launch tower, all of the men could not help but look up at the
shimmering white rocket that towered over them. The captives were led
to the very base of the standing rocket, which clung to the
tower several feet above them. Dirk and Dahlgren were shoved against a
tower bracing and ordered to stand still as the guard with the rope
began cutting it into several lengths with a serrated knife.
Tongju stood and casually unholstered his Glock, aiming it at Dirk's
throat, as a guard hog-tied his wrists and elbows behind his back and
around a tower support beam. The guard then tied his ankles together
and wrapped them to the beam before moving over to Dahlgren and roping
him to the tower in the same fashion.
"Enjoy the launch, gentlemen," Tongju hissed, then turned and walked
away.
"We shall, knowing that vermin like you won't have long to breathe,"
Dirk cursed.
He and Dahlgren watched silently as Tongju and his men jogged across
the platform toward the forward support column and disappeared down the
stairwell. A few minutes later, they observed the tender speeding away
toward the Koguryo, which was now positioned nearly two miles from the
Odyssey. From their captive position, they had a clear view of the
launch clock as it ticked down to 00:26:00, twenty-six minutes. Dirk
looked up and morbidly studied the Zenit's huge thrusters that hung
several feet above their heads. At the first seconds of launch, 1.6
million pounds of thrust would be expelled onto them like a firestorm,
incinerating their bodies to ashes. At least it would be a quick
death, he thought.
"I guess that's the last time I let you talk me into crashing a party
uninvited," Dahlgren said, breaking the tension.
"Sorry, I guess we were a little underdressed," Dirk replied without
humor. He tugged and twisted at the binding ropes, searching for an
avenue of escape, but there was little room to even wiggle his hands.
"Any chance you can slip your ropes?" he asked hopefully of
Dahlgren.
"Afraid not. This guy definitely earned his merit badge in knot
tying," Dahlgren said, pulling at his restraints.
A loud clanging across the platform seized their attention, which
was followed by a deep rumbling beneath their feet. The rushing sound
of flowing liquid bellowed up behind them, roaring up and overhead
through a series of pipes built into the launch tower. The pipes
creaked and groaned around them as they protested the flow of the
supercooled liquid oxygen and kerosene being pumped into the Zenit.
"They're fueling the rocket," Dirk observed. "Too dangerous to do with
the crew aboard so they wait until just prior to launch, after the
platform has been evacuated."
"That makes me feel so much better. I just hope the guy manning the
pump doesn't get sloppy and overfill the tank."
They both looked up at the rocket in apprehension, knowing that a spill
of liquid oxygen would burn right through their skin. The rocket
shuddered and wailed as it drank in the liquid fuel, seeming to come
alive with the infusion. Pumps and motors whirred above their heads as
priming fuel was released into the rocket engine's initial combustion
chamber. Both men stared up in numbed silence at the mouth of the
rocket thrusters, contemplating the impending conflagration that would
rain upon them. Dirk thought of Sarah and felt a sudden pang in his
chest, realizing he would never see her again. Worse still, he
remembered that she was visiting Los Angeles. She, too, might well
succumb to the effects of the missile launch, a launch that he had
failed to prevent. Then his sister and father sprang to mind and he
felt remorse in that they would never know what befell his
disappearance. There certainly wouldn't be any remains left to bury,
he thought morbidly. His attention was drawn to a low hiss, caused by
puffs of white steam venting out of several safety valves along the
Zenit's exterior. As the chilled oxygen warmed in the daytime air, the
expanding vapor was purged from the rocket, accumulating in wispy
clouds above their heads. To the cruel irony of the two captives
awaiting death in their last minutes, the sky seemed to darken over
them as the vapor shadows obscured the rays of the sun. But Dirk's
heart suddenly skipped a beat when he realized that the shadow
cast over them above the rocket was slowly creeping across the platform
deck.
Even from high in the sky, the Sea Launch platform and Zenit rocket
looked impressive. But for the men in the Icarus, the focus was not
one of sightseeing. There was no puttering around the airspace this
time as the blimp came floating directly over the stationary
platform.
"There's the Badger. She's tied up alongside the forward support
column," Giordino said, pointing toward a corner of the platform where
the red submersible could be seen bobbing in the water.
"Dirk and Jack clearly made it aboard," Pitt replied with a touch of
concern.
