Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson [28]
Ross slid the compass into one of his pockets and held the red leather-bound book with a combination of awe and skepticism. "This is from Dad?" He flipped through the pages, looking at the handwritten words, then raised his gaze to meet Jess's. "Somehow I don't believe that. He wouldn't give this to me. In fact, all the gifts you've brought over the past several years are just family treasures you smuggled out from Plumas, aren't they?"
Jess could not maintain an innocent expression. "Would you have it any other way?" Ross held the logbook, pretending not to care, but Jess could see that the gift meant a great deal to him, even if it came from his brother rather than his father.
They both knew Bram Tamblyn very well. He was a stern and inflexible family leader, and for all his life he'd insisted on having everything precisely his own way. That attitude worked well enough with his employees in the water-mining operation under the ice sheets of Plumas. However, Bram Tamblyn's firstborn son had turned out to be just as stubborn as his father. The two had gotten into frequent shouting matches for years, until finally, after he reached the age of twenty-two, Ross had had enough.
Old Bram had threatened to disown his son if he didn't bow to his wishes, and the young man astonished his father by calling his bluff. Tempers were high. Outraged, Bram vowed he would excise Ross from their clan, so Ross offered to save him the embarrassment. He requested the portion of the family inheritance that was due him and swore he would make his own success.
Jess had been there, along with Tasia. Though they intervened, trying to make peace between the two, the old man would have none of it. Bram had gotten a calculating look in his eye—his clan's fortunes were increasing year by year, and if Ross took his inheritance now and quit his claim to all future income, he would surely come out the loser. So Bram tallied up his son's share and gave it to him, telling Ross never to ask for another penny.
And Ross had not. He had invested his inheritance wisely, taking over the operation of the Blue Sky Mine, which he ran with such grace and skill that it had nearly climbed out of debt by the time Ross turned twenty-eight. Old Bram pretended anger and chagrin but was secretly proud.
When Jess came to visit the skymining station, there was never any animosity between the brothers. On the other hand, thanks to Ross's stubbornness, Jess would someday become the official head of the Tamblyn clan and inherit the lucrative Plumas water mines, becoming a powerful man in his own right. He didn't want it, but he would not let anyone down.
Ahead of the Blue Sky Mine, an anvil of grayish rust cloud rose from the lower layers. Ross went to a set of controls and diverted the exhaust plumes, using them like attitude-control jets. The huge cloud trawler shifted its course and banked northward so that they passed a yawning maelstrom of angry clouds.
"That hurricane could swallow a whole planet," Ross said. Distressed, the pet doves fluttered behind the skymine, following their only roost.
"Just as long as it doesn't swallow this skymine," Jess said. "Any danger?"
"Not with me at the helm. When the winds get rough, I can always climb to a different layer." He waited and then finally turned expectant eyes on his younger brother. "So...did you bring anything from Cesca?"
Jess forced a light tone into his voice. This was the hardest part of everything he was expected to do. "You think you need more than her love?"
"No, I suppose I don't."
Jess wanted to change the subject, unable to shake the image of the beautiful Francesca Peroni, to whom Ross had been betrothed for years. "Jhy Okiah has just filed a formal petition that legally names Cesca her heir as Speaker for the Roamers."
"No surprise at all." Ross looked proud, but his voice was