"Hello?" she answered the phone.
"Hi." a man said on the other line. Elizabeth started to suspect he might be "the guy" her boss spoke about vaguely. "Is Stephanie home?"
"No one of that name lives here." Elizabeth said.
"I must have a wrong number then."
"Don't hang up!" Elizabeth became very nervous and very curious, "Can I know your name?"
"Is it that important?" he asked.
"Please, it is."
"The name's Joseph." he said, "And I was look for someone by the name of Stephanie Avon."
"She doesn't live here." Elizabeth said, "She moved out a week ago." Elizabeth began to lie. She had to keep this man talking, "Maybe I could give her a message."
"I have to deliver this to her personally." the man said calmly.
"You can tell me." Elizabeth ignored that her dinner finished cooking. "I'll tell her!"
"It's company policy I tell no one but her." the man explained, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything. Who are you anyway?"
Elizabeth froze up. She listened as the man hung up on the other line. She cursed herself for not telling the truth. Maybe the call would have gone better.

Meanwhile, out in the parking lot three men dressed in black suits, and armed with guns sat quietly in a black sedan. They kept looking to see who was going in and out. "I don't see him." the first said.
"We know his location." the third replied, "Keep looking."
Suddenly the man whom Elizabeth had spoken with walked up to the front of the office building. "That's him!" the first said.
"Should we go now?" the second asked.
"Wait." the third said, "We'll find our opportunity."
They saw Elizabeth walk into the building. "Who's she?" the second asked.
"I dunno." the first said, "Is she tailing him too."
"I'm following him now." the third got out of the car."
"Us too!" the first replied. They all got out of the car, and walked casually up to the front of the office. They were ready for a fight.
Inside, Elizabeth did recognize the man she spoke with on the phone. And as he walked away, she signed in to the office, and followed him. About thrity feet away.

With Elizabeth crouched under his arm, Joseph ran and ducked for cover behind a door. He saw three police officers run by him, without noticing. Joseph ran down a darkened hall, and into a maze of cubicles. "Are you okay?" he asked Elizabeth.
"No!" she said, "I've been shot at!"
"I had it under control." Joseph said, "Those guys aren't looking for company."
"Who are they?" Elizabeth asked.
"Bad guys." Joseph explained, "How did you know my name?"
"You called my house yesterday." Elizabeth said.
"Stephanie?"" he asked.
"No, Elizabeth." she said, "The wrong number."
"Oh!" Joseph said, "Can I trust you to deliver the message to Stephanie?" he asked.
Elizabeth nodded her head, in a big lie that would change her future. "Tell her the specimens are ready. They'll be shipped to India the minute I can."
"Yeah." Elizabeth said. She had no idea hat he was talking about. Suddenly the men came from the other end of the work area.
"They're here." Joseph said pointing at them. Three men did not see them. "Go hide!" Joseph pushed Elizabeth into an office door. He then shut it. The three men spied Joseph and walked towards him. There was going to be a conflict.

Elizabeth looked around. She saw nothing except locked office doors, and one elevator with a silver door. She noticed it required a card key to use. "Elevator." Joseph muttered.
"I can't use it!" Elizabeth said.
Joseph used up much of his energy lifting his arm, trying to reach inside his jacket. His arm fell out, and so did a card key. Elizabeth knew what it was for.
She used the card key and called for the elevator. She took Joseph inside the brightly-lit elevator and closed the door. She had no clue which floor to choose. Joseph swung his arm up, and grabbed a railing. He pointed to a button, and tried to press it. Elizabeth knew he was trying to tell her where to go. Elizabeth pulled Joseph out of the elevator into a laboratory. At least twenty people stared at the two of them. But after they realized who was with Elizabeth, they rushed to his aid. "Are you alright, Matt?" they asked him.
"How did this happen?" another asked. Elizabeth was getting more questions than answers.

Elizabeth sat and waited for hours and hours, waiting for an answer to what just happened. She saw doctors, nurses, surgeons, and anesthesiologists go in and out of Joseph's room. Finally after waiting and waiting outside that room for such a long time, Stephanie beckoned for Elizabeth to come inside and see Joseph.
When she came in, she saw Joseph lying on the hospital bed. A large bandage was wrapped around the side of his head. It was stained with his blood. He was conscious, but looked in pain. Stephanie continued to beckon to Elizabeth. Elizabeth detected malcontent in her. "Just what do you remember about what happened to him?"
"The three guys?" she asked.
"How did they find him?" Stephanie asked.
"They just knew." Elizabeth said.
"They just knew, right after he called you last night, or right after you followed him into the building, right?" Stephanie accused.
"I didn't lead them to him." Elizabeth, "I wanted them to stop."
"She's right." Joseph said from his bed, "I knew they were after me long before I met her."

