Newly-promoted to Captain, Dan Lenson's first glimpse of his command is of a ship literally high and dry. The USS Savo Island , which carries a classified, never-before-deployed missile defense system, has run aground on an exposed sandbar off Naples. Captain Lenson has to relieve the ship's disgraced skipper and deploy on a secret mission―Operation Stellar Shield―which will take his ship and crew into the dangerous waters bordering the Middle East. As a climate of war builds between Israel and Iraq, with threats of nuclear and chemical weapons, Dan has to rally Savo Island's demoralized crew, confront a mysterious death on board ship, while learning to operate a complex missile system that has not been battle tested. But when the conflict reaches a climax, Dan is forced to make a decision that may cost hundreds of thousands of innocent lives―or may save them, but at the cost of his ship and his career. Filled with dramatic sea adventure, authentic weapons and technology, and distinguished by Poyer's deep understanding of duty and the moral choices made in combat, The Cruiser is the fourteenth novel to feature Dan Lenson in military service that carries him throughout the world. “The action is so detailed that readers paying close attention could take over the captain's chair and drive the boat themselves.” ― Publishers Weekly “Poyer is a master of the modern sea adventure, pitting both men and women against unseen enemies and turbulent waves.” ― Kirkus “ …Those who have not [already discovered Poyer's long-running Lenson series] should be steered in this book's direction. They'll be glad they gave it a look.” ― Booklist DAVID POYER's naval career included service in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, the Middle East, and Pacific. The Cruiser is the fourteenth in his continuing Dan Lenson series . He's also written sailing, diving, and nautical history articles for Chesapeake Bay, Southern Boating, Shipmate, Tidewater Virginian , and other periodicals. His work has been required reading in the Literature of the Sea course at the U.S. Naval Academy. Previous novels in the Dan Lenson series include The Towers, The Crisis, and The Weapon . He lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with his wife and daughter, with whom he explores the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast in their sloop, Water Spirit. The Cruiser By David Poyer St. Martin's Press Copyright © 2014 David Poyer All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-250-02058-1 CHAPTER 1 Italy THEY'D been in the air for two hours from Spain when the copilot made her way toward him, bracing a hand on the back of each seat. "Coming up on Naples, Captain," she murmured over the hum of the engines. As the wing of the vice CNO's private jet lifted, she bent over him to point outside, giving a flash of cleavage at the neckline of her flight suit. "There's Vesuvius, sir. Harbor's coming up on your right." The immense double mounds of the volcano barricaded the sky. Below stretched miles of roofs, streets, apartments, their windows flashing flame-orange in the winter sun. The air was hazy with mist, or maybe smoke. What must it be like, living in the shadow of a volcano? The very volcano—if he remembered correctly—where Hephaestus had forged the weapons of Mars, the god of war. Then a great glittering rose-silver arc rolled up into view, and Dan leaned into the seat belt, shading his eyes. The pilot kept the wing depressed, as if to give his only passenger the opportunity for a long look down. Captain Daniel Valentine Lenson, U.S. Navy, traced the tracks and roads that edged the sweeping concavity of sea that was the Bay of Naples; the inner harbor; the stone moles, spidery thin and knobbed as a movie alien's fingers. Cruise ships lay alongside the Mussolini-era passenger terminal, deck on deck shining in the sun like white steel wedding cakes. A cliff of masonry, the fortification that had guarded the city in days past, frowned half a mile south of the inner harbor. Two hundred yards short of it lay the gray wedge of a Ticonderoga-class cruiser. A tug was nudging a barge alongside; smaller craft sketched foamy orbits around it. Those would be force protection, small boats guarding the helpless giant. "Can you see it?" The copilot, leaning even farther over him. Blond hair swung forward, wafting a perfume he hadn't caught before. "We can notify Traffic Control and circle. Get you a better look." "No, thanks." One glimpse had seared it into his retinas. The orange of spill-containment booms. The blues and greens that paled abruptly to shoal water a third of the way back from the stem. USS Savo Island was hard aground. That much was clear, even from five thousand feet. "We'll be wheels down in ten, then. Is your seat belt secure? Just let me check—" "I'll snug it up, thanks." Dan scratched his chin. He wore two rings: the heavy gold Annapolis one, and the thinner, traditional Navy wedding band, with stars and anchors. Glancing at his han