From: richk@tekeda.PEN.TEK.COM (Richard C Kurschner)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [L&S] Run-away 6
Message-ID: <9876@tekig7.PEN.TEK.COM>
Date: 7 May 93 22:01:35 GMT

[ADMIN:  Thanks to Clint Wolf for use of his Shun Runner spoke.]


It had been a quiet night here in the 'Buff.  No runners were scheduled, and
only the top members of the spoke were meeting to decide what to do now that
their old meeting place had been destroyed in the storm. 

The spoke Eldar, was sitting on his 'throne', an old cushioned chair from the
Shunned Center.  It was one of the few things saved (or worth saving) from
the ruins of their old meeting place.  Around him was the spoke's 'Liff, and
three other senior shunrunners.  What had started as a active discussion of
alternate locations had deteriorated to a series of verbal attacks about
each other's failures to save the old location from the storm, to a brooding
silence.  They tried to remember sites that should still be standing, yet
unused and thus available for their nightly gatherings.  In time, places
would be found.  But they needed a place now.  A place to meet and a place
to store the precious 'jects they found on their runs.

The tense silence was broken by the crys of young Lissine, a tag-along girl
not yet old enough to be init'ed.

"'Liff, 'Liff! You neg nog what I vizzed!"  She slid to a stop in front of
the startled group.  Her surprise too was obvious at seeing the spoke
leadership in the make-shift meeting area.  "Oh, sorry Eldar, your nogness,
I neg expect you here!"

Recovering faster than the others, the spoke Eldar said, "What's the phenom
little tag?"

"A fem, 'bout Lindy's age, just went skippin' into the SC.  She was jacked
and looked like she was all ready feeling the press, all shivvy and all."

"That's it?"

"Neg, Eldar.  A min later the fem was followed by a barker, a pos big barker.
I was about to skip to tell 'Liff, when up comes another fem and a masc with
another barker!  The fem's all nervy, telling the masc 'bout the ledges and
stuff, but he don't buy none of it and up and orders her into the Center!
Acts like he never feel no press at all!  They skip in, and then I nog I gots
to let the 'Liff aud it!"

"Was they old?" asked one of the runners.

"Oh I pos the fem was older than you, Eldar.  And the masc must have been
older than my grand-da!"

"Did they have net?" asked the spokes 'Liff.

"Well, not the first fem, she looked to have neg net.  But the other two,
now they had definite pos net!"

"When they go skippin'?" asked another runner.

"Just a couple of mins.  I skip back as best I could!"

"Any other vizzers out there?" asked the Eldar.

"Neg, I was solo."  Lissine's breathing was finally slowing down.

The Eldar sat and thought for a minute.  If they could bring back whatever
'jects the fem and masc might have, it could be a good haul.  Worth the
danger.  Could go a long way to solving some of their families' financial
problems.

"All right, aud me good!  We're going to go running for 'em.  Between Creepy
Charlie and the Press, they can't have skipped too far; they should be all
jacked by now.  If we didj 'em, we be pos net.  Lissine, you wait for us
with the 'Liff at your vis point.  The rest of you nog me?  Pip up if you be
nervy."

Smiling, the shunrunners sat in silence.