_
_Vance watched as the Hind approached on the starboard side of the
destroyer, heading straight for it and dropping altitude. What in hell
was going on?
He lunged for the radio, and switched it to the military emergency
frequency, hoping to pick up some clue that would explain it all.
Probably not much of a chance. If this was a Sixth Fleet operation,
they would be scrambling everything.
Nothing. So he flipped over and started scanning the U.S. Navy tracking
frequencies--216.8 through 217.1 megahertz--in the meantime trying to
keep the tiller in hand.
The radio was alive, agitated voices yelling back and forth. It was an
argument, the helo claiming it was making a flyby for an emergency
ditch, the frigate not exactly buying the story.
No kidding. He'd checked out the chopper in close-up as she came over,
and he'd seen nothing wrong. Everything looked to be in perfect working
order. The only obvious thing out of the ordinary was that she was
fully armed. Whoever was flying her was using some kind of bogus Mayday
to get in close. But by now it was too late to try and give the frigate
a warning.