Chap. 389 ER, Cove Hold Healer Hall

Chap. 389 ER, Cove Hold Healer Hall

“Raylan, answer your datalink!” he shouted in frustration at his own. “How many times have you told me to ‘Always Be In Touch?’ You need to help your wife!”

But the datalink was silent.

Raventh was harnessed, ready to leave the beach. Raventh would carry Francie’s backpack, as the spear with the impaled creatures was top heavy and unwieldy for just one hand.

“Maybe you’re in the barn, Raylan? I’ll go call at your door,” he said.

No. Wait. Damn. Francie said you’re hiking and plan on camping overnight.

He could be anywhere, K’ndar thought, but hikers are slower than horses. If he left before dawn, maybe he’s only a few hours out. I’ll leave him a message. Maybe Jansen can find him, she can do anything with her computer.

“Raylan, this is K’ndar. Francie is at Cove Hold Healer Hall. She’s been hurt while snorkeling. I am going to Landing to change clothes, then I’m taking her backpack to the Hall. Call me as soon as you get this message.”

He clambered aboard Raventh, holding the harpoon like a trident.

What lovely markings on the shell, he thought. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear someone had painstakingly painted each feathery line. How sad that such beauty conceals such danger. It’s just a shellfish, it has no brains, it can’t be called evil. I can still hate what it did, though.

“I hope between kills you, you nasty beast,” he said to it.

——————————————————————————————————-

He’d left the spear sharp end down in an empty bucket. When he came out, he noticed that, while the fish was very dead, the shelled creature was not.

It looks like the shellfish is trying to retract its harpoon, he thought, but the leash is tangled in the spikes and preventing it. Good. I don’t want it somehow harpooning ME.

Or me Raventh added.

Even more disturbing was that, despite it still being secured to the fish, the shellfish was bubbling water from its very tightly closed shell.

Damn. How did it survive between? And how is it surviving out of water? It must be one of those sea creatures that can survive when the tide goes out.

He disconnected the leash from the spear and gently pushed it all the way through the fish until it cleared the blunt end. Yes, the shellfish is still definitely alive. I’ll be interested in seeing what the dolphins make of it.

He took several photos of it, and pinged the data link.

Unknown genus and species of shellfish, closest analogy is Conus from the Indo Pacific ocean on Terra. Fish itself appears to be colloquially named “sea bass”. No Latin nomenclature has been applied to either one. Both creatures need further study.

Great, he thought, two more creatures I get to name. Oh, wait, three. The creature in the jungle!

Siskin perched on the rim of the bucket, exclaiming at the size of the fish.

“No, Sis, NO,” he said, “don’t touch it. I don’t know if the fish’s flesh is contaminated with venom.”

I told him to not touch the fish or the shell creature. I’m sure the bronze told him it hurt Francie Raventh said.

Siskin chipped and lifted away from the bucket. He settled in his customary position just behind Raventh’s head.

K’ndar picked up Francie’s pack from where Raventh had deposited it. It made a clattering noise.

Hmm.

He felt a bit uncomfortable opening another person’s pack, but the clatter proved to be the lunch she’d packed. She had packed enough food for five or six people.

Oh, Francie…

It felt cold, despite the growing warmth of the sun, so he put the lunch in his refrigerator. I bet I won’t be getting lunch anytime soon, he thought. This will hopefully do.

Raventh, take the bucket by the handle. Don’t let it tip, we don’t want to lose them.

That is easy. We did this in Weyrlingschool

He called Cove Hold and told them he was inbound.

They landed in the Hold’s dragon meadow. He saw a young man trotting towards him, a woman walking a bit slower behind him.

Motanith was in the dragon meadow. The two green fire lizards were with her. Motanith bugled at them.

She is much calmer now Raventh said. She is angry that they wouldn’t let her into the weyr.

It’s called a ‘clinic’ and it’s much too small for large animals like dragons. Does she say what happened?

She does. I didn’t see it, I had my back turned from her. Motanith and I were hunting, the green fire lizards had already killed. The bronze is closely bonded to Francie and was with her. He shows Francie spearing a big fish. It tried to hide in the rocks, but the spear was sideways and kept it from getting in. Francie knelt down on the sands and dragged the fish out, it went next to her leg. The shelled creature stuck a tube? it looks like a tube, out of the sand. The harpoon hit the fish on its side and went all the way through the fish, and then into Francie’s leg.

Raventh was silent for a moment. She dropped the spear and her breathing tube came out of her mouth followed by a big bubble and then she went right to the surface.

K’ndar winced.

