"No, I…hey, wait. How'd you get a hoverboard to take you across the river?" Anything that flew had minders all over it.

Shay laughed. "That's the oldest trick in the book. I figured you'd know all about it."

Tally shrugged. "I don't board much."

"Well, this one'll take both of us."

"Wait, shhh."

Another hovercar had come into view, cruising down the river just above the height of the bridges.

Tally waited for a count of ten after it had passed before she spoke. "I don't think it's a good idea, flying back."

"So how did you get over?"

"Follow me." Tally rose from her crouch onto hands and knees, and crawled a bit ahead.

She looked back. "Can you carry that thing?"

"Sure. It doesn't weigh much." Shay snapped her fingers, and the hoverboard drifted upward. "Actually, it doesn't weigh anything, unless I tell it to."

"That's handy."

Shay started to crawl, the board bouncing along behind her like a littlie's balloon. Tally couldn't see any string, though. "So, where're we going?" Shay asked.

"I know a bridge."

"But it'll tattle."

"Not this one. It's an old friend."

Wipe Out

Tally fell off. Again.

The spill didn't hurt so much, this time. The moment her feet slipped off the hoverboard, she'd relaxed, the way Shay kept telling her to. Spinning out wasn't much worse than having your dad swing you around by the wrists when you were little.

If your dad happened to be a superhuman freak and was trying to pull your arms out of their sockets.

But the momentum had to go somewhere, Shay had explained. And around in circles was better than into a tree. Here in Cleopatra Park there were plenty of those.

After a few rotations, Tally found herself being lowered to the grass by her wrists, dizzy but in one piece.