The Swarm

by Frank Schätzing

  In the end they left the jetty and walked in silence through the woods towards Tofino. Greywolf stopped outside Davie's Whaling Station. 'Just before I quit, I heard the nuclear whale programme had taken a big-leap forward. They mentioned a name. It was something to do with neurology and neural network computers. They said that to exercise full control over the animals you needed to know about Professor Kurzweil. Maybe it's nothing, but I just thought I'd tell you.'

  CHATEAU WHISTLER, Canada

  It was early evening when Weaver knocked on Johanson's door. She tried the handle, but the room was locked.

  She knew that he was back from Nanaimo. So she took the elevator to the lobby and found him in the bar, bent over some diagrams with the Geomar scientist and Stanley Frost.

  'Hi.' Weaver walked over to them. 'Any progress?'

  'We're stumped,' said Bohrmann. 'Still too many unknowns.'

  'Hey, we'll get there in the end,' growled Frost. 'God doesn't play dice.'

  'That's what Einstein said,' objected Johanson. 'And he was wrong.'

  'I'm telling you, God does not play dice?

  She tapped Johanson on the shoulder. 'Apologies for the interruption, but could we have a quick chat?'

  Johanson hesitated. 'Right now? We haven't finished with Stan's scenario yet. It's pretty strong stuff.

  'Sorry.'

  'Why don't you join us?'

  'This'll only take a moment. Can't they do without you for a second?' She smiled at the others. 'And then I'll join you, I promise. You can show me as many simulations as you like, and I'll bug you with comments.'

  'Sounds good to me,' grinned Frost.

  'Which way now?' asked Johanson, as they headed away from the table. The lobby?'

  'Is it important?'

  'Important doesn't begin to cover it.'

  'OK.'

  They went outside. 'The sun was low in the sky, and as it set, it bathed the Chateau and the snowy peaks of the Rockies in shades of red. A helicopter was perched on the forecourt, like an enormous gnat. They strolled in the direction of Whistler village. Suddenly Weaver felt embarrassed. The others were probably thinking that she and Johanson shared a secret, but in fact she just wanted his advice. It was up to him when he decided to share his theory with the committee but to make that decision he needed to hear her news.

  'How was it in Nanaimo?'

  'Pretty scary.'

  'I heard killer crabs have invaded Long Island.'

  'Crabs packed with killer algae,' said Johanson. 'Like in Europe, only more toxic. Oliviera, Fenwick and Rubin have started to analyse the poison.' He cleared his throat. 'I don't mean to be impatient, but I thought you had something to tell me.'

  'I've been studying satellite data all day – comparing radar scans to rnultispectral images. I would have liked to see more data from Bauer's drifting profilers, but they've stopped transmitting. In any case, there's no real doubt. I'm guessing you know about oceanic gyres?'

  'A little.'

  'The sea level rises along the perimeter of a gyre. That applies to the Gulf Stream too – it's a boundary current Bauer was worried that a change was taking place. He couldn't locate the North Atlantic chimneys, where the water normally plummets. He was sure that something was disturbing the flow of the currents, but he couldn't say what.'

  'And?'

  She turned to him. I've done all the calculations, compared the data, checked it, recalculated, compared it again, rechecked it and started from the beginning. The sea level has dropped in the Gulf Stream.'

  Johanson frowned. 'You mean…'

  'The gyre has altered its rotation. If you look at the multispectral scans, it's clear that the temperature is dropping as well. There's no doubt about it, Sigur. We're looking at another ice age. The Gulf Stream has stopped flowing. Something's stopped it.'

  SECURITY COUNCIL

  'It's a goddamn outrage. And someone's going to pay!'

