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for her on the other end of this unbelievable trip.
    The Sergeant backed the truck up to the high door of the transport so that Hasan could walk Zubaida aboard, then he followed them on and helped to strap her in her seat. She cried out every time he touched her, and she made it plain that she didn’t want to hear any soothing words, either—whether she understood them or not.
    Hasan continually spoke to her in their native dialect, and although his American observer couldn’t understand the words, he could tell she didn’t take any comfort in whatever her father was saying to her.
    What the Sergeant had no way of realizing was that from Zubaida’s point of view, Mohammed Hasan was allowing the two of them to be taken someplace very far away, in return for some vague promise of miracles—as if these Americans had the power to give Zubaida’s music back to her, anyway.
    She understood that they were going to stop in the capital city of Kabul for a time, while they prepared for the rest of the trip. But she also knew that once they finally reached America, Zubaida and her helpless father were going to be alone, out there among the Others.

Chapter Three
    Zubaida and her father were met in Kabul by military physician Mike Smith. He had been coordinating her treatment to get her ready for the long trip, and the more he learned about this case, the more he found that it was beginning to become a thing of personal concern for him. His enthusiasm bubbled up out of him later that evening when he went home and sent an email to Peter Grossman.
    It has been a wonderful day. Our translator arrived at 10:00 AM, and it turns out she was on the plane with me when we flew from the United States toward Afghanistan, back in January. That’s just the first of the many “divine coincidences” that took place today. Other members of the Task force that work at the US Embassy here picked us up and we met Mohammed Hasan and his little daughter, Zubaida, just as they came off the airplane at the Kabul International Airport.
    Zubaida could not be more than 4 feet tall and very slender. She said she was very scared on the airplane and I told her I was very nervous the first time I flew on an airplane too. —She’s afraid of any medical contact. Just talking about putting an emollient on her cracking skin (further contractures are taking place) made her run behind her father and cry.
    Hasan states that Zubaida is having nightmares more and more frequently. It doesn’t help that she gets reactions in public that are scarring her self image. I’ve had to stare down and actually block a few idiots from standing in front of her and making her feel awkward.
    My main concern, though, is her adjustment to being a patient. She’s terrified at the opening of a pack of gauze and hasn’t let me anywhere near her.
    After reading the letter, Peter had no doubt that Mike Smith was so involved with her case that somehow or other, he would find the time in his schedule and be just the man they needed to fly to the U.S. with her—and then accompany her father back home a week later. It was clear that this girl compelled people’s help, but at this point he still didn’t have any first hand knowledge of her.
    * * *
    On June 10th, 2002, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge spoke to a gathering inside the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., explaining President Bush’s decision to create a powerful new Office of Homeland Security. This purpose of this office was revealed to be the coordinating of all stateside security efforts among the FBI, the CIA, and any other organization involved in assuring the continued survival of American society.
    The need for such action came with one of the Western world’s great political revelations of the early twenty-first century—that the concept of “freedom” is interpreted very differently by cultures around the planet, and that we can’t rely on “freedom” as a coin of influence that will be