THE SWORD OF ZULFIQAR (Book 1 in the Zulfiqar Project Series) Dawud had worked hard to get into Kabul University and now wants only to be left alone. But this is Afghanistan, a nation thought to be ungovernable, and often described as the "graveyard of empires." Kabul simmers with tribal divisions and religious strife. Gunfire and horrific explosions rip through the city. Dawud's family is torn apart by the violence. His father, devastated by his loss and concerned with the sudden reappearance of an old enemy, reveals to Dawud and his sister, Afrah, a bizarre past that changes everything they had grown up to believe. Condemned by a powerful Cleric and hunted by the Taliban, Dawud and Afrah are forced to run. Finding refuge in a remote mountain village, they manage to leave the fighting behind. However, the war rages on and eventually reaches them, forcing Dawud and Afrah to once again flee. With the help of a covert CIA operative, they escape a certain death. Grateful, Dawud agrees to work with the Americans, but during a simple training exercise, Dawud is captured by the mysterious Dr. Dicos. While held in the basement of an abandoned hospital, Dawud survives an experiment that foreshadows events that will forever alter the world. In that same basement, separated by a heavy steel door, are four burqa-clad women who soon will find their lives inescapably linked to Dawud's. Aware of their precarious situation, the women do what is necessary to survive. That is, except for one.