  The President was baying for blood. The first thing he'd done on arrival at Offutt Air Force Base was to convene a National Security Council meeting over a secure video link. The teleconference linked Washington, Offutt and the Chateau. The Vice-President was sitting in the White House Situation Room, together with the defense secretary, the defense secretary's deputy, the secretary of state, the assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the head of the FBI and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Across the Potomac River, deep in the windowless interior of the Counter-terrorist Center at CIA headquarters, the director of Central Intelligence, the deputy director for Operations, and the director of the CTC and head of Special Forces, were also on screen. Commander-in-chief of the United States Central Command General Judith Li and deputy director of the CIA Jack Vanderbilt completed the line-up. They were sitting in Chateau Whistler's makeshift war room, watching the other members of the council on the long row of monitors. Most wore expressions of grim determination, though some seemed at a loss.

  The President didn't bother to disguise his wrath. That afternoon the Vice-President had suggested that the White House chief of staff should convene an emergency cabinet, but the President was determined to chair plenary meetings of the Security Council himself. He had no intention of giving up the reins.

  That suited Li perfectly.

  Li's voice wasn't the most influential in the hierarchy of advisers. The highest-ranking military position was held by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President's principal military adviser. Next came his deputy. Every last idiot had a deputy. All the same, Li knew that the President appreciated her advice, which made her ecstatically proud. Her ambitions for the future were at the forefront of her mind. Even now, as she stared in concentration at the screens, she hadn't lost sight of her dream. For the moment she was only commander-in-chief, but soon she'd be chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The current chairman was on the brink of retirement, and it was no secret that his deputy was a dud. From there, she'd switch to politics and do a stint in the Pentagon or as secretary of state. And then she could run for President. If she got things right – which meant acting 100 per cent in the interests of America – her election was as good as guaranteed. The world was teetering on the abyss, but Li was on her way up.

  'Our adversary is faceless,' the President was saving. 'Some of you are of the opinion that we should turn our attention to those parts of the world that could be the source of the threat. Others, I know, think there's nothing more to this business than a tragic build-up of natural disasters. For my part, I'm not interested in hearing any lectures. I want a consensus that will allow us to act. I want to see plans. I want to know how much it's going to cost and how long it's going to take.' His eyes narrowed. As always, the shrinking distance between his eyelids signalled growing fury and determination. 'Personally, I don't believe all that hooey about nature gone crazy. This is a war we're fighting. America is at war. So, what are we going to do?'

  The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff remarked that wars weren't won on the defensive and that it was time to go on the attack. He sounded resolute. The defense secretary frowned. 'Attack who?' she asked.

  'All I'm saying is that we need to attack,' said the chairman, authoritatively. 'Find the culprit and attack them.'

  The Vice-President made it clear that he didn't believe any terrorist organisation had the resources to carry out such a large-scale offensive. 'If anyone's attacking us,' he said, 'it has to be a state. Or an alliance of states. A political bloc or something. Jack Vanderbilt was the first to voice his suspicions, and he may well he right. We need to focus on those countries or regions capable of organising an attack of this kind.'

  'There are a number of countries with that capability,' said the director of the CIA.

  The President nodded. Ever since the CIA chief had given him a long lecture on the eve of his presidency about the CIA's list of the good, the bad and the ugly, he had been convinced that the world was peopled with godless criminals planning the downfall of the USA. He wasn't
entirely wrong. 'But can we be sure that it's one of our traditional enemies?' he asked all the same. 'After all, the whole free world is under attack, not just America.'

  'The free world?' The defense secretary snorted. 'We are the free world. Europe is part of the American free world. The freedom of Japan is the freedom of the USA. The same goes for Canada and Australia… An attack on America's freedom is an attack on freedom worldwide.' There was a piece of paper in front of him, and he banged his hand on it. It contained his notes for the day. He believed that nothing was so complicated that it couldn't be summarised on a single sheet of paper. Just to remind you all,' he added, 'we've got access to biological weapons, and so has Israel. We're the good guys. Then there's South Africa, China, Russia and India – they're ugly. Finally, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Sudan are bad. And this is a biological attack. This is bad.'

  'I thought chemical components were also involved,' said his deputy. 'Isn't that right?'

