Are you scared, Amy? Baby asks, needing reassurance.
No, I lie, pulling her closer.
Why didn’t you let that woman know you understood her? Baby asks. You know loud speak. You understood Amber.
I think we should wait and see before we tell them anything. I try to explain. Maybe it will be better if they think we don’t understand them.
Okay, but I think that everything is going to be happily ever after.
I hope for her sake she’s right. If not, we have a backup plan. I touch the small bulge at my side. They took away Baby’s gun, but I still have mine.
I adjust Baby’s weight so she isn’t pressing against my aching shoulder. I rest my head on hers and wait.
“Wake up.”
I open my eyes with a start. The woman in the black suit is shaking my extremely sore shoulder. I pull away and glare at her.
“We’re here, sunshine,” she tells me with a smirk.
I narrow my eyes at her and scowl. She tilts her head, studying me for a moment. Even annoyed as I am, I am struck by her beauty. She is about my height, but with more delicate features. Dark hair, dark eyes. All business, she reaches down and pulls me to my feet. She is stronger than I would have thought and I mentally scratch the idea of this woman as delicate.
Baby stands without help, and I hold her hand firmly.
The door to the ship opens, revealing a warmly lit room. The woman steps out into the light. Baby and I look at each other. She smiles nervously, excited. I sigh. I can see no other option but to follow.
I walk forward, squinting against the brightness. My bare feet make contact with the soft ground. I feel the grass between my toes and think it is pleasant before my heart jumps into my throat.
We are outside in the daylight.
Baby panics. She tears her hand away from mine and tries to climb back into the ship, but the door has already closed behind us. She runs to me and buries her head in my waist. I search frantically for someplace to hide.
The woman crosses her arms and watches us with an amused grin. “This is a secure area. There’s no threat.”
In the light of day, I can see her features more clearly. She is gorgeous, but there is something else just under the surface that mars her beauty. There is a cruelness in her voice and I can see it again and again, in the way her lips curl, in her deep brown eyes.
“The Floraes, the creatures, they can’t get to you here,” she tells me. When I don’t react, she continues, “I think you can understand me just fine,” she says, staring into my eyes. I look at the ground, unable to meet her gaze. “You need to follow me, now.” She turns.
We have to get out of the open. Baby clings to me, desperate to find a safe place to hide.
The woman said that They can’t get us here and I believe her. What choice do I have?
Baby nods, her eyes still searching. I have to admit that I am unnerved too. There is grass and a few white buildings, but no creatures as far as I can tell.
Where are we? Baby asks into my hand.
I think we’re about to find out. Let’s keep our signs a secret for now, okay? I want to learn as much about our captors as possible before revealing anything. Signing using only one hand limits what we can say, but we’ve always had leeway in our language. If you live closely with someone long enough, a deep intuition develops; Baby and I are always on the same page.
We follow the woman away from the ship toward a large, squat building. We are led through a black door into a small room. The woman pushes a button on the wall and speaks, “Kay here with those two post-aps.”
A scratchy voice replies almost immediately. “Kay, you know you’re supposed to bring them to orientation. Dr. Reynolds is at lunch.”
“Look, Rice, I radioed in that they were hostile and gave you our ETA.” She looks over at me and winks. “These two aren’t fit to be among the general populace. What’s the holdup?”
The voice on the intercom pauses. “Bring them in,” he responds in a defeated tone. A buzzer sounds and the woman pushes a panel on the far wall. A section moves, sliding open to reveal a doorway.
The woman, Kay, motions us through. “Come on, girls, time is money.”
I smile. There is no money anymore. Time is nothing anymore. Kay catches my smile and I immediately regret it. Now she knows for sure that I understand her.
We walk through the door and everything is white, sterile. We wind our way down several passageways, occasionally going through a door or up a flight of stairs. Nothing is distinguishable. Finally Kay opens a door and directs us inside a large room, painted a pale blue. After the white blandness of the hallways, I welcome the color change, but I realize that is what whoever is in charge wants. Kay has pegged us as hostile and blue is a calming color. I scan the rest of the room, empty except for a metal table and four matching chairs. It looks like a police interrogation room from a movie, Before.
Kay doesn’t follow us inside. “You guys hold tight, all right?” she says with a smile bordering on sincere. “You’ll be okay, kiddo.” Maybe she isn’t cruel, just a little malicious. She shuts the door and Baby and I are alone.
