But first, you and I must come to an agreement. You understand what I am saying, don't you?' 'Yes. I understand.' 'Good. You may leave.' I felt the guard lock the cuffs in place. Now I had to hope that he had understood his instructions. There was no way to tell, but we went into the cell anyway. I sat down on the bed. No chairs. The man with the glasses picked up the tray and placed it on the bench against the wall. He took off his glasses and held them with both hands, looking at the lenses. 'Your friend may come to your rescue if you perform as requested,' I said, to bring the conversation to a close. 'I cannot help you if he does, and I do not believe he will. But he is certainly listening to everything that happens here, and if you play your part properly he will know the truth.' He considered this for a long time. Then he went into a corner of the cell, opened a door which I hadn't seen before, took out a small box and a pair of scissors, and placed them on the bench beside the tray. 'My name is K. Now if you want to make a phone call, you will have to do it in Morse code. The alphabet represents the numbers one to ten. The letters _E_ and _T_ stand for eleven and twelve. We use this shorthand on the radio to save time. Just remember: in capital letters _WE WILL ARRANGE YOUR FREEDOM. I LOVE YOU._ And _GIMME SOMETHING. I LOVE YOU._ To express a higher number, you can use capital letters only, skipping one letter from the end of the number, like this: _I_ for eleven, _O_ for twelve, _M_ for thirteen, _P_ for fourteen, _E_ for fifteen and so on.' I didn't let myself react. This was what he had wanted. I couldn't be offended. He moved his chair to the left and picked up the little box. ' _E. B._ We start.' He began to move the scissors through the air. It took about three minutes before he came to the call I had mentioned, _WE WILL ARRANGE YOUR FREEDOM_. His handwriting was very clear, every letter a different size. I had no difficulty reading it. 'Very good,' he said, when he had finished the first line. 'You understand now that I have to obey my instructions without question. And you understand that I will take note of every detail. Do you think you will be able to play your part?' 'Of course. Have I any choice?' He picked up his bowl of rice and his glass of water, and slowly began to eat and drink. 'Have you tried this yet?' 'No. But I know what it tastes like.' 'I want you to taste it.' I put the rice and the water on the bench. He picked up the bowl and drank a long draught, then leaned back in his chair, still holding the glass. He seemed very tired. 'I don't think I can do it, but we'll see,' he said. 'After all, you have to eat something too, no?' 'What is this? What am I supposed to be doing?' He had emptied the glass and was folding the empty box into a long, thin strip, which he carefully put into his pocket. He got to his feet and picked up his chair. 'Here is something you can try now.' He took a little brown pill out of his pocket and pushed it to me with his index finger. 'Take it,' he said. I picked it up and put it in my mouth. It was hard and tasteless, with a peculiar bitter taste. I swallowed it without a word. 'Now hold it in your mouth, but don't swallow it. This will make you sleepy. In a moment or two you will fall asleep. Don't open your eyes. Try to keep your mind awake for as long as you can. If you do this, you will understand more. I am going to tell you a story now. When you wake up, go back and think about it.' The man with the glasses didn't move. I lay down on the narrow bed. Soon I began to feel drowsy. The feeling was neither unpleasant nor unpleasant at all, it was just . . . something. That was all. I did feel drowsy and my eyelids were heavy. I tried to keep them open, but I couldn't. They were closed and I let them stay that way. My face was resting on the pillow, and I didn't dare move. * I woke up and realised that my eyes were open. There was a black-and-white picture of an apple with a single red dot on the outside. And I was lying on the narrow bed. I thought for a moment that this might be a dream, but there was no doubt that it was real. I got up, went to the door, and opened it. Two guards were standing outside, keeping a careful eye on me. The man with the glasses was nowhere to be seen. I hurried to the room I had been in before, where I ate my lunch, and went in. No one was there. I went back to the room with the bench. One of the men was sitting in the corner, doing his homework. 'I can't find K,' I said. 'Have you seen him?' 'No,' one of the men said. 'I haven't.' 'What did you say to him after you put the pill in his mouth?' 'Nothing,' he said. 'I thought you might like a book. So I just sat in a chair in front of the door and waited.' I sat down on the bench in front of him, picked up a pen and a small piece of paper, and started to write a story. 'I want to eat dinner now,' I said. 'Can I?' He nodded, and I went back to the dormitory. The woman at the counter showed me to the dinner table. 'What did you get to eat today?' I asked her. 'Nothing. I'm not allowed to eat with you. Tomorrow there will be something.' 'What? What do you mean?' She sighed. 'I can't tell you anything about that.' 'You mean they have forbidden it?' 'No, I mean I don't know anything. In the morning you'll see, when they open the door.' I had been given a little piece of bread with vegetables in a white sauce. I took it back to my room. I wasn't sure, but I think it was the same piece I had had for breakfast. Then I started to write. The same men were sitting in their chairs and the woman was at the cash register, ringing up books and pens. A man came and stood in front of me. 'I don't know your name,' I said. 'I'm not supposed to talk to you.' 'I want to know if you have seen K.' He gave me a sidelong glance. 'He's gone.' 'When?' 'I don't know exactly.' 'Did you see him before you came here?' 'Yes, I'm a guard at the jail.' 'So you know what he looks like?' 'No, I can only see him when he passes through the gate. The prisoners are not allowed to come any further than the entrance to the station. And K doesn't come here very often. How did you know he was the one who could do it?' 'Can you see into the cells?' 'They're locked.' 'But he could do it.' 'Yes.' 'Did you have a conversation with him this evening? If you have anything to report you have to tell him, don't you?' He looked away again. 'So you are one of the men guarding him? What is it he asked you to do?' 'I wasn't supposed to talk to you.' 'If you want to talk, you can talk to me. They've locked the prison and put me here because I'm not the one who can make the pills. They're going to do this, and it's up to me to find out why. And you're one of those who are going to be asking questions, aren't you?' 'I have to get back to work now.' He turned and left the room. It was nearly dark when the door opened again. I stood up and looked at the woman at the register. She looked at me for a moment and then went on, her lips moving silently. I went out and waited. The guards were waiting at the door, smoking. 'Are we going to the radio room now?' I asked. The woman nodded. 'Don't forget to give us your empty bowl and glass, the napkin, and the spoon.' 'I haven't eaten yet.' The two men went past us into the canteen. The woman followed them, took