The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall Read Free Page B

investigated, they could not find the meteorites that might have been the cause. Nor, Ben fretted, were any of the circles either deep enough or overlapping in the pattern caused by a multiple meteorite impact.
    The northern hemisphere, though in part blanketed by thick snows, was duly cored for soil and rock samplings. Mud flats, emitting the usual dense sulfurous fumes all over the central plain’s vast river delta, produced more regularities than differences, and certainly a plethora of promising bacteria over which Shavva crowed. Farther inland, up the broad navigable riverway, they found adequate lodes of iron, copper, nickel, tin, vanadium, bauxite, and even some germanium, but none of the generous quantities of metals and minerals that would interest a mining consortium.
    On the next-to-last morning of their survey, Ben found gold nuggets in a brash mountain stream.
    “A real old-fashioned world,” he remarked, tossing and catching the heavy nuggets in his hand. “Old Earth once had free gold in streams, too. Another parallel.”
    Shavva leaned over and took one that was an almost perfect drop, holding it between thumb and forefinger.
    “My loot,” she said, dropping it into her belt pouch. She found one extremely interesting plant on the upper section of the eastern peninsula: a vigorous tree whose bark, when bruised in the fingers, gave off a pungent smell. That evening, she made an infusion of the bark, sniffing appreciatively of its aroma. Empiric tests showed that it was not toxic, and her judicious sip of the infusion made her sigh with pleasure.
    “Try it, Liu, tastes great!”
    Liu regarded the thin dark liquid with suspicion, but he, too, found the odor stimulating to his salivary glands and wet his lips, smacking to spread the taste. “Hmmm, not bad. Bit watery. Infuse it a bit longer, or reduce the liquid. You might have something here.”
    Ben joined in the sampling, and when Shavva experimented with grinding the bark and filtering hot water through it, he approved the result.
    “A sort of combination of coffee and chocolate, I think, with a spicy aftertaste. Not bad.”
    So Shavva harvested a quantity of the bark, and they used it as a beverage for the remaining two days. She even saved enough to bring back to Castor as a treat.
    Though none of the three made mention of the fact, they were all sorry to leave the planet and yet relieved that there had been no further accidents or untoward circumstances. Barring some unforeseen factor, discovered in the analyses of soil, vegetation, and biological samples, they were all three quite willing to let Castor initial it P.E.R.N.—parallel Earth, resources negligible. He added a C in the top corner of the report, indicating that the planet was suitable for colonization.
    That is, if any colonial group wanted to settle on a pastoral planet, far off the established trade routes, and about as far from the center of the Federated Sentient headquarters as one could go in the known galaxy.

 

The Dolphins’ Bell
     
    W HEN J IM T ILLEK activated the red-alert recall sequence on the Big Bell at Monaco Bay, Teresa’s pod, with Kibby and Amadeus leaping and diving right along with her, was there within minutes. Within the hour, the ones led by Aphro, China, and Captiva arrived—a total of seventy, counting the three youngest calved only that year. Young males and solitaries surged in from all directions, squee-ee ing, clicking, chuffing loudly, and performing incredible aquabatics as they came. Few dolphins had ever heard that particular sequence on the Big Bell, so they were eager to learn why it had been rung.
    “Why ring the red?” Teresa demanded, bobbing her head up in front of Jim, who stood, legs spread for balance, on the rocking float anchored at the end of Monaco Wharf. Her nose bore the many scratches and scars of age, as well as of an aggressive personality. She tended to assume the role of Speaker for Dolphins.
    The float was broad and wide,