The Swarm (69 page)

It was astonishing.

Johanson would never have expected it, but the professional spies, arch-conservative defence advisers and counter-terrorist experts were almost unanimously on his side. One commented, ‘I'm a reasonable kind of guy. If I hear something that seems to make sense, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. If the alternative explanation has to be pounded into shape before it fits the mould of our experience, it seems to me that it's unlikely to be true.'

Peak was the first to desert from Vanderbilt's team. Frost, Shankar and Roche followed suit.

In the end, an exhausted Vanderbilt suggested they take a break.

They left the room and headed for the buffet, where fresh juice, coffee and cake awaited them. Weaver squeezed in next to Anawak. ‘You didn't take much persuading,' she said. ‘How come?'

Anawak looked at her and smiled. ‘Coffee?'

‘Yes, please. And milk.'

He poured it and handed her the cup. Weaver was only marginally smaller than him. Suddenly it struck him that he'd liked her ever since he'd set eyes on her, when he'd seen her on the forecourt of the Chateau.

‘I suppose not,' he said. ‘It's a well-reasoned theory.'

‘Is that all? Or does it have something to do with you believing in animal intelligence?'

‘I don't. I just believe in intelligence in general. Animals are animals and people are people. If we could prove that dolphins are as intelligent as we are then, logically, they wouldn't be animals.'

‘Do you think that's so?'

‘No. And if we judge them by human criteria we'll never know. Do you think humans are intelligent?'

Weaver laughed. ‘If you're talking about one human, yes…but lots of them together make an unenlightened mob.'

That was his kind of answer. ‘Exactly! And the same applies to—'

‘Dr Anawak?' One of the intelligence agents was hurrying towards him. ‘You're Dr Anawak, aren't you?'

‘Yes.'

‘You're wanted on the phone.'

Anawak frowned. They weren't directly contactable in the Chateau, but there was a number for relatives to call in case of emergencies. Li had asked the delegates to distribute it with caution. Shoemaker had the number. Did anyone else?

‘It's in the lobby,' said the man. ‘Or would you like me to have the call transferred to your room?'

‘No, that's fine. I can come right away.'

‘See you later,' Weaver called after him.

He followed the man through the lobby. A row of makeshift telephone booths had been erected in a side aisle.

‘Take this one, right here,' said the man. ‘I'll get the call put through to you. The phone will ring. Answer it, and you'll be connected with Tofino.'

Shoemaker.

Anawak waited. It rang. He picked up. ‘Leon,' said Shoemaker, ‘sorry to disturb you. I know you've got important stuff to do but—'

‘No problem. Thanks for dinner last night. It was great.'

‘Oh, yes…Right…Well, I'm afraid this is important too. It's, um…' Shoemaker sighed. ‘Leon, I've got some sad news. We had a call from Cape Dorset.'

It was as though someone had pulled the carpet from under his feet. He knew what was coming.

‘Leon, your father's died.'

He stood motionless in the phone booth.

‘Leon?'

‘It's OK, I…'

But it wasn't OK at all.

Li

‘Extra-terrestrials?' The President seemed remarkably composed.

‘Not exactly,' said Li. They'd been through this countless times already. ‘Not extra-terrestrials, inhabitants of our planet. A rival species, if you like.'

The Chateau was hooked up via satellite link to Offutt Air Force Base. In addition to the President, the delegation in Offutt was made up of the defense secretary, the assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs, the secretary of Homeland Security, the secretary of state and the director of the CIA. There could no longer be any doubt that Washington would suffer the same fate as New York. The city had been evacuated, and practically the entire cabinet had decamped to Nebraska. The retreat inland had gone largely to plan: this time they'd been prepared for it.

Li, Vanderbilt and Peak were participating in the briefing from the Chateau. Li could tell that the Offutt contingent loathed being stuck at the air base. The CIA director longed to be back in his office on the sixth floor of the agency's headquarters on the Potomac River. He secretly envied the director of Counter-terrorism who had flatly refused to evacuate his staff.

