Goliath

“I agree,” Rocky says.

David grins. “That’s the beauty of the plan. We’re not going to attack the Goliath, we’re going to commandeer her. I’ve created a virus that can be downloaded using the acoustical array on board Gunnar’s minisub prototype. All Gunnar has to do is pilot the Hammerhead to within two-hundred yards of the Goliath and I’ll do the rest. The virus will allow me to temporarily shut down the Goliath’s engines and flood the hangar bay, giving our minisub enough time to board the ship. The flooded chamber will also isolate us from Covah and his men. Once inside, we’ll drain the hangar and download this into the nearest terminal.” David holds up a CD. “This override program will give us total control of the ship. We’ll dock her at the nearest U.S. port, and Covah will never know what hit him.”

“And what if your virus fails to take control of the Goliath,” asks Secretary Ayers.

“An underwater mine would do the job,” Gunnar says, turning to the Bear. “I can rig a plutonium 239 implosion mine. Pack it with about five pounds of plutonium, surrounded by twenty-five pounds of C-4 and a conventional detonator.” He looks at Secretary Ayers. “In essence, we’re talking about a backpack nuke—big blast, lots of heat and radiation, but everything confined, so there won’t be too much environmental damage. The surface of the mine is magnetic. Once we attach the mine to the Goliath’s hull and pull away, the internal fuses become active. That’ll gives us about five minutes to hightail it outta there.”

“A nice idea, but totally unnecessary,” David says. “The virus will work.”

“We’re not taking any chances,” General Jackson says, turning to Gunnar. “Requisition what you need to construct that mine.”

Ayers nods. “I agree. David, how soon until Colossus arrives at the designated rendevous point?”

“Two days.”

“I’m going, too,” states Rocky.

David shakes his head. “It’s not necessary, I only need Gunnar.”

“You may know the Colossus, David, but Goliath was my baby. What happens if you two make it aboard the ship and your little override program fails? If I’m aboard, then at least I can disable her engines.”

“The virus won’t fail.”

“And I say we can’t risk it.”

“Even if it does fail, we can use Gunnar’s mine to sink her.”

Rocky rolls her eyes. “Why destroy a 10-billion-dollar vessel if we don’t have to?”

Secretary Ayers mulls it over. “I don’t know … what’s your opinion, General?”

The Bear grimaces, unhappy with his daughter’s bravado. “Can the prototype even hold three people?”

Gunnar shrugs. “It’s only a two-seater.”

“So it’ll be a little cramped,” Rocky says. “I’m going.”

“Totally unnecessary,” David argues.

Gray Ayers holds up his palm, silencing the debate. “Commander Jackson makes a good point, David. We’ve lost an entire CVBG. If the virus fails, and there’s any chance we can salvage her—”

“But sir—”

“No buts, I’ve made up my mind. General, have Special Ops outfit all three of them. Wolfe, make a list of the materials you’ll need for this underwater mine of yours. All of you better get some rest. We leave for Faslane at 0300 hours.”

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow,”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I never killed a kid before. I wanted to see how it felt.”

—Stephen Nash, California drifter, who murdered a ten-year-old

“The hardest thing to understand is why we can understand anything at all.”

—Albert Einstein

“Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am.)

—René Descartes

“Whence this creation has risen—perhaps it formed itself or

perhaps it did not—the one who looks down on it, in the

highest heaven, only He knows—or perhaps

He does not know.”

-The Rig-Veda,

translated by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty

CHAPTER 9

Norwegian Sea

117 miles northeast of Iceland

Beneath an ominous sable sky, a harsh arctic wind drives the twelve-foot seas, crowning the inky crests with whitecaps. A rare warm front, the dying remnants of the hottest summer on record, whips across Canada and Greenland, the rising column of heated air stirring up the atmosphere, releasing rain from the saturated sky.

A crack of thunder echoes across the rolling sea like rifle shot.

A sudden plethora of bubbles bursts across the surface, followed moments later by the monstrous back of the gargantuan devilfish, its two scarlet eyes glaring at the foreboding heavens.