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your short-term memory."
Wind Blossom managed to keep her surprise from her face, but Sorka detected
it
in her body language. The first Weyrwoman allowed herself a satisfied
chuckle.
"What are the implications?"
Wind Blossom sighed. "I'm concerned because we have not had enough time to
transfer our practical knowledge-things that have to be learned by doing
rather
than merely studying-from our eldest to our newer generation."
"So we'll lose some knowledge," Sorka observed. "It's happened on colony
worlds
before and they survived."
Wind Blossom inclined her head in a nod. "True. But always at a cost: The
knowledge had to be relearned, usually through trial and error at a later
date.
And sometimes the lack of that knowledge hit the affected colony world with a
major setback."
"This could happen here?"
"Yes. We are particularly vulnerable because of the population loss we
suffered
in the Fever Year and subsequent epidemics."
Sorka grimaced. "I knew that and we've discussed this before."
Wind Blossom allowed herself a rare smile. "But now we are discussing it for
the
last time, my lady."
Sorka snorted in derision at Wind Blossom's use of the title. "Not you, too!"
"I figured that if I am being so honored, you would deserve no less!"
Sorka allowed her free hand to primp at her hair and smiled. "Well, it's not
as
though us distinguished ladies are not entitled."
"Quite," Wind Blossom agreed with a grin of her own. "But it disturbs me
because
it shows that people are beginning to adopt a caste system."
"And how does that affect the Charter?" Sorka mused.
"Sociologically, I can see why this 'elevation,' this endowing of the old
lord
and lady titles, make sense in our young population," Wind Blossom said.
Sorka waved her free hand dismissively. "We've had this conversation before."
"I hadn't forgotten," Wind Blossom said. "But it bears repeating. The
youngsters
needed to relinquish a lot of control to the older colonists simply because
we
older people had learned the skills needed to surive. And survival on Pern is
still touch and go-as those young people who do not heed their elders
discover
with the forfeit of their lives."
Sorka pulled her hand free of Wind Blossom's and used both hands to make an
emphatic "hurry up" gesture.
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"I can't hurry up, Sorka, I'm thinking out loud," Wind Blossom said. She
paused,
striving to recover her train of thought.
"So Pern's going to have a bunch of lords and ladies in the form of
Weyrleaders,
Weyrwomen, and the men and women who run the holds," Sorka supplied when Wind
Blossom's silence stretched.
The sound of boots striding loudly up to the entrance of Sorka's quarters
distracted them. Sorka's bronze fire-lizard, Duke, looked up from his resting
place at the foot of her bed, looked back to Sorka for a moment, and lowered
his
head again, unperturbed.
"M'hall!" Torene shouted. "Why didn't you tell me? What's going on? Don't you
think I wanted to pay my respects?"
M'hall's voice was a murmur as he strove to placate his outraged mate.
"Have you looked at the casualty reports recently?" Wind Blossom asked Sorka
once they both determined that they were not going to be immediately
interrupted.
"I have," Sorka's voice was pained.
"I am sorry. My mother had predicted those numbers when she first calculated
the
mating cycle," Wind Blossom said. "But with such a short life span fighting
Thread, and with the difficulties of the holders in providing sufficient food
for the colonists, maintaining a sufficient margin to support such luxuries
as
education and research is quite problematic."
Sorka nodded and gestured for the older woman to continue.
"So our society will ossify and stratify at least until the end of this
Pass."
"And then?"
Wind Blossom shook her head. "Then population pressures will force an
expansion
of the Holder population and the creation of new Holds across this continent.
The lack of Thread should allow the dragonriders several generations in which
to
increase their numbers and recover from this first Pass; the dragonriders in
the
next Pass should be much more able to handle the onslaught. There will be
pressure in both the Weyrs and the holds to consolidate what they have and to
build conservatively. Any skills not directly needed in expansion or
retention
will atrophy."
"That's already happening."
"By the next Pass the skills needed to maintain our older, noncritical
equipment
will have been lost."
"Maybe before then," Sorka agreed.
Wind Blossom nodded. "Our descendants should survive anyway."
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