The Swarm

by Frank Schätzing

  'It's so beautiful' Delaware said softly.

  'Look!' cried Rubin.

  The veil of light began to stir. The glow pulsated. Enormous whirlpools formed, turning slowly at first, then ever faster, until they were rotating like spiral galaxies, drawing in fresh streams of blue. The light at the centre of the whirlpools intensified. Thousands of tiny stars lit up, then faded.

  There was a flash.

  A cry went up from the deck.

  In a split second the scene had changed. Lightning zigzagged through the water, branching out between the swirling eddies. A mute storm raged beneath the surface of the sea. Then the maelstrom retreated, peeling back from the vessel's hull, as the blue cloud rushed towards the horizon, disappearing at breathtaking speed.

  Greywolf ran towards the island.

  'Jack, wait!' Delaware darted after him. The others followed. He hurried through the vessel, swinging down the companionways, then striding through the command centre and bursting into the CIC, Peak and Li close behind him. The cameras on the hull showed nothing but dark green water. Two dolphins swam into view.

  'What's going on?' Peak called to the guys at the monitors. 'What are you getting from the sonar?'

  A man swivelled round. 'There's something big out there, sir. Something – well, it's uh, kind of-'

  'Kind of what?' Li grabbed his shoulder. 'We need information, you moron. What's happening?'

  The man blanched. 'It's – it's- First there was nothing on the screen, then the next second there were sheets of something. They came out of nowhere. The sea just went solid. They turned themselves into a wall or something, they were – they were everywhere.'

  'Dispatch the Cobras. I need them up there now, surveying the area.'

  'What are the dolphins reporting?' asked Greywolf.

  'Unknown life-form,' said a soldier. 'The dolphins detected it first.'

  'Is it localised?'

  'No, everywhere. But it seems to be retreating – one kilometre and still moving. The sonar's showing vast swathes of something all around the ship.'

  'Where are the dolphins now?'

  'Underneath us. They're crowding in front of the hatch. I think they're scared. They want to come in.'

  People were still pouring into the GIG.

  'Bring up the satellite footage,' commanded Peak.

  The enormous monitor mounted at the head of the room showed the Independence, as seen by KH-12. She was resting on a dark expanse of water. There was no trace of any blue light.

  'Just now the whole screen was lit up,' said the guy in charge of monitoring the satellite feedback.

  'Any other satellites we can look at?'

  'Nothing available, sir.'

  'Zoom out on KH-12, then.'

  The man relayed the command to the control centre. A few seconds later the Independence dwindled on the screen and the Greenland Sea extended across it. Whistles and clicks came through the speakers, as the dolphins continued to issue their warning of the unknown presence below.

  'Keep going.'

  KH-12 zoomed out further. It was now covering a hundred square kilometres. The Independence was 250 metres long, but now it looked like driftwood. They stared at the monitor with bated breath.

  And then they saw it.

  A thin blue glow was stretched in a vast ring round the vessel. It quivered with flashes of light.

  'How big is it?' asked Peak, in a whisper.

  'Four kilometres in diameter,' said the woman in front of the screen. 'No, it's bigger. It's some kind of funnel. The image that we can see here is only the opening. The whole thing stretches into the depths. And we're, uh… suspended over its jaws.'

  'What's it made of?'

  Johanson had appeared in the room next to Peak. 'Jelly, I should think.'

  'Congratulations,' wheezed Vanderbilt 'What the hell did you send them?' he snarled at Crowe.

  'We asked them to show themselves.'

  'Was that wise?'

  Shankar spun round angrily. 'We're supposed to be making contact, aren't we? What the hell is your problem? Don't tell me you were expecting messengers on horseback-'

  'We've got a signal!'

  They swivelled in the direction of the voice – it was the guy in charge of acoustic surveillance. Shankar was there in an instant. He bent over the screen.

  'What is it?' Crowe called.

  'From the look of the spectrogram, I'd say it was a Scratch signal.'

  'An answer?'

  'I don't know whether-'

  'The ring! Look, it's contracting.'

  Their heads jerked towards the main screen. The ring of light was creeping back slowly towards the ship. At the same time, two tiny dots sped away from her. The Cobras had started their recce. The whistling and squeaking from the speakers grew louder.