He shows Francie wiggling, she made a pain sound in his head and now he shows Motanith coming fast underwater.

Maybe she didn’t inhale too much water, then.

I saw Motanith get under Francie. Motanith got her on her neck and lifted her out of the water.

The two green fire lizards flew to Raventh, chittering to Siskin. “Where’s the bronze?” he asked.

He is with Francie.

The young man approached K’ndar, still next to Raventh.

The greens hovered over the young man, hissing. He tried to shoo them away, only antagonizing them. Then he realized how close he was to Raventh. Awestruck, he gasped, “He’s so big!” He’s a bronze, right?”

Trying not to be sarcastic, K’ndar said, “Of course not. Bronzes are MUCH bigger. He’s a brown, and small for one.”

“Oh,” the lad said. “Sorry, but I’m Crafthall bred, I haven’t had much contact with dragons.”

On, great, K’ndar thought, another young person who knows nothing about dragons. This is scary. What will happen when only dragonriders know about dragons?

“Can you do something about all these fire lizards, sir?” the teen said, “they keep hissing at us. We’re just trying to help, um, the, um green dragonrider.”

“Her name is Francie,” K’ndar said. “Don’t wave your hands at them like that, they are just worried about their master. They won’t hurt you unless you hit them, then I really can’t say how they’ll react. I’ll have my dragon tell them to stay with Motanith.”

“Dragons can talk?”

K’ndar lost his composure. “Can dragons talk? Good grief, lad, didn’t they teach you ANYTHING in school?”

The teen frowned and said, “Not about dragons, no.”

The woman arrived.

“Hello, dragonrider.”

“Good morning, ma’am, I’m K’ndar, rider of brown Raventh, of Landing.”

“I’m Gail, master Healer of Cove Hold’s Healer Hall. This lad is Horal, my new apprentice. Horal, did you introduce yourself?” she glared, already knowing the answer.

“Um, no ma’am,” the teen said, gulping. He kept his eyes downcast.

“Ma’am, thank you so much for taking Francie so quickly” K’ndar said.

“Of course,” she said, releasing the lad from her stony eyes. “I commend you for sending her as soon as you did. The sooner we get to her, the better. Her name is Francie?”

“Yes, ma’am. Francie, rider of green Motanith from Landing.”

“Thank you. She has a bronze fire lizard that will NOT leave her.”

“He’s harmless, ma’am, and I understand the difficulty he may be proving, but having a fire lizard, too, I can tell you, you’re not going to chase him off. The greens, yes. Not the bronze. I’ll have my dragon tell him to stay out of your way, you’re not going to hurt her.”

She grimaced. “Don’t be so sure, dragonrider. Some procedures can be painful.”

His heart wrenched. “Is she…is she, um……..

“Not dead, no. I’m Weyrbred, K’ndar, I know what dragons do when their rider dies. But at the moment I cannot tell you anything more about her other than she’s unconscious. Do you have any idea what happened?”

He told her, almost word for word, what Coora had shown Raventh.

“Ah. I don’t dive, so I have no idea what that shellfish could possibly be. We’re still evaluating her, of course, but we also are running tests to see just what venom we’re dealing with. It’s obvious she was stabbed in the thigh by something, probably injecting some sort of toxin. There’s a thousand venomous creatures in the sea, it may take a while, and I honestly don’t know how long it may take. She might…um…well, I don’t think I need to elaborate, do I? I don’t want her dragon getting upset again, she raised one shaff of a ruckus when we unharnessed Francie. Whatever it was, it’s obviously venomous. Did you, by any chance, see the shellfish?”

“Better than that, ma’am, I brought it with me, it’s in a bucket with the fish she’d speared.” He indicated the bucket at Raventh’s feet. “I think it might help to call the dolphins to have them identify it.”

“Oh, stars, that’s wonderful, that’s an enormous help. Thank you, thank you, for your foresight. You may have saved her life. I think we’ll do exactly that, have the dolphins look at it and perhaps tell us more about it. Then I’ll take it to the lab and we’ll find out what its venom is.”

“Thank Motanith, her dragon. The moment she got here, she pinged my dragon and insisted we bring the spear and the creatures. It’s why I wasn’t here immediately. My dragon found it after Motanith left.”

“That’s a wise green,” she said, looking at Motanith. She met Raventh’s eyes. “Have your dragon tell her she was very wise to think of that. It’s probably what will save Francie’s life.”

I heard. I will tell her. She is very afraid for Francie right now, this will make her feel better.

“Done, ma’am. He says she will be at least a bit relieved.”

She looked in the bucket, grasping the rim to make the fish move over so she could get a better look.

