Kaare woke early. He had not slept a wink all night, although the beds at the Imperial Hotel in Copenhagen were a significant improvement on the military cot beds in Afghanistan. It was also a massive plus that Ulla was with him, at the expense of the Ministry of Defence. It might even have been the romantic setting they needed to get their relationship back on track – had it not been for the events of the day ahead of him. The press conference made a dog’s dinner out of his mind, and he couldn’t find rest. Ulla felt he’d lost interest in their relationship. But that wasn’t true. His head just would not stop churning. Appearing in front of the entire Danish and international press made him uneasy. Limelight was definitely not something he was used to. On the contrary. As a Jaeger, he’d been trained to avoid public profile.
Over the years, a few colleagues had attempted to build careers in television – something that made them persona non grata within the corps. Outcasts. Pariahs. Not because they wrote books or were on TV. But because they held themselves up as representatives of the corps – with its code of honour, professionalism, and work ethic – while their public appearance was based on stories, half-truths and insinuations about their career that did not ring true with serving Jaegers. In a culture with many strong personalities and egos, that kind of public profile quickly led to contempt 70from the serving ‘geezers’. Those with stories to tell kept them to themselves.
Last night, Kaare had suggested to Ulla that they go out for dinner with the members of his patrol. They were, after all, in Copenhagen together. The reality, however, was that he needed to distract his mind for a couple of hours. They had found a burger restaurant full of American memorabilia from the ’50s, including a vintage car in the middle of the restaurant. All in all, a very authentic place. It had reminded them of one of the diners they had visited in North Carolina, on an exercise with the US Special Forces at Fort Bragg. It had been a great evening, and they had returned to the hotel. Full stomachs and tired. A maelstrom of thoughts had, however, quickly got the better of Kaare. The press conference had been called by the Defence Command. Kaare knew he needed to get the balance right between telling his story in the positive light that the Defence Ministry hoped for and, at the same time, making sure he did not come across as being ‘better’ than his fellow Jaegers; this was the last thing he wanted.
He had been tossing and turning for hours – to Ulla’s irritation. He glanced at his watch. 05:00. Time to get up and sneak out of the hotel for a run around the lakes. The run would clear his mind, and reset his thoughts. He would be back at the hotel before the alarm clock rang, and Ulla wouldn’t even notice he’d been gone for an hour.