The Project 01 - White Jade

thighs. They had body armor that went far beyond the normal military specs. It was heavy, but it could deflect a .308 and keep you alive. They h ad helmets rigged for voice activated communications. They could pick up the team channel or the satellite uplink to Washington. The rest of their supplies were inside the vehicle. They'd get chutes and everything they needed for the jump at Dyess.
    Ron nie pointed at the stripes insignia on his collar.
    " I never thought I ' d be wearing th ese again. "
    " Looks good on you, Gunny. "
    " You too, Nick. Like it used to be. "
    Dressed in camouflage battle gear and armed to the teeth, Carter thought Selena looked dangerous as hell. She had her laptop out, working on the Minoan text. Nick raised his voice over the noise of the engines.
    " How are you coming? "
    " I think I ' ve got it. There are still parts I haven ' t translated but I think I know what to look for. "
    He waited.
    " If I ' m reading this right, we look for a labrys to mark the way. "
    " What ' s a labrys? " Ronnie leaned forward and looked past Nick at Selena.
    " It ' s a double-headed axe. It was a symbol of power to the Minoans and later to the Greeks. It ' s ancient, no one knows when it first appeared. The labrys marked the entrance to the labyrinth. "
    " Where the Minotaur lived. "
    " Right, that ' s the myth. Once you entered the labyrinth, you never came out. There are some old mines and caves in Crete that m ight have been the original labyrinth. I've been there. They ' re spooky. "
    " What happened to the Minoans? "
    " The current theory is that when the island of Santorini erupted it sent a tsunami over Crete and wiped everything out. That might have been the basis for the stories about Atlantis. Santorini was like an H-Bomb going off. "
    " I don ' t see how any Minoans got to Tibet . " Carter bent over and adjusted his pack.
    " A ccording to the book there was a secret cult of priestesses in Knossos . They traced their teachings about immortality to India . Vedic Indian priests may have lived in Tibet and found their way to the Minoans. Or maybe someone changed the history to suit themselves. "
    " Women were the guardians of the elixir? "
    " Yes. The cult believed humans could join the gods in immortal life if they performed sacrifices and took the right potions. A lot of cultures use potions or herbs to commune with gods or spirits . W hat ' s different here is the idea they could attain immortality in the physical body . "
    " You think that ' s what Yang is after? "
    " Anyone who wants to take over China has an ego so big he 'd think immortality was his right, if it existed . I ' d bet on the uranium scenario. "
    " Did you find anything more about the formula? Ingredients, preparation, anything? "
    " No. It ' s not complete. You ' d have to be crazy to take it. "
    " Not if you tested it first, " he said. " Researched it with modern techniques. "
    " Like on mice? "
    " They already do that. There are mice that live a lot longer after scientists manipulate their genes. "
    " That ' s different. The mice aren ' t drinking gold and mercury, with a little radioactive pixie dust thrown in for good measure. "
    " You have a point, " Carter conceded.
    Selena went back to her computer .
    H e spent the rest of the flight to Texas thinking about the mission. It wasn ' t much different from when he was in Afghanistan . Like then, he was going into hostile territory with questionable intel.
    Everything depended on penetrating Chinese airspace undetected and getting into that underground chamber. That assumed the sonar scan was accurate, that there was an underground chamber in the first place and that they could find the entrance if there was one . If they did manage to get in, they still didn ' t know what they'd find. He sensed a headache beginning .

Chapter Thirty- T hree

    Selena looked up from her computer . The decibel roar and vibration of the engines was something she couldn't tune out. She looked down the hold of the huge aircraft, all functional steel and aluminum, exposed struts, the orange strap benches, everything utilitarian and built for the purpose of war . It wasn't much like first class to Paris or Rome.
    The others were used to it. The airmen were bored, that was easy to see, but this was a regular job for them. Ronnie was reading something, Nick had his eyes closed. His face looked strained and tired. He and Ronnie had probably been on hundreds of flights like this.
    She was nervous and they