‘Get your people to safety,' he'd ordered him.

‘This isn't a natural disaster, this is a planned attack,' the reply had come. ‘A terrorist attack. We need those guys in the Global Response Center to stay at their computers and keep working. Their role is crucial. They're our window on terrorism, and they're not going anywhere.'

‘New York is under siege from biological killers,' the CIA director had countered. ‘Don't you know what's happening there? Washington won't be any different.'

‘The Global Response Center wasn't created so that it could close its doors at the critical moment.'

‘Sure, but those guys could die.'

‘Then they'll die.'

The defense secretary was also wishing himself back in his spacious office at the Pentagon, and the President was by nature the sort of person who had to be held down to prevent him commandeering a plane and flying back to the White House. People could say what they liked about him, but he wasn't a coward. In fact, he was so unflinching that some of his critics suspected he was simply too stupid to experience fear.

Offutt Air Force Base had all the facilities to serve as a seat of government, but they'd had to
flee
there. And that, Li figured, was why the idea of intelligent oceanic beings had met with instant approbation. The thought of fleeing from a human adversary, whose offensive had left them stymied, was too much of a humiliation for the administration to bear. Johanson's theory cast events in a different light. Retrospectively it
cleared the intelligence agents, the Department of Defense and the President of blame.

‘So what do you think,' the President asked the council, ‘is this possible or not?'

‘What I personally believe doesn't matter either way,' the defense secretary said tersely. ‘The scientists at the Chateau are the experts. If they think this is the explanation, then we need to take it seriously and consider our next step.'

‘Take it seriously?' Vanderbilt echoed incredulously. ‘Aliens? Little green men?'

‘They're not aliens as such,' Li put in patiently.

‘I guess it presents us with an entirely new dilemma,' said the secretary of state. ‘Supposing the theory's right. How much do we divulge to the public?'

‘To the public?' the CIA director queried. ‘Nothing. The whole world would be plunged into chaos.'

‘It already
is
in chaos.'

‘That's not the point. The media would hang us out to dry. They'd say we'd gone nuts. They'd never believe us. They wouldn't
want
to believe us. The existence of another intelligent species would shake the foundations of what it means to be human.'

‘That's a religious issue.' The defense secretary made a dismissive gesture. ‘Politically speaking, it's irrelevant.'

‘
Politics
are irrelevant,' said Peak. ‘There's nothing out there but suffering and fear. You should take a trip to Manhattan and see for yourself. People who've never been to church are praying on their knees.'

The President gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. ‘We need to reflect,' he said, ‘on what the Lord's intention might be.'

‘With all due respect, sir, I wasn't aware He was part of this council,' said Vanderbilt. ‘He isn't even on our side.'

‘That's a pretty bad attitude, Jack.' The President frowned.

‘Good, bad, what does it matter? I judge an opinion on whether it makes sense. Everyone here seems to think there's some truth to this theory. Which makes me wonder if I'm the dope or—'

‘Jack,' the CIA director warned him.

‘Oh, I'd be happy to concede that it's me - once I've seen some
proof
. I'm not going to believe in this gang of bad guys in the water until I've
spoken to the little schmucks in person. But until then you need to think seriously before you dismiss the possibility of a large-scale terrorist attack. We can't afford to let down our guard.'

Li laid a hand on his arm. ‘Jack, why would terrorists attack us from the depths?'

‘To make people like you believe we're being bullied by E.T. And it's working, for Christ's sake - it's actually working.'

‘We're not stupid, you know,' the national security adviser said irritably. ‘No one's going to let down their guard. Frankly, Vanderbilt, your terrorism obsession isn't going to get us anywhere. We can search all we like for crazed mullahs and stinking rich arch-villains, but in the meantime the continental slope's going to cave in, our cities will be flooded and innocent Americans will die. So what do you suggest we
do?
'

Vanderbilt crossed his arms. He looked like a smouldering Buddha.

