I rolled the ball back lurching the ship forward down the dark alley. We knocked over light poles and smashed through garages. A gun truck stopped at the end of the alley, and I shoved the foot pedals down scooping the truck up. We were near the wall. I could just make it out through the darkness and rain.

Shouting came from beyond the steel door behind us. Glass breaking and doors slamming. I imagined a mosh pit of the new and old crew members. Occasional gunfire made me wonder if there would be any new craftsmen left after Goar was through. I heard Khan growling and then snapping at something.

Ahead a gunman with a long rifle walked out on the wall and pointed the nose directly at my windshield. Instinctively I ducked. Then I remembered the truck I clutched in the claws. I flicked my feet up and released my toes on the pedals. Outside the claws raised and opened hurling the truck toward the shooter. The truck hit the man and smashed through the upper part of the wall.

“Good throw.” Mia worked her ball and pedals trying to predict my actions.

“You gotta see this.” Tootsie zipped through the steel door like a phantom. Her little pale face glowing with delight. She clapped her hands. “It’s pandemonium.”

We collided with the wall. The moment of distraction looking back at Tootsie made me miss time the ball. I reacted quickly slowing the roll and waiting for Mia to pull her levers and steady our view again. I jerked my lever back and tilted the shoulders of The Beth. Then I rolled the ball again and we climbed up the wall.

“The snake women are choking out Goar and the robot is trying to take his gun.” Tootsie roared laughter and flew back through the door.

“They are tearing up Beth.” The Hunchback growled as he frantically worked the switches.

We tipped to drop back down the other side of the wall, and I could hear the familiar pinging of rifle shots off the armor of our hull. Something heavy struck us and I heard ringing again as the cabin shook. I shoved the lever forward to throw our front shoulders back just before we hit the ground. Our front legs caught, and we leveled out. I looked ahead at the smooth grass ahead and rolled the ball vigorously to put some ground between us and the gunfire.

I turned to Mia, “look back and make sure they don’t have any birds in the air yet.”

She rolled her ball, and we swung around high on the neck to see our long centipede body trailing us over the wall. Seventeen men were firing guns from the wall. One had a launcher on his shoulder. He fired and we watched the trail of smoke and felt the impact shake us again. Our tail cleared the wall and we saw three hitchhikers clinging on.

“Now Khan is trying to catch the Antelope guy and eat him.” Tootsie zipped back in. “And the Moose is smashing through everything. Come see. It’s great.”

“Who’s on our tail?” I shouted over the rocket impact.

“Can I zoom this thing in or something?” Mia asked the Hunchback. He kept working his gears and wheel. Mia snapped her fingers at him. “You,” she snapped, “Hunchback.”

He stopped working and his face flushed. He looked up and leveled his misshapen eyes at her. “Brax.”

“Did he just place a curse on me?” Mia leaned over to whisper.

“I think it’s his name.” I answered.

Tootsie shot in again. “This is hilarious. You are missing everything. Verim is scared of the snake women. The stupid centaur is stampeding through the halls. Aw man.”

“Brax, does this thing zoom in? We need to see what is holding onto our tail.” Mia tried again.

“You mean the windshield?” He looked past us. “Who is watching where we are going?”

Mia spun back around in her chair and swiped the ball to the side. We dropped into a gully as soon as we saw it. I tossed my lever and dropped my feet. The claws slid on the ground barely keeping us from nose-diving. I slowed the ball.

“I’ve got a camera on our back. Give me a moment.” He looked over his switches and found the toggle he was looking for after a moment of chewing his yellow nails. A screen flashed on, and we could see the darkness outside. He flipped another toggle and the screen turned green. Night vision.

Three bird men clung to the tail. They looked familiar. They looked to be exhausted and barely holding on. “The Falconites.” Mia and I said together. “We forgot them,” I said. Behind them, I could see the gates opening on the city walls. “We can’t stop here.” I searched the darkness ahead of us. “We will head to those trees and once we are hidden, we can stop and let them in.”

“I’m gonna pee myself.” Tootsie rolled through the door on the floor laughing. “The butterfly, Jitters. He is skipping around the room and sprinkling some dust from a magic pouch on people. He’s making them fight. He giggles like a little kid. I love him. I love him.”

“Tootsie!” I clenched my teeth. “Enough.”

She stopped laughing and got to her feet indignant. Brushing her hands together she flew off toward the door. “Fine, I won’t tell you anymore. You can play with your stupid machine. I’m going to go watch the show.”

We hit the trees harder than I intended. I had been angrily rolling the ball. If I had not been strapped into my chair, I would have struck the ceiling and likely ended up by the door. Brax did fling from his seat, and we smacked off a tree trunk jarring us and flinging Brax against the wall. Soon we were bouncing from tree to tree. Brax bounced from wall to wall. I tried to get a hand on the ball to slow us down, but my arms overshot every time we hit a new trunk.

I swiped the ball, and we shot left. It felt as if my face was sagging off my skull. My arms smacked off of Mia’s chair narrowly missing her head. She flopped around in her chair like an old stuffed doll. Her feet were out of her pedals. She hissed at me, “make it stop.”

I clenched up my whole upper body to regain control of my arms in the thrashing cabin. As we smashed off several more trees. I focused on the sphere with my dancing vision like a spider on its prey. Carefully I closed in on my moving target. Then pounced with all four hands. The ball stopped and we lurched forward in our seats. Brax crashed into the back of our seats.

Screaming from downstairs broke the moment of silence. I pulled at my harness and then found the release. “Mia check on Flak. I need to get the crew under control.”

I rushed toward the steel door and flung it open. I was met by Veagon. His blond hair was tousled on his head and one of his pointed ears were bleeding. He had his back to the door with a sword pulled and he tumbled in. "Rage." He grinned up at me. "Our new guests find the amenities less than agreeable."