[1] The stories are not united by any theme, but three of four are set about 2500 years "After Landing", the beginning of human settlement on Pern.

That is just before or during the "Ninth Pass" of the "Red Star", an erratic planet that periodically brings a biological menace from space.

When the Hatching occurs, Keevan manages to find his way to the Ground and Impresses a bronze dragon named Heth.

After being accepted as an apprentice runner, Tenna begins her career, running from one end of Pern's Northern Continent to the other.

After telling the manager about the incident, she gains a name: Haligon, the older of Lord Groghe's two sons.

After healing at the station for three days, Tenna goes to the Fort Hold Gather, where she identifies Haligon with some help from her new runner friends and by his stance (arrogant and haughty).

After planning on how best to humiliate him, she walks up and punches Haligon, knocking him unconscious and landing him in a pile of dung.

Worried that she may get in trouble, Tenna and her friends are met by Lord Groghe, who sincerely apologizes for his son's errors and advises the runners that Haligon will not use their traces any more.

Later, in the weyrlings' barracks, N'ru tells Nian that he was upset that she was chosen on Search and he was taken along as a mere afterthought.