—This is just surreal. When was that?

—About six months ago.

—Six months! But you had barely started the search six months ago!

—Why delay the inevitable? We started with the Arctic since it is mostly uninhabited. We found something under the ice on Ellesmere Island, something you will find interesting.

—Don’t you think you should have talked to, let me see, me, before you did anything that stupid?

—My dear Robert. I thoroughly enjoy talking to you. You can rest assured I would have come to you without hesitation had I thought for a second it was something I needed to do.

—Go to hell…And what does Canada have to say about being invaded?

—They barely knew we were there. They are so worried about Danish ships challenging their territory, they probably welcome having us patrolling the area.

We found the torso. It is big, very big. On the surface it looks like every other piece, but we found a very small hatch on the back. This one is hollow. There is a large chamber inside, with what appears to be a control room.

—You mean it can move? Like a robot?

—That is our current assumption. We can confirm it once we find the rest of the pieces.

—OK. I wasn’t expecting that one, but we already have plenty of things that can move, on land, in water, in the air, in space even. Does it have any offensive capabilities?

—We will know when we have all the pieces. As I said before, we really need to expand our search outside the United States.

—How many other countries do you have in mind?

—What do you mean?

—What do I…? It’s a simple question. How many countries?

—All of them, of course.

—Let me get this straight. You want this president to authorize violating the airspace of every single country on the planet so you can spread radioactive material over them, all in the hopes of finding parts of a giant alien robot. Is that all?

—No, it is not. He needs to be prepared to do a lot more than that. This is only the beginning. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that he be clear on this.

Flying over other countries uninvited is easy. If we do this right, no one will ever know we were there. But if it works—and it will work, eventually—these body parts will surface. Some will surface in the middle of nowhere, but some will definitely surface where you do not want them to. They will come up hard, and they will come up fast, and they will destroy things. You thought Flagstaff was bad. Imagine what one of these things will do to downtown London or Paris. How about the Red Square in Moscow? A lot more than eight people will die, a whole lot more. They will be as innocent as the ones that just died. More little girls with curly red hair.

Most importantly, my people will not always be there in a matter of minutes to collect the pieces, which means other people will. They most likely will have no idea what they are looking at, but it will not take them long to figure out that it is worth their attention. Most likely, they will also not be happy about their little girls being crushed into the Earth.

You will need to get the pieces back from these people. You will ask nicely at first. Some of them will listen. Some of them will not.

What then? There will already be a whole lot of blood on your hands. Will you stop there? You really need to ask yourself: “What am I prepared to do?” If you and the president are not willing to go all the way, there are other players in this game who might not have the same reservations.

—Don’t threaten me. Don’t ever threaten me. You might have enough pull with this office to force me to listen to you, but if you ever threaten me again, you’ll spend the rest of your miserable life in some third-rate country being water-boarded ten times a day. I know people too. Do I make myself clear?

—As always, my dear Robert, you are the epitome of clarity. Empty threats aside, my point still holds. This was never something we were going to be able to do without leaving this country. You have to remember—and you should have figured this out when you read my first report—these things were buried three thousand years ago. All those borders you are so worried about flying over, they are nothing but color lines on a map. None of these lines existed three thousand years ago.

—I understand how much more convenient it would have been to dig up these things a couple millennia ago. Somehow, it doesn’t make the idea of violating the airspace of every ally or enemy we have any less insane. Unless, of course, you’re willing to give all the world leaders that map and color-lines speech you just gave me. I’m sure they’d be happy to let us in, if only they knew about the color lines.

—You can mock me as you please. At the end of the day, you will realize that this has to be done. You may not like it—I certainly do not—but it must be done nonetheless.

—Does Dr. Franklin know about this?

—Not yet. I thought you would like to know first.

—About the torso being hollow, or about there being a second team?

—Both.

—You kill me, you know. You didn’t tell her you had put together a second team? I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear that one.

—That is not your concern.

—You’re probably right. I want you to tell her—about the torso, that is. You’ll have to tell her about the other team anyway. She’ll be pissed off. I want you to tell her to figure out how this thing works and what it can do. I don’t care if they have to work around the clock, just tell her to do it. Then I want to talk to her. I sure as hell don’t trust you with any of this. Now if—do you hear me—if she tells me she can make it work, then you’ll have the full support of this office. If she says she can’t…Well, let’s impress upon her how it would be in everyone’s best interests that she can.

—You want me to threaten her.

—I want her and everyone involved—that means you too—to understand that the more chips we put on the table, the more difficult it becomes for us to fold.

—So you want me to threaten her.

—You make it sound like I’m ready to kill her.

—Are you?

—No! Why would I do that? I was merely suggesting we could replace her if she doesn’t deliver.

—You do not think she has “delivered” already?

—She has. But if she can’t take us the rest of the way, maybe someone else can. She should be aware of that. I’m not suggesting we replace her now, just that we let her know it’s a possibility. That same reasoning also applies to you.

—It really does not, but I can see why you might think it does.

—What’s that supposed to mean?

—If you had an employee you knew was leaving in six months, just how much responsibility would you be willing to give her?

—I don’t see your point.

—You work for someone who may lose his job after four years, who has to quit after eight. I am merely pointing out there are many things of interest to this nation that require a more long-term commitment.

—I’ll be sure to mention that to the president.

FILE NO. 037

INTERVIEW WITH DR. ROSE FRANKLIN, PH.D.

Location: Underground Complex, Denver, CO

—Definitely a girl! I couldn’t stop grinning when they brought the chest in. Her breasts aren’t that large, given her size, but they’re still bigger than my car. Perky…She must have been the envy of all the giant girl robots back in her day.