A m.u.f.fled sound came from below her feet. Someone talking.
She crouched, trying to grasp the words. But all Tally could hear was the razor sound of a cruel pretty"s voice. The mocking tone reminded her of Dr. Cable.
Without warning, the floor dropped out from under her. Tally struggled to keep her footing. When the elevator stopped again, one of her ankles twisted painfully under her weight, but she managed not to fall.
The sound below her faded. One thing was certain now: The complex wasn"t empty.
Tally lifted her head and whistled, then huddled in one corner of the shaft, hands covering her head, counting.
Five seconds later, a pair of feet dangled next to her, then jerked back up, the beam of David"s flashlight swinging around drunkenly. Gradually, he settled beside her. "Wow. It"s dark down here."
"Shhh," she hissed.
He nodded, sweeping the flashlight around the shaft. Just above them, it fell on the inside of closed doors. Of course. Standing on the elevator"s roof, they were midway between floors.
Tally interlaced her fingers, locking her hands together to give David a boost up to where he could wedge the powerjack between the doors. They crumpled open with a metal screech that set her hair on end. He pulled himself through, then extended his hand back down to her. Tally grabbed it and pulled, her grippy shoes squeaking on the walls of the elevator shaft like a herd of panicked mice.
Everything was making too much noise.
The hallway was dark. Tally tried to convince herself that no one had heard them yet. Maybe this whole floor was empty at night.
She pulled out her own flashlight, pointing it at the doors as they walked down the hall. Small brown labels marked each of them.
"Radiology. Neurology. Magnetic Imaging," she read softly. "Operating Theater Two."
She looked at David. He shrugged and gave the door a push. It opened.
"I guess when you"re in an underground bunker, there"s no point in locking up," he said softly. "After you."
Tally crept inside. The room was big, the walls lined with dark and silent machines. An operating tank stood in the middle, the liquid drained out of it, tubes and electrodes hanging loosely in a puddle at the bottom. A metal table glistened with the cruel shapes of knives and vibrasaws.
"This looks like photos Mom showed me," David said. "They do the operation here."
Tally nodded. Doctors only put you in a tank if they were doing major surgery.
"Maybe this is where they make Specials special," she said. The thought didn"t cheer her up.
They returned to the hall. A few doors later, they found a room labeledMORGUE .
"Do you...," she started to ask.
David shook his head. "No."
They searched the rest of the floor. Basically, it was a small, well-equipped hospital. There were no torture chambers or prison cells. And no Smokies.
"Where to now?"
"Well," Tally said. "If you were the evil Dr. Cable, where would you put your prisoners."
"The evil who?"
"Oh. That"s her name, the woman who runs this place. I remember from when I got busted."
David frowned, and Tally wondered if she"d said too much.
Then he shrugged. "I guess I"d put them in the dungeon."
"Okay. Down, then."
They found a set of fire stairs that led down, but they ended after only one flight. Apparently, they had reached the bottom floor of Special Circ.u.mstances.
"Careful," Tally whispered. "Before, I heard people getting out of the elevator below me. They must be somewhere down here."
This floor was lit by a soft glowstrip running down the middle of the hallway. A cold finger crept down Tally"s spine as she read the labels on the doors.
"Interrogation Room One. Interrogation Room Two. Isolation Room One," she whispered, her flashlight flickering across the words like an anxious firefly. "Disorientation Room One. Oh, David, they must be down here somewhere."
He nodded, and pushed one of the doors softly, but it didn"t budge. He ran his fingers around the edge, searching for a place where the powerjack could get purchase.
"Don"t let the eye-reader flash you," Tally warned softly. She pointed at the little camera by the door. "If it thinks it sees an eye, it"ll read your iris and check with the big computer."
"It won"t have any record of me."
"And that will freak it out totally. Just don"t get too close. It"s automatic."
"Okay," David said, nodding. "These doors are too smooth, anyway. No place to fit a jack in. Let"s keep looking."
Farther down the hall, a label caught Tally"s eye. "Long-Term Detention," she whispered. The door had a long expanse of blank wall on either side, as if the room behind it was bigger than the others. She put her ear to it, listening for any hint of sound.
She heard a familiar voice. It was coming closer. "David!" she hissed, pulling away from the door and throwing herself against the wall. David looked around frantically for a place to hide. Both of them were in plain view.
The door slid open, and Dr. Cable"s malevolent voice poured out.
"You"re simply not trying hard enough. You just have to convince her that-"
"Dr. Cable," Tally said.
The woman spun to face Tally, her hawklike features twisted in surprise.
"I"d like to give myself up."
