Anne McCaffrey - Pern 16 - Runner of Pern

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Dragonsong (1976)

Dragonsinger (1977)

Dragondrums (1978)

Other Pern novels:

Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern (1983)

Nerilka's Story (1986)

Dragonsdawn (1988)

The Renegades of Pern (1989)

All the Weyrs of Pern (1991)

The Chronicles of Pern (1992)

The Dolphins of Pern (1994)

Dragonseye (1996)

The Masterharper of Pern (1998)

deadly mycorrhizoid spores, which devoured anything they touched and

rendered the ground where they landed barren for years. The colonists

immediately began searching for a way to combat the Thread, as the

spores were named. For defence, they turned to the dragonets, small flying

lizards that the colonists had tamed when they first landed. The fire-

breathing ability of these reptiles had been a great help in the first

Threadfall. By genetically enhancing and selectively breeding these reptiles

through the generations, the colonists created a race of full-sized dragons.

With the dragons and their riders working together, the Pern colonists

were able to fight Thread effectively and establish a firm hold on the planet.

They settled into a quasi-feudal agricultural society, building Holds for the

administrators and field workers, Halls for the craftsmen, and Weyrs for the

dragons and riders to inhabit.

Many of the Pern novels detail the politics of the Holds and Weyrs be-

tween Threadfalls. The entire line of books spans over 2,500 years, from

the first landing of the settlers to their descendants' discovery of the master

ship's computer centuries later.

Dragonflight, the first of the Dragonriders of Pern books, tells of a time

2500 years after the initial landing. The Thread has not been seen in four

centuries, and people are starting to be sceptical of the old warnings. Three

dragonriders, Lessa, F'lar, and F'nor, believe that the Thread is coming

dragonriders are called, and the current generation are growing tense. After

getting into a fight with one of the old dragonriders, F'nor is sent to Pern's

southern continent to recover from his wound. There he discovers a grub

that neutralizes the Thread after it burrows into the ground. Realizing they

have discovered a powerful new weapon against Thread, F'nor begins

planning to seed the grubs over both continents.

Meanwhile, an unexpected Threadfall is the catalyst for a duel between

F'lar, the Benden Weyrleader, and T'ron, the leader of the Oldtimers. F'lar

wins and banishes all dragonriders who will not accept his role as overall

Weyrleader. The banished go to the southern continent. The book ends

with the grubs being bred for distribution over Pern.

The third book, The White Dragon, chronicles the trials of young Jaxom

as he raises the only white dragon on Pern, a genetic anomaly. Jaxom

encounters prejudice and scorn from other dragonriders because his

dragon is smaller than the rest. He is also scheduled to take command of

one of the oldest Holds on Pern, and there are those who doubt his ability

to govern. Both Jaxom and his dragon Ruth rise to the challenges and suc-

ceed in proving that bigger is not necessarily better. Jaxom commands his

Hold, gets the girl, and all is set right with the world.

The Harper Hall trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums) is

aimed at young readers, and deals with a girl named Menolly and her rise

sweating too heavily. But she wouldn't be standing around long enough to

get a chill.

It didn't take long for her breath to return to normal and she was pleased

by that. She was in good shape. She kicked out her legs to ease the strain

she had put on them to make the height. Then, settling her belt and check-

ing the message pouch, she started down the hill at a rapid walking pace. It

was too dark - Belior had not yet risen above the plain to give her full light

for the down side of the hill - to be safe to run in shadows. She only knew

this part of the trace by word of mouth, not actually footing it. She'd done

well so far this, her second Turn of running, and had made most of her first

Cross by the suggested easy laps. Runners watched out for each other and

no station manager would overtax a novice. With any luck, she'd've made it

all the way to the Western Sea in the next sevenday. This was the first big

test of her apprenticeship as an express runner. And really she'd only the

Western Range left to cross once she got to Fort Hold.

Halfway down from the top of the rise, she met the ridge crest she'd

been told about and, with the usual check of the pouch she carried, she

picked up her knees and started the ground-eating lope that was the pride

of a Pernese runner.

Of course, the legendary 'lopers' - the ones who had been able to do a

hundred miles in a day - had perished ages ago but their memory was kept

While Lord Holders and CraftMasters could afford to keep runnerbeasts

for their couriers, the average person, wanting to contact crafthalls, rela-

tives, or friends across Pern, could easily afford to express a letter across

the continent in runner pouches, carried from station to station. Others

might call them 'holds' but runners had always had 'stations' and station

agents, as part of their craft history. Drum messages were great for short

messages, if the weather was right and the winds didn't interrupt the beat,

but as long as folks wanted to send a written message, there'd be runners

to take them.

