Pipelines in the Sand interweaves episodes of espionage and betrayal to tell the stories of John Osaka Oman and Sam Yang, two men who are vying to gain control of nuclear secrets. John Osaka Oman is an agent his government believes to be a traitor; Sam Yang a respected Oxford don and nuclear scientist. Through assassinations, desert warfare, and the frighteningly real conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, the story builds towards a chilling climax: who are these men, and to what lengths will they go to get their hands on classified information that could ultimately bring about the end of the world? A pair of British Colonels attempt to track down both Osaka Oman and Yang, to unmask the real traitor in order to gain control over terrorist groups and halt the threat of nuclear war. Osaka Oman orchestrates Yang's assassination and that of Secretary-General Addai Mushra of Iran as a political embarrassment, and it is never clear for whom he really works.