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"What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy?" Asked an old woman.

"Where am I?"

"Where are you? You’re in Europa, Kansas, you dimwit! …And you best be on your way, lest you wanna" be lunch for the 9’s!"

Sandi laughed, amused at such a wonderful hoax and illusion.

"The 9’s; what’s that mean?"

"The devil dogs, man. The canines, the K-9’s! Get it?" Said the rude woman.

"Really, I’m a good sport, how did you come up with all this?"

"Dag-dambit, you must be a real kook, I just told you the 9’s are coming, fool.

"I’m heading off to sector 17, I suggest you do the same, you nut ball!"

Sandi watched the woman run into some beaten down vehicle, but gasped when he suddenly saw the scratched-up mo-ped rise on an invisible rift of air. It was clearly some kind of hovercraft. From that point on, the debunker of the paranormal was beginning to feel very afraid. Suppose this really wasn’t a hoax after all? In the distance, he could see a wide dust cloud of red mist quickly blowing in from the south. It was very similar to the dirt tornados of the 1920’s dustbowl. Yet something ominous laced its approached. Perhaps it was the bizarre hissing that seemed to grow louder as the dust cloud came closer.

"Hey!"

Sandi had been startled by a weak tug on his arm. He turned around to see little Cora Vars, dressed in a weird red jumpsuit of some kind. She peered directly at him, but didn’t seem to recognize him.

"Come on, come on, they come out of the dust! We need to get to Pegasus fast!"

By now, the dust was upon them, yet its thin texture was so silken and powdery that he could still see fairly well through it. Cora pulled hard on his sleeves, as Sandi followed her past odd-looking barns and fields of tall corn stalks. Reaching a rounded grain hut, Cora opened the door and pointed at a very strange vehicle. It was about fifteen-feet-long and segmented in parts. The front consisted of a glass bubble cockpit with copper sides and what appeared to be bicycle handlebars within.

"Can you ride a hover bike? My legs are too small to reach the pedals." Explained Cora.

"Well, I – I can ride a bicycle."

"Good, then let’s get in before …"

"R o-oo-agh!"

A wide arch of blood flew past them and spattered across an adjacent barn. Sandi dropped to the floor, looking pass the dust to see a mob of dark red creatures. Some stood up in bipedal fashion, while others trotted around on all fours, savagely munching on human limbs. The wan sunlight passing through the dust clouds gave these creatures a truly hellish appearance.

"Good lord, what are those thing?"

"They’re the 9’s, come on. We have to get in the Pegasus now!" Cried Cora.

 The little girl pressed her hand on an oval slot and the door to the Pegasus opened. Both of them got into the hover bike as fast as they could, but they were unable to stop one of the wolves from latching on to the door. It stuck its gory head inside and grinned with a blood-ripping maw. Blank eyes and red fur rippled in evil delight. Sandi acted in pure instinct, kicking the creature in the head, sending the odd beast to the floor. It got up quickly, growling like a mad dog, but the Pegasus’ door slid closed before it could get its claws on them. Nevertheless, several of the creatures leaped upon the copper hover bike, viciously digging into the thin metal with their thick, sharp claws.

"Go, go!" Shouted Cora.

Sandi crammed into the front of the vehicle, as he flinched at every ripping sound he heard on top of the bike’s copper canopy. He sat on a comfortable seat and adjusted his feet to the pedals. Indeed, there was a bicycle, somehow merged within the technology of the hovercraft. While the demon wolves began to cause small cracks in the glass windshield, Sandi began peddling as fast as he could. In unison, the coppertop bicycle rose several inches from the ground and took off at surprising speed. Obviously boosted by some other power source, Sandi’s rampant peddling sent them rushing through the sinister dust cloud, while Cora kept her wide eyes glued on the window ports behind them.

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