What’s that noise? Baby asks. There’s a strange humming.
I go to the door and try the handle, but it won’t budge. I don’t know, maybe the lights? I didn’t think it would be unlocked but it was worth a try. I trudge back to the table and sit in a chair.
Baby shakes her head. It’s loud and . . . She’s struggling with her chair. I can’t move it in, she says. It’s stuck.
I look at where the chair meets the floor. It is bolted down. So is the table. I sit back and shrug. It’s so we can’t take them, I tell her.
Really?
No, it’s so we don’t throw things around when the people come to question us.
Oh. Baby looks disappointed. When are they coming? she asks, suddenly excited. She realizes that we are going to meet more people.
I don’t know. It’s cold in the room and I can hear the air conditioner running. I look at the ceiling and notice a medium-sized vent big enough to push Baby through if I have to. I hear the door lock release before it swings open. No open signing, I remind Baby. She nods.
“Hello there,” a teenage boy stumbles into the room, holding a stack of papers. He reminds me of the boys I went to school with Before. Not the jocks or the popular kids. The geeky ones, who looked a little socially uncomfortable, but you always knew they were going to go to Harvard and change the world. He looks up and I wonder who decided it was a good idea to throw him in a room with potentially hostile people. He looks only seventeen or eighteen. From what I gather, we are here for our psychological evaluation, but this boy looks nothing like a trained psychiatrist. He’s tall, bigger than I’d first thought, and kind of cute. He’s wearing a white lab coat and jeans. He makes me feel a little better about this place; the jeans make it all seem harmless.
The boy dumps his papers on the table and starts sorting through them. “Now where is . . . oh, here.” He looks up at me, flushed, and I see that his eyes are a piercing bright blue. He takes a pair of glasses from his coat pocket, cleans them with his shirt, and perches them on his nose.
“Oh yes, Kay’s report. You two are the hostiles?” He looks doubtfully from me to Baby. “You don’t seem very threatening . . .” He catches me staring at him and I look away. “. . . and if you are hostile, then Kay should have handcuffed you to the table.”
He takes out a pen and scribbles on a piece of paper. “Now, what are your names?”
I stare at him blankly. Baby takes my hand under the table. What does he want?
Our names.
Are you going to write them down for him?
No, not yet.
Is he a great-man? She means is he important.
No. A white coat doesn’t make you an expert. But it definitely suits him, showing off his broad shoulders.
“Ummmm, do you understand?” he asks, not looking directly at me. His face is very red and his shaggy, blond hair resembles a mop. It looks like he hadn’t bothered to comb his hair today, or any day this week for that matter. There is no way he is in charge of anything, so I decide to wait and see who else they will send. My mother always did say I was arrogant.
“Look, I can get you situated, but you have to help me. . . . I . . .” He shakes his head. “You don’t understand anything I’m saying, do you?” he mutters.
He touches his hand to his ear, and I see he has a black earpiece similar to the one Kay wore. “Hey, Rice here. We’re going to have to save these two for Dr. Reynolds. I’ve been unable to get a verbal response. They seem harmless.” He listens. “Yes, that is my initial evaluation despite the Guardian’s concerns. Let’s keep the Class Five for further study, and let the Class Three mix in with the current observation group.” He pauses. “Yes, come get the child.”
I stand and pull Baby off her chair. I shove her behind me with one hand and reach under my sweatshirt with the other. I feel for the gun, pulling it from its harness. I don’t want to harm him but I point it at the boy. There’s no way he’s taking Baby anywhere. His mouth drops open. With his hand still to his ear he makes a squeaking noise.
He closes his mouth and swallows. “Yeah,” he says, eyeing us. “You need to get Dr. Reynolds up here, now.” I realize he is still speaking to the person on the other end of his earpiece. “I don’t care,” he tells them between clenched teeth. “Then get the director. They have a gun.”
He moves his hand from his ear and puts both arms above his shoulders. “Look, there’s no need for that. I’m just trying to help you.” His voice trembles. “I promise.”
I lick my lips. It is a safe place here, from Them anyway. I don’t have to be quiet. I can ask him questions, get answers. But still, I can’t bring myself to speak. I have lost my voice and am so very exhausted.
I hear the door unlock once again and see it begin to swing open. I point the gun at the opening.
“It’s just the director,” the boy assures me. “She won’t hurt you.”