After he grew bored with sailing, I traded him a few antique cars for
her. Plan to cruise the Asian Pacific in her. Started in Japan and am
going to work my way down to Wellington."
"You sail her by yourself?" Summer asked.
"She's been modified with a strong diesel engine and hydraulic lifts
for the lug sails which are linked to a computerized automatic pilot.
She's a breeze to manage, and can, in fact, sail herself."
"Do you have a satellite phone aboard?" Dirk asked.
"Afraid not. A ship-to-shore radio is the best I can offer you. I
didn't want any phone calls or Internet messages bothering me on this
cruise."
"Understandable. Where are you headed, and, for that matter, where are
we located now?" he asked.
Cussler pulled out a marine navigation chart and held it under the weak
light of the helm console. "We're entering the Yellow Sea about forty
miles northwest of Seoul. I take it you aren't interested in staying
aboard till Wellington?" he grinned, running an index finger across
the chart. "How about Inchon?" he continued, tapping the map. "I can
drop you there in about eight hours. I believe there's a U.S. Air
Force base located somewhere near there."
"That would be great. Anywhere we can find a phone and get ahold of
someone at NUMA headquarters."
"NUMA," Cussler said, mulling over the word. "You're not from that
NUMA ship that sank southwest of Japan?"
"The Sea Rover. Yes, we are. How did you know about that?" Summer
asked.
"It was all over CNN. I saw them interview the captain. Told how the
crew was rescued by a Japanese freighter following an explosion in the
engine room."
Dirk and Summer stared at each other in disbelief.
"Captain Morgan and the crew are alive?" she finally blurted.
"Yes, that was the fellow's name. I thought he said the whole crew was
rescued."
Summer retold the story of their attack on the ship and abduction by
Kang's men and their uncertainty over the fate of their crew members.
"I suspect there's more than a few people out there looking for you,"
Cussler said. "You're safe for now. There's some sandwiches and beer
in the galley. Why don't you two grab a bite and get some rest. I'll
wake you when we reach Inchon."
"Thank you. I'll take you up on that," Summer replied, heading
belowdecks.
Dirk lingered a moment, standing at the rail and watching the first
glimmer of daybreak attempt to paint the eastern horizon. As he
contemplated the events of the past three days, a hardened resolve
surged through his exhausted body. By some miracle, the Sea Rover's
crew had survived the sinking of the NUMA research ship. But Kang
still had blood on his hands, and the stakes were now dramatically
higher. If what Kang had told them was true, then millions of lives
were at risk. The madman would have to be stopped, he knew, and
quick.
on
Sea Launch platform Odyssey and airship Icarus
June 16, 2007 Long Beach, California
Though it was A cool, damp Southern California morning, Danny Stamp
could feel the sweat beginning to drip from his underarms. The veteran
engineer was as nervous as a teenager on prom night awaiting his first
make-out session. But as those who knew him could affirm, he always
felt this way when his baby was on the move.
No diaper-clad infant, his baby today was a 209-foot Zenit-3SL
liquid-fuel rocket that was in the delicate process of being
transferred to its launch platform. The roundish and slightly balding
launch vehicle director peered purposefully over the railing of a large
ship's superstructure as the $90 million rocket he was responsible for
inched into view below his feet. As the huge white cylinder rolled
slowly out of its horizontal berth on a centipede like cradle, Stamp's
eyes were drawn to the large blue letters emblazoned on the rocket's
housing that read sea launch.
Incorporated in the nineteen nineties, Sea Launch was an international
commercial venture formed to provide rocket-launch services a *
geared primarily for satellite telecommunications operators. The
American aerospace giant Boeing was the prime founder, signing on to
handle launch operations as well as integrating the customer's
satellite payloads into the rocket housing. Turning swords into
rubles, a pair of Russian companies joined the consortium by providing
the actual rockets, or "launch vehicles," as they are known in the
parlance. Ex-military rockets that once carried nuclear warheads, the
Zenits were tried-and-true launch vehicles that were perfectly suited
to commercial applications. But it was a Norwegian firm, Kvaerner,
that provided perhaps the most unique asset to the venture. Starting
with a used North Sea oil platform, the Oslo firm constructed a
self-propelled floating launchpad that could be positioned for
launching in almost any ocean waters of the world.
