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    Onyx Ops: The Paladin Papers
    Onyx Ops: The Paladin Papers
    Onyx Ops: The Paladin Papers
    Ebook49 pages29 minutes

    Onyx Ops: The Paladin Papers

    By Stephen Austen

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Masters of black ops ruthlessly navigate today’s globalization. From World War II; to the Cuban Revolution and the Kennedy assassination; through the CIA’s Operation Phoenix and the oil fields of Vietnam; it leads into today’s Afghanistan.

    Must-read, fast-paced fiction with high-impact insights into the geopolitics of global resources. You will think about this long after you put it down

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStephen Austen
    Release dateFeb 12, 2010
    ISBN9781452300542
    Onyx Ops: The Paladin Papers
    Author

    Stephen Austen

    I was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and raised in New Orleans. But I truly grew-up as I travelled or lived in some thirty-four states. A Human Resources Manager, I now reside with my family in North Carolina. My writings and interests are eclectic. My latest series, The Paladin Papers, are fast-paced, fact-based military/techno thrillers. Based on today's events and often set in the near future, they offer thought-provoking entertainment. They will keep you thinking long after you put them down. I am certain you will enjoy reading these stories as much as I did writing them. . .

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      Book preview

      Onyx Ops - Stephen Austen

      The Paladin Papers

      ONYX OPS

      A Story By

      Stephen W. Austen

      Published by Stephen W. Austen

      Copyright 2010 Stephen W. Austen

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      The Paladin Papers

      ONYX OPS

      A Story By

      Stephen W. Austen

      Prologue

      China has won a $3.5 billion contract to develop Afghanistan’s Aynak copper field, the largest foreign direct investment project in the history of Afghanistan.

      -- Ibrahim Adel, Afghanistan’s Minister For Mines and Industry

      Aynak Copper Mine

      Logar Province, Afghanistan

      4 April 2009

      As he closed the briefing book, the Director of Logistics for the Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), China’s leading state-owned mining company, fully appreciated the immense tasks ahead.

      In May of 2008, MCC signed a $3.5 billion contract to develop a 28-square kilometer field of copper ore in Aynak. Located in the northern part of the Logar Province of Afghanistan, it is southeast of the capital city of Kabul. This gained China access to a world-class lode of copper on par with the Mount Toromocho mine in the Peruvian Andes, owned by another Chinese corporation, CHINALCO.

      The physical challenge at Aynak is its remote location with no real transportation net, utilities nor supporting facilities. We may as well be on Mars, he thought more than once.

      He also fully understood the company’s long term commitment to overcome those challenges. MCC committed to developing infrastructures in a hostile land dominated by tribal factions, corrupt officials and Taliban insurgents. This project would take a decade or more to realize. The men who made it happen would enjoy long, profitable careers.

      But now he had more practical concerns. A work force was assembling from their winter hiatus. Heavy equipment with supplies of all kinds were pouring in from Port Gwadar in Pakistan and overland from China through Tajikistan. His job was to coordinate the timely and secure flow of supply convoys over an inhospitable terrain and through hostile territories.

      He knew that two months ago, the United States deployed security forces from their elite 10th Mountain Division nearby, but this was not entirely comforting. MCC had, after all, snatched the Aynak prize not just from Russian, Canadian and Australian bidders but also a large American concern.

      Pay back was a uniquely American term but not a uniquely American concept. Would those forces provide security, provide none or take a more meddlesome course?

      C-17 Globemaster III

      0130 Hours at 27,000 feet MSL

      Wardak Province, Afghanistan

      The next night. . .

      In the cramped aircraft lavatory, Kirk Lawson, Jr. washed

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