Текст книги "Nerve Center"

Автор книги: Dale Brown

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Текущая страница: 23 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

VIII

“ON REVIEW”

 

Dreamland

8 March, 1300

COLONEL BASTIAN SLID THE THIN YELLOW PAPER OVER the center of his desk. His fingers brushed so gently along the tissuelike surface, he might have been touching a baby’s cheek, afraid that if he pushed too hard he would somehow damage it.

He had no memory of Breanna as a baby. He had pictures of her mother pregnant, but no memory of her in a crib or in his arms.

The report said she’d be fine—minor scrapes, a few bruises, some smoke inhalation, nothing that would keep her off active duty. She’d been lucky.

Lanzas had been killed. And Madrone, his unrestrained body tossed and broken by the crash.

More than luck had saved his daughter. There was the structural integrity of the plane, its ability to absorb massive shock and trauma, the computer that had helped her manage a semistable landing, the magnificent airfoil that had somehow kept the Megafortress from becoming simply a rock.

The guts to try an outrageous solution. The skill to pull it off.

Not luck at all.

His own decision not to shoot them down.

The right decision, because everything had worked out. But if the nukes had been launched, and part of Dreamland had been obliterated, if the nuclear fallout was now drifting over Las Vegas?

“Colonel?”

Dog looked over at the door. Sergeant Gibbs grinned wider than a jack-o’-lantern. “You’re going to want to take this call right now, sir.”

Bastian picked up the phone.

“Stand by for the President,” said a woman’s voice, so cold and quick it might have been an automated operator.

Before Dog could react, President Martindale came on the line.

“Colonel Bastian, damn good to be talking with you,” said the President. The warmth in his loud voice stunned Bastian momentarily. “Damn good job out there. Damn good.”

“Yes, sir,” said Bastian.

“Tecumseh, I’m afraid I don’t have much time to talk right now, but one of my aides will set up a visit.”

“A visit here?”

The President laughed. “Unless you’re thinking of going somewhere?”

“No, sir.”

The President laughed again and hung up the phone. Bastian wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to wait for someone else to come on. After two minutes with the dead phone next to his ear, he finally hung up.

The phone rang almost immediately. But instead of the White House, it was his boss—General Magnus.

“You disobeyed a direct order,” said Magnus without any preliminaries.

“I did not,” said Bastian.

“You were in the cockpit of that EB-52. Don’t bullshit me, Dog. You had express orders not to be in a Megafortress.”

“I was the most qualified pilot at the—”

“Just because you have your nose up the President’s ass doesn’t make you immune, Bastian,” snapped Magnus. “And just because Keesh was man enough to say you opposed ANTARES when he resigned won’t get you off the hook. That was still your man who almost fried San Francisco.”

“I said from the get-go the project was ill-advised,” said Dog, his anger stoking to match the general’s. “I was under direct orders to proceed.”

“That’s the only reason you’re still in the Air Force at all,” said Magnus. “The only fucking reason.”

Bastian had never heard Magnus curse or use an obscenity. It drained his anger away.

“Your status is under review,” said the general.

“I’m being relieved?” Bastian said softly.

“Under review,” repeated the general. “We’ll see what the new Defense Secretary thinks,” Magnus added. “Arthur Chastain is the likely replacement.”

“I don’t see how you can discipline a pilot for flying an airplane,” said Bastian.

“That’s not what we’re talking about.”

“You’re taking away my wings? I can’t fly?”

“Of course not. But you’re not a pilot, Dog. That’s not your job. You’re the commander of the most important weapons-testing facility in the country, as well as Whiplash. When the shit hits the fan, your job is on the ground where you can control things, not in the air getting shot at.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You bet your ass there’s going to be a full-scale investigation.”

“I welcome it,” Dog said.

“You don’t have to lie.” Magnus snorted. He too seemed to have spent most of his fury. “Get your p’s and q’s in line. The fallout on this one is going to be heavy.”

The line snapped dead before Dog could say anything else.

Did the President’s phone call mean he would survive this no matter what? Or did it simply mean the brass would stack the odds monumentally against him?

Dog got up from the desk. He felt depressed and tired. Under ordinary circumstances, he’d work off the cloud by hopping into a cockpit and getting some flying time. Throw himself into the sky, clear his head.

He glanced down at Ax’s neat piles of paperwork and the reports waiting for his inspection.

He wavered. He was no good when feeling like this, out of sorts—how could he command anyone?

How could he expect others to follow orders if he disobeyed his?