Though an interesting selling point, practicality dictates that there
is only one area on the globe worth launching from and that is the
equator. For a geosynchronous satellite, which remains in a fixed
relative orbital position following the earth's rotation, there is no
more direct path to orbit than from the equator. Less rocket fuel
burned in pushing a satellite to orbit can allow for a heavier
satellite payload. Satellite owners, seeking to maximize revenues from
their multimillion-dollar investments, can thus add more capacity to
their satellites or additional operating fuel to extend the satellite's
life. Integrating the satellites into the launch vehicle in Long
Beach, then sailing the rocket to the equator for launch had grown from
an intriguing idea to an efficient business model in the high-stakes,
high-risk game of commercial space operations.
A handheld Motorola radio fastened to Stamp's belt suddenly cackled
with static. "Rollout complete. Ready for crane hook-up," barked the
unseen voice. Stamp paused and studied the Zenit rocket, which
protruded from the ship's stern like a stinger on a wasp. In an
unusual bid for flexibility, the Sea Launch team actually assembled the
rocket and its payload in the bowels of a custom-fitted ship named the
Sea Launch Commander. Officially known as the "Assembly and Command
Ship," the 660-foot cargo-designed vessel contained myriad computer
bays on its upper deck, as well as a mission operations command center,
which directed the complete launch operation at sea. On the lower deck
was a cavernous assembly compartment that housed the Zenit rocket
components. Here, an army of white-smocked engineers and technicians
bolted together horizontally the segmented Russian rocket sections
utilizing a rail system that ran nearly the length of the ship. Once
the rocket assembly was complete, the mission satellite was
encapsulated into the upper-section payload fairing and then the entire
launch vehicle was rolled at a snail's pace out the stern of the Sea
Launch Commander.
"Proceed with hookup. T
ransfer when ready," Stamp spoke into the radio
with a slight Midwestern accent. He glanced up at a huge crane system
built onto the edge of the towering launch platform. A pair of tilted
M-shaped trusses extended off one end of the platform, dangling several
lines of thick cable. The floating platform, christened Odyssey, had
been positioned just aft of the Sea Launch Commander, its crane system
hanging directly above the prone rocket. The crane's winch lines were
silently dropped down to the launch vehicle, where teams of engineers
in hard hats attached the cables to a series of slings and lift points
along the length of the rocket.
"Sea Launch Commander, this is Odyssey" a new voice blared through
Stamp's radio. "Ready to transfer launch vehicle."
Stamp nodded to a short fellow standing beside him, a bearded man named
Christiano who captained the Sea Launch Commander. Christiano spoke
into his own radio.
"This is Commander. Proceed with transfer at will. Good luck,
Odyssey."
Seconds later, the cable lines drew taut and the horizontal rocket was
lifted slowly off its cradle. Stamp held his breath as the Zenit
rocket was hoisted high into the air until it hung suspended far above
the decks of the Commander. The unfueled rocket was just a fraction of
its launch weight, so the process was akin to lifting an empty beer
can. But Stamp couldn't help feeling nervous watching the huge rocket
dangling in midair above him.
After a tantalizingly slow rise to the top of the launch platform, the
crane operations crew activated the movable winch and the launch
vehicle was tugged horizontally into an environmentally controlled
hangar on Odyssey's high deck. Once the tip of the rocket had cleared
the hangar doors, the entire launch vehicle was gently nested down into
a wheeled cradle. When the floating platform reached the designated
launch site, the cradle device would roll the rocket out of its hangar
and tilt it up on end for firing.
"Launch vehicle secure. Well done, gentlemen. The beers are on me
tonight. Odyssey out."
Stamp visibly relaxed, a broad grin spreading across his face. "Piece
of cake," he said to Christiano as if the outcome was never in doubt.
"Looks like we'll make the scheduled launch date in seventeen days
after all," Christiano replied as he watched the empty launch vehicle
cradle slide back into the ship's lower-deck hangar. "The long-range
weather forecast is still looking favorable. After final checks and
fueling, the Odyssey can depart in four days and we'll follow in the
Commander forty-eight hours later after additional spares and
provisions are put aboard. We'll easily catch up with her before
reaching the launch site."
"A good thing, too," Stamp said with relief. "There's a penalty clause
in the customer contract that's a killer if we are late to launch."
"Nobody could have predicted the dockworkers' strike would delay
receipt of the Zenit rocket components by fifteen days," Christiano
said, shaking his head.
"The launch vehicle team did a heckuva job making up lost schedule. I'm
not looking forward to seeing the overtime charges but the team must
have set a record for assembly and integration. Even with our paranoid
customer shielding the mission payload from everyone."
