Part 18 (1/2)

Iben and Malene are falling over themselves to distance themselves from what he is implying.

No, thats not it at all Oh, no.

Iben winces. You mustnt take it like that. All we mean is, maybe Anne-Lise should take some time off. Some problem at home might be troubling her. Anyway, she clearly isnt stable right now. You even offered her the chance to see a psychologist.

Malene follows this up. What we feel is, she might slip into real mental illness unless she gets some peace.

Paul is unusually direct. Look, you know as well as I do that to send someone home on these terms is to push her down the slippery slope toward dismissal. For Anne-Lise it would be nearly impossible to return to work here. She has a husband and children who will be affected, one way or another. Besides, the work she does here is excellent. Weve hardly given the new measures time to work. You should do the decent thing and give Anne-Lise a chance.

Iben feels blood rus.h.i.+ng to her cheeks. A pulse is starting to beat in her temple. We only made the suggestion because were working so closely, and collaborating with her is very difficult at the moment. We thought that it would be reasonable to give her some time to get on an even keel and weve tried everything else. Malene saw to it that we, and you, had a meeting with Anne-Lise. And weve changed the way we work Malene interrupts. She sounds more upset than she probably wants to. It might also be dangerous to let her carry on. No matter how difficult it is for us to think of her as unbalanced, there is the matter of the death threats.

Paul stops her. Whats this about the situation being dangerous for you? Shes the only one around here who had blood poured all over her.

She could easily have set that up herself!

Malene catches Pauls eye and then looks at Iben. The effect is to s.h.i.+ft Pauls attention.

Iben, tell Paul again about the books youve been reading.

Iben would dearly like this to end soon or, preferably, for it never to have started. She tries to run through some of her psychiatric insights, but her new knowledge sounds quite out of place.

Paul watches her, his eyes clouding with such disappointment that Iben feels she cant bear it much longer. He interrupts her. I am personally convinced that the e-mails are not sent by anyone on our team. I expect you to trust the others in the same way.

Malene tries to offer a little support for her friend. But He almost shouts now: It is out of the question!

Then Paul stops turning around in his chair and speaks more quietly. We do not, any of us, suspect Anne-Lise. Or Camilla. Period! The video camera is going to be in place over our front door pretty soon. Once we all feel safe, everything will sort itself out.

Malene opens her mouth, but a quick glance at Paul makes her close it again.

They all reflect for a moment.

Paul is the first to break the silence. Look, I hear what youre saying. Clearly there are problems, but I wont mention anything about this at the board meeting today. Im going to forget what Ive heard, unless of course you would feel differently? Its really to protect you. Im afraid your behavior wouldnt look too good.

chapter 20.

iben and Malene are sitting in the coastal line train on their way to Denmarks Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The DCIG and the Inst.i.tute of Human Rights have joined forces to run a two-day conference called The Reestablishment of Democracy and Civic Trust in the Former Yugoslavia. Many people are expected to attend, including 140 international delegates.

The train is relatively empty, because at this time of the morning the commuters travel into Copenhagen. The sharp November-morning light pours into the car. The sun stands so low over the horizon that it s.h.i.+nes directly into their eyes as they try to observe the luxurious seaside villas.

During the week after their awkward meeting in Pauls office, Malene suggested to Paul that they should invest in a new piece of software. Running on a section of the DCIG site with restricted access, the program would allow researchers to read and review one anothers papers. Subscribers could arrange online meetings and keep chatting round the clock, as well as interact via notices on a bulletin board.

Malene would take on the role of webmaster for this closed section of the site. Once it was up and running, DCIG would be on its way to becoming a virtual research center, at comparatively minimal cost. Before Malene took her idea to Paul, she investigated the running costs and looked into what other organizations felt about virtual meeting places that were similar. She had tabulated advantages and drawbacks, alongside informed comments.

Despite all this, Paul said no.

Malene keeps coming back to Pauls refusal. All he had to do was check out what I had prepared for him. If the Swedes get there first, well be totally sidelined when it comes to research support. I dont understand him.

Iben cant think of anything new to say. They have been over this several times already.

Malene takes a drink from the large coffee she bought at the station, and then starts up again. Her warm coffee breath envelops Iben.

I cant help wondering if he is planning to take up another post and wants to take my idea with him.

Iben doesnt think so. Malene can probably read it on her face.

Then what? Do you think he has other work in mind for me, something I havent even heard about yet?

The train has pa.s.sed through a forest and the sunlight hits Ibens eyes.

It couldnt be something to do with cutting back on our activities, could it? Like working less closely with the researchers?

That would be idiotic and Iben says so. They both look out at the houses slipping past.

Malene, theres one more possible reason for his decision, Iben says. Ive been thinking it over for a while.

What is it?

Look, its only based on a hunch. Nothing solid.

Go on.

The way I remember it, when I arrived at the Center, you always had Pauls backing for your ideas, not just for this kind of project. Right?

Malene nods.

And Paul wasnt all that alert to what the library might need.

True.

It seems to me that, between then and now, something has changed something that no one has wanted to talk about so far.

Malene has pushed her coffee away, and her eyes are fixed on Iben.

What occurs to me is that Paul is very anxious about running such a small outfit. Hes aware of the risk that someone higher up might look at the DCIG and decide its time to merge it with another organization, inevitably a bigger one. Wed be absorbed, sooner or later. Until recently, Paul believed that the Center had to grow or die, which is why he used to encourage you to work like crazy on whatever research initiatives you came up with, so that we could secure new areas of expertise and therefore more support from grants.

Yes, thats exactly how it used to be. And now its like What if Paul has picked up on a hint that were going to be cut off from the Ministry for Science, Technology, and Development? I dont know anything, of course. But what if? In that case wed almost certainly be transferred to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. And then, in one of their restructuring moves, Human Rights would swallow us up. Thats a no-brainer.

If Paul has heard rumors like that, it would explain why hes always so nervous before going to meetings at the ministry. And, being Paul, h.e.l.l already have thought through the next twenty moves in the game and planned ways of winning it.

Say that he has noticed that state research libraries are small units scattered among the different ministries. Now, theres a possible plank to cling to, because the more vigorously our library expands, the greater Pauls chance of presenting the DCIG as a major library with additional research facilities. That in turn would give him scope to maneuver the DCIG into the arms of another ministry, like Culture, or Justice, or Asylum Seekers, Immigrants, and Integration whatever takes his fancy. Hed be safe in his directors post then, and n.o.body would be breathing down his neck, because the system accepts that research libraries are independent units, however small.

Iben can see that none of this has occurred to Malene. At least there are some advantages to lying awake and alone at night, Iben thinks.

Look, Malene, if this is his rescue plan, then your initiatives could ruin it. Hed prefer to become part of almost any ministry as long as it isnt Foreign Affairs. If avoiding that means scaling down everything youve proposed in support of research, so be it.

But he was so keen on the Center being a.s.sociated with this conference and the one about the Germans in 1945. What do you make of that?