White Jade (The PROJECT) (23 page)

He shook his head.
"
I don
'
t have any.
"

"
All right, then. Transport at 1800. Good luck.
"

Out in the hallway
they
waited for the elevator.

"
What do you think, Nick?
"

"
About what?
"

"
About the whole deal.
"

"
I think we
'
re in for what our Chinese friends call an interesting time.
"

Chapter Thirty-
Two

At 2
3
00 hours
they
were airborne
in
a C-130J Super Hercules, an updated version of the Air Force workhorse.
A
Humvee with
Pakistani army markings looked lost in the cavernous hold. The
team
sat on an orange strap bench along the side of the fuselage, listening to the drone of
the
Rolls-Royce
engines
.
They
were in battle dress, geared up for the cold weather waiting in the
Himalayas
.
T
here wasn
'
t going to be time to change later.

Nick
went over the military GPS unit
with Selena
.
It would guide her to the landing zone.
S
he had skydiving experience
but
this was
far
different.
They were jumping at high altitude
and she'd never done that before
.
Wind and thermals could screw everything up
. T
here was
no
room for error.

Their packs
sat
at
their
feet, loaded with rations, water, ammo, the MP-5N
'
s, medical kits and assorted survival gear. Selena had a digital camera and video recorder to document anything
they found
. Aside from the H-Ks, the weight was down to around thirty pounds.
A
t fifteen thousand feet
and higher
any weight would be a burden.

All three
had pistols strapped to the left side of
their
chests
and
Ka-Bar knives on
their
right thighs.
They had body armor that went far beyond the normal military specs. It was heavy, but it could deflect a .308 and keep you alive. They
h
ad helmets rigged for voice activated communications.
They could
pick up
the
team
channel
or
the satellite uplink to Washington. The rest of
their
supplies were inside the vehicle.
They'd
get chutes and everything
they
needed for the jump at Dyess.

Ron
nie
pointed at the
stripes insignia
on his collar.

"
I never thought I
'
d be wearing th
ese
again.
"

"
Looks good on you, Gunny.
"

"
You too, Nick.
Like it used to be.
"

Dressed in camouflage battle gear and armed to the teeth,
Carter thought
Selena looked dangerous as hell. She had her laptop out, working on the Minoan text.
Nick
raised
his
voice over the
noise of the
engines.

"
How are you coming?
"

"
I think I
'
ve got it. There are still parts I haven
'
t translated but I think I know what
to
look for.
"

He waited.

"
If I
'
m reading this right, we look for a labrys to mark the way.
"

"
What
'
s a labrys?
"
Ronnie leaned forward and looked
past Nick
at Selena.

"
It
'
s a double-headed axe. It was a symbol of power to the Minoans and later to the Greeks. It
'
s ancient, no one knows when it first appeared. The labrys marked the entrance to the labyrinth.
"

"
Where the Minotaur lived.
"

"
Right, that
'
s the myth. Once you entered the labyrinth, you never came out. There are some old mines and caves in
Crete
that m
ight
have been the original labyrinth.
I've been there.
They
'
re spooky.
"

"
What happened to the Minoans?
"

"
The current theory is that when the
island
of
Santorini
erupted it sent
a tsunami
over
Crete
and wiped everything out.
That
might have been the basis for the stories about Atlantis. Santorini was like an H-Bomb going off.
"

"
I don
'
t see how any Minoans got to
Tibet
.
"
Carter
bent over and adjusted
his
pack.

"
A
ccording to the book there was a secret cult of priestesses in Knossos
. They
traced their teachings about immortality to
India
. Vedic Indian priests may have lived in
Tibet
and found their way to the Minoans. Or maybe someone changed the history to suit themselves.
"

"
Women were the guardians of the elixir?
"

"
Yes. The
cult
believed humans could
join
the gods
in immortal life if they performed sacrifices and took the right potions. A lot of cultures use potions or herbs to commune with gods or spirits
. W
hat
'
s different
here
is the idea they could attain immortality
in the physical body
.
"

"
You think that
'
s what Yang is after?
"

"
Anyone who wants to take over
China
has an ego so big he
'd
think immortality was his right, if it existed
. I
'
d bet on the uranium scenario.
"

"
Did you find anything more about the formula? Ingredients, preparation, anything?
"

"
No. It
'
s not complete. You
'
d have to be crazy to take it.
"

"
Not if you tested it first,
"
he
said.
"
Researched it with modern techniques.
"

"
Like on mice?
"

"
They already do that. There are mice that live a lot longer after scientists manipulate their genes.
"

"
That
'
s different. The mice aren
'
t drinking gold and mercury, with a little radioactive
pixie
dust thrown in for good measure.
"

"
You have a point,
"
Carter
conceded.