Upon receiving a radio call from Summer on the Deep Endeavorthat the
Narwhal had been attacked, Pitt immediately yanked the blimp around to
the south and came charging back at full speed. The twin Porsche
engines affixed to the gondola whined as the rpm's climbed and the
airship was pushed to its top speed of 50 knots. On the horizon, Pitt
and Giordino could see the black smoke from the Narwhal's smoldering
hull rising like a beacon before the ship slipped underwater. Pitt
willed the blimp toward the debris as fast as the ungainly airship
would go while Giordino focused the long-distance camera at the site
ahead. As they grew nearer, they observed the Koguryo distancing
herself from the platform, while discovering little remains of the
Coast Guard vessel through the magnified camera lens.
"You might not want to cruise too close to that support ship," Giordino
cautioned after several tight passes over the Narwhal site failed to
reveal any survivors.
"You think she's carrying SAMs?" Pitt asked.
"She stung the Narwhal with a surface-to-surface, so it's a betting
chance."
"I'll keep the platform positioned in between us. That should dissuade
them from firing on us and, hopefully, alleviate your Hindenburg
fears."
Pitt brought the airship down to an altitude of five hundred feet and
eased back on the high-reving motors as they approached the platform.
Giordino focused the WES COM camera onto the Koguryo standing off in
the distance, eyeing it warily for signs of a potential strike on the
blimp. The shuttle boat suddenly lurched into view on the monitor as
it pulled up alongside the ship. Pitt and Giordino watched as Tongju
and the last of his assault team climbed onto the larger vessel. Pitt
noted that Jack and his son were not among the group.
"The last of the rats leaving the platform?" Giordino asked.
"Could be. Doesn't look like they are sending the tender back. Let's
see if we can find anyone left minding the store."
The blimp drifted over the stern of the pl
atform and Pitt guided the
airship along the length of the portside deck toward the bow. Not a
soul could be seen wandering the deck below. Giordino pointed out the
backward-ticking clock on the hangar, which read 00:27:00, twenty-seven
minutes. As they floated past the forward edge, Pitt turned and ran
across the Odyssey's bow and alongside the roof-mounted pilothouse.
Giordino swung the camera until it pointed into the windows of the
platform's command station. On the monitor, they could see clearly
into the bridge. Scanning back and forth, there was not a solitary
sign of life.
"Looks like the ghost ship Mary Celeste around here," Giordino said.
"No doubt about it. They're getting ready to light the fuse."
Pitt turned the blimp's controls again and brought the airship down the
length of the starboard side, then circled tightly around the Zenit
rocket. Plumes of white smoke spewed from the release valves on the
rocket, venting the warming fuel. Giordino panned up and down the
rocket with the camera system.
"She looks gassed and ready to roll at any minute."
"Twenty-six minutes, to be precise," Pitt said, eyeing the countdown
clock.
Giordino let out a whistle as he glanced at the clock. A slight
movement on the monitor brought his eyes back to the rocket display,
but he still almost missed it. He curiously tweaked the focus down the
length of the rocket until the monitor suddenly filled with the image
of two men standing at the base of the tower.
"It's Dirk and Jack! They're tied to the tower."
Pitt stared at the screen for a moment and nodded, his eyes squinting
in recognition. Without saying a word, he quickly scanned the platform
for a spot to bring the blimp down. Though the rear deck of the
platform offered a large open space between the hangar and the launch
tower, a tall crane was angled up and inward, impeding the airspace.
The airship's fabric sides might gash open if contact were made with
the structure.
"Nice of them to leave the can opener out for us," Giordino said as he
peered at the imposing crane.
"No troubles. We'll just have to make like a helicopter."
Skimming over the hangar and descending rapidly, Pitt eased the blimp
down toward the large round helipad mounted above the pilothouse. With
a finesse touch, he eased the blimp down until the gondola lightly
kissed the pad.
"Can I trust you not to go off sightseeing without me?" Pitt asked as
he hastily climbed out of the pilot's seat.
"Cross my heart."
"Give me ten minutes. If we're not back, then just get this thing the
hell away from the platform before she lights up."
"I'll keep the meter running," Giordino replied, giving Pitt a nod of
good luck.
In a flash, Pitt was out the gondola door and sprinting across the pad.
As he disappeared down a stairwell, Giordino looked at his watch and
anxiously started counting the seconds.
Tongju climbed aboard the Koguryo and immediately raced to the bridge,
where Captain Lee and Kim stood surveying the Odyssey.
"You cut your departure a little thin," Lee said soberly. "They have
already commenced fueling the rocket."
"A minor delay, due to an unexpected interruption," Tongju replied.
Scanning the horizon, he noted the airship drifting slowly back toward
the platform. "Have you detected any more approaching vessels?"
