White Jade (The PROJECT) (34 page)

"
Not
as of this moment, sir. We'll know if they do.
"

Holden turned his attention to another live shot, this time of a large city.

"
This is
Beijing
. Again, you see extensive movement of tanks and troops
. They're m
oving into
Tiananmen Square
and along all main arteries.
"

He signaled the Colonel and the
image
changed again.

"
This is
Hainan
Island
, off the Southern Coast. The Chinese have constructed a state of the art underground submarine base here, at Sanya. It is home to their most advanced nuclear ballistic submarine, the Type 0-94. Those subs carry twelve JL-2 missiles with two point five megaton warheads.
Perhaps by coincidence, t
heir top naval officer, Admiral Zhang Lian, arrived in Sanya yesterday.
"

Admiral Zhang was another member of White Jade.

"
Y
ou can see a lot of activity, here, right where the pens are located
, and two of their subs.
It
looks to me like
they're readying for sea. T
anks and troop transports
are
moving
toward the base.
They're cutting off
access
to
the rest of the island.
"

"
What is your interpretation, General?
"

"
Sir, this appears to be an effort to isolate the missile and sub bases by troops. In
Beijing
, I
'
d say forces are securing the city. But it
'
s not possible to say who is controlling those forces.
"

T
he room watched as four J-11 fighters, Chinese variants of the Russian SU-27 SK, passed over the submarine base.

Lodge spoke up.
"
Mister President, if Director Harker
'
s assessment is correct, we could be looking at a coup in progress. This may be an effort by the current government to stop it, or those troops may be under command of the conspirators.
"

"
Sir, those bases are controlled by members of
Yang's
White Jade Society.
"
Harker wanted to make sure Rice knew.
"
General Lu is particularly dangerous, in my opinion. He could start a war with those missiles.
"

"
Mister President,
"
Holden said,
"
It
'
s possible this is the beginning of a confrontation with the Chinese. I now recommend we escalate to DEFCON2. Sir, you should remove yourself to the secure bunker.
"

"
General. Under no circumstances am I leaving the White House at this time. The last thing the country needs is a President who runs for cover when something happens.
"
Rice raised his hand to stop further protest.
"
That
'
s final, General.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

"
What offensive naval assets do we have near
China
?
"

"
The Ronald Reagan and her accompanying AEGIS class escorts are two hundred and fifty miles off
North Korea
. There are two of our
Ohio
class boomers in the general area, the George Washington Carver and the
Tennessee
.
"

"
General, order those ships to assume DEFCON2, but we will not raise the national level just yet. We have not gone to DEFCON2 since the Cuban crisis. I am not convinced we should do so now. We wi
ll wait. If those silos go hot
I will reconsider.
In the meantime, institute DEFCON3
for the rest of our forces
.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

"
W
e have to deal with these attacks in
California
. You all have something to do. Get going on it. General, monitor the situation in
China
and bring me your analysis in one hour. Call a meeting of the Joint Chiefs here for that time.

"
I want no mention of this supposed group claiming responsibility. Until I have considered the implications of Director Harker
'
s actions and until we have better intelligence from
China
I don
'
t want anything made public. This meeting is concluded. Everyone make sure you are immediately available if I need you. Director Harker, Kevin, remain here.
"

Rice stood and the room emptied. When all had gone, Rice sat down again.

"
Director, you
may have started a fire over there, and I
'
m going to have to put it out. You
'
d better be right in your analysis.
Now tell me the rest of it.
"

"
Mister President?
"

"
Director, don't bullshit an old bullshitter. Your brief was to the point, but it's clear you are leaving something out. I want to know what it is.
"

"
Sir, I felt the rest of it, as you put it, was irrelevant to the events on the coast.
"

"
I'll be the judge of that.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

Harker told him what had been left out.

Rice
turned to his Chief of Staff.

"
Kevin,
you are to forget what Director Harker just told us. Am I clear? None of this must get out.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

"
H
ave the Director
'
s team brought to me. I want to hear about this action in
Tibet
from them.
"

"
Sir,
Langley
would be better for debriefing…
"

"
No. I
'
ll see them tomorrow morning. Make room on my schedule.
"

"
Yes, sir.
"

"
Director Harker. Where is your team now?
"

"
They were due at Andrews an hour ago, sir. They were to be met and taken out of sight.
"

"
Get them here in the morning. Coordinate with Kevin.
"

"
Yes, Mister President.
"

"
One more thing.
"

"
Sir?
"

"
If word of what you have just told me ever becomes public it will create widespread difficulties. Make sure it does not.
"

"
Yes, Mister President.
"

"
We
'
re done for now. There will be a meeting tomorrow with State. I want to hear State
'
s assessment and I want you there as well. Kevin will let you know when. Now I have to prepare a statement to the nation. The American people will expect it.
"

Rice rose and was gone, escorted by his secret service agents, before Harker could say anything else. Not that there was anything else to say.

