White Jade (The PROJECT) (36 page)

Chapter Fifty-T
hree

On the way to the White House, t
he team watched the President's address in the back of a black
Lincoln
stretch limousine. Rice appeared grave, angry and reassuring. He confirmed there had been a terrorist attack. He cautioned the nation against jumping to conclusions about who was to blame. He promised swift retaliation once the identity of the bombers became known.

He talked of nine eleven and Pearl Harbor. He expressed certainty America would rise to the challenge again
and
closed with a prayer for the victims and their families and for the nation as a whole. It was a masterful performance.

People were angry. There had been a leak. The news media were already speculating on Chinese involvement.

The team entered the White House through a back entrance. They were ushered to a room next to the Oval Office, where Rice was meeting with the Secretary of State and General Holden. Director Harker, General Hood and Rice's Chief of Staff were waiting there. Hogan was clearly on edge.

"When the President is ready he'll
call
us in. He'll set the conversation. Be ready to tell him about your mission. Keep it brief."

Carter decided he didn't like Hogan. He also decided to keep his mouth shut before it got him into trouble. He was tired
. W
hen he was tired he
had no patience for things that annoyed him
.

Harker said, "You put on quite a show over there."

"We almost made it out without trouble. Wu showed up at just the wrong time. What's happening in
China
?"

The three stars on Hood's shoulders glinted under the ceiling lights.

"Nobody's quite sure. It looks like Yang made his move and it didn't come off. There's been a lot of military movement, all internal. Heavy air and sea cover earlier at Sanya, but that seems to have lightened up. Now we're watching the missile base at
Luoyang
. Troops
have surrounded
the base. That's one of the reasons we think Yang failed.
But those missiles aren't under government control.
If
Lu
activate
s
the silos we'll know it and things could get real hot.
Holden convinced Rice to go to
DEFCON 2."

That was bad.
Nick shifted to ease the pain in his back.

"Any communication from the PRC?" 

"Not yet. I don't know what the President is thinking, but if I were him I'd play a little cat and mouse. See if I could get them to call first. Meanwhile,
Langley
and everyone else is running around trying to figure out who set off those bombs."

"We know who set them off," Selena said. "The
Triads
."

Harker broke in. "We can't start arresting everyone in the
Triads
. We need proof, hard evidence. Some people aren't convinced a coup is behind the bombings. Some aren't convinced there's a coup attempt at all. They think
China
is initiating some large scale military adventure and they're worried. There are enough nukes at
Luoyang
to wipe out millions of our people and several of our cities. Sanya houses SSBN's. If they move to deep water, we could be in trouble."

The door to the Oval Office opened and an aide beckoned them in.

Rice was sitting
behind his desk, in front of
the tall windows fronting the Rose Garden. A large, round rug bearing the Presidential Seal filled the center of the room.
A cluster of elegant, upholstered chairs
were
grouped in front of the desk. Sitting there were
General Holden
,
the Secretary of State and Cheryl Wilson, the Assistant Secretary for Asian Affairs. The President rose and took Selena's hand.

"Selena. I was surprised to learn you were part of this. It's good to see you again. I was very sorry when William was taken from us. Everyone, please sit down."

"Thank you, Mister President," she said. They sat.

"Director Harker has told me about your mission. What I wanted was to look you in the eye and hear about it directly from you."

"It was an experience, Mr. President."

Rice glanced at his notes.

"Gunnery Sergeant Peete. You were wounded."

"It's nothing, sir." Ronnie sat ramrod straight in his chair in a suit and tie, holding the cane he'd been given at a perfect 90 degree angle. It was quite a change from his usual Hawaiian riot. He might as well have been on parade.

"At ease, Gunny. Give your leg a rest, you deserve it. " Ronnie relaxed by about a millimeter.

Rice looked at Nick. "Major Carter. You led the team."

Nick's service jacket lay on the
desk
. Sitting a few feet away from the President, he felt the aura of power that went with the office. He had no doubt he was in the presence of the most powerful man in the world.

"Yes, sir. Sir, I am no longer in the service."

"I know that,
Major
. However, you never resigned your commission, so that is not quite accurate. What were your instructions?"

"To penetrate an ancient temple complex in
Tibet
."

"For what purpose?"

"General Yang had gone to extremes to obtain the location of this complex. We weren't sure what he wanted. We only knew it was important to him. We felt it was in the national interest to get there first and confound any plans he might have for whatever was found. We were operating on the theory that what was bad for Yang would be good for us."

"You found evidence of a high yield uranium deposit?"

"Yes, Mister President. In the
Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region."

