The Project 01 - White Jade

informed that your missiles are being readied. We are now at the edge. You must take action, immediately."
    Carter held his breath. Over the speaker, there was a confusing sound of many people speaking at once in Beijing and an angry command. The noise stopped. The voices of Zhang and his translator came through the speaker.
    "Mister President. Our forces are entering the base at Luoyang as we speak. We can deactivate the missiles with codes sent from here. Please wait a moment. "
    Selena wrote . Zhang telling someone to send deactivation codes. They are raising their defense level. They may be panicking.
    Zhang continued. "It will take seconds , Mister President. Please, let us not make a mistake."
    Rice said, "If missiles are launched, we will be forced to retaliate, President Zhang. I am being deliberately blunt. You must stop this."
    There was more excited conversation in the background. Selena wrote. Radio codes ineffective. They can't shut the missiles down from th ere. He's ordering an air strike on the base .
    "President Rice." Zhang's voice was strained. "We are unable to disable the missiles by radio. We are taking other measures. Our planes will be in the air. If needed, we will launch our ABMs to intercept. I repeat, we have no hostile intention. Please do not misinterpret these actions. This is not an attack. We do not wish for war. "
    Everyone waited for Rice's response. He stood and everyone rose with him.
    "President Zhang. I am now moving to my command center , where I will monitor your activities. I will call." He hung up the phone.
    "Sir," General Holden said. " Marine One is standing by. You should remove yourself to Weather Mountain." Weather Mountain was an underground command center and fallout shelter for high civilian officials, near the town of Bluemont in West Virginia. It was forty-five minutes away.
    Rice looked at him. "No, General. Even if we got there, you know as well as I do that it may not be adequate. We're going to KNEECAP. Send the Vice-President and the Cabinet to West Virginia. "
    "Yes, sir." KNEECAP was designation for Air Force One as an airborne command center in the event of war. Rice could stay up for three days, if needed, with refueling. Then the engines would fail . He'd have to set down before that, i f there was any place left to land.
    Rice said, "How much time until launch, General?"
    "They're starting cold, sir. The DF-5s need to be fueled. Perhaps an hour or a little longer . Once they lift off, t hen another twenty minutes or more to impact on the West Coast , thirty minutes here, unless we can intercept. The DF-31s are a different matter. Once the mobile launchers are in place, a matter of minutes to fire. "
    "Can we intercept?"
    "Not all of them. The AEGIS system around the Ronald Reagan can get some of them. Some of the Alaska ground based missiles will probably be effective. Sir..." He looked at his watch.
    "Yes, General, I know." He turned to Harker. "You're welcome to remain here in the White House shelter , if you wish."
    What he didn't say was that it wouldn't make much difference where they were if war began.
    "Thank you, Mister President."
    Rice strode from the room. Hogan and General Holden followed , with the Secretary of State and Wilson .
    The team stood in the Oval Office and looked at each other. Ronnie looked down at the Presidential Seal on the rug.
    " Might as well have a picture of Ground Zero on it . The White House doesn't seem like a real good bet at the moment," Ronnie said. "I wish I was back on the Rez."
    "Let's go back to the Project," Harker said. "It's as good a place as any to watch the end of the world."

Chapter Fifty- Four

    They sat in Harker's office. There didn't seem much else to do. War would begin or it wouldn't. No one had any illusions they were safe. Nothing would be safe within a hundred miles of Washington if the DF- 5 s made it out of the silos.
    Maybe it was a good sign there had been enough time to get back to Project HQ . Stephanie was there. Elizabeth brought up a live shot of Luoyang on the monitor. It was a war zone. T he main buildings were heavily damaged, shell pocked and surrounded by tanks. Troops scrambled toward the silos, but Elizabeth knew they were almost impenetrable from above.
    "They've taken out the mobile launchers," Carter said. Smoking craters and twisted debris marked where the missiles had been positioned. "Zhang means it. He doesn't want a war."
    Elizabeth picked up her pen. "He sent an air