Author: ueoai

Chap. 420 The Tool Shed How did I end up this way? he thought, the rain slashing his face. I’m soaked to the bone, my feet are wet, this slicker isn’t helping. I didn’t realize how dark it gets here. I’ve got to get to shelter. His mind was swirling, one moment lucid, the next…

Chap. 419  Lost and Found “I scanned all his personal journals into the database before I turned the backpack over to Security,” Jansen told Raylan. “How about the plant survey notebooks?” “Well, of course, Chief! It’s all in the database. Since he’d already allowed us to keep the plant notebooks, I figured we’d keep those.…

Chap. 418 The Rock in the Sock Commo entered the library, her arms full of L’ichen’s clothing, and stopped in shock. “What in the world? What’s happened, did we have an earthquake?” Chief Elene shook her head, with a grin. She and the Security Chief were at the entrance, watching a pack of kids cleaning…

Chap. 417 The Cargo Boxes “Drop the cargo boxes here, please?” Raylan said, “I’ll want to check them to see if they’re really empty.” The Engineers had loaded the things they’d taken from the bunker-and the Chiefs-onto their horse cart.   “Would you please drop me off at the Library?” Commo had asked as the…

Chap. 416  The Fuel Bunker “There’s a sign underneath this moss,” Raylan said. He cleaned it off. It was almost illegible, but the letters were large enough to still be read. “It says, DANGER NO SMOKING” “What does that mean?” “The fuel was probably flammable,” Engineering said. “But it wouldn’t smoke if it wasn’t burning,…

Chap. 415  To Catch a Thief Data looked at his datalink as they made their way towards Rigel. He felt a huge sense of satisfaction. I knew he’d come back, that trap worked like a champ. “It looks like no one comes out here,” said Commo, “Look how high the grass is. And the trees,…

Chap. 414 The Fence’s Advice The healer removed her stethoscope earpieces. “He’s gone,” she said, with a sigh. Talking with Grafton helped me, she thought. “Don’t worry, Ma’am,’ he’d said, “Landing is full of all sorts of specialists. I have a feeling your necropsy will be done without you having to touch a scalpel.” The…

Chap. 413 The Healer’s Dilemna Landing’s riders dispersed to their individual quarters for unharnessing and grooming.  Mondevuth, Falconth and Corvuth flew the short distance to their mountainside weyrs. They were too big to fit in the buildings that had been opened. Their riders weren’t gentle in their assessment of L’ichen’s care (or lack thereof) of…

Chap. 412 The Signal Trap “Chief?” One of Communication’s techs came to her Chief’s desk. “Yes?” “Remember during the shutdown, when Data caught that one datalink signal to the Yokohama? Even though everyone knew we weren’t supposed to use our datalinks?” “Oh, yes, I do, Data was on it so quickly it didn’t leave the…

Chap. 411 The Moribund Blue Landing’s dragons were approaching their meadow after their biweekly drill. Despite riding a brown dragon, P’jar was acting as wing leader. It feels so strange, he thought, to be ordering two bronze riders who also happen to be former Weyrleaders AND are now Councilmen-but we all agreed on our taking…