Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)(71)
—I don’t hate you, Eva. Kara would’ve lived if I’d been faster. She’d still be alive if I were as brave as the two of you. It’s not your fault, believe me. Besides, you don’t know Kara like I do. She’d come back from the dead if she thought I was angry at you. She’d claw her way out of the grave just to slap me around.
—I’m sorry she’s dead.
—Me too.
—Was there a funeral?
—No. They wouldn’t send a team to UN headquarters until this morning. They called me an hour ago when they found her body.
—Where will you bury her?
—I won’t bury her. I’d like to. I’d like to have a place to visit her, but she didn’t want to be buried. She thought it was creepy. She wouldn’t watch zombie movies with me either.
—You can keep her ashes. My friend Angie had her sister’s in her room.
—Nah. She’d hate it. She’d want me to scatter her ashes and have a party. Will you do that with me?
—Scatter her ashes?
—Yeah. I’ll get someone to fly us over Detroit on a helicopter. Seems fitting.
—I’ve never been in a helicopter.
—Me neither. I’m afraid of heights, remember. So it’s settled then. Just you and me, and a helicopter pilot, I guess.
— …
—Look, I don’t know how to do this any more than you do, but I’m trying.
— …
—Is that a yes, Eva?
—OK.
—Good. We’ll do that before we leave.
—Where are we going?
—I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet. Somewhere safe.
—But when will I start training?
—Training for what?
—Themis! When do I start training to pilot Themis? That’s what you need me for, isn’t it?
—What are you talking about? I don’t want you to do anything!
—You don’t understand! It’s OK. I want to do it.
—Eva … I know you want to help, but— —That’s what I’m supposed to do!
—Eva, you’re ten years old!
—But it’s what I was made for! That’s why Alyssa made me. I’m … I’m a tool. That’s my purpose.
—I … First of all, Alyssa didn’t “make” you, stop saying that. She spent all of twenty minutes in a lab. The woman who carried you inside her for nine months made you. Second, who gives a crap what Alyssa thought? Your mother d … Kara died so you could live. I wouldn’t be much of a father if I put you in harm’s way now. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, Eva. I want you as far away from that robot as possible.
—People are gonna die if we don’t do anything!
—People are gonna die anyway.
—You’re just gonna let them die? You’re not even gonna try?
—If it means keeping you safe, then yeah. I’m just gonna let them die. I’m your father, Eva.
—No you’re not! You can’t tell me what to do!
—Eva.
—Get out of my room!
—Eva, I—
—GET OUT!
FILE NO. 1603
STATION LOG—NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER
Location: Silver Springs, MD
—Chief, can you come here a sec. We lost the sun.
—What?
—I lost the SXI.
—What do you mean, you lost it?
—What I just said. It’s gone. I’m not getting anything from the Solar X-Ray Imager on GOES-13.
—There’s no signal from the satellite?
—Nothing.
—Are you sure it’s not your station?
—My station’s fine. The satellite just stopped transmitting. Problem’s up there, sir.
—Scoot over. I wanna check someth—What is it, Clara?
[There’s a problem.]
OK, well, we’re a little busy here. Go back to your station and I’ll come see you when I’m done here.
[I lost the signal from my satellite.]
You lost … Which one do you have?
[I’m on GOES-15. There’s something wrong, sir.]
No shit, there’s something wrong. The problem’s gotta be down here. Two satellites can’t malfunction at the exact same time. Check the receiver.
—Sir, it’s all of them. We’re not receiving anything, from anywhere. Nothing on microwave. Nothing on VHF either.
—All of them? There you go. It’s got to be our equipment.
—It’s not. We’re receiving. We’re getting all kinds of static.
—This is nice. I’ve been here for a month! What am I supposed to do now?
—Hold on, sir—
—I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
—Hold on! NASA wants to know if we’re getting JPSS data.
—Dammit! That doesn’t make any sense. I’ll check with Defense, see if they’re still getting their feed.
—Europe is down too. They lost MetOp. No one is receiving any signal from orbit anymore. We’re getting calls from everybody.
—Could it be solar flares?