The Project 01 - White Jade

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. T hey 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.

Chapter Thirty- Eight

    In the idling Humvee, Carter scanned a landscape turned ghostly green by his night vision binoculars. The road they'd been following turned out of sight beyond the base of a large hill on its way to the monastery. To the left, a broad valley skirted the hill and headed north. A cold, hard wind gusted withou t stopping against the vehicle.
    He put the binoculars down.
    " This should take us close to where we want to go. " He traced the valley floor on the map. " If we don ' t run into any obstacles, I think we can get there in four or five hours. "
    Selena said, "I have to pee."
    Ronnie and Nick began laughing.
    "What's so funny?" She felt her face reddening.
    "Nothing," Carter said. "Just tension, that's all. Hell, I do too. Pick your restrooms, everyone."
    A few minutes later Ron nie put the vehicle in gear and they turned up the valley.
    The peaks on either side were bigger than the highest mountains in the United States . T hey were only foothills to the massive giants not far away. The slopes were bare of vegetation and covered with stony debris and boulders. Lifeless rock stretched away in every direction with cold indifference. I t was like driving on an alien planet.
    The moon was almost down . T he stars blazed incandescent overhead . Nick had never seen so many stars . There were clouds of stars, bright enough to cast shadows on the valley floor. The deep black, star-studded sky seemed to hint at something mysterious just out of reach. Under that sky, with towering, snow-covered peaks gleaming in every direction, it was easy to understand why people living here believed these mountains were the home of gods.
    " How are you doing, Selena? "
    " I ' ve got a headache, but aside from that, good. I ' m glad I don ' t have to hike this right now. "
    " Take a hit of oxygen. We don ' t want to get sick up here. We aren't used to the altitude, but we won ' t be here very long. "
    " I wonder what we ' re going to find. "
    " We ' ll know soon enough, " Ron said. " W e ' re a bout four klicks from the ruins. "
    The Humvee jolted up and down across a rough patch of rocks . A loud crack of breaking metal came from the front. They slewed to the right in a sliding shower of loose rock and dropped down hard onto a low boulder before Ronnie could stop. He killed the engine.
    " What was that? "
    " I don ' t know, " Ronnie said. " Didn't sound good. The steering went. "
    They got out. The Humvee was hung up on the rock, the right wheel jutting up in the air. Ronnie got out his flash and looked underneath.
    " Can ' t see much with all that armor plating. " He grasped the tire in his hand. The wheel swung easily back and forth. " It looks like we walk. I think a tie rod or a control arm must have broken. "
    " Right, let ' s get it under cover. "
    They pulled the packs out of the back and covered the vehicle with camouflage netting. The Humvee blended into the landscape. Nick's altimeter showed 1 6, 4 00 feet.
    They shouldered packs and began climbing . They followed a steep draw, detouring around