The Swarm (66 page)

‘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 drag nets 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 director 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.'

She leaned forward. ‘Maybe we could talk about something more positive?'

The President smiled. ‘Sounds good. Fire away, Jude.'

‘Sir, the present crisis won't go on for ever. It's up to us to think about what happens next. And in the end what really matters is who comes out
on top. The world will look different by the time this is over. A number of regimes will have been destabilised - and in some cases we won't be sad to see them go. The world is indeed facing a terrible threat, but a crisis is also a chance. If we're unhappy with a particular regime, and something undermines it, maybe we can speed things along and make sure the right successor is in place.'

‘Hmm.' The President was thinking.

After a moment's reflection, the secretary of state said, ‘So the question isn't so much who started this war, but who's going to come out victorious?'

‘Don't get me wrong. The civilised world will have to rally together against our invisible foe,' said Li. ‘If the situation continues, our allies are going to look increasingly to the UN for guidance. That's fine for the moment. I'm not saying we should push ourselves forward, but we should be waiting in the wings, ready to offer our help. When it comes down to it,
we
need to win. And anyone who's ever threatened or opposed us should wind up on the side of the losers. The more we can influence the outcome of the situation, the clearer the divide between victors and losers.'

‘That's a nice firm standpoint,' said the President.

There were a few nods of approval, with a hint of irritation. Li leaned back. She'd said enough. In fact, she'd said more than her position on the council warranted, but her words had made an impression. She'd alienated a few guys whose job it was to come up with that kind of stuff, but so what? She'd been well received in Offutt.

‘OK,' said the President. ‘We should keep that suggestion in mind, but we shouldn't lose sight of other options. The last thing we want is the rest of the world thinking we're intent on taking over. How are your scientists progressing, Jude?'

‘In my opinion, sir, they're our biggest asset.'

‘When can we see some results?'

‘We're meeting tomorrow. Major Peak will be present as well. I've instructed him to leave New York - he can deal with the crisis from here.'

‘It's time you addressed the nation,' said the Vice-President.

‘Absolutely.' The President banged his fist on the table. ‘Our communications team needs to rally the speechwriters. I want something frank, not
it'll-be-all-right-you'll-see
, but something that'll give them hope.'

‘Any mention of a possible aggressor?'

‘No. I want this handled as a natural disaster. We're not even sure yet where we stand, and besides, the public is anxious enough. We need to reassure them that we're doing everything in our power to protect them. And they need to believe that we have that power. That we're ready and prepared. That we can handle anything. America isn't merely a place of freedom, it's a place of safety. No matter what comes out of the ocean, America is safe. They need to believe that. And one more thing: I want you all to pray. It's God's country, and He'll be with us. He'll give us the power to emerge from this victorious.'

New York, USA

We can't handle it
. That was the only thought in Peak's mind as he clambered into the helicopter. We're not prepared for this. Nothing we can do will stem the horror.