A Conversation with J’orel V’ani
Global Horizons Interview Series – June 4th, 2440
Location: Freehold South Landing Pad, near portable command shelter
Interviewer: Layla Martinez
Subject: J’orel V’ani, senior V’ren pilot and navigation officer
LAYLA MARTINEZ:
J’orel, you’ve been piloting suborbital flights since you arrived. How many trips have you logged so far?
J’OREL V’ANI:
Personally? Nine. My crews, over forty. We cycle personnel, press, and materials between all forty cargo shuttles that were aboard the Squished Possum. It will likely double by week’s end.
LAYLA:
How do you feel about the new name?
J’OREL: (looking around)
I voted for it after I saw my first squished possum on the road.
LAYLA: (appreciatively chuckling)
Are the runs difficult?
J’OREL: (tilting his head)
Orbit is easy. Atmosphere is the trick. This world has moods. Your air moves like it wants to prove something. It is unpredictable, heavy with temperature shifts and terrain effects.
LAYLA:
You’re saying Earth is hard to fly?
J’OREL:
I am saying it is alive. You don’t fly it—you argue with it, and if you’re respectful, it lets you through.
LAYLA:
You’ve carried human press to orbit, including some of us from this table. Do we make good passengers?
J’OREL:
You scream less than expected.
LAYLA: (laughs)
Are you planning to begin training Earth pilots soon?
J’OREL:
Not yet. Your physiology and reflex training differ from ours. I am only on the periphery of that discussion, but close enough to know we are having it. When the time comes, we’ll teach from the ground up. For now, we fly. You watch. You learn to trust.
LAYLA:
You’ve been seen sharing tables with key Freehold figures. What’s your impression of them so far?
J’OREL:
They do not pretend. That is rare in any caste, any species. I admire it. Your people speak plainly when food is present.
LAYLA:
Is that a V’ren observation?
J’OREL:
It is now.
LAYLA:
Final question—if you had to choose one moment from your time here so far that stayed with you, what would it be?
J’OREL: (pauses, considering)
T’mari’s departure. She returned to orbit after only two nights. I watched her shuttle vanish into the blue, and for the first time in cycles, I felt homesick for a place I had not yet left.
LAYLA:
Thank you, J’orel. That’s a beautiful way to say it.
J’OREL:
It was a beautiful departure.
