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 businesslike. “She’s a very talented woman.”

“Yes, she is.” Jess closed his mouth to keep himself from saying more. It wasn’t his place. Sadly, for more than a year Jess himself had been deeply in love with Cesca, and he knew the feeling was very mutual. Her betrothal to Ross had occurred long before she and Jess had met, and Roamer honor and politics would never allow her to break the engagement. Neither would Jess’s sense of duty to his brother.

Besides, Ross had worked so hard to meet the difficult conditions he and Cesca had agreed on for their wedding. Jess would never do anything to hurt or embarrass his brother, and neither would Cesca. Both were loyal to Ross, and all of them were bound by the complex social restrictions of the Roamer culture. Jess had resigned himself to an unrequited love. He would stand strong and live without her, though Cesca would always be in his heart.

Ross had no inkling of his brother’s attraction for his fiancée, and Jess had privately sworn never to let him discover that fact. The cost to all of them would be far too great.

After sharing a meal and playing a few rounds of stargames with three crew workers, Jess slept in a guest bunk. He left the Blue Sky Mine early the following morning, when Golgen’s sun was just creeping above the fuzzy horizon.

Bidding Ross farewell, Jess detached the valuable load of stardrive fuel and began to pilot the cargo escort away from the Golgen system to a Roamer transport station, where it would be offloaded to Goose distribution ships.

He also carried gifts and letters from Ross, because after completing his delivery, Jess intended to make his way to the central Roamer complex of Rendezvous. With an ache in his heart but a neutral expression on his face, he would dutifully deliver his brother’s romantic presents to Cesca Peroni.