The First Altar — James E. Aarons

Rory and Katie marry a few weeks before she and René are scheduled to fly to the Middle East in search of a deadly brucellosis infection jumping from sheep to people. Marol offers to fly Rory and Katie to Iraq in a private jet as their wedding present. Marol has ulterior motives, though. She is bringing Rory over to learn ostrich husbandry firsthand from ostrich farms in Israel and South Africa.