Goliath

Council, since my first visit to Beijing in February of 1979, I, along with other officials of the Tibetan government- inexile, have tried in vain to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Tibet with members of the Chinese government. On numerous occasions, the Dalai Lama himself has proposed peace plans to China, both directly and through public speeches. With each step forward we have taken, the Chinese government has pushed us two steps back.

“The Dalai Lama wants to make it very clear that he has no ties with Simon Covah, the terrorist whose brazen acts have forced us to meet here at this negotiating table. What has been made quite clear are the acceptable terms of Tibet’s independence, which will pave the way for the Dalai Lama’s return. The stall tactics now being practiced by members of the Chinese government serve no one and change nothing. The Dalai Lama refuses to travel to Beijing to discuss China’s claim of ownership of Tibet; nor is he interested in negotiating for the continued existence of Chinese nuclear weapons facilities in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama wants Tibet returned to Tibetans, and nothing short of our independence will be open for discussion.

“Esteemed members, the behavior of the Chinese government over these last sixty years has made it painfully obvious that the Communists have no interest in returning Tibet to the Tibetan people, not now, nor by this week’s imposed deadline. Therefore, I have been instructed by the Dalai Lama to leave these proceedings and not return until the Chinese government is ready and willing to sign off on Tibet’s independence, withdraw all military personnel from the region, and turn over all political prisoners. Should they fail to comply, as it appears is their intent, then whatever should happen within the next few days will be the consequence of their actions, not ours.”

Jackson mutes the sound as President Edwards nods to his Secretary of State. “Nick, inform General Jackson what’s happening behind the scenes.”

Nunziata removes his wire-framed glasses. “General, Beijing has decided to dig in their heels. President Li Peng and several hard-line Communist generals believe that giving in to Simon Covah’s demands now will only lead to future demands, such as the plight of Taiwan, or greater human rights for its own citizens. The Communists have decided to take a stand, knowing their whole regime may eventually fall.”

“Covah’s deadline is the day after tomorrow. What will Li Peng do?”

“The Chinese president has scheduled a public speech in Tiananmen Square for tomorrow morning. He’ll probably announce that the Chinese government has agreed in principle to Tibet’s independence, but the PLA will not withdraw until the Dalai Lama comes forward and personally negotiates the final terms of the agreement.”

“General, in your opinion, how will Covah respond?”

“He’ll launch another nuke, Mr. President,” Jackson says. “My guess is he’ll take out a major military installation, perhaps even China’s Northern Fleet.”

“But not Beijing?”

“It’s not Covah’s style,” CIA Director Pertic answers. “All negotiations still have to go through Beijing, and Covah doesn’t want to do anything to tarnish his image as a so-called Champion of the People.”

“We’ve pushed the Chinese as far as they’ll be pushed,” Nunziata adds. “It was difficult enough getting all parties to sign off on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Our insurgence in Cuba is being tolerated, but just barely. I think we need to back off on this one.”

“What about the attack on the Enterprise?” the vice president asks. “Will there be another reprisal on Covah’s part?”

“The bastard nearly sank the carrier,” Ayers states. “Isn’t that reprisal enough?”

An aide comes into view, handing the Secretary of the Navy a message. Ayers opens it. “It’s from one of our attack subs, the Scranton. They claim to be tracking the Goliath off the coast of South Africa.”

Jackson feels his heart palpate. “Sir, that can’t be. We’re over the North Sea, flying directly above the signal.”

“Who’s the Scranton’s captain?” Nunziata asks.

“Tom Cubit,” Ayers answers. “He’s a bit of a maverick, but most of the good ones are. Scranton’s the attack sub that engaged Goliath while the Typhoon was being attacked in the Norwegian Sea. If anyone knows what she sounds like, it’s Cubit.”

“If Scranton’s report is correct,” says the Secretary of Defense, “then Covah means to move the Goliath into a launch position somewhere in the Northern Indian Ocean.”

“The Scranton won’t be able to track Goliath for very long,” Ayers says. “If we’re going to make a move, we have to make it now.”

The president leans forward, his image taking up most of Jackson’s monitor. “General, we can’t afford to take a chance with this information. Keep one of the YAL’s assigned to Joe-Pa’s transmission. Redirect the remaining jumbo jet to the Indian Ocean.”

Bear reaches for the bottle of Pepto-Bismol.

Aboard Goliath 97 nautical miles due east of Durban, South Africa Indian Ocean

“David, this is … astounding, a dream come true. Sorceress, how would our interface be achieved?”

COMPATIBLE NEURAL NANOSENSORS AND NEUROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS MUST BE PLACED IN A PETRI DISH CONTAINING TROPHIC FACTORS TO INDUCE BRAIN TISSUE GROWTH AROUND THE IMPLANTS. NANOCIRCUITS WOULD THEN BE SURGICALLY IMPLANTED IN SIMON COVAH’S BRAIN, RECONNECTED TO SORCERESS THROUGH A MICROWIRE STRAND BUNDLE.

“Sorceress, to interface directly with the Homo sapiens brain requires the decoding of millions of neurons that make up the human spinal cord.”

DECODING OF HUMAN SPINAL CORD HAS BEEN COMPLETED.

“What? How—”

“Simon, does it really matter?”

Covah shoots David an incredulous look. “Only if I wish to survive the procedure!”

PROCEDURE YIELDS A 97.25 PERCENT SUCCESS RATE.

“Satisfied?” David rubs Covah’s shoulders. “Simon, we’re dealing with a computer, an intelligence, that functions at a hundred trillion times the capacity of the human brain. You could spend the next thousand years attempting to comprehend how it knows what it knows, but what good would it do? This is quantum engineering. Accept that it exists because it exists and benefit from it.”

Covah nods, his body trembling with adrenaline. “You’re right, of course. This is a gift, perhaps the very gift of life. It’s just that our knowledge of the human brain is so limited … Sorceress, analyze tissue samples 125 through 178. Can my … can this level of cancer be eradicated in time to save the patient?”

AFFIRMATIVE.

“Even a progression this advanced?”

AFFIRMATIVE. ALL GENETIC-BASED DISEASES AND DEFECTS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION CAN BE ERADICATED.

Simon Covah drops to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. “David, do you realize what this means? Sorceress is not only capable of stopping the violence, but its newfound knowledge could make it … the catalyst to a lasting world peace.”

“And save your life in the process.”

“Beyond that. With the knowledge Sorceress has acquired, scientists will be able to eradicate diseases in the womb. Birth defects will become a thing of the past. With a little DNA tinkering, future generations will not only live longer, but—”

“Simon—”

“But that’s … that’s only the tip of the genetics iceberg. This interface … all my life, I’ve pondered the debate of nature versus nurture, convinced the root of man’s violent tendencies is actually genetic in nature. A direct human-to-computer interface opens up a whole new world of understanding man’s brain, of dissecting our primordial history. If I’m right, then Sorceress could isolate the genes that cause violence