Fiona smiled and shook her head. “Does it matter?”

“Perhaps to the father.”

“Well, there’s a choice of two, and even if I knew for certain, I wouldn’t tell them,” Fiona said. She caught Sonia’s look and explained, “My child is going to have two fathers, two mothers, and a whole Weyr for parents.” She paused and added, “As will Lorana’s.”

Sonia cocked her head sideways at the younger woman thoughtfully. “Well, whatever you wish.” She stood back from Talenth and gestured in the time-honored signal. “Fly safe!”

Fiona was greeted with glee by T’mar and Birentir when she returned to the Weyr. After the Weyrleader let her out of his embrace, he invited her to join him and the wingleaders in the Council Room.

“My Council Room?” Fiona teased, as the Council Room was off the senior Weyrwoman’s quarters.

“I hope you don’t mind,” T’mar said. Fiona waved his apology away, grinning and shaking her head. Her mood evaporated when she entered the Council Room and saw the expressions of the other wingleaders.

“How bad was it?” H’nez asked the question that was on all their lips.

“The injuries were the worst,” Fiona said, “the losses, less so.” She grimaced. “I don’t know if it will help that they’ve only three days before they ride again.”

“Probably,” T’mar said. “D’vin will work them hard, as he must, and that will distract them.”

“So where are we now?” H’nez asked, frowning. He glanced down at a tally slate set between the riders on the table.

Fiona glanced at it, spoke with Talenth, and reached for the tablet, quickly wiping away old numbers and replacing them with the current strengths of all the Weyrs.

“It’s better than you think,” she said as she put the slates before them once more. “High Reaches has eighty-nine, Ista has ninety, Benden has one hundred and eight, Fort has ninety-six.”

“So against the two Falls, the one over Benden Weyr will have over two full Flights, as will the Fall at Keroon,” T’mar said. The other wingleaders around the table relaxed visibly.

“What about burrows?” H’nez asked. “That Fall over Upper Bitra was all in mountains.”

“I’ve volunteered to help with the sweeps,” T’mar said. “We’ll bring in ground crews where needed.”

“Makes sense,” C’tov said. “We need training, we don’t have a Fall for another six days—”

“Five,” H’nez corrected.

“—five days,” C’tov said with a nod toward the older rider, “so we can help and train at the same time.”

T’mar nodded. “How soon can you be ready?”

“Give us a quarter of an hour,” C’tov said, rising from his seat, “and we’ll be over Bitra’s mountains.”