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it to Sharra, he felt oddly proprietorial about this plateau, which he and Ruth had originally discovered, and in particular about this Aivas entity, which they had dug out. Having heard Aivas list the names of the first colonists, Jaxom wondered who his ancestors had been. He had never been comfortable with having Fax as his sire, which was the main reason why he so rarely made use of many of a Lord Holder’s traditional privileges. Larad of Telgar was not a prideful man, but he must feel immensely proud of his heritage after hearing of his forebears, Sallah Telgar Andiyar and Tarvi Andiyar. Groghe was a sensible man, but knowing that his direct ancestor had been a universal hero would make the Fort Lord Holder inordinately proud. But why hadn’t Fort Hold been named after the valiant Admiral Benden? Why was Benden Hold in the east? And why hadn’t Aivas known more about the dragons? Fascinating. No doubt there would be more revelations.
    I listened
, Ruth said, gliding from his perch to the mound on which Jaxom stood,
to what this Aivas creature said. It is true that we were an experiment?
Ruth moved forward until he was close enough to touch Jaxom and then leaned his head against his weyrmate.
What
is
an experiment?
    Jaxom heard the indignation in Ruth’s tone and stifled a chuckle at his friend’s reaction.
    “A most felicitous happening, dear friend, not that it matters a lead mark how you and the other dragons came to be,” Jaxom said stoutly. “Besides you’ve always known—better than anyone else on Pern—that dragons are cousins to the fire-lizards. So why should it bother you how you were created?”
    I don’t know
, Ruth replied in a strangely subdued, uncertain tone.
Is this Aivas thing good?
    “I believe it is,” Jaxom answered, briefly considering his reply. “I think it will depend on us, the use to which we put the information the Aivas can give us. If it rids Pern of Thread . . .”
    If it can, that means dragons won’t be needed anymore, doesn’t it?
    “Nonsense,” Jaxom said more sharply than he had intended. He threw his arm around his dragon’s neck in quick reassurance, caressing Ruth’s cheek and leaning into his shoulder. “Pern will always need dragons. You could do a lot more useful and much less dangerous things than sear Thread out of the skies, believe you me! Don’t you fret for a single moment about our future, my friend!”
    Jaxom wondered if F’lar, Lessa, and F’nor had heard from their dragons on that score. But he knew that such a worry would not be the important issue to them. The dragonriders were totally committed to ridding Pern of Thread. Everyone knew that F’lar had set that as his life’s task.
    “No, Ruth, don’t you worry your heart out over that. Threadless skies are, I fear, a long way off in Pern’s future! Aivas may know a great deal more than we do about Oort Clouds and planets and things, but it is only a machine that speaks. Talk’s cheap.”
    Still soothing Ruth’s cheek, Jaxom looked out over the settlement that his ancestors had once inhabited. There were unsightly mounds in every direction where buildings had been greedily excavated only to prove disappointingly empty. How ironic that the real treasure should be nearly the last thing to be uncovered. Incredible that the treasure should prove to be the agency that unlocked the truth to their past. Would it be the key to their future? Despite his reassurances, Jaxom harbored some of the same doubts that made Ruth fretful.
    Maybe it was wrong for F’lar to wish an end to Thread, if it inevitably meant an end to usefulness for dragons. And yet, to see the last of Thread, in his own lifetime . . . More importantly, to be able to improve life on Pern with the vast store of knowledge Aivas said it had—surely that was for the good of all?
    Just then he saw lights coming up in some of the buildings that the excavation teams were using as dormitories. It was not yet dawn, but obviously