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Rio is lowered to the ground, an action made more difficult by her attempts to jump down on her own She’s been carried, over the shoulder, by so up, she sees a face in shadow but still recognizable

Jack

“What happened?” she asks, panicky, and begins checking her body

“You blew the fug out of everything” This fro shaken

Rio nods, straining to hear and straining, too, to ree fire burns no more than two hundred yards away Sht and beyond the spot where the plane had been Around her an eerie scene out of a natural disaster, like some newsreel clip of a tornado’s aftermath A wide circle of trees has either b

een knocked flat or stands burning

The bombs

“Strand?”

Jack jerks a thu on ait and have set it down to rest while Rio regains her wits Strand is breathing, she can see his chest rising and falling The two flyers are standing nervously, peering at her with so between disapproval and amazement

“Where’s my rifle?” Rio demands

Geer lifts it off Strand and tosses it to her She catches it just ahead of the trigger guard and automatically slides the bolt to check that she has a chaht

“All right,” Rio says, still woozy and not co”

Jack is directly in front of her His blue eyes are absent their usual ht they see, but it’s in a low voice and she can’t quite hear it

She taps her ear and says, “Sorry,” in a too-loud voice

Jack shakes his head very slightly His expression is unreadable In a much louder voice he says, “Never mind,” which she does hear