Odessa Sea (Dirk Pitt 24) - Page 95

“Actually, yes.” Ana slid her chair close to her computer. “We issued a regional alert to all seaports, border stations, airports, and rail stations. That’s how we found the boat in Turkey.”

She tapped at her keyboard and produced a grainy video feed of a gated roadway. “I just received this today. Take a look.”

The video, a short clip from a security camera, showed a truck approach a gatehouse, stop briefly, then pass through. The video, taken at night, was short on clarity and detail. Ana played it again, this time stopping at individual frames.

“It’s difficult to see the driver until the truck passes.” She halted the video once more, catching the fuzzy image of a stocky driver with no hair.

“That’s him,” Giordino said.

“And that’s our truck.” Pitt pointed to the tarp-covered object on the flatbed. “Where was this taken?”

“The entrance to Stara Zagora Airport, a small facility about a hundred miles west of Burgas. It was taken the same day we were there. Or that night, I should say. The guard gate was unmanned at that time, but at least somebody reviewed the video later.”

“So they’ve already flown it out of the country,” Pitt said.

“Most likely.”

The door to her office opened and Petar Ralin rolled in in a wheelchair, a stack of files on his lap.

“We didn’t expect to see you back to work so soon,” Giordino said.

“Ana thought I’d get better care under her watch,” he said, which caused her to blush. “And I thought I better keep an eye on her dangerous wanderings.”

“Of which there have been a few,” Pitt agreed with a laugh. “How’s the leg coming along?”

“I should be out of the chair and on crutches in another day or two.”

“I think he’s secretly capable of walking now, but just likes me to push him around,” Ana said.

Ralin smiled. “No argument there.” He rolled forward and passed the files to Ana. “Stara Zagora Airport came through for us.”

“I just showed Dirk and Al the video.” Ana explained the discovery of the Russian bomber.

“This may be a key lead,” Ralin said. “They sent a list of flight traffic for the evening, which is pretty light. The airport serves primarily commuter traffic and private planes, with little nighttime activity. There were four small plane landings and one large jet arrival before midnight. The jet arrived at eight-thirty and departed at five after nine. The airport provided its tail number, and we identified it as an Antonov An-124 transport plane, operated by a commercial charter company out of Ukraine.”

“Little surprise that they would have transported the bomb to Ukraine,” Ana said.

“Actually, they didn’t,” Ralin said. “I had to check a dozen airport databases, but I found that the plane next landed at Lisbon’s Portela Airport around midnight. The aircraft then showed up at Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport, before returning to Kiev the following evening.”

“You said the transport is owned by a charter company,” Pitt said. “Do you know who chartered the plane?”

“Yes, although it took a number of threatening calls to Ukraine to find out. The company claimed they didn’t have a flight plan for the charter but did finally identify the customer as one Peregrine Surveillance Corporation.”

“A shell company?” Ana asked.

“No, a small holding company and subsidiary of a Dutch firm called Arnhem Flight Systems.”

“Don’t they make commercial aircraft instruments?” Pitt said.

“That’s right,” Ralin said. “They’re a diversified aviation company known primarily for their avionics. Privately held by an industrialist named Martin Hendriks. Or they were. Hendriks recently cashed out, selling the company to Airbus.”

“So someone at Airbus chartered the plane?” Ana asked.

“No, it was Hendriks. He still owns Peregrine. So he, or an employee of Peregrine, chartered the plane.”

“He doesn’t sound like the type who would be involved with Mankedo,” Ana said.

Ralin shrugged. “Hard to say. He’s an extremely private person. Public press about him is almost nonexistent. I did, however, find that his company has had numerous business dealings with Moscow over the years, so he would appear to be pro-Russian. His Peregrine company was in the news recently when one of his aviation drones helped rescue some shipwrecked sailors off of Ukraine.”

Tags: Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt Thriller
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