Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)

I’m taking the backup drives from the safe. Some comm gear. I’m not sure what else I can grab before I head out. Hopefully, the building won’t be destroyed and it doesn’t matter.

I wish I could fight that thing. A whole lot of people have died already but it’s different when it’s home. Our neighbors, the dry-cleaning guy across the street, I wonder if any of them will survive. Probably not. I feel bad that I have a way out and they don’t. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I even feel sorry for the asshole at the coffee shop who keeps hitting on Kara. I’m heading to hangar one now. I’ll take Themis up north in case that robot decides to rip her apart.

Crap! Almost forgot. Gotta make a quick stop by our lockers. Kara left some personal stuff in hers: an old picture of her mom, some trinkets I gave her. I have a signed picture of David Prowse in mine. Oh, and my wedding ring’s in there. That’s why I’m going. If I die out here, tell my wife I went back for my wedding ring. She’ll be impressed.

—She’ll think you’re a complete idiot.

—Kara? Is that you? Oh my God! Come here, you’re crazy!

—OK, stop! You’re choking me.

—Sorry.

—Vincent, meet Eva. Eva, this is Vincent.

— …

—Vincent? You OK?

—Yeah …

—Then say something, either of you.

—It’s nice to meet you, Eva. Would you like to see Themis?

[She’s here?]

I’ll take that as a yes—

—Vincent, there’s a lot I need to tell you.

—I know. Our “friend” filled me in.

—That asshole, I’ll—

—Later. We really need to go. There’s a big robot shooting poisonous gas about a mile away from here. Eva, it’s that way.

—How long do we have?

—I don’t know. It travels fast. Three minutes maybe? Is she … ?

—I can’t say for sure. She kinda looks like me, don’t you think?

—Not kinda. It’s a bit eerie.

—Shhh. She’s right behind us!

—Does she know?

—No. I haven’t told her. She’s been through enough already. She’s … she’s a bit dark.

—How dark? “Dark” like her favorite band is The Cure? Or I’m-an-abomination-I-should-be-burned-alive-Rose-dark?

—She’s … She’s not what you’d expect. One minute she’s a normal ten-year-old, the next it’s like— —Like what?

—She talks about people dying, how they felt. She’s … dark. She saw her parents die.

—Poor kid.

—Yeah. The Russians got there before me. Three men broke in in the middle of the night. They killed her parents right in front of her.

—Where did you find her?

—In Haiti.

—Haiti? How the hell did you end up there?

—I knew they couldn’t take her back on a commercial flight and there were no private planes there with Russian tags. I figured they’d hop islands and fly out of Cuba. My plan was to go from port to port, hoping someone would remember three big men with a weird accent. I got lucky on the first try, right there in San Juan. They had chartered a boat to the Dominican Republic. I ran into the captain’s wife on the docks. I caught up to them at Punta Cana and followed them across the island all the way to Port-au-Prince.

—How’d you get her back? Please tell me you didn’t fight three KGB agents.

—I think they were mercs. And no. I paid the Haitian police to arrest them. That reminds me, we don’t have any money left.

—Oh great. My wife spent all our savings on crooked cops.

—Not all of it. I had to rent a car.

[Whoa.]

—Yep. Here we are! She looks bigger in person, doesn’t she? How’d you like to go inside, Eva?

[Really?]

Yep. For real. Let’s go for a ride.

—Are you sure we can walk Themis away from here? We can’t fight with Eva on board.

—Oh, we’re not walking … There are a few things I need to tell you too. By the way, how could you leave while I was missing?

—I thought she was in danger.

—And not me? I was stuck at the bottom of the ocean!

—Really?

—Yeah, but my point was—

—I didn’t know what to do! All I did was watch other people trying to find you. I was in the way, I felt … Shit!

—What?

—The elevator doesn’t work—

—I was afraid of that. I think the power went out like five minutes ago.

—But the lights are on!

—Yeah. I heard the generator kick in when I walked in the control room. I guess the elevator isn’t on it. You know what that means— —Can you do it?

—We’re about to find out. Every time we go up the elevator, I look at that ladder and I think: “Who would be stupid enough to climb up that thing?”

—Eva, the elevator doesn’t work, so we’ll have to climb up that big ladder. Vincent’ll go first. You follow him.

—Why do I need to go first?

—Trust me, Vincent. If you have someone’s feet too close to your head, you’ll wanna look down, and you don’t wanna look down.

[I’m scared.]

—That makes two of us, Eva.

—Vincent’s afraid of heights. You’ll have to keep him calm. Go Vincent! We don’t have all day! OK, now it’s your turn Eva. Just keep your eyes on Vincent. I’ll be right behind you.

—How high is the hatch again?

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