THE WORST MISTAKE

She was flying, skimming the ground with no track underher, not even a hoverboard, keeping herself aloft by sheerwillpower and the wind in her outspread jacket. She skirtedthe edge of a massive cliff that overlooked a huge, blackocean. A flock of seabirds pursued her, their wild screamsbeating at her ears like Dr. Cable’s razor-edged voice.
Suddenly, the stony¹ cliffs beneath her cracked and fissured².
A huge rift³ opened up, the ocean rushing in with aroar that drowned the seabirds’ cries. She found herself tumblingthrough the air, falling down toward the black water.
The ocean swallowed her, filling her lungs, freezing herheart so that she couldn’t cry out. . . .
“No!” Tally⁴ shouted, sitting bolt upright.
A cold wind off the sea struck her face, clearing herhead. Tally looked around, realizing that she was up on thecliffs, tangled⁵ in her sleeping bag. Tired, hungry, and desperateto pee, but not falling into oblivion.
She took a deep breath. The seabirds still cried aroundher, but in the distance.
That last dream had been only one of many fallingnightmares.
Night was coming, the sun setting over the ocean, turningthe water bloodred. Tally pulled her shirt and jacket onbefore daring to emerge from the sleeping bag. The temperatureseemed to be dropping by the minute, the lightfading before her eyes. She hurried to get ready to go.
The hoverboard was the tricky⁶ part. Its unfolded surfacehad gotten wet, covered with a fine layer of oceanspray and dew. Tally tried to wipe it off with her jacketsleeve, but there was too much water and not enoughjacket. The wet board folded up easily enough, but it felttoo heavy when she was done, as if the water was stilltrapped between the layers. The board’s operation lightturned yellow, and Tally looked closely. The sides of theboard were gradually oozing⁷ the water away. “Fine. Givesme time to eat.”
Tally pulled out a packet of SpagBol, then realized thather purifier was empty. The only ready source of water wasat the bottom of the cliff, and there was no way down. Shewrung out her wet jacket, which produced a few goodsquooshes, then scraped off handfuls of the water oozingfrom the board until the purifier was half-full. The result wasa dense⁸, overspiced SpagBol that required lots of chewing.
By the time she was done with the unhappy meal, theboard’s light had turned green.
“Okay, ready to go,” Tally said to herself. But where?
UGLIES 157She stood still, pondering, one foot on the board and oneon the ground.
Shay’s note read, “At the second make the worstmistake.”
Making a mistake shouldn’t be that hard. But what wasthe worst mistake? She’d almost killed herself once todayalready.
Tally remembered her dream. Falling into the gorgewould count as a pretty bad mistake. She stepped onto theboard and edged it to the crumbling¹⁰ end of the bridge,looking down to where the river met the sea far below.
If she climbed down, her only possible path would beto follow the river upstream. Maybe that’s what the cluemeant. But the steep cliff showed no obvious path, not evena handhold.
Of course, a vein¹¹ of iron in the cliff might carry her downsafely. Her eyes scanned the walls of the gorge⁹, searching forthe reddish color of iron. A few spots looked promising¹², butin the growing darkness, she couldn’t be certain.
“Great.” Tally realized that she’d slept too long. Waitingfor dawn would be twelve hours lost, and she didn’t haveany more water.
The only other option was to hike upriver atop the cliff.
But it might be days before she reached a place to climbdown. And how would she see it at night?
She had to make up time, not blunder around in the dark.
Tally swallowed, coming to a decision. There had to be158 Scott Westerfelda way down on her board. Maybe she was making a mistake,but that’s what the clue called for. She edged the boardoff the bridge until it began to lose purchase. It slippeddown the cliffside, descending¹³ faster as it left the metal ofthe track behind.
Tally’s eye searched desperately¹⁵ for any sign of iron inthe cliff. She eased the board forward, bringing it closer tothe wall of stone, but saw nothing. A few of the board’smetal-detector lights flickered¹⁶ out. Any lower, and she wasgoing to fall.
This wasn’t going to work. Tally snapped her fingers.
The board slowed for a second, trying to climb, but thenshivered and continued to descend¹⁴.
Too late.
Tally spread her jacket, but the air in the gorge was still.
She spotted¹⁷ a rusty-looking streak¹⁸ in the wall of stone andcoaxed the board closer, but it turned out to be just a slimysmear of lichen¹⁹. The board slipped downward faster andfaster, the metal-detector lights flickering²⁰ out one by one.
Finally, the board went dead.
Tally realized that this mistake might be her last.
She fell like a rock, down toward the crashing waves.
Just like in the dream, her voice felt choked by a freezinghand, as if her lungs were already filled with water. Theboard tumbled below her, spinning like a falling leaf.
Tally closed her eyes, waiting for the shattering impactof cold water.
UGLIES 159Suddenly, something grabbed her by the wrists andyanked her up cruelly, spinning her in the air. Her shouldersscreamed with pain, and she spun²¹ once all the wayaround like a gymnast on the rings.
Tally opened her eyes and blinked. She was being loweredonto the hoverboard, which waited rock-steady justabove the water.
“What the . . . ?” she wondered aloud. Then, as her feetcame to rest, Tally realized what had happened.
The river had caught her. It had been dumping metaldeposits there for centuries, or however long rivers lasted,and the board’s magnets had found purchase just in time.
“Saved, more or less,” Tally muttered. She rubbed hershoulders, which ached from being caught by the crashbracelets, and wondered how far you had to fall before thebracelets would rip your arms out of their sockets²².
But she’d made it down. The river stretched out in frontof her, winding²³ its way into the snowcapped mountains.
Tally shivered in the ocean breeze and pulled her soggyjacket tighter around her.
“‘Four days later take the side you despise,’” she quotedShay’s note. “Four days. Might as well get started.”
After her first sunburn, Tally stuck a sunblock patch ontoher skin every morning at dawn. But even with only a fewhours in the sun each day, her already brown arms graduallydeepened in color.
160 Scott WesterfeldSpagBol never again tasted as good as it had that firsttime on the cliffs. Tally’s meals ranged from decent to odious²⁴.
The worst were SpagBol breakfasts, around sunset,when the mere²⁵ thought of more noodles made her neverwant to eat again. She almost wished she would run out ofthe stuff and be forced to either catch a fish and cook it, orsimply starve, losing her ugly-fat the hard way.
What Tally really dreaded²⁶ was running out of toiletpaper. Her only roll was already half-gone, and she rationedit strictly²⁷ now, counting the sheets. And every day, shesmelled a little worse.
On the third day up the river, she decided²⁸ to takea bath.
Tally awoke, an hour before sunset as usual, feelingsticky inside the sleeping bag. She’d washed her clothesthat morning and left them to dry on a rock. The thoughtof getting into clean clothes with dirty skin made her fleshcrawl.
The water in the river was fast-moving, and left almostnothing in the muck-trap of the purifier, which meant itwas clean. It was icy cold, though, probably fed by meltingsnow in the approaching mountains. Tally prayed it wouldbe slightly less freezing late in the day, after the sun had hada chance to warm it up.
The survival kit²⁹ did have soap, it turned out—a fewdisposable packets tucked into a corner of the knapsack.
Tally clenched³⁰ one in her hand as she stood at the edge ofUGLIES 161the river, wearing nothing but the sensor³¹ clipped to herbelly ring, shivering in the cool breeze.
“Here we go,” she said, trying to keep her teeth fromchattering.
She put one foot in and jumped back from the icystreak of agony that shot into her leg. Apparently³³, therewould be no easing slowly into the water. She had to take arunning jump.
Tally walked along the riverbank, searching for a goodplace to leap in, slowly gathering³⁴ her courage. She realizedshe’d never been naked outside before. In the city, everywhereoutdoors was public, but she hadn’t seen anotherhuman face for days. The world seemed to belong to her.
Even in the cool air, the sun felt wonderful on her skin.
She clenched her teeth and faced the river. Standinghere pondering the wild wasn’t going to get her clean. Justa few steps and a leap, and gravity would do the rest.
She counted down from five, then counted down fromten, neither of which worked. Then she realized that shewas getting cold just standing³⁵ there.
Finally, Tally jumped.
The freezing water closed like a fist around her. It paralyzedevery muscle, turning her hands into shivering claws.
For a moment, Tally wondered how she would make itback to shore. Maybe she would just expire here, slippingunder the icy water forever.
She took a deep, shuddering³⁶ breath, reminding herself162 Scott Westerfeldthat the people before the Rusties must have taken baths infreezing streams all the time. Tally clenched her teeth tostop them chattering³², and dipped her head under the waterand out, whipping wet hair onto her back.
A few moments later an unlikely kernel³⁷ of warmthignited in her stomach, as if the icy water had activatedsome secret reserve of energy within her body. Her eyesopened wide, and she found herself whooping³⁸ with excitement.
The mountains, towering above her after threenights’ travel inland, seemed suddenly crystal clear, theirsnowy peaks catching³⁹ the last rays of the setting sun. Tally’sheart pounded fiercely, her blood spreading unexpectedwarmth throughout her body.
But the burst of energy was burning quickly. Shefumbled the soap packet open, squishing it between herfingers, across her skin, and into her hair. Another dunkingand she was ready to get out.
Looking back at the shore, Tally realized that she’dbeen carried away from her camp by the river’s current. Sheswam a few strokes upstream, then trudged⁴⁰ toward therocky shore.
Waist-high in the water, already shivering from thebreeze on her wet body, Tally heard something that madeher heart freeze.
Something was coming. Something big.

