Mikkel Birkegaard - The Library of Shadows

'Time for a day off,' declared Remer when he turned up again. 'We're going sightseeing.'

Jon would have preferred to stay in, but it occurred to him that he hadn't yet been out of the house, even though he was in a foreign country.

The woman in the white coat came in, bringing a suit for him, and he put it on at once. It fitted perfectly. Remer escorted him out to the driveway, where Poul Holt was waiting along with a red-haired man of about thirty. He was introduced as Patrick Vedel, the receiver who had participated in the training sessions. Jon thought it was strange that he sat in another room during the sessions, but Holt had explained that it was at Vedel's own request.

The red-haired man now shook hands with Jon as he stared at him with an oddly expectant expression. He seemed to be waiting for Jon to recognize him. Jon dismissed the idea, and they all got into the Land Rover that Remer had hired and drove into Alexandria.

They drove along the beach promenade, Al-Corniche, which ran the entire length of Alexandria, twenty kilometres in all. Within that area of the east harbour hundreds of stalls stood along the coastal boulevard. Crowds of tourists and local residents were strolling along the wide pavement by the sea. A low stone wall functioned as both a bench and a bulwark facing the water. On the other side of the wall were giant boulders, acting as a defence against the waves of the Mediterranean.

The first stop was the Qaitbey Fortress on the western arm that surrounded the harbour basin. The fort looked a lot like a model made with Lego of various sizes and colours, but it stood on the site where one of the seven wonders of the world once stood, the Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria. It was said that the big reddish blocks of granite came from the ancient lighthouse, which was estimated by some to have been over 150 metres tall. It had made Alexandria into a centre of light, quite literally, just as the library had done the same from a scholarly perspective.

The next stop was a huge square where stalls had been set up to form a marketplace. Some of the stalls were simply cars that the owners had draped with their goods for sale, such as clothing. Other stalls consisted of carpets spread out on the ground and covered with a selection of jewellery, shoes and electronics. The more professional merchants had set up proper stalls made of wooden boards covered with fabric on which their wares were displayed.

In addition to clothes, electronics and antiques, great quantities of foodstuffs were also on sale. All sorts of spices were sold right out of the sacks, and fruit was piled up on tables that looked as if they might collapse under the weight. Meat and fish were on display in the sunshine, and when purchased were wrapped up in newspaper and tossed into a plastic bag. The smells from all the different foods became more and more intense. With each step new aromas joined the mix, forming a stew that became more and more exotic.

Jon walked on ahead, studying everything. He kept having to say no and make dismissive gestures when the stallholders tried to engage him in a transaction. He had moved a good distance away from the others and was beginning to enjoy this excursion. It had been a good idea to take a break from the training sessions.

Suddenly he froze.

Katherina was standing not more than five metres ahead of him. She was busy looking at antiques and hadn't yet noticed him, but just as Jon was about to move, she raised her head and looked him straight in the eye.

Apparently she was just as surprised as Jon, because her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but not a sound came out. Then she broke into a big, warm smile and stretched out her arms towards him, as if she expected a hug.

Jon took a step back. The smile vanished from Katherina's face and he could see that she was puzzled. She took a tentative step closer, now with an expression that was both dejected and enquiring. Slowly Jon backed away without taking his eyes off her. He had seen through her. The Order had opened his eyes to her deceit.

'Are you okay?' he heard Remer's voice behind him.

Jon raised his hand and pointed at the woman.

'She's here,' he said. 'Katherina.'

Katherina couldn't understand it.

For three days she'd been searching for Jon in this Egyptian port city, and suddenly there he stood, less than five metres away from her. But instead of running to meet her, as she'd pictured him doing so many times, he'd pointed her out to his kidnappers.

Shocked, she stood there staring at him, unable to move. His eyes were filled with hatred. Hatred directed at her. Only after Jon was jostled aside and their eye contact was broken did she come to her senses and realize that two men were making their way towards her. Their faces looked anything but friendly. She spun round and pushed her way through the crowd, away from them, away from Jon.

People turned to stare at Katherina as she forced her way past, moving as quickly as she could. The number of shoppers seemed to swell, and they seemed less and less willing to move aside for her. She cast a look back and confirmed that the two men were still after her. A tall, red-haired man and a short, bald guy wearing steel-rimmed spectacles. Her heart was pounding in her chest. What was the matter with Jon?

In one of the narrow market streets there were so many people that no one could move either backwards or forwards. She desperately tried to push through, but it was impossible to make any headway. The stall she was standing next to was selling fish, and the owner of the makeshift shop was yelling at the shoppers as he tried to keep his table from being toppled by the throng.

The face of the red-haired man loomed high above all the others, and when he saw Katherina get stuck in one place, an alarming smile spread across his face. Feverishly she looked around for a way out. The fishmonger was now shouting at her, making a series of sweeping gestures to force her to back up.

Taking a last look at her pursuers, Katherina ducked down and crawled under the table displaying the fish. On the other side the fishmonger greeted her by swatting at her with newspapers and shouting oaths in Arabic. She stood up, only to feel the fishmonger grab hold of her and start shaking her vigorously. The table gave an ominous lurch, distracting his attention for a second. Katherina used the opportunity to give him a hard shove so she could pull free. Quickly she ducked under the next table and crawled into the next market street. There she was able to stand up and begin to jog, zigzagging between tourists and shoppers, the distant crash of the fishmonger's table barely heard behind her.

At the edge of the marketplace, Katherina paused to look back. The two men were nowhere in sight.

She wished the others were with her.

But Henning was back at the hotel in bed with stomach trouble, while Mehmet was wandering around town on his own just as she was doing. After they'd filled him in on the Society's secrets, Mehmet had offered to come along. At the moment he couldn't go back to his flat anyway, and he felt he had a score to settle. Katherina had gratefully accepted his offer. She thought that Mehmet was the one person she could count on. So far he had never disappointed her.

It had also turned out that he had no intention of hanging around idly, just as Katherina couldn't make herself sit still at the hotel. She'd come into town to search for Jon at all hours of the day. Only when she needed to get some sleep or if they'd agreed to meet back at the hotel did she return to the Acropole, where they were staying.

A shout further down the street drew her attention. A shorthaired man wearing a light suit was pointing in her direction. It was Remer, and right behind him stood Jon. He wasn't doing anything, just staring at her, as if none of this had anything to do with him. Remer waved one hand towards the marketplace while he continued to point his other hand at her. Katherina followed his gaze and caught sight of the red-haired man in the crowd. At the same instant he saw her.