Chang said, “No, don’t do that. You’re in Paris. For all we know the Internet cafés are hooked up to the security services.”

“So what do we do?”

“Duh? Go buy a charger.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”

“It’s an Apple. It’s got a weird little doohickey.”

Chang’s eyes left Tesla’s and flicked away to another screen. Then they came back. “They were planning to build an Apple store under the glass pyramid at the Louvre. Maybe it’s open now.”

“OK. We’ll find it.”

“Not yet. Stay with me. I have news. At least, I think I do. The trace on the destination cell? It’s still bouncing around. I got Kashmir, Argentina, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada.”

“That’s not news. It means their software is still working, that’s all.”

“I’m not so sure. It switches every two seconds. Like clockwork. Which is how I would expect it to be written. But at the beginning it showed Kashmir for three seconds. Not two. I’m wondering if it failed to lock first time. Maybe it exposed its true location.”

“That’s a leap.”

“Not really. Think about it from the other end. Who wrote this program? A guy like me, that’s who. And what do I know about countries of the world? Not much. I can’t sit here and name them all. I certainly don’t know them all. To me, Kashmir is a Led Zeppelin song.”

“So?”

“So I would need some kind of list.”

“They’re called atlases.”

“A printed book? I don’t think so. Not for a programmer. He’d hack a list from somewhere. The UN, maybe, but that’s probably too secure. My guess is he tried an inside joke and hacked Nokia or someone for cell phone sales by country. And you know what? Turns out, Kashmir isn’t a country. Not officially.”

No answer from Tesla.

“And even if it was, I bet Nokia doesn’t sell much there.”

The red icon was still flashing.

Chang said, “OK, I know, it’s only a hunch, but I think I’m right. I think the software failed, just briefly. I think Kashmir is the true location.”

“We’ve got to tell Harold.”

“Still no word on my end. You?”

“No.”

“Well, there’s more.”

“Be quick.”

“I have other programs running. Mostly for fun, but they’re all linked. I got a flag from a Federal Aviation Authority database. There’s a flight plan filed from D.C. airspace to Lahore, which is the nearest long runway to the Kashmir region. The tail number comes back to a crop duster in Kansas.”

“Wiki, make your damn point, will you? We have no time.”