Goliath

The crew holds on, their limbs shaking, their prayers, silent and whispered, reaching out to heaven as their ship descends toward hell.

“Eight hundred feet—” The Chief of the Watch stares at the depth gauge and holds on, the sweat pouring from his cherub pink face.

“Torpedoes, four hundred yards and closing—”

“Helm, prepare to launch noisemakers, prepare for emergency blow.”

“Conn, sonar, impact in twenty seconds—”

“Launch noisemakers now! Emergency blow, left full rudder, steady to course two-seven-zero, thirty-degree up angle on the—”

Commander Dennis yells, “Rig ship for explosion!”

The two torpedoes race past the Mark 2 torpedo decoys and detonate, the explosions rolling the Scranton as she turns, pushing her keel out from under her, the impact wave shaking her interior like a pickup truck bolting over a curb.

Darkness blankets the control room, pressurized air hissing into the space.

The reverberations cease. The battery picks up loads, emergency lights bathing the internal compartments in red. The crew’s racing pulses slow.

“This is the captain …” the voice calm, restoring faith. “All stations report.”

“Conn, maneuvering, we’ve got a leak in the primary coolant system. Scramming the reactor. We’re restricted to battery power until we can rise to periscope depth and start the emergency diesel.”

“How bad is the leak?”

“Appears to be contained to the discharge station in engine room forward, sir.”

“Sonar, conn, report.”

“Conn, sonar, Sierra-2’s torpedoes were vectored off by our countermeasures. No other contacts to report.”

“Where’s Sierra-2? What happened to our own torpedoes?”

A long pause. “I’m sorry, Captain, she outran them. Sierra-2’s gone.”

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”

—Dr. Albert Schweitzer

“I was proud to be Nixon’s son-of-a-bitch.”

—H. R. Haldeman, President Nixon’s chief of staff, who participated in the Watergate scandal

“From our first meeting I swore to follow you anywhere—even unto death. I live only for your love.”

—Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler’s mistress

CHAPTER 8

Naval Undersea Warfare Center

Keyport, Washington

Gunnar feeds his dollar bill into the slot, presses E-6, and watches the chocolate bar drop into the bin.

“Breakfast of champions, eh G-man?”

He turns, recognizing the voice.

David Paniagua is a bit stockier than he remembers, and clean-shaven, with the ponytail of his brown hair pulled through the back of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers cap. An old pair of jeans is visible beneath his white lab coat.

Smiling, David rears back and punches Gunnar hard on the shoulder. “That’s for disappearing on me after I went out of my way to pick you up at Leavenworth. I spent four months looking for you, you bastard.”

“I was in rehab.”

“Yeah, man, I know. You doing okay now? Still going to meetings?”

“Twice a week. How ’bout you? How’s the Navy been treating you?”

“Surprisingly good. I spent the first six months after Keyport working for Cybersword, our new Cyber Commando Force.”

“Patrolling the world’s digital lines of communication, huh? You must’ve been bored to tears.”

“Granted, it wasn’t the kind of challenge I was looking for, but it’s the first true interdepartmental organization in the DoD, and we don’t pussyfoot around. Cybersword takes an offensive approach to Internet attacks. I’ve unleashed some pretty nasty viruses on our enemies, believe you me.”

“Yeah? Have one in mind for Sorceress?”

“A doozy. Covah will never know what hit him. Come on, walk me to the briefing.”

They head down the corridor.

“So, what have you been doing lately?” Gunnar probes.

David smiles coyly. “You’ll know soon enough. First, talk to me about Covah. I seem to remember you guys being pretty tight.”

“So I thought.”

“What’s he like?”

“Don’t you know? He worked in your department.”

“We barely spoke. The guy spent most of his days in the bacteria chamber. I know he was brilliant, but his looks kind of freaked me out. But you guys ate lunch together almost every day.”