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"Yes, an American But not a journalist"

"Then what do you want to see hia said "I&039;ve heard a great deal about hia decided there was no point in arguing Soan, in Arabic, on the wall of an ears&039; shanties and continued out toward the city&039;s edge Then they were in the older part of the city where the stone walls twisted like serpents and the stones of the road were rough and broken Beyond the square, flat dwellings Virga could see high walls surrounding a structure with i, time-worn turrets As they neared he saw a cluster of automobiles and vans and a swarm of men with cameras and microphones Around the walls people, in all round with their foreheads pressed against the stone An iron gate was closed across a driveway through the wall and Virga saas guarded by two Bedouins in white dishdashahs He also saw they carried sub the wall and said without looking back, "I&039;ll leave the a looked at hi the wall to where the ate He was able to see the turreted structure beyond; he had the irandeur The driveway continued on, split around an island of carefully manicured shrubs, then beca up to a massive canopy-shaded doorway The structure was ave no sign of life and Virga noted that lass had been broken out On all sides the laas green and immaculate and there was even a small pond Beyond the landscaped shrubbery there was aacross tarmac

Soa heard it shatter on the stones There were curses and shouts and suddenly he realized he was in theto be Auards and Virga saith an alarun up, srily shouting Frenchuards stepped forward and grabbed at asharply in a language Virga didn&039;t recognize, and a scuffle began between two or threeThe Bedouin guard staggered back away froate and at that ed forith their cah The other guard backed away

Virga struggled against them He was carried forward and al in Arabic, "One picture! One picture!" A s He reached out a hand for support and found hiainst the scorching iron

He caught his breath and tried to pull away but there were others behind hiroup of wild journalists

Soa was looking into the bared ate Its eyes ith a fury that signaled attack; the gleaa&039;s face The ania said

Behind hi pictures one after another They pressed against the gate, their cao slack on the chain

Virga jerked his head away just as the ani and snarling at thepictures even as they backed away Another Dober, with eyes that watched for any new threat

The Bedouin guards tore into the journalists, pushing theun over their heads by only a few inches and spent shells clattered to the ground Another Bedouin reached down and roughly grabbed Virga around the collar, dragging hi on the other side, thechain "Not hio and turned to push the other rabbed hold of the dangling chain and drew the dog toward him Soa shook his head He had buate and he felt dizzy He slowly brushed hih the bars at a tall blond man whose flesh was the color of paste His eyes seea Beside him stood a darker man with curly hair and broad shoulders Both of them shared the same incurious expression, the saa saw, had some sort of mark on their foreheads He couldn&039;t tell what it was

The blondYou&039;re an A to ache "I am"

"You&039;re a journalist?" the man asked At his side the eyes of the Doberht for a moment of what he was but the ache in his head prevented hia," he said "My nalanced over at the darker man, who turned without a word and walked up the drive toward the structure beyond

And suddenly he rey," he said

"I know," the ate, then another, and finally he swung it open

Behind Virga the crowd surged forward again toward the opened gate The blond h, then let the Doberate The Bedouins were knocked aside, cursing Men crushed up against the iron bars, shouting and pleading

Over the noise of the journalists, the man said, "Rashid Kill three of them"

The words took effect The journalists scraet someone in front of theround and were trauards had stepped forward, satisfaction and pleasure on his face His weapon ca delicacy In the next moment it rattled in an arc across the front line of the terrified s hissed in all directions

The blondup the drive When he saw that Virga wasn&039;t following he turned and said softly, "Are you co at the dead men on the other side of the bars The crowd of journalists had scattered; so pictures as they ran One of the Bedouins kicked a corpse squarely in the face Virga turned away "Yes," he said "I&039;"