Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [13]
Denn flew the Dogged Persistence from one known clan settlement to another, adjusting his trading schedule as he received news (much of it out of date). With the angry Roamers ready to chew up metal ore and spit out nails, Denn got little more than rumors, tall tales, and a lot of admitted ignorance from the other outposts he visited.
He learned that his daughter Cesca was holed up on a small planetoid called Jonah 12 on the other side of the Spiral Arm. In her capacity as Speaker she had sent out messages calling for the clans to hold steady and prepare for rebuilding now that Rendezvous was destroyed. Denn worried about his daughter, but he was sure Cesca could handle the brunt of the Roamers' emergency--probably a lot better than he could!
He heard positive news as well. Nikko Chan Tylar had been passing the word that Golgen was free of hydrogues--a gas giant was safe for skymining again! Denn decided to help spread the word, at least until Cesca made some sort of official pronouncement.
Forrey's Folly was the largest metal asteroid in a strip of rubble around a cool orange K2 star. While coalescing, the sun had lost its grip on most of the material in its primordial cloud and hadn't had enough mass left over to create any planets worth counting. But Forrey's Folly was a large ripe fruit ready to be plucked: Metals were simply there for the taking, and mining tunnels honeycombed the asteroid.
Numerous stony satellites orbited the large oblong rock, low-density moonlets that the metal asteroid had captured in its wanderings through the rubble belt. The small satellites whirled like a group of moths around a bright flame. Though computer models could predict the orbits, the paths changed frequently as the moonlets collided and ricocheted off each other.
A century ago, Karlton Forrey had been the first Roamer to invest money in mining equipment and bring his clan ship here for excavations. Before his family or machinery could be shuttled down, though, Forrey had miscalculated the orbits of the stony moonlets. Collisions sent rocks careening like giant birdshot into his temporary habitation ships. Most of Forrey's family had died, and all the equipment was ruined. A misplaced decimal point, incalculable consequences. Thus, Forrey's Folly had earned its name.
As the Dogged Persistence approached, Denn checked and rechecked his calculations, transmitting ahead for the current listing of safe paths. As he came within visual range, he noticed a large group of Roamer ships parked far outside the orbital radii of the rocky satellites. He saw evacuation ships, mobile mining equipment converted to interstellar craft, even components from spacedocks. Denn was puzzled; this looked like a full-scale operation, packed up and ready for reassembly. But Forrey's Folly was strictly a resource-stripping operation.
Then he noted the clan markings on the ships. Kellum.
"This is Denn Peroni on final approach, with trading goods and news. I haven't seen Oscar in years. Who are your visitors? Is Del Kellum there?"
The station operator acknowledged. "Yes, he brought all of his refugees after they evacuated from Osquivel."
"Evacuated from Osquivel?" He couldn't wait to hear the full details. "Expect me down there in a few minutes. I've got a shipload of farm-fresh produce from Yreka, if anybody's interested."
"That's the best news we've heard all day, Dogged Persistence."
"Oh, you heard something better yesterday, huh? Then maybe I'll just save some of this sweet corn for another customer."
Because Forrey's Folly had so many extra mouths to feed, thanks to Kellum's refugees, Denn subtracted all but a token profit on his load of fruits, vegetables, and