"Will he be all right, Natua?"

She gave a little leap in an answer which he took to be affirmative. Both he and Persellan watched in silence until the dorsal fins of patient and nurses were no longer easily visible.

"Never done anything like that before in my life,' Persellan muttered as he strode out of the water. He took no more than a few steps up on the sand before he collapsed, to spread out his length on the warm sand. "And I don't even know if it will be enough. But I tried."

"You did indeed, Healer, and I'm very grateful you did,' T'lion said. Gaddie, you were great!

I know it. I've never done anything like that either. But the dolphin lives. We all did well. Tell the healer.

"Gadareth, too, says you did well, Persellan,' T'lion murmured, with a weary grin. A snore answered him. A nap seemed like a good idea but he had enough common sense remaining to collect two of the wide leaves they often used to shield the harsh sun rays. He put one on Persellan's head and face, and draped the second over himself.

Gadareth, wings carefully tight against his back, rolled this way and that in the warm sands before he, too, settled his head on his front legs and relaxed in the sun.

Chapter Seven.

early the next morning Persellan joined T'lion and Gadareth on the strand when the young dragonrider rang the "report' peal. He had spent an anxious night, worrying about Boojie, and rather pleased to see that Persellan was also concerned.

No sooner had the last note of the ring echoed across the waters than two dolphins leaped above the surface, a distant squeeing audible.

"Hope that's a happy sound,' T'lion murmured.

"Hmmmm,' was Persellan's reply as he shielded his eyes and peered across the dawn-lightened waters.

"They feed at dawn, you know,' T'lion informed him conversationally. "Best time to get them."

"Am I likely to be on call to dolphins, too, now?"

T'lion looked up to check the healer's mood. He didn't know the man well enough to judge whether or not his gruffness was genuine. Most people tended to be grumpy in the early hours of a day. Healers certainly had the right, called up at the most inconvenient of times.

"Would that bother you?" T'lion asked apprehensively.

"Hmmmm. Depends. I could see that the creature had to have that gash sutured. Are they often injured? How did that happen to it?"

"I don't know about injuries in general. Most of the dolphins have scars here and there. I haven't asked how they get them, though. We haven't reached that sort of thing. Most of our conversations have been pretty basic. Maybe Master Alemi knows. I can ask him."

"Who's Master Alemi?" Persellan asked, his gaze still on the incoming dolphins' progress.

"Master Fishman at Paradise River Hold. He got me interested in the dolphins. Aivas asked me to continue."

"Did he?" Persellan shot a glance down at his young companion.

"Yes, yesterday wasn't my first visit to report to Aivas,' T'lion said in a tone he hoped wasn't boastful.

"Indeed! Hmmmm, well."

The squeeing was louder now and T'Iion thought it sounded happy. Maybe because he wanted it to. He let out a sigh. Then, as the two dolphins neared the sh.o.r.e, he couldn't wait any longer and ran out into the water until he was waist deep.

"Is Boojie OK?" he shouted through cupped hands.

"Squeeee yes. Squee yes!'

"Yes?"

"Yesssssss, squeee yessssss!" The two dolphins made it a chorus and seemed to speed up. Their final leap splashed T'lion thoroughly but he didn't care. Natua pushed his face right up into the dragonrider's, and his ever grinning smile was deeper than ever. He dropped his jaw and squeed again.

"Boojie best grateful. Ate well."

"Swims little, is better."

"Tell them,' Persellan called from where he stood at the water's edge, "Boojie must have the sutures removed Are dolphins aware of time? I mean I don't want to leave those st.i.tches in forever. They could tear the flesh."

"When d'you want Boojie back?" T'lion asked.

"In a sevenday. Would they understand that?"

T'lion nodded vigorously even as he repeated the instructions to the two dolphins. "In seven and T'lion held up sufficient fingers, tapping them in turn on Natua's nose, "dawns, Boojie is to come back to the Healer. Understand?"

"Squeeee! Understand. Seven dawns."

"We tell!" Tana added, clicking affirmatively.

"Thanks for coming,' T'lion added.

"You ring. We come. We promise. Thank medic." And Tana did her half-stand, nodding her head vigorously before she gave a final tail swish and leaped sideways, over and under the water and swam off, Natua squeeing after her.

