Black wind

who took over operational control of sailing the platform. Even Captain Hennessey, captured and roughly bound by one of Kim’s men, was forced to the galley in shock, with the rest of his crew.
    On the bridge, Tongju radioed the Koguryo that the platform was taken with no resistance. Examining an unfurled navigation chart left on a side table, he barked at one of Kang’s crewmen now manning the helm.
    “Revise bearing to fifteen degrees north-northeast. We are diverting to a new launch site.”
    As the crack of dawn approached, the Koguryo maneuvered alongside the northbound Odyssey and slowed to match speeds with the platform as it mashed through five-foot swells. Edging to within twenty feet of the Odyssey, Captain Lee held the Koguryo perfectly in tandem with the moving platform’s starboard beam. In the wheelhouse of the Odyssey, a nervous helmsman ensured that the autopilot was properly engaged as the excable-laying ship hove to alongside.
    On the top deck of the hangar, Tongju supervised the movement of a large crane as it was swung out over the starboard edge of the platform. A heavy block and hook swung wildly from the end of the crane for a moment before being lowered to the rear deck of the Koguryo. A ready signal was relayed over the marine radio and the crane began hoisting up a square metal container the size of a sofa, which was swung over and lowered to the platform’s main deck. Stored inside were the special canisters containing the freeze-dried chimera cultures ready to be inserted into the payload aerosol dispenser.
    While the deadly virus was being hoisted to the platform, the Koguryo’s tender ferried over a dozen launch and payload specialists, who immediately swarmed into the rocket hangar and began dissecting the Zenit’s payload section. An additional security contingent was also ferried over to help relieve Tongju’s assault commandos.
    Tongju returned to the pilothouse and peered out the heavy-paned windows at the rolling sea two hundred feet beneath him. The swaying of the platform was slight as the motion rolled up from the distant pontoons beneath the surface. Gazing to his right, he saw the Koguryo begin to peel away from the Odyssey, its ferrying services complete for the time being.
    “Increase speed to maximum,” his said to the helmsman.
    The nervous Filipino adjusted the propulsion controls on both pontoons and then watched as the digital speed indicator slowly counted upward.
    “Twelve knots, sir. Maximum cruising speed,” the seaman replied, his eyes twitching back and forth.
    Tongju nodded in satisfaction, then reached for an overhead radio transmitter and called Captain Lee on the Koguryo.
    “We are progressing on schedule. Please notify Inchon that we are in control of the launch vessel and intend to initiate launch countdown in approximately thirty hours. Out.”
    The apprehensive helmsman stared straight ahead, avoiding the gaze of Tongju. Whatever fearful thoughts tumbled around his head about Tongju’s intent were minuscule compared to the commando leader’s true objective.
    IT took the launch vehicle engineers just under twenty-four hours to convert the rocket’s payload into a weapon of mass horror. Like surgeons conducting a transplant operation, the engineering team carefully removed several sections of the outer payload fairing and delved into the inner workings of the mock satellite. Fake components, built to resemble communication transponders, were removed and replaced with small electric pumps, which would drive the aerosol system. Lines and fittings were attached to the phony solar panels, which would open in flight to spread the rejuvenated virus, disseminating it as a fine mist across the California sky.
    Working in protective clean room bunny suits, the technicians performed a final test on the dispensing system, ensuring it was fully functional for the short rocket flight. The final step of the operation was then reached: inserting the chimera virus into the payload vehicle. The canisters from Inchon containing the freeze-dried germs were carefully mounted to the satellite frame and steel braided lines from
    the hydrogenation tanks were connected to the aerosol system. When activated, a software-controlled program would vacuum-mix the powdered substance with purified water, then transfer the live fluid through the vaporizer and out into the atmosphere.
    With the deadly cocktail loaded aboard, the payload fairing was reassembled around the