The Project 01 - White Jade

of why she did it.
    H er life had turned into a study in black and white. She preferred the simplicity of dress black and white offered, but it was more than that. She could not understand people who thought compromise was always the solution . T hat negotiating with evil was possible . The irony of working in Washington with that attitude did not escape her.
    Politically correct rationalizations about why terrorists had good reason for their tactics of fear and murder and how negotiation was the answer struck her as naïve and dangerous. T he terrorist organizations were an enemy with philosophies of political and religious fanaticism leaving no room for compromise or peace. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, the world would be a better place if they were all destroyed. If her father were still alive he would have agreed.
    Judge Harker had been well-liked in the small town where she 'd grown up. Traditional values of hard work and honesty still flourished on t he western slope of the Rockies. In her father's private world, a man’s word was his bond, a handshake an agreement written in stone. On the bench, he was impartial and fair. Whatever doubts he might have had about the judgments the law required him to mete out, he left them in the courtroom.
    When Elizabeth was growing up, t he J udge would sit in his big green chair in his study , a glass of bourbon on the table beside him , and tell Elizabeth stories of a vanished America . Stories of the Revolution, the Founders, the Civil War. Stories of sacrifice, of heroism and wisdom and courage. She absorbed the history , and with it a love for her country . She still believed in the essential goodness of America , tarnished as it was . Maybe it was out of style, but i t sustained her when the self-serving nature of Washington politics began to wear her down.
    The Judge believed in hard facts, concrete evidence and fair play. He would not have liked the shadow world she lived in, but he would have been firm on the need to protect the country and proud of her for doing it. She wondered what he would think about this latest threat. A threat coming into view but not yet defined, potential trouble with a nation capable of annihilating a good part of America.
    Nick and Ronnie came in to the office, interrupting her thoughts . Time to brief them. A satellite photo of western Tibet filled the big screen behind her desk. When they were settled s he used a laser pointer to indicate the landmarks.
    " Following the clues in the book we focused on the area near Mount Kailash . " She indicated the mountain with a red dot from the pointer.
    " This is a coal mining village called Moincer. "
    The dot paused on a cluster of buildings west of the mountain, moved again.
    " This is Kyunglung, a complex of caves used for religious rituals. The caves are shown on the map and are known as the ' Silver Palace of the Garuda ' . At first I thought what we ' re looking for might be there, but its just caves, nothing more. It was used for centuries by Bon magicians. "
    " Who are the Bon? " Nick's ear began itching.
    " Bon was the religion practiced in Tibet before Buddhism. It ' s still practiced today, but with Buddhist elements. "
    Harker tapped her keyboard. The scene changed to show a satellite photo of a bleak hilltop covered with the ruins of a small city. The camera zoomed in on a whitewashed complex built into the side of the hill.
    " The building is Gurugem, a Bon monastery. Those ruins above it looked promising, but they've been picked over for years. There's nothing there. However, I think I've found what we're looking for. Following a line north, about fifty kilometers, there 's another set of ruins. "
    The satellite focus shifted to the remains of an ancient , square fortress on top of a hill. The outer walls were about the length of a football field on each side. Ruined buildings and rubble surrounded a square, open area with a large building set in the center.
    " A deep sonar scan shows a cavern underneath those ruins, with some thing in it. My guess is that this is where the emperor was taken. It matches up with the map in the book . If anything is still left, that ' s where it will be. T here isn ' t any military presence nearby . That ' s the good news. The bad news is the site is exposed and the terrain is rugged .
    " You ' ll go in when it ' s dark to avoid being spotted from the monastery. You ' ll be in uniform and wear rank insignia, but no unit flashes or nametags.