The Catalyst

Ensign Deke Mallory is deployed to the Mediterranean at a crucial Cold War juncture, where the fledgling Navy fighter pilot falls for a winsome Spanish girl, and under the spell of a rogue Navy Ace whose mutinous plan to flame their MiG tormentors violates the President's major peace initiative. But the real threat to peace is lurking off-stage, in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where a fanatical ex-Nazi SS unit has gone-to-ground with an insidious ruse guaranteed to trigger the superpowers' mutual assured destruction.Rising CIA analyst Terry Truman must bet his career if he confronts the President based on hunches, but only Deke Mallory's mettle can prevent Armageddon-if he survives to launch the kind of legend he'll become.