“I don’t know, Danny.”

“It’ll work,” he insisted. “It has the range, even without extra fuel. And we’ll take plenty. Payload’s there. It’s low risk.”

“Bullshit on low risk,” said Alou, and even Zen rolled his eyes.

A small part of him said to back off—he and the team were tired, this was way out there. But another part of him, the much larger part, pushed ahead.

They could do it.

“Who’s going to fly the helo?” asked Alou.

“I got a guy,” Danny told him.

“Who?”

“Egg Reagan. He has a pilot’s license and everything.”

“He’s flown Hinds?” Zen asked.

“He can fly anything,” said Danny. “We can take the chopper, no sweat. As long as the Marines can get us there, we can do this. Egg flew a Pave Low just the other day. He can do this.”

“We can’t go without Colonel Bastian’s approval,” said Alou.

“He’ll approve it,” said Danny.

RAZOR’S EDGE

297

Dreamland Command Center

0210

“VERY RISKY, DANNY. I DON’T KNOW IF SERGEANT REAGAN

can fly the aircraft.”

“I know he can, Colonel. He’s been sleeping or I’d have him here to tell you himself.”

Dog started pacing. He knew as well as Danny what the sergeant would say; the word “No” didn’t seem to be in the Whiplash vocabulary.

But could he really do it?

“He flies the Pave Lows,” added Danny. “They’re more complicated, I guarantee.”

The payoff was immense. Pull it off, and they’d have a treasure trove of information.

But this was far riskier than the earlier plan.

He played back the conversation he’d had earlier with Clearwater. The general wasn’t opposed to hitting the laser. On the contrary, it seemed. But he clearly wouldn’t go against his orders, and clearly wouldn’t directly support a mission into Iran until the orders were changed.

That could take days. If the laser were mobile, it’d be gone then.

“Colonel?”

“CentCom needs one of the Megafortresses to help suppress antiair on a mission south about the time this is supposed to go off. We’re going to have to work that in,”

said Dog.

“Okay,” said Danny.

“I’ll talk to CentCom about the action inside of Iraq.”

“Hot dog.”

“I haven’t authorized the ground mission,” said Bastian quickly. “Let me think about it.”

“But—”

298

DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND

“I’ll get back to you,” said Dog, punching the End Transmit.

High Top

1225

“KNOCK, KNOCK,” SAID EGG, OUTSIDE DANNY’S PERSONAL

tent. “Hey, Captain, you wanted to see me?”

“Come,” said Danny.

Powder and Bison came in with Egg, filling the tent with an odd odor.

“Enjoy your nap?” Danny asked Egg.

“Yes, sir,” said the sergeant.

“What the hell?” said Danny. “You guys smell like baby powder.”

“Hey, just checking on the kid, Cap,” said Powder.

“You know. We’re like uncles.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Listen, Egg, we have something a bit hard to tackle and I’m wondering if you’d be up to it.”

“Hard’s his middle name, Cap,” said Powder. “Just before ‘on.’ ”

“Yeah, and Powder would know,” said Bison.

Danny ignored them. “Egg, would you be up to flying a helicopter?”

The sergeant shrugged. “Yeah, no problem.”

“Good. It’s an Mi-24 Hind.”

“A what?”

“A Hind. Commie helicopter. Think you can handle it?”

“Jeez, I don’t know. I don’t know that I’ve ever flown one of those before.”

“A helicopter’s a helicopter, right? Jennifer Gleason says there’s a database on the controls and performance RAZOR’S EDGE

299

aspects in the Megafortress database,” Danny added.

“She’s setting it up so you can review it. And I talked to Dr. Ray at Dreamland. He’s going to dig around for an expert to talk you through it. We can set up a direct line.”

“Jennifer, the babe scientist,” said Powder. “Jeez, I’ll do it.”

“I volunteer,” said Bison.

“I don’t know, Cap,” said Egg. “I mean, I probably could figure it out if I have a little time.”

“I’ll do it,” said Powder.

“Screw yourself,” said Egg. “This isn’t a bulldozer we’re talking about.”

“I can learn it, Cap,” insisted Powder. “Will she whisper in my ear?”

“All right, guys, back off,” said Danny. “Outside the tent.”

He watched Egg as they left. The normally self-assured sergeant wore a worried face.

“We can come up with something else,” Danny suggested.

“I can do it.” Egg flexed his shoulders back. Danny worried that he was pushing too hard—he didn’t want Egg to say he could do it just to please him.

On the other hand, a helicopter was a helicopter, commie or not, right?

“Where is it?” asked Egg.

“We passed it on the way home,” Danny told him. “The Marines are going to help us steal it.”

“Shit, I’ll do it, Cap,” said Powder outside.

“Fuck off,” said Egg.

“Go play with the kid,” yelled Danny.

Powder and Bison moved a few feet away from the tent, though he could tell they were still nearby.

300

DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND

“I’ll figure it out, Captain,” said Egg. “If I get some help. When are we leaving?”

“Half an hour too soon?”

Egg just scratched his head.

Dreamland Command Center

0255

DOG WATCHED THE CNN FEED, HIS MIND DRIFTING BLANK.

The connection with High Top was pending; he intended to give Danny the go-ahead to use the Hind, long shot though it was.

He’d double-checked the sergeant’s piloting credentials, gone over the sat pictures, reviewed the flight plans.

He’d listened to the scientists debate the value of the intelligence. He’d spoken once more to Clearwater, who personally approved the Marine involvement in the helo snatch, but set the limits there. Dog knew he was making the right decision; the odds were against the mission, but it was exactly the sort of long shot they’d put Whiplash together to undertake.

And yet, he was still searching for some signpost, some indication that he was right to put his people at so much risk.

It wasn’t there. Even on an easy mission, nothing could guarantee everything would fall in place.

There were no easy missions. On the other hand, if they completely screwed up, if things went totally wrong, the implications were enormous.

Worse than the situation if they did nothing?

No.

The CNN footage showed Iraqi tanks continuing their attacks against the Kurds. Didn’t we fight this war already? Dog wondered.

RAZOR’S EDGE

301

“Captain Freah is on his way,” said the lieutenant at the com panel. “He should be on in five minutes, maybe less.”

“Okay. Where’s Jed Barclay?” Dog asked.

“Incirlik.”

“Get him, would you?”

The operator punched his keys. He spoke to someone on the other end of the line in Turkey, then told Dog they wouldn’t have video.

“Not a problem.”

“Colonel?” Jed’s voice boomed so loudly in the room the techie had to squelch the volume.

“Jed, can you get me to General Elliott?”

“He’s left to go back to Europe.”

“You can get me in touch with him, can’t you?”

“Uh, yeah. Take a minute.”

Two minutes later the technician said they had an in-coming transmission from Class Two—General Elliott aboard a VIP Gulfstream.

“How are you, Colonel?” boomed Elliott.

“Personally, not so good.” Dog laughed, facing the blank screen. “Want your old job back?”

Elliott laughed. “I’d take it in a heartbeat.” His tone grew serious. “It’s a little different being a colonel. You don’t have the perks to go with the responsibility.”

“I still have to do what I think is right.”

“It’s not always easy to figure out what that is,” said Elliott.

Dog didn’t intend on asking him what to do, and he’d known Elliott wouldn’t volunteer advice. So why had he contacted him?