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Colonel Maximillian finished reading the final report on the rabies outbreak in the Northern Lebanese refugee camp and signed his name on the last page.

The strain of rabies identified as the pathogen was unique in its speed and virulence. Properties the terrorist Akbar had magnified until the resulting symptoms were barely recognizable as rabies.

A sample had been put in storage, along with Akbar’s anthrax strain, but the rest had been disposed of.

Akbar had been wounded, but not badly enough to stop him or even slow him down. Max was sure he was busy planning another biological attack, but there were too many possible targets, and too many places to hide for the Biological Rapid Response Team to know where to look next. He was watching a number of companies that produced lab supplies and the chemicals Akbar would need to continue his self-proclaimed jihad.

Then there were the messages left on the corpses.

The last great plague is coming.

No one will be safe.

The whole world will know pain.

All of them addressed to Colonel Maximillian, US Army.

This was a new tactic, but not unexpected. Akbar wanted to keep Max and his people off balance—distracted and afraid. But Max had been terrorized before and not only survived but thrived.

He wouldn’t rest until justice had been done.

Or he was dead.