“His mother and I did not agree with what Hashan wanted to do. We do not believe in war. We believe in peace. We wanted the best for all of our children. But with only one left, of course we did not want to lose him. We had hoped he would go to Jordan, and then perhaps to England. We told him this, and he became very angry. He broke away from us, and he cut off all contact.”

Luke’s eyes nearly strayed to the phone on that top shelf, but he controlled them. He focused on Antar instead. The man was telling a compelling story. It was heartbreaking. It was beautiful, in its way.

The wayward son, a tragic figure, who went away to die in war.

When Antar looked up again, there were tears in his eyes.

“We thought he was dead until today.”

“How did you find out?” Luke said. “How did you know it was him?”

The old man shrugged. “Our neighbors have satellite television. His face is all over the TV news. The cameras in Switzerland captured his image. They came and told us. Hashan is alive! He has done a great thing! When we saw what a great thing he had done, his mother wept for two hours. That poor girl. Now she will be killed by fanatics, and it will be shown on the television. Because the scripture commands it. An eye must be taken for an eye, and a tooth must be taken for a tooth.”

He paused again and looked directly at Luke.

“A life for a life. An important life for many unimportant ones. The life of your President’s daughter, for the lives of my son and daughter, and so many countless others. Don’t you agree that this is very wise? You, of all people, a soldier, must agree.”

Luke didn’t know how to respond. Yes, he had been a soldier, but he had always thought of himself as in the business of saving lives. Kill these ones now, to save all these other ones later.

How could he phrase this to make this man understand?

“We are sad that Hashan did this,” Antar said. “We are ashamed of our only son.”

Luke nodded. “I understand.” He gestured with his head at the shelf.

“I am sorry to ask this. You have been so welcoming already. But may I borrow your satellite telephone to call my base? I have an account that will make the call free of charge for you. I just…”

He raised his hands as if to show how silly it all was. He smiled awkwardly.

“I left my own phone at the base by accident.”

“Satellite telephone?” Antar said.

“Yes,” Luke said. “There is a satellite telephone on your top shelf.”

Antar eyed Luke. He followed Luke’s gaze.