“There are still not enough dragons, no matter how many Weyrs you put them in,” Fiona said.

“It doesn’t matter,” T’mar said, giving Fiona a quelling look. “I’m the Weyrleader—”

“Until Talenth rises again!” Fiona snorted angrily.

“—and I’ve made the best decision I can,” T’mar finished, acknowledging her interjection with a sad nod. “As it stands, Telgar has the greatest experience in timing it and our dragons and riders are trained the best in coping with it.

“I felt that it would be more dangerous to introduce a new wing into our ranks, given that we would probably have to time it even with their numbers, so I decided we would perform the experiment.”

“And how many will die in this experiment?” Fiona demanded hotly, then quickly brought her hand up to her face in horror, her eyes wide with guilt and sorrow. “T’mar, I’m sorry! That was uncalled for!”

“Fewer perhaps than would die the other way,” T’mar responded, his voice cold with anger. “Although, as we’ll be certainly fighting twice, the chances of your needing a new Weyrleader are clearly doubled.”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Fiona growled, then offhandedly said to T’mar, “Not you, me. I should never have said anything of the like; it’s only that I am worried about you.” She caught his eyes with hers and added in a softer voice, “I’m afraid that you’ll make the mistake B’nik made.”

“He hasn’t made the mistake yet,” T’mar said, reaching up a hand to accept her apology. His eyes narrowed as he continued half to himself, “In fact, it might not even be him.”

“I thought you said you recognized him?”

“Not him,” T’mar replied with a quick shake of his head, “his jacket.” He took a breath and continued, “I saw the Benden Weyrleader’s jacket quite clearly before the Thread consumed it.”

“Well, I couldn’t imagine B’nik just giving that away!”

“No, I couldn’t, either,” T’mar admitted. “But it could be possible that a different person inherited it.”

“Not as long as Tullea’s senior!” Kindan said, chuckling.

“Indeed,” T’mar said. “But until it happens, we won’t really know who wore the Benden Weyrleader’s jacket when it did happen.”

“But it seems fair to guess that whoever was wearing it was the Benden Weyrleader,” Kindan said. “Even if this Weyrleader is from the distant future, he was still destroyed by Thread.”

“And just as true if it really was B’nik,” T’mar said. “But my point is that we don’t know when this will happen, when some future B’nik jumps between to save us—after saving M’tal beforehand.”

“Although, with our numbers so low, it could be soon,” Fiona said with a grim look.