Independent (abridged)

Iran has been invaded. And America responds in a grueling counterattack by air, by sea - and by a brave new technology that will redefine war. The most sophisticated laser defense system ever. It is called Silver Tower. And it will change the balance of world power forever.

Off the coast of southern Florida, a deadly war is being waged that threatens our national security. Thousands of kilos of illicit drugs are dumped on our shores annually. But "business as usual" takes a quite different turn when Sandra Geffar and Ian Hardcastle (heads of the U.S. Customs Department and the Coast Guard respectively) put their departmental and personal squabbles behind them and team up in a daring plan to put an end to airborne smuggling.

In Desert Storm, Major Daren Mace made a fateful decision to go against orders. To abort a secret mission that was, in his judgment, ill advised. His actions landed him in military exile. Now Mace has moved on to the Air Force Reserves. There's a new US president. It's a new era, and a new war is escalating along the Ukraine border. This time Mace has a partner - Rebecca Furness, the military's first woman combat flyer. And this time the chains of command are tightening around him.

Terrorists are holding America under siege, and their method is as ingenious as it is deadly. Using commercial aircraft purchased from a failing domestic airline, they drop bombs on unsuspecting and critical targets - including the busy airports of Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth. When the nation begins to panic, the President orders Lieutenant General Robert Blocker to reestablish security in the skies before the fallout hits the White House. Blocker's response to the crisis is drastic - until the terrorists strike again in Denver, then Memphis.