‘You know what, Jack?' Li said slowly. ‘I think you just made a suggestion.'

‘Namely?'

‘To talk to the little schmucks. Make contact.'

The President pressed his fingertips together. His voice was measured. ‘This is a test for all humanity. Perhaps God intended two powerful races to inhabit this planet - maybe the Good Book was right about the horned beast that comes up from the water. “Replenish the Earth, and subdue it.” Those were the Lord's instructions, and He didn't give them to any kind of monster in the sea.'

‘Hell, no,' grumbled Vanderbilt. ‘He preached it to America directly.'

‘This could be the final battle in the fight against evil.' The President straightened in his chair. ‘And we've been appointed by God to fight for Him–and win.'

‘Perhaps,' said Li, seizing on the idea, ‘whoever wins this battle will govern the earth.'

Peak gave her a sideways look and said nothing.

‘I think we should have a frank discussion with the other NATO states and the EU,' said the secretary of state, ‘after which, we'll have to put the UN in the picture.'

Li jumped in: ‘Of course, the UN won't be capable of handling this kind of operation, and we'll need to make that clear. Sure, they'll have people with know-how and ideas, and there's no reason why we shouldn't pick their brains. Let's enlist the help of our Asian and African
allies as well - that sends out the right kind of message. But this is
our
chance to position ourselves at the head of the international community. Mankind isn't about to be wiped from the face of the Earth by a meteorite. This is a terrible threat we're facing, but we're going to overcome it - provided we get things right.'

‘Have your counter-measures proven successful?' asked the national security adviser.

‘We're running an international campaign to find an anti-serum that will protect against the toxins. Initiatives are under way to stop the advance of the crabs, bring a halt to the whale attacks and get rid of the worms - which is proving trickier than expected. We've taken all kinds of measures to contain the risks, but conventional solutions won't be enough. There's nothing we can do about the Gulf Stream, and the methane crisis is beyond our control. We could keep fishing worms out of the ocean in their millions, but if we can't see where they're coming from, there'll always be fresh plagues. Without the capacity to send down divers, probes or subs, we're as good as blind. Anything could be going on down there. In the course of this afternoon I was informed that two large drag nets have been lost near Georges Bank. In addition to that, there's no sign of the three trawlers that we'd dispatched to the Laurentian valley to sweep the seabed. Recon planes are out looking for them, but conditions are terrible. The Grand Banks are to the east of there, and the fog never lifts. Besides, a storm's been raging for the past two days.' She paused. ‘There are thousands of other examples I could give you. All the reports coming in bear witness to our failure. OK, so the drone surveillance is working well, and troops with flame-throwers are beating back the crabs - but it's only temporary. They just crawl ashore elsewhere. The fact is, as far as the oceans are concerned, we don't call the shots. We never really called them in the first place, but now…'

‘What about the sonar offensive?'

‘We're still pressing ahead with it, but we're not anticipating any significant success. The only way we can get it to work is by killing the whales. They don't flee from the noise, as any creature with healthy instincts would do. I guess they're in horrible pain, but they don't have a choice - they're not in control. They're still terrorising the waters.'

‘Speaking of control,' said the defense secretary, ‘have you identified a strategy?'

‘I'd say we're looking at a five-point plan. The first step is to clear the waters of all human presence, whether on the surface or in the depths. Step two is to expel or annihilate the coastal population, as with northern Europe. Step three aims to destroy our infrastructure - the offshore industry in northern Europe would be a case in point. The disruption of the fishing industry also falls into this category - it's going to cause us some serious issues with malnutrition, especially in third-world countries. Step four targets the major cities, the pillars of our civilisation - urban populations are forced to retreat inland. And, finally, step five, the climate shifts, and the Earth becomes uninhabitable for our species. It either freezes or floods, warms up or cools down, or maybe all of those - we don't know the details.'