Didi waits on the platform, her booted feet as heavy as her heart. But at least she's making progress at last. Pip wings in, landing on her shoulder as a massive freighter takes off on the other side of the airfield, the roar of its exiting engines muffled by the damper shielding surrounding the port. Without it, every single person on the paved surface would be dead from the plasma blast and sound wave breaking from the two giant engines. Instead, she feels a faint buffet of warm ...