Chap. 304 Repercussions

Chap. 304 Repercussions

K’ndar, D’mitran and B’rost exited the Council chamber. They moved to the waiting area where people were waiting to petition or report.

“Whew, ” B’rost said in an uncharacteristic whisper, “That was intense.”

K’ndar stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow. “It was. We were treated gently. The Council isn’t savage but they don’t tolerate nonsense. We didn’t exhibit any. EXCEPT YOU, B’rost. Just what the shaff were you doing, skyhooting off like that?”

B’rost paled. “Um, um…”

“‘Um’ is not an answer! If I’m the leader of this bloody team, you should at least have the courtesy to say, oh, I’m about to go do something crazy!”

“Excuse me, dragonrider, but would you please take it outside?” said one of the staff.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, forgive me. You’re right. Outside, B’rost.”

By the time they’d made it outside, K’ndar had a full head of angry steam.

B’rost looked impish. “Before you say anything, K’ndar, I know why you’re mad. It’s just, sometimes these wild hairs grab me and I just go and DO.” He laughed.

“This isn’t funny, B’rost. I know you. I’ve seen you do rash things before. You are impulsive. You don’t stop to think. It’s what gave me pause to consider you a member of this team. Only because you begged to come along did I consent. Now I’m realizing I made a mistake.”

B’rost’s face changed to consternation. “I did think, K’ndar. I saw T’ovar on the beach. I thought, oh, he’s going to get away! If I’d not kept him on the beach, would we ever have had a chance to catch him?”

“I didn’t see any indication that he was about to leave, B’rost. He was sitting down with the boatmen, talking,” D’mitran said.

“Yes, but if he HAD fled, we’d have never caught him.”

“If you’d waited a few more minutes, we’d have been there in force. Or I could have sent Siskin to follow him had he fled.”

“Siskin didn’t want to go, remember? Something scared him.”

“B’rost!! Would you PLEASE, for once in your life, admit that you’re a wild card? You drive me crazy, B’rost, one minute you’re steady as a rock, the next minute you’re fluttering away on the slightest breeze. Make up your mind so I can make up mine!”

B’rost gasped. Then he said, “K’ndar. I saw a chance. You were on the link with Raylan. He could have gotten away and then were would we be?”

“B’rost. It was luck that we saw him at all. We’re on a SURVEY, remember? Not a rogue hunt.”

“But K’ndar! We caught him! Isn’t that something?”

“We did. By pure luck. I admit it was a brilliant maneuver, but, B’rost, a lot of things could have gone badly. Didn’t you hear Raylan say that the Southern riders were on their way? Oh, wait. No, you didn’t. You took off like a big bird without letting me know.”

“I tried to ask you but you were chatting with Raylan.”

“CHATTING? I was consulting with MY boss, the man who set this whole survey up, the one who trusted me to choose people I can rely on to do as they’re told. They made me team leader. I don’t like it, I’m obviously no good at it, considering your actions. Damn it, you can’t just take matters in your own hands like that.”

“If you recall, B’rost, I did suggest that perhaps you should ask your team leader?” D’mitran added.

“You’re both making it to be this big bad thing I did. I wasn’t being disobedient, I was being proactive. Now you’re cutting me up for something that worked.”

K’ndar mastered the impulse to punch B’rost.

“B’rost, I don’t like chewing your arse, but they made me leader and this is what leaders do when someone disobeys, or puts the mission at risk. I’m tired of your excuses. You go off without thinking and one of these days it’s going to be for the worse.”

B’rost stared at his feet. He fought his pride and his exuberance. Pride won. I did it. We caught him and it’s because of me.

“K’ndar. I saw a chance. I took it. It worked, isn’t that worth something?”

K’ndar’s fury was subsiding, to be replaced by irritation. You’re done, B’rost. If you don’t submit-yes, that’s the word, submit-if you don’t submit, you’re done. And I won’t miss you as a team mate. You’re a friend, but you can’t be relied on. I don’t need this aggravation.

B’rost met his eye.

“K’ndar, I don’t know what gets into me. I don’t. I just, I just, I don’t know the word. It’s like this idea pops into my head and says do it.”

“And?” D’mitran inserted.

“And? What do you mean, and?”

“See, B’rost, that is what irritates me, aggravates the shit out of me. You don’t want to admit to being wrong. Since we were Weyrlings, you’ve never looked past your dragon’s nose. You’re brave and intelligent, B’rost, but can’t you see that leaders don’t always have the time to explain their plans to those under them?”

“There wasn’t a plan, K’ndar! It worked, didn’t it? We got T’ovar.”

K’ndar lost it. He threw his hands up into the air, stifling the urge to throttle the blue rider. D’mitran caught his eye. It said, let me try.

He turned to B’rost.

“What you did was clever, B’rost. But cleverness only goes so far. Yes, your actions did result in keeping T’ovar off balance, even though that wasn’t your intention. It helped me in that now I know that T’ovar was trying to convince the boatmen to supply illegal settlements on Lord Dorn’s Hold. When I leave here, I will report to Lord Dorn, and with my knowledge of what’s going on, he can then make plans on how to handle the illegal settlements already established.

