DNN2

"Let's talk about the climax of the race in Norda. Bob, you've made your feelings very clear about Phoebe's pass on Feran at the summit of Boddelen. How do you read it, Tony?"

"I think it was absolutely fantastic. Amazing flying, astonishing courage. It took real grit for Tenryuu to close the gap to Feran over those last few laps, and the move itself – ah, I dream of pulling those off - still!"

"You have to admit it was risky though, Tony. Was it really worth it for a single championship point?"

"To a champion, every point is worth it, Bob. That's how you win championships. And remember, Tenryuu taking a point from Feran is a two-point swing in her favour, not just the one."

"But she's not a champion yet, and Lucia just passed her in the standings. A rookie should be more careful, it verges on disrespect for Phoebe to come in and shove her way past the defending champion like that."

"That's certainly the argument that Feran's been making in interviews over the last few days."

"That's rank hypocrisy from Feran, Sam, and you both know it. He pulled moves like that on us from the moment he entered the sport."

"I seem to remember you getting pretty worked up about it once or twice, Tony."

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"Haha, that's fair, but Feran's been out of line this week. Some of what he's said has gone beyond arrogance."

"Never mind what Feran has said – I agree it's been a bit much – the question is whether the move was legal."

"The stewards declined to investigate it. Shouldn't that settle the question?"

"I don't like this, Sam, it feels like now we're counting any space between wing-beats as ballistic flight, we might as well not have the dang rule if that's the case."

"Well, let's just explain what's meant by ballistic flight for a moment, Bob, since I know we have some new viewers since the last time this was a big issue. Regulation 14, clause 8 of the ICDA rulebook defines ballistic flight as any flight in which a dragon is not generating lift by the power of their own wings, and closer manoeuvring is allowed because there's less risk of one dragon undercutting another."

"It's an old rule, it's been due for an overhaul for a while now."

"Well, don't forget we have Feran to thank for that. Back in '51 when he was defending his first championship, he was penalised for a risky pass on Therese Ikaha-"

"An absolutely beautiful move, you'd have to say, even if it was pushing the limit a bit."

"Would you have said that if he'd done it to you, Tony?"

"I'd have screamed blue murder, but Terry's a better sport than me."

"Yes, well, anyway, Lautern took the ICDA to tribunal and proved, empirically, that Terry's dragon, Lett, was flying ballistically. The ICDA then issued a Memorandum of Clarification to that effect, which was supposed to cover the rest of the season while clause 8 was revised."

"And we're still stuck with the bloody thing because none of the big teams could decide whether they wanted to poach Feran from Lautern or prepare to be racing against him for another five years."

"I wouldn't put it quite that bluntly, Bob."

"Oh, I know I don't have many friends in the stables these days, Tony. You have to admit it's past time we had some answers on this one, or young riders like Phoebe are going to keep taking these dangerous risks."