May perched on the edge of the bed, staring at her phone. A knock on the door made her jump. She approached it warily, looked out the peephole and saw a pretty blonde woman she didn't recognize there.
She opened the door, "Can I help you?"
The woman gave her a half smile, "May?" she asked.
May nodded, and the smile left the woman's face. She moved quickly, pushing May hard in the chest and following her into the room when May fell back.
She pulled a gun from behind her back and aimed it at May, "Don't move," she said, and with her other hand she put her phone to her ear, "I'm here," she looked around the room, "It's clear. No, no one followed me, and the men reported no New Species. Okay."
"Sit down," she told May, pointing with her gun to the bed.
May sat on the bed, her legs wouldn't have held her up much longer anyway.
A slight tap at the door got her attention, the woman went and opened it, and Dr. Walker came in, a baseball cap pulled down low over his face.
"May," he said, "I'm glad you followed my directions."
May nodded, not trusting her voice.
"May," he said politely, "This is Stephanie."
May looked at the woman, who rolled her eyes, "Jesus, Roger," she said, "It's not a cocktail party."
Dr. Walker narrowed his eyes at her before ignoring her completely and turning his attention to May, "Okay," he said, "I'm sure you're dying to know what's happening," he said, "so let me fill you in." He paused before continuing, "I need you to go to Reservation. You're going to follow the directions I give you, because I don't want you going in the front entrance."
May nodded.
"You're going to go to one of the more wild sections of Reservation. If the residents there don't kill you, you'll be brought into security. They'll be expecting you," he said.
May swallowed, his words repeating in her head over and over, "if they don't kill you, if they don't kill you."
"Okay," she said.
"You're going to tell them your name is Stephanie Taylor, and you're going to tell them you were a waitress at a banquet they had. You spiked their dessert with B-47, a breeding drug. The dessert was made by a fat blonde woman who was deaf. Now pay attention, May, this is really important. You hate them. They are animals who don't deserve to live. You have to say that. If you want to save your sister, you have to remember to tell them how much you hate them. You've been dating someone, Roger Werner, it was his idea to spike the dessert. He gave you the drugs that he bought with money he took from your trust fund, and you want to turn him in. But you still hate all New Species. You will not tell them your real name under any circumstances."
May clasped her hands in her lap. She was really really scared.
"My sister?" she asked, "How do I know you'll let her go?"
Dr. Walker clucked his tongue, "May," he said, "I promise."
"If I do this," she said, "They're going to kill me or turn me over to the authorities who are going to put me in jail," her voice shook, but her determination gave her courage, "It's a hate crime to threaten New Species. I will go to jail and I will never know if you did what you promised. You can kill me now or they can kill me later. I want to know my sister is free."
Dr. Walker smiled at her, his smile growing at each word she uttered, "May," he said, "You are something else. If I didn't need your help, I'd be tempted to like you." His face got serious again, his blue eyes cooling, "Here's what's going to happen," he said, "I'm going to let you talk to her. She'll tell you where she is and what's happening. I think it will alleviate your fears."
"I can talk to her?" May whispered.
"Yes," he said, pulling out his phone, and starting to dial.
"Here you go," he said, and turned it around to her.
Her sister's face filled the screen. May choked and her sister's eyes narrowed, "Who are you?" she asked.
May cleared her throat, and quickly wiped her eyes, "My name is May Nguyen," she answered, "What's your name?" she asked.
"917," her sister said angrily.
May's eyes closed when she heard the number, "Hi," she said, "Umm, where are you?"
"I am in a cage," her sister said, "The technicians moved me, and I am by myself in a cage. I can see the outside though, so that is different."
May nodded, "Can you get out?"
Her sister barked out a laugh, "No," she said.
May looked at Dr. Walker, "917," he called out, "press your thumb on the lock."
May could see her sister put the phone down, and then heard her walking, and the mechanical slide and clicks of locks disengaging, "It is open," her sister's breathless voice came out.
"This is what's going to happen," Dr. Walker said, "917," he called again, "There is another phone outside your cage. Do you have the other phone?"
May continued to watch the screen and her sister's face came back into view, "This?" she said, holding up another phone.
"Yes, 917," Dr. Walker said, "Now, slide your thumb across the bottom and press the red button."
May watched her sister's face, creased in concentration, as she manipulated the phone, "New Species Organization," she heard come over the line.
"Oh my god," May breathed, "Tell them!" she said quickly, "Tell them you're New Species, tell them to track the phone, and they'll find you!"
"I do not understand," her sister said, her eyes looking away from the screen at the phone she must have been holding.
"Please, 917," May begged, "please just tell them, tell them where you are, describe it, tell them your number, they'll believe you."
"New Species Organization," she heard the voice say again.
"Tell them!" she begged.
She heard her sister, "I am 917, I am in a cage. I was given a phone by a technician, I…"
The phone was plucked out of her hand by the doctor, who shut it off and put it back into his pocket.
"Okay?" he said, "It's going to take them a while to find her. But they will find her. You need to go now. If you don't arrive at the gate in thirty minutes... " He let the threat hang in the air, "We're equally far apart. It's a crap shoot. They could get her, or I could get her."
May stood up quickly, "My name is Stephanie Taylor. I hate New Species. I dated Roger Werner, who emptied out my trust fund, in order to buy a breeding drug. I spiked a dessert with B-47, the breeding drug, at a banquet where I was a waitress, and I hate New Species. I'm going to the back entrance of Reservation, where, if I'm not killed, then I'll most definitely be arrested."
"Excellent," Dr. Walker said, "I suggest you run along." He threw some keys are her, "Take my car," he said, "The bus doesn't go to Reservation."