No one said anything. 'But we shouldn't be so hard on them,' Skaugen went on. 'What if Neil Armstrong had stayed in the shuttle just because of some worm! And, as I said, I was talking hypothetically. The JNOC has found a similar worm species off the coast of Japan, but the director assures me that they first came across it in the past three days. What an amazing coincidence.'

'Oh, crap,' said Hvistendahl, softly.

'And what does the JNOC intend to do?' asked Lund.

'Well, I imagine they'll inform their government. They're a state-run company, like Statoil. They can't afford to keep quiet – not that they would ever have been tempted to do so. God forbid! I might call the South Americans later, to see if they can find the worm as well. Imagine their shock if they did! They'd call straight back and tell us right away. And just for the record, in case anyone thinks I'm pissing all over the others, we're no better.'

'That's a bit-' said Hvistendahl.

'You don't agree?'

'We didn't know how serious it was until now.' Hvistendahl seemed put out. 'And, besides, telling the government was my recommendation too.'

I'm not accusing you of anything,' Skaugen said pointedly.

Johanson felt as if he was in a play. Skaugen was stage-managing Stone's execution, that much was clear. A look of grim satisfaction was spreading over Lund's face. But hadn't Stone found the worm in the first place?

'Clifford.' Lund broke the silence. 'When did you come across the worm?'

Stone's face paled. 'You should know,' he said. 'You were there.'

'You hadn't seen it before?'

'Before?'

'Like last year. When you decided to take matters into your own hands and build the Kongsberg prototype – a thousand metres under water.'

'What the hell is your problem?' Stone hissed. He glanced at Skaugen. 'I wasn't acting on my own. I had their backing. Come off it, Finn, what are you trying to suggest?'

'Oh, you had our backing all right,' said Skaugen. 'You said you'd be testing a new type of subsea unit designed for a maximum depth of a thousand metres.'

'Right.'

'Testing.'

'Well, of course you have to test it. Everything you do right up until production is one long test. You'd practically given me the go-ahead.' He turned to Hvistendahl. 'You too, Thor. You ran the trials in your lab and gave the OK.'

'That's true,' said Hvistendahl. 'We did.'

'Well, there you go then.'

'We asked you,' continued Skaugen, 'to investigate the site and take advice on whether it was prudent to construct a unit that hadn't been fully tested-'

'You can't do this to me!' Stone said angrily. 'That unit was approved.'

'- then get it up and running on a trial basis. Yes, we were prepared to take that risk. Providing all the reports were in favour.'

Stone leaped to his feet. 'Which they were,' he said, trembling with rage.

'Sit down,' said Skaugen, coldly. 'I've got news for you. Yesterday we lost contact with the Kongsherg prototype.'

Stone froze. Then he said, 'I'm not directly involved in monitoring the prototype. I didn't build the unit, just drove the project forward. What are you accusing me of? Of not knowing what's going on?'

'No. The seriousness of the present circumstances compelled us to reconstruct the exact chain of events leading to the building of the prototype. During our investigations we came across two reports that you seem to have… how shall I put it?… omitted to mention.'

Stone's fingers gripped the tabletop. He wobbled. Then he recovered himself His face was expressionless. 'I don't know anything about it.'

'One of the reports states that the exact location of the hydrates and gas pockets proved difficult to chart. It concludes that the risk of hitting a pocket was minimal, although it couldn't be ruled out.'

'The risk was negligible,' said Stone, hoarsely. 'For the past year the unit's productivity has exceeded all our expectations.'

'Negligible isn't good enough.'

'But we didn't hit any gas pockets! We're extracting oil. The unit works. The prototype's been a resounding success – successful enough to convince you to launch a proper unit and this time make it official.'

'The second report,' said Lund, 'states that you found an unidentified worm that colonises hydrates.'

'For God's sake, yes, all right. It was the ice worm.'

'Did you examine it?'

'Why the hell would I?'

'Did anyone examine it?'

'It was… Of course we examined it.'

'The report says it resembled an ice worm. There was no conclusive verdict. It mentions large numbers of the creatures. Apparently their effect on the environment was unknown, although methane was detected in the water around them.'

Stone's face was white. 'That's not quite… not quite true. The worms were confined to a limited area.'

'But in that area there were thousands of them.'

'We built to one side of it. I didn't think the report. . . Well, it wasn't relevant.'

'Were you able to classify the worm?' Skaugen asked calmly.

'We were certain that it-'

'Could you classify it?'

Stone's jaws were grinding. 'No,' he conceded, after a long pause.

'Fine,' said Skaugen. 'In that case, Cliff, you're released from your duties for the moment. Tina will take your place.'

'You can't do that!'

'We'll discuss it later.'

Stone turned to Hvistendahl, who avoided his eyes. 'For Christ's sake, Thor, the unit worked fine.'

'You've been a fool,' said Hvistendahl levelly.

Suddenly Stone looked crushed. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I didn't mean to. I only wanted to get the unit up and running.'

Johanson felt embarrassed for him. He'd wanted to be the first to launch a successful prototype. The subsea unit was his baby, a unique chance for him to further his career, so he'd decided to ignore the worms.

For a while it had worked. There'd been a successful year of unofficial tests, then the official start, a production run and the conquering of new depths. It could have been Stone's victory parade. But the worm had appeared again. And this time it wasn't restricted to a few square metres.

Skaugen rubbed his eyes. 'I apologise for dragging you into this, Dr Johanson,' he said, 'but you're part of the team.'

'So I see.'

'The fact is, things are off-kilter all over the world. Accidents, anomalies and so on. People are getting nervous, and oil companies are useful scapegoats. We can't afford to make mistakes. Can we still count on you, Dr Johanson?'

Johanson sighed. Then he nodded.

'Good. That's what we thought. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's entirely your decision. But since you may find yourself needing to invest more time in your role as scientific coordinator, we took the liberty of approaching the NTNU.'

Johanson sat up. 'You did what?'

'We asked if you might take leave of absence. I also put your name forward to the government.'

Johanson was dumbstruck. Then he recovered himself 'Hang on a minute-'

'It's a proper research post,' interrupted Lund. 'Statoil will provide the budget, and you'll get all the help you need.'

'I would have preferred to be-'

'I can see that you're annoyed,' said Skaugen, 'and I understand why. But I'm sure you're aware of how critical the situation is out there. Apart from the Geomar people, no one is half as well informed as you are. You don't have to accept, of course, but it's in the public interest that you do.'

Johanson felt sick with rage. He had a scathing retort on the tip of his tongue, but he bit it back. 'I see,' he said stiffly.

'Do you accept, then?'

'I couldn't possibly refuse.' He shot Lund a look, hoping it would slice her in two. She looked away.

'Believe me, Dr Johanson,' Skaugen said gravely, 'Statoil is very grateful to you. You've already earned our utmost respect and admiration for everything you've done. But I'd like you to know that in me, at least, you've gained a friend. I'm sorry if we bulldozed you into this, but when this is all resolved you can run me over in any kind of vehicle you like. You can nail me to a cross, if it helps.'