Katherina laughed and blushed. 'Just start whenever you're ready,' she said, handing him one of the books. 'If you sense an obstacle, that's me holding you back, and that means you should stop.'
Jon nodded and studied the cover. He gave a start when the title rose up towards him like a three-dimensional advert. He observed the phenomenon for a while, getting used to the way the type was pulsating in both colour and size.
'You doing okay?' asked Katherina.
He nodded and opened the book. Suddenly all the symbols on the page came rushing at him and he had to look away. He felt sweat break out on his forehead. Stubbornly he forced himself to look at the page again and started to read. His impression of the book pages instantly changed. It felt as if the words and letters were now behaving themselves, waiting for their turn to be read, instead of having all the sentences on the page creating one big confusion like before. Relieved, Jon quickly found a comfortable reading pace, but he still didn't dare put any emotion into his reading, and occasionally he cast a glance at Katherina. She was lying on her stomach, resting her head on her arms, with her face turned towards him. There wasn't a trace of concern in her expression.
This time he sensed right from the start that he was sitting in front of a multitude of invisible knobs that he could adjust in order to put life into the story. Slowly he began adding more feeling to his reading; he gave the characters more personality and lent more colour to the descriptions. Just like during the activation, the background became glass-like and the type more distinct, but Jon hesitated to break through the white surface. He determined that his perception of the white surface and the images he created from the text were two different things. The images were formed from his knowledge and the interpretation of the text, and they were a product partly of his own experiences and also of the accentuation he was able to give to the scene by virtue of his new powers. The story took place in Copenhagen, which made it possible for him to add details that weren't in the text but that resulted from associations he made.
Jon experimented with colouring the mood of the images, and he discovered that when he really concentrated, shadows began appearing behind the glass surface. Those images approached the images created by his subconscious. But whenever he got that close, he was stopped, and he didn't try to force his way any further. In this way he tried out various effects for a while, until he heard Katherina calling him.
He looked away from the book and discovered her sitting astride him.
'How'd it go?' he asked, tossing the book aside.
'It was beautiful,' she said. 'You're very talented.'
'Thanks. But I have to be honest and admit I have no idea what I'm doing.'
'You'll get there,' said Katherina with conviction. 'I think it went fine. There are two things you need to take into consideration. First, the listeners. Everyone perceives a story differently, partly because of their experiences but also because on that particular day they might be either especially vulnerable or thick-skinned. That's why the tone should be within a certain margin of safety, so you don't have too violent an effect on the weakest of your listeners.'
'How do I know what the listeners can tolerate?'
'Over time you'll learn to sense how the reading is being received. That's why we need to practise.' She pressed her belly against his and smiled shamelessly.
'What sort of practice are you thinking about now?' Jon asked with a laugh. 'But you said there were two things.'
'The second thing is more difficult,' said Katherina solemnly. 'Because we don't know how it happens – the physical phenomena that you're apparently able to produce. It's important that we find out exactly under what circumstances they occur and how far you can go before they appear. Otherwise we can't stop you before it gets serious.'
'Thanks a lot.' He told her about his perception of the glass surface and how he had broken through it during the activation.
Katherina nodded.
'That could very well be the boundary,' she said.
'So, have I earned a break?' Jon asked, placing his hands on her hips.
'You've earned more than that,' she said with a smile and leaned towards him.
23
'Why don't we use Mehmet?' asked Katherina.
They'd gone out to rent a car, a Suzuki minivan, and then driven home to Katherina's place, where she threw together some clothes. Now they were on their way through rush-hour traffic to Libri di Luca. The vehicle was poorly insulated, and they had to talk loudly to hear each other.
'Couldn't he find out what we want to know?' Katherina wasn't wild about the idea of breaking into Jon's former workplace in order to look for information on Remer.
'I'm sure he could,' replied Jon. 'But it would take him a long time. Unlike Tom Nшrreskov, Remer is a master at covering his tracks. The files will at least give us a starting place. Everything the firm knows about him has been collected there – information about his business empire, his properties, addresses, investments, everything.' He clenched his teeth as he shifted gears with unintentional roughness in the unfamiliar vehicle. 'Besides, I want to keep Mehmet out of this for as long as possible.'
They had spent most of the day exploring Jon's transmitter powers. Even with the rather limited selection of literature in his possession, he had still managed to get a sense of his capabilities. Katherina could tell that he now had his powers under control, but they didn't venture outside unless he said he felt confident. She wanted to train him on some of the charged books from the shop, but didn't want to pressure him too much. It was difficult. She wasn't sure whether it was because she'd fallen in love with Jon or because of his powers in general, but when he read, it was as if an unbreakable barrier surrounded them, shutting out everything else. With the right texts, he would be impossible to withstand, at least for her.
Jon himself was more preoccupied with catching Remer off guard. His expression turned cold whenever he spoke of his former client; he reproached himself for not being more suspicious from the start. In his eagerness to pay Remer back, he had decided to carry out the break-in that very night. Katherina had insisted on coming along, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to help him much.
They parked a short distance away from Libri di Luca and hurried through a cloying drizzle to the bookshop. Even though it was more than an hour past closing time, the door was still open, and Iversen was strolling among the bookcases, humming. He popped into view at the sound of the door.
'Oh, it's you two,' he exclaimed, rushing up to Katherina to give her a warm hug. 'How are things?' he asked, studying Jon intently. 'Any problems with…'
Jon shook his head. 'It's going fine,' he said. 'Though I feel a little like I'm back in school.' He nodded towards Katherina. 'Sitting in front of the stern teacher.'
Iversen laughed and then looked from one to the other. Katherina felt heat rising in her cheeks. The old man smiled approvingly and nodded.
'You're in good hands, Jon. You can be sure of that.'
'We need some books that are more suitable for training,' said Katherina. 'Jon's collection of detective novels doesn't offer much finesse.'
'I can understand that,' said Iversen. 'Let's find some…'
The lights in the shop flickered violently a couple of times, then dimmed, only to return to a normal voltage.
'Oh no,' said Iversen. He went over to the stairs leading to the basement. 'Pau is having a look at the electrical fixtures downstairs. He said he'd done it before, but so far he hasn't accomplished much other than blowing a few fuses.'
Jon and Katherina followed him down to the basement.
'Shit,' yelled Pau from the library.
'Did something happen?' called Iversen.
Pau stuck his head out into the corridor.
'No, I'm okay,' he muttered. 'It's these fucking switches that are giving me a hard time.'