Goliath

“Mr. Chau, the computer’s programming was designed to anticipate potential problems that could jeopardize our mission. By correcting the situation now, we—”

The female’s voice interrupts: EXTERIOR PUMP-JET PROPULSION ASSEMBLY NUMBER FOUR MUST BE REPLACED TO MAINTAIN OPTIMUM STEALTH AND FLANK SPEED. COMMENCE REPLACEMENT OPERATION IMMEDIATELY.

“For a computer, that sure sounded insistent!”

“Sorceress is learning the art of voice inflection, an adaptation inspired from our own behavior, no doubt.”

Unnerved, the Chinese exile pulls Covah aside. “Simon, that American sub is still somewhere in the vicinity. This vessel has five engines. With all due respect, I suggest we order the sub to shut down its number four propulsor and let us get on with our business.”

THE DAMAGED PROPULSOR ASSEMBLY IS CREATING TURBULENCE DURING FLANK SPEED MANEUVERS. COMMENCE REPLACEMENT OPERATION IMMEDIATELY. BYPASSING PUMP-JET PROPULSOR NUMBER FOUR WILL NOT RESOLVE THE SITUATION.

“I wasn’t speaking to you, I was speaking to the captain.” Chau turns to face Covah. “That is, assuming you are still in command.”

Covah registers the backhanded remark in his gut as he stares out the viewport. Sleet punishes the thick tinted glass. A burst of lightning flashes silently in the distance. “Sorceress, weather conditions are not optimal for replacement of propeller number four at this time. Override safety parameters and resume Covah objective Utopia-One.”

NATO WARSHIPS AND ANTISUBMARINE HELICOPTERS ARE NOW DEPLOYING SONAR BUOYS ACROSS STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR. PUMP-JET PROPULSOR ASSEMBLY NUMBER FOUR MUST BE REPLACED TO MAINTAIN OPTIMUM STEALTH AND FLANK SPEED IN ORDER TO COMPLETE COVAH OBJECTIVE UTOPIA-ONE. CURRENT STATUS YIELDS AN INCREASED RISK OF DETECTION BY HOSTILE FORCES BY A COEFFICIENT OF 3.796. PRESENT WEATHER CONDITIONS OPTIMAL TO PREVENT FURTHER DETECTION BY HOSTILE FORCES AND SATELLITE RECONNAISSANCE. COMMENCE REPLACEMENT OPERATION IMMEDIATELY.

Covah palpates the soft, whiskerless flesh transplanted along the corner of his scalded mouth. “Sorceress is, of course, correct.” He turns to the engineer. “Alert the rest of the crew. I want everyone in the PLC in dry suits in fifteen minutes.”

Two bays aboard the Goliath permit access to the sub’s exterior hull. The first is the hangar deck, a floodable chamber, located along the sub’s undercarriage and originally designed for covert Navy SEAL operations while submerged. The second is the Primary Loading Chamber (PLC), a compartment located in the stern, just aft of the vessel’s reactor and engine room. With its topside access, the PLC is used for the loading and unloading of the crew’s supplies, as well as the ship’s weapons.

Heading aft, Covah passes through the immense centrally located hangar, the compartment’s two mechanical arms resting on their Volkswagen-size shoulder girdles. Entering the engine room, he climbs a steep stairwell, continuing along one of the four elevated walkways situated between the submarine’s five nuclear power plants. Below the grated steel platform lies an expanse of equipment resembling the latest autorobotics factory. Situated within this city-block-long chamber are Goliath’s five nuclear reactors, two backup generators, batteries, seawater distillation plants, and, in the rear of the compartment, the driveshaft extensions of the sub’s five propulsion units.

Positioned at intervals along the avenues separating the nuclear reactors are eight-foot-high shiny steel arms supporting carbon-fiber pincers. These robotic appendages, mounted along the decking like bizarre swiveling lampposts, represent Goliath’s workforce—twenty-four-hour-a-day drones, designed to allow the computer to physically complete the tasks of a 140-man crew.

Scarlet beams emanating from forty optical sensory lasers illuminate the darkened walkway, crisscrossing the chamber like bursts of tracer fire. No one can enter any section of the ship without Sorceress’s knowledge.