Rare Earth Author:Davis Bunn Marc Royce stares out of the helicopter, a sense of foreboding rising with the volcanic cloud. Below, the Rift Valley slashes across Africa like a scar. Decades of conflicts, droughts, and natural disasters have left their mark. Dispatched to audit a relief organization, Royce is thrust into the squalor and chaos of Kenyan refugee camps. But his... more » true mission focuses on the area?s reserves of once-obscure minerals now indispensable to high-tech industries. These strategic elements ? called rare earths ? have inflamed tensions on the world?s stage and stoked tribal rivalries. As Royce prepares to report back to Washington, he seizes on a bold and risky venture for restoring justice to this troubled land. But this time, Royce may have gone too far.« less