Magnus hadn’t said he couldn’t fly. He’d said when the shit hit the fan, he belonged on the ground.

The general meant he belonged where he could control things. Truth was, with a fleet of Megafortresses, that might very well be in the air, not on the ground.

There was work to be done. Bastian sighed and pulled out his chair.

Then he pushed it back and went to find a plane in need of a check-flight.

Table of Contents

Dreamland Duty Roster

LT. COLONEL TECUMSEH “DOG” BASTIAN

CAPTAIN BREANNA BASTIAN STOCKARD

MAJOR JEFFREY “ZEN” STOCKARD

MAJOR MACK “KNIFE” SMITH

MAJOR NANCY CHESHIRE

CAPTAIN DANNY FREAH

Titles by Dale Brown

I Premonition

Allegro, Nevada 1 January 1997, 0410 (all times local)

II Night moves

Bunker B, Air Force High Technology Advanced Weapons Center (Dreamland), Nevada 9 January, 1405

Aboard EB-52 BX-2 “Raven” Range 2, Dreamland 9 January, 1415

Bunker B, Dreamland 9 January, 1415

Aboard Raven 9 January, 1415

Dreamland Shuttle Dock 9 January, 1745

Allegro, Nevada 9 January, 1913

Dreamland 9 January, 2104

Las Vegas 9 January, 2250

Dreamland Perimeter 10 January, 0455

Dreamland Aggressor Project Hangar 10 January, 0905

Dreamland Security Office 10 January, 1015

Dreamland Range 2 10 January, 1054

Dreamland Commander’s Office 10 January, 1205

Dreamland, Range 2 10 January, 1205

Dreamland Briefing Room 1 14 January, 1005

III Head games

Dreamland, Taj Suite 302 23 January, 0750

Aboard EB-52 BX-4 “Missouri” Range 2, Dreamland 23 January, 0807

Dreamland Handheld Weapons Lab 23 January, 0807

Dreamland, Aggressor Hangar 23 January, 0182

Aboard Mo 23 January, 0915

ANTARES Bunker 27 January, 0755

Dreamland All-Ranks Cafeteria 27 January, 1230

ANTARES Bunker 27 January, 1555

Dreamland Commander’s Office 29 January, 1705

Allegro, Nevada 29 January, 2034

IV Brainstorm

Aboard Hawkmother (Dreamland Boeing 777 Test Article 1) Dreamland Range 23 West 18 February, 1007