  Suddenly they were all talking at once.

  'Quiet!' barked Li. Her forehead creased as she listened to the dolphins. 'They've changed their signal.'

  'Yes.' Delaware closed her eyes in concentration. 'Unknown creatures and…'

  'Orcas!' cried Greywolf before she could finish.

  'We've picked up a number of large animals approaching from below,' said a member of the sonar team. 'They're inside the tube.'

  Greywolf turned to Li. 'I don't like the sound of this. We should bring the dolphins inside.'

  'Why now?'

  I'm not prepared to put their lives at risk. And, anyway, we need the footage from their cameras.'

  Li hesitated for a moment. Then she made up her mind. 'OK. Fetch them in. I'll tell Roscovitz. Peak, go with him. Take four of your men.'

  'Leon?' said Greywolf 'Licia?'

  They hurried out. Rubin watched them go. He leaned towards Li and said something in a low voice. She listened, nodded and turned back to the screens. 'Wait for me!' Rubin yelled. I'm coming too.'

  WELL DECK

  Roscovitz, Browning and one of her technicians reached the well deck before the scientists arrived. The commander swore when he saw the broken-down Deepflight. It was floating on the surface with the pods flipped open, tethered by a single chain that stretched up to the rail overhead. 'I thought I told you to finish the job,' he snapped at Browning.

  'It's more complicated than we thought,' the head technician protested, as they strode along the jetty. 'The steering system is-'

  'Shit.' Roscovitz stared at the submersible. It was positioned half-way over the sluice, whose contours were partially visible in the water, four metres below. 'I don't like it there, Browning. And I especially don't like it there when we're letting the dolphins in and out.'

  'With all due respect, sir, it's not in the way. Just as soon as we've repaired it, we'll hoist it back on to the rail.'

  Roscovitz growled incomprehensibly and took his position at the controls. The boat was lying in front of him. From that angle it blocked his view of the sluice. He'd have to rely on the footage on the screens. He swore again, this time using juicier expressions. The Independence had been equipped in great haste – shoddily, it seemed. If things weren't going to work properly, why the hell didn't they cause problems before they were in use? What was the point of testing every last piece of hardware if his view would be blocked by a floating submersible?

  Steps echoed through the hangar deck. Greywolf, Delaware, Anawak and Rubin hurried down the ramp, followed by Peak and his men. The soldiers spread out on either side of the jetty. Rubin and Peak headed towards Roscovitz while the others pulled on their wetsuits and adjusted their masks.

  'Ready,' said Greywolf. He made the OK sign, forming a circle with his forefinger and thumb. 'Let's bring them in.'

  Roscovitz switched on the audio recording to summon the dolphins. He saw the scientists splash down into the basin, their bodies illuminated by the underwater lights. They swam towards the sluice. One by one they dived towards the glass hatch. He opened the flaps in the hull.

  DELAWARE SANK HEAD FIRST towards the display panel beside the hatch. She was still diving when the
enormous steel plates jolted into action, three metres below the inverted glass turret. She watched as they swung open to reveal the water below. Two dolphins slid into the sluice. They seemed nervous, pressing their snouts against the glass. Greywolf signalled for them to wait. A third dolphin swam in.

  By now the steel plates were fully open. There was a gaping chasm below the glass plug. Delaware strained to see through the darkness. No blue glow, no lightning, no orcas, and no sign of the other three dolphins. She sank lower, below the level of the deck, until her hands were touching the glass, scanning the depths for the rest of the fleet. Suddenly a fourth dolphin shot into view, banking sharply and swimming into the sluice. Greywolf nodded, and Delaware gave the OK to Roscovitz. The steel plates moved slowly together, closing with a dull thud. Inside the sluice the sensors went to work, testing the water for impurities and toxins. After a few seconds the green light came on, and the all-clear went to Roscovitz's control panel. Noiselessly the glass flaps slid open.

  As soon as the gap was wide enough, the dolphins pushed into the basin, where Greywolf and Anawak were ready to receive them.

  PEAK WATCHED AS Roscovitz closed the glass flaps, his eyes fixed on the monitors. Rubin was at the edge of the basin, peering down at the sluice.

