A Bigger Problem

Writers: Avery
Date Posted: 19th January 2016

Characters: Kapera
Description: Kapera realizes the oil problem may be bigger than she thought.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 28 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: D'shiel, Cyradis
Notes: Follows "Does That Look Funny To You?"

Kapera

The sun had set and the Weyrbowl of Dolphin Cove was tucked under the
blanket of night. Most of the dragons on their ledges were settling down
to sleep, and their riders were either sleeping or occupied quietly
inside walled weyrs. The candle that tracked time showed it was well
after dinner had ended, and the caverns workers were bustling around
putting things away. And yet the Weyrwoman's Second was still in the
Records Room.

Someone who had known Kapera four Turns ago would never have believed it
if they were told. This level of diligence was something that would have
been unthinkable when she first Impressed, when her Weyrwoman had
despaired of her as a self-centered empty-headed fluff; when she was at
Dragonsfall, Weyrwoman herself by a flight of chance, and thoroughly
unprepared for the workload; those first few months after her illness,
when sitting up had been enough an achievement and reading nearly
impossible. None of that had given her a reputation for the kind of
person who would stay up late solving issues. Especially not the kind
that required candlemarks of research, rather than interacting with people.

After she'd recovered, though, she'd found a level of concentration and
dedication no one had expected from her - found that while "hidework" as
a general category was boring, she liked to solve puzzles, and that
approaching her duties from a certain frame of mind that turned them
into puzzles made the work more bearable. And right now, she had a true
puzzle.

The other day, she and D'shiel had discovered some bad oil during a
routine restocking. They'd put together that the suspect jars all looked
alike - they'd had a distinctive design, as though they'd been made in
the same batch, and they'd arrived together. From the records, it had
been easy to find out which caravan they'd come in on, and then she'd
had to trace its route back and determine the likely point of origin -
Emerald Falls Hold.

From what she'd discovered while reading other records, there had been
a historically rocky relationship between that particular Hold and its
Weyr, due to a few eventful Turns that involved leadership changes and
political unpleasantness. The relationship had seemed to be improving,
and then there was the incident where the guard had come from the Hold
to pursue the one bronze weyrling. The fallout from that fight had
cooled the relationship again, though whether it was the Lord Holder's
anger or that of the holderfolk was something she was unclear on.

With a cool relationship, it could be that the oil was spoiled because
of seeds that had been on the edge of rancidity right before processing,
so that it had gone rancid during the travel. Or maybe there had been
some contamination during the journey. Those would be just a very badly
timed accident. Or it could have been intentional spoilage done by
holderfolk who were contemptuous of dragonriders. The latter possibility
turned the case of the bad oil from from "annoying issue, but probably
innocuous" to "the political equivalent of a Threadfall in the middle of
a lightning storm", as far as the Weyrwoman's Second was concerned. And
that meant she'd have to talk to Cyradis about the issue.

A small feeling of disappointment welled up. She had found the problem,
and now she wanted to fix the problem. A desire to see this puzzle
through till it was unwrapped, exposed, and solved, existed. But she was
new to the territory, inexperienced with the local climates, and she
didn't have the authority to go in on her own, not like she once had had.

The last few Turns had given her extra maturity, and the ability to
recognize that Cyradis' calm air of authority and her better grasp of
local relationships would be very useful in investigating. And Cyradis
might choose to delegate the task to her, or to let her come along and
see what was done to resolve the issue. So she started collecting the
records of the tithe train so she could be better equipped to present to
the Weyrwoman.

**Riyanth, would you contact Panitath and- **

}:It is _late_,:{ the gold interrupted, irritation and tiredness in her
tone. }:Panitath is asleep. I am sleeping. Go to sleep.:{

**Someone is cranky,** the goldrider thought back.

Someone was also right, Kapera conceded when she saw just how low the
candle had burned. She could talk to Cyradis after the wingdrill in the
morning, and find out what the Weyrwoman thought about all this. And
she'd better get to bed herself. Dinner was likely out of the cards now.
Ah well - skipping one meal wouldn't hurt her, and it had been worth it
to find out more about the oil problem.

Last updated on the January 20th 2016

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A Bigger Problem