Free Reunion by Sean Williams Page A

times larger, they cast deep shadows across the meadow. Each kybo had five slender lines anchoring it to gnarled roots that protruded from the ground, holding it taut against the gently tugging winds that blew across the vast, grassy area. Beneath each hung a single bullet-shaped gondola with two bone-colored fans protruding from the rear.
    Higher up, drifting over the tops of the enormous boras, Jacen could see a further three of the airships, as well as another one at the far end of the field coming in to land. Decorated in long, sweeping stripes of purple and orange across rough white skin, the crafts stood out against the lush green backdrop of the tampasi.
    Working around the area were thirty or more Ferroans, some carrying baskets, some working on gondolas, others securing lines. They all looked incredibly industrious.
    “Couldn’t we have traveled to your village in one of these?” Danni asked.
    The two Ferroans were already meters away from her after she’d stopped to take in the sight.
    Darak stopped to answer her. “These airships are not transports,” she said. “They’re harvesters. They are used to collect produce from the tops of the boras.”
    Luke, Mara, Saba, and Soron emerged from the tree line together, all looking in wonder at the spectacle around and above them. They moved as a group over to where one man was working on repairs to a gondola that was lying on the grass on its side. The accompanying dirigible floated directly overhead, its anchor lines creaking as the great balloonlike structure moved in the wind.
    Jacen felt confident stepping beneath the massive dirigible. From where he stood, he could see that it was composed of dozens of smaller bladders full of gas, each separated by thin membranes. For the craft to crash, a majority of those bladders would have to fail simultaneously, an eventuality too unlikely to worry about.
    Inside the gondola was dark and dank. From the sunlight available he could make out benches for sitting on as well as a number of large baskets woven from vines, obviously for the harvested fruit. The sides were moist and ribbed, and he couldn’t help thinking that to sit in one would have been like riding in the belly of a giant whaladon.
    “Are you the pilot?” Luke asked.
    “My name is Kroj’b,” the man said. “I am her companion.”
    “Companion?” Mara said.
    The man smiled, revealing an expanse of healthy white teeth. “We have a symbiotic relationship,” he explained. “I care for her and she cares for me.”
    Jacen realized only then that the dirigible wasn’t just a balloon; it was a living creature.
    “What do you call her?” he asked.
    The man smiled.
    “Her name is Elegance Enshrined,” he said, as though pleased to be asked.
    Jacen nodded thoughtfully. “It’s a good name; I like it.”
    “Your approval is neither sought nor required,” Rowel said from nearby. “You must come now. We still have a long way to go, and Darak will not wait.”
    In the distance, the female Ferroan could be seen nearing the distant line of boras. Rowel turned and moved in her direction also, seemingly unconcerned whether the others followed. As much as he would have liked to have stayed and talked some more to this kybo’s “companion,” Jacen knew that they had to comply with Rowel’sand Darak’s wishes if they were to ever reach their destination.
    He and the others continued with their trek, with Danni coming up alongside Jacen.
    “It’s all so amazing, isn’t it?” she said. “There seems to be life in everything around us. Everywhere we look!”
    Jacen nodded, watching one of the kyboes skimming the tops of distant boras. “It makes me feel very small,” he whispered as they wound their way alongside the massive boras trunks. Strangely, though, that thought didn’t bother him at all.
    Back on
Pride of Selonia
, Jaina sat beside Tahiri through the long jump across the galaxy. While Jag stretched his wings at the head of Twin Suns Squadron,