I’m Lord Dorn’s hired representative. He trusts me to act in his stead. I’m given plenty of leeway to make decisions without consulting him, as long as I go by his rules and conditions. But the final decision on what to do about illegal settlements is his to make, not mine. It’s Lord Dorn’s Singing Waters Hold, not D’mitran’s, contracted dragonrider.

What do you think would happen were I to decide, hey, I see a bunch of illegal huts, I’ll just feed firestone to Careth and flame them all, burn ’em to the ground and save Lord Dorn the aggravation? Then I find out later that Lord Dorn had already-without telling me, because he’s not obligated to-he’d already dealt with them, they’re tithing regularly, and oh, by the way, I killed a baby girl in one of the huts we burned. Do you see? Do you see how an impulse can go badly wrong? Do you understand?”

B’rost looked puzzled. K’ndar, still seething, wondered if he was capable of grasping what D’mitran had said. I hate this, I do, but now I understand leadership. A little. I am so grateful to you, D’mitran, I can hardly find the words to say.

“I do understand, but, D’mitran! It was a spur of the moment decision. It worked!”

“And what if it hadn’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“B’rost. You were lucky T’ovar didn’t have his crossbow. What would have happened had you landed and T’ovar shot you dead?”

“Um..”

“Sticky, isn’t it? Had you waited, K’ndar may well have asked you to do precisely what you did. In and of itself, it was a brilliant move, B’rost, but a risky one. I could probably beat you at chess, though I’m not a good player. Good leaders-and K’ndar is a good one, despite his self doubts-don’t treat their people as pawns. Remember, I repeat, I did say that perhaps you should wait? Because, had things gone wrong, you may be dead. Then K’ndar, and even me, would question our actions for the rest of our lives. Leaders say ‘no’ or ‘wait’ because they don’t want to put their people in harm’s way for no reason. You were lucky, B’rost. The plan may very well have gone sideways.”

“But it didn’t. That’s just it,” B’rost said, “There wasn’t a plan. I could see right away it was a make or break thing. And I can read body language. I knew, I just knew, the boatmen wouldn’t harm me.”

K’ndar’s stomach was in knots. He really, really cannot grasp it. “B’rost! Did you think T’ovar would just submit, like a lamb?”

“K’ndar. I wasn’t worried. Why are you so angry? It worked.”

“B’rost. Listen. For the sake of Pern, LISTEN. We weren’t out there to bag a rogue. The stars aligned just right for us. You saw an opportunity and for that you deserve a lot of the credit.

But you are causing me a lot of problems. I am already busier than a one legged man in an arse kicking contest, and now I have to delegate a huge slice of my time and attention into babysitting you. I’m forced to factor B’rost the Glory Hound into my plans. What will B’rost do next? He won’t obey, he won’t listen, he’ll take off on a wild wherry chase without warning. You’re causing me a lot of grief, and I’m sick of it. Until you can learn to rein yourself in, I can’t see you working on the survey anymore.”

“That’s not fair, K’ndar! I’ve done a lot of good work, I have! Can’t you at least give me some credit? T’ovar could have launched. But he didn’t, because I’d held him up long enough so that the rest of you could back me up.”

I’ve had enough, B’rost, D’mitran thought. K’ndar is too kind hearted to cut you off at the knees. You, on the other hand are just not accepting it. There’s stubborn, and then there’s pigheaded. B’rost, you are the latter.

“No, B’rost. He didn’t stay because of you. He didn’t launch because Southern’s queen ordered Firoth to stay. Did you know that?” he said.

B’rost looked stunned. “No. I…I didn’t know…”

“Ask Rath. Ask him. He’ll tell you. Firoth obeyed the queen. That’s what every dragon, from green to bronze, does. They obey the queen, even when their rider wants something else. She told him to stay where he was. Firoth didn’t question her order, like you’re doing to K’ndar. Firoth stayed as he was told. THAT’s why T’ovar didn’t launch.”

He is right. The queen heard T’ovar order Firoth to launch. She told him to stay and he told T’ovar that. Then T’ovar hit him, hard. I think something broke in his skull. He hurt Firoth Rath said. There was an immense sadness in the blue’s voice.

“Oh.”

_____________________________________________________________

“Where did he go?” D’mitran asked. He and K’ndar were back in K’ndar’s quarters. B’rost had not accompanied them.

“I don’t know, and honestly, don’t care. My stomach’s so tied up I’m about to puke. I can’t remember being so angry, he just Doesn’t Get It. He’s a glory hound, D’mitran. He’s been that way since I’ve known him.”

“I’m sorry, K’ndar, and there’s not much I can do to change him. I hate to say this, but evolution has a way of purging the ranks of folks like that.”

The pedestrian door pinged. “Enter,” K’ndar called, hoping it wasn’t B’rost.

It wasn’t.

Raylan entered. He had a jug with him.

“You’ve had a rough day, K’ndar.”

