Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

The lab.

No, not the lab. A lab. Smaller, with a lower ceiling. But it's above the converted vehicle deck, where the deep-sea chamber is located. This lab has a chamber too, a much smaller one. And there's something glowing inside it; a blue thing with tentacles.

He looks around in disbelief.

The whole room is a small but perfect copy of the one beneath it. Rows of benches, pieces of equipment, barrels of liquid nitrogen. A control desk and monitors. An electron microscope. Across the room, a biohazard symbol marks a reinforced door, and at the back of the lab a narrow passageway leads inside the ship.

Three people are standing next to the chamber. They're talking, unaware of the intruder. The two men have their backs to him, but the woman is standing in profile, scribbling something on a pad. Her gaze shifts between the two men, then round the room and settles on Johanson.

Her jaw drops, and the men spin round. He recognises a guy from Vanderbilt's team. No one knows what he does – the usual CIA story.

The second is Rubin.

Johanson is too bewildered to do anything but stare. He sees the shock in Rubin's eyes, sees him searching for a way to save the situation. And it's that look that rouses Johanson from his paralysis as it dawns on him that his work is a charade. He's being used. He, Oliviera, Anawak, Weaver, Crowe…

Unless Rubin isn't the only one acting more than one part.

Why?

Rubin approaches slowly. His lips are tensed into a smile. 'Sigur! Goodness me, can't you sleep either?'

Johanson's eyes are wandering round the room, taking in the other faces. One look into their eyes confirms that he doesn't belong here. 'What's all this about, Mick?'

'Oh, nothing, it's just…'

'What is this place? What's going on?'

Rubin draws himself up to his full height. 'I can explain everything, Sigur. You see, we weren't really planning to use the extra lab. It's only here for emergencies – in case anything… Well, in case anything happens to the main one. We've just been inspecting the systems to make sure it's ready, so-'

Johanson points to the organism in the chamber. 'But you've got that in there.'

'Oh, you mean the jelly.' Rubin's head swivels round and then back. 'That's, er, well, we had to check it out. Just to be certain. We didn't mention it because, well, there was really no need, I mean…'

Nothing but lies.

Johanson may not he totally sober, but that doesn't prevent him noticing that Rubin is trying to talk himself out of a hole.

He turns and strides towards the exit.

'Sigur! Dr Johanson!' He hears footsteps behind him. Rubin comes alongside him. His fingers tug at Johanson's sleeve. 'Slow down, Sigur.'

' What's going on here ?'

'It's not like you think. I-'

'How would you know what I think?'

'It's just a precaution.'

'A what?'

'A precaution. The lab is just a precaution.'

Johanson jerks himself free. 'Perhaps I should talk to Li about it.'

'No, I-'

'Or maybe I should tell Oliviera. Actually, maybe I should tell the whole damn team. What do you think, Mick? Is this some kind of game?'

'Of course not.'

'Then perhaps you should tell me what the hell you're up to!'

Rubin's eyes are filled with panic. 'Sigur, I don't think that's wise. You mustn't be too hasty. Do you hear me, Sigur? Don't do anything hasty.'

Johanson gives an indignant snort and marches off. He can hear Rubin hurrying after him. He feels the other man's fear on his back.

Mustn't be too hasty.

White light.

Something explodes in his eyes, and pain washes over his mind. The walls, the passageway, everything blurs. He sees the ground rush towards him.

THE CEILING OF THE LAB. It had all fallen into place.

Johanson jumped up. Oliviera was still busy in the containment facility. Breathing deeply, he glanced at the control desk, the benches, the chamber. He looked up at the ceiling.

Above him there was a second laboratory. And no one was meant to know. Rubin must have knocked him out, and they'd drugged him to make him forget.

But why?

Johanson clenched his fists. He felt helpless and furious. Then he was outside, running up the ramp.

WELL DECK

'You don't need me at the meetings,' said Greywolf 'It's not like I can help.'

Anawak's fury ebbed away. He turned and walked back. The basin was still filling with water. 'That's not true, Jack.'

'It is.' He said it in a neutral, almost absent voice. 'I couldn't stop the navy torturing dolphins. I tried to stick up for the whales, but now no one can save them. In my mind I'd decided that animals were better than people. It was stupid, I know, but it was one way of coping. And now I've lost Licia to an orca. I can't help anyone.'

'Stop beating yourself up, Jack.'

'Those are the facts.'

Anawak sat down next to him. 'Leaving the navy was the right decision, and you stuck to it,' he said. 'You were the best handler they had, and it was your decision to quit, not theirs. You didn't have to go, but you did.'

'Sure, but my leaving didn't change anything.'

'For you it did. You took a stand.'

'Achieving what, exactly?'

Anawak was silent.

'You know,' said Greywolf, 'the worst thing is feeling you don't belong. You love someone and lose them. You love animals, and they're responsible. I'm beginning to feel like I hate those orcas.'

'We all feel like that. You-'

'Licia died in the jaws of an orca. I watched and there was nothing I could do. Don't try to tell me that that's anyone's problem but mine. If I were to keel over and die right now, it wouldn't make any difference to the survival of the planet. Who would care? I haven't achieved anything to make anyone think that my presence on this planet was worthwhile.'

I'd care,' said Anawak. He expected a cutting reply, but he heard a soft sound, a kind of hiccup, like a muffled sigh, in Greywolf's throat.

'And in case you'd forgotten,' said Anawak, 'Licia cared too.'

JOHANSON

He felt so livid that he could have grabbed Rubin, hauled him up to the flight deck and tossed him overboard. He might even have done so, had the biologist crossed his path. But Rubin was nowhere to be seen. Instead he bumped into Weaver, who was going the other way.

For a moment he wasn't sure how to react, then he pulled himself together. 'Karen!' He smiled at her. 'Coming to join us in the lab?'

'Actually, I'm off to the well deck – to see Leon and Jack.'

'Oh, right. Hmm, Jack…'Johanson had to force himself to stay calm. 'He's in a bad way, isn't he?'

'He and Licia meant more to each other than he was willing to admit. It's hard to get through to him.'

'Leon's a good friend. He'll manage.'

Weaver nodded and looked at him enquiringly. She'd realised that this was a non-conversation. 'Are you all right?' she asked.

'Fine.' Johanson took her by the arm. 'I've just had the most amazing idea about what we're going to say in this big new message. Fancy a stroll on the roof?'

'Well, actually, I was-'

'It'll only take ten minutes. I just want to hear what you think. Seems like I've been shut inside for days. I need some fresh air.'

'Are you sure you'll be warm enough?'

Johanson glanced down. He was wearing a sweater and jeans. His thick down jacket was in the lab. 'I'm toughening myself up,' he said.

'Any particular reason?'

'Stops you getting flu. Keeps you young. Helps you deal with stupid questions.' He was raising his voice. Go easy, he told himself 'Listen, I have to talk to someone about it. It was your computer program that made me think of it. But it doesn't seem right to discuss it on the ramp. Won't you come outside?'

'Well, in that case, sure.'