‘We’re not asking you to come with us. Just tell us how to do it. We’ll share what we get with you, Ragnar. Abe will be able to tell you exactly what Driscoll’s plan is.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to know what his plan is.’

‘Yes you do. It’s eating you up.’

Ragnar nodded slowly. ‘It’s true. Those bastards laugh at me. Not because I’m funny. But because they know more than I do.’

‘Then …’

‘I can get you in. And on to the system. Sure, I can do that. You’ll be on your own, though. You understand? I can’t help you after that.’

Kristjan squeezed his shoulder. ‘We understand.’

There was another lengthy pause, then Ragnar said, ‘How soon do you want to do this?’

‘Before the launch.’

‘That could be any day this week. Something’s brewing.’

‘Very soon, then.’

‘You’d have to go in at night.’

‘Of course.’

‘Tomorrow?’

‘Why wait until tomorrow?’ asked Wada.

Ragnar gave her a scornful glance. ‘I thought you people were famous for your patience. You know. Tea ceremony. All that painstaking shit.’

‘I do not like being called “you people”,’ she said levelly.

‘Sumimasen, I’m sure.’

‘And you have not answered my question. Why wait until tomorrow?’

‘Because I’ll be prime fucking suspect if it’s discovered the files have been accessed without authority, as it will be sooner or later, probably sooner. So I’ll need an alibi. Tomorrow night I’ll stay over with my parents in Akranes. I can give you the entry codes to the building and Quartizon’s office and the password for one of the terminals. You’ll have to memorize them. I don’t want anything written down or recorded.’

‘That all sounds good, Ragnar,’ said Kristjan.

‘Yeah? Well, what sounds good can end bad. You remember that, Kristjan.’

‘I will. So … do we get the entry codes and the password? Or do I have to buy you another beer first?’

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