The Sandman

65

Saga gets up, wraps her arms around herself and stands quite still, looking at the sleet through the window.

‘The most difficult thing right now is having to justify the transfer to the secure unit at Löwenströmska, whilst simultaneously finding a crime and a diagnosis that won’t lead to heavy medication,’ Verner says.

‘The whole mission will probably fail if you’re put in a straitjacket or given electroconvulsive treatment,’ Pollock says bluntly.

‘Shit,’ she whispers, and turns to face them again.

‘Jurek Walter’s an intelligent man,’ Joona says. ‘It’s not easy to manipulate him, and it will be very dangerous lying to him.’

‘We need to create a perfect identity,’ Verner says, his eyes fixed on Saga.

‘I’ve been giving this some thought, and I think it makes sense to give you a schizophrenic personality disorder,’ Pollock says, peering at her through his narrow black eyes.

‘Will that be enough?’ Carlos asks.

‘If we throw in recurrent psychotic attacks with violent outbursts...’

‘OK,’ Saga nods, as her cheeks start to blush red.

‘You’re kept calm with eight milligrams of Trilafon three times a day,’ he says.

‘Just how dangerous is this mission?’ Verner eventually asks, seeing as Saga hasn’t put the question.

‘Jurek is extremely dangerous, the other patient who’s going to be arriving at the same time as Saga is also dangerous, and we have no control over her treatment once she’s there,’ Pollock replies honestly.

‘So you can’t give any guarantees about the safety of my agent?’ Verner says.

‘No,’ Carlos replies.

‘You’re aware of this, Saga?’ Verner asks.

‘Yes.’

‘Only a very select group will know about the existence of this mission, and we won’t have any overview of what’s going on inside the secure unit,’ Pollock says. ‘So if for some reason we don’t hear you over the microphone, we’ll break off the mission after twenty-seven hours – but until then you’ll have to take care of yourself.’

Joona puts the detailed plan of the secure unit in front of Saga and points at the dayroom with his pen.

‘As you can see, there are airlocks here... and three automated doors there,’ Joona says. ‘It’s not easy, but in an emergency you could try to barricade yourself in here, possibly also here or here... And if you’re outside the airlock, the operations room and this storeroom are clearly the best options.’

‘Is it possible to get past this passageway?’ she asks, pointing.

‘Yes, but not here,’ he says, crossing off the doors that can’t be forced without cards and codes.

‘Lock yourself in and wait for help.’

Carlos starts to leaf through the papers on the table.

‘But if something goes wrong at a later point, I want to show you—’

‘Hang on a minute,’ Joona interrupts. ‘Have you memorised the plan?’

‘Yes,’ Saga says.

Carlos pulls out the large map of the area surrounding the hospital.

‘In the first instance, we’ll be sending emergency vehicles in this way,’ he says, indicating the road behind the hospital. ‘We’ll stop here, at the side of the big exercise yard... But if you can’t make it there, carry on up into the forest till you get here.’

‘Good,’ she says.

‘The response units will probably go in here... and through the drains, depending on the nature of the alarm.’

‘As long as you don’t blow your cover, we can get you out and put things back to normal,’ Verner says. ‘Nothing will have happened, we change the National Judiciary Administration records back the way they were before, you’ll have no criminal conviction and have never received treatment anywhere.’

A sudden silence fills the room. It’s as if the impossibility of the task has suddenly become abundantly and unpleasantly apparent.

‘How many of you think my mission is actually going to succeed?’ Saga asks quietly.

Carlos nods uncertainly and mutters something.

Joona just shakes his head.

‘Maybe,’ Pollock says. ‘But it’s difficult, and dangerous.’

‘Do your best,’ Verner says, putting his hand on her shoulder for a moment.