White Jade (The PROJECT) Page 20

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

  "This 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 ChiComs."

  "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.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  The nine men who ruled China were meeting at Party Chairman and President Zhang Jei's official residence in Beijing. No one ruled in China without the backing of the People's Liberation Army. The committee made decisions, but it was the PLA that enforced them. Several ranking PLA officers had been invited to the meeting.

  General Zhou was Chairman of the Military Commission and Commander of the Beijing Military Region. He sat between Minister Deng from State Security and the Commander of the Guangzhou Military region in Southern China, General Liu. General Yang Siyu was at one end of the long oval table, next to Zhang.

  Across from him sat General Hong, Commander of the Second Artillery Battalion, China's nuclear and ballistic missile force. Two chairs down Chen Tian, Minister of Railways, toyed with a notepad and pencil on the table before him. The rest of the Politburo Standing Committee filled out the seats at the table.

  Problems of ethnic unrest in the Tibet Autonomous Region and China's western Xinjiang region were first on the agenda. The men were discussing strategies for suppressing the native protests when a messenger entered the room and went directly to the President. Zhang listened carefully, then turned to his colleagues.

  "There have been several explosions on the West Coast of America, causing extensive damage. Their military has raised the national defense alert level and there are civilian casualties in large numbers. It is being treated as a major terrorist attack by the American government. We must decide on an appropriate response."

  "We should raise our defense posture also." It was General Hong. "Russia, Pakistan and India are bound to do the same, and that will bring in Europe and NATO."

  "NATO is a toothless tiger."

  "Yes, but when the Americans act as if war is threatening, the ripples are always worldwide."

  "What is the alert level of their forces?" asked General Zhou.

  Zhang said, "They have moved to their Defense Condition Three. That is considered a high level of readiness, but short of anticipation of imminent attack. Their planes will be ready, some bombers sent aloft and all forces alerted, but no active missions will be launched. They have one of their nuclear carrier groups northeast of Korea in easy striking distance. There may be submarines we don't know about."

  Zhang instructed an aide to bring in a monitor. In moments they were watching the events taking place on the West Coast of America.

  President Zhang turned to Yang. "General, have you any information regarding these attacks on the Golden Mountain?"

  He used the old Chinese term for California and the United States.

  Yang felt a heady rush of anticipation. The explosions in the US were timed to coordinate with his presence in this room. Once these men were removed, nothing would block his rise to power.

  Admiral Zhang Lian had control of the missile submarines at Sanya. Lu Cheng had locked down the base and secured the missiles at Luoyang. Armored divisions loyal to Yang were at this moment rolling through the streets of Beijing and other major cities. Rail traffic moved only to transport his troops. The air force was on the ground, where it would stay unless he released it. Outside, a cadre of Special Forces troops waited for his signal, which he now triggered from a transmitter in his pocket.

  "Well, General? You seem preoccupied."

  "I launched these attacks, Zhang." He used the rude form of address.

  The President of China looked mildly surprised. "Ah. And why would you do such a thing?"

  Yang was taken aback. This was not the response he had anticipated. The others in the room were still, watching the two men. For an instant he wondered if he had misread Zhang. No. He dismissed the thought.

  "We have played whore to the West long enough!" Yang slammed his hand down on the table. "It is time to claim our proper place. We have everything we need to bring them to their knees. Your policies have diluted the true measure of our greatness."

  Chairman Zhang studied his fingernails, looked at Yang. "You seek to change those policies?"

  "They are changed. As of right now."

  The door burst open. Soldiers of the elite Special Forces took up station along the walls and around the table where the men were sitting. Each was armed with the latest assault rifle, the QB-97. Resistance to such a force was futile. Some of the Standing Committee looked nervously at the soldiers surrounding them. Zhang appeared unconcerned.

  Yang spoke again. "The missiles at Luoyang are under my control, as are our submarines at Sanya. All of our long range missiles are mine. In the future, if anyone tries to make things difficult for us, we will not hesitate to show them our strength."

  The President of China turned to the others in the room. "General Liu. You command the region including the submarine base on Hainan. What do you say to this?"

