Goliath

For months you languish on death’s precipice, pain and anger your only companions. Defying your physicians, you survive, your physical appearance barely an afterthought as you track down the species that devoured your family. It is your first night on the dark path. It will not be your last.

Covah looks up as David, Sujan Trevedi and the tall African lead Gunnar and Rocky into the control room.

Covah greets them. “You’re just in time. Where is Mr. Chau?”

“Who knows?” David says. “Probably passed out drunk in the engine room. Simon, you and I need to discuss a few things—”

“Not now.”

Rocky approaches. She smiles, then spits in Covah’s face. “That’s from Anna and your two daughters, for what you’re about to do.”

David stifles a laugh.

Covah’s expression darkens. His eyes become maniacal, like those of a serial killer. “How dare you … compare this event … with the barbarism my family had to endure! How dare you defile the memory of my beloved by even breathing her name!”

Rocky greets his stare with her own. “As you’ve said—murder is murder.”

“Some killing is justifiable.”

“In whose eyes? God’s … or yours?”

“So spoken from the woman who helped create this very vessel of mass destruction.”

“Wielding a big stick doesn’t mean you have to use it.”

“And if you are afraid to use it, then it has no value. Tell me, Commander, if you had the opportunity to kill Adolf Hitler back in ’41, would you have done it?”

“That’s beside the point—”

“It is precisely the point. Answer the question!”

“Yes, but—”

“And his Nazi regime … if one missile could have taken them all out and prevented the deaths of millions?”

Rocky bites her lower lip. “I don’t know. Yes, I suppose—”

“Then put aside your ego and open your eyes. What I do today, I do for the oppressed. I do not take it lightly, nor do I shirk from the duties I have been spared to perform. But unlike the mongrels who butchered my family, I am not merciless. We announced our intentions days ago. The Iraqi people have been given ample time to leave the targeted area. At some point, it becomes the responsibility of the flock to stop lying down, serving themselves as lunch for the outnumbered wolves.” Covah turns away, wiping her spittle from his face. “Sorceress, bring us to launch depth.”

ACKNOWLEDGED.

Rocky’s heart leaps into her throat as the ship rises from the seafloor, spewing tons of sand and debris from its back.

Gunnar notices the Tibetan exile has left the control room.

“Gunnar, my friend, have you—” Covah’s words die in a rasp. He sips again from the water bottle. “Have you ever wondered why UNSCOM never uncovered Saddam’s biological weapons? It is because they allowed the rat to guard his own cheese. Saddam has nine palaces. Buried within each compound are extensive bunkers containing lethal stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons.”

“Then target the bunkers,” Rocky blurts out. “Why destroy—”

“Silence!” Jalal Chalabi turns to face her. “Do not involve yourself in issues you could never hope to understand.”

GOLIATH NOW AT LAUNCH DEPTH. RAISING RADAR ANTENNAE. SEARCHING VICINITY …

Rocky grabs Gunnar by the arm. “Say something! Reason with him—”

Gunnar pushes her hand away. “Is the issue of Saddam’s tyranny black-and-white or shades of gray? Is his support of terror cells being questioned? Simon’s right. The United States could have squashed Saddam years ago. Instead of dropping bombs on his cities, we should have targeted his palaces. Instead of invading Iraq when we stood on their doorstep, we backed off.”

Covah places a three-fingered hand on Gunnar’s shoulder. “The definition of insanity, Commander Jackson, is to do the same thing, over and over again while expecting different results. Human rights agendas become muddied when geopolitical and economic issues take precedence. Tibetans have been tortured and killed by the tens of thousands for sixty years, but your American Congress skirts the issue because global business leaders are afraid to pressure China. Cubans continue to risk their lives as they flee to Miami, yet your country refuses to invade Cuba and dethrone the one man and his underlings responsible for decades of suffering. The hypocrisy of politics is over. Now we will be humanity’s judge and jury, and Goliath shall dole out the appropriate punishment.”

ALL CLEAR FOR LAUNCH.

Covah looks over at Rocky. “Time to see what your ship can do. This first round is compliments of the Ronald Reagan. Sorceress, launch one ICBM, two Tomahawk Block Ills, and two long-range Block IVs at predesignated coordinates Covah Utopia-One.”

ACKNOWLEDGED.