«Of course. Master Robinton will be all right,» Master Oldive said. «He's much improved. But,» the Healer held up one long forefinger, «he must learn to pace himself, conserve his energy and ration his strength or he will bring on another attack. You young people can assist, with your strong legs and stouter hearts, without seeming to curtail his activities.»
«Indeed we will. In fact, we do!»
«Good. Continue and he will soon be completely recovered. If he keeps in mind the lesson he learned from this seizure.» Master Oldive glanced through the open window, mopping his forehead a little. «This beautiful place was a grand idea.» He favored Jaxom with a sly smile. «The heat makes the Harper drowsy midday and forces him to rest. The prospects on all sides delight the eyes, and the scent of the air pleases the nose. How I envy you this spot, Lord Jaxom.»
The beauties of Cove Hold had evidently worked their charm on the Masterharper as well, for he had recovered his good spirits even before the arrival of Master Fandarel and Master Wansor from Telgar. Robinton's delight was doubled when Fandarel and Wansor proudly exhibited the new distance viewer that had occupied the Starsmith's time for the past half Turn. The instrument, a tube as long as Fandarel's arm, and thick enough so that he needed two hands to surround it, was carefully encased in leather, with a curious eye piece set, not on its end where Jaxom thought it ought to be, but on its side.
Master Robinton commented on that variation as well, and Wansor muttered something about reflective and refracting, ocular and objective and that this was the arrangement he thought best for the purposes of viewing distant objects. Whereas the instrument found in Benden Weyr made small things larger, the principles employed here were somewhat similar.
«That is neither here nor there but we are very pleased to use the new far viewer in Cove Hold,» Wansor went on, mopping his brow for he'd been so busy explaining his new device that he'd not bothered to remove his wherhide flying clothes.
Master Robinton winked at Menolly and Sharra and the two girls divested the lecturing Starsmith of his outer garments while he explained, almost oblivious to their assistance, that this was his first visit to the Southern Continent and yes, he had of course heard of the aberrant behavior of the three stars known as the Dawn Sisters. Until recently he had put the anomaly down to the inexperience of the observers. But, with Master Robinton himself noting their peculiarities, Wansor felt justified in bringing his precious instrument to the South to investigate the matter himself. Stars did not remain in fixed positions in the sky. All his equations, not to mention such experienced observers such as N'ton and Lord Larad, had verified this characteristic. Furthermore the Records handed down from the ancients, though they were in a shocking state, mentioned that stars undeniably followed a pattern of movement. Stars obeyed laws. Therefore when three stars had been observed to be in defiance of these natural laws, there had to be some explanation. He was hoping to find it this evening.
Not without a good deal of discussion, the site for this viewing was placed on the slight elevation of the stony eastern tip of Cove Hold, beyond the spot where the roasting and baking pits had been dug. Master Fandarel drafted Piemur and Jaxom to help him erect a frame on which he placed a swivel to mount the new viewer. Wansor, naturally, supervised this project until he was so in the Smith's way that the good man sat his Craftmaster on the edge of the promontory, near the trees, where he had a full view of all the activities but was no longer in his way. By the time the frame had been completed, Master Wansor was fast asleep, his head cushioned on his hands, snoring in a soft rhythm. Finger against his lips to indicate the little man was not to be disturbed, Fandarel led Jaxom and Piemur back to the main beach. They all took a refreshing swim before joining the others in the afternoon rest. Rather than miss a single moment of the dusky display of the Sisters, everyone ate on the promontory. Master Idarolan brought out his ship's viewer, and the Smith quickly constructed a second frame from the materials left over from making Wansor's.
Sunset, which had previously come upon them all too quickly, seemed delayed and delayed. Jaxom thought that if Wansor adjusted either the viewer or his bench, or his position on the bench, one more time, he would probably display some aberrant behavior of his own. Even the dragons who'd been playing in the water as if the sport had just been invented, were sprawled quietly on the beach, the fire lizards sleeping about Ruth or perched on their friends' shoulders.
The sun finally went down, spreading its brilliant aftercolors across the western horizon. As the eastern sky darkened, Wansor put his eye to his instrument, let out a startled cry and nearly fell backward off his bench.
«It can't be. There is no possible logical explanation for such an arrangement.» He righted himself and looked once again through, the viewer, making delicate adjustments to the focus. «
Master Idarolan had his eye pressed to his own viewer. «I see only the Dawn Sisters in their usual alignment. Just as they have always been.»
«But they can't be. They are close together. Stars do not congregate so closely. They are always far distant.»
«Here, let me have a look, man.» The Smith was almost dancing in eagerness to have a glimpse through the instrument. Wansor reluctantly gave way to him, repeating the impossibility of what he had just seen.
«N'ton, your eyes are younger!» The Seaman passed his viewer to the bronze rider, who quickly accepted it.
«I see three round objects!» Fandarel announced in a booming voice. «Round metallic objects. Manmade objects. Those are not stars, Wansor,» he said, looking at the distressed Starsmith, «those are things!»
Robinton, almost shoving the Smith's bulk to one side, bent his eye to the viewer, gasping.
«They are round. They do shine. As metal does. Not as stars do.»
«One thing sure,» Piemur said irreverently in the awed silence, «you have now found traces of our ancestors in the South, Master Robinton.»
«Your observation is eminently correct,» the Harper said in such a curiously muffled tone Jaxom wasn't certain if the man was suppressing laughter or anger, «but not at all what I had in mind and you know it!»
Everyone was given a chance to peer through Wansor's device, since Master Idarolan's was not powerful enough. Everyone concurred with Fandarel's verdict: the so called Dawn Sisters were not stars. Equally indisputable was that they were round, metallic objects that apparently hung in a stationary position in the sky. Even the moons had been observed to turn a different side to Pern in the course of their regular cycles.
F'lar and Lessa as well as F'nor were asked to come with all urgency before the nightly appearance of the Dawn Sisters was over. Lessa's irritation at such a summons evaporated when she saw the phenomenon. F'lar and F'nor monopolized the instrument for the short space of time that the peculiar objects remained visible in the slowly darkening sky.
When Wansor was seen trying to work equations in the Sand, Jaxom and Piemur hurriedly brought out a table and some drawing tools. The Starsmith wrote furiously for some minutes and then studied the result he'd achieved as if this presented a more inscrutable puzzle. Bewildered, he asked Fandarel and N'ton to check his figures for error.
«If there's no error, what is your conclusion. Master Wansor?» F'lar asked him.
«Those… those things are stationary. They stay in the same position over Pern all the time. As if they were following the planet.»
«That would prove, would it not,» Robinton said, unperturbed, «that they are manmade.»
«My conclusion precisely,» but Wansor did not appear to be reassured. «They were made to stay where they are all the time.»