  'Let's slow down here.' The director of the CIA gestured for quiet. 'Let's start with the assumption that a campaign of this kind would require a vast amount of cash and considerable effort. Chemical weapons are cheap and easy to make, but all that biological stuff swallows a lot of resources. And remember, we're not blind. Pakistan and India are working with us. We've trained over a hundred Pakistani secret agents for covert operations. Dozens of agents are working for the CIA in Afghanistan and India, and some have excellent contacts. That's a whole region you can strike off your list. We've got paramilitary troops in Sudan, working with the opposition. In South Africa some of our friends are government ministers. The fact is, there's been no indication that anything big is under way. Our priority is to find out where money has been changing hands and where suspicious activities have been noticed. We don't need an itemised list of world villains – we need to narrow the field.'

  'As far as money is concerned,' said the director of the FBI, 'there isn't any.'

  'Meaning?'

  'The new measures on monitoring terrorist assets have allowed us to take a pretty good look at suspicious transactions. You can bet that if a large sum of money changes hands, the Treasury will know. We would have heard by now.'

  'And have you?' asked Vanderbilt.

  'Nothing. Not a peep from Africa, Asia or the Middle East. There's nothing to indicate that any state might be involved.'

  Vanderbilt cleared his throat. 'They're hardly going to tell us about it,' he said. 'It won't make the headlines of the Washington Post!

  'Like I said, we've got no-'

  'I'm sorry to disillusion you,' Vanderbilt cut in, 'but you can't seriously believe that someone who's capable of running riot in the North Sea and poisoning New York is going to show us his wallet?'

  The President's eyes were slits. 'The world is changing,' he said. 'And that means we need to be able to see into everyone's wallet. Either those bastards are too smart or we're too stupid. But no matter how goddamn smart they are, it's our job to be smarter. Starting from now.' He turned towards the director of Counter-terrorism. 'So, how smart are we?'

  The director shrugged. 'The latest warning came from India. It was about Pakistani jihadists trying to blow up the White House. The terrorists are known to us, and there isn't any danger. We were on to it before the Indians told us and we traced all of the financial transactions. The Global Response Center collects mounds of information on international terrorism every day. It's true, Mr. President. Nothing happens without us getting wind of it.'

  'And it's all quiet at the moment?'

  'It's never quiet, but there's no sign of any serious planning or financial activity. Which isn't conclusive, I guess.'

  The President's gaze shifted to the deputy director for Operations. 'I expect your team to step up its efforts,' he snapped. 'I don't care where your agents are posted or what backwater they're operating in, I'm not going to stand by and see American citizens killed, simply because someone hasn't done their homework.'

  'Of course not, sir.'

  'And in case any of you have forgotten, we're being attacked. We're at war! I need to know who we're fighting.'

  'Well, take a look at the Middle East, then,' Vanderbilt called impatiently.

  'We're doing that already,' Li said.

  The fat man sighed. He didn't bother to turn; he knew Li didn't buy his theory.

  'You can always punch yourself in the face to make it look as though you've been beaten ' said Li, 'but let's be realistic. It's all very well claiming that this is about hostile countries taking a swipe at America because they're intent on protecting their interests; but why would they hurt themselves? Sure, if it's us they're after, and it would make sense to distract us by causing trouble elsewhere – but not on that scale.'

  'That's not how we see it,' said the director of the CIA.

  'I know. But I see it this way: we're not the main target. There's too much going on, and it's all too extreme. Just imagine the amount of effort it would involve – training thousands of animals, breeding millions of new organisms, triggering a tsunami in Europe, sabotaging the fish stocks, plaguing Australia and South America with jellyfish, and wrecking tankers… No one would stand to gain anything economically or politically. But there's no denying that it's happening – and whether Jack likes it or not, the Middle East isn't exempt. Those are the facts, and I'm not going to join in and pin the blame on the Arabs.'

  'OK, so there've been a couple of minor shipping accidents in the Middle East,' growled Vanderbilt.

