Black wind

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 platform 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