Excerpt from Primary Target by Joe Weber, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

High Above The Persian Gulf

Easing the throttles out of afterburner, Iranian Air Force Major Ali Akbar Muhammud gently banked his Soviet-built MiG-29 Fulcrum as he and his wingman rapidly descended from 52,000 feet. Muhammud's first missile had malfunctioned and gone ballistic, but his second missile had destroyed one of the Great Satan's reconnaissance planes.

Smiling with unbridled satisfaction, he glanced at his wingman. Although the Iranian Air Force had greatly increased the number of aircraft patrolling their borders, Muhammud's flight was the first to make contact with the "hostile" recce planes. A few primary radar returns on an air traffic controller's screen had made the difference. It had given the MiG pilots a basic heading to intercept the intruders.

After descending to 2,300 feet, Muhammud leveled off and watched the fuselage of the Tomcat plunge into the Persian Gulf. Scanning the hazy sky for parachutes, the MiG flew a sweeping circle around the impact area as more debris splashed into the water. Unable to spot any sign of the downed crew, Muhammud and his wingman added power and banked toward their base at Shiraz.

En route to the airfield, Muhammud recalled the emotional pep talk their squadron commander had given the pilots. The infidels are going to have to face reality; the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer tolerate the intrusive acts fomented by the President of the "capital of global arrogance." Today marks the emergence of a different, more powerful, more determined Iran.

Muhammud swelled with pride, knowing that he was the first of Iran's elite fighter pilots to strike a deadly blow to the Americans.

Copyright Joe Weber 1999. All rights reserved.