Tamaris was silent as she scribbled her answer to the equation on the chalkboard. Chalk dust tickled her nose, and she tried not to sneeze.

The room was hot and stuffy, with no windows and a single door, and it was packed to the brim with students. The Master standing at the front of the class watched Tamaris intently, ignoring the whispers and giggles of the students.

The chalk scratched against the board with a high-pitched squeak as Tamaris finished writing her answer. She looked toward the Master and nodded.

The Master nodded back. “Go on.”

Tamaris took a short breath, then spoke. “Escape velocity, or the speed that something needs to move to escape Pern’s atmosphere and gravitational pull, is calculated this way.” She looked around at the students, hoping at least some of them were paying attention. “Two, multiplied by the universal gravitational constant G and Pern’s mass, divided by Pern’s radius. Then take the square root of the result.”

The Master nodded his approval. “That’s correct.”

Just then, a bell rang, echoing across the room. The students got up from their chairs and started packing their carrysacks as the Master called out, “Don’t forget your assignment – determine the escape velocity for a dragon and his rider to leave Pern’s gravitational pull. If you’re a rider, feel free to use yourself and your dragon as an example!”

As the students filed out of the room, Tamaris walked over to the Master, smiling.

“You know that’s a trick question, don’t you, Master Telos?”

Master Telos laughed. “Of course. But it keeps class morale up for the dragonrider students to apply the theory to themselves. Faranth knows, they all took this class because they want to be astronauts!”

“It’ll take Turns of study, and more classes than this one, before any of them will be ready,” Tamaris said wistfully. “It’s a long and arduous path they’ve chosen, to be an astronaut!”

“It’s such a shame that I’ll be losing one of my best apprentices to the Weyr,” Master Telos said, “I’ll have to find someone else to assist me in teaching Beginning Astrophysics.”

“Only if I Impress,” Tamaris replied, “And you won’t be ‘losing’ me. There are dozens of Starcrafters at Monaco Bay Weyr who are dragonriders, and they still manage to teach a class or two at Landing!”

“I suppose so,” Master Telos said. Then he brightened. “So what color dragon do you think you’ll Impress?”

Tamaris looked thoughtful. “There’s no queen egg this time, so I may have a shot at a green or a blue. Either one would be good enough for me, if we can make it up to space!”

“Don’t tell me you just want to Impress a dragon because you want to be an astronaut!”

Tamaris laughed. “I want to help the space program in any way I can. It just so happens that I’m also a candidate for a dragon. Whether I Impress or not, that won’t get in the way of my dream!”

As she left the main Landing complex, Tamaris looked up at the evening sky. If she squinted, she could almost see the unfinished skeleton of a long, silver tube orbiting the sky.

The tube was Pern’s very first space station, the Spacehold, which started construction over twenty Turns ago. Every Weyr, Craft and Hold on Pern had lent their most skilled people to the project, which was another ten Turns away from completion. Once it was finished, the space station would take the place of the legendary Dawn Sisters in the sky.

Many of the Landing students Tamaris talked to were eager to join the Spacehold project. Some were curious about living in space, while others, especially the dragonriders, looked forward to exploring other worlds.

There were times when Tamaris felt awe at how far Pern had come, over 200 Turns after the last Thread had fallen. In previous times, 200 Turns after a Pass, all of Pern would have been preparing for Thread to fall again. But now, with Thread never to fall again, Pern was free to look ahead. And look ahead they did.

Traditions were being overturned on a regular basis, especially in the Crafts. Women accounted for almost half the memberships of many Crafts, and newer Crafts like the Starcraft helped to spread and teach the information left behind by AIVAS.

The breaking of traditions also filtered down to the Weyrs. With the end of Thread, most dragonriders trained as explorers, mapping out far-off places on Pern, or astronauts, helping to build the Spacehold and more. During Hatchings, girls had an equal chance of Impressing a green or a blue dragon as boys.

Tamaris wondered, for probably the hundredth time, what it would be like to Impress a dragon. A spirited green, or a gentle blue. What would it be like to fly with a dragon, or even go to space with a dragon? She remembered her answer to Master Telos, that her dream wouldn’t depend on whether she Impressed or not. But deep down, she secretly hoped to Impress a dragon, and become an astronaut. To have a friend she could share her dream with. To reach for the stars together.