"Did you hear, Persellan?" T'lion asked as he waded back out. "Boojie's very grateful. He ate and they understood to bring him back in a sevenday.

"I must say, I'm gratified, since I hadn't a notion if I was doing the creature any good at all."

"Oh, you did, Persellan, you did!'

Amazing incident, actually. I must report now who would I report to? Not the Master Farmer certainly for the sea is not his province.

"Master Alemi says that the Master Fishman, Idarolan, is interested in the dolphins."

"Well, then, I shall report to him, and to T'gellan, as well as to Master Oldive. At least he will find this case interesting. Many wouldn't, but Oldive will." That seemed to please Persellan even more as they made their way back to the Weyr.

T'lion hoped he'd have a chance to tell Master Alemi all about yesterday and dolphin sonar. Well, maybe he shouldn't talk about Mirrim's baby yet, but he could tell about Persellan's sewing up Boojie.

It was several days before T'Iion had a chance to stop off at Paradise Hold. He was on his way back from conveying Master Fandarel to Telgar Smith Craft Hall and saw no harm in stopping off that evening to see Alemi. The big yawl, the Fair Winds, was not at anchor, nor the other sloop or the ketch that fished from Paradise River. T'lion was about to tell Gadareth to go on to the Weyr when he saw a ship sailing into the next cove. The northern coast of the Southern Continent had many inlets. He thought it very odd that the ship didn't put into the Paradise River anchorage. Could they have mistaken their port of call?

That cove also had a river, but a small one, feeding into the sea.

Could the captain have mistaken this one for the true Hold?

Puzzled, he asked Gadareth to glide over that way. What he saw on the beach did nothing to rea.s.sure him. For people were hurriedly unloading small boats: quite a mound of crates and stuff already on the beach. Was Paradise River opening new holdings on its land? He'd heard remarks at dinner in the Weyr that more and more people were heading to the Southern Continent after what had been an extremely cold winter.

Gaddie, let's just check with Holder Jayge, T'lion said and his dragon obliged, winking into between, hopefully before those on the beach had seen him. They'd had the sun at their backs and wouldn't have been all that visible. There had been something furtive about the beaching.

"Holder Jayge, were you expecting more new settlers?" T'lion asked, presenting himself and apologizing for interrupting their supper.

"No,' and Jayge frowned, rising. "Why?"

"Well, there's a ship anch.o.r.ed next cove over and stuff's all over the beach. I thought you should know."

"Indeed I should, T'lion,' and angry sparks lit his eyes. "Did you happen to see the Fair Winds on her way in?"

"No, sir, we came out of between above the pier and no sign of any of your ships."

"I know that dragonriders are not supposed to intervene in Hold matters, Jayge said, beckoning T'lion to follow him to the front porch, "but if Alemi knew about this . . . intrusion, he could a.s.sist us." He glanced west where the tip of the setting sun was just visible. "Could you estimate how many are on that beach?"

T'lion shook his head. "They were unloading two small boats, coming and going."

"Did they see you?"

"No, I was coming in from the west. Sun behind me."

"Good,' and Jayge emphasized that by gripping T'lion's arm in approval. "Possibly eight, ten men, if they had two boats.

Well, if we start now, we should reach the cove by moonrise!

But I'd want Alemi's reinforcement." He waited for T'lion's response.

"I'd never find Alemi at sea,' T'lion began, half of him wanting to help Jayge and the other half most loath to get into further trouble with T'gellan. Which he would if he interfered even in a minor way. Someone would drop the word that a dragonrider had told Alemi.

Dolphins find Alemi faster, Gadareth said slyly from the shadows in which he waited.

"Dolphins! They could find Alemi and tell him to come,' T'lion cried.

"Good lad!" Jayge clapped him on the back now. "Those critters really are good for something."

While T'lion knew that this was not the moment to mention the dolphins' latest skill, he had no reservations about using them.

"I'll just go ring the bell on the pier,' T'lion said, running back to his dragon.

"My grat.i.tude, dragonrider,' Jayge called after him.

As Gadareth lifted into the night and angled himself toward the head of the bay, T'lion heard Jayge hammering on the alarm triangle.

The pier was long enough to accommodate the bronze dragon so Gadareth set T'lion down right by the bell tower. He clanged it as vigorously as Jayge had been plying the iron. Dusk was also a good time to get a quick response from dolphins who would be looking for a game to play. In his head, T'lion sorted out the words to use to convey the message to Alemi.

