"Yeah, well, could you please tell me what's—" He let out a startled cry as Tally pushed him off his board, sending him tumbling into the darkness below.

"Sorry, Ho-la," she said, stepping from the Smokey board onto his and angling it toward the river. Its lifting fans spun to life as she crossed the city's border. "Need to borrow your ride. Don't have time to explain."

Another grunt reached her ears as Ho's bracelets brought his fall to a halt. "Tally! What the—"

"They've got Shay Fausto, too. Tachs is back in the Trails, unconscious. Go make sure he's okay"

"What?" Ho's voice was fading as Tally shot out into the wild, leaving the city's network repeaters behind. She scanned the horizon and caught distant flickers of infrared, like two glowing eyes ahead—Fausto and Shay.

The hunt was still on.

"We got jumped. Aren't you listening?" She bared her teeth. "And Shay said no calls to Dr. Cable. We don't want any help with this." Tally was certain Shay would hate for Special Circumstances to find out that the Cutters—Dr. Cable's very special Specials—had been made fools of.

For that matter, a squadron of screaming hovercars would only let the Smokies know that they were being followed. All alone, Tally might be able to sneak up on them.

She leaned forward, coaxing every bit of speed from her borrowed board, Ho's protests fading behind her.

She was going to catch them. There were five Smokies and two captives on four boards; no way could they make top speed. Tally just had to remember that they were random, and she was special.

She still had a chance to rescue Shay capture David, and make this all okay.

RESCUE

Tally flew low and fast, barely skimming the surface of the river, staring into the dark trees on either side.

Where were they?

The Smokies couldn't be that far in front—not with only a couple of minutes' head start. But like her, they were flying low, using the mineral deposits in the winding riverbed for extra push, keeping under cover of the trees. Even the special-hot infrared glow of Shay's and Fausto's bodies couldn't penetrate the dark cloak of the forest. And that was a problem.