Only Human (Themis Files, #3)(76)
What?
[Not you, Dad. Them, they’re going to kill us. I don’t wanna die. Not like that.]
Patch me through. Can you do that, Eva, let me talk to them?
[Yeah…I think this is it.]
Hey! Can you hear me? I’m talking to the American asshole who just told my daughter she was going to die. She says you put something inside her head, some sort of explosive. If that’s true, you better hope that thing doesn’t go off because if it does, you might as well kill yourself. I know what you’re thinking. There’s a good chance Moscow will do the same thing and kill me. There’s always a possibility the Chinese or Koreans will kill me, but I wouldn’t bet on that. You see, I’m not the easiest person to be with. I can be a bit of a dick sometimes, just ask my daughter. My point is if people keep me around, it’s not because of my charming personality, it’s because I have legs that bend the wrong way, and that’s kind of useful if you also happen to have Themis. So on the off chance that I make it through this, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I don’t give a shit who this robot belongs to an hour from now. I will fucking kill you. I will mow down whatever place you work at and the house you live in. I will kill everyone you’ve ever known, your high-school teacher, people you play softball with. I will march down Washington Avenue and turn DC into a fucking sandbox. I will end you and everything you hold dear. There. Will. Be. No United States when I’m done with you, and there is nothing, not a goddamn thing, you can do to stop me. Do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME, MOTHERFUCKER? ANSWER ME!
[They can’t answer you, Dad. But they heard you.]
Now I have a few things to say to you in case this doesn’t work. Is it just us?
[Yes, Dad. It’s just you and me.]
I want you to remember your parents in Puerto Rico, how much they loved you. I want you to remember Kara, how she died.
[What? What’s wrong with you? You want to make sure I die depressed, is that it?]
No! I want you to realize you were loved by a shit ton of people! I know you think I ruined your life, that I stole something from you. I know you blame me for Ekim’s death, and you have every right to. It’s my fault. Me. None of this is your fault. And maybe you’re right, Eva. Maybe I made the wrong call somewhere, and you suffered because of it. If that’s the case, then I’m sorry. I’m more sorry than you can ever imagine. But I don’t want you to doubt, not for a second, that I did all this because I love you.
[Dad, there’s—]
Will you shut up and let me speak? You…You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Eva. If I fucked that up, it’s on me, not you. I want you to know that no one, anywhere, was loved more than you were. I guarantee it. I don’t care who they are, all those kids that made fun of you, people you idolized when you were young, movie characters. They’ve got nothing on you. I love you, Eva.
…
[Can I talk now?]
Yeah, Eva, you can talk now. You can talk my ear off.
[There’s another giant robot standing at our feet.]
PART FIVE
NEVER LAND
FILE NO. 2197
NEWS REPORT—MIRANDA PATEL, BBC
Location: London, UK
London is in chaos. Approximately twenty minutes ago, an all-too-familiar giant robot appeared in Regent’s Park, mere steps away from the memorial honoring the victims of the first alien attack nearly two decades ago. Moments later, two more materialized side by side in Trafalgar Square. While Londoners remained surprisingly calm in our previous encounters with the aliens, they are showing no such composure this time around. Mass panic has set in. There is looting across town. All the major roads are blocked. There have already been dozens of casualties, people trampled trying to evacuate their offices, vehicles plowing through crowds. The city has issued a statement asking people to stay in their homes and avoid the streets, but the memory of those thousands of bodies lying on the pavements is still fresh in the minds of Londoners, and most will do anything to escape the—
I am just told that more of these giant killers, a lot more, have appeared…everywhere. Reports continue to come in as we…It appears we are witnessing a full-scale alien invasion. New York, Washington. We are getting images from Washington now. There are four, no, five robots surrounding the White House.
Back to the UK, while Londoners are on the run, it is unclear where they can run to. We have a preliminary list of cities where metal giants have been spotted. Here we go: Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Doncaster, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Lanarkshire, Nottingham, Rotherham, Salford, Sheffield, Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent, Swansea, and York. As I said, this list is preliminary. We are getting continuous reports from…This is a picture of the Stockton Cricket Club in Stockton-on-Tees. As you can see, there seems to be nowhere to hide.
So far, no sign of the deadly gas that killed tens of millions. The aliens have not made their intentions known, but the sheer number of robots would indicate they are not on a mission of peace. Whatever their objective is, it would appear they will achieve it without resistance on anyone’s part, as no state has dared to challenge the invader. It should come as no surprise since our last attempt at a military response right here in London had nothing but cataclysmic consequences. I believe I speak for anyone who has seen the crater that once was Madrid when I say that we should—