Mikkel Birkegaard - The Library of Shadows

'Okay,' said Remer into the microphone. 'You'd better leave the room. Now we just need to wait for him to regain consciousness.'

Pau and someone else came back into the office, going over to sit down on either side of Remer. Kortmann's chauffeur hadn't returned.

During the next fifteen minutes Remer apparently ran through a number of preparatory steps and tests on the computer. Pau followed along, occasionally casting a glance at Katherina. The other man looked through a stack of papers, giving brief, routine-sounding replies as Remer asked about 'RL values', tension levels, and 'IR-blockades' – concepts Katherina was unable to decode. In the meantime, she concentrated on working at the tape wrapped round her feet.

'He's back,' said Pau suddenly, and the three men turned their attention to the room behind the glass.

'Good morning, Campelli,' said Remer into the microphone. From a speaker they could hear Jon mutter something incomprehensible. 'I regret the rather hard-handed welcome, but it looked as if you were about to leave us before we had a chance to talk.'

'Pau,' they heard from the loudspeaker, spoken as if it were the answer to a puzzle.

Remer laughed. 'Pau, as you call him, has been in my service the whole time. A product of this place, you might say. He once attended this school and sat in the very chair where you're sitting now, wearing the same helmet.'

'Where's Katherina? What have you done to her?'

'Relax, Campelli,' said Remer. 'The young lady is right here.' He nodded to Pau, who went over to Katherina and rolled her chair over to the window.

On the other side of the glass Jon was sitting in one of the two chairs, tied up with plastic handcuff strips round his arms and ankles. The blood on his forehead had dried and a dark bruise had appeared where the crowbar had struck. When he saw Katherina, an expression of relief washed over his face.

'As you can see, she's unharmed,' Remer went on. 'So far.'

'What is it you want, Remer?' Jon asked, without taking his eyes off Katherina.

'Cooperation. That's really all,' replied Remer. 'A small demonstration to show us what you're capable of, and then an open-minded attitude with regard to my organization. There's a great deal we can offer a man of your talents.'

'What makes you think I want to be your guinea pig? Do you really expect me to participate voluntarily in your experiments?'

'As a matter of fact, I do,' said Remer confidently. 'Anything else would be unwise.' He patted Katherina on the shoulder, and she flinched at his touch. 'As I said, we have a use for her.'

Jon clenched his teeth. 'And if I agree to your experiments, will you let her go?'

'Naturally,' replied Remer. 'That's the deal.'

'It's no good,' said Jon, squeezing his eyes shut and obviously in pain. 'I'm incapable of reading anything right now. You can thank your lapdog for that.'

Remer leaned forward to give Jon an intent look.

'He's bluffing,' exclaimed Pau. 'I didn't hit him that hard.'

Remer shot Pau an annoyed glance and leaned back in his chair.

Jon opened his eyes and stared straight at Remer. 'If you let Katherina go, I promise to stay here until I'm able to do your test,' he offered.

'I'm sure you'll do your best,' said Remer, picking up the gun from the table and showing it to Jon.

Katherina shook her head vigorously but she could see the dismay in Jon's face. The sight of that shabby little object underscored that this was a filthy hostage situation and not a negotiation.

'Okay,' said Jon. 'What do you want me to do?'

'What you're so good at doing,' replied Remer. 'Reading stories.' He nodded to Pau, who left the room.

'First let her go,' Jon demanded.

Remer laughed. 'Now you're being naive, Campelli. The girl stays until we get what we need.'

The door to the cell was pushed open, and Pau stepped inside with a book in one hand and a knife in the other.

'Bastard,' snarled Jon.

Pau laughed as he stepped closer, making sure that Jon saw the knife by holding it up with two fingers.

'Watch out, Jon,' he warned. 'You wouldn't want to get hurt again.' He fixed his gaze on a spot above Jon's left eyebrow. 'Ouch, that looks ugly. Does it hurt?' Pau smiled broadly.

Jon yanked at his arms but they were firmly strapped to the armrests of his chair. He sank back, fixing hostile eyes on Pau.

'So are you going to turn the pages for me?'

'Oh, no,' said Pau. 'I'll be out of here long before that.' He stuck the book in Jon's right hand.

Jon looked down at the cover.

'Frankenstein?' he exclaimed with surprise.

From her position near the table, Katherina could see that the book was a paperback edition, as worn as a copy someone had taken on summer holiday. She also noticed that she couldn't pick up anything from Jon's reading of the cover. As they had earlier discussed, the cell room must be shielded in some way.

With one hand Pau gripped Jon's left forearm, pressing it down against the armrest. He used his other hand to cut off the plastic strips holding Jon's arm. After cutting through the bands he swiftly stepped away, out of Jon's reach.

Jon shook his free arm. He grabbed the plastic strips on his other arm but couldn't pull them off.

Pau laughed. 'Forget it, Jon. You can't do it.' He turned round and went out of the cell, followed by Jon's scowling gaze.

'Go ahead and start,' said Remer.

Jon shifted his glance to the window and Katherina gave him a brief nod. Pau came back into the office and stood behind the others at the table.

'Do you have any favourite passages?' asked Jon scornfully.

Remer shook his head. 'It doesn't matter where you begin.' He pressed a couple of keys on the keyboard, and the image on the screen changed to show a number of oscillating curves that slowly rolled from right to left. There was no appreciable fluctuation.

Jon shifted his hold on the book so that he was gripping the spine with his bound right hand and was able to turn the pages with his left. He opened the book to the middle and began to read.

For Katherina it was a strange feeling to hear Jon reading aloud. Up until now she had always been with him when he read so that she could simultaneously receive, but now it was only his own voice she heard, while the book itself remained silent. It was like listening to audio books, which were also devoid of any of the energy with which a reader or a book itself might charge the text. Yet Jon was an excellent reader, and if the circumstances had been different, she would have enjoyed the story. Katherina tried with all her might to stretch the tape round her ankles even more. She felt a little jerk as the tape gave way, and she cast a frightened glance at the others. But they were all staring intently at the monitor on the table and hadn't noticed a thing.

The oscillations on the screen had begun to move. A green line at the very top of the monitor displayed sine-wave oscillations, an image of what Katherina surmised was the fluctuating pulse made by a transmitter's powers. Underneath was a red trace that rose steeply as Jon worked his way through the text.

'Five point one within three minutes,' said Remer, impressed.

Pau sniggered.

The red trace flattened out and stabilized at a level above the halfway mark on the screen.

'Seven,' declared Remer. 'Is he holding back?'

'Well, there aren't any fireworks yet,' said Pau.

Remer leaned towards the microphone, but just as he was about to say something the green sine wave changed shape. The fluctuations increased in tempo, like a metronome shifting gear. At the same time the red line made an almost vertical leap and was now close to the top of the scale.

'Ten,' exclaimed Remer in astonishment.

Behind the glass, Jon seemed apparently unaffected. Only the beads of sweat that were slowly trickling down his forehead revealed the effort he was making.