White Jade

Chapter Thirty-Seven

In Washington, Elizabeth studied the live satellite transmission from nighttime Tibet. She'd gotten the DIA to task a geostationary satellite to her for the duration of the mission. In daylight, it could define the insignia on a uniform collar from a hundred and twenty thousand feet up. At night, the latest infra-red technology tracked any heat source down to the size of a cigarette.

Elizabeth watched the heat signature of the moving vehicle carrying her team. Nick's coded message confirmed what she could see with her own eyes. They were down safe and heading for the ruins.

She zoomed out and scanned the surrounding area for signs of Chinese activity. The town of Moincer showed up as a leprous green glow west of the moving Humvee. There was no sign of vehicles leaving the town and heading toward the team. So far, so good.

Elizabeth had no illusions about what would happen if something went wrong. Political retaliation would be swift and merciless. China was off limits for armed covert ops. It helped that the team was in a remote region and that it wasn't in Yang's interest to draw attention there if something happened.

It was a long way to Tibet, but Yang was after something important there. Whatever he was after, getting to it first would complicate his plans. Whatever complicated Yang's plans was good, so she'd ordered the team into action, politics be damned.

She wondered if the relationship between Nick and Selena would be a problem in the field. It didn't take a trained observer to see something was going on between them. Elizabeth thought they were probably sleeping together, but there was some unspoken tension between them. Her first reaction had been to say no when Selena asked to go on the mission. But she had skills needed to boost the probability of success. Elizabeth always decided based on increasing the possibility and measure of success.

So far Homeland Security had not raised the alert level. It was always a difficult problem. Raise the level and get everyone upset, without certainty of attack? Or wait for more intelligence and risk missing the window of opportunity to stop something?

Harker was glad she didn't have to make that decision. In her gut, she felt an attack was coming. She had sounded the alarm; now it was up to others. In the meantime, she was doing what she could to disrupt Yang's plans.

Earlier she'd called State to give them a heads up. After the typical shunting around, she had reached the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Cheryl Wilson.

"You're telling me a coup is being planned."

"That is what our best intelligence indicates."

"What is the source of this intelligence?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Ma'am."

"Are you saying I'm not cleared for this information?"

"That's correct."

There was an audible intake of breath at the other end of the line. It reminded Elizabeth of a snake hissing before the strike. There was frost in Wilson's voice when she spoke again.

"Everything about China indicates a strong grasp on power by the party leadership. I cannot conceive of an attempt to overthrow the current regime. Your intelligence must be faulty."

Wilson pronounced intelligence as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

"None the less, in our best judgment a coup is in the works." Harker kept the annoyance out of her voice.

"Well, Director, I appreciate your call but I believe you are barking up the wrong tree. There is no possible way the PRC will undergo a radical change of leadership. I suggest you re-evaluate your sources and stick to your domestic mandate. Now, I have a meeting to attend. Was there anything else?"

No, nothing else, you idiot, Elizabeth thought.

"No, Ma'am."

"Then I'll say goodbye." Wilson hung up.

Elizabeth resisted the urge to scream. The arrogance of some high-ranking political appointees never failed to amaze her. They weren't all like that, but with people like Wilson having a say in foreign policy it was a miracle the country got along with anyone at all.

On the monitor, the satellite images showed the Humvee carrying the team had stopped. Dim spots nearby showed low level activity. That must be the monastery of Gurugem, Harker thought, and the team is deciding the best way to avoid it. She looked at the series of clocks on the wall. With almost six hours until daylight on the other side of the world, there was still time to get to the ruins before dawn.