Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

Stone bit his lip and stared at the table.

'You mentioned some new data, didn't you, Sigur?' said Lund. She smiled encouragingly at the others.

I'll run you through it now,' he offered.

'Bloody worms,' grumbled Stone.

'Well, that's one way of describing them. Anyway, the scientists at Geomar introduced six further specimens into the simulation chamber. Each burrowed head-first into the ice. Next they placed two fresh specimens on a layer of sediment without any hydrates. They didn't react – didn't eat, didn't burrow. Finally they put two specimens on a layer of hydrate-free sediment above a pocket of gas. The worms didn't burrow, but they became agitated.'

'What happened to the worms that burrowed?'

'They're dead.'

'How far did they get?'

'All except one made it through to the gas,' Johanson glanced at Stone, 'but that doesn't mean we can draw any hard and fast conclusions about their behaviour in the wild. The gas on the continental slopes is covered by layers of hydrates measuring tens or even hundreds of metres thick. The layers in the simulator are barely two metres. According to Bohrmann, it's unlikely that the worms could go deeper than three or four metres, but in the chamber there's no way of knowing.'

'What kills them?' asked Hvistendahl.

'They need oxygen and can't get enough in the narrow hole they make.'

'But other worms burrow,' objected Skaugen. He grinned. 'You can tell we did our homework before you got here. We didn't want to look completely stupid.'

Johanson smiled back. He knew he could get on with Skaugen. 'Other species burrow in sediments,' he said, 'in loose ones, where there's plenty of oxygen – and most worms don't dig very deep. But burrowing in hydrates is like moving through concrete. Before long, there's no air, which leads to suffocation.'

'Do you know of other creatures that behave like that?'

'You mean creatures with a death wish?'

'Is that what it is?'

Johanson shrugged. 'That would assume intent, which doesn't fit with worms. They're conditioned to behave as they do.'

'Do animals commit suicide?'

'Of course they do,' said Stone. 'What about lemmings? They throw themselves off cliffs.'

'No, they don't,' said Lund.

'They do!'

Lund placed her hand on his arm. 'Clifford, you're comparing apples and oranges. People liked the idea of lemmings committing suicide so they took it for granted that they did. But when someone looked into it properly, they found out that lemmings are just stupid.'

'Stupid?' Stone turned to Johanson. 'Tell me, Dr Johanson, is it normal scientific practice to call an animal stupid?'

'They are,' Lund continued, unabashed. 'When you get enough of them together, people can be stupid too. The lemmings at the front know that there's a cliff ahead, but the mob behind them surges on, pushing them forward – it's like fans at a rock concert. They carry on shoving each other into the sea until the procession eventually halts.'

Hvistendahl said, 'Some animals are known to sacrifice themselves, though. I guess you'd call it altruism.'

'Yes, but animal altruism always serves a purpose,' replied Johanson. 'Bees are prepared to die after losing their sting because warding off an intruder is good for the colony – or, at any rate, for the queen.'

'So there's no species-related motive for the worms' behaviour?'

'No.'

'Biology lessons aren't going to help.' Stone sighed. 'Just listen to you all! Soon we won't be able to build the unit because you'll have turned the worms into monsters.'

'And another thing,' said Johanson, ignoring him, 'Geomar would like to take a look at the area you've marked for exploration. With Statoil's backing, of course.'

'That's interesting.' Skaugen leaned forward. 'Are they proposing to send someone over?'

'A research vessel. The RV Sonne !'

'That's kind, but they can do all their research on the Thorvaldson .'

'They'll be stopping off on their way to another site. And, in any case, the Sonne has all the latest equipment. They're mainly interested in testing some of the data they got from the simulator.'

'What kind of data?'

'It relates to an increase in methane levels. By burrowing into the ice, the worms set free small quantities of methane, which disperse into the water. The Geomar scientists would like to excavate a couple of loads of sediment with some worms. They want to look at things in their true proportions.'

Skaugen laced his fingers together. 'So far we've only talked about the worms,' he said, 'but have you seen the ominous video footage?'

'Of the thing in the sea?'

Skaugen smiled wanly. 'You make it sound like a horror movie. What do you think it might be?'

I'm not sure whether we should bracket the worms and this… this creature together.'

'But you know what it is?'

'No idea.'

'You're a biologist. Isn't there anything you can think of?'

'The images Tina extracted from the footage would suggest that the creature is bioluminescent, but there aren't any big creatures that would fit that description. And it rules out mammals per se .'

'Tina mentioned the possibility that we might be dealing with a giant squid.'

'Yes,' said Johanson, 'but it's unlikely. The size and structure of the body don't look right. And, anyway, Architheuthis has always been thought to inhabit entirely different waters.'

There was silence. Stone played with his pen.

'May I ask,' said Johanson, 'what kind of unit you'll be building out there?'

Skaugen glanced at Lund.

'I told Sigur we were thinking of building a subsea unit and that nothing had been decided,' she said.

'How much do you know about subsea units?' Skaugen asked Johanson.

'Well, I've heard about SUBSIS,' he said.

Hvistendahl raised his eyebrows. 'Not bad. You'll soon be an expert. If you join us for another few meetings, you'll -'

'SUBSIS is old hat,' snapped Stone. 'We've come a long way since then. Our units can go much deeper and, safety-wise, they're far superior.'

'The system comes from FMC Technologies in Kongsberg. They specialise in developing subsea solutions,' explained Skaugen. 'It's a more advanced version of SUBSIS. In fact, we've already decided to use the technology. The only question is whether to link the unit to one of the existing platforms or run the pipelines to the shore. They'd have to cover a vast distance and be able to cope with varying depths.'

'Couldn't you build a floating processing plant above the unit?' asked Johanson.

'Sure, but either way the main unit will still be on the seabed,' said Hvistendahl.

'In any case, we know how to evaluate the risks,' continued Skaugen, 'so long as they're defined risks. But the presence of the worms is a factor we can't identify or explain. Maybe – like Clifford says – we're blowing it out of proportion and there's no need to jeopardise our schedule because of a strange glowing creature and some mysterious worms. But where there's doubt, we need to do everything in our power to eliminate it. I don't expect you to take this decision for us, Dr Johanson, but what do you think we should do?'

Johanson felt uncomfortable. Stone was staring at him with open hostility. Hvistendahl and Skaugen were waiting expectantly, and Lund's expression gave nothing away. If only I'd talked to her first, he thought. But she hadn't pressured him. Maybe she'd be glad if he called time on the project. Then again, maybe she wouldn't.

Johanson placed his hands on the table. 'If it were up to me, I'd go ahead and build the thing,' he said.

Skaugen and Lund stared at him in bewilderment. Hvistendahl frowned, and Stone leaned back with a triumphant smile.

Johanson waited for a moment. Then he said, 'I'd build it – but I'd wait until Geomar had carried out its tests and given the green light. I don't think we'll find out any more about the creature on the video – it's probably a distant relative of the Loch Ness Monster and I'm not even sure it's worth worrying about. The real question is what effect untold numbers of mysterious hydrate-eating worms will have on the stability of the slope and on future boreholes. Until you know the answer to that, I'd recommend you put the project on hold.'