A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [139]
“I’m sure the Hansa would understand, if the colonies have such a need,” Reynald said. She was surprised at how naïve he was.
Cesca sighed. “It may take a while for my people to become as open as you are.”
“Tell me about the Roamers,” he said, looking at her with an innocent smile. “What happened to make you so…secretive? So untrusting?”
“We learned it over the course of many generations. You got lucky here on Theroc, a lush world with a thriving colony. But when our generation ship Kanaka was delivered to Iawa, all of the crops failed. Those were very hard times, and we had to rely on our own resources. Later, we became good at processing ekti, first as contractors on Ildiran facilities, then on our own skymines. And we paid for every success with sweat and blood. Like you, we’ve refused to sign the Hansa Charter, but the Big Goose would certainly love to control us.”
“Well, we did just provide nineteen green priests for the war effort…”
Cesca looked at him seriously. “That’s different. The Eddies get nothing from the green priests without their willing cooperation, but they can simply steal ekti from us—and they have, don’t doubt it. We suspect they’ve been secretly raiding some of our cargo ships, destroying them after they take anything they need.”
“That’s terrible!”
“Good thing most of our storage depots aren’t on any map. Perhaps Roamers are a bit paranoid, Reynald, but on the other hand…maybe you’re too trusting?”
The sounds of celebration rang out through the night. Cesca wondered if anyone had noticed their absence. Her father and uncles were probably looking at each other with raised eyebrows and knowing grins.
The actual marriage would not take place for a year. In the meantime, the Roamers and Therons would have more contact with each other. Ships would visit the forest planet, bringing surreptitious supplies. Reynald and perhaps other members of his family would visit carefully selected Roamer outposts. Gradually, the two diverse cultures would begin to blend.
As Cesca stood with Reynald in the moonlight, she told herself that all would work out for the best, that this was the correct decision. Reynald seemed so happy that a bittersweet Cesca took his hand in hers and stepped closer, trying with all her heart not to think of Jess.
71
JESS TAMBLYN
For months, Jess soared in silence, his immense sail drifting through vaporous and colorful oceans of star gases, swirling ions, and other cosmic ingredients that might one day coalesce to form a newborn solar system. Always moving, but never getting anywhere…a true Roamer at heart.
In a way, Jess liked the unending contemplative days, knowing it would help him find a way to resolve his inner turmoil. If his life had turned out the way he’d hoped, by now he and Cesca would have been married. But Jess knew his responsibilities. He could not create fairy tales about his wishes and fantasies.
His personal tragedy of lost love seemed petty and selfish, and he refused to wallow in it any longer. He thought of all the Roamers massacred by the hydrogues, including Ross, and he recalled the desperate financial situations of so many clans. The Roamer economy was crumbling.
When finally his heartache had dulled to a wistful pain, Jess felt whole again, stronger—ready to face reality because he had no other choice.
And then he became lonely. By now, the group of nebula skimmers had spread across the seas of hydrogen gas, separated from each other by vast distances. Most of the starcloud harvesters were highly independent, even by Roamer standards.
The silence, once peaceful, now seemed oppressive. The chatter on the comm systems had dwindled to occasional transmissions, separated by a gulf of signal lag. He walked up and down the cramped decks, descended to the production hold, listened to his own footsteps.
Del Kellum had been right: Having time to think might be a blessing, but excessive