"What's so terribly secretive about a broadcast television
satellite?"
"Search me," Stamp said, shrugging his shoulders. "Typical Asian lack
Wind reticence, I guess. The whole operation doesn't make sense to me.
They've got a relatively lightweight satellite that they could have
easily launched off the Chinese Long March rocket for a couple of
million dollars less than our fees."
"Angst with the Chinese isn't an unusual sentiment in the Far East."
"True, but usually overlooked when it comes to dollars and cents.
Perhaps it's due to the head of the telecommunications firm. He's
apparently a real maverick."
"He owns the company outright, doesn't he?" Christiano asked, his eyes
searching skyward trying to recall.
"Yep," Stamp replied. "Dae-jong Kang is one rich and powerful man."
Kang leaned back in the padded leather chair of his cherry-wood study
and listened intently as a pair of engineers from his Inchon facility
provided a technical briefing. Tongju safsilently at the back of the
room, his dark eyes scrutinizing the men out of habit. One of the
engineers, a slight, disheveled man with glasses and a deeply receding
hairline, spoke to Kang with a raspy voice.
"As you know, the Koreasat 2 satellite was delivered to the launch
provider's facility approximately three weeks ago, where it was
encapsulated inside the payload fairing, or nose cone section, of the
Zenit rocket. The entire launch vehicle has since been loaded onto the
self-propelled launch platform, which is preparing for departure to the
equator."
"There have been no security lapses?" Kang asked, throwing a cold
glance toward Tongju.
The engineer shook his head. "We've had our own security team
protecting the satellite around the clock. The Sea Launch team
suspects nothing. By all external appearances, the satellite is
designated for television broadcast services. Now that the satellite
is enshrouded
in the rocket housing, there is little chance of suspicion." The
engineer swallowed a sip of coffee from an overflowing mug, spilling a
few drops of the hot liquid on the sleeve of his worn checkered sport
coat. The brown stain matched a similar pattern of spots on his tie.
"The aerosol device ... it was verified as operational?" Kang asked.
"Yes. As you know, we made a number of modifications from the
small-scale model that was tested in the Aleutian Islands. There is no
longer a dual agent capability, as the deployment of the cyanide
mixture was eliminated from the mission. Plus, the system was
redesigned with removable canisters that will allow us to arm the
payload with the bio agent just hours before launch. And, of course,
it is a much higher volume system. The Aleutian test model, you may
recall, carried less than five kilograms of biochemical compound, while
the satellite vehicle will deploy 325 kilograms of the chimera agent
after hydrogenation Before the satellite was encapsulated at the Sea
Launch facility, we conducted a final late-night test under secure
conditions. The test results were flawless. We are confident the
aerosol system will operate as designed over the target."
"I do not expect any failures from our equipment," Kang stated. "The
launch operation will be the most critical phase of the mission," the
raspy-voiced engineer continued. "Lee-Wook, have we obtained the
necessary command and control data to proceed with an independent
launch?"
The second engineer, a younger, greasy-haired man with a broad nose,
was clearly intimidated by Kang's presence.
"There are two primary components to the launch process," Lee-Wook
replied, stuttering slightly. "The first is positioning and
preparing the rocket for launch. We have obtained the Sea Launch
operating procedures for these steps," he said, neglecting to mention
the cash bribes involved, "which our team has reviewed and practiced
thoroughly. In addition, we have obtained the services of two
Ukrainian launch specialists formerly employed by Yuzhnoye, the
manufacturer of the Zenit rocket. They are assisting with trajectory
and fueling computations and will be on hand to assist with the
mechanical preparations."
"Yes, I am aware of the enticements required to obtain them," Kang
replied with distaste. "I believe the Russians could teach the West a
thing or two about capitalistic extortion."
Lee-Wook ignored the comment and continued speaking, his stutter
finally under control. "The second critical component is the actual
launch initiation and flight control. During a normal launch at sea,
the Sea Launch assembly and command ship performs these controls. For
our launch, this duty will be handled by the Baekje. We have refitted
the ship with the necessary communications equipment and computer
hardware required to execute the launch and flight control," Lee-Wook
said, his voice almost at a whisper. "Our last input has been the
software that monitors, tracks, and commands the launch vehicle. The
actual launch from the floating platform is a highly automated process,
so the software plays a critical role. There are several million lines
of software code that support the launch, telemetry, and tracking
phases."
Dirk Pitt18-Black Wind Page 37