Hogan said,
"
Dead emperors?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
Your people killed thirty Chinese?
"

"
They didn
'
t have much choice.
"

"
What was left behind? Anything pointing to us?
"

"
We were careful to use equipment that cannot be directly traced to the
US
. The vehicle had Pakistani markings. Supplies were non-specific to us. The Chinese will certainly figure it out but they will have a tough time proving it. I think we
'
re in the clear there.
"

"
You
'
d better hope so, Director. They
'
re going to be pissed. For all our sakes I hope it turns out to be worth it. Let
'
s set up the meeting with your people.
"

Harker called Stephanie and gave her instructions. Now it was up to the President.

Chapter F
ifty

Stephanie met
the
team
at Andrews and drove
them
back to the
Project
.

Carter
felt
like
a sack of cement
. J
et lag
w
as on
him
like a wrecking crew on a Vegas casino.
Pain killers had his back down to a dull ache.
Ronnie came hobbling out of the bathroom. No showers for him. He
had
bandages around
his damaged
ribs
,
cracked by the Chine
se rounds
. H
is leg wound was tightly wrapped.

"
Coffee, guys
,
"
Stephanie said. They
each took a cup.

Steph
'
s cell went off.

"
Yes, Director.
"
She listened.
"
They
'
re fine. All right, I
'
ll tell them.
"

She hung up.
"
Guess what?
"

"
What? Let me guess. We
'
re getting on a plane again.
"

"
No
, Nick
. The President wants to see
all of you
.
"

"
The President? You
'
re kidding.
"

"
He's
sending a car for you tomorrow morning.
"

"
I know the President.
"
Selena sipped her coffee.
"
He
'
s a good man.
"

"
How do you know him?
"
Nick
said.

"
He and my uncle were friends. We had dinner with him at the White House about six months ago.
"

"
What
'
s he like?
"

"
Straight forward. He has no patience with people who dodge the issues. He hides his thoughts well when he wants to, and he
'
s not someone you want to cross. I
'
d say he
'
s a genius when it comes to politics. He takes his job seriously. It determines everything he does.
"

"
Why do you think he wants to see us?
"

"
I imagine he wants a first hand account.
"

"
The Director said to turn on the TV.
"
Stephanie set the coffee pot down.

"
Why would she say that?
"
Nick
reached over and turned it on.

"
Holy shit,
"
said Ronnie.
"
Isn
'
t that
San Francisco
? The
Bay
Bridge
in the background?
"

"
That
'
s the
Ferry
Building
. But what happened to the pier and the Plaza?
"
Selena
'
s voice was strained.

"
Turn up the sound.
"

In a few minutes
they
had the picture.
The death toll was rising.
Public services were compromised. Hospitals all over the Bay Area
were overwhelmed.

Homeland Security had gone to
Imminent
in the West. People were ordered to remain in their homes. All public transportation was under military control
. A
ll government facilities were shut down or under heavy guard.
In
San Francisco
t
he BART tunnels were flooded all along the Embarcadero and across the Bay to
Oakland
. Power was still out over most of
California
and the West.

The President was scheduled to address the nation in the morning.

"
Yang,
"
Carter
said.

"
Has to be,
"
said Ron
nie
.
"
It
'
s too much of a coincidence.
"

"
I wonder what
'
s happening in
China
? Yang must be making his move.
"

"
I hope they shoot that son of a bitch.
"
Ronnie
said
.

"
They will, unless he shoots them first.
"

"
You think he
'
ll use those missiles?
"

"
Not unless he
'
s completely crazy. He might threaten to use them. That would be a big mistake
.
"
Carter
set
his
cup down.

"
T
his could be
Cuba
all over again. That was too close for comfort.
"
Ronnie drained his cup.

"
At least Kennedy had a line to Khrushchev. I don
'
t think anyone
'
s got a line to Yang right now. We
'
d better hope the PRC is up for this.
"

"
I never thought I
'
d be rooting for the Chi
Coms
.
"

"
Yeah, well, it
'
s a strange world, Ronnie. In this case, the PRC is on the side of the angels. I just hope they move fast enough to stop Yang before he does something stupid.
"

"
Like launch a missile?
"
Selena brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.

"
Like that.
"

"
God, I
'
m tired,
"
she said.
"
I can
'
t think about this anymore.
"

Stephanie stood up.
"
Come on, Ronnie, I
'
ve got a place for you down the hall. Get some sleep before you see the President.
"

The door closed behind them
.
Carter
lay down and the
next thing
he
knew, Stephanie was knocking on the door and
saying
coffee was up and
they
had an hour before heading for the White House.