I cut through the streets in a random pattern. I used glass storefront windows to check behind me and across the street. I went into stores and out the back, I cut through alleys. If there was a tail I did not see it.

My cell rang and when I saw who it was I ducked into an alley to answer the call. Bug doesn’t speak Persian.

“About frigging time,” I growled into the phone.

“Hello to you, too, man,” said Bug.

“What the hell have you been doing? Playing Halo?”

“No—though the new version of Halo is pretty badass. They got this one level that—”

“My whole body is a lethal weapon, you know,” I said. “I know more ways to kill you than you know how to die. Are you aware of that?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I promise I’ll faint when I take my coffee break. I wanted to get back to you on those books you had me look up. Are you sure you have the correct titles?”

“It’s word of mouth from an unreliable source.”

“I know, Rasouli. King Dickhead of all the world.”

“That’s the one.”

“The thing is, I can’t see how the Saladin Codex can be connected to the nukes or anything related to nuclear science.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s a math book that was written in the twelfth century based on an even older book, and I’m no physicist, but I’m pretty sure the whole nuke thing came later than that.”

“Shit.”

“And,” added Bug, “it’s not even a good math book.”

“Meaning?”

“It’s a rewrite of a classic book called Al-Kitāb al-mukhtaşar fī hīsāb al-ğabr wa’l-muqābala.”

Bug murdered the pronunciation, but I could make out what he meant. “The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing,” I translated.

“Right. It was written by some dude named Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, who was a noted mathematician of his time. Apparently ‘al-ğabr’ is the original word for algebra, which is what the book is about. One of the earliest books on the subject, or maybe the earliest book on the subject.”

“Algebra,” I mused. “Physics is all about math, isn’t it? Physics and nuclear technology are kissing cousins…”

“Well—sure, but this is pretty basic stuff. Nothing that gives us direct insight into nuclear science. I mean, c’mon, I learned this stuff in tenth grade.”

“Okay, what about the Saladin Codex?”

“That was written in 1191 by someone named Ibrahim al-Asiri. He was a diplomat who worked for Saladin.”

“Rasouli mentioned Saladin,” I said, and explained what he’d said.

“Huh,” grunted Bug, unimpressed. “Anyway, al-Asiri was also a mathematician, but apparently not a great one. His book attempted to refute some of the theories from the earlier work. No one was buying it, though, because algebra isn’t a theory. Math is math.”