"You can rewire yourself again, Tally," he said. "The fact that they made you into a Special means you can change."
She stared at the still-glowing cutting tool, remembering what they'd gone through to get it. "I've already done more than you think."
"Good. Then you can choose what side you're on, Tally."
She looked up into his eyes at last. "This isn't about what side I'm on, Zane. I'm not doing this for anyone but us."
He smiled. "Neither am I. Remember that, Tally."
"What do you … ?" Tally dropped her gaze, shaking her head. "You have to get moving, Zane. You won't look very bubbly if the wardens catch you here before you've even taken a step."
"And speaking of being caught," Shay whispered, handing the tracker to Zane. "Give that a twirl when you find the Smoke, and we'll come running. It also works if you throw it into a fire, doesn't it, Tally-wa?"
He looked at the tracker, then slipped it into his pocket. All three of them knew that he wouldn't use it.
Tally dared another glance into Zane's eyes. He might not be special, but his fierce expression didn't look like a bubblehead's either.
"Try to keep changing, Tally," he said softly.
"Just go!" She turned and took a few steps away, snatching the last few balloons away from Peris, twisting their strings around the still-glowing necklace. When she let them go, the balloons struggled against the necklace's weight at first, until a gust of wind buoyed their strength.
By the time she looked back at Zane, his board was rising, his arms outstretched unsteadily, like a littlie walking a balance beam. One Crim flew on either side of him, ready to help.
Shay let out a sigh. "This is going to be way too easy."
Tally didn't answer, keeping her eyes on Zane until he disappeared into the darkness.
"We better get moving," Shay said. Tally nodded. When the wardens came sniffing, they might think it was somewhat random to find a couple of Specials hanging around Zane's last known location.
The scales of her sneak suit shuddered through their little boot-up dance, and Tally pulled on her gloves, drawing the hood down over her face.
Within seconds, Tally and Shay were as perfectly black as the midnight sky above.
"Come on, Boss," she said. "Let's go find the Smoke."
Outside
Zane's escape went much easier than Tally had expected.
The rest of the Crims and their pretty allies must have been in on the trick—hundreds of them released their interface rings on toy balloons at the same time, filling the air with false signals. Another hundred or so uglies did the same. The wardens' channel was full of irritated chatter as they went around collecting rings and putting a halt to dozens of pranks. The authorities weren't in the mood for practical jokes after last night's attack.
Shay and Tally finally switched off the wardens' babble.
"Pretty icy so far," Shay said. "Your boyfriend should make a good Cutter."
Tally smiled, feeling relieved to have Zane's shakiness out of her sight. The excitement of the chase was beginning.
They followed the little group of Crims from a kilometer back, the eight figures so clear in infrared that Tally could tell Zane's glowing silhouette apart from the others'. She noticed that at least one of them always flew close to him, ready to lend a hand.
The runaways didn't speed up the river toward the Rusty Ruins, but made their unhurried way to the southern edge of the city. When they ran out of grid, they descended into the forest and hiked, carrying their hoverboards toward the same river that Tally and Shay had jumped into the night before.
"That's bubbly of them," Shay said. "Not taking the usual way out."
"Must be tough on Zane, though," Tally said. Hoverboards were heavy carrying without a grid beneath them.
"If you're going to worry about him this whole trip, Tally-wa, it's going to be extremely boring."
"Sorry, Boss."
"Relax, Tally. We won't let anything happen to your boy." Shay dropped into the pine trees. Tally stayed up high for another moment, watching the little group's slow progress. It would be an hour before they made the river and could use their boards again, but she was reluctant to lose sight of the runaways out here in the wild.
"A little early in the trip to burn your fans out, don't you think?" Shay's voice came from below, intimate in the skintenna network's feed.
Tally sighed softly, then let herself descend.
An hour later, they were sitting on the riverbank waiting for the Crims to catch up.
"Eleven," Shay said, tossing another rock. Spinning wildly, it skipped across the water as she counted aloud, finally sinking after the eleventh bounce.
"Hah! I win again!" Shay announced.
"No one else is playing, Shay-la."
"It's me against nature. Twelve." Shay threw again, the rock bouncing happily out into the middle of the river, dropping to the bottom after exactly twelve skips. "Victory is mine! Come on, you try."
"No thanks, Boss. Shouldn't we check on them again?"
Shay groaned. "They'll be here soon, Tally. They were almost at the river last time you checked, which was about five minutes ago."
"So why aren't they here yet?"
"Because they're resting, Tally. They're all tired after lugging their crappy boards through the forest." She smiled. "Or maybe they're cooking up a delicious feast of Spagbol."
Tally grimaced. She wished the two of them hadn't flown ahead. The whole point of this trick was to stay close to the runaways. "What if they went the other way? Rivers go two ways, you know?"
"Don't be so random, Tally-wa. Why would they head away from the ocean? Once you get past the mountains, there's nothing but desert for hundreds of kilometers. The Rusties called it Death Valley even before the weeds took over."
"But what if they arranged to meet the Smokies back there? We don't know how much contact the Crims have had with outsiders."
Shay sighed. "Fine. Go and check." She kicked at the dirt between her feet, trying to find another flat rock. "Just don't stay up too long. They might have infrared."
"Thanks, Boss." Tally stood, snapping for her board.
"Thirteen," Shay answered, and threw.
From up high, Tally could make out the runaways. As Shay had suspected, they were on the riverbank, unmoving, probably resting their feet. But as she tried to figure out which was Zane, Tally frowned.
Then she realized what was bothering her: There were nine glowing blobs of heat, not eight. Had they built a fire? Was some self-heating meal tricking her infrared?
She adjusted her vision to bring them into focus. The silhouettes sharpened until Tally was certain that all of them were human-size.
"Shay-la," she whispered. "They did meet someone."
"Already?" Shay answered from below. "Huh. I didn't think the Smokies would make it this easy."
"Unless it's another ambush," Tally said softly.
"Let them try. I'm coming up."
"Hang on, they're moving." The glowing forms were slipping out onto the river, headed toward her and Shay at hoverboard speed. But one remained behind, walking into the cover of the forest. "They're on their way here, Shay. Eight of them, anyway. Somebody's going the other direction."
"Okay, you follow that one. I'll stick with the Crims."
"But—"
"Don't argue with me, Tally. I won't lose your boyfriend. Just get moving, and don't let them see you."
"Okay, Boss." Tally dropped toward the river to let her hoverboard's fans cool. Zooming toward the approaching Crims, she booted her suit, pulling the hood over her face. Tally angled closer to the bank and its cover of overhanging plants, slowing almost to a halt.