railroad bridges in Harbin and Bei'an with GBU-27 Paveway IIIs, seriously damaging Chinese lines of communication for their army in Russia. Ryan later decides to broadcast CNN's coverage of the war, plus direct feeds from U.S. reconnaissance drones, over a CIA website to counter the Chinese government's propaganda about the war's status and purpose. Beijing's increasingly desperate leaders decide to ready their ICBMs for a potential launch. A joint NATO-Russian special operations team led by Rainbow operative John Clark is dispatched to destroy them. The team destroys all but two of the Chinese missiles. Of the two that launch, one is shot down by an AH-64 Apache while the second heads toward Washington, D.C. Ryan's family is evacuated, but Ryan himself decides at the last minute to stay behind on board a docked naval ship, the USS Gettysburg, which is equipped with the experimental Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Ryan watches as the ship destroys the ICBM at the last possible moment. News footage of the ICBM's interception was later streamed through the CIA website. Meanwhile, in Beijing, a group of Chinese students, spurred on by what they have witnessed through the CIA website, march through Tiananmen Square and invade a Politburo meeting, setting the stage for an overthrow of the government. A reformist Politburo member, Fang Gan, takes over and arrests the rest of the Communist leadership, ordering an immediate withdrawal of Chinese forces from Siberia. Fang then holds an open discussion with student leaders that starts China's transition to democracy. The country then orders a unilateral ceasefire from the war with Russia. Characters The United States government Jack Ryan: President of the United States Robby Jackson: Vice President of the United States Scott Adler: Secretary of state Tony Bretano: Secretary of defense Arnie van Damm: President Ryan's chief of staff George Winston: Secretary of the treasury Ben Goodley: National Security Advisor to President Ryan Cliff Rutledge II: Assistant secretary of state for policy The Central Intelligence Agency Ed Foley: Director of Central Intelligence Mary Pat Foley: Deputy Director (Operations) Chester "Chet" Nomuri: CIA field officer working in China, covered as an electronics salesman The United States military Admiral Bart Mancuso: Commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) Major General Marion Diggs: Commander of the 1st Armored Division Dick Boyle: Commander of the Aviation Brigade attached to 1st Armored Division Bronco Winters: United States Air Force captain and