Li waited for him to continue.

'Like I said, they collected their sample,' Vanderbilt was enjoying every word, 'but they didn't get it back on board. The worms were already in the bag, so to speak – then something cut the cables. We lost both robots. Same story in Japan. A manned submersible on a worm-collecting mission went missing somewhere between Honshu and Hokkaido and according to the Japanese, the worms are spreading. I think we can safely say that things are stepping up a gear. At first, only divers were being attacked, but now it's subs, underwater probes and robots.'

'Any signs of suspicious activity?'

'Nothing conclusive – no enemy probes or submersibles around at the time. But NOAA's vessel picked up a sheet of something moving in the water at a depth of seven hundred metres. It extended over several kilometres. Their chief scientist is ninety per cent sure that it was a plankton shoal, but he can't swear to it.'

Li thought of Johanson. She almost regretted that he wasn't there to listen.

'Next up, deep-sea cables. They're still being destroyed. Of the major transatlantic links, ANTAT-3 and a number of the TAT cables have now gone down. Apparently we've also lost PACRIM WEST in the Pacific, one of our main links to Australia. In addition to that, the past two days have seen a proliferation of shipping accidents, all taking place in the busiest shipping lanes. There are two hundred main chokepoints in the world, and roughly half have been affected, in particular the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca and the English Channel. There was trouble in the Panama Canal too and… well, we probably shouldn't make too much of it, but there's news of a pile-up in the Strait of Hormuz and in the Khalij as-Suways, which is, um, in…'

Vanderbilt didn't seem as cynical or arrogant as usual, and now Li knew why. 'I know where Khalij as-Suways is,' she said. 'You mean the Gulf of Suez. It runs between the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Which means two major Arab shipping hubs have been hit.'

'Bingo, baby. There were navigation problems. A new variety, incidentally. It's difficult to reconstruct exactly what happened, but the crash in the Strait of Hormuz involved seven vessels. At least two had no idea where they were going. The speed log and depth sounders had clearly screwed up.'

Four pieces of technology were essential for the safety of any ship: radar, anemometer, depth sounders and speed log. Radar scanning and wind speed measurement took place above the waterline, but the depth sounders opened out on to the keel, as did the speed log, a pitot tube with an integrated sensor that measured the speed of the water. It was basically the ship's speedometer. While the log provided the ship's radar system with data on the course and speed of the vessel, the radar calculated the risk of colliding with other objects and came up with alternative routes. Generally speaking, the crew blindly accepted the instruments' readings – blindly, since 70 per cent of the time it was either dark, foggy or choppy, so there wasn't any view.

'According to the reports, one craft had marine life clinging to its speed log,' said Vanderbilt. 'As far as the log was concerned, the vessel was at a standstill, so the radar failed to register the danger of collision, even though it was surrounded by ships. In the case of the other vessel, the depth sounder started claiming that the depth was diminishing. The water was plenty deep enough, but the crew were convinced they were about to run aground so they began to manoeuvre. Both ships smashed into other vessels, and because it was dark, a few more joined in. Similar antics have been going on all over the world. We've even heard claims that whales were swimming beneath the boats in the run-up to the crashes.'

'Well, that makes sense,' Li said thoughtfully. 'If a large object were to block the depth sounder for a significant amount of time, it could easily be mistaken for firm ground.'

'On top of all that, we're also seeing more infested rudders and thrusters. Sea-chests are still getting clogged – increasingly effectively. We've just had news of an iron-ore freighter sinking off the coast of India – apparently a case of accelerated corrosion, brought on by an infestation that had built up over weeks. The sea was perfectly calm, but its forehold just caved in. It sank within minutes. And so it goes on. There's no sign of a let-up. In fact, it's getting worse. And then you've got the toxic plague.'

Li pressed the tips of her fingers together, turning it all over in her mind.

It was ridiculous. But so were ships. Peak was absolutely right. They were outdated steel coffers that used high-tech navigation while slurping cooling water through a hole in the keel. And now crabs were invading twenty-first-century cities, getting mangled by cars and dumping tonnes of toxic algae into the sewers. They'd already had to barricade one city, and it wouldn't be long before they had to barricade the next. Even the President had been forced to flee inland.

'We need some more of those worms,' said Li. 'And we have to do something about the algae.'

'I couldn't agree more.' Vanderbilt did his best to sound obsequious.

His men were sitting on either side of him, faces expressionless, eyes fixed on Li. Strictly speaking, it was Vanderbilt's job to come up with a suggestion, but he was no fonder of Li than she was of him. He wasn't about to help her.

But Li didn't need Vanderbilt to come to a decision. 'First,' she said, 'as soon as we know if those reports are true, we're going to evacuate Washington. Second, I want tankers filled with drinking water to be sent to the affected areas. Supplies will be strictly rationed. We'll drain the pipes and burn those bugs with chemicals.'

Vanderbilt laughed. His men started grinning. 'Drain the pipes? Stop New York's drinking water?'

'Yes.'

'Great idea. Once we've killed the New Yorkers with chemicals, we can put the city up for rent. Maybe the Chinese would be interested? I heard they might be running out of space.'

'I don't care how you do it, Jack – I'll leave that up to you. I'm going to ask the President to call a plenary meeting of the Security Council so we can declare a state of emergency.'

'Of course!'

'We're going to close down the coastline. I want to see drones patrolling our shores, and troops in protective clothing on stand-by with flamethrowers. From now on, anything that tries to crawl out of the sea is going to get barbecued.' She stood up. 'As for the whales, it's about time we stopped acting like frightened kids. I want our vessels to be able to sail when and where they like – and that means every single boat, without exception. Let's see how they respond to psychological warfare.'

'What are you going to do to them, Jude? Give them a good talking-to?'

'No.' Li gave a thin smile. 'I'm going to hunt them down. Those whales and their masters need to be taught a lesson. To hell with animal conservation. From now on, they're going to get shot.'

'You want to take on the IWC?'

'No. We're going to blast them with sonar – and keep blasting them until they leave us in peace.'

NEW YORK, USA

Right in front of him, a man collapsed and died. Peak was sweating beneath his heavy protective suit. Breathing through an oxygen mask, he looked out through bulletproof goggles on a city that in the course of one night, had been turned into hell.

The sergeant sitting beside him steered the jeep slowly along First Avenue. Entire blocks of the East Village seemed deserted. Every now and then they'd spot a group of people being herded together by the military. The main problem was that no one could be allowed to leave the city until they knew for certain that the illness couldn't be spread. It didn't seem contagious. In fact, the scenes around them reminded Peak of a large-scale poison-gas attack. But still he felt doubtful. Many of the victims had coin-sized sores on their bodies. If New York was in the grip of killer algae, they weren't just releasing clouds of airborne toxin: they were clinging to the skin of their victims too. Theoretically, that meant they were present in bodily fluids. Peak was no biologist, but he couldn't help wondering what would happen if a diseased individual were to kiss a healthy one and pass on their saliva. The algae could survive in water, were comfortable in a wide range of temperatures, and multiplied, as far as he could tell, at an incredible speed.