Titles by Dale Brown
DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND: ARMAGEDDON
(with Jim DeFelice)
DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND: PIRANHA
(with Jim DeFelice)
DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND: NERVE CENTER
(with Jim DeFelice)
DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND
(with Jim DeFelice)
FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG
SILVER TOWER
DAY OF THE CHEETAH
HAMMERHEADS
SKY MASTERS
NIGHT OF THE HAWK
CHAINS OF COMMAND
STORMING HEAVEN
SHADOWS OF STEEL
FATAL TERRAIN
BATTLE BORN
THE TIN MAN
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either
are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously,
and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND: ARMAGEDDON
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the authors
PRINTING HISTORY
Jove edition / August 2004
Copyright © 2004 by Dale Brown
Cover art and design by Steven Ferlauto
All rights reserved.
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New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 0-515-13791-X
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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DREAMLAND
DUTY ROSTER
LIEUTENANT COLONEL TECUMSEH “DOG” BASTIAN
Dreamland’s commander has been mellowed by the demands of his new command—but he’s still got the meanest bark in the West, and his bite is even worse.
MAJOR JEFFREY “ZEN” STOCKARD
A top fighter pilot until a near-fatal crash at Dreamland left him a paraplegic, Zen runs the Flighthawk program and has now accumulated more air-to-air kills than any other active pilot in the air force. But he’s got a grudge bigger than the wheelchair life has confined him to.
CAPTAIN BREANNA “RAP” STOCKARD
Zen’s wife has seen him through his injury and rehabilitation. But can she balance her love for her husband with the demands of her career … and ambitions?
MAJOR MACK “THE KNIFE” SMITH
Mack Smith is the best pilot in the world—and he’ll tell you so himself. He left Dreamland to reshape the Brunei air force in his own egotistical image.
CAPTAIN DANNY FREAH
Danny commands “Whiplash”—the ground attack team that works with the cutting-edge Dreamland aircraft and high-tech gear. Freah’s wife and friends want him to run for Congress. The war hero would be a shoo-in—but does he want to give up the excitement of Dreamland?
JENNIFER GLEASON
Computer specialist Jennifer Gleason is one of the creative geniuses at Dreamland, responsible for the multi-mode combat computer that helps control the Flighthawks. She’s also
Dog’s lover—but her emotional and intellectual sides don’t always get along.
JED BARCLAY
The young deputy to the national security advisor is Dreamland’s link to the president. Barely old enough to shave, the former science whiz kid now struggles to master the intricacies of world politics. Zen Stockard is his cousin—and Zen still can’t figure out how the skinny kid who used to follow him around on a tricycle grew up and got a real job.
LIEUTENANT KIRK “STARSHIP” ANDREWS
Starship flew through flight school and was on the fast track to a career flying the air force’s frontline interceptors, like the F-15 and F-22. But family commitments made him change his plans. Now he has a post at Dreamland flying the U/MF-3 Flighthawk robot planes, where he’s finding that no amount of training can prepare him for real combat.
AND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC …
PRINCE PEHIN BIN AWG
The nephew of the sultan of Brunei and the unofficial protector of the air force, bin Awg has an enviable collection of Cold War aircraft—and a well-earned reputation as a partier. Can he mature in time to save his uncle’s realm … and his own neck?
CAT MCKENNA
A one time Royal Canadian pilot, McKenna has found work plying the skies for a shadowy Russian arms dealer. But when her paycheck bounces, she looks for a new job—and ends up locking horns with Mack Smith.
CAPTAIN DAZHOU TI
Years ago, Dazhou’s Chinese grandfather was disinherited by the sultan of Brunei. Now he wants revenge—and has a secret Malaysian warship to insure that he gets it.
SAHURAH NIU
A devout believer, Sahurah is convinced that he has a place in Paradise—and is willing to kill thousands to reach it.
I
P ARADISE
Malay, Negara Brunei Darussalam (State of Brunei, Abode of Peace)
6 October 1997, (local) 1302
BREANNA STOCKARD TOSSED HER BACKPACK TO THE GROUND, put her hands on her hips, and took a deep breath. The Pacific Ocean spread out before her, a blanket of azure silk. A few white clouds wandered casually in the distance, drifting across the sky like a pair of vacationers easing across a solitary beach. Civilization might lay in the distance-there were oil derricks somewhere offshore, and merchant ships did a brisk trade at the nearby harbor—but from where she stood Breanna had no hint that she and her husband Jeff “Zen” Stockard weren’t the only people in the world.