  "I am afraid General Yang has miscalculated. By now the base at Sanya will be completely surrounded on land. At sea, units have been ordered in force to the area to prevent any unauthorized, ah, adventures, on the part of our submarines. We have also established air surveillance."

  "That is a lie," said Yang. "I spoke with Admiral Zhang before I entered this room. He assured me the submarines are under my command."

  "Oh, that's right, you couldn't know. I regret to inform you that just after you spoke with him, Admiral Zhang had an unfortunate accident," said General Liu. "So sad. He slipped and fell overboard during an inspection and drowned. A state funeral and public services will be planned in Beijing for our revered naval leader."

  "I have Luoyang."

  "Ah, I am so sorry, General," said General Hong. "Luoyang is surrounded. General Lu continues to hold the base. However, you may find communication with him difficult. Should he indicate readiness to launch, countermeasures will be taken. If necessary, the missiles will be destroyed."

  "You can't do that! That is our main deterrent to the Americans."

  "You are a fool, Yang," said the President. "The Americans can annihilate us if they choose. That is why we have taken only a defensive nuclear posture over all these years."

  Yang looked at the stone faced men sitting with him at the table and knew he was close to losing control. First Wu had failed him. His dream of a new dawn for China's nuclear missile forces had been buried under the rubble of those ruins. Wu's death was only just reward for his failure. Now his plan for ruling China stood in jeopardy. But General Lu still controlled the missiles. Yang's tanks were rumbling through the streets. And the elite forces were here with him in this room.

  "You're the fool, Zhang. My tanks are in position outside. The people will follow me. Major!" He addressed the commander of the soldiers surrounding the table. "Seize these men. Take them outside. If they cause trouble, shoot them."

  It was when the major drew his pistol and pointed it at him instead of Zhang that Yang knew he had lost. Behind the Minister of Railways, two soldiers moved forward and roughly gr
asped his arms, lifting him from his chair. He started to protest. One look at Zhang silenced him.

  "It is you who goes outside, Yang, and that traitor as well."

  All pretense of mild unconcern vanished as Zhang stood. He ripped the rank boards with their three stars and wreaths from Yang's shoulders and threw them against the wall. Zhang's face was flushed with anger. He turned to the major.

  "Take them to the military prison. Place them in isolation. If Yang struggles, render him unconscious but do not kill him. Post a 24 hour watch. We have use for him."

  "Yes, Chairman!" The major saluted, gestured with his pistol at Yang.

  "The tanks," Yang said.

  "The tanks are under my command. Take him."

  They watched the men being led away. The door closed behind them.

  President Zhang addressed the others.

  "If the Americans believe we are to blame for these attacks, we face a serious threat of war. Raise our defensive posture, but be careful not to indicate aggressive intentions. This idiot has brought us to the edge of disaster. We must find a way to avoid it."

  General Zhou left the room.

  "We should call their President." It was the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee. "They will soon know what happened. We must talk to them. Tell them the truth."

  "We would lose face!"

  "Better to lose face than to lose Beijing or Chengdu. We can give them Yang, execute him, make diplomatic reparations, whatever is needed to show Yang acted on his own. Privately they may know, but it must not become public. It is not in their interest that it becomes public. They need us to keep their economy going. Perhaps we can mislead them with the extremist elements."

  The meeting turned into a general discussion of damage control and how to spin the certain fallout of Yang's actions.

  Outside the vine-covered walls of the President's villa it was another smog-filled day in Beijing. If the summer crowds noticed the large presence of military vehicles and personnel, they marked it off to another training maneuver. Life was good in Beijing. One shouldn't complain just because the rumble of tanks disturbed one's harmony.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  The command center of the Second Artillery Battalion at Luoyang took up the entire top floor of Base Headquarters. From his corner office, General Lu Cheng could see the main gate to the west and the concrete abutments surrounding the silos and tunnels to the north. Government tanks had been in position outside the gates since morning.

  Waiting.

  It was now early evening. Yang had failed. Beijing was still trying to convince him to surrender the base, but Lu could tell they were growing impatient.

