Chap. 423 The Gamer
“I guess I should blame you, K’ndar,” Chief Elene said.”
“What? What?”
“The kids. They’re gone bonkers over the mural in DR Plank’s museum.”
“No! They’ve not disturbed anything?”
“No, no, but they’ve been in here after looking at that mural and wanting to know what IS that animal!”
“Engineering hasn’t cleaned the ash off the names yet?”
She shook her head. “I think they’re talking to Chemistry right now. They don’t want to lose any of the substance that was used to put it on the wall. They don’t want to mess with something that may be damaging to it.”
“So, what do the kids have to do with it?”
“They’ve drawn pictures!” she giggled, delighted, “and brought them in here and are trying to identify the animals. See on the wall over there? I’ve been hanging the pictures they’ve drawn of the animals. And now they’re going through the encyclopedia, the database, even DeeArr’s books to find them.”
“And?”
“Well, see for yourself! Because I did the research, too. I know the names, now, but I’m also making it a competition of sorts, how many ‘corrects’ will there be? And I’m insisting on proper spelling. You can’t imagine how many times they’ve misspelled some word, but they’re always up for learning the correct spelling. And it’s the common name, not the Latin one. That, I’ll leave up to you.”
“That’s a steep assignment, Chief, considering I’ve never been to Earth. How many got it right?”
“Most of them, but there’s one or two they just can’t figure out what they are. I know, now, that they’re from all different eras on Earth, not just the one DeeArr left.”
“And I will admit that I’m stuck on one, too.” She got a devilish look in her eye. “I’m hoping my Staff Biologist will know.”
K’ndar laughed and made his way to the walls where the pictures had been posted and the names.
K’ndar saw the pictures drawn by Landing’s children.
“Many of the kids have drawn the Terran animals with, let’s say, a great deal of inventiveness,” Elene said.
“I see that,” K’ndar said, laughing, “some insist on putting six legs on four legged Terran creatures.”
The list was split into two categories, and were in order as seen on the wall in the museum.
Flying creatures
Pterodactyl
Scarlet Macaw
???????????
Land and Sea creatures
Frog
???????????????????
Raccoon
Rattlesnake
Zebra
Saber Tooth
Great White Shark
Steppe Mammoth
Brontosaurus
Human
Blue Whale
Elene laughed. “I know. Some were easy, the rattlesnake, for instance, much like our tunnel snakes. It’s interesting that in some cases, Terran and Pernian creatures are the same build, like snakes. The only difference in our birds, for instance, Terran birds have only two wings rather than four.”
She sighed. “My goodness, what beautiful animals some of these were. That’s why I am so tickled about the whole thing, the kids are devouring anything that describes what these beasts were, how they lived, it’s teaching them to think and to research. I hope, too, they understand that these animals are all extinct on Earth. Some through natural events, such as the asteroid killing off MOST of the dinosaurs, something Jansen taught about that ferocious beast, T. rex. But I want to impress on them, over and over, that many of these creatures went extinct through the actions of humans. I want them to remember why we got here-to escape a dying world, with no animals left.
Whew! But I can see, in my mind, a jungle full of scarlet macaws. Part of me wishes the colonists had brought over some of these animals to fill OUR jungles…but I’m sure they were all gone by the time the colonists shipped out.”
“Me, too, Elene, but I think by then the colonists knew better than to introduce one animal without it’s predator. DeeArr knew better. You don’t just bring in an animal and dump it into an unprepared world, like Pern. They go waaay out of control and are usually deleterious. Tubberman knew that, when they brought over horses, cows, pronghorn, sheep and pigs, he knew there would have to be predators to keep them under control. I don’t think they knew about giant wherries or susies at the time. For that matter, there might be predators WE don’t know exist yet, the Southern continent is immense and I’ve only been to the frontiers of the Holds. Lions, tigers and cheetahs all do a good job at keeping the non-native creatures in check, but we were and are the dominant predator on both planets, we have to keep things balanced.”
Elene pointed to the flying creature ahead of the macaw.
“Any idea what that is?”
He shook his head. “I’ve not a clue. It’s so small, it looks, well, I’m guessing it was a mammal?”
He looked at her and saw her grin. “Let me guess, you know what it is.”
“I do. And you discovered the clue.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The amber rock that L’ichen had stolen? I did the research, I HAD to know what it was.”
“And?”
“The head and the tip of a wing are the clues in the amber rock, K’ndar. That creature is called a ‘bat’. It was a flying insectivore, from the literature, bats were the only mammal capable of true and sustained flight.”
“Huh. I will have to look closer at that rock. What about the tiny little creature in front of the frog? I see the kids tried very hard to get it, and I’ve not really had a chance to look at it, but I’ve no idea what it is. It’s so tiny.”
“That little beast is what has everyone guessing. I did some research and it’s not what they call a ‘rodent’, small ones were called ‘mice’. So, that’s your assignment, Biology,” she said, “Figure out what it is.”
