kubaru

There were many halts as they bounced along but their kubaru was very good and he quickly got them away BENEATH AN OPAL MOON 19 from the frustrating crowds, taking them down dark cramped alleys and bent lanes.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

Not only was walking far faster in the early-moming crush of sweating kubaru, hustling sailors, stevedores, knots of passengers, fat bongs and their representatives and bodyguards, and the inevitable giomu, the sidewalk merchants who moved from pier to pier as passengers disembarked; but it was infinitely cheaper since the hiring of a ricksha was based on time, not distance.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

Pairs of kubaru jogged by with loads hung between them on flexing bamboo poles bowed with the weight.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

There were enough gold, platinum and jewels here, he surmised, to keep the entire kubaru population of Sha'angh'sei including the vast numbers who lived on the tasstan in the barber in food, clothing and shelter for many seasons.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

He sent a kubaru runner to notify Aerent as soon as they had docked, and Chiisai went with him.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

He could hear the movement downstairs of the kubaru and the stevedores.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

The pier itself was clogged with kubaru runners and stevedores preparing for the Bujun ship's arrival.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

Aerent's face was ashen for he too had recognised the kubaru.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

They were in a ricksha, a two-wheeled carriage powered by a kubaru runner.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980

The jostling of the kubaru, the smell of the spices, the grain dust clouding the air, the shouts, half-songs, were all like stepping out into the surf of an unquiet sea.

beneath an opal moon Lustbader, Eric 1980