Immediately upon their arrival in the air over the Bitran mountains, Fiona regretted her submission to the young healer’s demands: The vest made her very warm, almost hot, and Fiona loosened her wher-hide jacket to let some of the cold Bitran air cool her off but decided not to, for fear of losing the flamethrower strapped on her back.

She and Jeila took positions close to the mountains, veering left and right to scan into tree-lined valleys, looking for any sign of burrowed Thread.

They had been looking for scarcely an hour when Jeila paused and Tolarth whirled in the air, making a tight circle over one spot. Fiona and Talenth circled around long enough to get a look at the drooping trees, the dark center, and confirmed the burrow.

We’ll land there, Fiona said, giving Talenth an image close to the burrow.

As the queen started a slow, almost lazy, swirl to descend to the location, T’mar’s Zirenth burst above them bellowing loudly.

What are you doing? Zirenth demanded.

Going for the burrow, Talenth responded reasonably.

You’re a queen! the bronze declared, and that was an end to the discussion.

Fiona glowered as the bronze rider and two blues made their way to the ground. She watched as they flamed the burrow into crisp char.

Tell T’mar to send in a ground crew, Fiona said acerbically to her dragon, we’ve only one Weyrleader.

To her surprise, the bronze rider looked up and waved agreement, turning back to his bronze and soon he and Zirenth were aloft and then between, gone, doubtless, to Bitra Hold for a suitable ground crew.

They seemed to take forever to get back; she and Jeila had spotted three more burrows and H’nez had dispatched the smaller greens and blues to flame the worst of the infestations, but it was clear that only flamethrowers working directly on the ground would completely eradicate the tougher of the burrows.

When T’mar returned, Fiona could tell just by the way Zirenth flew that the Weyrleader was furious.

T’mar says you and Jeila may fight on the ground, Zirenth relayed in a resigned tone.

Why?

He says that if we wait on Bitra, all Pern will be Threaded, Zirenth responded.

Fiona grunted in response. She’d heard about Bitra when she’d been at Benden; this merely confirmed her worst impressions of the Hold and its Lord Holder. She instructed Jeila to take the first burrow, aided by two blues, while she and Talenth descended toward the third burrow with a green and a blue at her side.

What would it be like, she mused, to have greens and blues as escorts for the queens’ Wing all the time? Queens’ Wings, perhaps? She had never read of such things in the Records, but Igen’s deserts were so dry and barren that they never had many burrows. The lush plains of Telgar presented a different possibility.