The Hunt for the Black Swan

[Nentsia]

Niklas Westerberg had spent that evening and night at the Nykoping Police headquarters. So much for a weekend. The so-called Police Intelligence Service kept him informed on the developments in the stabbing case earlier that day. Police units were searching the target’s home, questioning his relatives and going through his electronic devices, such as his phone and computers.

Westerberg spent the entire evening in a secure back chamber where police intelligence units discussed sensitive matters. There was a large table in the middle, so that all those who were present could take notes. At the back end of the room, several monitors hanging against the wall displayed relevant information. Some displayed news channels, which were still speculating whether the stabbing incident had been a terrorist attack. Others showed photos taken inside the man’s home by police detectives. Recorded CCTV footage was on display at another screen. There were also live connections with policymakers.

At moments like these, the Federal Security Department was utterly useless, and Westerberg deeply felt that. Instead of being of any use to anyone, they largely depended on the work of police officers in the field to help them out. Nothing blurred the lines between the various security organizations in a country like a terrorist threat. In order to still offer any kind of help however, Westerberg had brought Peter Hellström with him, who was in charge of the FSD’s cyber unit, which might crack any encrypted data found on the target’s hard drive. Gina Thorn was there as well. Among the CT section’s staff, she had by far the most contacts with the Nylander police agencies.

Most of the time that evening was spent waiting at the coffee machine while staring at the tv screens and sharing speculative thoughts. ‘’Is this what we’re up to?’’, Westerberg cynically asked as he put the sixth cup of coffee of that evening to his lips. Gina nodded. ‘’These are the ones we cannot ever prevent, but they also do the least damage.’’ A chill ran through Westerberg’s body as he took in that factual reality.

A police intelligence officer then came towards them. ‘’Any news?’’ Westerberg asked. The policeman nodded. ‘’Our target’s medical file says he was seeing a psychiatrist recently. A so-called Dr. Martin Krafth…’’

‘’Im going to pick him up.’’ Gina interrupted the man before he could even finish. She was aching to do something, and especially to get out of the crisis room where she could do nothing but wait. Her very nature was oriented towards undertaking action, to move forward, and to always seek the initiative. Westerberg admired her, but he also saw that it could be her weakness, and that someone sometimes needed to slow her down.

Before Westerberg could decide whether he’d come along with her, he received a call on his secure cell phone. It was a call by Emelie Grahn, Westerberg’s deputy as head of CT section. ‘’Yes?’’ Westerberg said.

‘’Sir, official message from Kyrzbekistani intelligence came in. One of their targets is on his way to Nyland and they want to warn us. We need you here to take the decisions on how we’re going to handle this.’’

‘’I’m on my way.’’ Westerberg briefly let the message sink. What on earth was going on?

Westerberg and Gina’s roads separated there, as she went to see the psychiatrist while he headed back to the office to hear about the latest developments and take the appropriate measures.

Once he was back at the FSD’s headquarters, Westerberg headed straight to the secure backroom where his deputy Grahn was waiting for him. A few senior counter-terrorist analysts then joined them. ‘’So what’s the big news?’’

‘’We have received a memo from the Kyrzbeks that a certain Zamembek Almasur is on his way to Nyland. He will arrive in three hours, approximately, at the Nykoping International Airport. The Kyrzbeks told us he is one of their surveillance targets in a CT op. They have no concrete knowledge of what he is going to do or why he is going to Nyland, but they warn us that he could be potentially dangerous…’’

Westerberg leaned on the table for a moment and looked at his staff one by one. ‘’Is that all they told?’’

Grahn nodded. ‘’To protect ongoing Kyrzbekistani CT operations, this is all they can share with us. He could be anything ranging from a low-level courier or recruiter to being on a suicide mission. But I think it leaves us a wonderful opportunity to start up an intensive surveillance operation and it might even lead us to some unidentified members of radical networks.’’

Westerberg had to agree on that. Even though now was not exactly the right time to welcome potential foreign terrorists into Nyland, it did present a unique opportunity to gain a better view on the terror networks inside Nyland. ‘’Get our legal advisor into the meeting. We’re going to set up the surveillance we need on this guy. Not a word to the airport security or customs. We don’t want them to accidentally alarm the target.’’