"Tally Youngblood? How-"
From behind, David"s powerjack thudded against the side of Dr. Cable"s head, and she slumped to the floor.
"Is she...," David stammered. His face was white.
Tally knelt and turned Dr. Cable"s head to inspect the wound. No blood, but she was out cold. No matter how formidable cruel pretties were, surprise still had its advantages. "She"ll be okay."
"Dr. Cable? What"s going-"
Tally turned toward the voice, her eyes taking in the young woman before her.
She was tall and elegant, every feature perfection. Her eyes-deep and soulful, flecked with copper and gold-widened with a troubled look. Her generous lips parted wordlessly, and she raised one graceful hand. Tally"s heart almost stopped at the beauty of her confusion.
Then recognition filled the woman"s face, her broad smile illuminating the darkness, and Tally felt herself smiling in return. It felt good to make this woman happy.
"Tally! Itis you."
It was Shay. She was pretty.
Rescue
"Shay..."
"You made it!" Shay"s stunning smile faded as she looked down at the crumpled form of Dr. Cable.
"What"s with her?"
Tally blinked, awed by the transformation of her friend. Shay"s beauty seemed to snuff out everything inside Tally; her fear, surprise, and excitement fled, leaving nothing but amazement. "You...turned."
"Duh," she said. "David! You"re both okay!"
"Uh, hi." His voice was dry, his hands shaking as they gripped the powerjack. "We need your help, Shay."
"Yeah, I guess you do." She looked down at Dr. Cable again and sighed. "You guys still know how to make trouble, I see."
Tally averted her eyes from Shay"s beauty, trying to focus her thoughts. "Where"s everyone else?
David"s parents? Croy?"
"Right in here." Shay gestured over one shoulder. "All locked up. Dr. C has been totally bogus to us."
"Keep her here," David said. He pushed past Shay and through the door. Tally saw a row of small doors inside the long room, each with a tiny window set in it.
Shay beamed at her. "I"m so glad you"re all right, Tally. The thought of you all alone in the wild...of course, you weren"t alone, were you?"
Meeting Shay"s eyes, Tally was overwhelmed all over again. "What did they do to you?"
Shay smiled. "Besides the obvious?"
"Yeah. I mean, no." Tally shook her head, not knowing how to ask Shay if she was brain damaged.
"Are any of the rest of them..."
"Pretty? No. I got to be first, because I made the most trouble. You should have seen me kicking and biting." Shay chuckled.
"They forced you."
"Yeah, Dr. C can be a major pain. It"s kind of a relief, though."
Tally swallowed. "A relief..."
"Yeah, I hated this place. The only reason I"m here is that Dr. C wanted me to come by and talk to the Smokies."
"You live in New Pretty Town," Tally said softly. She tried to see past the beauty, to find whatever was behind Shay"s wide, perfect eyes.
"Yeah. I just came from thebest party."
Tally finally heard how slurred Shay"s words were. She was drunk. Maybe that was why she was acting so strangely. But she had called the others "the Smokies." She wasn"t one of them anymore.
"You go to parties, Shay? While everyone here is locked up?"
"Well, I guess so," Shay said defensively. "I mean, they"ll all get out once they turn. Once Cable gets over her stupid power trip." She looked at the unconscious form on the floor and shook her head. "She"s going to be in a bad mood tomorrow, though. Thanks to you two."
The sound of complaining metal came from the detention room. Tally heard more voices.
"Of course, sounds like no one"ll be around to see it," Shay said. "So how are you two doing, anyway?"
Tally opened her mouth, closed it, then managed to answer. "We"re...good."
"That"s great. Listen, sorry I was such a pain about all that. You know what uglies are like." Shay laughed. "Well, of course you do!"
"So you don"t hate me?"
"Don"t be silly, Tally!"
"I"m glad to hear that." Of course, Shay"s blessing was meaningless. It wasn"t forgiveness, just brain damage.
"You did me a big favor, getting me out of that Smoke place."
"You can"t really believe that, Shay."
"What do you mean?"
"How could you change your mind so quickly?"
Shay laughed. "It took exactly one hot shower to change my mind." She reached out and touched Tally"s hair, tangled and knotted from two weeks of camping out and riding all day. "Speaking of showers,you are a total mess."
Tally blinked. Hot tears were forcing themselves into her eyes. Shay had wanted so much to keep her own face, to live on her own terms outside the city. But that desire had been extinguished.
"I didn"t mean to...betray you," she said softly.
Shay glanced over her shoulder, then turned back and smiled. "He doesn"t know that you were working for Dr. C, does he? Don"t worry, Tally," she whispered, putting one elegant finger to her lips. "Your ugly little secret is safe with me."