Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)(66)
—Good luck…
—…
—Ms. Resnik?
—…
—Ms. Resnik. Are you there?
FILE NO. 252
INTERVIEW WITH ALYSSA PAPANTONIOU, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER, GAIA CONSORTIUM
Location: Undisclosed location, near San Juan, Puerto Rico
—She’s gone. Ka…Kara’s gone.
—That is not true.
—She’s gone! Get it thr…through your head!
—You have resented her from the very beginning. It must be frustrating for you.
—Don’t tell me you agree w…with what she did? She disobeyed a di…a direct order! If this had been the Army, she’d have been…court-martialed. She’d already be in jail. You know that.
—Indeed. Were this the United States Army, she would most likely be dishonorably discharged after serving her sentence…unless, of course, her orders were illegal. You had no right to ask her to walk into North Korea. I was very clear about this. No offensive action. I think we can all agree that a direct strike inside the borders of a sovereign state qualifies as offensive action. I would give Ms. Resnik a medal for standing her ground. I am much more concerned with your complete disregard for my directives.
—I don’t report to you. She does to me. I gave her an order! She d…didn’t just refuse, she made a fool out of me!
—You are being paranoid.
—She defied me!
—You were trying to start a war! Are you so egotistical to believe this was all about you?
—She won’t get away with this.
—You do realize that you need her a lot more than she needs you?
—Not for long. We’re close. We’re really close. Believe me, she’ll never s…set foot in that thing again. Ever.
—Are you saying you have found a way to unlock the helmets?
—Yes…Well, no. Not exactly. I still need her head to get it working, but I think I’ve found a way to make the helmet believe she’s still…still in it, even if she’s not. I’m also pursuing more permanent solutions.
—Could you keep it on indefinitely? I am only asking because she might be less enthusiastic about helping if you take her pilot station away from her.
—I hope so. I need more samples to find out.
—You may not have noticed, but Ms. Resnik does not like to be probed.
—She doesn’t have a say anymore. I’ll g…I’ll get what I need one way or another.
—I am more than willing to talk to her. I can probably persuade her to undergo more testing, but you will not subject her to anything that she has not volunteered for. I hope this much is clear.
There are very few certainties in this world. One of them is that you are replaceable, in this project or any other, and she is not. There is a line you cannot cross. It is very well defined. You are welcome to call me for clarification, should that line become ever so slightly blurred.
—I’ll run this project as I see fit. I d…didn’t wanna do this now, but it’ll have to do. I spoke to the board, and it is my…my duty to inform you that your services will no longer be needed, as of today. We appreciate everything you’ve done for this project. We realize we couldn’t have gone this far without you and we’ll always be g…grateful for all your help. Security will ask you to leave your ID on your way out.
—You spoke to the board?
—Yes.
—The “board,” you realize, is a low-level officer from Russian Intelligence, a retired South Korean general, the son of an Arab prince, and four lawyers who represent private companies but are not allowed to tell them anything they see. If you were to write down a list of all the people who are ill equipped to deal with the current situation, the “board” would undoubtedly have its name somewhere on the first page. Granted, yours would certainly appear farther down the list, but you are, nonetheless, incapable of facing what is bound to come very soon.
—W…What are you talking about?
—You really have no grasp of the situation, do you?
—Enlighten me.
—Approximately twelve days ago, you unveiled to the world, for the second time, an alien device powerful enough to tip the balance of power in any ground conflict. You marched it to the North Korean border against my specific instructions and effectively taunted the North Korean Army to attack you so you could demonstrate just how destructive that machine can be. In doing so, you have not only considerably raised tensions amongst Asian nations, but you have also antagonized the United States, and perhaps—pardon the pun—alienated forces infinitely more powerful.
—We didn’t do anything against the US. North K…Korea isn’t exactly a friendly state.
—The government of the United States spared no expense to locate and secure the pieces of that alien device. Staggering amounts of money and resources were allocated to this project. After the robot was revealed to the world, they also went to great lengths to avoid an international conflict and to ensure that, if they could not have it, no one else would. You essentially stole it from them, took it out for everyone to see, and left a hole the size of a small town along the Korean DMZ.
—I didn’t steal anything! It was your idea to get it from the bottom of the…trench. You brought me on board long after the construction work had begun.