Not that they could catch much fish with the waters so churned.”
    “And my heart wasn’t in my mouth so much,” Claire Byrne said, “thinking of all that could go wrong with those cockleshells.”
    “Weather’s disimproving,” Bernard Shattuck remarked.
    “Too heavy for the seven-meter hulls?” Jim asked, perusing the lists of cargo still piled on the Monaco strand. The day’s hard work had shown a definite lowering of the mass.
    “With the more experienced crews,” Shattuck said after a thoughtful pause, “but I’d feel happier if they had dolphin escorts. How’re the dolphs holding up?”
    Jim snorted, while Theo managed a weary chuckle.
    “Them?” Efram said with utter disgust. “They’re enjoying this game we thought up for their amusement!”
    Ben was grinning as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands cradling a hot drink. “Didja hear that the pods seem to have some sort of competition going between them?”
    “Based on what?”
    “Weight hauled,” Ben said with a wry grin. “You’ll have noticed ’em humping the single packs about? Weighin’ in.”
    “No damage, I hope,” Jim said, trying to sound severe, although the whole notion of the competition tickled him. Leave it to the dolphins! Nature’s born humorists. He wished there’d been otters still alive on Earth when the Pern colony was