Jackson feels his heart palpate. “Sir, that can’t be. We’re over the North Sea, flying directly above the signal.”
“Who’s the Scranton’s captain?” Nunziata asks.
“Tom Cubit,” Ayers answers. “He’s a bit of a maverick, but most of the good ones are. Scranton’s the attack sub that engaged Goliath while the Typhoon was being attacked in the Norwegian Sea. If anyone knows what she sounds like, it’s Cubit.”
“If Scranton’s report is correct,” says the Secretary of Defense, “then Covah means to move the Goliath into a launch position somewhere in the Northern Indian Ocean.”
“The Scranton won’t be able to track Goliath for very long,” Ayers says. “If we’re going to make a move, we have to make it now.”
The president leans forward, his image taking up most of Jackson’s monitor. “General, we can’t afford to take a chance with this information. Keep one of the YAL’s assigned to Joe-Pa’s transmission. Redirect the remaining jumbo jet to the Indian Ocean.”
Bear reaches for the bottle of Pepto-Bismol.
Aboard Goliath 97 nautical miles due east of Durban, South Africa Indian Ocean
“David, this is … astounding, a dream come true. Sorceress, how would our interface be achieved?”
COMPATIBLE NEURAL NANOSENSORS AND NEUROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS MUST BE PLACED IN A PETRI DISH CONTAINING TROPHIC FACTORS TO INDUCE BRAIN TISSUE GROWTH AROUND THE IMPLANTS. NANOCIRCUITS WOULD THEN BE SURGICALLY IMPLANTED IN SIMON COVAH’S BRAIN, RECONNECTED TO SORCERESS THROUGH A MICROWIRE STRAND BUNDLE.
“Sorceress, to interface directly with the Homo sapiens brain requires the decoding of millions of neurons that make up the human spinal cord.”
DECODING OF HUMAN SPINAL CORD HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
“What? How—”
“Simon, does it really matter?”
Covah shoots David an incredulous look. “Only if I wish to survive the procedure!”
PROCEDURE YIELDS A 97.25 PERCENT SUCCESS RATE.
“Satisfied?” David rubs Covah’s shoulders. “Simon, we’re dealing with a computer, an intelligence, that functions at a hundred trillion times the capacity of the human brain. You could spend the next thousand years attempting to comprehend how it knows what it knows, but what good would it do? This is quantum engineering. Accept that it exists because it exists and benefit from it.”
Covah nods, his body trembling with adrenaline. “You’re right, of course. This is a gift, perhaps the very gift of life. It’s just that our knowledge of the human brain is so limited … Sorceress, analyze tissue samples 125 through 178. Can my … can this level of cancer be eradicated in time to save the patient?”
AFFIRMATIVE.
“Even a progression this advanced?”
AFFIRMATIVE. ALL GENETIC-BASED DISEASES AND DEFECTS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION CAN BE ERADICATED.
Simon Covah drops to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. “David, do you realize what this means? Sorceress is not only capable of stopping the violence, but its newfound knowledge could make it … the catalyst to a lasting world peace.”
“And save your life in the process.”
“Beyond that. With the knowledge Sorceress has acquired, scientists will be able to eradicate diseases in the womb. Birth defects will become a thing of the past. With a little DNA tinkering, future generations will not only live longer, but—”
“Simon—”
“But that’s … that’s only the tip of the genetics iceberg. This interface … all my life, I’ve pondered the debate of nature versus nurture, convinced the root of man’s violent tendencies is actually genetic in nature. A direct human-to-computer interface opens up a whole new world of understanding man’s brain, of dissecting our primordial history. If I’m right, then Sorceress could isolate the genes that cause violence among our species … perhaps even tell us how to eradicate them from our genetic code.”
“A gene that causes violence? Come on, Simon—”
“Don’t laugh at me!” Covah paces, his sudden anger causing his chemoweakened body to quiver. “You don’t know … you haven’t a clue about this sort of thing! The human brain consists of several layers, reflecting the evolution of our species. My team in Toronto performed physiological tests on overly aggressive, antisocial boys. We found their violent tendencies to be attributable to low levels of cortisol, a stress hormone released in response to fear. Children lacking sufficient levels of cortisol were committing violent acts before the age of ten. Think about it and it makes perfect sense. Modern man’s genetic programming originates from our primal ancestors. Morality is not inherited, it is a learned behavior, while violence—the law of the jungle—is encoded into our DNA. What if the lack of cortisol, or another hormone like it, has affected our moral compass? What if this is the reason one individual can commit atrocities against another without a second’s thought?”
“Simon—”
“This is the question I’ve sought answers to for decades, ever since those Serbian animals butchered my wife and daughters, ever since they set fire to me and left me for dead. The violence never bothered them, David, it seemed to … it seemed to intoxicate them. Can’t you see why this is so important to me? Can’t you see?”
David rests his hands on Covah’s shoulders. “I understand, Simon. And I want you to know that I’m here for you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Thank you.” Covah takes several shallow breaths, exhausted. “There’s so much to do, so much preparation. just before the surgical procedure, I’ll turn over control of the ship to you. You’ll be in charge of our mission. Are you up for it?”
“More than you know.”
“Good, good. Wait, what about the crew? What should we tell them?”
“Let me handle that. You need to prepare for surgery.”
“Yes, better you handle is …” The pale blue eyes twitch as Covah mentally reviews his to-do list. “I’ve already preprogrammed Utopia-One into Sorceress’s matrix. When the time comes, instruct the computer to disengage Utopia-One: Response Beta.”
“And if the Chinese refuse to release Tibet? What city have you instructed Sorceress to fire upon?”
“There are seven Chinese targets, all weapons facilities, one located in each of the country’s military zones. Six of them will be destroyed using Tomahawks. The seventh, the submarine base in Quingdao, will be hit with a nuclear warhead. Each population will be warned twelve hours prior to launch. After our example on Baghdad, civilian casualties should be light.”
“Destroying a few military installations isn’t going to change anything, Simon. The Chinese people want democracy, it’s the hard-line Communists who won’t let go. We need to strike at the heart of China—Beijing!”
“No, out of the question. A strike against Beijing will create a backlash, it will alter the perception of our own movement.”
“You’re right, of course. Forgive me. I’m just excited, you know, about finding a cure for your cancer.”
“Understandable.” Covah returns to his list. Suddenly remembers. “David, were you able to complete a thorough diagnostic on Sorceress’s plasmid DNA strands?”
David smiles. “No worries, everything’s normal. Turned out to be a short in the computer’s auditory feed, just like I said.”