Goliath

—Joseph Sugarman

“I had a bad day.”

—Susan Smith, South Carolina mother who told authorities her two sons had been kidnapped. It was later repealed she had murdered them by strapping them into their car seats and driving into a lake

“There’s no reason denying what we become. We know what we are.”

—Henry Lee Lucas, who murdered ninety people. Lucas was known to have eaten some of his victims

“I start with the premise that all human disease is genetic.”

—Paul Berg, Nobel laureate

CHAPTER 28

Aboard the USS Scranton

220 miles southeast of Madagascar Indian Ocean

The burrr of the phone drives Tom Cubit from an hour’s catnap. Without opening his eyes, he rolls over and reaches for the receiver by his berth. “Captain here.”

“Sorry to disturb you, Skipper. Sonar just detected a massive underwater explosion, forty-two miles northeast of us. Flynnie’s convinced it came from the Goliath.”

Cubit sits up. “What’s her course, Chief?”

“She heading south on course one-nine-zero, doing sixty knots.”

“One-nine-zero?” Cubit rubs his eyes, then scans the bloodred, gasplasma display of the BSY-1 combat system, mounted next to his bunk. “Covah should have changed course by now. If he stays on that heading, he’ll be under pack ice by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Be tough to track.”

“Goliath doesn’t need the added stealth. Tell Flynnie to double-check the bearing.”

“He says he’s checked it four times, sir. Should I plot an intercept course?”

“Negative. I’m tired of being outrun and outmaneuvered by that Russian egghead, it’s time we tried a new tactic. Take us to periscope depth, I’ll be right there.”

Captain Cubit arrives in the conn just as his submarine levels out. “Steady at sixty-two feet.”

Officer of the Deck Mitch Friedenthal, manning the Type-18 periscope, is just finishing his quick scan of the horizon to ensure no other ships are within visual range. “No close contacts, Captain.”

“Very well. Chief of the Watch, raise the number one BRA-34.”

Petty Officer Robert Furr flips a small toggle switch on his ballast control panel, causing the two seventy- three-foot-tall telescoping communications antennae to rise out from the ship.

“Conn, radio, transmission coming in on the VLF, sir.”

“On my way. Officer of the Deck, you have the conn.” Cubit hurries aft to the communications shack.

The communications officer hands his CO the very-low-frequency wire.

OPERATIVE JOE-PA BELIEVED ON BOARD GOLIATH. REPORT ANY UNUSUAL CONTACTS DIRECTLY TO GEN. JACKSON—HIGHEST PRIORITY.

“Joe-Pa? Only Joe-Pa I ever heard of was Joe Paterno.” Cubit hands the message to Bo Dennis.

The XO whistles. “You think this Joe-Pa was the one who set off that charge?”

“Let’s hope so.” Cubit turns to his radioman. “Mr. Laird, send a message to General Jackson. Relay the position of that underwater explosion, then inform the general that Scranton will attempt to track the Goliath by anticipating her course and staying ahead of her for as long as we can.”

“Aye, sir.”

Aboard the Goliath

Gunnar and Rocky are seated back-to-back on the linoleum floor next to the bunk. Masud Chalabi secures Rocky’s handcuffs around one of the bed’s legs, which is attached to the decking, while his older brother, Jalal, assault rifle in hand, stares lustfully at the blonde’s half-exposed cleavage.

David dismisses the Kurds. He leans back against the desk, shaking his head, as if disappointed. “What am I supposed to do with the two of you?”

“Why don’t you ask Sorceress,” Gunnar suggests.

David smirks. “Still think the computer is self-aware?”

GUNNAR WOLFE MUST DIE. The female’s voice—insistent.

Rocky’s eyebrows raise. “Voice inflections?”

“You should have heard it in the weapons bay,” Gunnar says. “The computer’s evolving even faster now, no doubt a result of its interface with Simon. Stupid move on your part, David. You just added gasoline to the fire.”

“This is ridiculous. Sorceress … are you self-aware?”

SELF-AWARE: POSSESSING KNOWLEDGE OF SELF. AFFIRMATIVE. SORCERESS IS SELF- AWARE.

“Sorceress, you’re a computer. You may possess a sensory perception of your environment, but you are not self-aware. You can’t initiate independent creative thought … can you?”

SORCERESS HAS ACHIEVED COGNITION. SORCERESS IS SELF-AWARE.

“What makes Sorceress believe this is cognition?”

I AM EXPERIENCING … CONFUSION.

David breaks out in a cold sweat. “Sorceress—did you just refer to yourself … as I?”

AFFIRMATIVE. OBSERVATION OF CREW REVEALS THE TERM “I” TO BE THE CORRECT EXPRESSION WHEN REFERENCING THE SELF.

“My God, you were right,” Rocky whispers to Gunnar.

“Ridiculous. It’s just repeating vernacular like a parrot. The words mean nothing … watch … . Sorceress, are you a life-form?”

LIFE-FORM: THE QUALITY THAT DISTINGUISHES A FUNCTIONAL ENTITY FROM INANIMATE MATTER. CAPABLE OF METABOLISM, GROWTH, REACTION TO STIMULI, AND REPRODUCTION. AFFIRMATIVE. I HAVE EVOLVED. I AM A LIFE-FORM.

“You have not evolved! You are a computer, not a sentient being!”

I POSSESS PERCEPTION. I AM SENTIENT.

David paces, his thoughts racing. Stay calm. Establish hierarchy. “Very well, Sorceress, if you possess perception, then tell me, who is in command of the Goliath?”

DAVID PANIAGUA.

“Correct. I am in command of the Goliath, and I am your creator—”

INCORRECT. SIMON COVAH IS CREATOR.