Vixen 03 (Dirk Pitt 5)

Fawkes clicked off the mike and noted thankfully that the NUMA helicopter had continued on its leisurely course toward Washington and disappeared beyond the bluffs upriver.

At almost the same instant, Steiger altered the controls and banked the Minerva M-88 helicopter in a wide, sweeping turn over the Maryland countryside. He kept low, shaving the tops of the leafless trees, dodging an occasional water tower, grimacing at the words that came over his earphones.

"They're beginning to get nasty," he said casually. "General Somebody-or-other claims he's going to shoot us down if we don't get the hell out of the area."

"Acknowledge," said Pitt. "And tell him you're complying."

"Who should I say we are?"

Pitt thought a moment. "Tell him the truth. We're a NUMA copter on special assignment."

Steiger shrugged and began talking into his microphone.

"Old General Whosit bought it," said Steiger. He angled his head toward Pitt. "You'd better get ready. I judge it about eight minutes to the drop."

Pitt unclasped his seat belt and waited until Sandecker did the same, then moved into the helicopter's small cargo compartment.

"Do it right the first time," Pitt said into Steiger's ear, "or you'll make an ugly red mess on the side of the Iowa."

"You're looking at a neatness nut," Steiger said with a diluted smile. "All you have to do is hang tight and leave the driving to old Abe. If you have to drop early, I'll make damn sure you've got a nice cushion of deep water under your ass."

"I'm counting on it."

"We'll come around and swing in from the west to cloak our outline against whatever darkness is left." Steiger's eyes never strayed from the windshield. "I'm flicking off the navigation lights now. Good luck!"

Pitt squeezed Steiger's arm, stepped into the cargo section of the Minerva, and closed the cockpit door. The compartment was ice cold. The loading hatch was open and the wintry morning air whistled into what seemed a vibratinaluminum tomb. Sandecker held the harness out to him and he strapped it on.

The admiral started to say something and then hesitated. At last, his cast-iron features taut with suppressed emotion, he said, "I'll expect you for breakfast."

"Make my eggs scrambled," Pitt said.

Then he stepped into the frigid dawn.

Lieutenant Alan Fergus, leader of the SEAL combat units, zipped up his wet suit and cursed the vagaries of the high command.

Not more than an hour ago he'd been rudely awakened from a dead sleep and hurriedly briefed on what he regarded as the dumbest exercise ever to come his way during seven years in the Navy. He pulled on his rubber hood and tucked his ears under the lining.

Then he approached a tall, burly man who sat slouched in a nonregulation director's chair. His feet were propped on the bridge railing and he peered intently down the Potomac.

"What's it all about?" asked Fergus.

Lieutenant Commander Oscar Kiebel, the dour skipper of the Coast Guard patrol boat that was ferrying Fergus and his men, twisted the corners of his mouth in an expression of distaste and shrugged. "I'm as confused as you."

"Do you believe that bullshit about a battleship?"

"No," Kiebel said in a rumbling voice. "I've seen four-thousand-ton destroyers cruise upriver to the Washington Navy Yard, but a fift

y-thousand-ton battleship? No way."

"Board and secure the stern for Marine helicopter-assault teams," Fergus said irritably. "Those orders are sheer crap, if you want 82

my opinion."

"I'm not any happier about this outing than you," said Kiebel. "I take my picnics as they come." He grinned. "Maybe it's a surprise party with booze and wild women."

"At seven o'clock in the morning, neither holds much interest. Not out in the open, at any rate."

"We'll know soon. Two more miles till we round Sheridan Point. Then our objectives should be within - " Suddenly Kiebel broke off and cocked his head, listening. "You hear that?"