Selena went back to her computer
.

H
e
spent the rest of the flight to
Texas
thinking about the mission. It wasn
'
t much different from when he
was in
Afghanistan
. Like then,
he was
going into hostile territory with questionable intel.

Everything depended on penetrating Chinese airspace undetected and getting into that underground chamber. That assumed the sonar scan was accurate, that there was an underground
chamber
in the first place and that
they could find
the entrance
if there was one
.
If
they
did manage to get in,
they
still didn
'
t know what
they'd
find.
He sensed a headache beginning
.

Chapter Thirty-
T
hree

Selena looked up from her
computer
. The
decibel roar
and vibration
of the engines was something she couldn't tune out.
She looked down the hold of the huge aircraft, all functional steel and aluminum, exposed struts, the orange strap benches, everything utilitarian and built for
the
purpose
of war
.
It wasn't
much
like first class to Paris or Rome.

The others were used to it. The airmen were bored, that was easy to see, but this was a regular job for them. Ronnie was reading something, Nick had his eyes closed. His face looked strained and tired.
He and Ronnie had probably been on hundreds of flights like this.

She was nervous and they hadn't even gotten to Texas yet. She was damned if she'd let the others see it.

She looked at the
broken
green and
gray
and black
patterns
on her uniform
, touched the pistol strapped on her chest. The shape of her knife dug into her leg. The
hard molded
radio helmet was an unfamiliar
intrusion
on her head.
She was encased in armor.

She felt like she'd fallen
through the looking glass
into the fantasy world of a video war game, but this wasn't a game. This was re
al.

Three weeks ago she'd been standing at a
podium
at Stanford, giving a lecture on Indo-European languages.
Life was predictable
and
safe
, if a little boring
.
Now she carried enough weapons to take out a small village
. There was a reason for that, namely that she might have to use them, which meant someone might be using weapons against her. She
was
n't at all sure she could
handle
it.

If that wasn't enough, she was
about to jump into the Himalayas to look for a two thousand year old emperor and the elixir of immortality.

How did she end up
here?

She looked over at Nick. She didn't know what to
do about him. She wanted him, but she knew herself. She could fall for him. She knew enough about him to know he was wrapped in emotional armor a tank couldn't get through. She could try to break through it and the only thing that would happen
was
she'd hurt herself.

He was still in love with his dead fiancée. She'd be an ass to let herself love him. But damn it, she wanted him.

Chapter Thirty-
Four

At Dyess Air Force Base an armed security escort
met their plane
.
Brilliant lights lit the tarmac.
A B-1B Lancer
waited
nearby.

M
en
transfe
r
r
ed
their gear
under the
watchful
eye of
a
sergeant
. The air smelled of rubber, jet fuel and
Texas
sage. The detail commander was a young Lieutenant wearing pilot
'
s wings on his fatigues. His name tag said
Markham
. He saluted.

"
Welcome to the 7th Bomb Wing, Colonel.
Y
ou
'
ll be ready to go within the hour.
"

Carter
returned the salute.
"
Thank you, Lieutenant. We
'
re looking forward to the ride.
"

"
Ever been in a B1 before?
"

"
No.
"

"
It
'
s a hell of an airplane, great avionics and defensive measures. Top speed is Mach 1.2, but we can come in at a hundred and twenty knots at low altitude and lay in precision targeting. You
'
ll be flying in one modified for combat drops of personnel and equipment.
"

He looked around.
"
Where
'
s the rest of your team?
"

"
You
'
re looking at it. Just the three of us.
"

Carter
saw him note the lack of insignia on
their
uniforms.
They
had no jump insignia, unit flashes or name tags, just rank markings, and Selena didn
'
t even have those.
Lieutenant Markham started to say something, thought better of it.