1 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

2 fissured   

adj.裂缝的v.裂开( fissure的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• South African vine having a massive rootstock covered with deeply fissured bark. 南非藤蔓植物，有很大的根状茎，皮上有很深的裂纹。 来自互联网
• The concentrated leakage passage in fissured rock is studied with dummy heat source method. 利用虚拟热源法研究坝基裂隙岩体中存在的集中渗漏通道。 来自互联网

3 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

4 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

5 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 oozing   

v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出

参考例句：

• Blood was oozing out of the wound on his leg. 血正从他腿上的伤口渗出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wound had not healed properly and was oozing pus. 伤口未真正痊瘉，还在流脓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

9 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

10 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

11 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

12 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

13 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

14 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

15 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

16 flickered   

（通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
• These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。

17 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

18 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

19 lichen   

n.地衣, 青苔

参考例句：

• The stone stairway was covered with lichen.那石级长满了地衣。
• There is carpet-like lichen all over the moist corner of the wall.潮湿的墙角上布满了地毯般的绿色苔藓。

20 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

21 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

22 sockets   

n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴

参考例句：

• All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
• Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

23 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

24 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

25 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

26 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

27 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

28 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

29 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

30 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

32 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

33 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

34 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

35 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

36 shuddering   

v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

37 kernel   

n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心

参考例句：

• The kernel of his problem is lack of money.他的问题的核心是缺钱。
• The nutshell includes the kernel.果壳裹住果仁。

38 whooping   

发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的

参考例句：

• Whooping cough is very prevalent just now. 百日咳正在广泛流行。
• Have you had your child vaccinated against whooping cough? 你给你的孩子打过百日咳疫苗了吗？

39 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

40 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》