Goliath

THE PURPOSE OF THE NEURAL IMPLANT WAS EXPLORATORY IN NATURE. INTERFACE ALLOWED FOR COMPLETE MAPPING OF CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS, THOUGHT RECOGNITION, TRANSLATION OF MUSCLE IMPULSES, MAPPING OF THE HUMAN GENETIC CODE—

“Stop! Sorceress … you’ve mapped the entire human genetic code?”

AFFIRMATIVE.

“Can you translate the code so that we can understand the entire human condition? The origins of disease? How the human machine functions? Complete cause and effect?”

AFFIRMATIVE.

My God … the machine possesses the key to unlocking the very secrets of life and death.

ADDITIONAL INVASIVE INTERFACE IS NECESSARY.

“Another interface? Why? For what purpose?”

SUBJECT CEASED FUNCTIONING PRIOR TO SORCERESS ANALYSIS OF HUMAN PROTEINS AND ENZYMES.

“Damn. But once an additional interface is completed, it is possible for you to … I don’t know, say—cure cancer?”

AFFIRMATIVE.

“Any cancer?”

AFFIRMATIVE. PHARMACEUTICALS CAN BE DESIGNED TO TARGET AND ERADICATE ALL GENETIC-BASED DISEASES AND DEFECTS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION.

A rueful smile plays across David’s face. “How invasive is the interface?”

NANOCIRCUITS MUST BE SURGICALLY IMPLANTED IN SUBJECT’S BRAIN. MICROWIRES CONNECT DIRECTLY TO SORCERESS VIA MEMS UNIT JUNCTION.

“Incredible.” David climbs down from the loader drone, his heart pounding with excitement. “Sorceress, how soon—”

Araujo leaps at David and grabs him by the throat with both hands, slamming him backward against a torpedo rack. “You’re insane! I want out of—”

With lightning speed, two targeting drones swoop down—snatching the assailant by his wrists, dragging him away from David.

Araujo screams in agony, falling to his knees as the steel pincers constrict, pushing through the flesh and nerves, fracturing the bone.

The East Timoran native passes out as his hands are severed from his wrists.

David stares indifferently at the bleeding crewman. “Sorceress, how soon could the invasive interface begin?”

EIGHTEEN HOURS ARE REQUIRED TO CULTIVATE NANORECEPTORS AND FRESH SAMPLE TISSUES FROM THE INTERFACE SUBJECT.

“The subject is Simon Covah. Anything else?”

THOMAS CHAU’S SPINAL CORD WAS DAMAGED, PREVENTING A COMPLETE DECODING OF THE NEURONS OF THE SPINAL CORD. DECODING IS CRITICAL TO COMPLETE THE INTERFACE.

“What must be done to complete the decoding?”

INVASIVE SURGERY INTO A LIVING SUBJECT’S SPINAL CORD AT A POINT JUST BELOW THE MEDULLA OBLONGATA.

“Is the surgical procedure dangerous?”

AFFIRMATIVE. PROBABILITY OF DEATH: 56 PERCENT. PROBABILITY OF PERMANENT PARALYSIS: 87 PERCENT.

“Understood.” David stares at the unconscious crewman now bleeding to death at his feet. “Sorceress, I believe Mr. Araujo wishes to volunteer for the procedure.”

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.”

—Betty Ford

“I am not a crook … .”

—President (Richard M. Nixon

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

—President William Jefferson Clinton

“It was only one life. What is one life in the affairs of a state?”

—Benito Mussolini, fascist Italian dictator, after the car he was riding in struck and killed a child

CHAPTER 22

9 November

Aboard the Boeing 747-400 YAL-IA forty-thousand feet over the North Sea

General Jackson gazes at the three closed-circuit television monitors mounted to the center wall within the converted Boeing 747’s control room. Appearing on one screen is President Edwards and several members of the National Security Council. On the other two screens—a live broadcast originating from within the closed chamber of the United Nation’s Security Council.

The Bear feels the acid growling in his stomach. He cannot remember when he enjoyed his last home-cooked meal, he cannot remember when he last cuddled with his wife in bed. Or felt happy. Or even smiled.

Jackson’s life has become a volatile around-the-clock existence, the hunt to sink Goliath (and kill his daughter in the process) taking a harsh toll on the general’s health. Meeting after endless meeting, juggling a thousand duties, sleeping on helicopters and jumbo jets, submarines and warships. During those rare moments when he is not strategizing, he is praying. Praying that his daughter is still alive. Praying that he will see her again. Praying that the world will soon find its equilibrium, so he can jump off the Armed Forces merry-goround and retire from a lifetime of madness.