In Case of Damage

They took her to the library. It had been transformed into a headquarters for the invasion, the long tables filled with portable workscreens manned by Specials, its usual quiet replaced by a buzz of clipped exchanges and commands. The razor voices of the cruel pretties set Tally's teeth on edge.

Dr. Cable waited at one of the long tables. Reading an old magazine, she seemed almost relaxed, at a remove from the activity around her.

"Ah, Tally." She bared her teeth in an attempt at a smile. "Nice to see you. Sit down."

Tally wondered what was behind the doctor's greeting. The Specials had treated Tally like an accomplice. Had some signal from the pendant reached them before she had destroyed it?

In any case, her only chance of escape was to play along. She pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Goodness. Look at you," Dr. Cable said. "For someone who wants to be a pretty, you're always such a sight."

"I've had a rough morning."

"You seem to have been in a scrape."

Tally shrugged. "I was just trying to get out of the way."

"Indeed." Dr. Cable placed the magazine facedown on the table. "That's something you don't seem to be very good at."

Tally coughed twice, the last bit of pepper leaving her lungs. "I guess not."

Dr. Cable glanced at her workscreen. "I see we had you among the resistors?"

"Some of the Smokies already suspected me. So when I heard you guys coming, I tried to get out of town. I didn't want to be around when everyone realized what was happening. In case they got mad at me."

"Self-preservation. Well, at least you're good at something."

"I didn't ask to come here."

"No, and you took your time, too." Dr. Cable leaned back, making a steeple of her long, thin fingers.

"How long have you been here exactly?"

Tally forced herself to cough again, wondering if she dared lie. Her voice, still harsh and uneven from inhaling the pepper, wasn't likely to give her away. And although Dr. Cable's office back in the city might be one big lie detector, this table and chair were solid wood, without any tricks inside.

But Tally hedged. "Not that long."

"You didn't get here as quickly as I'd hoped."

"I almost didn't make it at all. And when I did, it was ages after my birthday. That's why they suspected me."

Dr. Cable shook her head. "I suppose I should have been worried about you, out in the wild all alone.

Poor Tally."

"Thanks for your concern."

"I'm sure you would have used the pendant if you'd gotten into any real trouble. Self-preservation being your one skill."

Tally sneered. "Unless I'd fallen off a cliff. Which almost happened."

"We still would have come for you. If the pendant had been damaged, it would have sent a signal automatically."

The words sunk in slowly:If the pendant had been damaged... Tally gripped the edge of the table, trying not to show any emotion.

Dr. Cable narrowed her eyes. She might not have machines to read Tally's voice and heartbeat and sweat, but her own perceptions were alert. She'd chosen those words to provoke a reaction. "Speaking of which, where is it?"

Tally's fingers went to her neck. Of course, Dr. Cable had noticed the pendant's absence immediately.

Her questions had been leading to this moment. Tally's brain raced for an answer. The handcuffs were off. She had to get out of there, to the trading post. Hopefully, her hoverboard still lay on the roof, unfolded and charging in the morning sun. "I hid it," she said. "I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Last night, after I was sure this really was the Smoke, I activated the pendant. But they have this thing that detects bugs. They found the one on my board - the one you put there without telling me."

Dr. Cable smiled, spreading her hands helplessly.

"That almost blew the whole thing," Tally continued. "So after I activated the pendant, I got scared they'd know a transmission had been sent. I hid it, in case they came looking."

"I see. A certain amount of intelligence sometimes accompanies a strong sense of self-preservation. I'm glad you decided to help us."

"Like I had a choice?"

"You always had a choice, Tally. But you made the right choice. You decided to come here and find your friend, to save her from a life of being ugly. You should be happy about that."

"I'm thrilled."

"So pugnacious, you uglies. Well, you'll be growing up soon."

A chill went down Tally's spine at the words. To Dr. Cable, "growing up" meant having your brain changed.

"There's just one more thing you have to do for me, Tally. Do you mind getting the pendant from where you've hidden it? I don't like to leave loose ends lying around."

Tally smiled. "I'd be happy to."

"This officer will accompany you." Dr. Cable lifted a finger, and a Special appeared at her side. "And just to keep you safe from your Smokey friends, we'll make it look like you've been a brave resistor."

The Special pulled Tally's hands together behind her back, and she felt plastic bite into her wrists again.

