Raymond blinked back tears, and his throat trembled as the ache in his heart began to turn numb. His mother would have said that this sudden opportunity (and, yes, he always looked for opportunities) was his reward in the face of such incredible sadness. She would probably have read him a printed Unison pamphlet with similar platitudes. He would have given almost anything to have his family back, but he could not spurn this chance. Never in his life had such a tremendous possibility presented itself to him.

The Chairman’s winning smile showed dazzling teeth. “Look at this as a way to bring a silver lining to this dark cloud of tragedy. We’ve already rewritten the past, and we need you, young Peter, to help us write the future.”

37: JESS TAMBLYN

37JESS TAMBLYN

Returning to his clan holdings under the ice sheath of Plumas, Jess Tamblyn found his old father as stern and crotchety as ever. It gave him all the more reason to look for any excuse to return to Rendezvous as soon as possible. He still hadn’t been able to see Cesca.

Bram Tamblyn had dark, eager eyes that flashed as Jess talked about Ross’s activities on Golgen, but after a moment the old clan leader held up a calloused hand. “Enough. We won’t waste time spreading gossip about a man who is no longer part of our family.” This stubborn game had gone on for years, and Jess doubted anything would change.

Living close to his father was stifling. Within a week Jess had concocted urgent duties that required him to fly back to Rendezvous. His younger sister Tasia had begged to come along, and Jess took pity on her. “She’ll be fine, Dad,” he said, “and who knows, this time we may even track down the Burton.”

Bram gave a snort. “Our clan is making enough money in the solid-water business. No need for you to shirk your duties and go chasing myths.”

“I would never shirk my duties, Dad—you know that. But the Burton exists. It’s still out there, somewhere.” The large, slow-moving vessel was the only one of the original eleven generation ships that had never been found.

“Even if you recovered it, it would be an old wreck by now, worth nothing.”

“Worth a place in history, Dad,” Tasia said brightly.

Bram covered his indulgent smile with a sour look, and Jess hurried to his personal spacecraft with his young sister in tow. Tasia’s personal compy EA started to follow them, but the girl quickly thought of several busywork tasks and sent the compy away.

By the time they reached the cracked frozen surface of the moon, he and Tasia were already chuckling with each other. They flew away from the water-pumping stations that penetrated the miles-thick icecap where hydrostatic pressure squeezed liquid water up to supply posts on the surface.

“Can I fly?” Tasia sat beside him, eager to take the spaceship controls.