  'They weren't exactly minor, Jack.'

  'Maybe we're dealing with a megalomaniac,' suggested the secretary of state. 'A criminal mind.'

  'That's more plausible,' said Li. 'An individual would be able to shift large amounts of money around and dabble in technology for ostensibly respectable purposes. If you ask me, though, we need to look at it this way – someone sends us a plague of worms, so we invent something to kill them, and so on.'

  'What kind of measures have you taken so far?' asked the secretary of state.

  'We've-' the defense secretary began.

  'We've isolated New York,' Li interrupted. She didn't like other people taking the credit for her work. 'And I've just learned that the warnings about crabs in Washington have been confirmed. They've been sighted by surveillance drones. We're going to have to quarantine the city as well. The White House staff should follow the President's example and leave town for the duration of the crisis. I've ordered troops with flame-throwers to surround key coastal cities. In the meantime we're developing an antitoxin.'

  'Any plans to use submersibles and dive robots?' enquired the CIA director.

  'No. We can't release anything into the depths without it disappearing. We don't have any means of controlling things down there. ROVs, for example, are only connected via cables and, right now, scientists are lowering them into the water, and hauling up a bunch of frayed wires. The ROVs detect a blue glow, then the cables are cut. As for what's happening to the AUVs, it's impossible to say. Last week four Russian scientists set off in MIR submersibles. They were all rammed and sunk a thousand metres down.'

  'So we're abandoning the field?'

  'We're still trying to cull the worms. At the moment we're using dragnets to sweep the seabed. We're also deploying nets in strategic coastal areas to ward off marine life. It's another of our anti-invasion measures.'

  'That's a little primitive, isn't it?'

  'So are the methods of attack. In any event, we're about to start using sonar to get at the whales. We're going to deafen them with Surtass LFA. Someone's got control of the creatures, and it's high time we responded in kind. We'll turn up the volume till their eardrums explode. Then we'll see who's boss.'

  'That sucks, Li.'

  'If you've got a better idea, I'd love to hear it.'

  No one said anything.

  'How about satellite surveillance? Is that any help?' asked the President.

  'Up to a point.' The deputy dire
ctor for Operations shook his head. 'The army is accustomed to searching the jungle for camouflaged tanks.

  There aren't many systems capable of identifying objects the size of a crab. OK, so there's KH-12 and the new generation of Keyhole satellites. We're also collaborating with the Europeans on Topex/Poseidon and SAR-Lupe – but they use radar, as does Lacrosse. It all comes down to a basic problem: we have to zoom in to detect small objects, which means we have to focus on a limited section of coast. Until we know where the next invasion is likely to happen, we're almost guaranteed to have our backs turned. General Li has suggested using drones to patrol the coastline, which makes sense, although even drones can't see everything. The NRO and the NSA are doing their best to come up with information. Maybe some of the transmissions we've intercepted will offer a few more clues. We're using every possible aspect of SIGINT.'

  'Well, perhaps that's our problem,' the President said slowly. 'Maybe we should be focusing a bit more on HUMINT.'

  Li repressed a smile. HUMINT was one of the President's personal hobbyhorses. In security jargon SIGINT stood for signals intelligence, which covered all forms of intelligence-gathering that revolved around the interception of transmissions. HUMINT was all intelligence gleaned through espionage – human intelligence. The President, who was a straightforward guy with no real grasp of technology, liked to look a person in the eye. Even though he commanded the most technologically advanced army in the world, he felt more comfortable being protected by spies crawling through undergrowth than by satellites.

  'Put your guys to work,' he said. 'Some are too quick to let computer programs and service switching points do the job for them. I want less programming and more thinking.'

  The director of the CIA pressed his fingertips together. 'Well,' he said, 'I guess we shouldn't pay too much attention to the Middle East theory, after all.'

  Li glanced at Vanderbilt, who was staring rigidly ahead. 'I hope you haven't been too hasty, Jack,' she whispered.

  'Save it, Li.'