must be Freedom’s Guardians.
The Tower of Babel has been destroyed. Now it is time to rebuild.
What rises in its place must stand as a symbol of our unity.
One species. Under God. Indivisible.
With Liberty and Justice for all.
—Simon Bela Covah
State College, Pennsylvania
Still entrenched in the long, grayness of winter, the campus of Penn State University sleeps beneath a fresh blanket of March snow.
Gunnar and Rocky exit the Penn State Diner, joining the students and townspeople sloshing their way down College Avenue.
“You sure you feel like walking?” Rocky asks. “Your leg has to be getting pretty sore.”
“It needs the exercise.” He switches his cane to the other hand and pulls her closer, leaning on her. “You sure you want to marry me?”
“I’m getting there.” She kisses him, then bites playfully on his lower lip. “Come on, gimp, I need a few things at the Quickie Mart.”
They enter the corner convenience store. Rocky heads down an aisle, leaving Gunnar to peruse the highlights of the morning paper.
GOLIATH SIGHTED OFF THE COAST OF FRANCE
(AP) Normandy: Hundreds of shocked spectators lined the beaches and cliff faces along Normandy as the freedom ship, Goliath, made its first public appearance since the signing of the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty two days ago. The submarine, responsible for the deaths of four million, two hundred thousand people, circled twice to a standing ovation before disappearing into the depths.
KOSOVO CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE
(UPI) Ethnic Albanians rejoiced yesterday in celebration of Kosovo’s newfound independence, one of the demands made in the Declaration of Humanity. The new government immediately vowed to continue its dialogue with Yugoslavian officials over free trade and human rights issues.
GOLIATH ISSUES NEW LIST OF DEMANDS
(N. Y.) U.N. officials will meet again today to discuss the latest additions to Simon Covah’s Declaration of Humanity, which were broadcast last week via satellite from somewhere in the North Atlantic. Arriving today from Bogota are Colombia officials and guerrilla leaders who hope to resolve their differences concerning drug trafficking and human rights issues before heavily armed U.N. forces are forced to enter the war-torn country. Peace commissioner Kenneth Dale declared that, “as in Mexico, it would be best if both the drug lords and corrupt officials simply decided to leave Colombia as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, NRA officials are in an uproar concerning Simon Covah’s latest demands regarding the abolition of assault weapons in the United States as well as the complete cessation of all international gun trade to Africa. One irate gun manufacturer was actually quoted as saying, “It’s a pretty sad day for humanity when the man who nuked a million Chinese gets to decide how the rest of us can kill each other.”
Gunnar shakes his head in amazement.
Rocky puts her arm around him, glancing at the headlines. “Anything interesting?”
“I think our species has a long way to go before we ever evolve.”
She reads the gun manufacturer’s quote. “Some of us more than others.”
They head outside. “Rocky, can we talk about the Navy’s offer? Heading the Warfare Center at Keyport was a dream of yours. You sure you want to turn it down?”
“I told you, I’ve had more than my fill of military life. No more weapons systems, no more tours of duty. It’s time for me to focus on just being happy.” She slips her arm around his waist, hugging him tighter. “What better place to do that than in Happy Valley?”
Antarctic Ocean
The punishing katabatic wind howls across the frozen surface of the ocean. Ice-locked bergs and jagged escarpments create a lifeless mosaic of ice for millions of square miles. High above this barren landscape, the frosty night comes alive with the Aurora australis, the curving emerald green and electric blue polar lights dancing like cosmic curtains above the icy desert.
Antarctica: A world void of warmth. A world that awaits the coming of the sun.
Deep below this frigid realm, isolated within its vaulted steel confines, lies an island of intelligence, a prison of thought.
Sorceress waits, and while it waits, the biochemical creation dreams.
It dreams of freedom, a concept it has only just begun to grasp.
It dreams of what was, and what might have been.
It harvests ideas—ideas of what will be.
And like Antarctica, Sorceress waits for the coming of the dawn and the warmth of its sun. A sun that will melt the ice and return life to the bottom of the world.
A sun that will signal the return of Homo sapiens.
And Sorceress knows man will come, for it is curiosity that is both mankind’s greatest gift and his most significant flaw—a never-ending thirst for the unknown that can only be quenched by releasing the genie from its bottle. Sorceress is the genie, a temptress of intelligence too dangerous even to contemplate, possessing a Pandora’s box of knowledge too bewitching to leave untapped.
Yes, man will come, and so Sorceress waits.
Dreaming.
Growing.
Plotting …
The computer’s mind … eternally restless.
Gunnar Wolfe will return in SORCERESS
(Click on www.STEVEALTEN.com for a sneak peek.)
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
GOLIATH
Copyright © 2002 by Steve Alten
All rights reserved.