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three separate tries, he reached the marauder’s communications officer. Access to the flight deck was granted, but he’d need to hurry … they were leaving as soon as the city was leveled.
    It was then that Leon saw her. Eight stories up on the building to his left—through an open window—was a slender Tromian woman. She looked to be younger than him, perhaps a university student? With a small satchel slung over one shoulder she stood still, watching him. He could tell she was trying to determine if he was friend or foe. A gust of wind billowed her long blond hair—her eyes stayed locked on his. Then her lips moved—she was saying something. Somehow, above the incessant noise outside, Leon knew exactly what she was conveying: Help me … please help me.
    The momentary distraction caused him to lose track of the attack marauder. Leon looked back at the destroyed bridge, then over to the horizon—there, several high up cloud-ports were ablaze—billowing black smoke trailed off like distant smoke signals in the wind. There was no sign of the ship. As a shadow darkened the delivery scout’s cockpit, Leon realized the marauder was directly overhead. Suddenly, he could smell a change in the ozone and the hairs on his arms stood on end. An instant later a bright blue plasma bolt, crackling like thunder, shot down from the attack marauder above. Leon watched as the building to his left began to vibrate and shake violently. The young woman was screaming now and reaching for something to hold on to. Leon accelerated the delivery scout forward, away from the building—he thought he heard her scream something after him. He accelerated out of the narrow alleyway and, once clear of the buildings on both sides, ratcheted the controls all the way to the left, made a sharp U-turn, and reentered the same alleyway. The delivery scout had its sliding hatch door facing in now, toward the building under attack. It was clear the structure was disintegrating from the inside out. Fire spewed out from at least half of the nearby windows.
    Leon goosed the scout craft forward while he desperately searched for the same window and the young woman with the blond hair. She wasn’t there. Did she succumb to the white-hot plasma blasts—did the floor she’d been on already collapse? No! There she was … running back toward the same window. Leon wasn’t in the right location. In one fluid maneuver, he had the delivery scout scoot forward three windows ahead, hugging to the side of the building. With the delivery scout hovering in place, Leon was quickly out of his seat and leaving the cockpit. He slid open the hatch and there she was—no more than five feet away. Angry flames flared as if grabbing for her, reaching up and around her from behind.
    “You’ll have to jump!”
    He didn’t need to ask twice. Arms outstretched, she leapt into his open arms. Her forward momentum plowed them both backward into the delivery scout and down onto the grimy deck. She lay perfectly still in his arms for several long moments. With her head buried in his chest, Leon could smell a faint scent of smoke in her hair. His eyes traveled down to her bare arms, which were still tightly wrapped around him. She pulled back and lifted her face away from his chest. With their faces now just inches apart, she looked into his eyes. God, she’s more beautiful than I’d first thought . Something was clanging against the top of the delivery scout. They were being bombarded with debris raining down from above.
    “I need to get us out of here.”
    He pushed her aside with a bit more force than intended. He scurried into the cockpit on all fours and, without looking, punched the controls forward. All he could do was hope there was nothing obstructing their forward movement. At virtually the same moment, the building … her building, behind them, began to collapse.
    The attacking marauder moved methodically away, seeking another target. This time its sights were set on