Opening the Lines of Communication by Nancy Brown
"Get out of here"
"Hold still. I can carve out most of what's fallen on you."
"You don't have time. John, you have to go now, before the thing detonates."
Silence, and the ring's familiar hum.
"Please. I screwed up. I always screw up. Don't let me kill you, too. Go."
"You're good at leaving, not me."
"Learn, dammit! Why do I fall for the stupid ones?"
"I'll have to make a forcefield. It should protect us both."
"Why?"
"You know why."
A distinctive, wet noise, and then the screech of tortured metal and concrete. Shaking, Mari deactivated her comm.