Maiden Flight — Eric Vinicoff

War left Earth a smoking ruin, but remnants of civilization survived by retreating in opposite directions, some burrowed beneath the rubble, striving to maintain pre-War technology in the underground enclaves. Others fled aloft aboard the Windriders, massive airships fitted up as colonies in the clouds. - Having learned a horrible lesson, and united by common need, the two groups are interdependent and nonviolent. Each survives by trading with the others, and cross-migration is common. But there is a hawk among the doves. The sole survivor of the forces that destroyed the world--the military windrider Shenandoah--has turned to piracy. Its commander takes no prisoners. Already Shenandoah has annihilated twenty-six of its fellows. Much as the Windriders abhor warfare, a defense must be mounted. The alternative is death.