Goliath

Simon Covah looks up at Gunnar, a crooked smile plastered on his disfigured face, the upper right corner of his scarred mouth twitching from the effort. “Welcome aboard. It’s been a while.”

“You don’t look well, Simon. But then, I’m not used to seeing you from this angle.”

“Sorceress, lower Captain Wolfe, gently please.”

Gunnar drops, then is pivoted right-side up and released. Sorceress? The computer’s active …

Three of Covah’s men move in, aiming their guns at the former Ranger. Two Arabs search him thoroughly, removing his weapons and bulletproof skin.

David’s head pokes out from the minisub’s open hatch. “Is it safe?”

“It’s safe.” Covah greets him with a hug. “Well done, my friend. So good to see you.”

“You too.” David reaches into his satchel and removes several vials. “For you.”

“David, you fucking bastard—”

David looks up at Rocky, smiling nervously. “Sorry, Simon. I had no choice in bringing her.”

Covah ignores Rocky’s string of expletives, more interested in Gunnar. “Tell me, Gunnar, did you come all this way to kill me?”

“The thought had occurred to me.” He glances up at Rocky. “Would you mind?”

“Are you certain? From what David’s told me, she prefers you dead. I seem to remember the two of you always enjoying a love-hate relationship, but this—”

“Just lower her.”

“Of course. Sorceress, lower Commander Jackson … gently.”

In one fluid motion the massive appendage swivels and drops to the deck, easing Rocky to the floor. Two of Covah’s men push her to the rubberized decking and search her.

Covah holds his hands wide in front of Gunnar. “Before you cast final judgment, I only ask that you afford me a chance to explain.” He turns to his men. “Strip and search them both thoroughly, jettison every article of their clothing, then take them to their stateroom. Treat them as guests, but do not let your guard down.”

Taur Araujo, an ex-guerrilla leader from East Timor, points his gun in Rocky’s face. “Whatever you’re wearing, remove it … slowly.”

Covah glances upward at the scarlet sensor orb. “Sorceress, what is the status of the Colossus?”

SHIP IS DISABLED. CURRENT POSITION, SEAFLOOR, THREE POINT SIX KILOMETERS DUE NORTH.

David’s eyes widen in wonderment. “Anna’s voice?”

Covah nods. “I find it … comforting.”

“What did you do to the Colossus?” Rocky says, as her Special Ops clothing is pulled from her body.

“Gave her a little virus.” David answers, affording himself a quick look at Rocky’s naked physique. “By now her reactors should be overheating, her missile silos popping open.”

“Sorceress, take us to the Colossus,” Covah rasps. “Reflood the hangar the moment we leave and begin removing all of Colossus’s nuclear missiles.”

ACKNOWLEDGED.

Gunnar turns to Covah. “Don’t do it, Simon.”

“Please trust me, Gunnar, trust that my agenda is yours. You know, David and I went to great pains to bring you here. There’s so much I want to share with you, but there’s so little time. I have a plan, a plan that will justify all you’ve done and make up for all you’ve sacrificed.”

“You’re part of this,” accuses Rocky, “I knew it!”

Gunnar ignores her. “What are you going to do, Simon?”

Covah smiles. “My friend … we’re going to change the world.”

“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”

—John Donne

“Death comes to everyone. We must stand proud as Afghans in the defense of Islam.”

—Mullah Mohammed Omar, Leader of the Afghanistan Taliban, following the terrorist attacks on America

“I loved you too much … that was my problem … I loved you too much.”

—O.J. Simpson, star football player, known wife-beater, who was acquitted of murder addressing his ex-wife’s coffin at her funeral

“I wanted to make him thoroughly sick so that he would give me permission to divorce him.”

—Maria Groesbeek, a South African woman who killed her husband with insect poison

CHAPTER 12

Aboard the Colossus

General Jackson, Commander Lockhart, and two officers huddle inside the alcove, waiting their turn to use the forward escape trunk, a pressurized two-man chamber that can be flooded, allowing trapped submarines access to the sea.

“All right, Adams, Furman, up you go.”