Only Human (Themis Files #3)(10)
[That would have been a really slow conversation. Arecibo is a radio telescope, and radio waves would take a long time to get there. Your friend’s dad might have been joking, but they did send a message into space from there once.]
Did anyone answer?
[No. I don’t think they were looking for an answer. I think they were just showing off their new toy. I don’t know much about it. It was a long time ago. Before I was born.]
Did you ever dream of going to another planet when you were my age?
[I thought I was from another planet when I was your age. Ironic, I know. I … Have you ever felt like your parents weren’t really … Never mind. I felt misunderstood. I guess every kid feels that way at one point or another. I had this idea that I was from another planet and that, someday—some night, actually, somehow that had to happen at night—my “people” were going to come back for me, on a spaceship. Only there were also bad guys—probably from another planet, I don’t remember—who were hell-bent on preventing that. Of course, the bad guys were hiding under my bed, because … Well, because that’s where bad guys hide. I had to make sure that my entire body was on the bed all the time. If a single toe was sticking out, they were going to get me.]
Why wouldn’t the bad guys just get out from under the bed and grab you?
[Because my bed had special powers. A force field, maybe?]
Like the robot we fought on Earth?
[Exactly like that. Maybe my bed was made here.]
I wish I …
[Eva, are you OK?]
I’m dizzy. I’m hungry. I don’t wanna do this anymore.
[I know. I know. But try to keep your mind occupied.]
You said that everyone on Earth has blood that comes from aliens.
[It’s not blood, it’s DNA. It … It’s a code.]
A secret code?
[You could say that. But your cells know how to read it. It’s like a recipe that tells your body what it should grow into, how it should function.]
And everyone has some that comes from this planet?
[Well, we don’t know where we are. But if this is the planet where they built Themis, like we think it is, then yes.]
Do I have some too?
[You do. Your mom and dad have more than most people, and you might have more than either of them.]
Maybe the aliens wanted to bring me back here, like the ones you imagined when you were my age.
[Eva. The part of your DNA that isn’t from Earth is a tiny, tiny part of your genetic code. Imagine that you are that code, your whole body, then the alien part of it would be … smaller than the nail on your little finger. It’s not impossible that they brought us here because they wanted to meet you, but I seriously doubt it. If they wanted to meet any of us, they would have come when we arrived.]
Dr. Fran … Rose?
[Yes, Eva.]
How long can we survive without food?
…
Rose?
[Vincent, I think you should be the one to answer that one.]
{It’s OK, Rose. You can tell her.}
[I’d rather you did.]
Tell me what, Dad?
{We can go for a couple more weeks without food, but we won’t last long without water. You can probably go for another three, four days. The rest of us had all been drinking alcohol, so …}
So what?
{So less than that. Do you want to try Themis again?}
We tried an hour ago. She won’t move.
{Do you have anything better to do?}
I don’t understand. These … whoever brought us to this place, they’re just gonna let us die up here? Why won’t they come?
…
Rose?
[I don’t think they know we’re here. I think they brought back Themis, and we just happened to be inside.]
Dad, what do you think?
{I think … I think we should try to move Themis again. I know it won’t work, but they might pick up that there’s someone inside.}
What if they don’t?
{I don’t know what else to tell you, Eva. We can’t jump. We ran out of stuff to throw outside.}
We have to do something. I think the general is getting sick.
{She’s right, you don’t look so good, General.}
<You worry about yourself, Couture. I’ll be fine. It’s that damn champagne.>
{You—}
<You what? I need water? Tell me something I don’t know. Make yourself useful. Go and empty the ice bucket. It stinks in here.>
Don’t look at me. I’m not touching that thing again. Ever.
FILE NO. EE003—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT
Personal Journal Entry—Vincent Couture
Location: Inside Themis, on unknown planet
Dear Kara,
I wonder what you’d hate more, that I’m writing to my dead wife, or that I’m opening with Dear Kara? This isn’t the first time I picked up a pen and paper to write to you. Rose said I should, a couple days after you died. She said it would help me to deal with the loss. I told her I didn’t do stupid. Truth is, I tried that very night. I just stared at that piece of paper for an hour, then I gave up. Second time’s the charm, apparently. Everyone’s asleep. I didn’t want to wake them up using the recorder, so this seemed like a good idea. You should see Eva. She looks so peaceful.
I miss you so much, Kara. And I want to believe in God right now. I’ve never wanted anything so badly. I’ll be dead soon, and I want to believe you’ll be there waiting on the other side with something snarky to say. My whole life, I thought that just being a part of the universe was grand enough. I thought it was much better than my little self sticking around for eternity. I suppose I still do. I don’t care what happens to my “soul.” I don’t care if there’s still a me, but I really want for there to be a you. The world makes more sense if there’s a you.