Black Wind

“I think they're parked,” Giordino replied, noting there was no wake from the nearby support ship. “You don't suppose they would be launching from here?”

“No way. They are supposed to fire those things off from the equator. They would at least be up north off the Vandenberg range if they were going to try a live launch around here. Probably some sort of test, but let's find out.”

Pitt punched a switch on a marine band radio and hailed the platform through his headset.

“Airship Icarus to Sea Launch platform. Over.”

An empty pause ensued and then Pitt repeated the call. After another lengthy lull, an accented voice finally replied.

“This is Sea Launch platform Odyssey. Over.”

“Odyssey, what is the nature of your position? Do you require assistance? Over.”

Another long pause. “Negative.”

“I repeat, what is the nature of your position?”

A pause again. “Who is requesting inquiry?”

“Friendly sorts, aren't they?” Giordino said to Pitt.

Pitt shook his head slightly and spoke again into the radio. “This is airship Icarus, supporting Coast Guard border security. Please identify current state. Over.”

“This is Odyssey. We are conducting system tests. Please stay clear. Over and out.”

“The guy's a regular Gabby Hayes,” Giordino said. “Do you want to stick around? We need to roll back north if we want to intercept that incoming vessel,” he said, pointing to the radar screen.

“I guess there's not much we can do from up here. Okay, we'll do our job and play tag with the next inbound vessel. But let's have one of the boys downstairs check this out,” Pitt said, turning the airship around to the north.

Giordino took to the radio as Pitt laid in an intercept course toward the inbound commercial ship. “The Deep Endeavor and the Narwhal are working this region. Deep Endeavor is still searching a Japanese freighter, but the Narwhal is freed up at the moment. She says the platform is outside their twelve-mile operating limit, however.”

“We're not asking for an interdiction boarding. Just request a remote visual survey and verification with Sea Launch authorities.”

Giordino spoke into the radio again, then turned to Pitt. “Narwhal agrees and is on her way.”

“Good,” Pitt replied, watching the platform fade away in the distance behind them. But he didn't feel good. A nagging sensation told him they had missed something on their flyover. Something important.

Kim stood with Tongju on the bridge of the Odyssey watching the blimp circle away to the north.

“They did not loiter for very long. Do you think they suspect anything?” Kim asked.

“I do not know,” Tongju replied, his eyes moving from the blimp to a chronometer mounted on the bulwark. “The launch will take place in just over two hours. There is no room for interference now. Return to the Koguryo, Ki-Ri, and stand by with Captain Lee. If there is any attempted outside hindrance, deal with it decisively. Do you understand?”

Kim looked his commander squarely in the eye and nodded. “I understand completely.”

Dirk and Captain Burch listened in on the Deep Endeavor's Coast Guard radio as Giordino asked the Narwhal to survey the Sea Launch platform and support ship. Minutes later, the Narwhal called up the NUMA vessel.

“Deep Endeavor, we have completed inspection of the containership Andaman Star and are proceeding to the offshore platform for a visual inspection. No incoming traffic in our quadrant is presently in range, so you may accompany us at your convenience if desired. Over.”

“Shall we take a look?” Captain Burch asked of Dirk.

“Why not? Business is slow. We can follow along once we're finished here.”

Burch glanced at the Japanese freighter, noting that Aimes and the search crew were begi

“Affirmative, Narwhal” Burch radioed to the Coast Guard vessel.

“We'll shadow you upon completion of our current inspection, in another five or ten minutes. Out.”

“Wonder what piqued the old man's interest,” Dirk asked rhetorically as he and Burch peered across the horizon trying to make out the image of the floating platform.

Three miles away, the Narwhalhzd stoked up its twin diesel motors and was skimming across the waves at its top speed of 25 knots. The eighty-seven-foot cutter was one of the newer Barracuda-class patrol boats employed by the Coast Guard, designed to work out of smaller ports and harbors. With their mission focused primarily on inspection and sea rescue, the boat's crew of ten was only lightly armed with a pair of 12.7mm machine guns mounted on the bow deck.

Lieutenant Bruce Carr Smith braced himself against a bulkhead in the cramped bridge as the white-and-orange-trimmed boat lurched over a swell, her bow slapping the sea with a spray of foam.

“Lieutenant, I've radioed command headquarters. Dispatch is going to contact the Sea Launch port office to determine what's up with their platform,” the Narwhal's red-haired communications officer stated from the corner.

Smith nodded in reply, then spoke to a boyish-looking helmsman ma

The two dots they chased on the horizon gradually grew larger until the distinct shapes of an oil platform and a utility ship drew into focus. The support ship was no longer aside the platform and Smith could see that it was in fact moving away from the stationary platform. Smith took a quick glance over his shoulder and saw that the Deep Endeavor had completed her freighter inspection. The turquoise vessel was moving away from the freighter and appeared to be following his path in the distance.

“Sir, would you like to approach the platform or the ship?” the helmsman asked as they drew nearer.

“Bring us alongside the platform for starters, then we'll go take a look at the ship,” Smith replied.

The small patrol boat slowed as it eased near the platform, which now rode fourteen meters lower in the water under its ballasted state. Smith looked in awe at the huge Zenit rocket standing at its launch tower near the stern edge of the platform. Peering through binoculars, he studied the platform deck but saw no signs of life. Surveying the forward section of the platform, he caught sight of the launch countdown clock, which now read 01:32:00, one hour and thirty-two minutes.

“What the hell?” Smith muttered as he watched the digital numbers tick lower. Grabbing the marine radio transmitter, he called to Odyssey.

“Sea Launch platform, this is Coast Guard cutter Narwhal. Over.” After a pause, he tried again. But he was met only with silence.

“Sea Launch director of information, how may I help you?” a soft, feminine voice answered over the phone line.

“This is the Eleventh District U.S. Coast Guard, Marine Safety Group, Los Angeles, central dispatch. We're requesting mission and location status of Sea Launch vessels Odyssey and Sea Launch Commander, please.”

“One moment,” the information director hesitated, shuffling through some papers on her desk.

“Here we are,” she continued. “The launch platform Odyssey is en route to her designated launch site in the western Pacific, near the equator. Her last reported position, as of eight a.m. this morning, was at approximately 18 degrees North Latitude, 132 degrees West Longitude, or roughly seventeen hundred miles east-southeast of Honolulu Hawaii. The assembly and command ship Sea Launch Commander is presently at port in Long Beach undergoing minor repairs. She is expected to depart port tomorrow morning to rendezvous with the Odyssey at the equator, where the Koreasat 2 launch is scheduled in eight days.”

“Neither vessel is currently located at sea off the coast of Southern California?”

“Why no, of course not.”

“Thank you for the information, ma'am.”

“You're welcome,” the director replied before hanging up, wondering why the Coast Guard would think the platform was anywhere near the coast of California.