Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)(62)

—I am increasingly uncomfortable with the direction in which this conversation is heading.

—Just tell me! Am I being unreasonable?

—A modicum of communication would seem like a sensible requisite.

—Thank you!

—Your sudden gratitude worries me, deeply. Please do not take anything I have said to mean that I am taking “your side.”

—What would you have done?

—I will pretend you did not just ask me that. The truth is: Neither you nor I can understand what went through the mind of Mr. Couture, as he bears the better part of the responsibility for the death of Dr. Franklin.

—That’s a horrible thing to say. I’m just as responsible as he is for what happened.

—That is very generous of you. However, both of us know it to be inaccurate. The hands that pressed the buttons that caused the energy burst belonged to Mr. Couture, not to you.

—That’s not fair! The robot tripped!

—Yes, the robot tripped while Mr. Couture was controlling the legs. Had Dr. Franklin been crushed under a giant thumb, I might point…blame the person who was controlling the hands. You should talk to him.

—We talked.

—I do not mean exchanging pleasantries. I mean talk. When I last visited him, I had serious doubts about his mental status, about his willingness to continue, and yes, about the nature of his feelings for you. I no longer have these doubts. While it may be difficult to understand, his prolonged absence, and what he did during that time, is a validation of his commitment to this project and, to an even greater extent, of his devotion to you.

—You said he played with toys.

—That is not exactly what I said. I may also have been more affected by the accident than I wished to believe when I first visited Mr. Couture, enough to miss certain things that, in retrospect, should have been obvious. I realize now that my rendition of the event may have compounded an already difficult situation, and I sincerely apologize for my shortsightedness.

—You’re right about one thing for sure. Whatever he did in Montreal, it sure as hell made him better up there in the sphere. We had our first trial this morning.

—In the simulator?

—No, the real thing. They retrieved the last part during the night. She was fully assembled and ready to roll by the time we woke up. I don’t know if I like this private-business thing, but we sure have more staff.

—Has the water caused any damage?

—The chamber was as dry as the day we left it. Anyway, we were a bit rusty at first, but after about a half hour, Vincent had us running in circles in the room. Running! Last time we strapped ourselves in, he could barely take a few steps. Now he’s running…He’s even able to work the console while walking. I just didn’t think he had enough muscle left to do this.

—It is amazing what someone can accomplish once they really set their heart to something. I am very interested in the fact that the sphere remained sealed after being subjected to such incredible pressure. I would like to know if we can operate the robot underwater.

—Alyssa’s one step ahead of you on this one. We’re supposed to have a trial run in the sea-lock room on Friday. If it works, we can put some distance between us and dry land and try a few things while submerged. She’d like us to find out how to focus the energy release. It’s not a bad idea. If anything bad happens, we might kill some fish, but we won’t vaporize anyone and destroy the base…again.

—She did not mention anything to me.

—I’m not surprised. I don’t like her. She’s driven, I’ll give her that. But there’s something about her that just doesn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right in Denver. It doesn’t feel right now.

—She said you would not like her.

—I didn’t like her before.

—She said you would not like her because she is not Dr. Franklin.

—Oh, that explains it then. And here I was thinking it might have something to do with her.

—Feelings aside, has she done anything to earn your disfavor?

—Well, for one thing, she keeps sticking needles in me. The needles are getting bigger too. I’ve been here three days, and I’ve been asked—told—to report to med bay four times.

She took some blood the day I came in, and a few swabs. I guess those are for DNA.

—She is a geneticist.

—She’s a bit of a mad scientist if you ask me. The next morning, I was called back in for more blood samples. She had me spend a good half hour inside an MRI. I’m not claustrophobic, but I gotta say I really don’t like that machine. She treats me like a guinea pig. She doesn’t explain anything, doesn’t tell me what any of this is for. She probably thinks I’m too dumb to understand.

After dinner, I was getting ready for a bath—it had been a really long day and I wanted to go to bed early—when I heard my name in the intercom. “Kara Resnik, please report to med bay one.”…I get there, and she sticks an IV in my arm to get me ready for a CT scan. I’m still burning up from the iodine shot when she tells me she needs to do a spinal tap. Do you know how big the needle is for a spinal tap?

—Did it hurt?

—I don’t know, I just ripped the IV out of my arm and went back to my room. I’m sure it would have hurt.

—You said you were called into the medical bay four times. That makes three.