Dammed

Writers: Emma, Paula
Date Posted: 27th February 2008

Characters: Tamah, K'sedel
Description: Tamah discovers a problem with the Dragon River that flows thru the Weyr and brings it to K'sedel.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern, River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 17 of Turn 4

K'sedel

Tamah watched the river's flow under the bridge. He had been keeping eye on it for sevendays now. The river seemed sluggish and the water was low. Last time he had seen it that low was when the region had had a dry spell of several months. He wasn't sure when he had first noticed it was too low. The harbour master had trained himself to be aware of the environment, especially the weather.

A rider approached him. It was his weyrmate, Ondia, and Tamah greeted her with a warm smile.

"So what was it about? You wanted our help?" she asked and nodded towards Nizenath's green bulk.

"Could you fly me straight, following the river up?" Tamah asked and explained his concern.

"Of course we can, love," Ondia replied.

They mounted the dragon and she rose to the air. She started to fly along the river on low altitude. Tamah's flits cling to his clothes and the harbour master leaned over the dragon's side almost to the point of falling off. He kept his eyes on the river. They were soon out of the weyr's proper. Then they flew over few small holds that provided the weyr much of its food. They had once been part of the weyrhold. After them they came to the uninhabited stretch of wilderness. There Tamah found out what was wrong with the river.

The Dragon river run thru a large clearing in middle of forest. Where the clearing ended, the river turned narrow with steep banks. A whole tree had fallen over the narrow spot. Debris had gathered up against the tree trunk, creating a block, a natural dam. A formidable lake had already formed in to the clearing above the blockade. That told Tamah that the dam had formed sevendays, even months ago. Nizenath landed on higher ground near the blockage. Tamah dismounted and went to look it closer and Ondia followed him. The blockage did not dam the river completely, about half of the river's water still flowed thru the dam or past it. That's why nobody had noticed it before now.

"This is what worries you?" Ondia asked.

"Yes. Look at it. If that dam breaks up on its own, all that water from the 'lake' will be drained, creating a surge that will flush out everything and everybody on the river to the sea," Tamah replied. He called Zenit to him and wrote a note. He attached the note to the bronze firelizard. "Now, get to K'sedel, bring him here," he instructed and the sent flit away. "The weyrleader must be informed of this," he explained to his weyrmate.

The little creature did as it was bid. He landed on K'sedel's desk, and held his leg out, with the note attached to it, chittering away until he was noticed.

K'sedel took the note, and found a bit of sandwich that he hadn't eaten to give the flit as a treat. Reading the note caused his brow to furrow, it didn't sound good, and the Harbour Master wouldn't be calling him out to see it id it weren't important.

**Nikornath, please ask Nizenath's where they are, and inform her rider I'll be there shortly.**

Tamah noticed Ondia's eyes glaze over, when Nizenath communicated with her. Sometimes he envied that. "The weyrleader is coming, Nizenath sent Nikonarth the visualization of this place," Ondia told him. Tamah nodded.

And it was only minutes before the Weyrleader arrived there. He slipped down from his bronzes back, and shed his heavy jacket, walking over to the Harbourmaster and the greenrider. "I got your note."

"I though you might," Tamah grinned. Then he gestured towards the block across the river. "We have bit of a problem here. If that breaks up without a warning it will flood the river and the weyrlake fed by the river."

"How stable do you think it is?" asked K'sedel as he studied it. "I mean, how likely is it to go in the next few days, or could we have months?"

"Hard to say. It looks like it's been there for months, so it seems stable. But one good, hard rain can broke it," Tamah said and scratched his head.

"What do you recommend? Is it best to move it ourselves, or leave it to see what happens?"

"I would clear it away in controlled fashion. That way we can warn the people down river and be prepared for it. Few sturdy men and dragons could get it done in short time. As far as I see, if that trunk across the river is removed, the dam will be gone. Lot of depris going down though," Tamah replied.

"I can organize a working party for that. It won't hurt to have the holders around here on side by doing this for them."

Tamah nodded. "The Dragon River is important to them too."

"It's their lifeline for transport and communication out here. They need to know it isn't suddenly going to turn on them," said K'sedel.

"My thoughts exactly."

"I'll have to speak to U'das," thought the Weyrleader aloud. "Find some bronze and brownriders to come out here and shift this. Maybe a few of the larger blues too."

Tamah nodded. "And I have few sturdy dockhads that can help too."

"I'll sort it for some time in the next sevenday."

"All right," the Harbour master grunted. He looked the dam. "I wonder which storm created it."

"Looks like it could have been there for a while."

"It might even been that hurricane that went nearby," Tamah said.

"Well we'll get it cleared sooner rather than later then."

Last updated on the March 2nd 2008

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