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In Case of Dae

They took her to the library It had been transfor 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 azine, 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 as behind the doctor’s greeting The Specials had treated Tally like an acconal 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 soht"

"I’ve had a rough "

"You seeed "I was just trying to get out of the way"

"Indeed" Dr Cable placed theyou don’t seehed twice, the last bit of pepper leaving her lungs "I guess not"

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

"Souys coet out of town I didn’t want to be around when everyone realized as happening In case they got mad at me"

"Self-preservation Well, at least you’re good at so"

"I didn’t ask to come here"

"No, and you took your ti, 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 froive her away And although Dr Cable’s office back in the citylie 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 ales 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’otten 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 coed, it would have sent a signal automatically"

The words sunk in slowly:If the pendant had been da not to show any eht 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 i 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 thesun "I hid it," she said "I was scared"

"Scared of what?"

"Last night, after I was sure this really was the S that detects bugs They found the one onher hands helplessly

"That al," Tally continued "So after I activated the pendant, I got scared they’d know a trans"

"I see A certain a sense of self-preservation I’lad you decided to help us"

"Like I had a choice?"

"You always had a choice, Tally But you ht choice You decided to co ugly You should be happy about that"

"I’lies Well, you’ll be growing up soon"

A chill went down Tally’s spine at the words To Dr Cable, "growing up" ed

"There’s just onethe 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 accoer, 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"