Only Human (Themis Files #3)(4)

[And if they’re not?]

Well, if they’re military, they won’t just bring trucks. They’ll come with …

[With what?]

That.

[What?! We can’t see, remember?]

A helicopter.

—Is it military?

—It’s big, Rose. It’s not a TV helicopter. Nothing you fly tourists in either.

—What’s it doing?

—It’s coming … Hovering above us now … Side door is opening. Shit. Shit. Shit.

—They’re coming in?

—Two guys on ropes.

—Vincent, who are they?

—I don’t know, but they have guns. One’s at the hatch.

—They might be happy to see us.

—They might be ecstatic. Eva, you should stand in front of Ekim, just in case they’re not. Whoever this is, he’s in the shaft between the hatches.

—The inner hatch is opening.

<Derzhite ruki na vidu> Vincent, what did he say?

—I have no idea, but I’m pretty sure he said it in Russian.





FILE NO. 2106


INTERVIEW BETWEEN MAJOR KATHERINE LEBEDEV, RUSSIAN MAIN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (GRU), AND DR. ROSE FRANKLIN, PH.D.


Location: GRU building, Saint Petersburg, Russia


—Good morning, Dr. Franklin. I trust you had a good night’s sleep. I’m sure you did. We have really good drugs … Don’t tell anyone, but I take some from time to time when I need the rest. I never thought I’d get to do this, but on behalf of the Russian Federation, and the entire planet, I suppose, welcome back! And welcome to Russia!

—We’re in Russia?

—Yeah! You are! Sit down, Dr. Franklin. You’re making me nervous.

—I’m sorry. I am a bit nervous. I don’t know what I’m doing here.

—Oh, you have every right to be nervous, Dr. Franklin. I said you were making me nervous. I’m supposed to look superconfident. That’s hard to do if I’m fidgeting in my seat. But this is so exciting! Please sit!

—I don’t suppose you’ll tell me who you are, or where I am.

—Who I am? Doesn’t it say on … Where is it? There’s a little plaque with my name on it … Oh, here it is. I’m Katherine Lebedev.

—You don’t sound Russian.

—I hope not. I spent most of my life in New Hampshire. I went to Brown. Law school.

—You were a spy.

—I wa … No! I was a kid. I was born there. I played with dolls. My parents were spies. I didn’t find out about any of it until it was time to leave. I moved back here eleven years ago, and here we are! I was saying something. Oh yes. I’m Katherine Lebedev. I’m a major in the GRU.

— …

—You don’t know what that is, do you? The Main Intelligence Agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Mouthful, I know.

—It sounds like the KGB.

—The KGB—it’s called the SVR nowadays, by the way—is for kids. Don’t tell them I said that. We’re ten times bigger than the SVR. OK, maybe not ten times, but we’re it. This is where the fun is. We have six times the numbers of agents, spy satellites, James Bond stuff. What else did you wanna know? Oh yes, you’re in—we’re in Saint Petersburg. Government office. Big grey building.

—Are you the head of this … GRU?

—Me? I wish. No, I’m a lowly major. I run a small—tiny, really—division focused on alien tech. We don’t have any, so, like I said, it’s small. Which is why you’ll understand how happy I was, how happy we all were, when you landed in Estonia. Only a few hours away, really. What are the odds?

—Estonia? You said we were in Russia?

—Right! You don’t know! I’m sorry. Where are my manners? You have a lot of catching up to do. What do you wanna know? Ask away.

—How long were we gone?

—Nine years, three months, six days—ninety-seven days—nine years and ninety-seven days. I’m sorry, I don’t know the scientific way …

—Nine years? We thought it was less than that.

—Oh! Our scientists talked about that. Something about time dilation when traveling at near-light speed. I don’t understand any of it, but they said you might come back a thousand years old. No, that can’t be. A thousand years would have passed here. Can you tell I’m not a scientist? So how long did you think you were gone for? A few seconds?

—Eight years, seven months, maybe eight.

—Oh … Wait? You don’t know exactly?

—We … Do you know where we were?

—I’m waiting for you to tell me, but everyone assumed you went to the planet where those robots are from.

—Right. It’s called …

—What? It’s called what? Oh, you don’t know if you should tell me … It’s really up to you. No, it’s not really up to you, but you know what I mean. It’s not like we’ll torture you on your first day. I’m kidding! GRU humor … I know. How about this? Do you think telling me the name of the place will forever upset the balance of power? Besides, you worked for the United Nations when you left. We’re in there. It’s your world!