Part 46 (2/2)

We are slaves of predicta errible! We are nothing but rats! How could a human break out of being In the Winter Garden she hears the others calling out: Hi, Paul!

Paul, h.e.l.lo! There you are!

Then Pauls voice, loud and cheerful. Party time!

Camilla hurriedly hides her bits of paper under two boxes and runs out to meet him.

Everyone is there. Paul has stopped just inside the front door. He is grinning broadly and waving a bottle of champagne. Volunteers, please! Wholl get the gla.s.ses?

But the women are so curious that none of them wants to leave.

Hey, Malene! Could you get five gla.s.ses from the kitchen?

And then he starts telling them what has happened.

Frederik has left the board! Thats one obstacle to our survival out of the way!

Iben has to ask: Hes gone? But Paul pats her shoulder and replies before she can finish her question. Thats right, Im in no position to vote him off. Neither is anyone else, not even Ole. The only way was for him to resign.

Anne-Lise chips in. He did? And we thought that it might be you who Ole Laughing, Paul interrupts her. Yes, but he cant. If Im not here as the leader, theres no state funding for the Center. Seems that Ole forgot that momentarily.

Anne-Lise, who is standing behind Iben, moves up a little. Paul, what do you An old friend of mine is a spokesman for this sector in the party that holds the deciding vote. And the DCIG receives its grant on his say-so. Or not.

Iben catches on quickly and starts laughing too. You have a friend who I see! Of course you do!

Anne-Lise is not satisfied. Which party is that?

Paul leans on Malenes desk. Anne-Lise, guess!

Your old friend is an MP for the Danish Peoples Party? That racist lot?

Paul smiles proudly. Yep. Thats right.

Then he notices the look on her face. Whatever were doing here, were doing it to serve our cause. Thats all that matters.

I see. But what happens now?

We carry on as usual. But now we have a new trophy to add to our collection. And the risk that well be put under the DIHR is a little less imminent.

Malene returns with the gla.s.ses and tries to catch up. And Frederik, what about him? Is he going to put up with Oles decision to let you stay?

No. That he will not do.

Malene looks around to catch someones eye. Arent Frederik and Ole friends anymore? Is he leaving the board?

Paul begins to twist the champagne cork. Malene, thats exactly why were celebrating!

The cork pops and shoots off to land high up on a shelf. Camilla glances at Iben. If she hadnt seen her anger this morning, or heard the story about her past, or read the fragments from her article well, she wouldve thought Iben was quite normal. Every time Paul says something meant to be funny, Iben laughs longer and louder than usual. She sounds as if shes been at the bottle already. Camilla sips her champagne and curses the day she first allowed Dragan into her life. Years have pa.s.sed since she learned all the things that Iben has now found out about him. When she looks back at the men in her life, she is so grateful to Finn. After Dragan, marrying someone like Finn is the best choice she could ever have made.

Malene hasnt touched her champagne and seems uneasy. Paul, weve been so worried about you. And about the Center too. About all of us. You vanished so suddenly, and then we thought maybe Ole would try and Paul watches the bubbles in his gla.s.s, tilting it gently sideways to top it up. I was thinking about all of you too, Malene. But the situation turned out to be more complicated than Id thought because a group of politicians had just left on a fact-finding trip to Iraq. So I couldnt meet with the people I needed to see not until they returned. I hadnt antic.i.p.ated that.

When he finishes pouring his champagne, his eyes meet Malenes. And if the board is to work together as a team, Ole couldnt have the chance to say the wrong things to me or to send me a letter hed only regret later. Everything had to be put on hold.

Iben has more questions. Paul, when you said you hadnt antic.i.p.ated it, do you mean ? You know, when Gunnar was here and Ole turned up by chance? Did you plan it all along?

Paul raises his gla.s.s to her and beams. Strictly off the record.

Camilla stays silent. Her attention is slipping. The office atmosphere is suddenly so excitable and she realizes now what a relief it is to have read Ibens jottings, with not a mention of Camilla or Dragan anywhere. She sighs and takes a hearty sip from her gla.s.s.

Iben has insisted, day in and day out, that Camilla is lying. But now it seems certain that Iben knows no more about Camillas past than what she has already announced.

Camilla goes to sit in her own chair. She feels very tired now. It would be a dream if this new, jovial Paul told them to take the day off, but of course he wont. He pours everyone more champagne and splashes some on his black jacket. It doesnt seem to worry him. Hes on a high.

I shouldve bought another bottle!

Malenes gla.s.s is still full, but Iben and Anne-Lise want more.

How can he miss the way everything has changed while he was away?

He raises his gla.s.s in another toast. The third one, at least. Malene, this celebration is for you too! None of you need to worry anymore. Our Center has a future. We are stronger than ever. This is a good day for genocide studies!

iben.

chapter 48.

it all starts without a sign of anything out of the ordinary.

A woman professor from Missouri is speaking to Iben on the phone.

In my view we overcomplicate the process leading to genocide. Fundamentally, its straightforward. Once a population group sees advantages in killing off another group, it triggers a sequence of psychological mechanisms. Gradually, suitable adjustments are made in the groups ideology. History is revised accordingly. Highly charged public debates will emerge spontaneously and, step by step, theyll develop the intellectual rationale for extermination.

In the end, the stark truth is that members of one group murder members of another. The only possibility of stopping them is if the world community demonstrates that it is keeping an eye on the situation and isnt going to condone any criminal activity.

Iben objects, but only to keep the discussion going. Actually, shes so fed up with her own arguments, which sound naive and kind of Danish, that she almost looks forward to being contradicted. The professor obliges.

You know, with hindsight everyone notices the falsification of history in the lead-up to genocide, the ideology and so on, and decides that this must have been what did it. But just examine the genocides youre more familiar with and youll see that, when alls said and done, the perpetrators are driven by egoism every time. Never mind the cover stories they use to convince themselves or the world at large. Or their victims.

Later that day Iben feels nauseous and shaky. Shes definitely not well and takes two aspirin, even though she cant identify any aches or pains.

The Genocide News issue on Turkey has been badly delayed by the upsets of the last few days. She must try to concentrate. Even so, an hour before the end of the working day she cant stand sitting there any longer. She must get home.

This anxiety is no stranger to her she recognizes it from when she was nineteen and suffered a breakdown: her body seizing up as if she has caught a dreadful illness, but nothing hurts.

<script>