Nancy had listened silently, her expression blank.
Melamid studied her for a moment. “Alexandra betrayed me.” He glanced from Nancy back to his empty glass. “Not your fault, little girl, but what is, is. Nothing can change the past.”
“I thought you might say that,” Smith said.
“I understand,” Nancy said to her father.
Melamid raised an eyebrow. “What is she talking about?”
“Remember those nuclear devices the SVR placed in the United States in the sixties?” Smith asked.
“I don’t remember such a thing—”
“Now, now, Vasilii, don’t bother denying it. I suspect there’s two or three. They’re still in place, aren’t they?”
“Insurance,” Melamid said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I made sure they were never used. Why bring up the past?”
Smith shrugged. “Speaking of the past, remember the Davy Crockett?”
“Nuclear artillery?” Melamid asked. His face reddened. “You lie. You decommissioned them.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Smith said with a smile. “I had dozens of them smuggled into Russia.”
“You wouldn’t,” Melamid spat out.
“They’ve been underneath your nose for almost forty years,” Smith said. “They only need activation. They don’t have much yield, but the radioactive fallout would kill millions.”
“Bah,” Melamid said. “We made agreement. You would never do such a thing.”
“I have Alzheimer’s,” Smith said.
A multitude of expressions played across Melamid’s face. “That is why you introduced me to your replacement.”
“Yes,” Smith admitted. “I don’t know how much time I have left. It is imperative that I reunite Nancy with her mother.”
“It doesn’t change facts,” Melamid said. “We worked to keep the world from ending. You would not give up that. Not even for Alexandra.”
Smith nodded sadly. “Doing such a thing is insane. As you say, I could not do such a thing. Not even for Alex. That is why I gave the activation codes to Nancy.”
“You gave codes to little girl?” Melamid said slowly. “What is she—?”
“I have them,” Nancy said, “and I have no compunctions about using them.” She leaned forward in her chair. “You will help me find my mother.” Melamid shook his head and started to speak, but Nancy interrupted him. “I won’t activate the nukes immediately.”
She smiled, but her eyes were cold. “I will have you taken, Vasilii Melamid, my mother’s oldest friend. I’ll strap you to a chair, someplace far away, where no one can hear your screams. I’ll take a knife, one that’s not too big and not too small, and I will start cutting pieces from you.”
Nancy took a glass from the table and filled it with water from a pitcher on the table. She drank it in long, slow swallows and then continued, “First, I will remove your toes, one by one, and then your fingers. I will slice through the tendons and ligaments while you beg for mercy. When I have removed your fingers and toes, I will slice your testicles and penis from your body. I will hold them up for you to see, and just to make sure you don’t close your eyes in horror, I will cut your eyelids from your face. To silence you, I will remove your tongue. When I’m done with that, I will cut off your ears.”
Vasilii started, “Little girl—”
Nancy held up her hand. “I won’t feel guilt, or remorse, Vasilii Melamid. In fact, I won’t feel anything, except, perhaps, for an orgasm. The pleasure centers of my brain light up when killing a man. I’m not proud of it. Nor am I ashamed. It simply is. Then, when I have cut those things from your body, I will start with an ice pick.”
Melamid’s mouth opened and closed.
“How many times can I stab you before your heart gives out in shock?” Nancy asked. “One hundred? One thousand? Each man is different. Some die almost immediately, like their will to live has been snuffed out. Some hang on, just… enduring. Make no mistake, though, you will die in agony. Only then will I activate the nukes. I will start World War III. I will ensure the death of every living thing until this world is ash and cinder. My father would never do such a thing, because he is a rational man. I am… not.”
Melamid’s face had gone white, and when Nancy finished, he licked his lips. “I… see. Leave us, little girl. I speak with your father now.”
Nancy shrugged, but her dead eyes never left the old Russian. “As you wish, my mother’s oldest friend.”
Smith watched Melamid carefully, and when Nancy closed the door as she left, the old Russian sagged back in his chair. “Do you understand?” Smith asked.
“The girl must be reunited with her mother,” Melamid said softly. “Now I understand.”
“You’ve made her this way,” Smith said. “Just as surely as I did.”
“I had no idea,” Melamid said. “She is so like Alexandra, but she is also not like Alexandra.” He shivered. “She would do those things?”
“What do you think?”
“I think the girl’s mind has been damaged. Even if I convince them that Alexandra is dead, it may be… too late for her.”
“We have to try, Vasilii.”
The old Russian nodded. After a moment, he asked, “You really have this Alzheimer’s?”
“It’s not a ruse,” Smith said. “Nancy belongs to my organization. She has access to information, and the means to act upon it. I’m afraid of what she might do after I’m gone. Perhaps Alexandra can help.”
“What about the young man?” Melamid asked. “Wise. He seems capable.”
Smith shook his head. “Eric is capable, but Nancy is her mother’s daughter. Imagine Alexandra, with all her skills and strengths, but no morality.”
“You gave her access to nuclear devices,” Melamid accused. “You knew this, and still you gave her access—”
“This is my final game,” Smith said. “I’m putting it all on the line.”
Vasilii’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. You are.”
“You better be convincing when you tell them that Alex is dead,” Smith said. “For the world’s sake. Or she will burn it down.”
Stray hairs had pulled loose from Patrick’s ponytail, and dark bags under his eyes made him look older than twenty-seven. Lila wanted to question him, but she knew he would just accuse her of mothering him. Instead, she said, “I’ve found something.”
He smiled, and his eyes regained some of their twinkle. “I knew you could do it.”
“It’s not much,” she said, “but I think you are right. The US government is involved.”
She explained how the hospital server had been wiped as she’d tried to download the medical records, and how she was unable to trace the connection.
Patrick sighed. “That’s… not helpful.”
“Sure. That’s not.”
His eyes widened. “You found something else.”
“You love me, don’t you?”
“Of course. You’re the smartest girl in the world, darling.”
“And I can out-hack you without even trying?”
“You can,” he acknowledged. “You do. You always will.”
“Never forget that,” she said.
“You’re a great hacker, Lila. That’s part of why I love you.”
Her cheeks grew warm. Phone sex and Skype sex did little to take the edge off. She longed for him to hold her and to be inside her again. “When I show you this, you’re going to freak. Promise me you’ll come see me.”