“Be careful, ma’am, I think the shelled creature is still alive.”

“After between? And out of water? It’s tougher than I expected.”

“And I brought Francie’s backpack. It has her clothing and datalink in it.”

“That she might appreciate if and when she awakes. Right now she’s wearing not much other than swimming wear and a warm blanket.” She turned to the apprentice.

“You, Horal. Take this backpack into the clinic. Tell the dolphineer we need her friends.”

“Yes ma’am,” the lad said. He picked up the pack and began to walk away.

“FASTER!”

He began to run.

Gail looked at K’ndar with an impish look in her eye. “Kids these days,” she said.

“Aye. He couldn’t even tell that my dragon is a brown.”

She shook her head.”I’m sorry. It’s getting bad, that way. This young man, he means well, but I’m not sure he’s cut out for Healer work. He’s Crafthall bred.”

She looked at Raventh with an experienced eye. “My goodness, your dragon is so refined.” Raventh, always a sucker for compliments, rumbled happily.

“He says, “Thank you.”

She reached out and patted his neck. “You are a fine one, um..”

“Raventh.”

“Yes. Raventh. Thank you for your help, Raventh, finding the spear was very important.”

Motanith asked me to. She is my friend.

“Ma’am, do you have staff who can at least see Motanith’s watered while Francie’s here? Wild horses won’t be able to make her leave.”

“I don’t expect her to. I know dragonriders, K’ndar. If and when she awakes, her first question will be ‘where’s my dragon.’ And then her dragon will be on the porch, roaring to see her mum. She tried right away to enter the clinic. Only because the door is too small did it keep her out, and then I asked her to please go the dragon meadow. I was so grateful that she obeyed.”

They looked in Motanith’s direction. She had her eyes locked on them.

“She’s a good dragon, ma’am. Sassy, as are all greens, but nevertheless, when the chips are down, she’s right in front.”

“Not to worry, K’ndar. She won’t be the first dragon we’ve had here while its rider’s in sick bay.”

K’ndar nodded. His heart thudded at the thought. She said “if” she awakes. What if she doesn’t? Ever?

I won’t think that think, he said to himself, mimicking Raventh’s mangling the phrase.

“Let’s go down to the dock and call the dolphins.”

“Yes, ma’am. I don’t want the specimens to get away, so I’ll keep hold of the leash, and drop them in for the dolphins to examine.”

“Keep your gloves on, then. No telling if there’s something toxic on the leash.”

“I thought the same thing, ma’am.”

_______________________________________________________________

He recognized her immediately, despite only having met her once.

I can’t remember her name, though. Argggh. Where did I meet her? When?

The woman had rung the dolphin bell. Far off to sea, they heard a responding squeal. They saw three gleaming forms arcing through the air. “I never get tired of seeing them do that,” she said, a tone of deep satisfaction in her voice.

She turned. A combination of recognition and confusion crossed her face.

“I..I know you from somewhere,” she said, “I’m sorry, but, well, I remember your fire lizard’s name is Siskin,” she said, sounding contrite. “But I’m afraid I don’t remember yours. We met at Western Continent’s port.”

Siskin chittered. He sent K’ndar a memory of the girl on a dock.

K’ndar laughed. “Not to worry, I don’t remember your name, either.”

“It’s Devon.”

“Yes! Yes, I’m K’ndar, the seasick-on-the-dock dragonrider.”

Horal, who’d accompanied Devon, snickered.

Gail looked at the lad with daggers for eyes. It worked.

Devon laughed. “Yes, THAT I remember!”

Gail tried to hide her amusement. She failed. “You were seasick? On the dock?”

He turned, laughing still. “Yes, on Tillek Sea Hold’s dock,” he said, grateful that Cove Hold’s docks were built of solid stone. “I’m fine here. But I will never, ever live that reputation down. It’s why I stay away from Tillek Sea Hold.”

“I stay away from Tillek Sea Hold just on principle,” Gail said, “Never mind it’s forever cold there. I’ve never been so cold in my life, and I grew up in the North.”

Three dolphins arrived, squealing.

“Deeeeeeeeevin, Deeevin,” one said.

Devon turned to them. “Hello, Leap!!” she said. The largest one of the three whistled.

“Keeendar! Allo, Keendar!”

They recognized me right away, he thought, embarassed. I can’t tell one dolphin from another. They all look the same! If Devon hadn’t called your name, Leap, I’d never have known who you are.

“And a good morning to you, Leap! You look well!” he said, grateful at his recovery from a possible social faux pas. “How is Swash?”