Rice gave him a careful look.

"I understand you have video of the underground chamber."

"Yes, sir."

"I would like all copies of this video delivered to me personally. Is that clear?"

"Very clear, sir."

"Good." Rice sat for a few seconds, said, "How did the firefight begin?"

Carter
told him the story. He smiled.

"Outstanding. Well done, Major. What is your assessment of the fallout from your mission?"

"Sir?"

"Fallout. Political, military. Consequences, if you like."

The President of the
United States
was asking for his opinion. It was a first.

"Well, sir, I don't think there are going to be any consequences to speak of."

Wilson
made a sound of disgust. "
Mister
Carter, you illegally entered Chinese sovereign territory and attacked and killed over thirty of their troops. How can you possibly say there won't be any consequences?"

Rice's eyes flicked toward her, but he said nothing.

Carter
felt his temper rising.

"First of all, they attacked us, not the other way around. Those troops were under the command of Colonel Wu, Yang's man. If I were running the PRC, I wouldn't want to make a big deal about it. It's a deniable incident in a remote region, the result of actions taken by a madman trying to take over
China
."

"You insist there is a coup being planned."

Carter
looked at her.

"Are you as stupid as you seem?"

Wilson's face tightened into a puckered scowl.

Carter said,
"Yes, I do insist. From our satellite intel, I would say it has already happened and succeeded or not. If it did succeed, we've got a problem that has nothing to do with
Tibet
. If it didn't, there aren't going to be any consequences from my mission."

Wilson's face pinched itself together and she was about to say something when an aide came in, whispered in Hogan's ear, and left the room.

"Mister President, President Zhang is calling."

"About time. Put him on the speaker."

Chapter Fifty-
Four

"
Sir…
"
Hogan was looking at
Nick
and the others.

"
Just put him on the speaker, Kevin.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

"
Mister President.
"
The voice quality was good. Zhang
spoke
in Chinese, with simultaneous
translation
on his end. Rice gestured to Selena, pointed to an earpiece lying by a pen and pad on the end of his desk and indicated she should pick it up. He flipped a switch on his desk.
China
could not hear
him
.

"
Selena, you speak the language. Listen and tell me if the translation is correct. Listen for anything that might help me understand this man.
"

She picked up the earpiece. Rice activated the phone.

"
President Zhang. What can I do for you?
"

"
Mister President, there have been some events here. We do not wish to have these events, ah, misunderstood. I am calling to let you know our situation.
"

"
Our satellites show unusual military movements
. S
ome of my advisors are quite disturbed. Tell me, Mister President,
should I
feel disturbed?
"

"
No, no, not at all. We are merely conducting exercises. There is no cause for you to be alarmed. We have had a problem with one of our senior commanders, but it has been resolved.
"

Selena was scribbling on a piece of paper.
Nick
took it and handed it to the President.

Stressed
, she had written.
Us
ed
idiom associated with desire to placate without admitting wrong-doing.

"
What was the nature of the problem?
"

"
It is unimportant, now.
"

"
Mister President, there has been an attack on our country.
W
e believe one of your ranking officers
is responsible
. If this proves to be true, there will be serious consequences for our nations.
"

"
This cannot be true! Who is suspected?
"

"
Your General Yang.
"

There was a pause.
Everyone
watched Rice.

"
Mister President.
"
The
voice on the
speaker phone was flat, metallic.
"
Coincidentally, General Yang is the senior officer I mentioned earlier. He has been removed from command for promoting reactionary policies. If he has initiated attacks against your country it was without our knowledge or compliance.
"

"
All that is well and good, Mister President, but it will not be enough.
"
Rice allowed a
nger
to creep into his voice.
"
Perhaps you can persuade General Yang to reveal how he accomplished his vicious and unprovoked actions. Our people are upset and angry. I assure you, President Zhang, if your government had anything to do with these events, consequences will be severe. Do I make myself clear?
"

There was a rapid burst of Chinese in the background, several people talking at once. Selena scribbled.

Great concern. Someone arguing for
a full
war
alert.
Zhang is nervous. Someone saying he should tell you the truth.

After a moment the President of China came back on the line.

"
President Rice. I will be candid. General Yang has been arrested for attempting to install himself as the new leader of our country. He admitted initiating attacks against you. We were unaware of these plans. We deeply regret that harm has come to your people. We have not yet had time to question him to determine more.
"

Scribble, scribble.
Sounds like t
elling the truth.

"
A coup?
"

"
Yes. We uncovered
his
plot
to take power
and were prepared for it. Yang did not succeed in taking control of our military installations.
"

Wilson
gasp
ed, a sound
like she was choking on her own bile.