“Thank you, sir, but it was your sending the Southern dragons that saved the day. And you were there with us in the Council chamber. They were fair.”

“I didn’t mean that. I meant your, uh, ‘conversation’ with B’rost. It’s hard, K’ndar, when you have to discipline a friend. You said from the very first that you weren’t cut out for leadership.”

“Sir, I…”

He put up one hand. “Hear me out, K’ndar. This isn’t an arse chewing. Can I open this jug of Lord Dorn’s apple cider? I know you don’t drink alcohol, but I think you need something a bit stronger than plain ol’ klah.”

K’ndar got three mugs. The cork squeaked when Raylan pulled it. He poured a tot in K’ndar’s mug. D’mitran smiled. “This is Lord Dorn’s first pressing of the year. He’s hopeful people will like it.”

K’ndar looked at Raylan. “Um, am I in trouble?”

“No, of course not, K’ndar! This is a peace offering.”

“Peace offering? Sir, I..”

“It’s just us ponies here, K’ndar, so I’m Raylan. D’mitran, your mug, please?”

“Thank you, Raylan.”

“Kippiss”, he said, and they clinked mugs. K’ndar took a sip. He’d never had cider before. “That’s good stuff,” he said. It was. It did seem to calm his nerves.

“May I sit down?”

“Please! You don’t have to ask.”

The three sat down in the main room. Siskin dropped from his ledge and landed on K’ndar’s shoulder. He crooned, softly, trying to soothe K’ndar. It was as effective as a cat’s purr.

Raylan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

“The problem with me, K’ndar, is that I didn’t listen to YOU. I gave K’ndar a task, knowing he would perform it well. He’s a good egg, K’ndar is. He’s dependable, reliable, honest and has always given me one hundred percent. Somehow I believed that the survey team needed an official leader. K’ndar, you told me you didn’t want to be that, and I didn’t listen. I insisted, so you obeyed. You’ve been struggling, yet never kicked. I would bet my lunch you would love to just quit the whole shebang. Yet I still need the work to be done. If I say that there is NO leader in this survey, would you be willing to continue on until it’s finished?”

K’ndar gawped. “Uh, uh, yes. Of course!”

“Then consider it done. Is it your intention to continue the survey without B’rost?”

“Uh,”

D’mitran coughed. “Excuse me, but that’s a leadership decision, sir.”

Raylan slapped his head. “See, that’s Landing in me. Yes. You are right, D’mitran, and thank you. I will make that decision.”

“The problem with B’rost is his heart, Raylan. He means well. There’s not a lick of mean in him. He has an incredible grasp on what people feel, but he has no common sense. He’s just uncontrollable, like an unbroken colt who’s still trying to figure out his left lead from his right. He does good work if someone rides him and keeps him focused. I’m just tired of that rider being me,” K’ndar said.

The irony of it hit him. Here I am, arguing for him. I want his friendship, but I don’t want him on the team.

“You want him as a friend, not a coworker.”

“Yes.”

“And I know he does good work.”

“Yes. Are you reading my mind?”

“I don’t have to. I can see it in your eyes. Regarding the survey. Risal is well enough now to take on the geologist data collection. As for B’rost, being that he’s not assigned here, his participation in the survey is entirely my decision. Based on his past action, I am going to have to think about it. It may take a while. Does that suit you?”

“It relieves me, s..Raylan.”

“That’s what I want. I want a happy K’ndar.”

His datalink buzzed. “Pardon me,” he said, “normally I’d put this text on ‘wait’ but it is from Council,” he said.

He read the message. His jaw dropped. “Oh, my.” He looked stunned. He thumbed the message off and looked through the two dragonriders.

“What? Is something wrong? Is it something you can tell us?”

Raylan took a deep breath. “It is,” he said. He shook his head.

“Being that I’m married to a dragonrider, I know the freedom a dragon gives you. I wondered how Weyrleader D’rsay was going to handle T’ovar. Do you keep him in a cell for the rest of his life? His crimes don’t merit beheading. There’s no way to imprison a dragonrider. You can’t shackle or cage his dragon. The moment he’s on his dragon, he’s gone. You can’t banish him to an island he can fly off from. I can’t believe if he gets out, T’ovar won’t be right back to his crimes.

A rogue dragonrider is such a novelty that the Council was still in discussion with the Weyrleaders about how to handle him when I left to come here. This message, though…”

“NO! He didn’t escape, did he?” K’ndar almost shouted.

“They didn’t let him go, did they?” D’mitran said, “We saw them load T’ovar on D’rsay’s bronze, and then they all launched.”

“No, no. T’ovar’s in a hastily created cell at Southern Weyr right now, K’ndar. The Weyrleaders returned here to resume meeting with the Council. This…oh, my. It’s so sad.”

“What? What’s happened?

“It’s his dragon. Firoth? He launched with the other dragons, to go to Southern Weyr.”

“Yes, we saw that. Firoth flew empty backed.”

Raylan looked at the message again.

“Firoth never came out of between. He committed suicide.”