![]() The last two months, as the three ships had decelerated into the Rukbat system, had been made tedious with meetings and discussions which seemed to Paul to be nit-picking over procedures that had been thoroughly thrashed out seventeen years before in the planning stages of the venture. "You're more patient with your teams than I am," the admiral said quietly. He preferred to make quick decisions and implement them immediately, instead of talking them to death. He hated the interminable debate over minor points that seemed to obsess those in charge of the landing operation. "Just a few more days of talking, and it'll be action stations, Admiral." She knew him well. I suppose specialists have to consider their own disciplines the most important ones, but such contentiousness!" She stifled a groan, then grinned, her blue eyes twinkling in her rather homely face. "Speaking of loads," she went on more loudly, "I'd better be there to referee my team now the reports are coming in. But no one could deny that the two were the ideal leaders for the Pern expedition. In the Cygni Space Battle, and the governor-heroine of First Centauri. "Only a little while longer, Paul," Emily murmured, her voice reaching his ears alone, "and we'll both be able to lay down the weary load." He grinned up at her, knowing that it had been as difficult for her as it had been for him to escape the blandishments of technocrats who had not wished to lose two such charismatic war heroes: the admiral who had prevailed And though their destination in the Rukbat system was rich enough in ores and minerals to support an agriculturally based society, it was poor enough and far enough from the center of the galaxy that it should escape the greed of the technocrats. The Pern expedition was composed of committed and resourceful people who had chosen to eschew the high-tech societies of the Federated Sentient Planets. To be sure, they had homing capsules that would reach the headquarters of the Federated Sentient Planets in a mere five years, but to a retired naval tactician like Paul Benden, a fragile homing capsule did not offer much in the way of an effective backup. Once they reached Pern the fuel left in the great transport ships would be enough only to achieve and maintain synchronous orbit above their destination while people and cargo were shuttled down to the surface. The Trip was one-way - it had to be, considering the cost of getting over six thousand colonists and supplies to such an out-of-the-way sector of the galaxy. Of course," she added dryly, "we're sort of stuck with whatever's reported, but I expect we can cope." "We'll have to, won't we?" Paul Benden replied a trifle grimly. It's one more procedure which gets us nearer the surface. ![]() She lifted her right eyebrow in a cynical twitch and kept her eyes on the screen. Arms folded across her chest, she hadn't moved since the probes had been launched, except for an occasional twiddling of fingers along her upper arms. "This is sort of anticlimactic, isn't it?" Paul murmured to Emily Boll as the latest reports flashed onto the screens. "Screening probe reports, sir," Sallah confirmed, "on two and five." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Admiral Benden smile slightly. After all, the Exploration and Evaluation team had not mentioned any unusual incidence of meteor strikes on the surface of Pern. They would keep an eye on it, Ezra had said, but although some comets might form and spin from its depths, he doubted that they would pose a serious threat to either the three colony ships or the planet the ships were fast approaching. That phenomenon had continued to engross some of the space and scientific personnel, but Paul Benden had lost interest when Ezra Keroon, captain of the Bahrain and the expedition's astronomer, had assured him that the nebulous mass of deep-frozen meteorites was no more than an astronomical curiosity. The long journey to the Sagittarian Sector had gone without a hitch, the only excitement being the surprise when the Oort cloud encircling the Rukbat system had been sighted. In offices below the bridge deck, specialists eagerly awaited updates on the reports of the long-dead Exploration and Evaluation team that, 200 years earlier, had recommended Rukbat's third planet for colonization. The Pern Colonial Expedition had reached the most exciting moment of its fifteen-year voyage: the three colony ships, the Yokohama, the Bahrain, and the Buenos Aires were finally approaching their destination. Beside him, leaning against his command chair, Emily Boll kept her eyes steadily on the sunlit planet, scarcely aware of the activity around her. "On the screen, please, Mister Telgar," Admiral Paul Benden replied. Dragons Dawn by: Anne McCaffrey Copyright 1988 PART ONE Landing "Probe reports coming through, sir," Sallah Telgar announced without taking her eyes from the flickering lights on her terminal.
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