He began to balance the things he had on his plate.
“I hate to say this, Chief, but I really don’t have the time, and that bothers me. I think it’s great that the kids are all learning about them, it’s…wait. I’ve just been hit with an idea.”
“Did it hurt?”
K’ndar laughed, having been caught in the old, old joke.
“I remember when I was a kid, I had problems with math. I STILL have problems with math. My mother, who didn’t, tried to inspire the desire in me to learn the multiplication tables, but I just wasn’t interested. So, she made it into a game. She dangled an award in front of me. She said, “K’ndar, if you learn your times tales, I’ll have a whip made just for you.”
“A whip?” she frowned.
“Yes. We herders use whips all the time. NOT to hurt the animals, no!!! When we’re herding cattle, something I was helping with by the time I was six, we crack our whips to make them move where we want them to go. We never touch the animals with the lash, but the crack is incredibly loud. You have to train your horse to not bolt when you whip from his back. It takes a lot of time to learn to use one so that you don’t hit yourself, your horse, or the animals. Whips are usually made for and used by adults. Kids don’t usually get one until they’re grown enough to handle a full adult sized whip. I wanted a whip so badly, Chief, but I was too young, too small. Steppe folks don’t normally spend the time or money to make a whip that will eventually be outgrown by a kid. But Mum knew me well. She gave me that bargain, and I took it. I worked my arse off, memorizing the times tables, and I earned my whip. Believe it or not, I still have it, more out of sentiment than use.”
“Ah. So what is five times seven?”
“Forty seven,” K’ndar said, smirking.
Chief roared.
“So, Chief, what I’m proposing, and mind you, it’s blooming in my head as I speak. I will definitely research that little beastie on the wall, it bugs me that I don’t have the time to do it right now. But why don’t you propose that the first child who finds out what it is, I’ll take them for a dragon ride?”
Elene’s jaw dropped. “Oh, K’ndar, that is so sweet. I’ll do it. What happens if we have a tie? Or more?”
“The first three? who get it, get a dragon ride. I might even wrangle Francie into it, she loves kids.”
“You are such a love, K’ndar. Someday I hope to meet your mother and tell her what an incredibly good man she produced.” she said.
K’ndar blushed.
Then he sobered as another thought intruded.
“Um, thank you. I have to change the topic, though. It upsets me that we have no idea how much is missing from DeeArrs collection. Not just his collection, things from all over Pern, from all over time. L’ichen was busy, busy. How in the world did he find some of these things? He was just one person, and even time jumping takes, well, time.”
“I think I know, K’ndar. I’ve given it a lot of thought. And I believe I know the answer. What was his font of knowledge? How did he know WHERE to look when?”
“Yes. How did he do that? Who gave him all that information?”
She looked at him with a mixture of sadness and admiration.
“You did.”
K’ndar’s jaw dropped. “Me? No way, no! I spoke to him only a few times and it was about plants!”
“He didn’t need it from your mouth, K’ndar. He got the information from your field notebooks.”
K’ndar was stunned.
“I’ve said over and over again, your field notebooks are precise, you are a very good notetaker. Not just your information, but your sketches, your description of the area, diagrams, the coordinates, all that data from the surveys you did with Lord D’nis and D’mitran, as well as your own explorations. The reports that D’nis made, with photos and satellite imaging: all of it is useful data for a thief. I scanned all that data into the database from your notebooks and the surveys you did with them. All he had to do was type in something like “boulder” into the database fifty years from now and he had your data. Time, date, location, coordinates, even-K’ndar, even your sketches of the dragonstones and the cairns you made for each datapoint, each location.”
The realization hit his stomach like a rock.
“I, uh, um, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t do, oh stars, I am so sorry ..”
“K’ndar, don’t be. You have nothing to apologize for. There is no crime in being a good scientist. The crime was someone taking advantage of your work to enrich themselves.”
His mind whirling, he felt anger and betrayal. “That bastard.”
“Aye.”
“But, wait. I know he stole a silver disc and the pilot’s notebooks. I have no idea where any of that came from, like the clothing? I never saw any of that.”
Elene nodded. “I believe you. It makes me think, either he went further back in time than we can imagine, maybe even to join up with the colonists, or there’s someone else out there, in the future, doing the same thing.”
——————————————————————————–
That bastard, K’ndar thought, as he harnessed Raventh. I feel so betrayed. And yet complimented, that he used MY data to steal. Part of me says I will never be so precise again, and the more scientific part of me says I HAVE to be precise.
He’d reread his notes from steppe survey he’d done with Lord D’nis, D’mitran and B’rost before stuffing the notebook into his backpack. Elene was right. There was a plethora of information they’d collected, to include photos and what he knew was called satellite imagery.
I don’t know how to get the datalink to direct me to a coordinate. But I have cairns and dragonstones to go by.
