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Urg nodded He grabbed the portable radio from the top of a duffle and sto!" Scottie yelled after hiet the last knot out before attaching one end of the hose to the cutting tank The dial showed a quarter-full, le survivor, much less the dozen or so cuts it would need to deplete the tank

"I’ above

He stood directly under it and formed a basket with his hands Molly draped the hose around her neck and reached up for his shoulders as she put her weight in his palms She could feel the muscles around his neck harden as he lifted her up effortlessly, high over his head

"Whoa!" Molly reached up and grabbed the lip, steadying herself as Scottie practically tossed her on top of the wing She stayed on all fours and turned around "Nice and easy, big guy"

Scottie smiled sheepishly as Molly took the loop of hose fro torch up Behind her, she could hear the faint sounds of solass

It took several tries with the sparker before the torch lit, the flint inside worn nearly sht, there was a loud pop as the excess gas exploded, followed by the purposeful hiss and blue fla upon release

Molly twisted the dial on the side and concentrated on the shape of the white teardrop in theplasteel, she locked the valve and slapped the carboglass several times with her palm She waited for the noise within to stop, the dark forlass The entire canopy was so finely cracked, she couldn’t see inside, even from a meter away

She studied the shape of the cockpit for athe best and safest place to cut One entire lip of the canopy isted out of shape, preventing it fro at the way the Firehawks around her arped out of shape, she couldn’t believe a hu could survive whatever had happened She bent down and worked the flaht light of plasradually cut a circle out of the hull

The entire section of frame fell inside the cockpit as the last of the cut was made Molly killed the torch and bent down near the hole "Keep back for a sec!" she yelled She opened one of the water bottles and doused the edges of the plasteel, which popped and hissed violently but lost their red glow

Two gloved hands eed lip, and a helmet followed Molly realized at once how the pilot had survived the crash: his lifesupport u on the edge of cut steel She reached down and popped it loose as theof the lower Firehawk He kicked at the surface with his heels, scra on up there?" Scottie yelled fronored Scottie’s shouts "Hold still," she told the pilot She grabbed hi for the clasps on his hel spaceman with sweat-matted hair and eyes ith fear

"It’s okay Calns of injury "What’s your nains," he said "Deckbeyond Molly "Where’re the others?" he asked

"Keep calm" Molly handed hiet plugged in," she told hi frohtsuit "Jonesy," he said, rubbing his fingers over the nahtsuits I think he kneere going down before we even got hit He ran off for the Ad to save the old ins nodded "Yeah" He stopped and looked up at Molly "Are you a part of soht not be anyone else to rescue," she said

"Everything okay up there?"

Molly went to the edge of the wing and looked over "A scared rav suit kept him alive Gimme a sec with hi echoed down the line of ships, cutting her off Scottie and Cat turned and looked toward the sound; Molly followed their gazes In the distance, she could see Urg waving his ar up to another Firehawk

"Pants on fire," Cat whispered "I think we have ht of theins The two paired-up crew rav panels failed Everyone’s story was the saht in abject terror while the ships were flung froar to the other, everyone fearful their Firehaould rattle out the open hangar doors, or they would lose life support

Certainly, some others had

None of the Gs suffered had been too htsuits, and everyone seemed fit, if dehydrated and terrified Molly and her little rescue crew stayed so busy crawling across the wreckage, cutting people out and getting them food and water, that she hardly noticed the odd dyna to her and her friends as if they were in charge

While Urg continued to search for anyone left alive in the tangled ive up even when it seemed unlikely there were anyto console them They all had a defeated, dazed look, al

Molly peeled the wrapper off a protein bar and handed it to one of the pilots His eyes were unblinking, wide and wet

"It was the Drenards, wasn’t it?" he asked her

She shook her head "No It’s soure out--"

"What’s worse than Drenards?" so," Molly said

"Gotta be the Dre out of their arel!"

Molly held up her hands "It’s not Drenards--"

"What then? Did you see the we need to do is help the rest of the crew See if any of the staff survived Then we can--"

"Survived?" Higgins squeaked "Nobody but us survived! How could they? There was alht!" He looked at his pal his face with his hands