CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Thursday, 10:06 P.M.,

Toulouse, France

After putting the phone back in his jacket, Hood made his way back up the grassy slope. Though the group was still standing beside the trees, Stoll had moved a few yards away, toward the bridge. There, he had an unobstructed view of the river and the opposite bank.

As Hood approached, he heard Ballon talking to Nancy.

"…if they do see us, they can go to Hell. I don't care. It was the same when I walked in on my former wife and her lover. Not liking what you see won't make it go away."

"That wasn't what I asked," Nancy said. "I asked if you hope that someone from Demain sees us. And if they do, what you think will happen."

"We're on public land," Ballon said. "If they see us, they can do nothing. In any case, I don't think Dominique will pick a fight. Certainly not now, with his games downloading."

Hood stopped beside Hausen. He was about to take him aside when Ballon walked over.

"Is everything all right?" the Colonel asked.

"I'm not sure," Hood said. "Matt, have you got everything under control?"

"More or less," Stoll said. He was sitting with his legs straight out. The computer was resting on his knees and he was leaning into it, typing furiously. "What's the word for anal?"

Ballon answered, "Fidele is retentive--"

"I'll accept that," Stoll said. "Our boy is certainly fidele. The first game came on promptly at ten. And I mean promptly: 10:00:00. I saved it on the hard drive. I've got the T-Bird covering about thirty-eight degrees with each picture, so I should have a complete sweep in about ten minutes."

"And then?" Hood asked.

Stoll said. "I have to start playing the game and get to different screens, different landscapes."

"Why don't you download it to Op-Center?"

"Because what I'm doing is just what they'd do," he said. "I'm writing a small modification to the MatchBook program so it can read images from the T-Bird. Then it's in the lap of the gods. If I don't screw up too much, the background images will keep scrolling along. I'll get a ping when there's a match." Stoll finished typing, then sucked down a deep, deep breath. He booted the game. "I can't say I'm going to enjoy this thing. It's a lynch mob."

Nancy had walked over while he was speaking. She knelt behind him and gently put her hands on his shoulders. "I'll help you, Matt," she said. "I'm pretty good at these."

Hood regarded them for a moment. The way she'd touched Matt made him jealous. The way her hands floated down and came to rest like falling flower petals filled him with longing. And the way he was feeling filled him with disgust.