"What are the specimens?" Elizabeth asked.
Suddenly a surgeon opened the door, and looked in the room. "Ma'am, will you step outside please?" he asked Stephanie. Stephanie walked out of the room, ignoring the question.
"What are they, Matthew?" Elizabeth asked.
Matthew frowned, "If you knew what the specimens were, you would be killed in the next 24 hours." Matthew warned, "It's better if you don't know. All I can tell you, is that they're dangerous and deadly, until we ship them to Chennai, India in a month.
"He did what?!" they heard Stephanie shout from outside, "Why would he?"
Stephanie stormed back in the room very angrily and ready to spew venom.
"Matthew!" Stephanie shouted. She held up a little orange bottle, "You were supposed to have ten specimens in this little bottle, sealed of and shut tight! The seal is broke, and there are only nine!"
"One was probably stolen." Matthew said.
"We know where it is!" Stephanie said, "We did a scan and saw it was in you! Why the hell was it there?"
"Oh my God..." Matthew became worried, "Get it out of me!"
"It's too late!" Stephanie said, "How did it get in you!"
"Those creeps!" Matthew said, "They must have fed it to me while I was unconscious!"
"Why is it bad?" Elizabeth asked.
"Now she can know what the specimens are." Matthew said.
"The specimens are actually organic lifeforms that can be taken orally, and survive digestion, to be absorbed in the bloodstream. Once in the blood, they are unstoppable, multiplying by hundreds every minute. The minute that one finds a specific artery that runs along the pelvic bone, it implants, and sends out a hormone that kills all other specimens floating around. From there the specimen grows and gestates for only two months."
"Gestates?" Elizabeth asked, "You mean like pregnancy?"
"Almost exactly such." Stephanie said.
"So Matthew's pregnant?" Elizabeth giggled.
"Yes." Stephanie said, "It only takes ten minutes after ingestion for the specimen to hit the bloodstream, and only 30 minutes before one implants. If that is the case, Matthew has been pregnant for three hours."

"There's something else." Stephanie said, "This will probably be some very bad news for you, but the specimen is still very dangerous."
"I can cope." Matthew said.
"Most likely not." Stephanie said, "The specimen has already begun to excrete hormones into your bloodstream. Hormones which will give you very terrible symptoms. It may get harder, and harder for you to do your duties. The hormones will make you feel weak, violent, volatile, have huge mood swings, muscle spasms, and may be even more dangerous."
"How so?" Matthew asked.
"The final stage is characterized by a special hormone that is poisonous to humans. Failure to deliver on time may result in death Even if you do deliver on time there may be some permanent injury, or poisoning."
"You can't get it out of me?" Matthew asked.
Stephanie shook her head, "The specimens were designed to implant and live, without fail. I never figured you'd be on the receiving end of it."

And so, Elizabeth returned to her work for just a short period of one week. She told no one what happened, nor did she try to escape. She knew her fate, and accepted it. But it was that Friday, she knew she would have to leave. She made no attempt to forget what she saw. It'd be too irresponsible. And it would be just her luck to leave on a Friday. She'd miss a very good weekend.
And thusly, Elizabeth acted like she was staying late on a Friday. She stayed until everyone else had left, and waited. She knew someone was coming for her. She just hoped it wouldn't be as violent as what happened to Matthew.
But still, she was puzzled about what the specimens were for. She hadn't even the slightest idea about what they could be used for. A dangerous organic lifeform that can survive in anyone's body? It semed absurd.
But after everyone left her office she waited and waited for someone to come. Finally, she saw Stephanie appear at her door. Elizabeth nodded to her, and stood up. She was ready to leave.

