Chapter 15
Helen Sandberg heard the bangs too, and when she saw the white light, she thought the
plane was burning. For about half a minute there was nothing but loud bangs and white
flashes, and then there was nothing. There were no lights at all in the plane and no sounds
either.
She turned to Michael. ‘Can’t you get them on the radio?’
‘I’m trying, Prime Minister. But I think it’s broken.’ She walked to the door. ‘I’m going
out.’
Inspector Holm stood in front of her.
‘You must not do that, Prime Minister. We don’t know what‘s happened.’
‘That’s why I’m going,’ she said. ‘I’m going to
find out. I don’t care what happens to me.’
He was a big man but he was afraid of her. She walked straight past him and down the
steps. In the departure lounge there was a crowd of passengers waiting to get on other
plane, and also a lot of doctors, police and newspaper journalists. She walked straight
past them all and out onto the tarmac. It was dark and cold, and the wind blew rain into
her face. When she was about fifty meters away from the building she heard some people
behind her, but she didn’t stop.
The door of the plane opened and a man in white came out. He had a gun in his hand
and he came backwards down the steps. After him came two men in yellow raincoats with
their hands behind their backs, and then two other men in white with guns.
Two police officers came after her.
‘Wait, Prime Minister,’ they said.
‘Please stop, it’s dangerous.’
‘Not now,’ she said. ‘It’s not dangerous any more.’ She walked on through the rain
without stopping, and the young police of ficers walked beside her. They were afraid to touch her and they did not know what to do. Some journalists ran after them.
Two men in blue came out of the plane - the pilot and co-pilot. Then some men in suits.
She was quite near the plane now and there were quite a lot of newspaper photographers
around her, but she did not stop walking.
A big young man came out of the plane with a short, thin, grey-haired one - Harald and
Carl. Helen could see that Carl’s face was very white and there was blood on his mouth,
but he could walk all right.
Carl saw her coming, a small strong figure walking through the rain, with a crowd of
police and photographers around her. ‘Harald, my friend,’ he said. ‘I think we’re in the
news again. You’re going to have another photo to show your little son on his birthday.’
Carl and Helen Sandberg met at the bottom of the steps in the darkness and the rain. And
Carl was right; there was a photo of it in every newspaper in the world the next day.