‘So, he approved this, did he?’

‘I assume so. I don’t have direct dealings with him.’

‘Is he a climatologist?’

‘I think you know he isn’t.’

‘Are you?’

‘No.’

‘Or Driscoll?’

‘No. Look, Michaela, where—’

‘I’m the fucking climatologist, Vinod. Agreed?’

‘Yes. Of course.’

‘So, when I identified the areas that would be rendered cultivable and/or habitable by rising temperatures, I did so based on a rigorous and painstaking analysis of all the available data. Everything. Altitude. Drainage. Geology. You understand?’

‘You’re the expert, Michaela. No one’s ever disputed that. Your findings were invaluable in delivering the project. That’s why your bonus is—’

‘I don’t want to hear any more about my fucking bonus. Listen to me very carefully. Someone at Quartizon added extra lots by extending the areas shown as viable in my report. Are you aware of that?’

‘Could I ask how you are aware of it?’

‘Someone sent me the catalogue file.’

‘Who?’

‘Someone who thought I ought to know you’d decided to make a shitload of extra money by shafting my professional reputation. Have you any idea what you’ve done?’

‘If there’s been some modest … extrapolation of your—’

‘You can’t extrapolate under an ice sheet, Vinod. Most of the bedrock in central Greenland is below sea level because of the weight of the ice on top of it. Below sea level means underwater when the ice melts. Add to that the marginal area that’ll be flooded by rising sea levels and you have a tight limit on what can legitimately be projected as viable. You can’t ignore topographical facts. But that’s what you’ve done. Not just in Greenland. Everywhere. As far as I can tell, you’ve extrapolated your way to about thirty per cent more land. And you’ve sold it, haven’t you? Sold it for as much as you could get. But it doesn’t exist. It’s going to be under the fucking ocean. You’ve cheated whoever bought those lots. You’ve defrauded them.’

‘I don’t think you should throw a word like “defrauded” around, Michaela. People might misunderstand you.’

‘There’s no misunderstanding. It’s what you’ve done. And you’ve put my name to it.’

‘Perhaps I should ask Peter to call you.’

‘Did he authorize this?’

‘Obviously, as CEO of Quartizon, he saw and approved the final package.’

‘And Nishizaki? Did he see and approve it?’

‘He would have … set the parameters within which Quartizon … developed the business model for Emergence.’

‘Spare me the corporate doublespeak, Vinod. What you’re basically saying is that this fraud was planned at the highest level.’

‘I do advise you to stop referring to fraud, Michaela. It’s a highly emotive word.’

‘OK. I’ll make it simple for you. All sales that don’t match areas categorized as viable by me have to be cancelled. Immediately. You understand?’