End Game. Dale Brown
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DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND
End Game
WRITTEN BY DALE BROWNAND JIM DEFELICE
Contents
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 crash at Dreamland left him a paraplegic, Zen has volunteered for a medical program that may let him use his legs again. Can Dreamland survive with a key member away?
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. But filling in for Zen on the Flighthawk program may be more than even he can handle.
CAPTAIN DANNY FREAH
Danny commands Whiplash – the ground attack team that works with the cutting-edge Dreamland aircraft and hightech gear.
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.
LIEUTENANT KIRK ‘STARSHIP’ ANDREWS
A top Flighthawk pilot, Starship is tasked to help on the Werewolf project, flying robot helicopters that are on the cutting edge of air combat. Adjusting to the aircraft is easy, but can he live with the Navy people who are in charge of it?
CAPTAIN HAROLD ‘STORM’ GALE, USN
As a young midshipman at Annapolis, Gale got Army’s goat – literally: he stole the West Point mascot just before the annual Army-Navy game. Now he’s applying the same brashness to his role as commander of the Abner Read. An accomplished sailor, the only thing he hates worse than the enemy is the Air Force.
Dreamland
Weapons Systems
MEGAFORTRESS
Refurbished B-52s, complete with new skin, new wings and tail section, new engines and new sensor systems. Besides generic versions, Dreamland flies EB-52s that carry AWACS and ground-surveillance radar, and others that carry electronic warfare and snooping equipment.
FLIGHTHAWK
Unmanned fighter aircraft typically flown from the lower weapons bay of the Megafortress. Depending on its configuration, a Megafortress will carry two or four of the robot aircraft.
WEREWOLF
Robot helicopters capable of being controlled from long-range through Dreamland’s dedicated satellite system. The versatile Werewolves look like miniaturized versions of the Russian Kamov Ka-50 Hokum helicopter gunship.
PIRANHA
A joint Navy/Air Force unmanned underwater probe, typically launched from a Megafortress on an ocean surveillance mission. Difficult to detect, the Piranha is often used to shadow enemy submarines.
DESTROYER – LITTORAL DD(L)
The Navy’s experimental destroyer, designed for warfare near coastlines. Considerably shorter than a conventional destroyer, the ship lies low in the water, its hull and superstructure angled to deflect radar waves. DD(L)s carry a lethal combination of Harpoon and Standard missiles, along with torpedoes and a sophisticated canon.
SHARKBOAT
The modern version of the classic PT boat, designed to operate with littoral warships such as the DD(L) 01 Abner Read.
Allegro, Nevada (outside Las Vegas) 5 January 1998 0310 (all times local)
He’d had the dream so many times it was more something he remembered than something he invented. Tiny bits of reality blurred into a jumbled progression that began and ended the same way. The beginning: running up Meadowview Street back to his condo, pursued by the sun. This was not a normal sun – he felt its stretching fingers grope his body, burning holes in his arms, neck, and face.
The end: the black wing of a redtail hawk