She also wondered, much more reluctantly, what she would do if she didn’t Impress. Since there were no more Passes, queens rose to mate less often, and there were fewer clutches – probably one clutch every couple of Turns. Tamaris was nineteen Turns old, and standing for this clutch would be her only chance at Impressing a dragon. And for safety’s sake, new astronauts were limited to highly-trained dragonpairs, so this would also be her only chance at becoming an astronaut.

So much was riding on her being able to Impress a dragon, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if she failed to Impress.

Tamaris shook her head and pushed the unsettling thought away. It was time to get going. She shouldered her carrysack and made her way over to the watchdragon to request a ride back to Monaco Bay Weyr. She had candidate duties to fulfill, and she didn’t want to be later than she already was. Today had been her last day as Master Telos’ teaching assistant, and she was to spend the next few days focused on the Hatching.

She couldn’t wait.

---

Tamaris woke the next morning to the melodic hum of hundreds of dragons. The eggs would hatch today! Throughout the morning, she could barely pay attention to her daily tasks. When the watchdragon bugled and the candidates prepared to walk out onto the Sands, Tamaris felt both anticipation and anxiety.

The Sands of the Hatching Ground were almost unbearably hot as the candidates filed out toward the queen’s well-guarded clutch. The dragons of the Weyr continued to hum as the white-robed candidates took their positions surrounding the eggs.

Tamaris looked around at the audience, trying to find someone she recognized. She spied Master Telos and several of her colleagues at Landing who had come to support her, as well as her parents.

Suddenly, a hush fell over the Hatching Grounds. Tamaris wrenched her attention back to the clutch as the first egg broke.

A large, bronze dragonet emerged from the wreckage. Tamaris looked at him thoughtfully. People said it was good luck for a bronze to be first to hatch – an old tradition, though she could see why it made sense. The first to hatch would have first choice of the candidates, while the last would have to make do with who was left.

The next shell to crack revealed a bright blue dragon. Tamaris turned to focus on him, but he moved past her to nuzzle another girl standing nearby. Two greens hatched immediately afterward, one choosing a girl and the other a boy. More and more dragonets hatched and chose their partners: a blue, two browns, another bronze, two more greens.

Tamaris tried to focus on the blues and greens, but they all moved past her to choose other candidates. She refused to feel uneasy even as the number of unhatched eggs decreased. Her dragon just hadn’t hatched yet. By the time the last egg was ready to hatch, though, she started to feel a twinge of desperation.

The final egg shivered and cracked open, revealing a small, brown dragonet. His hide was the color of milky klah, and his jeweled eyes shined a bright blue as he wandered among the remaining candidates.

Tamaris felt a surge of disappointment. She wouldn’t be Impressing today, after all. She stared at the brown dragonet wistfully, knowing he wouldn’t be interested in her. Her mind wandered between curiosity at which boy the brown would choose, and confusion regarding what she wanted to do after the Hatching.

She could just go back to Landing and continue teaching classes. Or maybe she could be one of the support staff or mission control for the astronauts building the Spacehold.

But her heart ached at the thought of never going to space. Of never seeing the stars up close, or catching a glimpse of new worlds. Now that the dream was out of reach, she wanted it so badly.

Take me with you! a voice called out in her head. Let’s go together!

Tamaris looked up suddenly, and was immediately face-to-face with the klah-brown dragonet. “Me?” she blurted out in disbelief. “You really want me?”

Of course! the brown dragonet said matter-of-factly, You’re kind, and smart, and brilliant, and I love you!

Tamaris slowly reached out to stroke the dragonet’s head. Tears of joy fell from her eyes. “I love you, too!”

My name is Vazimath, Tamaris! Let’s go to space together, and see other worlds!

Tamaris beamed, and hugged Vazimath tightly. “Yes. Let’s do that!”

Her words were punctuated with a low growl.

But before we do anything else, Vazimath said, can we get something to eat? I’m hungry!

As Tamaris led Vazimath away from the Hatching Grounds, she was aware of other people’s whispers and comments. A girl Impressing a brown? It was unheard of! But Tamaris didn’t care. Traditions were broken all the time, after all.

Together with Vazimath, Tamaris could almost feel the bonds of gravity holding them down fade away… and let them soar.

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