“Swash good! Me, too!”

“You know these dolphins?” Devon said, surprised.

“Only Leap,” he said, hoping he was right.

“Keendar special friend,” Leap explained. “He helps dolphins. Many times. Tillek honors him. He Swash and Leap’s friend.”

Devon’s jaw dropped.

“Please, Leap, give the Tillek my regards,” K’ndar said, bowing low.

Leap nodded enthusiastically.

“You met Tillek? THE Tillek?” Devon said, awed. And jealous.

“Yes, she is very, very, oh, I don’t know the word. Regal. Like a Weyrwoman, your wise grandmother, and a gold dragon all rolled into one. You almost want to genuflect when you meet her, as if she’s a Lord Holder. Anyway, it’s a long story,” K’ndar said.

“One I MUST hear, K’ndar. But for now, what is in the bucket?”

“A rather nasty customer,” Gail said, “One that’s put a dragonrider in my sickbay, she’s very, very ill.”

“What happened?”

“This shellfish attacked her while she was snorkeling.”

Devon looked at the shellfish.

“Oh, dear. Look at that, I’ve never seen such a creature. The markings on the shell are beautiful!”

“NO. Don’t touch it!” Gail warned, “It’s still alive.”

Devon snatched her hand back. “I wasn’t going to touch it, but thanks. I think the only thing keeping that proboscis from retracting is the spines on the end are entwined in the rope. Fascinating. I will LOVE to see what the dissection shows.”

“We’re hoping the dolphins can tell us what it is and what to do about my patient,” Gail said.

K’ndar knelt and caught Leap’s eye. Once again he was overwhelmed by the dazzling intelligence in it. How did we ever manage without dolphins? The three sleek heads, glistening in the morning light, pulsated. I think that means they’re talking to each other, he thought.

“My friends, I need you to tell me what the shell fish is,” he said.

He tipped the bucket, grasping the leash as he gently poured the fish and the shellfish into the water. The fish swirled gently in the swell as it settled to the seabed. The shellfish settled alongside it.

With one loud squawk, all three dolphins jumped backwards in the water. They squealed together for several seconds.

“Keeendar, no touch!! MUCH DANGER, shellfish MUCH danger. Kills anything. Is still alive, this one. Fish very dead, we not eat this fish. Ever. How you get this?”

“My friend was fishing on the reef. She speared the fish. The shellfish speared the fish and then her.”

The dolphin moaned. “She dead?”

“No. But she sleeps, she doesn’t wake up.”

The three dolphins gingerly examined the fish and shellfish. Now that the thing was back in the water, K’ndar could see the harpoon flexing just a bit.

They discussed it at length.

Finally Leap said, “We have no name for it in human. Lives under the sand, sometimes in rocks. When fish comes by, it sends out long leg? No have word for leg?”

“Harpoon,” K’ndar said, helpfully.

“Arpun. Is good word. It hits fish with arpun. Has venom in end, see, end has sharp spikes, sticks in fish. Fish can’t escape. Shellfish opens mouth wide, wide! Sucks fish in all one! Then goes back under sand.”

“You are saying this shellfish can engulf an entire fish? This big a fish?!”

“Yes. Yes. No problem.”

Good grief, K’ndar thought, his stomach turning, the fish is three times the size of the entire shellfish.

Gail looked stricken.

“How do you know this? Has a dolphin ever been harpooned by the shellfish?”

The three dolphins conferred for several minutes. Finally Leap said,

“Yes. Long ago. Not our clan. Dolphin calf young. Sees fish. Just learning to catch fish. Mother says, this sand, not safe. Leave fish go. Dolphin calf no listen to mother. Chases fish anyway. Shellfish sees fish. Sends arpun. Arpun misses fish, goes into calf’s eye.”

“Oh NOOOOOOOOO!” all four humans cried, horrified.

“Very bad. Calf too big for shellfish mouth. But goes stiff. No can swim up for air. Mother brings calf to surface to breathe. But calf dies, can’t breathe.”

There was a very long moment of grief. Oh, the poor thing, K’ndar thought.

“I’m so sorry,” Devon said, “Tell calf mother we are so sorry that the calf died.”

The three dolphins nodded. “Very long time ago. Mother is dead now. Since then all dolphins know about this shellfish.”

Gail shook her head. “Thank you for telling us. Do you know if the calf,” she paused. I’m convinced it’s a neurotoxin. And if it is, maybe there’s something I can do about it. Francie isn’t dead. She doesn’t seem to be paralyzed, that’s what I’m worried first about.

The dolphins waited for her.