Aboard Raven 8 February, 1123

Aboard Sharkishki 18 February, 1137

Aboard Hawkmother 18 February, 1141

Aboard Sharkishki 18 February, 1145

Aboard Hawkmother 18 February, 1153

Aboard Raven 18 February, 1213

Aboard Hawkmother 18 February, 1227

Aboard Sharkishki 18 February, 1250

Aboard Hawkmother 18 February, 1257

Aboard Sharkishki 18 February, 1301

Aboard Hawkmother 18 February, 1307

Aboard Raven 18 February, 1313

Dreamland Security Office 18 February, 1315

Flighthawk Control Bunker 18 February, 1400

Dreamland Administrative Offices (“Taj”), Level 1 18 February, 1545

Dreamland Bunker B, Subbasement 18 February, 1545

Dreamland Bunker B, Computer Lab 18 February, 1600

Dreamland Dorms, Pink Building 18 February, 2345

Allegro, Nevada18 February, 2352

Dolphin Helicopter Transport Approaching Dreamland 19 February, 0600

Dreamland Flighthawk Hangar 19 February, 0630

Dreamland Dorms, Pink Building19 February, 0806

Hawkmother Cockpit19 February, 0840

Sharkishki 19 February, 0950

Hawkmother 19 February, 0954

Rave19 February, 1005

Hawkmother 19 February, 1015

Sharkishki 19 February, 1019

Raven 19 February, 1021

Hawkmother 19 February, 1021

Sharkishki 19 February, 1025

Hawkmother 19 February, 1028

Sharkishki19 February, 1038

Raven 19 February, 1050

V The rain forest

Aboard Hawkmother Over Sierra Nevada Mountains 19 February, 1110

Pej, Brazil 19 February, 1510 local

Aboard Hawkmother Over Pacific Ocean 19 February, 1302 local

Dreamland 19 February, 1705 local

Computer Lab 19 February, 1715

Aboard SAR Helicopter Charlie 7 Over Sierra Nevada Mountains 19 February, 1715

Dreamland Commander’s Office 19 February, 1803

Sierra Nevada Mountains 19 February, 1934

Aboard Raven 19 February, 2010

Sierra Nevada Mountains 19 February, 2018

Aboard Raven 19 February, 2024

Dreamland 19 February, 2043

Aboard Hawkmother Over Central America 19 February, 2240 local

Pej, Brazil 20 February, 0340 local

VI Goddess of war

Dreamland ANTARES Lab 27 February, 1000

Dreamland Hangar 1 27 February, 1000

Pej, Brazil 27 February, 1700 local

Dreamland Computer Labs 27 February, 1700 local

Pej, Brazil 27 February, 2100 local

Aboard Hawkmother Over Northern Brazil 27 February, 2200

Dreamland 4 March, 1300

Dreamland ANTARES Lab 4 March, 1300

Pei, Brazil 4 March, 2350 local

Department of Energy South Texas District 2, Test Area 6 Joint Services Projects Test Facility (Glass Mountain) 5 March, 1730

Aboard Hawkmother Over Glass Mountain 5 March, 1740

Glass Mountain 5 March, 1744

Aboard Hawkmother Over Glass Mountain 5 March, 1745

Dreamland Commander’s Office 5 March, 1800 local

Dreamland 5 March, 1814

Pei, Brazil 6 March, 0300 local

Dreamland 7 March, 0800

Aboard EB-52 BX-5 Galatica Dreamland Range 34 7 March, 1000

Aboard Hawkmother Over Hulapi Mountains, Western Arizona 7 March, 1120 (1020 Dreamland)

Aboard Galatica Over Arizona 7 March, 1130

Dreamland Commander’s Office 7 March, 1135

Madeira Hotel Pôrto Velho, Brazil 7 March, 1435 local (1035 Dreamland)

Aboard Hawkmother Over the Gulf of Mexico 7 March, 1540 local (1340 Dreamland)

Aboard Galatica 7 March, 1545

Aboard Hawkmother Over Northwestern Brazil 7 March, 2220 local (1820 Dreamland)

Aboard Galatica 7 March, 2223

Aboard Hawkmother 7 March, 2230

Aboard Galatica 7 March, 2230

VII Doom

Pej, Brazil 7 March, 2300 (1900 Dreamland)

Aboard Raven Over the Gulf of Mexico 7 March, 2100 local (1900 Dreamland)

Pej, Brazil 7 March, 2330 (1930 Dreamland)

Aboard Raven Over the Gulf of Mexico 7 March, 2130 local (1930 Dreamland)

Aboard Dreamland Combat Transport C-17/D “Quickmover” Over the Caribbean 2240 local (1940 Dreamland)

Pej, Brazil March 8, 0100 local (March 7, 2100 Dreamland)

Dreamland 7 March, 2200 local

Pej, Brazil 8 March, 0401 local (0001 Dreamland)

Aboard Quickmover Over Western Brazil 18 March, 0445

Pei, Brazil 8 March, 0450

Aboard Galatica Lower Deck 8 March, 0453

Pej, Brazil 8 March, 0501

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0501

Pei, Brazil 8 March, 0504

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0510

Dreamland Secure Command Center 8 March, 0130 local (0530 Brazil)

Pei, Brazil 8 March, 0540 local

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0545

Pei, Brazil 8 March, 0550

Dreamland 8 March, 0200 local (Brazil 0600)

Pej, Brazil 8 March, 0613 local

Aboard Galatica Over Colombia 8 March, 0536 local (0636 Brazil)

Dreamland 8 March, 0245 local (0645 Brazil)

Aboard Galatica Over Colombia 8 March, 0545 local (0645 Brazil)

Pej, Brazil 8 March, 0647 local

Aboard EB-52 M-6 Dreamland 8 March, 0351 local

Aboard Galatica Approaching U.S. 8 March, 0805 local (0705 Dreamland)

Aboard M-6 Near Dreamland 8 March, 0715

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0723

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0740

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0753

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0758

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0809

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0811

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0811

Dreamland 8 March, 0811

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0811

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0828

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0832

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0838

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0840

Aboard Sharkishki 8 March, 0848

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0853

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0855

Aboard Sharkishki 8 March, 0855

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0658

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0900

Aboard Gal 8 March, 0906

Aboard M-68 March, 0915

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0925

Aboard M-6 8 March, 0930

Aboard Galatica 8 March, 0935

Dreamland 8 March, 1008

VIII “On review”

Dreamland 8 March, 1300