Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

long?’
    ‘Tomorrow morning at the earliest.’
    ‘Damn.’ Erika glanced around the room. ‘Where’s Gareth?’
    Gareth was a British security analyst, a former employee of GCHQ, the British government department responsible for collating and analysing electronic intelligence. His expertise would be vital
for interpreting the video and for assessing its authenticity.
    ‘He can’t come until Wednesday,’ Nico said.
    ‘Wednesday! You’re kidding?’
    ‘He’s doing some freelance work that he can’t get out of. But he will be able to analyse information we send him.’
    ‘Can we do that securely?’ Erika asked Dieter.
    ‘Yes,’ Dieter said. ‘We can use Tor once Apex has given the all-clear.’ The Tor network allowed encrypted data to travel through a virtual tunnel between two computers
that was extremely private. It was Dieter and Apex’s favourite system and at the heart of Freeflow’s operations. When layered with PGP or ‘Pretty Good Privacy’ data
encryption, information was just about as safe as it could be. ‘It’ll be better than nothing for a couple of days. It’s not ideal, though,’ Dieter added.
    ‘No, it’s not,’ said Erika.
    ‘Erika?’ Nico was giving her his most charming smile. It put her on her guard but she couldn’t help warming to it. He was an Italian in his late thirties who used to run a
hedge fund in London and had made himself several million before quitting. He had approached Freeflow the year before, offering help, both financial and organizational, and after proving himself
over a three-month trial period, he soon became a vital member of the team. He claimed he didn’t think like a finance guy, and he didn’t dress like one, but it was thanks to him that
Freeflow hadn’t run out of cash months ago.
    ‘Yes?’ Erika couldn’t help returning his smile.
    ‘Given this security hiccup, we could go and see the volcano. This afternoon.’
    ‘We’re not here to sightsee,’ Erika said.
    ‘Of course not,’ said Nico. ‘But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It would only take a few hours. I told the people we rented the house from we were Internet
journalists here to report on the volcano. It would be good for our cover if we actually went to see it. And it would be an excellent way for the team to get to know each other.’
    Erika glanced at Dieter. ‘Are there not things we can be doing in the meantime?’
    ‘Some things, maybe. But it would be safer to wait until Apex is sure the system is secure. And the volcano would be cool.’
    It would. Erika had arrived at the house desperate to get going, but she knew that waiting for Apex to give the all-clear would be painfully frustrating. A few hours wouldn’t make much
difference. And Erika never underestimated the importance of the team’s morale. She would have preferred a trip to the Blue Lagoon, but . . .
    She nodded. Nico’s smile broadened, almost like a little boy’s. It was kind of cute. ‘How do we get there?’
    ‘Dúddi’s father has a superjeep. Dúddi can drive us.’
    ‘OK,’ said Erika. ‘We’ll leave in an hour.’
    ‘I’ll arrange it,’ said Nico.
    ‘I have a feeling, Nico, that you have already have.’
    ‘Is that it?’
    Erika pointed to a dome-shaped mountain whose snowy cap was glimmering in the sunshine. They were driving through a flat flood plain covered in brown grass. The ‘superjeep’ was
basically a Ford Super Duty on giant wheels, and it held the seven of them comfortably: Erika, Ásta, Zivah, Franz, Dieter, Nico and Dúddi, who was doing the driving.
    ‘No, that’s Mount Hekla,’ said Ásta. ‘It’s one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes, but it’s quiet at the moment.’
    ‘So where is it, then?’ asked Erika. ‘Can we see it yet?’
    ‘Straight ahead,’ said Dúddi.
    Ahead the brown plain met the foot of a long mountain ridge. The ridge itself was hidden in clouds.
    ‘Oh,’ said Erika.
    ‘Yeah, there are two glaciers up there, Mýrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull. The volcano is on a ridge called Fimmvörduháls just between them.’
    ‘In the clouds.’
    ‘Yes, in the clouds,’ said Dúddi. ‘For the moment. But this is Iceland. Clouds come and clouds go.’
    ‘Are we going up on the glacier?’ asked Franz, the Swiss guy.
    ‘We sure are. That’s why we need the jeep.’
    ‘Is it safe up there?’ Zivah asked.
    ‘Of course it’s safe,’ said Dúddi. ‘I went up there in this with my dad last week. It’s an