Anyway. Alicia gets a sudden idea about getting the book discussed in England and runs to Eli's office, where soon enough his "geek squad" of "internet trolls" have tweeted like a hundred thousand times about the previous killer book that we're superinjuncted not to talk about. But then that's made it into the press, and before you know it the superinjunction has been superdefuncted.

Even crazier, Timothy doesn't even need the actual book because the questions about his behavior in Pakistan are now themselves a matter of discussion in the English press.

Cardiff: "I did nothing wrong."
Timothy: "You didn't take the rope and climbing gear from the Japanese team on Trango Tower?"
Cardiff: "I did nothing wrong."

Then he just comes out with it: Yeah, he stole from the dying Japanese guys, but just because they were dying. In fact, even Danny (the brother) climbed past a Korean on K2 in the same situation: "I left him. Every climber left him. And why? Because we would have died carrying him down. It is the law of the Death Zone. We all know we can't be carried out."

Cardiff maintains that the book is basically a lie, and Timothy casually asks whether he's going on any other expeditions soon. Izzard jumps at it, but too late: He's going to Patagonia in a month. Which provides qualified privilege as an exception to the British libel laws, which is that the book is a warning: Cardiff will climb past your ass on the way up that mountain too. Which is a loophole that means it's no longer held to the same burden of proof as a regular libel suit, so it's over. Dismissed in letter rogatory.

Which is a legal triumph, but not really a moral one, because the fact remains that the Death Zone is called that for a reason. It's the Cold Equations, have you read that? Some things can't be argued with. Sometimes logic is the best pointer to the most good. You put on your own mask first. You get out alive. Someone lives. Death is defeated.

Because that's the deal you made. These weren't innocent victims, they were willing players. They were climbing, just like everybody else: A choice. When you're walking toward something called the Death Zone, you do it with your eyes open. Compassion isn't something you take, certainly not something you beg for, but in the Death Zone it's not something you can afford to give. Carry someone else, death multiplies. No winners.