Chapter 17
CHAPTER
TWYFORD ABBEY ROAD
LONDON
Korkil paced across the rented warehouse, looking admiringly at the robot on the workbench. His techs had already begun the process of altering its software to meet his very specific needs. He turned to Bremmer. “You’ve done well, my friend. Very well.”
“We’re cutting it close. You won’t even be able to test it.”
“There will never be a better time. Besides, we’ve been running protocols on the software for the past several days. The longer we wait, the greater the chances our plans will be discovered. It’s now or never.”
Bremmer couldn’t take his eyes off the robot. “This thing scares the hell out of me. Are you absolutely sure about this?”
“Of course I am. What’s gotten into you?”
“You weren’t there. It literally tore our men limb from limb like they were paper dolls.”
“It recognized a threat to its owner. After the software is updated, I will be the owner. And the fact that it was so lethal is just evidence that it will suit our needs perfectly.”
“Fine. All I’m saying is, when you reactivate this thing, I don’t want to be anywhere near it.”
Korkil chuckled. “How cowardly you are. I thought you were getting over that skittishness. I’ve been proud how you’ve taken over since Dekker was killed. You’ve actually performed well during these preparations.”
“Like I said, you weren’t there. I thought I was going to die that night. We’ve lost a lot of good men. I hope it’s worth it.”
“Trust me.” Korkil motioned toward Bremmer’s bandaged left arm. “How’s your wound?”
“Still hurts like hell.”
“We’ll get you medical help later. We have too much to do today.”
The techs nodded at Korkil.
“It’s time to meet our new associate,” Korkil said. “Are you sure you don’t want to be here for this?”
“No, thank you. Good luck. I’ll be outside.” Bremmer turned on his heel and left the warehouse.
Korkil turned to face the robot. For the first time, he found himself feeling a bit nervous. Damn Bremmer and his insecurities. He wouldn’t let him ruin this, of all days.
“Hello, Archie. My name is Vlad. Please stand.”
Archie sat up on the workbench and hopped onto the floor.
“Unbelievable,” Korkil whispered to himself. He’d understood that this machine’s movements were almost indistinguishable from humans’, but to actually see it was a different experience. “Archie, we have something for you to do today. Are you ready?”
“Of course,” Archie said. “I am here to serve.”
Kendra gripped the leather armrest of the helicopter as it roared over the British countryside.
She had contemplated calling a car service for a ride, but Lynch had arranged for the copter transport to London.
Dawn was breaking over the Northumberland National Park, and the sky was a beautiful crimson.
Lynch and Jessie dozed, but Stevie was pounding the keys on her laptop, trying to devise some way to regain control of Archie.
“Any luck?” Kendra asked.
“Not so far. The trouble is, I’m not sure what they’ve done to him. I should be able to contact him via satellite, but his receiver has been either deactivated, replaced, or reconfigured so that I can’t reach him.”
“So what can you do?”
“From here, not much. But if we can get close enough to him, maybe thirty feet or so, I might be able to make contact through a Bluetooth receiver he’s equipped with. It hasn’t been used since my early days of testing his systems, and it’s possible that Korkil’s people may have overlooked it.”
“Fingers crossed.”
Stevie thought for a moment. “There’s another possibility.
If we’re close enough, I might be able to zero in on whoever is giving instructions to Archie through the satellite relay.
It’s a frequency that isn’t commonly used, so if someone nearby is sending and receiving, I might be able to use my signal meter to find them.
Either way, I have to be there for any of this to work. ”
Kendra nodded. “I’m not sure what the situation will be on the ground, but we’ll get you as close as we can.”
“Thank you.”
“One question, Stevie . . .” She’d hated to bring this possibility up. “Even if you find Archie, what if you can’t control him? What then? We can’t stand by and let him hurt you.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Meaning what?”
“What I said.”
She couldn’t let her escape answering that question. “It will be difficult, but if there are no other options, are you prepared to help . . . destroy Archie?”
Stevie turned and looked outside the helicopter window for a long moment. “If it comes to that, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop him. I promise.”