Tenna often thought proudly of the tradition she was carrying on. It was

a comfort on long solitary journeys. Right now, the running was good: the

ground was firm but springy, a surface that had been assiduously main-

tained since the ancient runners had planted it. Not only did the mossy stuff

make running easier but it identified a runner's path. A runner would in-

stantly feel the difference in the surface, if he, or she, strayed off the trace.

Slowly, as full Belior rose behind her, her way became illuminated

by the moon's light and she picked up her pace, running easily, breathing

freely, her hands carried high, chest height, with elbows tucked in. No need

to leave a 'handle', as her father called it, to catch the wind and slow the

pace. At times like these, with good footing, a fair light, and a cool evening,

you felt like you could run for ever. If there weren't a sea to stop you.

farther Holds. All of what she carried right now was destined for Fort Hold-

ers, so it was the end of the line for both the pouch and herself. She'd

heard so much about the facilities at Fort that she didn't quite believe them.

Runners tended to understatement, rather than exaggeration. If a runner

told you a trace was dangerous, you believed it! But what they said about

Fort was truly amazing.

Tenna came from a running family: father, uncles, cousins, grand-

fathers, brothers, sisters and two aunts were all out and about the traces

that crisscrossed Pern from Nerat Tip to High Reaches Hook, from Benden

to Boll.

'It's bred in us,' her mother had said, answering the queries of her

younger children. Cesila managed a large runner station, just at the north-

ern Lemos end of the Keroon plains where the immense sky-broom trees

began. Strange trees that flourished only in that region of Pern. Trees,

which a much younger Tenna had been sure, were where the Benden

Weyr dragons took a rest in their flights across the continent. Cesila had

laughed at Tenna's notion.

'The Dragons of Pern don't need to rest anywhere, dear. They just

go between to wherever they need to go. You probably saw some of them

out hunting their weekly meal.'

In her running days, Cesila had completed nine full Crosses a Turn

'That's not the way we was taught to sing the Duty Song,' Tenna's

younger brother had remarked.

'Maybe,' Cesila had said with a grin, 'but it's the way I sing it and

you can, too. I must have a word with the next harper through here. He can

change his words if he wants us to take his messages.' And she gave her

head one of her emphatic shakes to end that conversation.

As soon as a runner-bred child had reached full growth, he or she

was tested to see if they'd the right Blood for the job. Tenna's legs had

stopped growing by the time she'd reached her fifteenth full Turn. That was

when she was assessed by a senior runner of another Bloodline. Tenna

had been very nervous but her mother, in her usual off-handed way, had

given her lanky daughter a long knowing look.

'Nine children I've given your father, Fedri, and four are already

runners. You'll be one, too, never fear.'

`But Sedra's -'

Cesila held up her hand. 'I know your sister's mated and breeding

but she did two Crosses before she found a man she had to have. So she

counts, too. Gotta have proper Bloodlines to breed proper runners and it's

us who do that.' Cesila paused to be sure Tenna would not interrupt again.

'I came from a hold with twelve, all of them runners. And all breeding run-

ners. You'll run, girl. Put your mind at ease. You'll run.' Then she'd laughed.

hot water ready to ease a runner's aching limbs: good food, comfortable

beds, and healing skills that rivalled what you could find in any hold. And it

was always exciting, for you never knew who might run in that day, or

where they'd be going. Runners crossed the continent regularly, bringing

with them news from other parts of Pern. Many had interesting tales to tell

of problems on the trace and how to cope with them. You heard of all other

holds and halls, and the one dragonweyr, as well as what interested run-

ners most specifically: what conditions were like and where traces might

need maintenance after a heavy rain or landslide.

She was mightily relieved, however, when her father said he had

asked Mallum of the Telgar station to do her assessment. At least Tenna

had met the man on those occasions when he'd been through to their place

on the edge of Keroon's plains. Like other runners, he was a lanky length of

man, with a long face and greying hair that he tied back with his sweatband

as most runners did.

Her parents didn't tell her when Mallum was expected, but he

turned up one bright morning, handing in a pouch to be logged on the

board by the door and then limping to the nearest seat.

'Bruised the heel. We'll have to rock that south trace again. I swear

it grows new ones every Turn or two,' he said, mopping his forehead with

his orange sweatband and thanking Tenna for the cup of water. 'Cesila, got

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摘要：

Dragonsong(1976)Dragonsinger(1977)Dragondrums(1978)OtherPernnovels:Moreta,DragonladyofPern(1983)Nerilka'sStory(1986)Dragonsdawn(1988)TheRenegadesofPern(1989)AlltheWeyrsofPern(1991)TheChroniclesofPern(1992)TheDolphinsofPern(1994)Dragonseye(1996)TheMasterharperofPern(1998)deadlymycorrhizoidspores,whic...

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Anne McCaffrey - Pern 16 - Runner of Pern

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