A Sky Full of Numbers

Writers: Devin, Yvonne
Date Posted: 29th August 2021

Characters: Alina, T'lin
Description: Alina and T'lin talk about math and crafting, and possibly strike up a friendship.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 8 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: V'rel, J'ackt, Elana

Alina

T'lin

It was lunch, and Alina should be listening to the kitchen gossip. Or
the dining room gossip. It was useful, it would help her weyrmate...
but instead she sat at a table by herself with a sheaf of hides
covered in math problems that Journeywoman Onook had given her. They
were the sort of problems that the Starsmiths would give apprentices,
and they provided enough of a challenge to distract her from her other
worries for a little while.

T'lin couldn't help glancing over curiously as he walked by. People
did work on hides in the dining cavern on occasion, but it wasn't a
common sight, and when he saw what was on them. . . "Are those
equations?"

It took her a moment to realize someone was speaking to her. Alina
looked up. "Uh, yes. Um." She looked down at the ink-stained hide.
"It's... sort of a hobby."

"A hobby? Not a Craft?" Now he was even more curious. He vaguely
remembered they'd been Candidates together for a short time, and she
was in V'rel's Wing. Oh, and she was werymated to that troublesome bronzerider.

She shook her head. "I don't have a Craft."

T'lin stepped closer, studying the hides. "Is your hobby math or
something related to math? And if I'm bothering you, just say so. I'm
T'lin, by the way, and I'm a technician, so I have to wrestle with
math on a regular basis."

"I'm Alina." She hesitated, hoping that he wasn't making fun of her.
"I just... like doing math. It's... satisfying."

"I like it when I can solve the problems," he said with a laugh. "I
admire those who have a real passion for it."

"Me too." Some of the equations that she'd seen in Journeywoman
Onook's office were entirely incomprehensible to the greenrider. "What
sort of math do you do?"

"Algebra, trigonometry, geometry. Some calculus."

Alina's sheet was just algebra, although Onook had asked about her
knowledge of calculus. She'd loved solving problems when the Harpers
had travelled by to teach the children at their cothold, but she knew
that she didn't have the same level of education as someone who had
grown up at a major Hold. "I'm still just learning," she said with a
shrug. "Maybe I'll get to all that, if Journeywoman Onook doesn't get
tired of me first."

"Oh, the starsmith. Is this related to weather patterns, then?" T'lin
looked down at the hides again.

"I think so. Eventually. Those are really complicated, though." Alina
shrugged. "I've been picking up the weather reports and got curious,
and Journeywoman Onook was kind enough to give me a few problems to
solve. It's fascinating how they do weather forecasting with math,
though. It feels like the skies are full of numbers."

That made T'lin smile. "What an interesting image. I sometimes think
of weather as a big engine, although the inner workings are far more
complicated than the ones we build."

This was the first time that someone else had actually seemed
interested in math. J'ackt tried, but Alina could see his eyes glaze
over sometimes when she talked about it. Elana had done the same thing
too, so T'lin's interest surprised her. "Exactly! Except it's like an
engine that covers all of Pern. It's amazing-- the readings in one
part of the continent affect the others. It's so complex. I'm in awe
that Onook can understand it."

"Maybe you'll be able to understand it in time. You've certainly got
potential if you're doing math for fun." T'lin had come to the Weyr
with a Craft in mind, but many others found interests that bloomed
only after they arrived. Especially women.

Alina shrugged, a bit uncomfortably. "I'm too old to take up a Craft.
But I'd like to," she added softly.

"You're not too old! Especially not at the Weyr. If you want to Craft
you should go for it."

The greenrider made a face. "I don't think I am patient enough to be
in a class with a bunch of twelve turn olds, no matter how fascinating
the subject matter is. And if I did, I think I'd end up missing my
weyrmate."

"You could train directly with one of the journeymen, if they're
willing to take you on. Maybe Onook? You could start out informally
and just keep working at it." T'lin shrugged. "Dragonriders can't
Craft full time anyway and a lot of Crafters are willing to work with
us on training in what time we have."

