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He was unprepared for the pandemonium at Kuwait&039;s International Airport Bone-weary and afflicted with jet lag, he took his suitcases and hailed a taxi to get away as soon as possible fros On the highway into the city the sun shimmered in hot waves that rolled and broke across the barren flats He had visited the Middle East uage; he found always that the land looked either very old or very new, either ravaged by ti from a sleep that had spanned the centuries He reached into his coat and froe of his nose to prevent sunburn The highway seeested with all a saw scattered accidents here and there On each side of the highrecked and abandoned car hulks had been set afire In the distance the towers of the city undulated in the heat and, south of thea kneas the encaa saw that ramshackle tenements had been constructed to handle an overflow of people Prefabricated houses and goatskin tents simmered side by side on the flat landscape And in the sky there was always a slohirl of smoke that at times drifted across the concrete and made the driver skitter into the sand to avoid heaps of rotting food and bundles of clothing

In the city Virga felt he had finally caught up with the war; he was appalled Groups of angry-eyed beggars heaved stones through car s and uniformed Kuwaiti police officers, ared into thears rocked parked automobiles back and forth, flipped theh tenes had been set afire Twice Virga&039;s driver cursed and swerved to miss a body sprawled in the car&039;s path

The driver put his foot to the floor and roared through a group of Arabs expecting hi, and one of thea knew that he had entered the land of the insane Here the insanity was brother to the sulf, it was everywhere, and he was fearful that if he inhaled it too deeply it would bring on a took his suitcases in through the shattered glass doors of the lobby Fraglittered on the rich dark carpets One wall, he noted, was punctured by two neat round bulletholes

The Kuwaiti at the reception desk, a youngfor a boy to carry the cases "Dr Virga, yes? It&039;s good you reserved a suite The Americans have landed, yes?"

"I was unaware there was a war on," he said, ht the scum overflowed the streets The Holiday Inn and the Hilton were set afire Nothing left now but hulks There&039;s not much we can do"

"I see the police are out"

"They have to be," said the Kuwaiti, shrugging "If they weren&039;t we&039;d have no order at all And three-fourths of the officers have deserted their jobs Military units are stationed in the city and there are curfews, but there&039;s not much that can be done to stop the property destruction The jails and hospitals are crowded What can be done with these people? I&039;ve even started carrying a gun"

Virga looked around the lobby It was deserted Chairs were overturned, old and green tapestry had been ripped down fro A slass

"I apologize for the condition of our vestibule," the man said "Too many stones and no one able to control these people"

"No," Virga said, "that&039;s all right I understand"

"You have coa raised his brow Beside hi man bent to pick up his suitcases

"All the rest of thehways are almost impassable I understand the airport will be closed by military order soon They&039;ve come here from all over: Greece, Italy, Spain The wealthy ones arrived early They ht their own aircraft; the poor got here anyway they could Of course no one stays in the city They&039;re all out there"

"Have you seen this a asked

"Oh no Not myself But I know people who have And of course the place is packed with journalists seeking interviews"

Virga reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and unfolded the Ti on a balcony "Do you know this place?"

The Kuwaiti leaned over and looked at it carefully In the far distance Virga heard gunfire that see suddenness The man said, "In the ancient section The estate of Haiber Talat Musallim You&039;ve heard of him?"

"No"

"Ah The new prophet and disciple of Baal I&039;raph I didn&039;t know the sentries allowed caraph "So You are here to seek hia said, "Yes," and took the key he was offered "And noant to take a hot bath and wash this smell of smoke off me"

"The floater is erratic," the a followed the young man across the lobby to the elevators He stopped suddenly, staring at a dark wide crust of blood that spread out in a circle on the s the suitcases looked back at hiive us," said the Kuwaiti behind the reception desk "We haven&039;t been able to be as clean as ould like I was forced to shoot a a looked up "Bled to death?"

"There was no need to call an aa blinked, suddenly sick to his stomach "If it offends you, we&039;ll clean it up," the a the elevator doors opened