  The sharp lines of Lu's face were bleak. It had all come down to this. A lifetime of service to China, brought to nothing by the timid minds of the Party leadership. Fools who could not grasp destiny. The choice would have to be forced upon them.

  The base had been sealed. A security lockdown was in place. He'd told his troops that reactionary elements within the army had mutinied. Live ammunition had been issued. In the elite missile battalions there was little respect for the ground forces. His officers had no trouble believing him. They'd been told to resist with deadly force if anyone attempted to enter.

  In the distance Lu saw a rolling cloud of dust beyond the gates. There was only one thing that made that much dust. More tanks, and trucks with assault forces. Time was running out.

  Lu made his decision. He picked up his phone.

  "Send Colonel Hing to me, immediately."

  Hing was Lu's XO. It took two to do what Lu had decided. Lu went back to his desk and sat down. He looked at a picture of his father, taken just before he'd left for Vietnam. In 1968 his father had been an advisor to the NVLA during the opening days of the great Tet offensive. Lu had idolized his father. He had never forgiven the Americans for killing him.

  There was a significant flaw in the security of China's nuclear arsenal. Beijing feared losing the ability to retaliate during a nuclear attack. Under certain circumstances, the commanders of the missile bases could launch on their own. It was felt that careful screening of the commanders, periodic investigation by the Secret Service and the need for two independent officers to initiate launch were sufficient safeguards. As an added precaution, coded radio signals could disable and destroy an errant missile. Those commands could be sent from Beijing if necessary.

  That was true, except Lu had reprogrammed the missiles. Beijing's codes were no longer effective. Under the protocols Lu had put in place for a security lockdown, the missile crews were isolated. Once the launch codes were sent, no countermanding order would be followed.

  Lu was proud of his doomsday machine. It had taken months to set up.

  A knock. Colonel Hing entered. Lu wondered how he would react.

  "Government forces are getting ready to storm the base." He gestured at the dust clouds drawing closer to the base, visible through the windows. "It's only a question of time before they're through our defenses."

  Hing's face turned a sallow, sick color. "Then we have lost."

  "Yes. But I do not intend to let them win."

  "What will you do?" Hing looked at his superior. It dawned on him. "You want to launch!"

  "Yes."

  "But the Americans will retaliate."

  "Our defenses are adequate. A few of their missiles will get through, but not all. If we strike first, their military will be severely crippled. We will be humiliated by them no more. Beijing will be forced to follow our lead or face defeat. They will be forced to take up our destiny."

  Lu unlocked a steel drawer in his desk and took out a black metal case about the size of a briefcase. He set it on the desk, opened it and turned on the power. A screen lit up.

  Ready.

  To the right of the screen was an alpha-numeric key pad. Lu entered a series of numbers and letters. A message appeared on the screen.

  Confirm.

  The sequence required the palm print scans of the authorized commanders.

  "Your hand, Colonel."

  Hing stood where he was.

  "I will not do this. The Americans will destroy us."

  Lu walked over to the door and locked it. He took out his pistol. "You will do it," he said. He shot Hing in the chest, then again. The bullets drove him back against the desk and he fell to the floor.

  Lu grabbed Hing's arm and pulled the body over to the launching device. He pressed Hing's dying hand onto the screen. The machine beeped. Lu watched a red light scan back and forth. The machine beeped again. A new message appeared.

  Secondary Confirmation.

  Someone was pounding on the door. Lu placed his hand on the screen. A beep, the red light, another beep.

  Enter Launch Sequence Code.

  Lu entered the sequence of numbers and letters that would tell the missile crews to launch.

  Ready.

  Lu looked up as the door burst open. Two of his men stood there, trying to make sense of what they saw. Lu flipped back a safety switch and pressed a red button.

  Launch Initiated.

  Klaxons all over the base began blaring at three second intervals. Now no one except himself could call the missiles back.

  "Sir! What has happened here?"

  Lu smiled. He placed the muzzle of his pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  On the way to the White House, the 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. When 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 activates 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."