And then Hood thought, Damn everything. Here he was rebuking Stoll when what he should have been doing was wondering about Nancy showing up in the park the way she did. And when he happened to be with Richard Hausen. Was it a coincidence, or could it be that all of them were in this thing with Dominique? He suddenly felt very unsure and very stupid. In the rush of events, in his eagerness to stop Dominique from getting his message and his games to America, Hood had utterly ignored security and caution. What's more, he'd allowed his group to be split. His security expert, Bob Herbert, was roaming around the German countryside.

It could be that he was making more of this than there was. His gut told him he was. But his brain told him to try and find out. Before they got to Demain, if possible.

Hood remained beside Stoll while Nancy had returned to her side of the aircraft. She was unhappy and not attempting to hide it. Stoll was disgusted and not trying to hide it either. Only Hood had to keep his feelings to himself, though not for long.

As Elisabeth came on the intercom to announce the final descent into Toulouse, Hood casually borrowed the laptop from Stoll.

"Want me to boot up Solitaire?" Stoll asked, referring to Hood's favorite computer game.

"No," Hood said as he switched the machine back on. "I feel like Tetris." As he spoke, Hood typed a message onto the screen. "Matt," he wrote, "I don't want you to say anything. Just put me on-line with Darrell."

Stoll casually touched his nose, leaned over, and entered his password and Op-Center's number. The disk drive hummed as the prompt said, "Processing."

Stoll sat back when the prompt said, "Ready." He turned his head toward the window, but kept his eyes on the screen.

Hood typed his personal transmission code in quickly, then wrote:

"Darrell: I need every detail you can get an the life of German Deputy Foreign Minister Richard Hausen. Check tax records from 1970s. Looking for employment by Airbus Industrie or by a man named Dupre or Dominique of Toulouse. Also want details of postwar life and activities of Maximillian Hausen of the Luftwaffe. Call me when you have anything. Shoot for 1600 hours EST today at the latest."

Hood sat back. "I suck at this game. What do I do now?"

Stoll reached over. He transmitted the E-mail message. "You want to save any of these games?"

"No," Hood said.

Stoll typed in:-) then erased the screen.

"In fact," Hood said, shutting off the computer, "I want you to take this machine and throw it out the window."

"You should never play video games when you're tense," Nancy said. She looked across the cabin at Hood. "It's like sports or sex. You've got to be loose."

Hood handed Stoll the computer. Then he walked over to Nancy and buckled himself in beside her.