—He was. He was very clear about it eight hours ago. I’m sure he would have said the same thing three hours ago. But two hours and fifty-five, no, fifty-six minutes ago, a giant alien robot appeared in London, again. The last time one of these things was here, it killed over a hundred thousand people, so you’ll understand when I tell you that things that were “of the outmost importance” not so long ago are a little farther down the list right now.
Now, I’m a Lieutenant General in the United States Army, which means I’m a pretty big shot in my world, but you probably don’t give a crap about what I have to say, so go ahead. I know you have the Office of the President on speed dial. I’ll wait.
—I do not need to call the president. If you are unwilling to proceed, I know other people who will.
—Not right now, you don’t. The CIA nut jobs at the Special Activities Division might be crazy enough to say yes, but they’ll find out very quickly there isn’t a single tier one unit available. No SEALs, no Marines, no Special Forces, no ISA, no STS. Everyone’s grounded. The only Delta you’re gonna get is Delta Airlines if you want to fly down there, but you’ll have to do it alone.
—Where is the Delta team right now?
—Here. They never left. Your assault troop was still prepping when that happened. I gave the abort order in person. We’re shutting down every live op we have until this clears.
—What about the civilian I sent you?
—We flew him back where he came from. He was pissed, said to tell you he would handle things himself if you didn’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get some very unhappy people out of Syria.
—I must insist. It is imperative that they leave now and complete their mission. You can have them back in twenty-four hours.
—Insist all you want. Their mission, as I understand it, was to retrieve a child who may or may not be able to pilot the EDC robot when she grows up. Am I missing anything?
—That is a reasonably accurate, though somewhat simplistic, summary of the objective.
—Then no. The president agreed to this because having a team of American pilots would provide a strategic advantage to this country. That was then. If we’re on the brink of a global conflict with an alien species, there’s no point in even thinking about getting the robot for ourselves ten years from now. We follow the plan and put all our resources with the EDC. I’m not gonna waste a Delta team we might desperately need here and risk pissing off everyone else at the UN when we might be begging for Themis a few hours from now. Your Boogeyman op is NO GO.
—This mission is also important for the EDC.
—Is it? Then why haven’t you made the request through them? You’d have your team if the EDC requested it. Hell, you could have a platoon!
—Did you agree with the mission?
—You didn’t answer my question.
—Perhaps another time.
—Cute. And yes. I did agree, twelve hours ago. I agreed because it made strategic sense at the time. At peacetime. We cheat and we lie at peacetime because we know the other side does it too. This might be war, and in war, you don’t try to scam your allies. Except for you.
—What do you mean?
—Unless I’m mistaken, you’re the one who started the EDC.
—That would be an overstatement, but I did play a role in its creation.
—Then why are you trying to screw them out of a pilot now?
—I am trying to help this country.
—Nice try. Having one pilot would give us leverage with the EDC, but not enough to take control of it. I don’t know what you’re hiding from them, but at some point your secret will come out and we’ll get caught with our pants down. The more I think about this, the more I think we’re being played.
—You have a vivid imagination.
—That must be it. Look, you have your answer. We’re not going. If the Russians are stupid enough to go get her now, let them. They couldn’t do anything with just one pilot. We’ll sort this out … Excuse me one sec.
…
—What is it?
—Another giant robot just appeared on Scatarie Island.
—I am not familiar with the name.
—It’s a wilderness reserve near Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
—Is it attacking?
—There’s nothing to attack there. Besides, it’s ours … well, yours. Would you care to tell me what Themis is doing in Canada?
—I have to go.
—I guess not. It was a pleasure talking to you. Come back anytime …
FILE NO. 1547
INTERVIEW WITH BRIGADIER GENERAL EUGENE GOVENDER, COMMANDER, EARTH DEFENSE CORPS
Location: EDC Headquarters, New York, NY
—Damn robots are everywhere!
—I thought the second one was ours.
—Yeah, Themis is back. She’s on her way here, actually. Vincent insisted on … “beaming” her back, whatever that means. He’s OK. He said he should be here in an hour or so.
—Did he tell you where he was?
—In the ocean.
—Where?
—That’s what he said. I wish I could tell you more. I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to chat. There are robots showing up every ten minutes.
—There are more?
—Yeah. Eleven of them! Haven’t you heard? This is a goddamn invasion! We ran out of Titan names on the last one.
—Where are they?
—You already know about the one in London. The next one appeared on the tracks at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo around 4:00 A.M. About five minutes later, one popped up in Jakarta. There are two in India, one in Delhi, one in Calcutta.