She decided to reveal the Tibetan operation, before Lodge sandbagged her. It was time to hold 'em.
Lodge was watching to see how she would handle it. To hell with him.
"Yes, Mister President. Ten days ago we discovered a ranking officer of Chinese Military Intelligence was responsible for the murder of William Connor, the noted investment banker. This officer reports directly to General Yang Siyu, head of Chinese MI.
"Large sums of money were taken from Connor's accounts and transferred to the control of General Yang. That money was again transferred to accounts here in America controlled by the Chinese Triads.
"General Yang heads a group in China called the White Jade Society, composed of senior military and government officials. Analysis of intelligence indicates that this group is plotting a coup to install General Yang as the new leader of China. His man met several times with leaders of the Triads. I believe Yang is using the American Triads to create a diversion here while he seizes power in China."
Rice interrupted her.
"Director, you believe a coup is underway in China and that these terrorist events are related to it?"
"Yes, Mister President."
"That is a very broad supposition."
"Yes, sir. May I continue?"
"Go ahead."
"Thank you, sir. William Connor was murdered for money, but also for an old book in his possession. General Yang went to great lengths to obtain this book, which Connor had hidden. An attempt was made here in Washington to kidnap Connor's niece in an effort to learn where it was. Five Chinese agents were killed by one of my team during that attempt."
There was a murmur around the table. She had their attention.
"We retrieved the book. Again, Chinese agents attempted to intervene. Two were killed, as well as a California police officer. We asked ourselves why this text was so important to General Yang. Translation revealed clues to the location of a deposit of high grade uranium ore somewhere in modern China.
"We believed Yang wanted to find that deposit to enhance China's nuclear weapons program. The book pointed to a specific location in the Tibet Autonomous Region where directions to the deposit could be found.
"The translation of the book was stolen by one of Yang's agents. That agent is in custody, as is another, deep cover agent we discovered embedded in the FBI. That informer contacted Yang's man and expressed concern about a possible attack here today."
All eyes turned to Westbrooke. He gave Elizabeth a hard look. I have made an enemy there, she thought.
"Based on our analysis, I ordered a team into the field. We needed to know if a uranium deposit exists, since this would impact China's nuclear programs. We needed more intelligence to inform us about Yang and his plans. The only way to get it was to go to the source revealed in the book."
"You sent a team into Tibet."
"Yes, Mister President."
"How were they inserted?"
"B-1B and high altitude jump."
"Armed?"
"Yes, sir."
"And?"
"The team reached their objective and confirmed the existence of a previously unknown high grade uranium deposit, located in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region."
"Any complications?"
"There was a confrontation with Chinese military personnel as the team prepared to leave. More than thirty Chinese were killed. The team was then safely extracted to India. They are arriving at Andrews as we speak."
The table was silent, all eyes on Elizabeth and the President.
The President looked at Holden. "Were you aware of this operation, General?"
"No, sir."
"How about you, Wendell?"
"We were informed of the operation after it had been executed."
"Not aware, then. General Hood, you knew the details of this mission?"
"I did, sir. The data was solid. We had to know if the ore deposit existed."
Rice turned to Elizabeth. "Why was I not informed, Director?" He was getting angry.
"Sir, the decision was not taken lightly. I felt deniability was a factor, as we were going into Chinese sovereign territory. Therefore you were not informed. It was my intention to brief you as soon as our information was complete.
"I want to point out, sir, that I alerted Homeland Security to a potential terrorist threat. I also attempted to inform State regarding a possible coup in China, but was rebuffed."
"Who was contacted at State?"
"The Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs. She was quite adamant there was no possibility of a takeover in China, or even an attempt at one."
Rice turned to his Chief of Staff.
"Set up a meeting with State for tomorrow, and have him bring the Assistant Secretary with him."
"Yes, sir."
"General Holden and Director Lodge. Focus your intelligence gathering resources on China. Look for indications a coup may be underway. General Holden, to address your request, I am ordering you to go to DEFCON 3. Director Westbrooke. Find out who is responsible for these terrorist acts. I want them identified. I want that now."
"Yes, Mister President."
"Joseph, stay at Elevated nationwide and go to Imminent on the West Coast. Follow our existing scenarios for terrorist attack. They should be adequate or we've all wasted a lot of time since nine eleven."
"Yes, Mister President."
The presidential aide came in and whispered in the President's ear. Rice nodded and a uniformed army Colonel came into the room. He went to General Holden, said something in a low voice and remained standing behind him.
Holden said, "Mister President, our satellites show unusual military movements in and near Beijing, in the central provinces and off the coast of the Chinese mainland."
"What kind of movements, General?"
"I can bring them up on the monitors, sir."
Holden went to the computer banks and spoke to a technician. In seconds the pictures of chaos in the Bay Area were replaced with a series of live satellite photos. It was full day in China. The images were clear. General Holden stood by the monitors and indicated one of the feeds.
"This is China's principle ICBM base, located in Luoyang, in the Eastern Central region. It's manned by the 80304 Unit of the Second Artillery Corps. We estimate they have 15 DF-5 and 25 DF-31 ICBM's targeted on the US and Europe. Average yield is around 3 to 5 kilotons per missile. The DF-5s are in silos. The DF-31s are on mobile launchers. They keep them in tunnels."
He indicated part of the picture. "Notice the movement of equipment outside the base. This is heavy troop transport and tank movement. The vehicles have blocked access to the facility and appear to be making a flanking or circling maneuver."
"Who commands that base?"
"General Lu Cheng, sir. He is known to be a xenophobic hard liner."
Elizabeth sat up straighter in her chair. Lu Cheng was a member of the White Jade Society.
"Have the silos been activated?" Rice asked.
"Not as of this moment, sir. We'll know if they do."
Holden turned his attention to another live shot, this time of a large city.
"This is Beijing. Again, you see extensive movement of tanks and troops. They're moving into Tiananmen Square and along all main arteries."
He signaled the Colonel and the image changed again.
"This is Hainan Island, off the Southern Coast. The Chinese have constructed a state of the art underground submarine base here, at Sanya. It is home to their most advanced nuclear ballistic submarine, the Type 0-94. Those subs carry twelve JL-2 missiles with two point five megaton warheads. Perhaps by coincidence, their top naval officer, Admiral Zhang Lian, arrived in Sanya yesterday."
Admiral Zhang was another member of White Jade.