"'Fraid so, ma'am," Shephard says. "Things're unstable as fuck but they c'n take off'n land straight up and down, and they'll hover in place for a pilot who knows his shit. Our medics swear by 'em for rescues."

"Better not plan on emergency evac, though, the prop wash from the fuckin' rotor blades'll fuck the ever living shit out of your parachute if you try. Only way out of one of these in the air's into a convenient pile of somethin' soft, or a lake or some shit like that."