“Did the calf lose the ability to move? As if it were frozen, you know frozen?”

“Not know ‘frozen’.”

“Like the water at the poles. Cold water, COLD. Big white rocks in water, floating. It is so cold the water turns like rock. It is water so cold it’s called ‘frozen.”

The dolphins conferred again. “We never been to pole, but all dolphins know rock water. Is ‘frozen’ same as ‘ice’? We know ice.”

“Yes,” Gail said, worried that she may have insulted the dolphins by assuming they didn’t know what ice was.

I can almost hear Leap thinking, K’ndar thought. That calf may have died a thousand years ago. But when you don’t have any way of manually recording history, the only way is oral memory. What brains these dolphins have!

“Calf brain stopped talking to muscles,” Leap said, not sure if the humans understood. “Not frozen like ice, but stiff, like wood. Even stopped breathing.”

Yes, Gail thought, yes. Neurotoxin. Francie is alive and we can move her limbs without resistance. So she’s not paralyzed. I bet the fish took the whole brunt of the toxin and Francie got just a little bit. I hope.

“Thank you, thank you,” Gail and K’ndar said in unison.

“Keendar, Deevin, we like to help. We will tell other dolphins.”

The four humans all called their thanks.

“Be safe, my friends,” Devon said, reflecting all over again how much she loved the dolphins. I wish I’d been born one, she thought.

The three dolphins turned as one and with graceful arcing leaps, went back out to the deep ocean.

“Let’s get that beastie out of the water and up to the lab,” Gail said.

“I’ll do it, ma’am, I have gloves,” K’ndar said. He pulled the leash up until the animals on the end were clear of the water, and put them in the bucket that Devon held out.

Gail turned to Horal. “Horal, take this bucket up to the lab. We want tissue samples, DNA, I want that harpoon carefully dissected and I especially want the venom analyzed. I want BOTH specimens examined. What does the venom do? Does it break down immediately? What does it do to the nervous system? Does it decompose along with the fish? Does the venom break down the proteins? Is it the sort of substance that digests the fish? I need to know as soon as possible. Horal, make sure no one touches the shellfish, it’s still alive. I don’t think I need to warn you to not touch it with your hands?” Gail said.

Horal blanched, obviously reluctant to be near the shellfish. “No, ma’am, oh, no. I’m even afraid to touch the bucket.”

They laughed, easing some of K’ndar’s fear. Horal hurried to the Hall, gingerly keeping the bucket as far from his chest as his arms could reach. Who knows, he thought, maybe that shellfish can jump.

Devon, Gail and K’ndar walked towards the Hall.

“Ma’am, why is it the dolphin calf died of the venom, and Francie didn’t?”

“Well, K’ndar, there’s probably a hundred different species of venomous shellfish. I’m not a biologist, but I’m sure of that. I have no idea how big the calf was, how much of a dose the shellfish injected, maybe Francie got only the slightest of doses, the fish may have taken most of it. I don’t know.”

“I AM a biologist, and I had no idea these things existed,” K’ndar said. And it’s just one more reason why I stay out of water if I can help it, he thought.

“As to why the calf died, I think I know,” Devon said. “Dolphin’s brains are much larger than ours. They have an unusual function in that they can put one half of their brain to sleep while the other half of the brain is awake. They don’t have automatic breathing, like we do. They have to purposefully inhale and exhale, but they also have to sleep. So one half of the brain sleeps while the other swims, eats, hunts and consciously breathes.”

“Amazing,” K’ndar said,”I didn’t know that. “

“It’s true. In the case of the dolphin calf, I’m thinking the harpoon went right into its awake brain, probably right into the brain stem, killing it instantly.”

The three shook their heads.

“At least it was quick,” K’ndar said.

“Ma’am, um…what can you do for Francie?”

“Well, I’m fairly certain this is a neurotoxin, and we do have treatment for that. What we do is wrap the stung limb fairly tightly, not enough to shut off blood flow but we don’t want the venom spreading further. We unwrap it for 90 seconds every ten minutes for, oh, 4 to 6 hours. We also put the limb in VERY hot water, about 60° Celsius, to neutralize the venom. I’m hoping this isn’t the type of venom that causes pain. If you don’t mind, I must see this treatment started NOW.”

“Who will be doing that?” Devon asked.

“Well, I DO have an apprentice who needs to learn how to wrap and unwrap a casualty,” Gail snarked.

K’ndar laughed.

Gail sobered. “K’ndar, please? Contact her next of kin, if she has any. He or she needs to be here.”

“I will, ma’am. And I’ll bring him, when I find him.”