No, it was not compensation he was getting, Toric reflected. No matter how smoothly their ideas were presented, his full cooperation was expected. Those bloody Oldtimers and that wretched queen egg had done him more damage than he had supposed! But he could make certain not to lose so much as a fingerlength of land he already held, or the riches above and below the soil. He also knew the place N’ton must have seen. Sharra had reported it to him the previous Turn. He had marked the huge lake and the three rivers that flowed from it on his private map. He must be very careful. He must seem to cooperate while sending reliable men and women to hold what ought to be his.

“There’s always been that rumor,” he said skeptically.

“More than a rumor,” Sebell said in that quiet unemphasized voice of his. “There are some ambiguous Fragments among the Harper Hall Records that indicate that the Northern Continent is the more recent settlement.”

“Recent?” Toric let out an incredulous guffaw.

“I believe you established a prosperous hold in ancient ruins on the western bank of Island River,” Sebell said.

“I wouldn’t call such old stonework ‘recent.’ ”

“May I make it plain, Toric?” Sebell said, leaning forward, his manner earnest and subtly ingratiating. “No one contests your holding. But we would very much like to extend our knowledge about our ancestors. It becomes a matter of intense Craft pride, you know. We’re supposed to keep the Records of Pern.” He gestured again to the distance-viewer Toric was fondling possessively. “We can learn a lot from the past that will assist us in our future.”

“I wholeheartedly agree, Master Harper,” Toric replied as earnestly as he could when he saw how little option he had.

“Naturally, I’d be glad to convey you to that place I have in mind, Holder Toric,” N’ton said with a boyish eagerness that Toric found puzzling.

But he accepted the offer graciously. With so much to plan and to manage, he had been forced to let his kin do the explorations. Hurried trips to Big Lagoon or Central Hold, and one sail down the Island River, had given him only a shallow glimpse of what he held. If he got on good terms with N’ton, who knew what else he might see? Dragonriders had an unfair advantage over any holder: quick, sure movement from place to place.

What was it that rascally journeyman had quoted to him before he left? “A dragon can’t go between to a place he’s never seen. Likewise a man can’t hold what he hasn’t beheld.” He caressed the distance-viewer again.

He rose then, pretending a geniality he did not feel. “I’ve a fair map of the area we’ve managed, over the Turns, to investigate afoot. It really is a relief to me to have a proper Weyr and good relations with my Northern neighbors.”

The morning after his arrival, Master Robinton was up early, to the disgust of his young friends who had enjoyed the evening’s festivities. Despite the restrictions imposed on him by Brekke, Menolly, and Sharra, he was determined to extend their knowledge of the south in all directions. For that purpose, he convened a meeting of Jaxom, Piemur, Sharra, and Menolly.

The Harper’s particular interest was in finding further evidence of the original inhabitants of the Southern Continent. He mentioned not only the ancient iron mine that Toric had found, but some unnatural formation that he himself had spotted with N’ton. Piemur grinned, betting with himself that Toric did not know about that. Had it happened when Master Robinton had voyaged with Menolly to Southern for personal talks with Toric?

The Southern holder had gone to Benden Weyr shortly after, and returned very pleased with himself. Thinking of the houses at Paradise River, Piemur vowed that he would speak to the Master Harper on that point as soon as he could get him alone.

Master Robinton’s plans called for a dual attack, both ground and aerial. He was adamant and enthusiastic as he ordered them to begin, once Jaxom had been pronounced fit by Master Oldive, who was due to arrive that afternoon. Piemur, because of his experience, would be in nominal charge, an arrangement to which Jaxom had no objections. Jaxom would fly Ruth ahead each day to settle a new camp and do an aerial survey, while the girls and Piemur followed on foot for more detailed examinations.

The young people were quite content to fall in with his scheme, happy to do anything that would keep Master Robinton pleasantly occupied while his strength returned. Master Oldive, after examining the Harper, lectured them on how to help Robinton in his recuperation. Despite his enthusiasm, the Masterharper was still weak and vulnerable to another attack, so they promised to do all they could to protect him from himself. Jaxom, however, was declared fully recovered.

Despite the good intentions of his nurses, Master Robinton was full of projects, all of which he fully expected to see carried out. He was especially excited when Mastersmith Fandarel and Master Wansor arrived from the Telgar Smithcrafthall with Wansor’s new distance-viewer, the most recent product of the Starsmith’s experimentation. It was a tube as long as Fandarel’s arm and thick enough so that he needed two hands to surround it; carefully encased in leather, it had a curious eyepiece set not on its end, where Piemur thought it ought to be, but on its side.

Wansor, in an explanation that explained very little to his rapt audience, told them that the distance-viewer was designed somewhat along the same principles as the ancient instrument, found in one of the unused rooms of Benden Weyr, that made small things appear larger.

That very night a viewing took place, the instrument mounted on a frame erected on a high point of the stony eastern tip of the cove. And what they learned in their first clear view of the Dawn Sisters made, in Piemur’s eyes, the discovery of Paradise River insignificant. For those stars were no stars at all! They were man-made objects—and very likely they were artifacts of those mysterious Southern ancestors. Perhaps they were even the actual vehicles that had brought those ancestors to Pern in the beginning. And when Piemur got his turn to gaze through the device, he felt his heart leap at the splendor he glimpsed.

12: Southern Continent, PP 15.10.19

“YOUNG LORD JAXOM, with Piemur, Sharra, and Menolly, has found a vast settlement, buried under volcanic ash and dirt,” D’ram announced excitedly. He had brought the news to Toric immediately, a sign of the growing mutual respect between Weyrleader and Southern Holder.

Toric hid his dismay as he read through the lengthy message that D’ram had brought from Master Robinton. He had swallowed his chagrin the previous month when he learned that the cove had been claimed for the Masterharper. One small cove Toric could allow without regret, however beautiful the place was rumored to be. With the help of Piemur’s maps and more eager dragonrider assistance than he really wanted, he had made other advantageous discoveries. For the first time, he had been able to fly over a good deal of his own holding—and he could begin to appreciate how large the continent was. But it had also been made tacitly clear to him that he could not have it all. The latest discovery made clear that “one small cove” was the thin edge of a big wedge.

He would have liked to digest the news without the presence of the new Masterharper, Sebell, but they had been trying to reach an understanding about which and how many new settlers Toric would permit in his hold. He was going to have to remind the Benden Weyrleaders of the promise made to him two and a half Turns before—and hold them to it. Aware that Sebell was watching his reactions, he expressed amazement at the new discovery.

“I shall, of course, convey you there myself,” D’ram replied, looking more like an eager weyrling than a seasoned leader. “I saw that mountain peak when I was in Cove Hold. I saw it, and never realized how significant it was.”