“And so?”

“And so logic drives your question about the noncombatants on an American base to three inescapable conclusions. That’s all it boils down to, just three points: First, I don’t know any of the innocent people that live on the base we plan to hit; Second, the greater good of restoring our country to its former greatness justifies their deaths; Third, the hundreds of thousands of innocent people we’ve killed were just as valuable as American lives. Being militarily superior and from a wealthier nation doesn’t make us better than anyone else except in our own minds! That’s my ethical rationale for Operation Milk Truck.”

“You evaded one point.” Fahad said.

“Which point?”

“Washington officials often accuse others of using human shields when they plan to kill the civilians working with the military, but no country has more noncombatants as thoroughly mixed with its military as the United States.”

“That’s because our government is civilian. But that just proves my first three points.”

“Milk Truck is up close, but not personal, as you Americans say.”

When led out, I had the impression Beyrouti wasn’t the one who would orchestrate what laid ahead. It was Fahad.

When I arrived in Miami, the first thing I did was buy a newspaper to read on the remaining flights. I scoured it for any mention of IRS agents falling ill. According to Spritz, there was no question that the women who menaced his mother and siblings would have contracted the virus. This is what I discovered had occurred: