White Jade

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Colonel Wu made the call on his encrypted satellite phone.

"Yang."

"Sir. I am pleased to report success. I have a complete copy of the book in my possession."

"You are sure it is the correct book."

"Yes, sir."

"Is it the original?"

"No, sir, it is a computer transcription with a complete scan of the original and translation. After this call I will transmit it to your private terminal."

"Where is the original?"

"As far as I can determine it is inaccessible."

"What is the status of your negotiations with the Triads?"

"Everything has been agreed to as you wished. They are ready to carry out Summer Wind on the American holiday. I offered four hundred million American dollars and full independence, with mutual security agreements, for Taiwan. As you predicted, the money by itself would not have been enough. Offering Taiwan was irresistible. The bosses are all what the Americans call high rollers. Gamblers. They could not refuse to gamble for stakes on the world's table."

"It is a gamble they will lose. Very good, Senior Colonel Wu. You will return home immediately."

Wu flushed with pride. Senior Colonel! The hard jump in the military hierarchy.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"You've done well, Wu. When you arrive, report directly to me."

"Yes, sir. Do you have any other instructions?"

"None at the moment. Transmit the information." Yang ended the call.

A few key strokes on his computer and the information was on its way. Wu got out a suitcase and began packing. There was a plane leaving in four hours.

In Beijing, General Yang set the phone down and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.

The Elixir of Immortality. The goal of thousands of years of Chinese tradition. It could be his. But it was probably just another old recipe that brought death, not life.

A raid in Tibet had turned up a Sanskrit text on the First Emperor, called "The Silver Garuda". It was known that Yang collected anything about the First Emperor and his search for immortality. The book had found its way to him.

The elixir of immortality was a defining element in the life of Emperor Huang. Yang thought of the Emperor as a kindred spirit, a model to be emulated and surpassed. Huang had taken a vast land ruled by feuding warlords and beset by barbarian enemies and forged it into an empire. He had started China on the path of greatness. Anything remotely related to him was of interest.

When Yang read the translation he'd seen the possibilities. It was clear the formula used potent radioactive materials. According to the text, directions to the source of those materials could be found in a second book, the one now residing on his computer.

The quality of China's uranium made refinement time-consuming and expensive. With the location of superior deposits he'd have what he needed to bring hundreds of the new warheads on line. Lighter, more deadly. The designs were in place.

That made him think of Deng, the treasonous little dog. It was annoying that Deng had defected. Sooner or later Deng would be eliminated. Meanwhile, others carried on his work.

It would take time to ready the missiles. Perhaps two years, but Yang was patient. As for the elixir, once he had the complete formula, he'd test it on prisoners. The book was found in Tibet. He'd use Tibetans for the trials. The corners of his frog like mouth turned upward in a smile.

He went to his computer and opened the message. Yang was shocked to learn the emperor was not at Li Shan, more so when he saw where he had been taken. The site was marked on the map in the book. When Colonel Wu returned, Yang would send him there.

His thoughts turned to the plan. The American holiday was close. It was time to activate Summer Wind, the operation that would change the destiny of China forever. A new Dynasty would be born.

Yang picked up his phone and began calling the others. Mixed in with inconsequential conversation was the same message each time. Spring has ended, summer is upon us. The planes would remain on the ground unless he released them. The tanks were ready. The submarines with their missiles would be his. So would the ICBMs targeted on the West. That would keep the Americans and other foreign dogs at bay. The railroads would shut down. Divisions commanded by members of the Society and trusted officers under them would occupy Beijing.

He'd arrest the entire Politburo Standing Committee of the Party and the President, cut off the head of the current leadership and replace it with himself. China would become the most powerful nation that had ever existed and step into her rightful place. Yang was certain the First Emperor would understand his ambition, if he were alive today.

For no reason at all he remembered the time he'd broken the big ceramic bowl his mother brought out for special occasions. It was the one painted with blue herons standing in the reeds, slim and handsome, like her. He'd been what, eight years old? He'd only wanted to fill it with water and sail his toy boat. It had slipped from his small hands and shattered into a thousand pieces on the tiles of the kitchen floor.

His mother had run into the room. When she'd seen what he had done, she'd begun shrieking and hitting him. She'd hit him again and again while he'd screamed, cursing and beating him with the heavy wooden paddle she used in the big cooking wok until it broke, until a neighbor had run in and pulled her away from him.

He'd never forgotten the feeling of powerlessness and shame. Well, it was different now. As to his mother, she had already paid for his humiliation. Yang had seen to that.

Yang opened a cabinet of carved teakwood on his desk. He pushed on a decorative dragon and watched the hidden compartment spring open. He took out a pipe, a lamp and a small ball of sticky opium. He went to the couch, lit the lamp and lay back on one arm. He lit the pipe and drew the blissful smoke deep into his lungs, drifting off into a pleasant dream of a vast, blue plain with endless rows of people kowtowing before him.

Emperor.