Armageddon

The president handed the phone to the secretary of state, who listened for a few more moments, said “Great,” and then hung up.

“They’ll cooperate,” the secretary a

“Dreamland preferred the, uh, hidden base,” said Jed. “Because it’s location is more isolated. Less chance for spies to see them coming and going. There are some security issues—we’re very short of perso

“The Malaysians promised assistance,” said the secretary of state. “I think they’re sincere.”

“I doubt they’re sincere,” said President Martindale. “But I think they’ll go along with us for the time being. We’ve just given them carte blanche to attack the terrorists wherever they find them. I imagine they’ll use it to justify all ma

VI

S NAKES IN THE J UNGLE

Near Labi, southwestern Brunei

13 October 1997, 2300

DANNY FREAH TIGHTENED HIS HAND ON THE SIDE OF THE seat as the Quick Bird thundered over the Brunei Jungle, heading for the last launch point for the LADS system. He’d given up his usual spot in the front of the helo to Je

Who said scientists weren’t useful? And this one, even in a carbon-boron vest, was damn easy on the eyes.

“Thirty seconds to touchdown, Captain,” a

“Good:’ said Da

“Problem, Cap?” asked Boston, who was sitting next to him. “I’m all right.”

“Foot fell asleep, huh?” Boston laughed.

“My leg,” said Da

“My grandmamma had an of recipe to fix that.”

“Your grandmamma, huh?” said Sergeant Garcia. “Did it involve castor oil?”

“Mighta. She put castor oil into anything, including the stew”

Da

“Here we go,” said the pilot, tipping the helicopter downward.

Da

“Cap, got something moving down off the road,” said Garcia.

Da

“Too far away to get a good view,” said Garcia, pointing along the ravine. “Two bodies, but I can’t tell if they’re people or what”

Even at maximum magnification, Da

“Whiplash team to Quick Bird, I want you to stay clear of the area south of us,” Da

Aboard EB-52 Indianapolis (“Indy”), over Brunei

2312

Lieutenant Kirk “Starship” Andrews acknowledged the request from Captain Freah for a close-up of the area to the southeast of the LADS deployment team and turned his Flighthawk back in that direction.

Lieutenant James “Kick” Colby sat next to him on the Flighthawk deck of the Indy, controlling Hawk Four. Kick had just taken his plane up for a refuel, leaving Starship to handle the reco

Not that he didn’t prefer it that way.

The U/MF-3 slid through five thousand feet, descending toward a blur of vegetation. Starship rode the plane over the right shoulder of the road for about a mile and a half, then started his turn to bank in the direction of the area Whiplash had pointed out. The sensors in the belly of the Flighthawk scoured the ground as he flew; the computer gave him two frozen frames as he pulled up.

“Hawk Three to Whiplash ground team. Captain, we got some blurs on that pass. Computer ID’d two people, but there may be more. I’m taking another run. I’ll feed you the video from the sensors,” he added, reaching with his left hand to the one-switch toggle that allowed the data to flow through the Dreamland network. “Thick canopy,” he added, meaning that the trees and vegetation would limit the sensors’ ability to see.

“Whiplash leader,” acknowledged Da

Starship banked Hawk Three well south of the target area and lined up again, practically walking over the area. He came around and found himself barely fifty feet higher than the rock outcropping on the opposite end of the highway. He’d been so intent on flying the airplane that he was surprised when Da

“Sorry Whiplash, I lost that:’ he told the captain on the ground.

“Take another run,” said Da

Starship banked around and began another pass. As he did, he got two warnings from the computer—one because he was drifting too far from the Megafortress to control the Flighthawk properly, and the other because he was into his fuel reserves.

“I can manage one more pass,” he told Da

“Give me a good one then.”

Near Labi, southern Brunei

2318

“I can’t tell who they are,” Da

“Yeah,” said Garcia.

Da

“We have some people moving up about a mile and a half from here, in the jungle:’ he told them. “We can’t tell if they’re good guys or bad guys. How long is it going to take to get that bag up in the air?”

“Another five minutes before we can start the inflation,” said Je

Once inflated and launched, it would take the blimp at least ten minutes to climb up and out of easy range. The engine was fairly quiet, but could be heard when the craft was at ground level.

“All right,” Da

“We’re not leaving without you,” said Je

“Yeah, Captain, no way.”

“It won’t come to that,” said Da