The Project 01 - White Jade

Colonel Wu was about to get a big surprise.
    " Tell them to take out those vehicles as soon as they can get a lock. Make sure they know where we are. I ' ll make smoke. "
    " Roger that. "
    He pulled a smoke marker from his pack. In the distance , he heard the choppers.
    " ETA two minutes. "
    He pulled the pin and tossed the marker . A bright orange plume of smoke billowed upward. Chips flew off the rocks around them from a barrage of automatic fire that said Wu knew where they were . I t wasn ' t going to do him much good now.
    Three helicopters popped up over the next ridge, laboring hard in the thin air, two Apaches leading the way. A big man st ood up by the Chinese trucks with a shoulder launcher . Carter recognized the man from the porch in California and locked him in the sights of his MP-5 . He gave him a full magazine . Choy went over backwards as the launcher fired.
    The missile snaked straight up into the air, stretching a white plume of smoke behind. It wandered uncertainly , then turned and headed straight for one of the Apaches. Carter held his breath.
    A dark shape streaked out of the lead helicopter and met the missile in mid-air. The explosion slapped against their ears.
    The Apaches launched rockets.
    Nick hit the dirt. The blast rocked the ground. Stones tumbled off the wall, bounc ing around them. When he looked again, two of the trucks were engulfed in flame. The gunners on the Apaches opened up with 30 millimeter chain guns and the burning trucks and remaining vehicles blew apart. The smoking remains of an engine sailed out of the sky and buried itself in the ground ten feet in front of him .
    The Pave Hawk settled down hard on a flat area . S ix troopers jumped from the hatch and fanned out to form a perimeter while the Apaches hovered overhead. Carter stood.
    " Selena, you take one side, I ' ll take the other. "
    They carried Ronnie at a trot toward the helicopter. A medic came out to help and lifted him in. They climbed in after him.
    " Good Morning, Gentlemen. "
    The voice belonged to a Captain wearing Army Rangers flashes on his uniform. His name tag said Riggins. He looked surprised when he saw Selena.
    " And Lady. Strap yourselves in. We ' re leaving. Just the three of you? "
    " Right. Nice to see you, Captain. The Gunny here took a hit in his leg.
    " Saw that. We ' ll get to it right away, Colonel. "
    He didn ' t ask any questions. Captain Riggins said something into his radio. The troopers on the ground pulled in and boarded.
    The Pave Hawk lifted and turned south toward India .
    Carter looked out the open hatchway. The courtyard of the temple was littered with bodies . The temple was a jumbled pile of broken stone . Nothing moved but dust and smoke eddying in the chill wind. No one was going to visit the E mperor for a while.
    Flames rose fifty feet into the air from the remains of the Chinese convoy. There was no movement on the ground, no weapons fire toward the chopper.
    S afe.
    He felt the tension start to drain away. His back was an agony of fire. He shifted on the hard seat and turned to Selena.
    She was staring out through the open hatch, watching the Himalayas slide by as the helicopter descended into a long, wide valley toward India . Over head , the steady beat of the blades drummed away.
    She turned toward him. Nick had seen that look before, when someone came f ace to face with their own, violent death . W hen they began to understand the power of life and death they h eld over others.
    In combat everyone was an instrument of death . T he initiation was n't easy . Some broke . Some g o t stronger. He could see Selena was one of the strong ones.
    " You ' re all right. "
    She said nothing.
    " People go through months of training to prepare for something like that and screw it up . Y ou did everything right. You could have been a Marine. "
    She almost smiled. Then a distant look came into her eyes. After a few seconds she said, " Now I know what you meant. "
    " About what? "
    " About shooting back. About defending yourself. I felt like a different person back there. I don ' t know who that person is. "
    " It takes time to make room for that, find a way to fit it in. "
    She took off her helmet, ran her fingers through her hair, her eyes reflecting some new thought, some undefined reality.
    " You ' ve been doing this for years. "
    " Yes. "
    " Does it get easier? "
    " No. Y ou have more familiarity with it, but it ' s never easy. It ' s just something that has to be done. You do