Only Human (Themis Files, #3)(68)
—Eket eyet akt?
—We do not know who they are for sure. We have known for many months of a movement in many regions. Your daughter has been meeting with suspect members of the movement.
—She works at the soup kitchen, Enatast! She knows lots of people who are unhappy with the way things work. I know these people! They protest, they march. They don’t blow up buildings!
—They are organized, and they are everywhere. There are some in Osk who agree with them. Even in the Guard, they say. They have the means to commit those crimes.
—I’m sure there’s an explanation, Enatast. Let’s go find her. Let’s all go find her, so she can tell us.
—I am sorry, Vincent. I am very sorry. The security forces are searching everywhere. They find her.
—What will happen to her?
—I do not know, Vincent. I am honest when I say I do not.
—I have to f—
—Do not say it to me, Vincent. Do not say anything to me you do not want the security to know.
—I understand. Thanks.
—Good yuck, Vincent.
FILE NO. 2196 (CONTINUED)
MISSION LOG—WARRANT OFFICER EVA REYES AND LT. BARBARA BALL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, MECHA DIVISION
Location: Aboard Lapetus. Seoul, South Korea —Eva, this is…a bit awkward. Would you rather I turn my comms off?
—No, it’s OK. I don’t have anything to hide.
What are you saying, Vincent? I might have gotten arrested for something I didn’t do, I might have been put on trial, found guilty, maybe, and executed. That’s a lot of maybes, don’t you think? You don’t know that any of it would have happened. Did it ever occur to you to just, I don’t know, ask me? You could have talked to me, you know?
[Lapetus, this is Central. Copy?]
Hold on, Vincent.
[Lapetus, this is Central. Copy?]
Barbara, are you gonna answer that?
—Copy, Central. Lieutenant Ball here.
[We can still see Themis on satellite.]
That’s right, Central. We’re…having a little chat.
[Lapetus, your orders are to get Themis out of there by any means necessary. Are we clear?]
Crystal, Central. You gave us some discretion on this one. For now we’re having a chat. We’ll let you know how it goes. Copy?
…
Central, do you copy?
[Copy that, Lapetus. We’ll try it your way.]
All yours, Eva.
—I’m surprised they didn’t order us to attack.
—I think they’re worried we’d lose. I am, anyway.
—Oh, we wouldn’t lose now. I don’t think Themis can move.
—What?
—I think she’s used up all her energy. If I’m right, she’s dead as a doorknob.
—I hate to bring this up, your dad being in there and all, but shouldn’t we kick their ass while we can?
—We probably should. I wouldn’t mind punching him in the face right about now.
—Then why don’t we?
—Because I can’t move my arms. Lapetus is just as dead as they are.
—How long until we can move again?
—Five, ten minutes if we’re lucky.
<Eva, are you there?> Yes, “Dad.” I’m here. I’m in yokits North Korea with an explosive chip in my brain, being shot at by MiG 29s.
<A chip in your brain? What did they do to you?> They can blow our brains out anywhere in the world. Don’t tell me they let you pilot Themis without some kind of fail-safe.
<Gas. Some nasty nerve toxin.> How nice. I’m so glad you brought me back here because, hey, I might have been in danger on Esat Ekt.
<I’m sorry, Eva. You know that’s not what I had in mind. I thought…I wanted to give you something of a normal life. I thought I was bringing you back to the way things were.> Why in the world would I want that, Vincent? Tell me? How could you think for a second that I’d want things to be the way they were? I remember my life here. I was a freak here, a joke. Everyone I loved died. My “good” memories on Earth are with you inside Themis. Do you get how fucked up that is? People were dying, everywhere. Millions of them. I was bonding with my dad. That’s what you wanted to bring me back to?
<I didn’t have a choice, Eva. There was no time. They were after you. Eskyaks, the Imperial Guard, they were going to find you, and they were going to kill you.> That is such bullshit, Vincent! You just thought you knew better than me. You’re right, though, you didn’t have a choice. That choice was mine. My life. My choice. You thought you knew better, and you made it for me. I’m not ten anymore, Vincent. I’m yokits nineteen years old! You’re still making decisions for me like I’m that little girl Kara found in Puerto Rico. Don’t pretend you didn’t want this. It was you! Eskyaks didn’t find me. The empress didn’t find me. You did. You hunted me down.
Barbara…get ready.
FILE NO. EE681—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT
Personal Journal Entry—Vincent Couture
I see her face everywhere. I wish it were my imagination, but they’ve plastered every alley with my daughter’s face. She’s on the small leaflets we see lying on the ground. They graffiti her name—the one they’ve given her—on anything remotely connected to the Council. An entire propaganda machine is built around Eva. Worst of all, it’s all fake. As far as I can tell, all of this is a figment of the empress’s imagination.