IN CASE OF DAMAGE

They took her to the library. It had been transformed into aheadquarters for the invasion, the long tables filled withportable workscreens manned by Specials, its usual quietreplaced 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 anold magazine, she seemed almost relaxed, at a remove fromthe 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. Hadsome signal from the pendant reached them before she haddestroyed it?
In any case, her only chance of escape was to playalong. She pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Goodness. Look at you,” Dr. Cable said. “For someonewho 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 thetable. “That’s something you don’t seem to be very good at.”
Tally coughed twice, the last bit of pepper leaving herlungs. “I guess not.”
Dr. Cable glanced at her workscreen. “I see we had youamong the resistors?”
“Some of the Smokies already suspected me. So when Iheard you guys coming, I tried to get out of town. I didn’twant 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 leanedback, making a steeple of her long, thin fingers. “How longhave you been here exactly?”
Tally forced herself to cough again, wondering if shedared lie. Her voice, still harsh and uneven from inhalingthe 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 tricksinside.
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 wasUGLIES 305ages after my birthday. That’s why they suspected me.”
Dr. Cable shook her head. “I suppose I should havebeen worried about you, out in the wild all alone. PoorTally.”
“Thanks for your concern.”
“I’m sure you would have used the pendant if you’dgotten into any real trouble. Self-preservation being yourone skill.”
Tally sneered. “Unless I’d fallen off a cliff. Which almosthappened.”
“We still would have come for you. If the pendant hadbeen 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 toshow any emotion.
Dr. Cable narrowed her eyes. She might not havemachines to read Tally’s voice and heartbeat and sweat,but her own perceptions were alert. She’d chosen thosewords to provoke a reaction. “Speaking of which, whereis it?”
Tally’s fingers went to her neck. Of course, Dr. Cablehad noticed the pendant’s absence immediately. Her questionshad been leading to this moment. Tally’s brain racedfor an answer. The handcuffs were off. She had to get out ofthere, to the trading post. Hopefully, her hoverboard stilllay on the roof, unfolded and charging in the morning sun.
“I hid it,” she said. “I was scared.”
306 Scott Westerfeld“Scared of what?”
“Last night, after I was sure this really was the Smoke,I activated the pendant. But they have this thing that detectsbugs. They found the one on my board—the one you putthere 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 knowa transmission had been sent. I hid it, in case they camelooking.”
“I see. A certain amount of intelligence sometimesaccompanies a strong sense of self-preservation. I’m gladyou decided to help us.”
“Like I had a choice?”
“You always had a choice, Tally. But you made the rightchoice. You decided to come here and find your friend, tosave her from a life of being ugly. You should be happyabout that.”
“I’m thrilled.”
“So pugnacious, you uglies. Well, you’ll be growingup 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’vehidden it? I don’t like to leave loose ends lying around.”
Tally smiled. “I’d be happy to.”
UGLIES 307“This officer will accompany you.” Dr. Cable lifted afinger, and a Special appeared at her side. “And just to keepyou safe from your Smokey friends, we’ll make it look likeyou’ve been a brave resistor.”
The Special pulled Tally’s hands together behind herback, 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 inthe 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 andswirling through the camp.
A few faces turned to look up with suspicion at Tally.
She was the only Smokey still walking around. Everyoneelse was on the ground, handcuffed and under guard, mostof them gathered near the rabbit pen.
She tried to give those who saw her a grim smile, hopingthey noticed that she was handcuffed just like theywere.
When they reached the trading post, Tally looked up. “Ihid 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.
308 Scott WesterfeldThe Special swung himself onto the roof with an easethat made Tally shiver. How was she going to overcome thiscruel 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?”
“The rapchuck. You know, the old-fashioned thingiewhere 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 impassiveface—annoyance mixed with suspicion. But he leapeddown again and stacked a couple of crates. He jumped ontothem and pulled Tally up, sitting her on the edge of the roofas 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 blindinglybright in the sun. Tally’s board lay too far away, on theother side of the roof, and it was unfolded into eight sections.
Folding it back up would take a solid minute. ButUGLIES 309Tally saw one nearby, Croy’s maybe, that had only beenunfolded once. Its light was green. One kick to close it andthe board would be ready to fly.
But Tally couldn’t fly with her hands bound. She’d falloff on the first turn.
She took a deep breath, ignoring the part of her brainthat saw only the distance to the ground. As long as theSpecial 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 sherolled, 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 ontoher shoulder. She rolled off into space, the ground loomingbelow. But Tally jerked to a halt, her arm wrenching in itssocket, and she heard the Special’s razor voice curse.
She swung for a moment, her fall arrested, then theyboth started to slip.
She could hear the Special’s fingers and feet scrabblingfor purchase. However strong he might be, there was nothingfor 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 herselfbeing pulled up in a mighty heave. She was thrownback onto the roof, and a shadow passed over her. Some-310 Scott Westerfeldthing hit the ground below. The Special had thrown himselfoff the roof to save her!
She rolled up into a crouch, stood, and lifted half ofCroy’s hoverboard with one foot, flipping it closed. A noisecame from the edge of the roof, and Tally stepped awayfrom Croy’s board.
The Special’s fingers appeared, then his body swunginto 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 ona shingle, and teetered again. The Special had her in hisarms 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 pressureon her wrists disappear. She brought her hands aroundin front, rubbing her shoulders. “Ow. Thanks.”
“Listen,” he said, the razors in his cruel voice sharperthan ever, “I don’t want to hurt you, but—”
“You will if you have to.” Tally smiled. He was standingin exactly the right place.
“Just get whatever Dr. Cable wants. And don’t you daretouch one of those hoverboards.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t have to,” she said, and snappedUGLIES 311the fingers of both hands as loudly as she could.
Croy’s hoverboard jumped into the air, knocking theSpecial’s feet out from under him. The man rolled off theroof again, and Tally leaped onto the board.