Shadow Command: A Novel

380 Pages·2008·1.48 MB·English

by  Dale Brown

SHADOW

COMMAND

DALE BROWN
This novel is dedicated to all who make the often
difficult decision to do one simple thing: Go For It.
When you see it happen, it’s more exhilarating than
a space launch, and twice as powerful.
Contents

Cast of Characters v
Weapons and Acronyms ix
Real-World News Excerpts xii
Prologue
“Stand by…ready…ready…begin climb, now,” the ground controller… 1
Chapter One
“Okay, suckers, c’mon and poke your head out—just a little… 7
Chapter Two
The command module was the center of activity aboard Armstrong… 74
Chapter Three
“No bread, no peace! No bread, no peace!” the protesters… 92
Chapter Four
“Joining us live from Armstrong Space Station, orbiting two hundred… 130
Chapter Five
“It’s ten times more boring than playing video games,” Wayne… 163
Chapter Six
“Two minutes to re-entry initiation, crew,” Major Jim Terranova
announced. 199
Chapter Seven
“McLanahan here, secure.” 231
Chapter Eight
“Frankly, Brit, I don’t care what the Russians say,” Senate… 276
Chapter Nine
“Here’s the latest, guys, so listen up,” the SEAL team… 304
Chapter Ten
The city of Mashhad—“City of Martyrs” in English—in
northeastern Iran… 321
Epilogue
The young boy cast a fishing line into Lake Mojave… 351
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
About the Author
Other Books by Dale Brown
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
C A S T O F C H A R A C T E R S

AMERICANS:
Joseph Gardner, President of the United States
Ken T. Phoenix, Vice President
Conrad F. Carlyle, President’s National Security Adviser
Miller H. Turner, Secretary of Defense
Gerald Vista, Director of National Intelligence
Walter Kordus, White House Chief of Staff
Stacy Anne Barbeau, senior U.S. senator from Louisiana, Sen-
ate majority leader; Colleen Morna, her aide
General Taylor J. Bain, USMC, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff
General Charles A. Huffman, Air Force chief of staff
Air Force General Bradford Cannon, commander of U.S.
Strategic Command (STRATCOM)
Army General Kenneth Lepers, commander of U.S. Central
Command (CENTCOM)
vi C A S T O F C H A R A C T E R S
Major General Harold Backman, commander of the Four-
teenth Air Force; also commander of Joint Functional Compo-
nent Command-Space (JFCC- S) of U.S. Strategic Command
Lieutenant General Patrick McLanahan, commander of
the High-Technology Aerospace Weapons Center (HAWC),
Elliott AFB, Nevada
Brigadier General David Luger, deputy commander of
HAWC
Col o nel Martin Tehama, incoming commander of HAWC
Major General Rebecca Furness, commander of the First
Air Battle Force (air operations), Battle Mountain Air Reserve
Base (ARB), Nevada
Brigadier General Daren Mace, Air Battle Force operations
officer, 111th Bomb Wing commander, and E B-1C mission com-
mander
Major Wayne Macomber, deputy commander (ground opera-
tions) of the First Air Battle Force, Battle Mountain Air Reserve
Base, Nevada
Marine Corps Master Sergeant Chris Wohl, NCOIC, First
Air Battle Force
U.S. Army National Guard Captain Charlie Turlock,
CID pilot
Captain Hunter “Boomer” Noble, XR-A9 Black Stallion
spacecraft commander, Elliott Air Force Base, Groom Lake
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Lisette “Frenchy”
Moulain, XR-A9 spacecraft commander
U.S. Marine Corps Major Jim Terranova, XR- A9 mission
commander
Ann Page, Ph.D., former U.S. senator, astronaut, and space
weapon engineer
C A S T O F C H A R A C T E R S vii
Air Force Master Sergeant Valerie “Seeker” Lukas,
Armstrong Space Station sensor operator
IRA NI ANS:
General Hesarak al-K an Buzhazi, leader of the Persian mil-
itary coup
Azar Assiyeh Qagev, heir presumptive of the Peacock Throne of
Persia
Lieutenant Col o nel Parviz Najar and Major Mara Saidi,
Azar Qagev’s aides- de-c amp
Col o nel Mostafa Rahmati, commander of the Fourth Infan-
try Brigade, Tehran-Mehrabad Airport
Major Qolom Haddad, leader of Buzhazi’s personal security
team
Masoud Noshahr, Lord High Chancellor of the Qagev royal
court and marshal of the court’s council of war
Ayatollah Hassan Mohtaz, supreme leader in exile of the Is-
lamic Republic of Iran
RUS SIANS:
Leonid Zevitin, president of the Russian Federation
Peter Orlev, president’s chief of staff
Alexandra Hedrov, minister of foreign affairs
Igor Truznyev, chief of the Federal Security Bureau
Anatoli Vlasov, secretary of the Russian security council
Mikhail Ostenkov, minister of national defense
General Kuzma Furzyenko, Russian chief of the general staff
viii C A S T O F C H A R A C T E R S
General Nikolai Ostanko, chief of staff of the Russian army
General Andrei Darzov, chief of staff of the Russian air
force
Wolfgang Zypries, German laser engineer working with the
Russian air force