Troy Pearce and his elite team of drone experts are called in when rising tensions between China and Japan threaten to dramatically change the geopolitical climate of the world.When China stakes a dubious claim in the hotly disputed waters of the East China Sea, the prime minister of Japan threatens to dispatch the country's naval assets and tear up its antiwar constitution unless the Americans forcefully intervene. The war-weary Americans are reluctant to confront the powerful Chinese navy directly, but if the Japanese provoke a military conflict with their historic enemy, treaty obligations would draw the United States into the fight.In order to deescalate the first foreign policy crisis of his administration, U.S. president Lane dispatches Troy Pearce and his team to Tokyo to defuse the situation. What they find is a quagmire of hawkish politicians, nationalistic fervor, special interests with their own hidden agendas, and possibly the greatest military threat that America has ever faced. In this treacherous atmosphere it will require all of Pearce's cunning — and his team's technological prowess — to separate the truth from misdirection, and prevent the world from plunging into war.
For all the brave sons, mine most of all
SANJI HARA — Vice Admiral, JMSDF
DR. NITOBE IKEDA — Director, NEDO
HIROSHI ITO — Prime Minister of Japan
KOBAYASHI — Yakuza boss
HIROSHI ONIZUKA — Captain of the submarine
OSHIRO — Yakuza underboss
KATSU TANAKA — Parliamentary Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, LDP member of the House of Representatives (Nagasaki Prefecture)
GENERAL CHEN ZULIN — Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission
ADMIRAL DENG ZILONG — Fleet Commander, PLAN South Sea Fleet
FENG YONGBO — Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission
FENG JIANLI — Son of Feng Yongbo
ADMIRAL JI DONGSHENG — Fleet Commander, PLAN East Sea Fleet
HUANG YONG — Minister of State Security
PANG BO — Ambassador to Japan
SUN QUAN — General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission
DR. WENG LITONG — Head, GAD Expert Working Group (robotic weapon systems)
DR. T. J. ASHLEY — Pearce Systems associate
HENRY DAVIS — Ambassador to Japan
DR. WILLIAM (WILL) ELLIOTT — National Security Research Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Ex-CIA, friend of Troy’s dad
JIM GARZA — National Security Advisor
STELLA KANG — Pearce Systems associate
DAVID LANE — President of the United States
IAN MCTAVISH — Pearce Systems associate
MARGARET MYERS — Former President of the United States
GENERAL GORDON ONSTOT — Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
TROY PEARCE — CEO, Pearce Systems
MIKE PIA — Director of National Intelligence
BREN SHAFER — Secretary of Defense
GABY WHEELER — Secretary of State
DR. KENJI YAMADA — University of Hawaii faculty, Pearce Systems associate
AUGUST MANN — Pearce Systems director of nuclear facility deconstruction (Germany)
DR. LINH PHAM — VAST drone researcher (Vietnam)
TAMAR STERN — Former Pearce Systems security associate, Mossad agent (Israel)
4GW — Fourth-generation Warfare
A2AD — Anti-Access/Area Denial
AAV — Autonomous Aerial Vehicle
ACTUV — Antisubmarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel
ADPS — Automated Dynamic Positioning System
ASAT — Antisatellite
ASV — Autonomous Surface Vehicle
ASW — Antisubmarine Warfare
AUV — Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
AWACS — Airborne Warning and Control System
CAP — Combat Air Patrol
CIC — Combat Information Center
CMC — Central Military Commission
DARPA — Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DNI — Director of National Intelligence
EMP — Electromagnetic Pulse
FIC — First Island Chain
GAD — General Armament Department (A PRC/PLA version of DARPA)
GWOT — Global War on Terrorism
HGV — Hypersonic Glide Vehicle
HPM — High-powered Microwave
HUMINT — Human Intelligence (spies)
ICBM — Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
JPALS — Joint Precision Approach and Landing System
LDP — Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
LRAD — Long-range Acoustic Device
MAD — Mutual Assured Destruction
MIRV — Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle
MOD — Minister of Defense (Japan)
MSS — Ministry of State Security (PRC)
NEDO — New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
NKP — New Komeito Party (Japan)
SAC — Second Artillery Corps (PRC)
SLBM — Sub-Launched Ballistic Missile
STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
TAD — Threat Assessment Display
TEPCO — Tokyo Electric Power Company
TNF — Technical Nuclear Forensics
TTO — Tactical Technology Office (DARPA, USA)
UCAV — Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle
UCLASS — Unmanned Carrier-launched Surveillance and Strike Vehicle
UFP — Upward Falling Payload
USV — Unmanned Surface Vehicle
UUV — Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
VAST — Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
VPA — Vietnam People’s Army
VTC — Video Teleconference
While many of the drone and related systems described in this novel are currently deployed, others are based on patent filings, prototypes, and research proposals. In some cases I modified or simplified their performance characteristics for the sake of the story. However, I’m confident that some variants of what I’ve imagined could soon be a reality.
Being unconquerable lies with yourself;
being conquerable lies with your enemy.
