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romantic, mystical drink that took him for a nostalgic stroll of sorts to more idyllic memories of old New Orleans back before the slaughter.  He’d taken Caroline out for drinks after dinner one dreamy, moonlit night years ago to an absinthe bar known as Pravda.  That first taste-that first kiss of the green fairy consumed him nearly as much as the taste of his beloved Caroline herself.  Under a romantic, moonlit night accentuated by stars that beamed like diamonds, the duo walked arm in arm along the banks of the Mississippi River.  It was the first time he kissed her.  The perfect memory crackled through his brain as he slowly ingested the drink.  Clandestine .  Known as a ‘Swiss La Bleue’ absinthe.  Alluring.  Captivating.  Sublime.  It was in every way the embodiment of Caroline in liquid form.   
    “So…what’ s the big mystery?” Barabbas asked.  The hesitation in Caroline was now more evident than ever, but she braced herself anyway.
    “What I’m going to tell you isn’t something that’s widely known.  In fact, I only found this out recently from a colleague at the CDC,” she said.  Everything we’ve heard either through the news or word of mouth about this virus is complete bullshit,” she said.
    “You mean the whole ‘bath salt’ story?” Gabriel asked.
    “Exactly,” Caroline replied.  “The bath salt story was just a cover for what’s really been going on…and has been happening for years.”
    “Ok…what?” Barabbas demanded.  The suspense was agitating him.  Caroline braced herself.
    “You guys familiar with something called the Mariel Boatlift?” she asked.
    “Yeah,” Nicodemus said.  “That was the opening in Scarface right?”
    “I’m not talking about the movie jackass,” Caroline retorted.  “I’m talking about the real event.”
    “Ok, so what about it?” Barabbas asked.   Caroline sipped her tea, choosing the next words carefully.
    “The Mariel Boatlift was a bit of an ‘exodus’ shall we say; a mass immigration of Cubans over to the United States which took place between April and October of 1980.  See in those days, the Carter administration had a vested interested in Havana, with Castro having a bit of the same in Washington.  Castro agreed to the release of several political prisoners in exchange for the U.S. granting acceptance of several thousands of Cubans from the island.  As a result, over 10,000 Cubans left their homeland for America, landing on the shores of Miami.  Problem is, many of these people were not only mentally ill, but criminals, homosexuals and whatnot.”
    “I’m not following you,” Barabbas replied.  “What does this all have to do with our problem?”
    “I’m getting to that,” Caroline replied.  “Infuriated over facets of America’s foreign policy along with its growing immigration problems, several key members of the Republican Party deliberated for months over what course of action to take.  Big bankers, oil men, politicians, you name it gathered in private to come up with a plan.  The one that was decided on was quite a subversive one to say the least.  One that still haunts us to this day.”
    The suspense in the room was stifling.  All eyes focused intently on Caroline as she struggled with her next words.
    “In 1981, the first reports of the disease now known as HIV/AIDS surfaced, with rumors quickly spreading that it originated in the homosexual community.  More rumors later surfaced that the disease really originated from a green monkey in Africa, but none of those stories were actually true.”
    “And? Nicodemus demanded.  “What does this have to do with-“
    “It was all a lie,” Caroline fired back.  “Now we’ve all heard rumors for years that HIV/AIDS was man-made but there was always very little relevance to that theory, until now.  In an effort to cure America of its growing ‘immigration problem’, our government designed a virus, one that could systematically