“I,” H’nez began, “for one, am of the opinion that we here can solve this problem.” He glanced at Tullea. “I think we don’t need more hand-holding from the past.”

“You say that with less than a wing of fighting dragons?” Tullea asked scornfully.

“Speaking now for Ista, some of us have seen worse days,” M’tal said. “And yet we recovered.” He looked around the table as he added, “Ista has three hundred and seven fighting dragons.” He paused, glancing at Dalia and Salina before continuing, “I’m willing to redistribute that strength to bring the other Weyrs up to decent fighting numbers.”

“Really?” Tullea asked acerbically. “What, you’ll give away a wing?”

“To Benden, yes,” M’tal replied. With a wink for Fiona, he added, “I think we can send another ninety-seven here, to Telgar.” Over the gasps of the others he added, “Telgar is central to Pern and could well be expected to be taxed more than most.”

“We were thinking along the same lines,” D’vin said, turning toward K’lior. “Sonia and I would like to bring your strength up to two Flights, if you’re willing.”

“We’d appreciate it,” K’lior replied, grinning.

“And we’ll send two wings here, to Telgar,” Sonia added, smiling at Fiona. “A queen’s due, as it were.”

“For our part, we promise to share any queens with Weyrs that need them,” Fiona said in response, glancing at Cisca, who nodded in thanks.

“This still won’t solve our problem,” D’vin said.

“No, but it will make it easier to bear,” B’nik said.

“And we’ll fly to your aid, when needed,” H’nez declared solemnly.

“Only if you’re not fighting Thread yourselves,” M’tal said.

“For the Crafts,” Zellany said, “we and the Holders might be able to provide better ground cover.”

“As soon as we get enough of those new flamethrowers,” Lord Holder Gadran of Bitra Hold growled.

“And training,” Lady Nerra of Crom Hold added.

“To be honest,” Lord Holder Bemin spoke up reluctantly, “we really don’t know how much better these new flamethrowers will perform until we’ve used them more.”

“I’m certain, my Lord, that they’ll do better than the old ones,” the Mastersmith said. “If only because your crews won’t have to worry about them exploding.”

“That would be a relief,” Gadran said.

“What else can we do?” H’nez asked. “It seems that we need to provide the time—”

“That’s it!” Tullea exclaimed. “Go back in time, raise the new weyrlings back in time.”

“Where?” Fiona asked after the first rush of excitement had flowed over her. Tullea looked at her dumbfounded, so she continued, “I mean, Weyrwoman Tullea, we’ve already used all the time we had at Igen Weyr.”

“Used all the time?” Tullea repeated, brows furrowed thunderously. “How can you use time?”