The Project 01 - White Jade

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 . T he 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 teak wood on his desk. H e 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.

Chapter T wenty- Nine

    Selena and Nick were in the basement range at the Project .
    "What the hell was that about upstairs?" she said.
    "You heard what I said. You haven't ever done anything like this, jumps or not. You sure as hell haven't jumped at high altitude. "
    "You don't think I can handle it."
    He looked at her. "You want the truth? No, I don't. I don't want you to get killed. I think you could probably handle anything you're trained to do. Y ou're not trained for this. "
    "I guess you'd better start training, then."
    Carter saw it was a battle he couldn't win. First Harker, now her. Mules had nothing on women when it came to stubborn. Megan had been the same way, when she'd made up her mind about something.
    "All right. " He ran two man-sized silhouette targets down range.
    " Let ' s start with our sidearm . What kinds of pistols are you familiar with? "
    He r voice was neutral. Truce. " A .22 revolver when I was learning. Then I went to a .357 Colt Python. After I got used to the recoil, my instructor gave me a Glock. Either automatic or a revolver, I ' ve shot both. "
    He laid two pistols on the table . He took one , ejected the empty magazine and pulled back the slide. " What ' s your first rule? "
    " Mmm. Make sure it ' s not loaded. Or is. "
    " Right, and make sure it ' s not pointed somewhere it shouldn ' t be. " He let the slide go forward.
    " This pistol is a little heavy but it helps with the recoil. It was developed for US Special Operations Command, SOCOM. It ' s a Heckler-Koch like mine , chambered in .45 ACP. A lot of stopping power and made for close quarters, although it has good accuracy up to thirty yards or so with the laser pointer. That ' s this unit, under the barrel. "
    As he slipped into the routine of instructor he began to relax. He showed her how to turn the laser on. He pointed down range, centering the red dot on one of the targets.
    " Where the dot is, that ' s where the bullet goes. Always aim for a center body shot, none of that stuff you see in the movies. We ' ll tweak the sights as we go along, so you ' ll be sure to hit whatever you ' re shooting