The Ransom of Black Stealth One by Dean Ing

Author:Dean Ing [Ing, Dean]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science fiction, General, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Fantasy, Suspense, Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, Fiction - Espionage, thriller, Espionage, Technological, Stealth aircraft
ISBN: 9780812508574
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 1995-09-07T23:00:00+00:00

THIRTY

Cyclops one loitered three thousand feet over Gulf waters as the big Sikorsky Sea King helicopter, two miles away and hovering just above the water, winched the last wetsuited man aboard. Dar Weston, his forehead pressed against Plexiglas, continued to scan the waves for any sign of debris that would mark, without question, the end of Black Stealth One. A badly scorched five-gallon canister and a woman's bright blouse floating close together were, as proofs, highly suspect.

Because you don't want to believe it, he argued silently. You'd rather believe Kyle is still alive? He knew the answer. No irony could be more complete, more against the principles he had held inviolate throughout his career, than this: better to have Corbett alive than Petra dead. So much for the man I thought I was; the man my father thought I was.

But if Black Stealth One was still aloft, it was still his job to help track and bring it down. There was a pedant's word for that, he mused, still alert for floating wreckage he did not want to see. The word was

"antinomy," a naming of opposites; two equally valid principles locked in combat. Dar felt the tap on his shoulder and turned. "You're going to love this," said Ben Ullmer, lowering his headset around his throat like a necklace. "That fuel canister had mechanic's tools inside, and more taped under it. A piece of a burnt sock came out of it. Pretty clear evidence to me."

"A decoy, you mean?"

"Sure." Ben Ullmer's face held animation, almost glee. "Corbett set it on fire and dropped it on purpose. With a little smoke and a hard IR signature, he knew there was a good chance someone would spot it. The blouse too, to make us think they'd sunk. An old submariner's trick, setting their clothes afloat to fake a sinking." Ullmer squinted out of the portal, gnawing his lip. "He's still up here, Dar, somewhere. We have to believe that-not just on a personal level, but at the mission level."

"All right." Dar replied without vigor, lost for the moment in a waking dream. He imagined for a harrowing instant that Petra, exhausted and in shark-infested waters, lay somewhere below, seeing them, swallowing salt water as she screamed for help. "Look, we have to leave a couple of those choppers here for a while, just in case, while we take up the search again."

"Sure we can," said Ullmer, with a callused hand on Dar's shoulder. Ullmer toggled the onboard communication channel and instructed the pilot, studying a coastal chart as they conferred. When he was finished, Ullmer leaned near Dar to avoid shouting over the drone of the engines. "I know what you're thinking. Listen, even if he's that kind of man-and I don't think he is-Kyle Corbett wouldn't push the girl out, knowing we might get a closer visual sighting now. He thinks she's his ticket out of this, but only if we can see her."

Dar moved back to his seat and cinched his lap belt.

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