Goliath

“Taur Araujo, I presume. Looks like Sorceress did a little exploratory on him, too.”

“Let him go!”

Gunnar and David turn to see the older Albanian, Tafili, standing in the entrance. The physician cups one hand over his nose from the stench, the other points a gun at Gunnar’s chest. “I said, let him go.”

Gunnar swings David around, using him as a shield—

—momentarily lowering the fork from David’s throat.

The steel appendage swings down from the ceiling and blindsides him, the impact igniting a silver flare in his head.

The spinning ceiling fuses into blackness. Gunnar collapses to the deck.

David kicks the fork away in disgust. “What the hell happened to his collar?”

Tafili enters the compartment. “David, what is all this? You said Araujo killed Thomas. You said their bodies—”

“Lower the gun, and I’ll explain everything.”

“No. Explain first.”

A flash of steel above the Albanian’s head catches his eye.

Tafili looks up—too late—as the targeting drone extends its screwdrivershaped finger down through the old man’s heart, punching clear through to the other side.

“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.”

—Ben Stein

“All we wanted was an all-female lab.“

—Joyce Lisa Cummings, who murdered a male coworker in an optometry lab

“I don’t dislike Scotty. I just want to be able to do whatever I want in my own home, and I don’t particularly enjoy keeping doors shut and keeping fully dressed all the time.”

—Stephanie Baker, Kentucky woman, after strangling her ten-year-old stepson

CHAPTER 26

Aboard the Goliath

The pains in his shoulders and wrists force Gunnar awake. He takes a deep breath, gagging at the stench as he opens his eyes to a throbbing headache.

Starboard weapons bay. He is dangling from the ceiling like a piece of meat, his arms stretched out painfully above his head, a sharp steel vise gripping him around each wrist.

David is below and to his right. The physician’s body lies on the deck directly beneath him, the old man’s face contorted in death.

“I see your child’s killed again,” Gunnar whispers.

“The pot calling the kettle black. How many lives have you stolen in the course of duty, Ranger Wolfe?”

“Too many, but never in cold blood, never without provocation. Your freethinking machine is taking action without any sense of morality. Of course, it’s learning from the best. Tell me, David, how did it feel to wipe Communism off the face of the map?”

David grins. “Honestly, I felt like a fucking god. Think of it, Gunnar, in the blink of an eye, I eradicated a tyrannical government that has been stifling the rights of a billion people for sixty years.”

“You murdered millions.”

“And purged the oppression from a billion! Would any Jew hesitate to make the same choice if it meant annihilating Hitler and his Nazi regime? Would any Christian hasten the downfall of the Roman Empire if he could travel back in time? The Tibetans, the Chinese? The Aztecs, the Spanish? For a brief, shining moment in human history, one man—one machine—had the opportunity to slaughter a pack of wolves, and we did it … I did it!”

WARNING: LOS ANGELES—CLASS ATTACK SUBMARINE HAS BEEN DETECTED. THE AMERICAN WARSHIP HAS MOVED TO WITHIN THIRTY NAUTICAL MILES OF THE GOLIATH.

“Is the vessel moving to intercept?”

NEGATIVE.

“Should we destroy it?

NEGATIVE. TORPEDO INVENTORY HAS BEEN REDUCED TO NINE MK-48 ADCAPS AND THREE CHINESE SET—53s. THE AMERICAN ATTACK SUBMARINE’S MAXIMUM SPEED IS THIRTY-THREE KNOTS. THE AMERICAN ATTACK SUBMARINE IS NOT A THREAT. THERE ARE NO OTHER WARSHIPS IN THE AREA.

“Pretty quick to give the kill order, aren’t you, David?”

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to complete the mission.”

“Does that include killing Simon?”

“For your information, Simon’s fulfilling his life’s dream.” David turns away, the room suddenly spinning. “God, I can’t stand the stench in here! Sorceress, dispose of these bodies. I’m tired of Chau’s corpse hanging around like some life-size Catholic ornament.” David staggers toward the exit, holding his nose. “And do not allow Gunnar Wolfe to leave the weapons bay alive.”