Tacit Alumni: 09/11/11

By Stephen Austen

In a world of Global Jihad, it is September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of 9/11. From downtown Washington DC to Area 51 to Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, “Paladin” and his high-tech Onyx Ops team is commemorating this tragic event in their own special way. Follow the masters of global black operations at Onyx Ops as they orchestrate new technologies in the relentless hunt for terrorists.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Austen
• Release date: Feb 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452300498

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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The Paladin Papers

Tacit Alumni: Tracking Terror

A Story By

Stephen W. Austen

Published by Stephen W. Austen at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Stephen W. Austen

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The Paladin Papers

Tacit Alumni: Tracking Terror

A Story by

Stephen W. Austen

". . .there is nothing ‘central’ about the ‘central front in the war on terror’. Nor is it a war in any traditional military sense."

– Marwan Bishara, Al-Jazeera’s Senior Political Analyst, 31 December 2009

PART ONE

Sunday, September 11, 2011

-1-

The hunt was on and patience favors the hunter. . .

The tourist in khaki shorts and golf shirt stood on the Orange Line platform at the L’Enfant Station of the Washington DC Metro. He had a tour bus map in one hand and a camera in the other. He peered intently at the camera’s small LCD screen, then up to his wife near the pedestrian bridge. He was lining up a picture of her against the backdrop of the cavernous station.

About forty feet away, Ghalib Hadad stood near the edge of the platform lost in thought. It is so easy. The Americans and Zionist infidels are lazy. They are ripe for the harvest that is coming again. He hefted his backpack, nodding to himself. Yes! They will soon feel the pain that our people know. . .

The tourist pushed a quick sequence on the focus button and was rewarded with a winking green LED. Via a 3G wireless connection, the camera sent an encrypted signal seeking confirmation. Nine seconds later, as he lined up another picture of his wife, the image of Ghalib Hadad appeared on his viewfinder screen with discrete pulsing text "Acquired", then faded out.

Hadad remembered his arrest nine months earlier by Israeli authorities near Gaza. He was detained overnight but his papers were impeccable. The fools even gave me lodging and offered me money for the inconvenience. It was an omen; I am among the Favored Of God!

The headlights of the Orange Line cars appeared the distant tunnel, the tourist eased forward with