Only Human (Themis Files #3)(35)

—I like Themis.

—That’s because you’re a girl. I like this guy. He’s bigger.

—He’s wearing a prosthesis. Did you just call me a girl?

—He’s like a pirate! I want this one, and I want the arms.

—You don’t like driving?

—I’d rather shoot at things.

—You’re the one pushing the button. I just raise my arm. Anyway, that’s fine with me. I’d take the legs.

—There. It’s settled. I think it makes sense. I’m the captain. I’m higher than you are in the chain of command, I should be higher than you are inside this thing.

—Really? That’s your problem? You can’t deal with me standing three feet above you? If you were up here, I’d be in front of you. You’re OK with me being in front of you.

—Yeah. I’d be higher.

—You’re the captain.

[Lapetus, Navigation here. Are we ready to move?]

—Affirmative. Just get the grease monkeys off our foot, and we’re good to go.

[They’re leaving now. Get ready for a two-jump trip. Swing around to seventy-nine degrees, one minute.]

Roger that. Wiggle, wiggle.

—You good?

—Yeah, I just …

[Lapetus, what’s taking so long? We’re on a schedule.]

Gimme a sec. I just can’t get the minutes right. I keep jumping from zero to four.

—You’re turning with your feet.

—Want me to use my butt? I’ve done this before, Lieutenant.

—That’s not what I meant. It’s hard to be that precise moving your feet. Once you get the degrees right, keep your feet straight and turn your head a little towards where you wanna go. Then just shift your weight from leg to leg. The big man’ll turn without you knowing it.

—Hot damn! You’re right! Seventy-nine degrees, one minute, two seconds.

[Calculating. Lapetus. Punch in. Unit size: ninety-eight. That’s one, four, two in base-8.]

Roger that. One. Four. Two.

[Distance: three hundred and sixty-six. Base-8: five, five, six.]

Five. Five. Six. Engaging. Aaaand, we’re underwater.

[You’re good, Lapetus. That is the Gulf of Finland. We have you less than ninety miles from Saint Petersburg. Second heading: eighty-nine degrees, seven minutes.]

On it … All set. Eighty-nine degrees, seven minutes, twelve seconds.

[Roger that. Set unit size to thirty-two. That is four, zero. Repeat. Four. Zero. Distance: two-eighty-six. Base-8 is four, three, six.]

Confirm. Four. Zero. Distance: Four. Three. Six.

[Confirmed. That should put you right in the middle of Palace Square.]

Ready, Lieutenant?

—No, but that’s as good as I’ll get.

—Off we go … What the? Central, this is Lapetus. Seems you were a little off on those coordinates. We can see the square, we’re right in front of it, but we crushed part of a castle or something.

[Sorry about that, Lapetus. We have you on satellite. You’re on … You’re standing on the Hermitage.]

—Jesus Christ!

—Calm down, Lieutenant. These things happen.

—No, Bodie. Leveling the Hermitage doesn’t just happen.

—Central. We’re onsite. We’re staring at a big yellow building.

[Roger, Lapetus. The General Staff and Ministries Building. That’s your target. Sit tight. We’re talking to the ambassador now.]

—Look at this place!

—Yeah, it’s cool. Too bad it’ll be a hole in a few minutes.

—They might find a diplomatic way out of this, you know.

—Yeah, sure. I don’t see Themis anywhere.

—They think she’s underground somewhere.

— …

—It was in the briefing notes?

—Lieutenant?

—What?

—Shut the hell up.

—Do you have any idea what’s going on, Bodie? Do you get how bad this is?

—No one can touch us.

—Yes, Bodie. We’re in here. The rest of the world isn’t. They’re fucked if this goes wrong.

—Well, they asked for it. We gave them an ultimatum.

—I don’t mean here, you dumb-ass. I mean everywhere. Home, Bodie! Home! Your mom, your friends.

—Do you always talk this much?

—What? You don’t wanna think about bad shit, so you pretend it doesn’t exist? Reality doesn’t give a crap whether you pay attention to it or not. It’s still there.

—What do you want me to do, Lieutenant? Just tell me. What do you want me to do?

—Someone has to stop this insanity, Bodie. Someone has to.

—Well, it won’t be me. And it sure as hell won’t be you. So what’s the point in talking about it?

[Lapetus, this is Central. It’s 23:58. Stand by to commence firing in two minutes.]

—Are you sure about this, Central? Maybe we should give them more time.

[Negative, Lapetus. Stand by for strike order.]

—All right, Central. Standing by.

—Don’t do it, Bodie.

—What are you saying, Lieutenant? Are you suggesting I disobey a direct order?

—I’m not—

—’Cause that’s what it sounded like.