The helicopter landed at an airport, which was far away from most places of civilization. The airport was hidden away from everything. As the helicopter landed on the tarmac, Elizabeth knew it was too dark to see anything. But she entered the airport which was well lit.
She knew immediately it wasn't a public port. There were only three gates, and it was guarded by men, not soldiers, carrying automatic weapons. She sat down at one of the gates. She was surrounded by a security detail of more men with weapons. She noticed that only a few seats down from her, was Matthew.
He sat in his seat, next to what appeared to be a doctor. He sat cradling a slightly swollen belly, as his pregnancy was taking shape. Elizabeth decided to go over and see the two of them.
She walked over and Matthew noticed her. The two of them waved at each other. Elizabeth sat down next to Matthew, opposite his doctor.
"Nice to see you're alive." she said.
"I know." Matthew said, "There have been times where I felt on the verge of death."
"When are we leaving?" Elizabeth asked.
"Soon." Matthew said.
"Not before you have your injection." the doctor said.
"Oh, Elizabeth." Matthew said, "I'd like you to meet my... well, obstetrician, Dr. Leavitt."
"Pleased to meet you." Elizabeth said.
"The same." the doctor said, "And you're not leaving the ground until you've had your injection."
"What injection are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked.
"Tetra-chloro nonaoctanone." Matthew said, "It's a chemical that fights off the harsh pregnancy symptoms."
"And you should have it once every twelve hours." he said, "You had your last one this morning."
"I know, Doc." Matthew said, "I'll go to the bathroom and take it now."
Doctor Leavitt handed Matthew a small syringe filled with cliudy liquid. The syringe had been kept in his bag. As Matthew walked away, Elizabeth noticed the pregnancy changes that were happening to him. She noticed he had been very thin before, and very fit. Now he was starting to show. He was, in fact wearing a tight shirt. Maybe it made the effect more noticable.

Elizabeth tried to remain silent the whole flight. After all, she did feel it was a bit awkward communiating only through radio. Of course, she was also afraid that she might be inhaling too much oxygen. But she knew it was not the time to panic.
Matthew, as well, was on the verge of panic. Even thoughhe'd only recently had his injection, he knew it would take a while to ward off the symptoms of his pregnancy. The same symptoms that were beginning to flare up on the flight. Occasionally he had to go to the restroom to deal with the stabbing pain coming from his stomach. He could already see that he was losing the complexion in his face.
But soon the plane was now over central India, and it was almost time to land. Of course, the SR-71 was landing at an airport in Malaysia, which was over one thousand miles away. Instead, Matthew, Elizabeth, Matthew's doctor and a small security detail were all given parachutes to fall out of the plane at high altitude.
When Elizabeth was handed her parachute she almosat screamed. She never imagined she would fall 20,000 feet to a densely populated city. But still, she was assured her spacesuit would provide enough oxygen to keep her from fainting. That being said, she was grabbed by one of the passengers and pulled out of the plane. She screamed as she fell. She could not see anything in the night, except for some orange lights down below. She closed her eyes.
"Elizabeth!" her radio crackled, "Elizabeth!" She came to all of the sudden, "Elizabeth! Open your chute!"
She did not know who was telling her this. But she didn't know what to do. "The red tab!" the voice said, "Pull the red tab on your left shoulder!"
She yanked the tab, and she was yanked upward as her parachute opened. She noticed the flashing white light on top, so everyone could see her location. She saw everyone flutter down to the top of a tall building. And there she landed expecting another adventure.

When Elizabeth jumped out of the ventilation shaft she ended up inside a room, with green tiles on the walls. There were several metal cabinets, all which reflected the flourescent light glow in the room.
The gurney in the center menat only one thing: it was an operating room. Elizabeth got the chills just from thinking about it.
She looked as three tall dark-skinned Indian men walked throught he door. Elizabeth was afraid she had been compromised. But Matthew kept his cool. He stared down each one of the men. "What do you know about show business, Mr. Martinson?" the one in the center asked.
"Only there's no business like it." Matthew said, "No business I know."
The man who Matthew spoke to nodded and smiled, "It's so good to see you again."
"You too, Girish." The two of them hugged. Elizabeth was confused, but soon began to figure everything out. The whole bit about show business must have been a code, to make sure that there were no imposters.
"Elizabeth!" Matthew said, "Allow me to introduce Girish Gupta. He's a leading expert on endocrinology."
"And allow me to introduce Punjab, and Chopra." he pointed to the two men behind him, "They're my assisstants."
"Hello." Elizabeth said nervously, "Do you all work for the same company."
"Same one." Girish said, "Maybe you didn't realize it was a worldwide enterprise?"
The thought never crossed Elizabeth's mind. "Come on in." he said, "We have a transaction to make."