Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

She turned on to her back.

No!

The Deepflight was falling towards her, pods open and bow first. It sank like a stone. She kicked with all her might. The boat was going to hit her. As she stared up, the articulated arms, folded neatly together, bore down towards her. She tried to speed through the water, long and thin like an otter, but it wasn't enough. The boat rammed into her torso and she felt her ribs break. Her mouth opened in a scream, and she swallowed more water. The vessel pushed her down into the sluice and out into the open water. The cold pierced her body. Through the fog of her consciousness, she saw the steel flaps hit the submersible with a dull thud. The Deepflight stopped sinking. It was trapped, but Delaware was still falling. She stretched out her arms to grab on to the vessel, but her strength was failing and her lungs were clogged.

Please, she thought, I want to go back. I don't want to die.

In the gap between the blocked hatch and the trapped submersible she saw a hazy image of Greywolf's face.

A large dark shape approached from the side, jaws open, showing rows of conical teeth.

The orca bit into her chest.

She didn't see the glowing mass shoot past her. By the time it reached the sluice, Delaware was dead.

PEAK BANGED HIS FIST down on the control panel. His attempt to close the sluice had failed. The Deepflight had jammed the steel plates. Either he opened the flaps entirely and lost the submersible, or he left them as they were and allowed God knows what to find its way into the vessel.

Browning had disappeared and Roscovitz was hanging from the chain, legs dangling in the water, hands clutching at his throat.

Where was the damned orca?

'Sal, 'Rubin whined.

The water in the basin bubbled and frothed. The soldiers were rushing around with no clear objective. Greywolf had dived under water. Anawak was nowhere to be seen. And where had Delaware got to?

Someone prodded him in the ribs.

'For God's sake, Sal!' Rubin pushed him away from the controls. His hands danced over the keyboard, fingers jabbing at buttons. 'Why haven't you closed the bloody sluice?'

'You stupid bastard!' Peak drew back his fist and landed a punch in the middle of Rubin's face. The biologist swayed and tumbled backwards into the pool, sending water spurting into the air. Through the shower of spray Peak saw the blade-like fin of an orca speed towards him.

Rubin's head appeared above the waves. Now he saw the fin too. His splutters turned into a scream.

Peak pushed the button to open the steel flaps and release the Deepflight into the sea.

He was expecting the display to light up.

Nothing happened.

GREYWOLF THOUGHT HE was losing his mind. A pod of orcas was patrolling the water beneath the Independence . Seconds ago one had closed its jaws round Delaware and whisked her out of sight. Without stopping to consider, Greywolf swam towards the gap between the two steel plates, in time to see something hurtle towards him from below. Lightning and sparks flashed before his eyes and he was hit by a force like a giant fist that sent him reeling backwards. Everything turned upside down. For an instant he saw Anawak to his left, and then he was gone again. Legs flailed in the water. A body tumbled towards him. The white belly of an orca flashed past in the basin above. Finally he was looking down at the Deepflight trapped between the flaps.

Watching as a thing pushed its way through the half-open hatch, towards the inside of the vessel.

It was like a tentacle belonging to an enormous polyp, only there was no polyp on earth with a tentacle that size. It was three metres in diameter, too big for any living creature. Matter streamed up towards the well deck, racing out of the ocean in a never-ending column. As it left the sluice, the single muscle of jelly branched into slender tendrils, whose smooth surface glittered with patterns of light.

RUBIN WAS SWIMMING FOR HIS LIFE.

The fin chased after him. Coughing and spluttering he reached the jetty and tried to pull himself out of the basin, crazy with fear. His elbows gave way. He heard shots and sank back under the water to be confronted with an incredible sight. In a flash he realised that his wish had been fulfilled. The alien organism had entered the vessel, but under circumstances he hadn't foreseen.

Glowing tentacles twisted through the water, thick as tree trunks.

And the orca was between them, jaws agape.

Rubin shot back up. Two legs were thrashing over the surface of the water, centimetres from his face. Roscovitz stared down at him through bulging eyes. He looked as though he was hanging on a gallows.

A terrible gurgling noise spilled from his lips.

Oh, God, thought Rubin. Dear God. The fin was almost upon him.

The orca rose in a tower of spray, jaws wide open. Roscovitz's legs disappeared inside its mouth. The jaws clamped shut. For a moment the whale was suspended motionless above the water, then it dropped back.

Blood trickled from Roscovitz's dangling torso, and Rubin found himself unable to turn away. He heard a long scream of terror, and slowly it dawned on him that he was the one who was screaming.

He screamed and screamed.

The fin reappeared.

COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER

Li couldn't believe her eyes. In a matter of seconds chaos had erupted on the well deck. She watched Peak sprint along the jetty. Soldiers were firing blindly into the water, and Roscovitz's mangled body dangled from above. 'Get me some sound,' she demanded.

The next moment gunshots and screams echoed through the room. Everyone started talking at once, as the chaos on the well deck found its echo in the CIC. Feverishly Li considered what should be done. She'd send reinforcements, of course. This time with explosive projectiles. Why were the idiots firing standard ammunition?

They had to wrest back control.

She'd go down in person.

Without a word she went into the adjacent room. The LFOC was the command centre for amphibious operations. From there they could flood the ballast tanks, pump out the water, and open the stern gate, in the event that the control desk in the well deck failed. Only the steel flaps couldn't be operated from the LFOC – another stupid oversight.

'OK,' she said, to the shocked crew members in front of the screens. 'I want the ballast tanks in the stern pumped dry.' She thought for a moment. Was the sluice in the well deck open or closed? Would the water be able to run out? It was impossible to tell from the confusion on the monitors. Usually it was enough to raise the stern of the vessel and the artificial harbour would drain automatically, either through the open sluice or out of the stern gate into the sea. There was an emergency pump system, in case both were blocked. It took a little longer, but served the same purpose.

Li gave the order for the pump to be activated, and ran back to the CIC.

WELL DECK

The steel flaps weren't responding. He didn't have time to wonder why. Breathing heavily Peak ran to one of the armaments lockers and pulled out a harpoon gun with an explosive charge. His men were firing indiscriminately into the water, while an enormous squid-like creature seemed to be forcing itself through the open sluice, writhing and snaking beneath the surface of the pool.

From the corner of his eye Peak spotted Rubin hauling himself out of the water. He felt disgusted and relieved. He detested the man, but that was no excuse for knocking him into the water. Rubin's life had to be protected He still had a job to do.

The fin moved away from the jetty. Anawak and Greywolf were some distance away, swimming towards the other side of the pool. Glowing tentacles seemed to pursue them, but the jelly was everywhere, stretching out in all directions. The orca was definitely on their tail.