Specimen

“Not exactly,” Riley says, “but she’ll be anxious to talk to me.”

The guard looks skeptical, but he picks up a phone next to him and taps in a code.

“You know her,” I say to Riley. “You know Anna Jarvis.”

“We were good friends once. We both decided to go into medicine together though in different areas of specialization. She’s a growth and nutrition expert.”

“She defected three years ago.”

“I haven’t heard anything of her since,” Riley says. “I had just moved into the medical tech division, and we ended up in an argument. She was gone a week later.”

Riley continues to speak, but my focus is drawn to the guard.

“Honestly, ma’am, she looks a little beat up.” The guard speaks quietly into the phone.

“She doesn’t seem to be in distress, but the man you described is with her.”

Riley doesn’t react, and I realize she can’t hear what the guard is saying. I look carefully at Riley, the cut across her cheek and the bruising on her arms from our escape, and consider how they will appear to others who look at her. Though I am disheveled enough, the minor injuries I incurred during our abrupt landing have already healed. Someone could draw the conclusion that I have harmed her.

They’re going to take me captive.

“We may have a problem,” I say softly to Riley. “I don’t think it’s going to be avoidable.”

“What?”

“They think I’ve abused you.” I can hear them coming. Six soldiers are heading through the hall just around the corner from the security desk. Two other people with smaller builds—a man and a woman, judging by the sound of their footsteps—accompany them.

My brain electrifies as the implants sense the danger. I have time to run, and I’d likely escape, but not unless I left Riley behind. If I were to carry her, the odds of them catching up to us double. I could stay and fight, but she may be injured in the process.

I don’t want to be captured again. Everything in my mind and body fights against the very idea of it. How long would it be before Riley can

convince them we are here for help and that I am not a threat? How much time will they have to try to beat information out of me first?

“Galen…” Riley reaches for my hand and grips it tightly.

“I have to let them take me,” I tell her.

“They just have to listen to me,” she says quickly.

“They won’t, not right away. They think I’m a threat to you. They won’t listen until we’re separated.”

“What will they do with you?”

I just shake my head. I don’t have an answer for her.

The group rounds the corner, soldiers in the lead. Right behind them is an older man with greying hair, wearing a dark suit jacket. Anna Jarvis follows.

“Don’t move!”

The soldiers circle me, weapons aimed. Immediately, I begin to determine which of them is the greatest threat, how to take them out one or two at a time, and how to secure a weapon and end up with the grey-haired man on the ground as my hostage.

Forcing myself to stand still is painful.

Riley takes a step away from the security desk, pressing her back to my chest. My hands move to her automatically, and I grip her upper arms to pull her closer to me and slightly to one side. If they do fire, I’ll be able to block the shots with my body most effectively with her there.

It doesn’t appear that way to the others.

“Let her go, Galen!” Anna tries to move forward, but the older gentleman holds her back.