A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [20]
8
JESS TAMBLYN
The skies of Plumas were frozen solid. Embedded within the ice ceiling, artificial suns shone down, reflecting off the subterranean sea. Transport shafts had been bored through the ice plate, providing access for visitors and equipment. Hydrostatic pressure pushed water through cracks in the moon’s frozen skin, sending bubbling jets upward. On the surface, Roamer ships could hook up to the water wells and fill their cargo vaults.
Clan Tamblyn had operated the Plumas water mines for generations, but Jess had little knack for the industry. He was a Roamer at heart, preferring to wander on missions that took him away from home. Luckily, after Jess’s stern father, Bram, had died, the old man’s four brothers had accepted the burden with enthusiasm.
When his uncle Caleb asked him in a raspy voice if he wanted a share in the decision-making process, Jess had merely smiled at him. “Our family has had enough feuds and disputes. I wouldn’t want to start another one—besides, you’re all doing such a fine job. My father said that a Tamblyn’s blood should be made of ice water. He considered it a good thing.”
Now Jess stood at the lift tubes, adjusting his gloves. The biting air tasted fresh and brittle; when he exhaled, white clouds of steam boiled upward like smoke. He had grown up on Plumas, playing with Ross, both of them taking care of their sister, Tasia…But too much had changed here. It was no longer the place of his childhood, not in his mind.
His mother had been killed long ago when Jess was only fourteen. She had been out in a surface rover, checking wellheads from the water geysers and pumping stations, when the crust had cracked. Gushing water and slush had swept Karla Tamblyn away, sucking her vehicle down into a gaping crevasse. For hours they had received faint transmissions from Karla’s suit radio, but there had been no way to rescue her. Bram had gone wild with grief while his wife had slowly frozen, leaving her embedded like a fossil in glacial ice.
Jess’s father and brother were both dead now too, his sister gone off to join the EDF. Though his uncles and cousins were all around, Jess felt detached and alone here.
Behind him, two of his uncles emerged from the administrative huts; a third man came around the equipment shed, stuffing greasy gloves into insulated pockets. Uncle Caleb was always tinkering with machinery, trying to improve or monitor the equipment. Jess thought Caleb just liked the vibrating hum of engines and the feel of “clean dirt” under his fingernails.
The other two men were so bundled against the cold as to be unrecognizable, but Jess knew it must be the twins Wynn and Torin, his father’s youngest brothers. His remaining uncle, Andrew, would stay inside, where he managed the water mine’s bookkeeping and budgets.
“The ship’s ready for launch to Osquivel,” said one of the hooded uncles—Torin, judging by his voice. His cheeks were red and flushed from the cold.
“We’ve filled Del Kellum’s order and then some,” said Wynn, without taking his hood down. “Don’t argue if he insists on paying extra.”
Caleb came up, smiling. “If you’re a smart lad, Jess, you’ll bring a gift for Kellum’s sassy young daughter. She’s a prize.”
“She’s a handful,” said Torin. “But you could do worse.”
Jess laughed. “Thanks, but…no.” Everything they said reminded him how much he missed Cesca. He smiled secretly to himself. Six more months.
“Picky boys end up being bitter bachelors,” Torin warned.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Wynn replied a bit too quickly.
Both Caleb and Torin frowned at their brother. “Don’t tell me you haven’t regretted it.”
Wynn stood his ground. “When my biological clock starts ticking, I’ll let you know.”
Thankfully, the lift door opened and Jess stepped into the bore tube, leaving his uncles and their banter behind. “I’ll let you figure out the Tamblyn dynasty while I’m gone. I’m going to go deliver that water shipment.” He shot up through the ceiling of ice, anxious to be alone aboard the