Now he had just heard that her boyfriend was going to a number of islands near the south-eastern border and that he might be away for several weeks.

But the most worrying aspect was the stony silence. He had noticed some time ago the tone in e-mails had changed and that the situation had to be the reason, the only reason. Telling him that everyone was getting tense which only meant one thing they were alarmed and they didn't know what to do.