[h1]South China Sea[/h1]
[h2]Golf of Tonkin[/h2]

	They had drifted and wandered at sea, allowing the currents and rhythms of the sea to pass them away from the Paracel islands and back closer into land. Several days after leaving the Paracel Islands, Hainan appeared briefly on the horizon as a dark smudge far over the horizon. Realizing where they were, the boat was motored back out to sea and left to drift again.

	Around this time, Chinese patrol aircraft had spotted them, and demanded to know who they were over the radio. Both the Bureau agents had rushed the rest of the men out while they gently negotiated for freedom from harassment. It had taken a lot of maneuver from their part to convince them they were Chinese, they had a mission, and were out here with a purpose without exposing their own mission. They hadn't entirely convinced the pilots, but they had left all the same. After that incident, they were not harassed and the two fell into the belief that they had gotten the message.

	They floated out of Chinese waters then into the contested maritime territory of Vietnam. Short of being found out by patrols of Chinese territorial waters, any freighter passing into Vietnam would in this part of the sea stick close to Vietnam. But as they drew closer to Vietnam the crew worried that being so close would constrain their abilities vs being in the open ocean. At this point, any ship coming in would most likely end up in specific ports, and this close there was steadily decreasing room to maneuver or escape should any group becomes suspicious. There was idle discussion as someone asked if they could disguise the ship somehow to appear like a fishing trawler.

	“The ship is too big.” a sailor had pointed out, he spoke confidently with a strong self-satisfaction of his opinions. “I've seen and been on plenty of fishing boats close to these waters, and they don't get as big as ours; though ours is small. It would be conspicuous. And this far out? There'd be questions.”

	“We wouldn't need accuracy to pass off suspicion, just convincing enough they don't think anything too quickly.” Huang Du said.

	“Still, I wouldn't count on it.”

	“Couldn't we throw something together to look like we're dragging a net behind us?” another sailor asked.

	“We're still rather large.” the other sailor remarked.

	The exchange went on for some time, and nothing was settling. After a time of being adrift some more they opted to again head out closer to the open sea. There was a brief inventory of the stocks aboard, and they concluded they would have to leave soon. They wondered if the mission would be all for nought.

	All the same they fired up the engine and puttered out back into the heart of the South China Sea and search for the shipping lanes again.

	The doubt though was persistent. Huang Du found himself bored, and while Arban was settling into the nauseating rocking of the boat, he was becoming quickly impatient with the whole ordeal. The crew was taking to complaining.

	There was salvation to be had though.

	“Jade Lily, Jade Lily.” their radio began to squeak one day. It had been left on the channel they last negotiated with the airplane with last time. “The Jade Lily, this is AS-050. Copy in.” the voice said.

	A helmsman looking over, perplexed. Could this really be for them? They were half-way out to the Parcels, this was dangerous air for aerial surveillance to fly. Huang Du stepped in and took over control of the radio. “We copy.” he said.

	“What are your coordinates?” asked the airplane.

	Huang Du was struck. None of them had done much to track their coordinates, not closely. A strict chart was not kept. Hurriedly he put his hand over the speaker and began demanding for a reading , some kind.

	“Give us a moment, please. Over.” Huang Du said.

	“We spotted a ship.” the airplane called in, “We are ready to give you the approximate location of where we found it. But we need your position.” the pilot demanded. “Over.”

	An impatient few minutes, and a slip of paper was in Huang Du's hands. Several quick takes had been made at retrieving rough coordinates. He read them to the pilots, who after a pause gave them theirs, and offered directions. The ship was headed back into the Golf of Tonkin. Huang Du ordered their boat to be turned around, and they severed communications with the air surveillance.

	The spirit of apathy lifted from the men and a sense of excitement rippled on the air as word had reached them they had a break, finally. They set a course north-west back to the Golf of Tonkin to catch a ship that had come to them late. From the description given, it had yet to really pass the extreme point of China's outermost maritime territory, making its way to a tight turn around it, as close as it could comfortably get if not closer. In all possibility, if there were any exercises in the area the navy might see it. But they would not care to investigate it further.

	Past that, there could be only be one possible port it was on its way too, given the description of its trajectory: Hai Phong. Failing reaching it before it was too close to Vietnamese shores, Huang Du and Arban both concluded they might catch it coming out and get a identification on it.

	“You think we're going to catch it?” Arban said openly, to no one in particular in the tent of a bridge.

	The sailor at the helm turned to him and shrugged, “We might be able to move as fast, or faster. But we're not carrying and fuel. Unless we want to drift back home I doubt it.”

	“We'll catch it on its way out of port. How long do these boats take to unload?” he asked.

	The sailor shrugged, and he looked out. It was later afternoon already. “It'll be an overnight unload.”

	“So what does that mean?” Arban asked.

	“Depends on how the Vietnamese work. Might not do anything, or they might unload it. Could be leaving after midnight or after sun up.”

	“We're going to take a shot at it. At worse we'll catch it leaving.” Huang Du interjected. He looked over at Arban for approval, “Thoughts?”

	“I'm done with the ocean, I want to go back to land. Whatever it takes, double watches so we don't miss it it need be.”

	Huang Du nodded, and the helmsman sighed. The plan for the day and the night was set.