Second Nature

Chapter 59

59 

Col. Eberhard squirmed in the payload operator's cockpit of the CH-54B Skycrane, his butt going numb. He felt enormously frustrated. The heavy-lift helicopter perched on the beach, waiting to fly the liquid-nitrogen cooled holding capsule out to the target site. The AWACS "Sentry" jet crew, high above the gulf, kept a lock on the speedboat with Downlook radar and multi-spectral optical sensors. The capture teams stood ready in inflatable assault boats and Nighthawk helicopters. 

Now it looked like there was not going to be a capture.  

The AWACS crew had pinpointed Cade Seaborne zooming out of the bay in a fast boat, and Eberhard had held his teams back, watching and waiting to see where Cade would go. Was he trying to get the wounded girl to a hospital on the mainland, or was he heading straight to Gen? 

Eberhard believed the group in the speedboat was racing toward Gen, in order for Gen to heal the wounded girl. Who could guess where Gen had holed up? Eberhard had hoped that he would soon find out. 

But then the speedboat came to a stop. Not once, but twice. Engine trouble, apparently. It was so infuriating he could scream. 

"Bird's Eye to Team Leader."  

A call was coming through from the AWACS jet. "Team Leader, here," Eberhard said, "what have you got?" 

"Sir, our sensors are reading a pod of dolphins heading toward the target." 

"Dolphins?" 

"Yes, sir. Moving toward the boat at thirty knots or better. They'll make contact in a couple minutes." 

"What the hell do you think this channel is for, a nature show? I don't give a fuck about the dolphins. Is the boat going anywhere?" 

"Uh, no sir. Boat is still dead in the water. IR shows the engines are not running." 

Eberhard could hear his silent screams bouncing off the walls of his skull. All right, that's it. No more sitting around while my ass falls asleep. I can't wait for Cade to reach Gen. I need to find out what he and the people on his boat know.  

"Attention, capture teams, this is Team Leader. All teams close in now. Repeat: All teams close in now."  

The Skycrane's twin jet turbines revved to a high-pitched whine, generating ten-thousand horsepower. Six rotor blades, 72 feet in diameter, threw down a hurricane of thrust and the huge helicopter lifted off the beach, carrying below it a shiny steel capsule designed to hold Gen inside, frozen solid.