Nian and Neru are twins, living in a small Hold on Ista Island. They share an empathic bond and dread the imminent time when they must be separated. They are learning their lessons from the Harper, Ruart, when dragons come on Search, looking for suitable people to come to a dragon hatching and maybe Impress one of the new clutch. They select Nian, despite the fact that it is her brother Neru who always shown interest in becoming a dragonrider…
This is another delightful short story in the vein of “The Impression” and “The Smallest Dragonboy.” The story is quite slight – the twins go to Ista Weyr and experience what life is like in the weyr compared to the hard labour at their home in Lado (clue: the dragonriders don’t have to sow, cultivate and reap their food so life is a little easier). It’s not dissimilar to when Menolly first visited Benden weyr in Dragonsong.
Needless to say, not everything goes smoothly for the twins, but they emerge from their ordeal triumphant, having made new friends and learnt new things about themselves.
This short story first appeared in the Anne-thology, A Gift Of Dragons, a collection of short stories and novellas set on Pern. Three of them had been collected before but this story was original to the collection. I’m not sure of the “point” of it, save being a charming diversion, but it does tell an interesting story set on one of the more ignored locations, so it does help out in that regard.
The title is adapted from the Rudyard Kipling poem, “The Ballad Of East And West”, which is ostensibly about the rivalry between two men during a chase over a stolen horse which then turns to respect and friendship when they finally meet:
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!
Of course, “Never the twain” has entered the lexicon as a phrase related somewhat to irresistible forces and immovable objects, despite the fact that the second half of this chorus contradicts it, but then we’ve never been terribly good with finishing quotes, have we? Just go ask “the customer is always right” if you don’t believe me.
McCaffrey doesn’t tell us when it’s happening either. There are fire lizards present, so that puts it either at the beginning of humanity’s history on Pern or at the end of what we know. Given that there are several female characters riding non-queen dragons it might be near the end of the ninth Pass (one character mentions she has been riding for thirty years and Mirrim impressed Path at about Year 10 of the Ninth Pass) but the logical solution is that it’s happening contemporaneously with Red Star Rising/Dragonseye. There’s a lot of reasons for that, but for me the most convincing is that in Red Star, it was mentioned that the fire lizards seemed to prefer the warmer climates of the Southern Continent and were presumed to have returned there: Ista is referred to a lot in the earlier books as being quite warm and almost tropical, so it would make sense that the lizards would congregate there.
The other point calls back to Debera’s story in Red Star where she escaped from an arranged marriage to Impress a green dragon. There’s a hint earlier on the story that Nian is going to be married off to someone in a neighbouring village. Because this is kiddilit, Nian is apprehensive about travelling away from her family, rather than anything else.
But what I find most annoying about it is that Nian and Neru’s mild empathic bond is regarded as quite unusual… on a planet filled with telepathic dragons who can speak mind-to-mind. I mean twins aren’t unusual on Pern: the story previous to this in the collection featured the mistaken identity of twins as a fairly major plot point, so it shouldn’t be unusual. However, we get around it with this line:
The boy is strong but his twin shields him from me, Oswith said to her rider. I cannot see his potential clearly. It is strange.
Then there’s the idea that, when they get to the Impression, eggs that don’t hatch are considered duds in some way, and are left to die. This is what happens to one of the dragons in the climax of the story (no spoilers beyond that, sorry!). We know that this is true, given what happened to Jaxom and Ruth in Dragonquest, but given that the dragon is viable – it’s broadcasting thoughts – it seems a little harsh. However, I have friends who live on farms who have done the same during difficult births with livestock, so what would I know?
Besides all that, this is a pleasant glimpse into the past of Pern which, while not essential, will not waste your time if you seek it out.
Coming Up Next: “Beyond Between”
