Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

'Yes.' Johanson sighed. He looked out towards the fjords. 'And now it's mine.'

'We need a scientific co-coordinator,' said Lund, 'and I wouldn't trust anyone else.'

'My God,' said Johanson. 'Are you feeling OK?'

'I'm being serious.'

'And I've said I'll do it.'

'Just think,' Lund beamed, 'we'll be working together.'

'There's no need to put me off. So, what's the next step?'

She hesitated. 'Well, you heard what Skaugen said. He wants me to do Stone's job. Long-term, he can't make that decision. He needs the go-ahead from Stavanger.'

'Skaugen,' mused Johanson. 'But I don't get it. Why gun down Stone in public? Why get me involved? To provide the ammunition?'

Lund shrugged. 'Skaugen's got real integrity. Some say a little too much. But he gets tired of people turning a blind eye. He's softhearted, though. If I asked him to give Stone another chance, he'd probably agree.'

'I see,' said Johanson slowly. 'And that's what you're thinking of doing.'

She didn't answer.

'How magnanimous.'

Lund pretended not to hear him. 'Skaugen's left it up to me,' she said, 'but the subsea unit. . . Stone knows a hell of a lot about it. Much more than I do. Skaugen wants someone to take the ' Thorvaldson and find out why there's no signal from the prototype. Stone should head the operation, but if Skaugen suspends him, it's up to me.'

'And the other option?'

'Like I said, Stone gets another chance.'

'To save the unit.'

'If there's anything left to save. Or to get it back in working order. Either way, Skaugen wants me promoted. But if he lets Stone off the hook, Stone keeps his job and goes on board the Thorvaldson .'

'Which leaves you where?'

'Well, I'd go to Stavanger and report to the hoard.'

'Congratulations,' said Johanson. 'Your career gets a boost.'

There was a short silence.

'Is that what I want?'

Johanson thought back to their weekend by the lake. 'No idea,' he said. 'But you can have a boyfriend and a career, if that's what you're worried about. If you still have a boyfriend, that is.'

'We… haven't seen much of each other since – since you and I. . .' She trailed off. When she spoke again, her voice was firm: 'Hanging out in cosy old Sveggesundet or taking day trips to the islands isn't normal life. It's like being on a film set.'

'But it is a good film.'

'It's like… Imagine going back to the place where you fell in love,' said Lund. 'As soon as you get there, it sweeps you off your feet. It's all so perfect, and when it's time to leave, you want to stay. And at the same time you can't help wondering whether you really want to live in the most beautiful place in the world. I mean, would it still be so beautiful if you lived there? She gave an awkward laugh. 'Sorry, I hate talking about this sort of thing.'

Johanson searched her face for signs of indecision, but saw only someone who had made up her mind. She just didn't know it yet. 'Maybe you should go and tell Kare that you love him and want to be with him forever.'

'What if it doesn't work out?'

'You're suspicious of happiness. I was like that once. It didn't do me any good.'

'Are you happy now ??'

'Yes.'

'No misgivings?'

Johanson flung up his hands in a despair. 'Come on, Tina, everyone has misgivings. I just try to be honest with myself and with everyone else. I like flirting, wine, having a good time and being in control. I don't talk much, but I don't feel the need to. Psychiatrists would find me deeply boring. I want my peace and that's all there is to it. My life suits me. But that's me. My way of being happy is different from yours. I trust mine. You'll have to learn to do the same. But you haven't much time. Kare won't wait forever.'

The breeze played with Lund's hair. 'If Stone goes out to the slope,' she said, thinking aloud, 'I'll have to go to Stavanger. That's OK, though. The Thorvaldson is ready to sail. Stone could leave tomorrow or the day after. The Stavanger job will take longer. I'd have to write a detailed report. So there'd be a few days spare for me to drive to Sveggesundet and … do some work from there.'

'Some work?' Johanson grinned.

She pursed her lips. 'I'll think about it and talk to Skaugen.'

'You do that,' said Johanson. 'But think quickly.'

BACK AT THE office he checked his inbox for messages. There wasn't much of any interest. The final mail caught his attention when he saw who it was from: kweaver@deepbluesea.com He clicked on it.

hello dr johanson. thanks for your message, i've just got back to london and all i can say right now is that i don't have a clue what's happened to lukas bauer and his boat i can't contact him. i'd be happy to meet up with you though, who knows? we may even be able to help each other. i'll be at my london office from the middle of next week, but if you fancy meeting sooner, i 'm heading off to the shetlands and could fix up something there let me know what suits you. karen weaver.

'My, my,' murmured Johanson. 'So journalists can be co-operative.'

Had Lukas Bauer gone missing?

Maybe he should request a meeting with Skaugen and tell him his theory. But there was no evidence to support it – just a nasty feeling that the world was coming unstuck and the sea was to blame.

If he wanted to take the idea any further, he needed more evidence… He should hook up with Weaver as soon as he could. Why not meet her in the Shetlands? The flights shouldn't be a problem, if Statoil was paying. In fact, it would all be very easy. Hadn't Skaugen said he could nail him to a cross if he wanted?

He didn't need to go that far. A helicopter would be enough.

Johanson leaned back in his chair and studied the clock. He was supposed to be lecturing in an hour, and then he had a departmental meeting about some DNA sequencing.

He created a new folder and entered a file name: The Fifth Day. It was the first thing that had come into his mind. On the fifth day of creation, God had filled the sea with living creatures… He started to type, and a chill swept through him.

Vancouver and Vancouver Island, Canada

For the past forty-eight hours Ford and Anawak had been poring over the same sequence of data. At first total darkness. Then an oscillation from an audio signal outside the human range. Three signals in total. And finally the cloud. A luminescent, blue-tinged cloud. Out of nowhere it appeared in the centre of the screen and scattered outwards, like a universe expanding. The light wasn't bright, more a faint blue glow; a dim, diffuse glimmer, just strong enough for the huge silhouettes of the whales to loom into view. It spread rapidly and filled the screen. The whales hovered in front of it, as if bound by its spell.

Several seconds passed.

Deep in the cloud something shot forwards like winding, twisting lightning. Its tapered point struck a whale on the side of the head. Lucy. The whole thing was over in less than a second. More flashes blazed towards the other whales, then the spectacle ended as abruptly as it had begun.

Next the film seemed to play in reverse. The cloud collapsed in on itself and vanished. The screen went dark. Ford's technicians had slowed the footage, then slowed it again. They'd tried everything they could think of to optimise the resolution and let in more light, but even after hours of studying the tape they were still no closer to solving the mystery of the whales.

In the end Anawak and Ford decided to write their report for the emergency committee. They'd been authorised to call on the help of a biologist from Nanaimo who specialised in bioluminescence. It took him a while to get over his bewilderment, but then he backed their conclusions: the cloud and the flashes were organic. According to the expert, the flashes were caused by a chain reaction within the cloud, though he couldn't say how they'd been triggered or what purpose they served. Their twisting motion and the way they tapered off towards the tip reminded him of squid, but a creature that size would have to be truly gigantic, and it was doubtful that giant squid could luminesce. Besides, that wouldn't explain the cloud or where the serpentine flashes were coming from.