In this thrilling geopolitical adventure from New York Times bestselling legend Dale Brown, Brad McLanahan and the Space Force must fight to preserve America's freedom when ruthless enemies forge an unlikely alliance to control not only the earth, but the moon and beyond.Because its enemies never stop trying to undermine the United States' security, the men and women who serve to protect America must always be vigilant. Few know this better than warriors Brad McLanahan and Nadia Rozek. Newly married, the two are just beginning to settle into their new life together when they are called back into action.Though the Russians were badly defeated by Brad and the Iron Wolf Squadron in their previous bid for world dominance, they are back and doubling down on their quest for control of outer space. In addition to their cutting-edge weaponry, they have a formidable new ally: China's energetic and ruthless leader, President Li Jun.To protect America and the rest of the free world from the Russians and the Chinese, the Americans plan to mine the moon's helium-3 resources, which will allow them to fully exploit the revolutionary fusion power technology Brad and his team captured from the Russians aboard the Mars One weapons platform.But Leonov and Li have devised a daring plan of their own. They are building a joint secret base on the moon's far side fortified with a powerful Russian plasma rail gun that can destroy any spacecraft entering lunar orbit. If the heavily armed base becomes operational, it will give America's enemies control over the world's economic and military future.As this latest skirmish in the war for space accelerates, Brad, Nadia, and their compatriots in the Space Force must use their cunning and skill — and America's own high-tech weaponry — to derail the Sino-Russian alliance and destroy their lunar site before it's too late for the U.S.… and the entire world.
“Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation.”
“…for countries that can never win a war with the United States by using the method of tanks and planes, attacking the U.S. space system may be an irresistible and most tempting choice.”
JOHN DALTON FARRELL, president of the United States of America
ANDREW TALIAFERRO, secretary of state
DR. LAWRENCE DAWSON, Ph.D., White House science adviser
ELIZABETH HILDEBRAND, CIA director
SCOTT FIRESTONE, admiral, U.S. Navy, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
COMMANDER AMANDA DVORSKY, U.S. Navy, captain of USS
COLONEL KEITH “MAL” REYNOLDS, commander, Eagle Orbital Station
CAPTAIN ALLISON STEWART, sensor officer, Eagle Orbital Station
MAJOR IKE OZAWA, Thunderbolt plasma rail gun officer, Eagle Orbital Station
CAPTAIN WILLIAM CARRANZA, laser weapons officer, Eagle Orbital Station
COLONEL SCOTT “DUSTY” MILLER, S-29B Shadow armed spaceplane pilot
MAJOR HANNAH “ROCKY” CRAIG, S-29B Shadow armed spaceplane copilot
LIEUTENANT GENERAL DANIEL MULVANEY, commander, U.S. Space Force Missile and Space Launch Warning Center
MAJOR GENERAL PETE HERNANDEZ, U.S. Space Force Missile and Space Launch Warning Center
COLONEL KATHLEEN LOCKE, director, Morrell Operations Center, Space Launch Complex 37B, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
GENERAL RICHARD KELLEHER, chief of staff, U.S. Space Force
BRIGADIER GENERAL JILL ROSENTHAL, senior watch officer, U.S. Space Force Operations Center, Peterson Air Force Base
HUNTER “BOOMER” NOBLE, Ph.D., chief of aerospace engineering, Sky Masters Aerospace, Inc., lead trainer for U.S. Space Force spaceplane pilots
BRAD MCLANAHAN, spaceplane pilot trainer and Cybernetic Lunar Activity Device (CLAD) pilot
MAJOR NADIA ROZEK, spaceplane pilot trainer and CLAD pilot
PETER CHARLES “CONSTABLE” VASEY, former pilot in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, spaceplane pilot
JASON RICHTER, colonel, U.S. Army (ret.), Ph.D., chief executive officer of Sky Masters Aerospace, creator of the Cybernetic Lunar Activity Device
KEVIN MARTINDALE, president of Scion, former president of the United States of America
PATRICK MCLANAHAN, technology and intelligence expert, former lieutenant general, U.S. Air Force (ret.)
IAN SCHOFIELD, Scion deep-penetration expert, former captain in Canada’s Special Operations Regiment
SAMANTHA KERR, operative, Scion Intelligence
MARCUS CARTWRIGHT, operative, Scion Intelligence
DAVID JONES, operative, Scion Intelligence
ZACH ORLOV, computer operations specialist, Scion Intelligence
LIZ GALLAGHER, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force (ret.), copilot, S-29B Shadow spaceplane
PAUL JACOBS, defensive systems officer, S-29B Shadow spaceplane
MARSHAL MIKHAIL IVANOVICH LEONOV, minister of defense, and de facto ruler of the Russian Federation
VIKTOR KAZYANOV, minister of state security
DARIA TITENEVA, foreign minister
MAJOR GENERAL ARKADY KOSHKIN, chief of the Federal Security Service’s Q Directorate
COLONEL GENERAL SEMYON TIKHOMIROV, commander of the Aerospace Forces
MAJOR STEPAN GRIGORYEV, MiG-31 pilot
CAPTAIN ALEXEY BALANDIN, MiG-31 weapons system officer
CAPTAIN OLEG PANOV, Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter pilot
MAJOR YURI DRACHEV, Ka-52 Alligator gunship pilot
LIEUTENANT GENERAL NIKOLAI VARSHAVSKY, commander, Central Military District
COLONEL KIRILL LAVRENTYEV, Space Forces cosmonaut, co-commander, Korolev Base
CAPTAIN DIMITRY YANIN, Space Forces cosmonaut, Korolev Base weapons officer
MAJOR GENERAL OLEG PANARIN, senior staff officer for Marshal Leonov
MAJOR ANDREI BEZRUKOV, Space Forces cosmonaut, Korolev Base, expert KLVM pilot
LI JUN, president of the People’s Republic of China
GENERAL CHEN HAIFENG, commander of the Strategic Support Force
ADMIRAL CAO, commander, People’s Liberation Army Navy
LIEUTENANT GENERAL TAO SHIDID, commander, People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force
CAPTAIN YANG ZHI, People’s Liberation Army Navy, commander, Yŏngxīng Dăo island garrison
PENG XIA, foreign minister
COLONEL TIAN FAN, military taikonaut, co-commander, Korolev Base
MAJOR LIU ZHEN, military taikonaut, senior sensor officer, Korolev Base
CAPTAIN SHAN JINAI, military taikonaut, junior watch officer, Korolev Base
