The Dolphins of Pern Read Online Free PDF Page B

the most complex. Aivas, as it was known, was the receptacle in which all the Ancients’ vast knowledge had been stored. Jayge had had a brief glimpse of the incredible machine, in its special room at Landing, and heard what miracles of information it had.
    “Chips, then … useful, after all?”
    “Well, we managed to salvage the usable transistors and capacitors, but they haven’t actually been installed yet.”
    Jayge gave him a long suspicious look for the way the strange words came so easily from his mouth. “As you say,” he said with a grin.
    Just then young Readis, clad only in a clout, came out on the porch, Ribbing sleep out of his eyes. He peered at Jaxom, swinging lazily in the hammock, then swiveled his head around to the front of the house. “Ruth?”
    Jaxom pointed to where the white dragon, surrounded by industrious fire-lizards, wallowed in the shallow water.
    “He’s enough of a guardian, isn’t he?” Readis asked, tilting his head back in a stance that mirrored one of his father’s postures.
    Jayge nodded, glad that Readis was so conscious of his promise not to go in the water unattended. “But Ruth’s bathing right now, and besides, I’d like you to tell Jaxom what happened to you and Alemi the other day.”
    “Did you come just to hear?” Readis asked, though he knew that Lord Jaxom had a lot of other things to do, since he was aware of how hard his own Holder father worked. On the other hand, he was certain that even a busy man like Lord Jaxom would find his adventure interesting: because it was a
real
adventure.
    “Well, that
was
one reason,” Jaxom said, smiling. “So what did happen to you and Alemi the other day?”
    Aramina emerged from the house, carrying her squirming daughter under one arm and a tray in her free hand. Jayge quickly sprang to relieve her of the tray, but she gave him Aranya instead, and served Jaxom a tall cool drink and some freshly baked sweet biscuits. It took a few more minutes until Readis was settled on his stool, with two biscuits and a small glass. When his mother was seated, Readis looked to his father for his cue to begin.
    He took a deep breath and launched into the well-rehearsed tale. He kept his eyes on Lord Jaxom’s face to be sure he was listening properly—and he was—almost from the start.
    “Shipfish?” Lord Jaxom exclaimed when Readis got to that part of his recital. He glanced at Jayge and Aramina then, and Readis saw their solemn confirmation of his claim.
    “A whole pod of ’em,” Readis said proudly. “Unclemi said there must have been twenty or thirty. They pulled us far enough in for us to reach the beach safely on our own.
And,”
he added, pausing to give emphasis to his final words, “the next morning the skiff was found beached up by the fishhold, like they knew exactly where it belonged.”
    “That is some tale, young Readis. You’re a harper born. An amazing rescue. Truly amazing.”
    Readis caught the genuine feeling in the Lord Holder’s tone.
    “The redfins weren’t by any chance returned with the skiff?” Jaxom asked.
    “Nah.” Readis dismissed that with a flick of his wrist, despite his own disappointment at the failure of the lockbox to reappear on shore, as well. “They drowned. So we had to eat ol’ stringy wherry ’stead of good juicy redfin steaks. And you know something else?”
    “No, what?” Jaxom responded.
    “It wasn’t just that they rescued us—they talked to us, too!”
    “What did they say?”
    The expression on Lord Jaxom’s face was suddenly alert, and his eyes bored into Readis as if he’d caught him out in a lie. Readis stiffened his back and threw out his chest.
    “They said ‘wielcame’ when we thanked ’em. Andthey called themselves ‘mam’Is,’ not fish. Unclemi will tell you!”
    Readis caught Jaxom glancing at his father, as if doubting him. His father gave a slow nod to Jaxom, then turned to him. “Readis, why don’t you run down and see if the fire-lizards are