  'And then there were two,' Roscovitz muttered to himself.

  Whistling and clicking came to them from the speakers: the dolphins left outside sounded increasingly frantic. Greywolf raised his head above the water, followed by Anawak and Delaware.

  'What are they saying?' asked Peak.

  'Same as before,' said Greywolf 'Unknown life-form and orcas. Anything new on the monitors?'

  'No.'

  'Which isn't to say that we're clear. Let's fetch the other two in.'

  Peak stared. A deep blue glow was emanating from the edges of the screens.

  'You'd better get a move on,' he said. 'It's coming closer.'

  The scientists dived back towards the sluice. Peak dialled the CIC. 'What can you see up there?'

  'The ring's still contracting.' Li's voice rasped through the speakers on the console. "The helicopters have reported that it's disappearing under water, but we can still see it clearly on the satellite footage. Seems to be trying to get under the boat. Any second now the blue light should come on.'

  'It's on already. Listen, what are we dealing with? The blue cloud?'

  'Sal?' That was Johanson's voice. 'I think the cloud has gone. The cells are aggregating. It's a dense funnel of jelly, and it's contracting. I don't know what's going on, but I think you'd better finish up down there.'

  'We're almost done. Rosco?'

  'I'm on the case,' said Roscovitz. 'The sluice is open.'

  ANAWAK WAS STARING in fascination through the glass. This time things looked very different as the steel flaps swung open. Earlier they'd peered into murky green gloom. Now the depths were aglow with blue light, faint at first, but growing steadily stronger.

  This doesn't look like the cloud, he thought. It was almost as though they were encircled by light. He recalled the satellite images of the Independence floating at the centre of the enormous funnel's mouth.

  Then it hit him that he was looking down inside the tube. His stomach turned at the thought of its vastness. Panic took hold of him. As the fifth dolphin appeared out of nowhere and shot into the sluice, he drew back from the hatch, barely able to control the urge to flee. Anawak forced himself to stay calm. A second later, the sixth dolphin entered the sluice. The steel flaps closed. The sensors tested the water, gave the OK to Roscovitz and the glass hatch opened.

  BROWNING BOUNDED FORWARD and landed on the Deepflight.

  'Hey! What do you think you're doing?' asked Roscovitz.

  'Well, the dolphins are inside now, aren't they? I'm doing my job.'

  'I didn't mean it like that.'

  'Sure you didn't.' Browning crouched to open a compartment at the stern. 'I'm going to fix this damn thing.'

  'This isn't the time, Browning,' Peak said testily. 'We've got more important stuff to deal with. Stop messing about.' He couldn't tear his eyes away from the screens. The light was getting brighter.

  'Sal, are you finished down there?'

  'Yeah. What's going on?'

  'Part of the funnel is pushing itself under the boat.'

  'Can that stuff cause us any damage?'

  'I doubt it. I can't imagine any organism causing the Independence to so much as wobble. Not even these creatures. They're like muscular jelly.'

  'And they're right below us,' said Rubin, from the edge of the basin. His eyes were gleaming. 'Open the sluice again, Luther. Pronto.'

  'What?' Roscovitz stared at him in disbelief 'Are you crazy?'

  In a few steps Rubin was alongside him at the desk. 'General?' he called, leaning into the mike.

  The speakers crackled. 'What do you want, Mick?'

  'We've got a fantastic opportunity to get hold of a significant sample of that jelly. I'm suggesting that we open the sluice but Peak and Roscovitz-'

  'Jude, it's too risky,' said Peak. 'Anything could get in.'

  'All we have to do is open the hatch in the keel and wait,' said Rubin. 'Maybe it'll spark their curiosity. We'll catch a few big lumps of jelly, then seal off the sluice. It'll give us a lovely big sample for testing. What do you say?'

  'What if it's contaminated?' objected Roscovitz.

  'Why are you all so negative? We'll know if it's contaminated. The glass flaps stay closed until we're sure it's OK.'

  Peak shook his head. 'I'm not in favour.'

  Rubin rolled his eyes. 'General, we'll never get a chance like this again!'

  'All right,' said Li. 'But be careful.'

