the left-hand corner of the screen, racing along the coast toward Malaysia.
“Just a ghost?” asked Breanna.
“No. There’s something there,” said Deci. “Moving real fast—out around three hundred knots.”
“What boat goes that fast? Cigarette speed boat?”
“Never heard of one even half that fast. Has to be a plane, but according to the radar it’s at three feet.”
“Three feet?”
“I know it’s weird,” added Deci, “but it’s a live contact. The computer has never seen it before”
“I’ll bet.” Breanna flipped into Mack’s circuit. “Brunei Dragon One, we have an odd contact you might want to know about,” she said. “Indications are it’s a plane flying very low, but it may be a weird radar bounce off a boat of some sort. Moving to the east, northeast at a very good clip. You might want to check it out.”
“Give me a vector,” he snapped.
* * *
CLEAN, THROTTLE LASHED TO THE LAST STOP, AND A GOOD wind at its back, the manual said the A-37B Dragonfly could do 440 knots.
Mack had it nudging 470 as he tracked in the direction Breanna had fed him, running up the coastline. He was about thirty seconds from the spot where she’d gotten the first contact just a hair under four miles—but he had nothing on his radar and couldn’t see anything, either.
He leaned his head far forward, as if the few inches of extra distance would help his eyes filter away the shadows and mist.
“Dragon One to Jersey—yo, Breanna, where is this thing?”
“Stand by.”
She came back again with a GPS location.
“Hey, I’m in the Stone Age, remember? I don’t have a GPS locator on board.”
“Sorry—you look like you’re almost on top of it. Two miles.” Mack reached for the throttle, easing off on his speed. The shoreline was an irregular black haze to his right.
Sixty seconds later, Breanna announced that they had lost it. “Stand by:’ she added.
Stand by yourself, he thought. He had let his altitude slip to two thousand feet. He was passing just over a marina, but moving too fast to sort out what he saw.
“Pleasure boat,” he said with disgust, snapping the speak button as he tucked into a bank to check it out. “Hey, Jersey girl—did you have me chase a pleasure boat? There’s a marina down here.”
“You know a pleasure boat that goes three hundred knots? Stand by. We’re looking for it.”
Mack circled around. There were at least two dozen boats in the marina, but no airplanes.
“Not a seaplane?” he asked, though he didn’t see one. “Seaplane? If so the computer couldn’t find it on its index. Hold on.”
Mack pulled out the large area map from his kneeboard and unfolded it, checking to see where he was.
“Dragon One, we have it twenty-five miles to your northeast, along the coast:’ said Breanna over the radio.
“Your sure about that, Jersey?”
“We’re as sure as—stand by,” she added, a note of disgust creeping into her voice.
Mack started a turn in the direction she had advised, but as he came to the new course Breanna told him they had lost the contact completely.
“Right,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “We’re trying.”
“I’m looking at empty ocean.”
“You’re right on the vector.”
She added that the Brunei authorities had just reported a ship underway to rescue survivors at the stricken ship, which had now been identified as a freighter due to dock at 6 A.M. in Brunei. Mack flew about ten miles to the east-northeast, then banked into an orbit fifteen hundred feet over the waves, riding a curlicue as he looked for Breanna’s contact. He began heading toward the masts of a group of fishing vessels further northward on the shore.
“Flight Jersey to Dragon One,” said the airborne radar operator aboard the EB-52. “Report: Two Su-27s coming in your direction from the south. Report: bearing one-six-five. Report ..
Mack listened incredulously to the contact information. The two planes were over Malaysian
“Just a ghost?” asked Breanna.
“No. There’s something there,” said Deci. “Moving real fast—out around three hundred knots.”
“What boat goes that fast? Cigarette speed boat?”
“Never heard of one even half that fast. Has to be a plane, but according to the radar it’s at three feet.”
“Three feet?”
“I know it’s weird,” added Deci, “but it’s a live contact. The computer has never seen it before”
“I’ll bet.” Breanna flipped into Mack’s circuit. “Brunei Dragon One, we have an odd contact you might want to know about,” she said. “Indications are it’s a plane flying very low, but it may be a weird radar bounce off a boat of some sort. Moving to the east, northeast at a very good clip. You might want to check it out.”
“Give me a vector,” he snapped.
* * *
CLEAN, THROTTLE LASHED TO THE LAST STOP, AND A GOOD wind at its back, the manual said the A-37B Dragonfly could do 440 knots.
Mack had it nudging 470 as he tracked in the direction Breanna had fed him, running up the coastline. He was about thirty seconds from the spot where she’d gotten the first contact just a hair under four miles—but he had nothing on his radar and couldn’t see anything, either.
He leaned his head far forward, as if the few inches of extra distance would help his eyes filter away the shadows and mist.
“Dragon One to Jersey—yo, Breanna, where is this thing?”
“Stand by.”
She came back again with a GPS location.
“Hey, I’m in the Stone Age, remember? I don’t have a GPS locator on board.”
“Sorry—you look like you’re almost on top of it. Two miles.” Mack reached for the throttle, easing off on his speed. The shoreline was an irregular black haze to his right.
Sixty seconds later, Breanna announced that they had lost it. “Stand by:’ she added.
Stand by yourself, he thought. He had let his altitude slip to two thousand feet. He was passing just over a marina, but moving too fast to sort out what he saw.
“Pleasure boat,” he said with disgust, snapping the speak button as he tucked into a bank to check it out. “Hey, Jersey girl—did you have me chase a pleasure boat? There’s a marina down here.”
“You know a pleasure boat that goes three hundred knots? Stand by. We’re looking for it.”
Mack circled around. There were at least two dozen boats in the marina, but no airplanes.
“Not a seaplane?” he asked, though he didn’t see one. “Seaplane? If so the computer couldn’t find it on its index. Hold on.”
Mack pulled out the large area map from his kneeboard and unfolded it, checking to see where he was.
“Dragon One, we have it twenty-five miles to your northeast, along the coast:’ said Breanna over the radio.
“Your sure about that, Jersey?”
“We’re as sure as—stand by,” she added, a note of disgust creeping into her voice.
Mack started a turn in the direction she had advised, but as he came to the new course Breanna told him they had lost the contact completely.
“Right,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “We’re trying.”
“I’m looking at empty ocean.”
“You’re right on the vector.”
She added that the Brunei authorities had just reported a ship underway to rescue survivors at the stricken ship, which had now been identified as a freighter due to dock at 6 A.M. in Brunei. Mack flew about ten miles to the east-northeast, then banked into an orbit fifteen hundred feet over the waves, riding a curlicue as he looked for Breanna’s contact. He began heading toward the masts of a group of fishing vessels further northward on the shore.
“Flight Jersey to Dragon One,” said the airborne radar operator aboard the EB-52. “Report: Two Su-27s coming in your direction from the south. Report: bearing one-six-five. Report ..
Mack listened incredulously to the contact information. The two planes were over Malaysian
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