Black wind

envelope that held ten thousand cubic meters of gas. Unlike the rigidly framed dirigibles of the twenties and thirties that relied on highly flammable hydrogen for lift, the Sentinel 1000 was a true non-rigid blimp that utilized the safer element of helium to rise off the ground.
    “Looks like a runt nephew of the Hindenburg” Giordino moaned, eyeing the silver-skinned airship warily.
    “You happen to be looking at the latest in surveillance and tracking technology,” Pitt said. “She’s fitted with a LASH optical system. NUMA is testing her out for possible survey use on coral reef and tide studies. The system has already been used successfully to track migrating whales.”
    “What is a “LASH system?”
    “Stands for “Littoral Airborne Sensor-Hyperspectral.” It’s an optical imaging system that uses a breakdown in the color band to detect and track targets that the eye cannot see. Homeland Security is considering using it for border security and the Navy for antisubmarine warfare.”
    “If we can give it a test run over Malibu Beach, then I’m all for it.” A ground crewman wearing a NUMA identification badge climbed out of the gondola as Pitt and Giordino approached the airship.
    “Mr. Pitt? We’ve installed the radio set that the Coast Guard sent up, so you’ll be able to conduct secure communications with their vessels. The Icarus has been weighed off for a landing equilibrium of plus-one hundred kilograms when your fuel supply runs down to five percent, so just don’t run the tanks dry. The airship is also fitted with both a water ballast system and an experimental fuel dump release, should you need emergency lift.”
    “How long can we stay aloft?” Giordino asked, eyeing a pair of ducted propellers jutting from either side of the gondola’s aft section.
    “Eight to ten hours, if you go easy on the throttles. Enjoy your flight, she’s a joy to fly,” he said, bowing slightly.
    Pitt and Giordino climbed through the gondola door and into a spacious cabin that was comfortably outfitted to seat eight passengers. Squirming through a forward opening into the flight compartment, Pitt took up the pilot’s controls while Giordino plopped into the copilot’s seat. With a muffled roar, Pitt started the pair of turbocharged Porsche 930 air-cooled engines mounted on the rear flanks of the gondola, which served as propulsion. With the engines idling, Pitt obtained clearance to take off from the airport control tower, then turned to Giordino.
    “Ready for takeoff, Wilbur?”
    “Ready when you are, Orville.”
    Launching the blimp was not a simple action handled solely by the pilots but rather a carefully orchestrated maneuver assisted by a large ground crew. Outside the gondola, the Icaruis support crew, all attired in bright red shirts, took up positions around the airship. A pair of ropes attached to the blimp’s nose were pulled taut by three men standing off either side of the bow while four additional men grabbed onto side rails running the length of the gondola. Directly forward of the wide cockpit window that ran nearly to his feet, Pitt stared toward the crew chief, who stood at the base of the mobile mooring mast. At Pitt’s command, the crew chief signaled another crewman, standing high atop the mooring mast, to release the nose tether. In unison, the ground crew then tugged at the weightless blimp, walking it away from the mooring mast several dozen yards to a safe launching point clear of obstacles.
    Pitt gave a thumbs-up signal to the crew chief, then reached over and pulled down a pair of levers protruding from the center console, increasing the throttle to the twin engines. As the ground crew let free of their clutches and moved clear, he gently pulled back on a center yoke control mounted in front of his seat. The controls manipulated the motor-driven propellers, which were each enclosed in swiveling ducts. As he pulled on the yoke, the ducts tilted upward, providing additional lift from the churning propellers. Immediately, the blimp began to rise, creeping forward as it climbed. Almost without the feeling of movement, the big airship rose off the ground and into the sky with its nose pointed high. Giordino cheerfully waved out an open side window to the ground crew below, who shrank to the size of bugs as the airship rapidly gained altitude.
    Despite Giordino’s request for a low-flying pass over Malibu, Pitt steered the airship directly offshore from Oxnard after leaving