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heaved, lifting her and the little girl over the railing. After wrapping his arms around them, he carried the pair to the end of the couch sticking halfway out the door. One look at the shards of glass told him the moonshiner had put it there.
    “Are you okay?”
    Shock shone in their wide, blank eyes. He tried the question again, and the woman nodded, hugging the little girl close.
    “How long did you hang out there?”
    She croaked, “Too long.”
    Stepping inside the apartment, he scanned the countertops. A smudged plastic cup lay on its side, a crack running across the bottom. He picked up the cup and tried the faucet to see if they still had water rations. A light stream trickled out. He filled the fake glass until the water petered off and brought it to the balcony, offering it to the woman.
    The cup shook in her hands as she sipped. He wanted to bend down and hold it steady for her, but he didn’t want to seem too forward, so he stood back and allowed her room to recover.
    She offered the girl a drink and glanced up at him. “Thank you.”
    He waved away her gratitude. “No problem.”
    “I mean it.” A fierce fire simmered in her emerald eyes. She looked like someone out of the old Celtic fairy tales the nurses in the orphanage used to tell him at bedtime. He couldn’t imagine why any colony ship would want to leave her DNA behind.
    “Thank you for saving us.”
    “You don’t have to thank me. It’s what I do.”
    He contemplated taking them down to the hideout, but he had to press on. The city would be a target soon, and he had to reach the Destiny before the world leaders considered it a contaminated zone.
    “I need to hurry. Stay here. Wait for a signal from the sky. I’m bringing a ship to evacuate the city.”
    He turned to leave, but she caught his arm. For someone with small and dainty fingers, she had the grip of a cobra. “Wait! Take us with you. I can help.”
    He paused, his arm still in her grip. Could he tell her the truth? A stirring in his gut made him trust her, and the city was falling into ruins around them. Who would she tell? “I’m heading to Thadious Legacy’s tower to steal a hovercraft. From there, I’m flying across the Barren Lands to a secret government base to hijack a colony ship. I’m not sure it’s any safer than staying here. Besides, how can you help? I have to travel quickly.”
    “I can’t stay here. We have no weapons.” She stood up, hands on her hips. “But I can watch for moonshiners. You’re gonna need a lookout while you finagle a hovercraft.”
    James scanned the ruined apartment. The front door to the hallway hung by its hinges. Their level was dangerously close to the sewers and moonshiners could storm in at any time. He only had one laser, and he’d need it where he was going. But he couldn’t resist those eyes, full of intensity and spirit. And she was right. Three sets of eyes were better than one.
    “All right. Pack your belongings; we may not come back.”
    “What about Daddy?” The girl spoke for the first time, her little hands wrinkling the woman’s shirt.
    James raised his eyebrow in question. He didn’t want to take some other man’s family away from him. What was this woman thinking?
    “He’s gone, Carls, and we have to keep moving.” She stepped near James and whispered under her breath. “He’s not coming back.” Anger hardened her voice.
    The girl sniffled, wiping her nose with her hand.
    James suddenly felt like an intruder. He shook his head. “Look, I’m not getting in the middle of a family dispute—”
    She kept her tone low so the girl couldn’t hear. “He was with the Razornecks when they bombed the State Building. Besides, he was half-gone to that moonshine crap when he left.”
    “Oh.” James’s throat tightened as he fought the urge to wince. The Razornecks? What had he gotten himself into? He couldn’t possibly shelter the family of one of his enemies. What would she think if she saw his neon