Paradox of a Wish

What if you were granted a wish? And, what if you chose a wish that you thought provided a path to reduce the grim suffering, horror, and despair that have plagued humanity for millennia? What if not everyone sees your wish as a benefit, but as a threat? Nicholas Hawkins, newly minted Ph.D. in Archeology, has been bequeathed the individual and secret responsibility of recovering the last of the Nazi loot hidden away in Tunisia during World War II. Among the treasures he finds a relic housing an extraterrestrial social scientist conducting long-term research on the social evolution of humans. Nick is granted three wishes. History, heritage, and experience guide the choice of his first wish. A wish, he concludes, will free humanity from its darker impulses with its predictably tragic results. However, many governments, warlords, religious leaders, dictators, and munitions manufacturers view the implementation of the wish a path to calamity, not salvation. Powerful forces immediately begin a frenzied manhunt to find the suspect they conclude is responsible for the event, Nick Hawkins. He must be captured, his methods revealed and his wish reversed. Hoping to buy time while the world adjusts to his wish, Nick flees. In the outback of Tunisia he is captured by human traffickers and sold to the highest, and for him, the most threatening bidder. An international special-forces team led by Americans intrepidly manages to effect a novel rescue. Secret personal alliances and a threat of blackmail betray the rescue team. The rescue is short-lived, the special-forces team defeated, their lives in jeopardy. In a deadly fight, Nick rescues his rescuers but is gravely wounded. The Commander-in-Chief orders the team to a black site. The team concludes he is the one that betrayed the team and the only reason the team survived was Nick's intervention. They have a choice to make: follow orders or disobey to keep Nick out of the Commander-in-Chief's desperate reach. Nick too has a choice: use his last wish to save himself or save it for a future he might not survive to see.