Kib, Temp and Afo answered the summons.

"You must find Alemi, Kib,' T'lion said, holding the dolphin's head at an angle so the eye was on him.

"Can do easy. Not far now.

"Then tell him Jayge needs his help immediately at the next cove. Over there,' and T'lion jabbed his hand in the appropriate direction.

"Where ship is?"

"You saw them?"

"Northern ship smelly. In wrong place?"

"You bet your safety straps they are,' T'lion said. "They are invading Paradise River Hold."

"Invade no good?"

"That's right. Those men do no good to Alemi, Jayge and Readis."

T'lion was amazed by the hostile notes in the clicking and squeeing which came out in a deeper, almost menacing, tone and tempo.

"Go. Find Alemi. Tell him trouble comes here. Be at next cove by moonrise to help Jayge and his men. Kib wriggled himself on his tail, waving his flippers. "Find Alemi. Tell him trouble. Moon rise. We know where! We go!'

In one of their incredible maneuvers, the three dolphins simultaneously launched themselves high above the water and, turning their agile bodies, dove back. T'lion saw them emerge briefly, travelling at great speed, out to sea, as if they knew exactly where they were going.

They probably do know exactly where they're going, T'lion told Gadareth. "Well, we'd better get back home as fast as we can or someone might wonder how long it took us to get Master Fandarel home."

You were given food when you arrived, Gadareth remarked as T'lion settled himself again between his neck ridges.

T'lion chortled as he slapped his dragon's neck. "That's right and a good meal it was. I had seconds! Let's go home!' Several days later at dinner in the Weyr Hall, T'lion heard that a group of northerners had been forcefully expelled from Paradise River Hold. The master of the ship that had brought them would be severely disciplined by Master Idarolan and deprived of his command. Ingenuously T'lion asked for details.

"You know, I used to go there at lot,' T'lion remarked, "nice folk."

He was told about the clever way in which Holder Jayge and his small force of men had emerged from the forest, caught the intruders asleep in their hastily set-up camp and tied them up. The Paradise River Fishmaster Alemi and his fishmen had boarded their transport ship and, with a crew from his own Fishhold, had sailed it and the unwelcome immigrants into Ista Harbor where the vessel was impounded and its crew and pa.s.sengers transported back to their point of departure in Igen. Lord Holder Laudey was not best pleased by this escapade and the men and women were sentenced to work in the mines. The episode was well spread by harpers with the moral that those who wished to settle on the southern continent had to obtain permission.

"There'll be more of such occurrences, V'line remarked.

"Paradise River Hold's already had a couple of problems along that line.

"You mean when that self-styled Lady Holdless Th.e.l.la attacked the Hold a couple of Turns back?" one of the wingleaders asked.

"That was the worst,' V'line replied, having inadvertently arrived while the raid was in progress.

"The Weyrs can't involve themselves in Hold matters,' the brown rider, M'sur, said, frowning. "It's enough that we have to convey people in and out of Landing all the time." He nodded at T'lion. "Not to mention having to survey every inch of this continent to prepare for the day Threadfall stops forever.

T'lion shrugged and grinned when several other riders glanced in his direction. No-one had even noticed his return after full dark on the night in question. And really, he hadn't really been involved. The dolphins had! And who would know that?

Lord Toric heard about the attempted intrusion and smiled.

It amused him that more people were illegally attempting to invade the south - so long as they kept away from his zealously guarded holding - and ignoring the Benden Weyrleaders' edict that immigration must be to sites they had approved. That only verified to Toric that the Weyrleaders were indeed keeping the best sites for the dragonriders. He was hoping that some of the tries would succeed if only to prove that people could survive very well, thank you, wherever they were willing to work hard enough to "hold'. It didn't matter to Toric that these would-be settlers could die from sampling exotic-looking and sweet-smelling tree fruits, that there were hungry and feral beasts quite able to take down a full-grown adult, that there were the most insidious dangers from thorn-poisoning and fevers. Toric's notion was that the strong survived and if the unfit died, they merited no mourning. What irked him most was that the Benden Weyrleaders felt they had the right to apportion the south where they wished to bestow it. Just because they'd found some doc.u.ment that told how the Ancients had dealt with settling. Land was held by those strong enough to hang on to it and improve it.