Meanwhile, the small moon scooter sped away over the Ganymede landscape.
The building Guybrush had pulled them into had been the scooter storage hangar, though there hadn't been time to explain that. Even as they scrambled into the nearest scooter the air pressure blew all four walls down and lifted the roof into the air. Then the falling debris had forced them to make an early departure. Right now they were several dozen miles from Exus-1, and accelerating.
"Shouldn't we at least head back to the shipyards and look for Boss Hog?" asked Wally.
"It won't be much use," said Guybrush. "The whole place is a complete wreck, so why would she still be hanging around? Do you really think she'd make a special effort to find us?"
"Well..."
"And besides that, this whole operation looks like an Upchuck trap, and I've got no intention of making life easier for him."
Wally looked down nervously at the computer screen, which showed their position on the moon's surface. "Do you think they can see us?"
"Once the debris starts to settle, you can bet they'll be looking. Which is why I intend to get a long way away from Exus-1, very quickly."
By now Wally had gotten used to the reduced gravity of Ganymede. His body felt light yet tough. The reduced air resistance meant the moon scooter could hit some very fast speeds, and the occasionally uneven surface was no problem. The tyres of the moon scooter were huge, springy, monster-truck tires, and when they hit an obstacle they simply sent the scooter soaring into the air. It would inscribe a smooth, shallow parabola in the vacuum, then hit the earth light as a feather. It was like driving in a huge rubber ball.
"So where are we going, then?" asked Wally.
"Fortunately, I found that out before we were attacked," said Guybrush. "There's a group of Space Pirates called the Space Moose."
"Shouldn't that be Space Mooses?" asked Wally.
"They're not strong on that sort of thing. Anyway, their base tends to move around a fair bit, but currently they're about eight hundred miles northeast of Exus-1. We should be there in a couple of hours."
"Who's their leader?" asked Wally.
"You wouldn't know him. Guy called Mancomb Seepgood."
Wally nodded and looked out the viewscreen. It was difficult to see very far, as the moon scooter didn't have very strong headlights. They were driving through the dark in an oval of monochrome rocks.
Then the ground vanished.
Wally started, but Guybrush kept his cool. "Ice field," he explained. "We can probably cut the motor, save some fuel for the next bit." He took his hand off the accelerator and they glided over the ice, silent and frictionless, like an enormous hockey puck.
Wally, not totally mollified, kept a keen eye on the viewscreen. Soon, he said, "Guybrush, should the ice be cracking like that?"
Immediately the ice gave way beneath them.