[2] Set in the Tom Clancy universe, President Ryan deals with a mole in the CIA as The Campus tracks down a missing Chinese scientist and his Uyghur assistant.
Along the Arctic Ocean, scientist Dr. Patti Moon hears mysterious man made sounds under the ice while on board the icebreaking research vessel Sikuliaq.
The Chinese Navy subsequently takes over the hunt, tasking the assassin Fu Bohai with looking for Medina Tohti, Professor Liu's Uyghur assistant who had helped him design an experimental silent propulsion drive called Mirage.
With the professor now unconscious, Long March’s executive officer Wan Xiuying volunteers to be sent to the surface through an escape trunk in order to seek help.
Meanwhile, Yao instructs case officer Leigh Murphy to interview a Uyghur refugee in Albania to find out about the Wuming's hideout, which is in Lake Kanas.
Yao joins Campus operatives Domingo "Ding" Chavez, Jack Ryan, Jr., Adara Sherman, and Lisanne Robertson as they enter China and go to Lake Kanas.
He implores him to stop the Chinese submarine Expedition from harassing the icebreaker Healy and allows him to rescue Long March‘s crew while promising to return its recovering executive officer at a later date.