Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

It was a chilling sight. 'The campaigners' boat had been reduced to splinters and the Blue Shark was drifting upside-down. The water was full of people, shouting and paddling wildly. Their orange suits had inflated automatically to keep them afloat but some lay still on the water, killed by the weight of the whale. Across the waves, the Lady Wexham was surrounded by flukes and fins. He watched as she picked up speed, listing severely.

Anawak picked his way slowly through the drifting bodies, trying to avoid causing more injuries. He flipped on to channel 98 and reported his position. 'We're in trouble,' he barked. 'Casualties and maybe fatalities.' Every boat in the area would pick up his distress signal. He didn't have time to say more or to explain what had happened – there'd been a dozen or so passengers on the Blue Shark , plus Stringer and her deputy, then the three protestors in the motorboat, seventeen in all.

'Leon!' Stringer was swimming towards him. Anawak grabbed her hand and pulled her aboard, then spotted dorsal fins in the water not far from his boat. The orcas' black heads and backs poked out of the water as they sped towards the carnage.

They were moving with a single-mindedness that made his stomach lurch.

Alicia Delaware was floating nearby. She was holding the head of a young man whose orange suit hadn't inflated. Anawak steered the boat towards her, then he and Stringer hauled the unconscious man and the girl on board. Others were swimming towards them now, stretching out their arms to be pulled out of the water. The boat was filling rapidly. It was much smaller than the Blue Shark and already overloaded. Frantically they kept pulling people in, while Anawak scanned the sea for bodies.

'There's one!' shouted Stringer.

A man was floating motionless in the water, face down, no suit – a protester from the motorboat.

Anawak and Stringer grabbed him by the arms and lifted him.

He wasn't especially heavy.

Not nearly heavy enough.

His head lolled back and his eyes stared blankly. His body ended at the waist, torn flesh, arteries and intestines dangled from the torso, blood dripping over the weaves.

Stringer gasped and let go, then Anawak lost his grip and the corpse splashed back into the water.

All around the boat, sword-like fins swirled through the waves. There were at least ten of them, maybe more. A blow sent the boat spinning. Anawak leaped to the wheel, opened the throttle and sped off. Three vast backs rose out of the water before him. He swerved and the whales dived. Two more appeared on the other side, heading straight for the boat. Anawak swerved again. He heard screaming and crying and panic took hold of him, but somehow he steered the Zodiac past the black-and-white bodies blocking their escape.

There was a crunching sound. He swung round in time to see the Lady Wexham shudder and heel in a cloud of spray. In that split second of inattentiveness, the Zodiac's fate was sealed. A giant tail was already hurtling towards the boat.

The Zodiac flew into the air and flipped over.

Anawak soared up, past a cloud of spray, then plummeted down into the ocean. It was bitingly cold. He kicked with all his might, and fought his way up to the surface. Gasping, he was pushed back down. Seized by panic he thrashed about, paddling madly until, spluttering, he surfaced again.

There was no sign of the boat or any of its passengers. The coastline bobbed into view. He was lifted by a wave and at last he saw some of the others. – half a dozen at most. Then gleaming black blades cut through the surf and dived down. A head jerked under and didn't resurface.

An elderly woman saw the man vanish. 'The boat! Where is it?' she shrieked.

Where was the boat? It was too far for them to swim ashore. The woman's screams became more desperate.

Anawak swam over to her. She saw him coming and stretched out her arms. 'Please! You've got to help me.'

I'm going to,' called Anawak. 'Just try to stay calm.'

'I can't keep my head up. I'm sinking.'

'You won't sink.' He took deep long strokes to reach her. ''The suit won't let you.'

The woman didn't seem to hear him: 'You've got to help me. Oh, God, don't let me drown! I don't want to drown.'

'Don't worry, HI-

Suddenly her eyes widened and she vanished under water. Something brushed against Anawak's leg.

Fear coursed through him. He pushed his upper body clear of the water and looked around. The Zodiac was drifting upside-down. All that separated him and the others from it was a few metres – and three black torpedoes.

As the whales powered towards them, something in Anawak protested. Not once had an orca attacked a human in the wild: they treated humans with curiosity, amity or indifference. And whales didn't attack boats – they just didn't . Suddenly he was hit by a rush of water and a flash of red came between him and the whales. Hands reached down to grab him. Then Greywolf steered towards the rest of the swimmers. He pulled Alicia Delaware out of the water and set her down on a bench while Anawak hauled up a wheezing man. He scanned the surface for others. Where was Stringer?

He caught a glimpse of her head between two waves. A second woman was with her. The orcas had surrounded the upturned Zodiac and were closing in from both sides. Their shiny black heads cut through the waves, jaws parted to reveal rows of ivory teeth. In a few seconds they would be upon the women. But Greywolf was at the wheel, steering purposefully towards them.

Anawak held out a hand to Stringer.

'Take her first,' she shouted.

Greywolf helped him drag the other woman to safety. Then Stringer tried to climb on board. She slid back into the water and the whales dived down behind her.

Suddenly she was alone. 'Leon?' She stretched out her arms, eves wide with fear. Anawak caught her right hand.

The blue-green water parted as something shot up at incredible speed. Its jaws were open, exposing white teeth. Then they snapped shut and Stringer screamed. Her fist hammered on the snout that held her prisoner. 'Get off she yelled.

Anawak's fingers dug into her jacket. Their eyes met. 'Susan! Give me your other hand!' He held on to her, determined not to let go, but the orca's jaws were clamped round her. Her mouth opened in a dull cry that become a piercing scream. With a sickening jolt, she was wrenched from Anawak's grip. Her head disappeared underwater, then her arms and her twitching fingers. For a second her orange suit shone in the water, a scattered kaleidoscope of colour that paled, faded and vanished.

Anawak stared at the water. Something glittered in the depths. A column of bubbles. As they reached the surface they popped and foamed.

Then the water turned red.

'No,' he whispered.

Greywolf pulled him away from the railings. 'There's no one here,' he said. 'Let's go.'

As the motorboat roared off, Anawak tripped and steadied himself. The woman whom Stringer had saved was lying on a bench, whimpering softly. Delaware was soothing her, voice shaking. The man stared fixedly ahead.

From across the water Anawak heard another commotion. He whirled round and saw that the Lady Wexham was surrounded by blades and humps. She was barely moving and listed dangerously to one side.

'We have to turn back!' he shouted. 'They're not going to make it!'

Greywolf was powering towards the coast. 'Forget it.'

Anawak reached over and snatched up the walkie-talkie. He tried to call the Lady Wexham . The radio crackled and hissed. 'We've got to help them, Jack! Turn back, damn it!'

'With this boat it's hopeless. We'll be lucky if we make it ourselves.' The worst thing was, he was right.

'VICTORIA?' SHOEMAKER YELLED into the phone. 'What the hell are they doing in Victoria?… Why? Doesn't Victoria have its own Coast Guard? There are people drowning in Clayoquot Sound! We've got one skipper dead and a boat going down and you're telling me to be patient?'