The Swarm

Neither said anything for a while. In the end Lund asked, 'What are they doing down there, Sigur?'

Johanson shrugged. 'I don't know. Maybe they really have crawled straight up from the Middle Cambrian. But I've no idea what they're up to.' He passed to consider. 'And I'm not sure if it matters. I mean, what's the worst they can do down there? They'll wriggle all over the place, sure, but they're hardly going to chew through a pipeline.'

'Well, what are they chewing, then?'

Johanson stared at the summary. 'There's one more place that might help us,' he said, 'and if they can't, we'll have to wait for a revelation.'

'I'd rather it didn't come to that.'

'I'll send off a few specimens.' Johanson yawned. 'You know what would be ideal? If they sent out their research vessel to take a proper look. At any rate, you're going to have to be patient. There's nothing we can do for the moment so, if you don't mind, I'd like some breakfast. Besides, I need to give Kare a piece of advice.'

Lund smiled, but it was clear from her expression that she wasn't satisfied.

5 April

Vancouver Island and Vancouver, Canada

Business was picking up again. Under any other circumstances Anawak would have shared wholeheartedly in Shoemaker's rejoicings. The whales were returning. The manager of Davie's could talk of nothing else. Slowly but surely they were all coming back: grey whales, humpbacks, orcas and even some minkes. Of course Anawak was pleased to see them – it was what he'd been hoping for – but he would have liked them to show up with a few answers to his questions, such as how they'd eluded the satellites and probes. He kept thinking back to his encounter with the humpbacks. He'd felt like a rat in a laboratory: the two whales had examined him as coolly and thoroughly as though he'd been laid out for dissection.

Were they spies? And, if so, what were they looking for?

It was a ridiculous idea.

He closed the ticket desk and went outside. The tourists were waiting at the end of the jetty. They looked like a Special Forces unit in their orange overalls. Anawak made his way over to them.

Someone was running after him. 'Dr Anawak!'

He stopped. Alicia Delaware was beside him, red hair scraped into a ponytail and wearing trendy blue sunglasses.

'Can I come too?'

Anawak glanced at the hull of the Blue Shark.

'We're full.'

'But I ran all the way to get here.'

'Sorry. The Lady Wexham's got a tour in half an hour. She's more luxurious, with heated indoor seating and a snack-bar. . .'

'I don't need a snack-bar. Come on, there must be room for me somewhere. How about at the back?'

'There are two of us in the cabin already – Susan and me.'

'I can stand.' Alicia smiled at him. Her large front teeth made her look like a freckled rabbit. 'Please, Dr Anawak. You're not still mad at me, are you? Your tour is the only one I want to go on.'

Anawak frowned.

'Don't look at me like that!' Delaware rolled her eves. 'I've read your books and I like your work.'

'That's not the impression I got.'

'At the aquarium?' She made a dismissive gesture. 'Forget it. Dr Anawak, I'm only here for one more day. It really means a lot to me.'

'It's against the regulations.' The excuse was lame and made him sound petty.

'God, you're stubborn,' she said. 'I'm warning you it doesn't take much to make me cry. If I can't come along, I'll be sobbing on the plane all the way to Chicago. You wouldn't want to be responsible for that.'

Anawak couldn't help laughing. 'All right. If it means that much to you, you can come.'

'Really?'

'Really. But don't get on my nerves. And try to keep your abstruse theories to yourself.'

'It wasn't my theory. It's from-'

'On second thoughts, don't say anything at all.'

She opened her mouth, then thought better of it.

'Wait here a moment,' said Anawak. I'll fetch you some waterproofs.'

For a full ten minutes Alicia Delaware stuck to her promise. Then, when the skyline of Tofino had disappeared behind the first of the tree-covered mountains, she sidled up to Anawak and held out her hand. 'Call me Licia,' she said.

'Licia?'

'From Alicia. You're Leon, right?'

He shook her hand.

'OK. Now, there's something we need to settle.'

Anawak looked at Stringer for help, but she was steering the Zodiac. 'Such as?' he asked cautiously.

'The other day at the aquarium I was acting like a stupid know-it-all and I'm sorry.'

'No problem.'

'Now it's your turn to apologise.'

'What for?'

She glanced away. 'I didn't mind you criticising my arguments in front of other people – but you shouldn't have mentioned my appearance.'

'Your appearance? I didn't… Oh God.'

'You said that if a beluga saw me doing my makeup, it would have to question my intelligence.'

'I didn't mean it like that.'

Anawak ran his hand over his thick black hair. He'd been annoyed with the girl for turning up, as he saw it, with preconceived ideas, then drawing attention to herself through her ignorance, but his angry words had hurt her. 'All right. I'm sorry.'

'Apology accepted.'

'You were citing Povinelli,' he said.

She smiled. It was proof that he was taking her seriously. In the debate about intelligence and self-awareness in primates and other animals, Daniel Povinelli was Gallup's principal critic. He supported Gallup's theory that chimpanzees who recognised themselves in the mirror must have some idea of who they were, but he rejected the claim that this meant they understood their own mental state and therefore that of others. In fact, Povinelli was far from being convinced that any animal was endowed with the psychological understanding common to humans.

'It takes guts to say what he's saying,' said Delaware. 'Povinelli's ideas seem so old-fashioned, while things are easier for Gallup – everyone likes to claim that chimpanzees and dolphins are on a par with humans.'

'Which they are,' said Anawak.

'Ethically speaking, yes.'

'That's got nothing to do with it. Ethics are a human invention.'

'No one would contest that. Least of all Povinelli.'

Anawak looked out over the bay. Some of the smaller islets were coming into view. After a while he said, 'I know what you're trying to say. You think it shouldn't be necessary to prove that animals are like humans to treat them humanely.'

'It's arrogant,' Delaware said fiercely.

'You're right. It doesn't solve anything. And yet most people would be lost without the idea that life increases in value the more it resembles our own. We still find it easier to kill animals than people. It gets tricky when you start seeing animals as relatives of mankind. Most people are aware that humans and animals are related, but they like to think of themselves as the pinnacle of creation. Few will admit that other forms of life might he as precious as their own. And that creates a dilemma: how can they treat animals or plants with the same respect as other humans when they think that the life of an ant, an ape or a dolphin is worth less than their own?'

'Hey!' She clapped her hands. 'You think the same as I do after all.'

'Almost. I think you're a bit, er, dogmatic in your approach. I believe that chimpanzees and belugas do have a certain amount in common with us psychologically.' Anawak held up his hand before she could protest. 'OK, let me put it another way. I'd say that humanity rises in the estimation of belugas the more they discover that humanity has in common with them. Assuming whales care about such things.' He grinned. 'Who knows? Some belugas might even think we're intelligent. Does that sound better?'