Rice tapped his fingers on his leg.
"
What about
Luoyang
?
"

"
Ah,
Luoyang
is being resolved as we speak. Should preparations for a launch be detected, we will prevent it. Mister President, we will not allow missiles to be launched under any circumstances. Please believe me.
The missiles are equipped with a self-destruct system. We are prepared to destroy them if necessary.
"

General Holden reached for his pager. With an apologetic nod toward Rice, he stood and walked to the side of the room and took out his phone. Nick watched him go rigid.

"
That is satisfactory, Mister President.
W
e will  monitor
Luoyang
quite closely. If we detect preparations to launch we will be forced to take appropriate counter measures. I sincerely hope it does not come to that.
"

"
Mister President, any aggressive action toward our country would be very badly received here and met with strong response. I assure you, we have no hostile intentions.
"

"President Zhang, I appreciate your..."

General
Holden interrupted. He still held his phone.

"Sir, the silos at Luoyang have
been activated
and the mobile platforms are emerging from the tunnels
.
They're getting ready to launch.
"

Rice looked at him. "You are certain."

"Yes, sir. Their launch sequence has begun."

"General, go to DEFCON
1, but hold at Fail Safe
."

Holden spoke again into his phone. Rice paused. He said, "President Zhang. I have just been informed that your missiles are being readied. We are now at the edge. You must take action, immediately."

Carter held
his breath. Over the speaker, there was a confusing sound of many people speaking at once in Beijing and an angry command. The noise stopped. The voices of Zhang and his translator came through the speaker.

"Mister President. Our forces are entering the base at Luoyang as we speak. We can deactivate the missiles with codes sent from here.
Please wait a moment.
"

Selena
wrote
.
Zhang telling someone to send deactivation codes. They are raising their defense level.
They may be panicking.

Zhang continued. "It will take
seconds
, Mister President. Please, let us not make a mistake."

Rice said, "If missiles are launched, we will be forced to retaliate, President Zhang. I am being deliberately blunt. You must stop this."

There was more excited conversation in the background. Selena wrote.
Radio codes ineffective. They can't shut the missiles down from th
ere. He's ordering an air strike on the base
.

"President Rice." Zhang's voice was strained. "We are unable to disable the missiles by radio. We are taking other measures. Our planes will be in the air.
If needed, we will launch our ABMs to intercept.
I repeat, we have no hostile intention. Please do not misinterpret these actions.
This is not an attack. We do not wish for war.
"

Everyone waited for Rice's response. He stood and everyone rose with him.

"President Zhang. I am now moving to my
command center
, where I will monitor your activities. I will call." He hung up the phone.

"Sir," General Holden said. "
Marine One is standing by.
You should remove yourself to Weather Mountain." Weather Mountain was an underground command center and fallout shelter for high civilian officials, near the town of Bluemont in West Virginia. It was forty-five minutes away.

Rice looked at him. "No, General. Even if we got there, you know as well as I do that it
may not be
adequate.
We're going to KNEECAP.
Send the Vice-President
and the Cabinet
to West Virginia.
"

"Yes, sir." KNEECAP was designation for Air Force One as
an
airborne command center in the event of war. Rice could stay up for three days, if needed, with refueling.
Then
the engines would fail
. He'd
have to set down
before that, i
f there was any place left to land.

Rice said, "How much time until launch, General?"

"They're starting cold, sir.
The DF-5s need to be fueled.
Perhaps an hour
or a little longer
. Once they lift off, t
hen another twenty
minutes
or more to impact
on the West Coast
,
thirty minutes here,
unless we can intercept.
The DF-31s are a different matter. Once the mobile launchers are in place, a matter of minutes to fire.
"

"Can we intercept?"

"Not all of them. The AEGIS system around the Ronald Reagan can get some of them. Some of the Alaska ground based missiles will probably be effective.
Sir..." He looked at his watch.

"Yes, General, I know." He turned to Harker. "You're welcome to remain here in the White House
shelter
, if you wish."

What he didn't say was that it wouldn't make much difference where they were if war began.

"Thank you, Mister President."

Rice
strode from the room.
Hogan and General Holden followed
, with the Secretary of State and Wilson
.

The team
stood in the Oval Office and
looked at each other.
Ronnie looked down at the Presidential Seal on the rug.

"
Might as well
have a picture of
Ground Zero
on it
.
The White House doesn't seem like a real good bet at the moment," Ronnie said. "I wish I was back on the Rez."

"Let's go back to the Project," Harker said. "It's as good a place as any to watch the end of the world."