Текст книги "Revolution"

Автор книги: Dale Brown

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Текущая страница: 25 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

Dog turned to him.

“Look, I know we don’t get along. Hell, Tecumseh, when I met you, I thought you were a big jerk. I still think that. To an extent. A lesser extent.”

Dog started to laugh. It was the same laugh, Samson realized, that he’d heard from Breanna in the plane during the mission, after he’d said that some people were conceited.

It must be embedded in the family genes.

“But we don’t have to be friends,” Samson continued.

“That’s not what Dreamland is about. Or the Air Force. Hell, I don’t need friends. What I need is someone to run the air wing.

Someone with ability. Integrity. Creativity. Balls. A leader.”

“I thought you offered that job to someone else.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve been known to make mistakes. Sometimes … ” He broke into a smile. “Sometimes I even admit it.”

“I THOUGHT DANNY WAS GOING TO SHOOT ME WHEN I TOLD

him we should go back and let President Voda talk to the soldiers,” Zen told Breanna, finishing the story he’d started before she began kissing him.

“Hey, bullshit on that,” said Danny, returning to the table with their drinks. “I wasn’t going to shoot you. Throw you out of the Osprey, yeah.”

Breanna laughed.

“The president’s son tried teaching me Romanian on the way back to the capital,” added Zen. “I can say hello.”

468

DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND

“Hello?”

“ ’Ello.”

“That doesn’t sound Romanian.”

“You think he was gaming me? I paid him a buck.”

Breanna laughed, finally realizing that Zen was joking.

“He’s a cute kid,” she said. She’d met Julian earlier that evening.

“Our son’s going to be cuter,” said Zen.

The remark froze Breanna. Their son?

Was Zen finally ready to talk about having children?

“Jeff?”

Zen smiled. Before Breanna could find a way to press him, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and found General Samson standing behind her.

“Captain Stockard, would you care to dance?”

“Um—”

“As long as your husband doesn’t mind, of course. I don’t need unnecessary dissension in the ranks.”

“Dance away,” said Zen. “A little unnecessary dissension never hurt anyone.”

“I’M GOING TO HIT THE WC,” ZEN TOLD DANNY. “WANT

anything on the way back?”

Danny shook his head and held up his beer.

“I’ll be back.”

Danny took a long pull from the beer as Zen disappeared.

He leaned back in his seat, thinking about the past few days, thinking especially about Istanbul, and Stoner.

The Moldovans claimed they’d only found three bodies in the wreckage. Stoner’s wasn’t among them.

Did it mean he was alive?

Undoubtedly not. The photos showed a horrific scene. The helo had crashed at the edge of a swamp; most likely Stoner had been thrown from the wreck and his body was lying somewhere in the mud, submerged.

REVOLUTION

469

No one would hold a reception for him; there’d be no fist-ful of medals. He wouldn’t even get a wake. The government would never acknowledge that he’d been on the mission, or even been in Romania, let alone Moldova.

Yet, he’d done as much as they had. More really. He’d given his life.

Danny put down the beer and got up. He’d seen a cute Romanian woman who worked in the defense ministry at one of the tables near the door. Maybe she’d like to dance …

DOG WATCHED GENERAL SAMSON LEAD HIS DAUGHTER TO

the dance floor. Samson wasn’t a bad dancer at all.

Nor was he a bad commander. In fact, he might even be a pretty good one. He’d seemed a lot less controlling over the past few days, more willing to improvise and go beyond the book.

Was it just that he hadn’t given Samson a chance at first? Or had Samson started to grow into the role? Was flying Boomer responsible? Was the battle? Or was Dreamland?

Maybe all Earthmover needed was time to forget the political bs he’d had to learn once he made general. Maybe the mission had given him a chance to remember what it was he liked about the Air Force in the first place.

Dog picked up his drink. He remembered his own first days at Dreamland. He’d changed as well.

For the better.

And he’d change again, and again, and again.

Because that was what heroes did.

About the Author

DALE BROWN,

a former U.S. Air Force captain, was born in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in Nevada. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European history and received a U.S. Air Force commission in 1978. He was still serving in the Air Force when he wrote his highly acclaimed first novel, Flight of the Old Dog. Since then he has written a string of New York Times bestsellers, including most recently Edge of Battle, Air Battle Force, Plan of Attack, and Act of War.

www.dalebrown.info

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Praise

NEW YORK TIMES

BESTSELLING AUTHOR

DALE BROWN

“One of the best at marrying high-tech military wizardry with a compelling plot.”

Houston Chronicle

“His knowledge of world politics and

possible military alliances is stunning… .

He writes about weapons beyond

a mere mortal’s imagination.”

Tulsa World

“A master at creating a sweeping epic

and making it seem real.”

Clive Cussler

“Nobody does it better.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Brown puts us in the cockpits of wonderful machines and gives us quite a ride.”

New York Times Book Review

“A master … Dale Brown puts readers right into the middle of the inferno.”

Larry Bond

Also in the Dreamland Series

(with Jim DeFelice)

Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Retribution

Dale Brown’s Dreamland: End Game

Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Satan’s Tail

Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Strike Zone

Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Razor’s Edge

Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Nerve Center

Dale Brown’s Dreamland

Titles by Dale Brown

Shadow Command • Strike Force

Edge of Battle • Act of War

Plan of Attack • Air Battle Force

Wings of Fire • Warrior Class

Battle Born • The Tin Man

Fatal Terrain • Shadow of Steel

Storming Heaven • Chains of Command

Night of the Hawk • Sky Masters

Hammerheads • Day of the Cheetah

Silver Tower • Flight of the Old Dog

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND: REVOLUTION. Copyright

© 2008 by Air Battle Force, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader September 2008

ISBN 978-0-06-171740-6

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About the Publisher

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Document Outline

Cover Image

Title Page

Contents

Dreamland: Duty Roster

Prelude: Night Shivers

Chapter One: Medal of Honor

Chapter Two: An Honor and Privilege

Chapter Three: Killers of Children

Chapter Four: Burnt Wood and Flesh

Chapter Five: Voyeurs at the Edge of Battle

Chapter Six: Fear of the Dead

Chapter Seven: Flying Man

Chapter Eight: For Freedom

About the Author

Praise

Also in the Dreamland Series

Copyright Notice

About the Publisher

Table of Contents

Dreamland: Duty Roster

Prelude: Night Shivers

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

About the Author

Praise

Other Books by Dreamland Series

Cover

Copyright

About the Publisher

Prelude: