Uglies - 01 - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Author:Scott Westerfeld
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Young Adult
ISBN: 9780689865381
Published: 2005-02-07T02:00:00+00:00

Heartthrob

Around the fire at dinner that night, Tally told the story of how she’d hidden in the river when the rangers’ helicopter first appeared. She had everyone wide-eyed again. Apparently, she’d had one of the more exciting journeys to the Smoke.

“Can you imagine? I’m naked and crouching down in the water, and this Rusty machine is destroying my camp!”

“Why didn’t they land?” Astrix asked. “Didn’t they see your stuff?”

“I thought they did.”

“The rangers only pick up uglies in the white flowers,” David explained. “That’s the rendezvous spot we tell runaways to use. They can’t just pick up anyone, or they might accidentally bring a spy here.”

“I guess you wouldn’t want that,” Tally said softly.

“Still, they should be more careful with those helicopters,” Shay said. “Someone’s going to get chopped to pieces one day.” “Tell me about it. The wind almost took my hoverboard away,” Tally said. “It lifted my sleeping bag right off the ground and up into the blades. It was totally shredded.” She was pleased by the amazement on the faces of her audience.

“So where’d you sleep?” Croy asked.

“It wasn’t that bad. It was only for—” Tally stopped herself just in time. She’d spent one night without the sleeping bag, but in her cover story she’d spent four days in the orchids. “It was warm enough.”

“You’d better get a new one before bedtime,” David said. “It’s a lot colder up here than down in the weeds.”

“I’ll take her over to the trading post,” Shay said. “It’s like a requisition center, Tally. Only when you get something, you have to leave something else behind as payment.”

Tally shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She still hadn’t gotten used to the idea that you had topay for things here. “All I’ve got is SpagBol.”

Shay smiled. “That’s perfect to trade with. We can’t make dehydrated food here, except fruit, and traveling with regular food is a total pain. SpagBol’s good as gold.” After dinner, Shay took her to a large hut near the center of town. The shelves were full of things made in the Smoke, along with a few objects that had come from the cities. The city-made stuff was mostly shabby and worn, repaired again and again, but the handmade things fascinated Tally. She ran her still-raw fingers across the clay pots and wooden tools, amazed at how each had its own texture and weight. Everything seemed so heavy and…serious.

An older ugly was running the place, but he wasn’t as scary as the Boss. He brought out woolen gear and a few silvery sleeping bags. The blankets, scarves, and gloves were beautiful, in subdued colors and simple patterns, but Shay insisted that Tally get a city-made sleeping bag. “Much lighter, and it squishes up small. Much better for when we go exploring.”

“Of course,” Tally said, trying to smile. “That’ll be great.” She wound up trading twelve packets of SpagBol for another sleeping bag, and six for a handmade sweater, which left her with eight. She couldn’t believe that the sweater, brown

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