Quote:*laughs* Fenkinder! I like that name for them, a lot. It should go into the glossary: the kids who want to get to space so badly, they manage to get there on their own.
It may not work for long, but depending on when the fenkinder make a break for Fenspace it wouldn't necessarily have to - get to the Island or the fen lunar outposts and you're essentially home free; you can stay there & find work or hire on as a deckhand with one of the big SSX ships like the Masaka or apprentice yourself to Hidden Asteroid or whatever.
You're right about being homefree as well. Unlike the 'danelaw, I think most Fen would agree that if a kid wanted to get to space so badly as to do it on his own, he deserved to be there. And given how much is going on, a kid would be able to find work of some kind. Even though getting there is a lot harder, once you're actually there, a runaway probably has much better choices/chances than a runaway in the 'danelaw.