I’ve gotten so much better, he thought, more disciplined in my notes. Elene’s insisting I rewrite it neatly so she could scan it has made me more professional.
I sort of miss going on surveys, he thought. All I’ve been doing lately is just data entry.
Siskin was already in his spot behind Raventh’s head. K’ndar heard the whiff whiff whiff of fire lizard wings over his head.
“Where are you going, K’ndar?”
He turned to see Francie.
Her trio of fire lizards swirled over head, then all landed on Raventh’s back.
Raventh laughed. He is telling the bronze to stay back near my tail, HE is the leader when he’s on me.
“Uh, I’m going out to the steppe. I’m going to see if that bastard L’ichen stole the boulder that B’rost found on our steppe survey. I’m sure that’s the boulder his ‘contact’ mentioned looking ‘so nice in his own private collection’. The bastard.”
“Raylan told me about his ‘contact’ mentioning a boulder. Is it important?
“Bloody well important. The boulder was a benchmark from the geologist on the very first survey of Pern, years and years before the colonists arrived. It showed me just how far south they got on Southern. It’s part of our history, and now it’s in the contact’s private collection of stolen artifacts, unless, of course, he’s sold it on to some rich Holder or Crafter. I’m just going out to make sure it’s really gone. If it’s not..”
“What will you do?”
“Ummm, time jump to get it before he does? I could go back to the day after we found it the first time.”
“Nooooooo, K’ndar no! Don’t do that!”
He shook his head.
“I won’t, I promise, I wouldn’t do that but, it’s, well, a way to prevent theft. But my doing it, even with the best of intentions, still is stealing, right? I can’t live with myself doing that. Besides, time jumping scares the liver out of me. Especially now after seeing what it did to L’ichen. I don’t give a rip what it did to L’ichen. It’s a damn shame what it did to Sorath. He was innocent.”
“Right. You can’t change history, K’ndar. You can only learn from it. If it’s gone, we know who got it and how. We can then work from that. I wouldn’t change a thing of how you collect your data. Not a jot. Raylan has so much confidence in you, you can’t believe it. And Elene, too.”
He felt a glow of appreciation.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re not going alone, are you?”
“Well, yes, I am. I asked Raylan if he’d cut me loose to see if it’s really gone. D’mitran is not here, Lord D’nis can’t go although I know he’d jump at it, and B’rost is, well, B’rost is B’rost. Who knows where he is at the moment. And so it’s just me.”
“Do you have the coordinates?”
“I didn’t take them, D’nis and D’mitran did and I doubt very much if I’m smart enough to put them into my datalink. I did my data the old way, I made a cairn, and B’rost made one, mostly because he loves playing with rocks. But I made notes of both.” He handed her his notebook. ‘That’s the cairn I made and next page over? That’s the one B’rost made.”
She frowned. “Were you on fellis when you made these notes? Because these are a MESS!”
“What, my notes?”
“Well, yes, although your sketching is incredibly accurate and now I have the cairns in my mind. But Elene has said many times how good and accurate and oh, drat, legible? your work is? This, K’ndar, it looks like chicken scratch.”
“Hey!” he retorted, not sure if he should be insulted, “I rewrite everything in a notebook specifically for Elene. I make it all nice and pretty, okay? This is my personal one, and I am sorry, but yes, it’s a mess and there are times I look at something I scribbled in a hurry and say, what the shaff does this mean? But Elene gets a tediously, time consuming neatly written notebook, that I rewrite and redraw and redo the numbers right after I get home when it’s all still fresh. So I can look in the database to see what I wrote. Okay? And obviously, it’s good enough to allow a thief to track down and steal things. So???”
Francie was giggling, tickled to get under his skin, gently, of course.
“So give me half an hour to make a lunch for us and leave a note for Raylan. P’jar’s on dragon transport duty today. I’m going with you.”
_________________________________________________________
“Only because I didn’t annotate B’rost’s cairn in the notebooks I turned in to Elene do I know where it was,” K’ndar said, almost volcanic in his fury.
The depression where the boulder had been, one that had had the words EEC Site 7 chiseled into it, was empty of anything but steppe grass. And now it was gone.
“I am very sure it was here. See, over there? I’d made a cairn and it looks like L’ichen kicked it over and scattered it. He’d do that, sure as sunrise, the bastard. But he didn’t see B’rost’s, which is right here at our feet. It’s proof that L’ichen stole it. And B’rost didn’t turn in any notebooks.”
Francie shook her head. “I don’t understand people like that. Maybe I do. It was all a game to L’ichen, it was fun. He didn’t have to do any work, just look up yours and others data and poof, swoop in and snatch the prize. But you know, K’ndar, Pern got even in the end. She saw him gaming the system. HE knew there was always a prize at the end, but not quite the one he’d expected. She let him hang himself with his own rope.”