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 tanker and on his way, where he'd have a couple of days to daydream about Cesca in peace...

Inside the rubble belt that girdled the gas giant's equator, the secret Roamer shipyards remained unnoticed by either the hydrogues or Hansa spies.

Jess Tamblyn came to Osquivel towing a shipment of water. A glittering conglomeration of grappler pods, automated stations, and environment modules circled within the planet's multilayered rings. Suited crews moved like industrious ants, shuttling components and raw materials to construction spacedocks. As long as Big Goose survey vessels did not look too closely, clan Kellum's lucrative complex continued to fabricate and dispatch vessel after vessel...

After he had docked his ship and disengaged the cargo tanks, Del Kellum met him personally. The barrel-chested man had salt-and-pepper hair and a well-trimmed goatee. "Haven't seen you since the raid on Welyr! What have you brought us this time?"

Jess jerked a thumb back toward the docking chamber. "Exactly what was on the manifest, Del. Did you expect something stronger than water?"