Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

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 speed 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.

Hurriedly he scanned the water. Anawak was beside him, but Delaware was nowhere to be seen.

No answer.

Fear gripped him. With a powerful kick, he dived down and swam towards the sluice.

DELAWARE WAS HEADING in the wrong direction. A searing pain ran through her back and she felt as though she was suffocating. Suddenly she found herself back at the sluice. The two halves of the hatch had been ripped apart, but the steel flaps were closing. Beneath them the sea was ablaze with blue light.