Prologue To 'Pop': A Short Story

“What do you mean she's about to 'pop'?”
“She's over seven months pregnant and the kid deserves to have a father. I don't think the knights will let Ernst go back, but I have to try to find a way to get him home. That's the main reason I was pushing so hard for the airship, I don't know how long it will take to convince the knights to let him go home, so I need all the time I can get. That's also why I didn't tell you what Georgie told me, I'm fighting time.”
“Well, your rush to get Ernst home may get him killed. Better a couple of weeks later than not at all.”
“Sounds like you've already decided to do it George's way.” Perseus said.
“I'm thinking that's our best option, but first I want to talk to Tommi.”
“Mind if I tag along. I promise to

I am sorry I broke it, I shouldn't have gone that far.”
Perseus said, “Yeah, I kinda got the message when you smashed my rocks with your knee.”
“That I won't apologize for, now get going that nose looks awful.”

Tommi was sitting with Gwladys and Jroof, she looked up when Gertrude approached.
“Have you made a decision?” Tommi asked anxiously.
“Not just yet, I have a few questions to ask you first. Your air bag or whatever you call it, is made out of the leaves of the golden trees. I'm a little concerned about their strength and also about how you manage to keep them together.”
Tommi said, “Come with me and I'll show

He put it up to his mouth and bit into the edge, then he was able to tear it easily, like duct tape.
Brock said, “That's a little worrisome, once a tear starts, what's to stop it? The pressure exerted by the wind and the hot air is a lot greater that what George can produce.”
“I'm well aware of that,” Tommi said. “What I'm shown you is just one layer, the bag is made up of five layers, one over the other, the leaves overlap and what George just did with a single layer is not possible with five. Look at one of my 'just in case patches'.”
Tommi opened another bench and pulled out a patch, it was about two feet in diameter and five plys thick. She handed it to George, who tried to bite into it as before, but he couldn't make any headway this time. He pulled out his combat knife and stuck it through the patch, then he tried to tear it, he couldn't. George handed it over to Brock, who looked carefully at it. Tommi concentrated and the hole in the patch