Several members of the Hajduk Split soccer team coalesced outside the airplane. Since the players were spry, many were the first out. They wore matching tracksuits. A few punched at each other, a few wandered toward the terminal in meditation over their cell phones. Eventually a different group appeared, also in uniforms, following a handful of antique nuns in black habits moving down the stairs to the tarmac. They were followed by the last of the players who carried the baggage for the Sisters. The boys chatted easily with the nuns, the groups made each other laugh. Passengers in vacation uniforms and business suit uniforms began to disembark without the same team reception.

This scene went unnoticed by most people waiting at the gate above, including two long, beautiful sisters bearing Croatian passports and a small girl. The girl toted a speckled stuffed dog and puffed out her cheeks as…