"
Right, sir. Your jumpmaster is
Senior
Master Sergeant Johannsen. Once you
'
re in the aircraft, he
'
s your boss. He
'
ll make sure you
'
re checked out and everything is a go for the jump. You
'
ve jumped before?
"

He g
lanced at Selena
.

"
We have. Is that
Sergeant
Johannsen I see coming?
"

The man moving toward
them
was compact, about five nine and a hundred and s
ixty
pounds. He was dressed in flight gear and wore a radio helmet. Johannsen moved with purpose, tight as a spring, with no wasted energy. He had eyes of pale blue ice and the look that comes from a lot of years in the service.
Nick relaxed a little. They
were in the hands of a pro. He saluted and gave
them
the once over. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Selena, but he said nothing.

Lieutenant Markham
said,
"
They
'
re all yours, Sergeant. Colonel, come back safe.
"

Markham
saluted,
got in his jeep and drove away. Sergeant Johannsen
gestured at the bomber.

"
Follow me, sir
.
"

They
walked to the
plane
and climbed in.
It was hot
in the
Texas
humidity but
things would cool off
soon enough.

The
Humvee was lashed to a pallet
near the converted bomb bay
. The chute was being rigged by four airmen in flight gear. Johannsen took three chutes from a locker.

"
I packed these myself, Colonel. You may not have used one before.
"

"
It looks different.
"

"
This is the High Altitude Precision Parachute System, HAPPS for short. This is
the
stealth model, no one will see you from the ground.
"

"
It looks like a skydiving chute, but it
'
s got more attachments on it.
"
That was Selena.

Johannsen eyed the lack of jump insignia on her uniform.
"
You
'
ve jumped before?
"

"
Over seventy jumps. Seventy-two, to be exact. But maybe you could show me the ropes on this unit.
"

It was the right thing to say
.
Nick saw Johannsen relax
a little
.
It was
more than
rare
to see a woman on a special ops mission. Male chauvinism aside, everyone felt responsible for success, even when they didn
'
t know what the mission was about. Johannsen would be lax in his duty if he weren
'
t concerned. His job was to get
everyone
out of the plane safely. After that it was up to
the three of them
.

They
put on the chutes under Johannsen
'
s direction. He checked each one, pulling the harness tight. When it was Selena
'
s turn, he paused.

"
The harness is pretty tight. You might feel some pinching—umm—across your chest.
"

"
Go for it.
"

He cinched it up and Selena gasped.

"
This is your main cord. This is your reserve cord, here. The chute is fully steerable. You
'
ll have oxygen, here.
"

He attached oxygen dispensers to the chutes. Then he brought three devices that looked like wristwatches out of a compartment.

"
Put these on. This is the MA3-30 altimeter. It tells you everything you need to know. It
'
s got a light switch and you adjust here and here.
"

Ronnie and
Nick
had used them before, but it was new for Selena.

"
Set your altitude before you jump and we
'
ll get you onto the drop zone with airspeed and timing. Your vehicle goes first, then you three. We
'
re going to drop you from 23,000 feet. That gives you around 8,000 feet before you hit the ground, so you won
'
t be up too long.
"

"
Piece of cake.
"

"
That
'
s right, Gunny. Give it
five
after you go out and pull, and you
'
ll be floating down softer than a balloon at a kid
'
s birthday party. You
'
ll be on the ground in no time. Let
'
s get your packs on.
"

They
strapped on the packs, low in front. When he was satisfied with the rigging, Johannsen reached down into the compartment again and came up with masks and insulated gloves. The pilot was warming up the engines. Johannsen held his hand to his helmet for a moment.

"
Two minutes. Let
'
s get you settled.
"

He led
them
toward the center of the aircraft. Strap benches lined the fuselage
. T
he four airmen were already seated on the port side.
The team took
seats starboard and strapped in. Johannsen
strapped in across from them and
said something into his mike. The roar of eight big GE turbofans increased and
the plane
began to move.

P
arty time.