The captain shook his head. "No, none yet. Besides the airship, there
has just been the lone research ship that was following behind the
Coast Guard vessel," he said, pointing to a radar blip on the opposite
side of the platform. "She's remained in her present position, two
miles to the northeast of the platform."
"And no doubt has radioed for assistance. Those damn Ukrainians, he
spat. "They have brought us too close to shore and placed the mission
in peril. Captain, we must get under way immediately after liftoff.
Adjust course due south at full power to Mexican waters before laying
in for our rendezvous point."
"What about the airship?" Kim asked. "It must be destroyed as well,
for it can track our escape."
Tongju studied the silver blimp, which sat hovering on the Odyssey's
helicopter pad.
"We cannot fire upon them while they are positioned near the platform.
They can do no harm at this late time. Perhaps they will stupidly burn
in the launch themselves. Come, let us enjoy the liftoff. We will
dispense with them later."
With Kim in tow, Tongju left the bridge and quickly made his way aft to
the launch control center. The brightly lit bay was packed with
white-coated engineers sitting at workstations arranged in a horseshoe
shape around the room. On the front center wall was a large flat-panel
video screen that showed a full image of the Zenit rocket at the launch
tower, wisps of vapor emanating from its sides. Tongju spotted Ling
hunched over a monitor conversing with a technician and approached the
launch operations engineer.
"Ling, what is the launch status?" Tongju asked.
The round-faced engineer squinted at Tongju through his glasses.
"The fueling will be complete in another two minutes. One of the
backup flight control computers is not responding, there's a
low-pressure reading in one of the cooling lines, and the number two
auxiliary turbo pump indicator shows a fluid leakage."
"What does that mean for the launch?" Tongju asked, a sudden flush
rising over his normally placid face.
"None of the items, either individually or collectively, are mission
critical. All other systems are showing nominal. The launch will
proceed as scheduled," he said, eyeing a digital launch clock beneath
the video panel, "in exactly twenty-three minutes and forty-seven
seconds."
At twenty-three minutes and forty-six seconds, Jack Dahlgren looked up
from the Odyssey's ticking launch clock to the Icarus, which seemed
to be fixed hovering above the pilothouse. He knew there was no chance
that they could have been spotted by the high-flying gondola, but he
still wondered if Pitt or Giordino might somehow find a way to stop the
launch. He strained to turn toward Dirk beside him, expecting his
friend to be looking at the blimp with hopeful optimism. Instead, Dirk
was oblivious to the airship, his full attention focused on defiantly
trying to break the bounds of his ropes. Jack started to offer some
words of encouragement but his lips froze when he saw a movement inside
the hangar. He blinked and took another hard look. Sure enough, he
could see it was a man sprinting through the hangar directly toward
them.
"Dirk, there's somebody coming our way. Is that who I think it is?"
Dirk glanced toward the hangar while continuing to strain at his bound
hands and feet. He squinted at the lone figure bursting out of the
hangar and tearing across the platform carrying what looked like a long
stick in his hand. The figure was tall and lean with dark hair and
Dirk suddenly stopped struggling at the ropes when he recogn
ized the
gait.
"I don't ever recall seeing my father move that fast before," he said
to Dahlgren, a broad grin spreading across his face.
As the head of NUMA drew closer, they could see that it was a fire ax,
not a stick, that he toted in his right hand as he ran. Sprinting up
to the tower, the elder Pitt smiled in relief at seeing that the two
men were uninjured.
"I thought I told you boys never to accept a ride with strangers," he
gasped, patting his son on the shoulder as he examined the rope
restraints.
"Sorry, Dad, but they offered us the moon and the stars," Dirk grinned,
then added, "Thanks for dropping by to get us."
"I've got a taxi waiting. Let's just get out of here before they
ignite this thing."
Eyeing the center of the rope, he took a full swing and laid the blade
through the rope that secured Dirk's elbows. With another swing, he
cut the wrist binds, the blade of the ax ringing loudly as it cut
through to the tower beam. As Dirk worked to untie his ankles, Pitt
repeated his Paul Bunyan routine on Dahlgren's ropes. The two men
quickly scrambled to their feet as Pitt tossed the ax aside.
"Dad, the Sea Launch platform team is locked up inside the hangar. We
need to get them out."
Pitt nodded. "I thought I heard some banging around in there. Lead
on."
Almost as one, the three men dashed back across the open platform at
full speed, knowing that every second counted. As they ran, Dirk
Dirk Pitt18-Black Wind Page 49
