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they had no idea whether Earth would even take them. Corey’s people chose to go live in the clouds.
    Throughout the preparation work, teams of engineers studied the Ildiran blueprints, analyzed the chemical process that converted hydrogen into ekti, used simulators to strip down and reassemble the reactor chambers. Oliver Sung had been one of the first to express his scorn, “Shizz! The Ildirans haven’t modified these things in centuries.”
    Corey chuckled. “Good, let’s do an overhaul. Put on our innovation hats and come up with a trick or two. If we prove ourselves here, Ildiran skymines are harvesting ekti on dozens of gas giants, and we’ve got plenty of other Kanaka colonists ready to take the jobs.”
    “Sign me up,” Oliver said.
    Now, Corey’s people were full of hope when Septar Gro’nh’s warliner arrived at the first of Daym’s three cloud trawlers. The Kanaka refugees packed up their possessions and prepared to be shuttled over. Corey told the septar that they could probably all make it in a trip or two. “Our people travel light.”
    Next to him, Oliver snorted, “That’s because we don’t have much left after so many setbacks.”
    As the human teams and their families disembarked on the giant floating facility, the Ildiran engineering crews—crowds and crowds of them—came forward to greet Corey’s people. The cloud trawler’s chief engineer bowed before Corey. He was a squat Ildiran with a pug nose and tufts of wiry hair that stood out on above his pointed ears. “We grant you a great honor in turning over operations to you and your people. The three Daym cloud trawlers have produced ekti for four centuries. Currently, they are home to more than four thousand Ildiran workers. Are you certain your few hundred people can handle the operations?”
    Corey chuckled. “Don’t worry, sir—we’ll take care of every piece of equipment as if it were our own.”
    “It is yours, Corey Kellum. We hereby cede control of the Daym facility to your people, provided you continue to produce ekti for us.”
    Corey’s response was automatic. “And we’re happy for the opportunity, Chief. Running these big factories won’t be much different from keeping our old generation ship functional. But this time we’ll be making a profit.”
    Over the course of the next several days, while Ildirans gave tours and briefings of the operations, thousands of lower-level Ildiran workers commenced their orderly evacuation. They gathered in the cargo bays and boarded waves of shuttles back to Septar Gro’nh’s warliner; the journey from Daym to Ildira was a short one, but the preparations took a long time.
    Soon enough, the gas giant would be in the hands of Corey’s people.
    The chief engineer spent many hours showing Corey and Oliver the workings of Cloud Trawler Number One, answering questions about the technology, lecturing about the skymining life. Corey smelled the chemical fumes, heard the pulse of the reactors, sensed the rush of atmospheric gases flowing through the intakes and billowing out the exhaust stacks.
    Although Corey was not an expert in alien moods, he thought the chief seemed forlorn as the large crew abandoned the ancient facility. Giving up his life’s work, Corey supposed. “We are glad to return to the seven suns of our home,” the chief said, though his tone did not match the words. “Living in extended isolation is difficult for us.”
    Corey rubbed his chin. “Then we can make you a deal. If this works out, other Kanaka clans will be glad to take over your skymining operations on other planets as well—after we prove ourselves, of course.”
    The chief engineer nodded. “That is definitely a possibility. First, though, the next few months, we will allow you to move to the other two Daym cloud trawlers. If you wish it.”
    “We definitely wish it.” Corey knew how valuable the stardrive fuel was. Now that the Mage-Imperator had offered stardrive technology to the Terran