"Maybe." Nobody had really explained it like that before. Alina had
assumed an apprenticeship would be classrooms and notes, which didn't
seem very dignified now that she was a greenrider. "How long have you
been Crafting, T'lin? And-- and please sit down, if you like."

"I guess I have been hovering for a while." T'lin sat down with a
little smile. "I've been Crafting since I was twelve, so about nine
turns now."

"When did you Impress?"

"About a turn and half ago. I waited a _long_ time." Calaroth was
absolutely worth it, though, and he'd also gotten to be clutchmates
with V'rel. "Not being able to Craft as much is hard."

"I can imagine. It's a very... life changing experience," she said
wryly. "Are you from the Crafthall, then? Or the Weyr?"

"I'm holdbred, from a minor farming hold," T'lin said. "I knew I
wanted to apprentice to the technicians, but my parents and I decided
it was best I go to the Weyr instead of the Hall."

"I'm from a little farming cothold too," Alina admitted. "Although I
didn't have much choice in coming here. I was Searched, my father told
me to go, and that was that."

"Told you to go?" He asked with raised eyebrows. "You didn't want to
come to the Weyr?"

"I was never asked." She shrugged. "And honestly, at the time I didn't
want to go at all."

"Oh, that's a shame. Are you happy here now?" T'lin didn't know why
someone wouldn't want to come to the Weyr, except to stay with their
family. That was the hardest part of moving for him, but he would've
had to do that for Crafting anyway.

It was such a personal question. Alina hesitated, then smiled shyly.
"I lost a lot, but I have a weyrmate and friends I'd never have met if
I hadn't come here. I don't know if it's better, but... I think I'm
happy. And I certainly wouldn't be sitting idle at a table playing at
math if I was back home."

"I hope eventually you can be fully happy here." He smiled. "I mean,
as much as we _can_ be in a Pass."

"Do you think it will end? The Pass, I mean."

"I'm sure it will. It has to." T'lin didn't want to consider it going
on forever, or for hundreds of turns.

"Sometimes I wonder." Perhaps the Pass might end, but it might end her
before that. "What about you? Are you happy with... all this?"

"Well, I could definitely do without Thread." T'lin chuckled. "But
other than that, yeah. I love my life."

Alina smiled. "You're lucky. Not many people get to say that and mean it."

"I hope you get to be one of the lucky ones, Alina." It was sad to
think she wasn't truly happy with her life.

The way he said it coaxed a small laugh out of the greenrider. "Oh
gosh, don't mistake me! I'm certainly not complaining. It's just
sometimes hard to reconcile the life I thought I'd have and the life I
have now. Don't you think? I mean, you thought you'd be a Technician,
right?"

"Hmm." T'lin tilted his head. "Well, I did understand, or at least I
thought I did, the decision I was making when I chose to Stand. I knew
if I Impressed my life would be very different. Although I was
Standing so long I started to think I might end up just a crafter anyway."

"You're still a crafter," Alina pointed out.

"_And_ a dragonrider. I'm still a technician, but I can't dedicate
myself to it." And definitely not when he still wanted to spend time
with his friends and family.

"Yet. But when the Pass ends..." She hoped, very much, that it would end.

"Then maybe we can both be crafters, hmm?"

She smiled. "Sure. Why not? Although I still hope I might be able to
entice J'ackt to cothold with me... maybe with an orchard..."

"Cotholding with dragons?" T'lin arched an eyebrow.

She flushed and looked down at her ink-stained hide. "I know, it's silly."

"Dragons need other dragons . . . Though maybe you could figure
something out. A cot near the Weyr maybe?"

"Mmm." She'd said too much and now felt like a dimglow for it. "Maybe.
But I should probably get going. I have some deliveries that I need to
make before afternoon drills. I'm glad that you stopped by, though.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who does math for fun."

"Maybe we can chat another time?" T'lin found her interesting and it
seemed like she could use some encouragement to continue with her math
studies.

"Sure." She gathered up her hides and gave him a shy smile. "Maybe we
can do a problem together."

"I'd like that." He smiled as well.

Last updated on the October 1st 2021

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A Sky Full of Numbers