Free Uglies 03 - Specials by Scott Westerfeld Page A

shaky like you, probably," Shay said. "Unless we find him in time."
    Zane shook his head. "They don't experiment without consent."
    "Consent? What part of 'kidnapped' did you not catch, Zane-la?" Shay said. "These aren't the old wimpy Smokies anymore. They've got military gear and an icy new attitude. They ambushed us with shock-sticks."
    "They almost drowned Shay," Tally said. "Pushed her into the river unconscious."
    "Unconscious?" The smile on Zane's face grew. "Sleeping on the job, Shay-la."
    Shay's muscles tensed, and for a moment Tally thought she was going to spring up from the bed and strike—her diamond-hard fingernails and teeth against Zane's defenseless flesh.
    But she only laughed, hands uncurling from fighting position to stroke Tally's hair. "Something like that. But I'm very awake now."
    Zane shrugged, as if he hadn't noticed how close she'd come to ripping his throat out. "Well, I don't know where the New Smoke is. I can't help you."
    "Yes, you can," Shay said.
    "How?"
    "You can escape."
    "Escape?" Zane's fingers went to his throat. Around his neck was a metal chain, its links a dull silver. "That would be tricky, I'm afraid."
    Tally closed her eyes for a moment. So that was how they were tracking him. Zane was not only infirm and unspecial, he was collared like a dog. It was all she could do to keep herself from jumping up and diving out the window. The smell of the room—recycled clothing, the musty book, the sticky sweetness of champagne—all of it was making her sick.
    "We can get you something to cut that off," Shay said.
    Zane shook his head. "I doubt it. I've tested this in the shop shed; it's the same alloy they use on orbital craft."
    "Trust me," Shay said. "Tally and I can do whatever we want."
    Tally glanced at Shay. Cut orbital alloy? For technology that serious, they'd have to ask Dr.
    Cable for help.
    Zane fondled the chain. "And for this little favor, you want me to betray the Smoke?"
    "You wouldn't do that for your own freedom, Zane," Shay said, and put her hands on Tally's shoulders. "But you'd do it for her."
    Tally felt the two sets of eyes on her—Shay's black and deep and special, Zane's watery and average.
    "What do you mean?" he said slowly.
    Shay just stood there silent, but through the skintenna, Tally heard her lips mouth a few words, carried on a breath of air.

    "They'll make him special. …"
    Tally nodded, searching for the words. He'd never listen to anyone else.
    She cleared her throat. "Zane, if you escape, it'll prove to them that you're still bubbly. And when they capture you, they'll make you like us. You wouldn't believe how good it feels, how icy. And we can be together."
    "Why can't we be together now?" he asked softly.
    Tally tried to imagine kissing his childlike lips, stroking his shaking hands, and the thought disgusted her.
    She shook her head. "I'm sorry…but not the way you are."
    He spoke softly, as if to a child. "You can change yourself, Tally—"
    "And you can escape, Zane," Shay interrupted. "Get out into the wild and let the Smokies find you." She pointed into the corner. "You can even keep that bag of pills, bubbly up some of your Crim friends if you want."
    His eyes didn't leave Tally. "And then betray them?"
    "You don't have to do anything, Zane. Along with the cutting tool, I'll give you a tracker," Shay said. "Once you reach the New Smoke, we'll come get you, and the city will make you strong and fast and perfect. Bubbly forever."
    "I'm already bubbly," he said coldly.
    "Yeah, but you're not strong, or fast, or perfect, Zane-la," Shay said. "You're not even average."
    "Do you really think I'll betray the Smoke?" he said.
    Shay squeezed Tally's shoulders. "For her, you will."
    He looked at Tally, a lost expression on his face for a moment, like he really was unsure. Then he stared down at his hands and sighed, nodding slowly.
    But Tally saw them clear as day, the thoughts passing across Zane's face: He would accept the offer, then try to trick them