“The walls are starting to come down!” Jessica yelled from the cargo door as she pushed Tobin’s corpse out the hatch. Nathan looked out the windows and saw the wall to the left of him, toward the back corner, come apart under the force of the continuous barrage. Finally, a large section of it came crashing down, taking three emitters with it. The shield overhead flickered several times. “It’s failing!” Tug yelled. Another section of the wall, on the same side but nearer them also collapsed, burying the greenhouse below. The shields flickered a few more times then disappeared altogether. “Get us in the air!” Nathan ordered. Jalea pushed the lift throttles forward and the ship began to slowly rise. Rocks and debris fell off the crumbling walls and bounced off the ground, striking the side of the ship. They were only eight meters off the ground when the first salvo struck them in the aft port thrust pod. Their tail dropped sharply and the ship began to roll over to port. “Compensate!”