She took a breath, her pulse pounding in her head, then forced herself to say, "Whatever."

"This way."

Tally led the Special toward the trading post, taking in the situation. The Smoke had been beaten into silence. Fires were left to burn freely. Some were already exhausted, clouds of smoke still rising from the blackened wood and swirling through the camp.

A few faces turned to look up with suspicion at Tally. She was the only Smokey still walking around.

Everyone else was on the ground, handcuffed and under guard, most of them gathered near the rabbit pen.

She tried to give those who saw her a grim smile, hoping they noticed that she was handcuffed just like they were.

When they reached the trading post, Tally looked up. "I hid it on the roof."

The Special eyed the building suspiciously. "All right, then," he said. "You wait here. Sit down and don't stand up."

She shrugged, kneeling carefully.

The Special swung himself onto the roof with an ease that made Tally shiver. How was she going to overcome this cruel pretty? Even if her hands weren't tied, he was bigger, stronger, faster.

A moment later, his head stuck out over the edge. "Where is it?"

"Under the rapchuck."

"The what?"

"Therapchuck. You know, the old-fashioned thingie where the roofline connects with the abbersnatch."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's Smokey slang, I guess. Let me show you."

A fleeting expression crossed the Special's impassive face - annoyance mixed with suspicion. But he leaped down again and stacked a couple of crates. He jumped onto them and pulled Tally up, sitting her on the edge of the roof as if she weighed nothing. "You touch one of those hoverboards, I'll put you on your face," he threatened casually.

"There're hoverboards up here?"

He leaped past her and hauled her onto the roof. "Find it."

"No problem." She walked gingerly up the slanted roof, exaggerating the difficulty of balancing without her hands. The solar cells of the recharging hoverboards were blindingly bright in the sun. Tally's board lay too far away, on the other side of the roof, and it was unfolded into eight sections. Folding it back up would take a solid minute. But Tally saw one nearby, Croy's maybe, that had only been unfolded once.

Its light was green. One kick to close it and the board would be ready to fly.

But Tally couldn't fly with her hands bound. She'd fall off on the first turn.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the part of her brain that saw only the distance to the ground. As long as the Special was as fast and strong as he seemed...

"I'm wearing a bungee jacket," she lied to herself. "Nothing can possibly happen."

Tally let her bare feet trip, and tumbled down the slope.

The rough shingles battered Tally's knees and elbows as she rolled, letting out a cry of pain. She fought to stay on the roof, her feet scrambling against the wood to slow herself down.

Just as she reached the edge, an iron grip fastened onto her shoulder. She rolled off into space, the ground looming below. But Tally jerked to a halt, her arm wrenching in its socket, and she heard the Special's razor voice curse.

She swung for a moment, her fall arrested, then they both started to slip.

She could hear the Special's fingers and feet scrabbling for purchase. However strong he might be, there was nothing for him to hold on to. Tally was going to fall.

But at least she was going to take him with her.

Then a grunt came from the Special, and Tally felt herself being pulled up in a mighty heave. She was thrown back onto the roof, and a shadow passed over her. Something hit the ground below. The Special had thrown himself off the roof to save her!

She rolled up into a crouch, stood, and lifted half of Croy's hoverboard with one foot, flipping it closed.

A noise came from the edge of the roof, and Tally stepped away from Croy's board.

The Special's fingers appeared, then his body swung into view. He was completely unhurt.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Wow. You guys are strong. Thanks for saving me."

He looked at her coolly. "Just get what we came for. And try not to kill yourself."

"Okay." Tally turned, managed to get a foot tangled on a shingle, and teetered again. The Special had her in his arms in a second. Finally, she heard real anger in his voice. "You uglies are so...incompetent!"

"Well, maybe if you could - "

Even before it was out of her mouth, she felt the pressure on her wrists disappear. She brought her hands around in front, rubbing her shoulders. "Ow. Thanks."

"Listen," he said, the razors in his cruel voice sharper than ever, "I don't want to hurt you, but - "

"You will if you have to." Tally smiled. He was standing in exactly the right place.

"Just get whatever Dr. Cable wants. And don't you dare touch one of those hoverboards."

"Don't worry, I don't have to," she said, and snapped the fingers of both hands as loudly as she could.

Croy's hoverboard jumped into the air, knocking the Special's feet out from under him. The man rolled off the roof again, and Tally leaped onto the board.