  Rubin laughed excitedly, walked to the edge of the basin and waved his arms.

  'Hey! Get a move on, can't you?' he shouted to Greywolf, Anawak and Delaware, who were busy unharnessing the dolphins. 'Hurry up and-' They were under water and couldn't hear him. 'OK, forget it. Luther, open the hatch. There's nothing to worry about while the glass flaps are closed.'

  'Shouldn't we wait until-'

  'We don't have time,' Rubin snapped at him. 'You heard what Li said. If we wait, the jelly will be gone. All you have to do is let a little into the sluice, then close it. A cubic metre or so should do fine.'

  Roscovitz felt like shoving Rubin into the water, but Li had given the bastard her permission.

  She'd given the order to open the hatch. He pressed the button.

  DELAWARE WAS DEALING with a particularly excitable dolphin. It was fidgety and impatient, and as she tried to unstrap its camera, it darted away. Harness trailing through the water, it sped towards the sluice. Delaware saw it circling the hatch and swam after it, taking long, powerful strokes.

  She didn't hear the discussion on the jetty.

  Come on, she willed the dolphin silently. Come over here. What's the matter? There's nothing to be afraid of.

  Then she saw what was wrong.

  The steel flaps were swinging open.

  For a second she was so astonished that she stopped swimming and sank through the water until her toes touched the glass. The flaps were still moving. The sea beneath them glowed a vivid blue. Flashes of lightning shot through the water.

  What the hell was Roscovitz playing at?

  The dolphin darted back and forth around the hatch. It swam over to her and prodded her with its snout, trying to ward her away. When Delaware failed to respond, it swivelled and sped off.

  She stared into the luminescent depths.

  She could see outlines, shadows flitting back and forth, then a dark patch drawing closer, getting bigger.

  It was approaching at high speed.

  The patch became clearer, and assumed its normal form.

  Suddenly she knew what it was. She recognised the enormous rounded head with its black beak and white chin, the even rows of teeth between the half-open jaws. It was the biggest of its kind she'd ever seen. It was rising vertically from the depths, gaining spe
ed all the time, with no intention of stopping. Her mind raced. Within a split second the snippets of information came together. The glass hatch was made of armoured glass and was solidly built, but not solid enough to withstand a collision with a living missile. The creature measured at least twelve metres. At top speed it could propel itself out of the water at fifty-six kilometres an hour.

  It was moving too fast.

  She made a desperate attempt to get away from the sluice.

  Like a torpedo the orca crashed through the glass plug. The wave sent Delaware spinning. Through the swirling debris she glimpsed shards of glass and swirling sections of the hatch's metal rim, then the white belly of the whale, as it rose through the hatch, barely hindered by the impact. Something struck her painfully between the shoulders. She cried out, and water filled her lungs.

  ROSCOVITZ BARELY HAD time to take in the situation. The jetty groaned and shook beneath his feet as the orca smashed through the hatch. A wave lifted the Deepflight into the air. He saw Browning lose her balance, arms flailing. The orca crashed down into the water and accelerated away.

  'The sluice,' screamed Rubin. 'Close the flaps.'

  The head of the orca rammed into the submersible, sending it spinning into the air. There was a snapping noise as the chain broke free. Browning was catapulted upwards and slammed down on to the control panel. One of her boots struck Roscovitz in the chest and sent him reeling backwards against the bulkhead, pulling Peak with him.

  'The sub!' screamed Rubin. 'The sub!'

  Browning's body sagged back into the basin, blood pouring from her head. The stern of the Deepflight shot vertically into the air. Then the boat filled with water and sank. Roscovitz staggered to his feet and tried to reach the controls. Something whizzed towards him. He looked up and saw the chain swinging in his direction like a whip. He tried to duck, but the metal struck his temples and curled round his neck.

  He was dragged forwards and over the edge.

  GREYWOLF WAS TOO far away to identify the cause of the chaos and, since he was in the water, he couldn't feel the impact. But he saw the submersible ripped from its chain, and what happened to Browning and Roscovitz. Rubin was standing at the control panel, shouting and waving. Peak's head popped up in the background. The soldiers were running to the site of the disaster, guns raised.