Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)(42)

—Let’s say they had gone and found a little girl. Say it was our daughter like Alyssa said. Would you have told us?

—Of course I would have.

—How do I know that?

—I understand that your trust in me may have been irreparably damaged. Trust, however, is not a prerequisite in this case. Simple logic will suffice. The sole reason I would have—that anyone would have—to hide your daughter from you is to use her as a pilot in the future. I, or anyone else, would first need to determine if she can activate one or both helmets inside Themis. This could perhaps be accomplished without your knowing. That said, she would eventually need to be trained. Themis requires not one but two pilots, her training would demand that you or Ms. Resnik be present. It would most likely have to be you, since you are the only one whose anatomy is compatible with the lower body controls. I would surmise that her ability to activate the controls, coupled with a likely physical resemblance to one or both of her parents, would make it near impossible for me or anyone else to hide her lineage from someone of your intelligence.

—Really? Flattery? And what do you suggest we do now?

—We wait. Now that the information I was trying to conceal is out in the open, I will renew my request for a Delta Force extraction, this time through the EDC, and sans Mr. Mitchell.





FILE NO. 1556

NEWS REPORT—JACOB LAWSON, BBC LONDON

Location: London, England

[Thirty seconds, Jacob.]

—No! No! Don’t put me on the air. We’re walking away.

[What do you mean, away?]

I mean that my cameraman and I are leaving. We’re five minutes away from the van.

[Why? They’re ready for you in … twenty seconds. What’s going on Jacob?]

Stall them. The bloody thing moved. I’m getting the hell away from it.

[What do you mean it moved? I’m looking at it on channel two. It’s not doing anything.]

I’m telling you, Jack, the robot moved. It … shifted its weight. It moved its hands.

[Shifted … You can’t do this to me Jacob. What am I supposed to air for three minutes?]

Weather report. Show some footage from this morning. I don’t give a shit. The last time one of these things moved, a hundred thousand people died. It happened—oh, wait—right here.

[You’re being paranoid. We’re all looking at it now and I’m telling you: It’s not moving.]

Paranoid, Jack? We’re walking on dirt, Jack! Do you understand what I’m saying? We’re walking on dirt because the last of those bloody robots vaporized every bloody thing that was here. We’re too close anyway. I can get a better view from farther away.

[Where are you going to go?]

Where there’s no dirt! We’ll take the van and get to one of the downtown buildings on the edge of the levelled area. I can get you some footage from there.

[How long will that take?]

I don’t know. Give us … twenty minutes to set up.

[Jacob. The edge of the dirt field is two kilometres away. It should take you two minutes to get there.]

There are fifty thousand people here, Jack. Children everywhere, more tents than you can count. There’s a food station ahead of us with—I don’t know—fifty barbecue grills. Hundreds of people waiting in line for hamburgers. These people have built a community here. It’s difficult to walk through the crowd. We’ll need to clear a path for the van.

[And these fifty thousand people, are they leaving as well?]

No, Jack, they’re not leaving. There are people coming and going but I don’t think anyone is fleeing.

[And neither should you. You’re a journalist, for goodness sake. Even the children are not as skittish as you are.]

Go to hell, Jack. We’re leaving.

[What does your cameraman have to say?]

Janet, do you want to stay?

{Go to hell, Jack!}

[OK! OK! I’ll kill your segment. ]

What will they air?

[I’ll have them improvise for three minutes. They won’t be happy. You could lose your job for this, Jacob. Both of you.]

You know me, Jack. I went to a dozen wars for you. I took a bullet for you.

[Your bag took a bullet for me, Jacob. You were never injured.]

Another six inches and we wouldn’t be talking. My point is I don’t scare easily. I’m telling you: I have a bad feeling about this.

[I hope you’re right, or there’ll be hell to pay.]

I sincerely hope I’m wrong. We’re at the van. I’ll call you when we get there, Jack.

[No, you won’t. Don’t hang up. I’ll put you on the air just before the weather, but I need you in front of the camera five minutes from now.]

Janet, Jack says we have five minutes.

[What’s she saying?]

She’s smiling.

[That’s more like it.]

Janet, look in the mirror behind us. Can you see that?

{Yes, what is it?}

[What is what, Jacob?]

The air … It’s hard to explain, the air around the robot is becoming … thicker, like …

[Like fog?]

Not quite. It’s like a mist slowly forming all around it. Whatever it is, it doesn’t look like a natural phenomenon. I see people running away.

[Is the robot making it?]

I think so. I can’t see where it’s coming from. The air is whiter now, opaque. I can’t see the robot’s feet anymore. It’s not fog. It looks like … like smoke from dry ice, a lot of dry ice. Janet, can you drive faster? I think it’s gaining on us.