In front of him was a paved area, with a line of barracks on both sides. Beyond that, the superstructure of an enormous ship rose from the ground. The Barrier Queen was lying in a basin a good 250 metres long. There were cranes on either side of her, mounted on tracks. Powerful floodlights lit the area. There was no one in sight.
As he crossed the tarmac, keeping an eye open for any movement, he questioned the wisdom of what he was doing. The ship must have been out of the water for weeks. They'd have removed the outcrop and anything hidden within it. Any scraps in the scratches and cracks would have dried out by now. There'd be no sign of the thing that had lurked among the mussels. All in all, Anawak wasn't sure what he stood to gain from inspecting the vessel again. It was a stab in the dark. If there was anything that might be useful to Nanaimo, he'd take it with him. If not, the adventure would only have cost him an evening.
The thing on the keel.
It had been no bigger than a skate or a squid and it had produced a flash of light. Lots of sea creatures did that: cephalopods, jellyfish, deep-sea fish. But Anawak was convinced that it was precisely the kind of flash that he and Ford had seen on the tape. The luminous cloud was many times bigger than the thing he'd seen, but the flashes of light had reminded him of what had happened beneath the Barrier Queen. If the same organism had appeared in both places, things were hotting up. The substance on the keel, the stuff inside the whales' brains and the thing in the dock all seemed identical.
The whales are just part of the problem – the only part we can see.
He spotted jeeps parked in front of the barracks. Light shone out of the building's windows. He stopped. They were military jeeps. What was the army doing here? Suddenly it occurred to him that he was standing without shelter in the glare of the floodlights. He crouched and hurried on until he neared the edge of the basin. He was so preoccupied with the presence of the vehicles that it was a few seconds before be grasped what he was seeing. His eyes widened. He forgot the jeeps and took a step closer.
The Barrier Queen was floating. He'd expected to see her resting on blocks. Why hadn't they drained it? Had they finished repairing the rudder? But then they wouldn't need the dock.
All of a sudden he knew the answer.
In his excitement he dropped his bag, which hit the ground with a thud. Startled, he glanced down the empty jetty. It was noticeably darker now. Floodlights cast their white-green beams along the dock. He listened for footsteps, but all he could hear was the noise of the city.
Faced with the basin full of water he wondered whether he was making a mistake. But he was frustrated by the committee's secrecy, and besides he'd come all this way. In any case, he'd be out of there in twenty minutes.
Anawak opened his holdall. It contained everything he needed to dive. If the Barrier Queen had been in the floating docks, it would have made sense to approach her from the sea. But this way was easier.
It was perfect.
He stripped to the waist, then took off his jeans and located his mask, fins and pen torch. Then he strapped his collection bag round his waist. His leg-mounted dive knife completed his gear. He wouldn't need oxygen. He stowed the holdall behind a bollard, gathered up his equipment and hurried along the edge of the basin till he reached a narrow ladder leading down to the water. He took a last look at the jetty. Light was still shining from the barracks, but no one was about. Noiselessly he made his way down, pulled on his mask and flippers and slipped into the water.
The biting cold cut through him. Without a protective layer of neoprene he had to be quick. Switching on his torch, he dived, kicking powerfully in the direction of the keel. The water was clearer than it had been in the dock, and he had a distinct view of the metal hull ahead, the red paint glowing in the torch light. He ran his fingers over the surface, paused, then pushed off and swam down.
After a few metres the ship's side disappeared under a dense coating of mussels. The crust on the keel was as thick as ever. Half-way towards the bow it seemed almost as though the outcrop had grown. So that was the explanation: the crust and its resident organisms were being examined in situ. The dry dock had been turned into a hermetically sealed laboratory, and flooded with water.
Suddenly he understood the significance of the military jeeps. If Nanaimo, a civilian institute, had been squeezed out of the affair, there could only be one explanation: the army had taken control of the investigation. Now it was classified.
There was still time to pull out, he thought. Then he dismissed the idea. He pulled out his knife and cut through the outcrop. Careful not to damage the shells, he prised the mussels from the hull, gently inserting the blade beneath the muscular foot, then jerking up. He was focused and systematic. One after another the mussels went into the bag.
He could no longer ignore the need for oxygen. He put away the knife and swam up for a breath. The ship's side towered above him, a vertical wall. Next time he dived he'd look for a spot like the one the luminescent thing had emerged from. Maybe there were more of those creatures in the outcrop.
He was just about to swim down when he heard footsteps.
He turned and peered up at the side of the basin. Two figures were on the move, half-way between a pair of floodlights.
They were looking at the water.
Without a sound he slipped beneath the surface. They were probably sentries, he thought. Or people working late. He'd have to be careful when he climbed out.
Then he remembered they could see his torch in the water and switched it off Darkness surrounded him.
Which way had they been heading? Towards the stern. Maybe he could swim to the bow and carry on his investigation there. Kicking evenly, he set off. After a while he surfaced again and turned on to his back, eyes trained on the sides of the basin. No one.
As he drew level with the anchor, he dived. He felt his way tentatively along the hull. More mounds of mussels. He was looking for a chink or a dip but there was none. He needed to fill his bag with mussels and get out of there. In his haste he became careless about how he detached the mussels. His hands were trembling and his fingers were numb.
His fingers…
Then he realised he could see them. His arms and legs were glowing too. No, the water was glowing. A deep luminescent blue.
Oh, God…
A harsh light blinded him. Instinctively he raised his hands to shield his eyes. Flashes of light. The cloud. What was happening?
He realised that he'd been found. He was in the beam of an underwater floodlight, and the keel was steeped in cold white light. He saw the grooved mounds of mussels and shivered.
For a moment he didn't know what to do. But there was no other way. He had to get back to the stern and towards the ladder where his bag was waiting. Heart beating wildly, he sped past the harsh shafts of light. He was running out of air, but he didn't want to come up until he reached the ladder.
There it was, zigzagging towards the bottom.
His hands clung to the rungs and he pulled himself up. Above him he heard shouts and running footsteps. He pulled off his fins and mask, clipped the torch to his belt and climbed up until he could see over the edge.
Three gun barrels were pointing towards him.
IN THE BARRACKS Anawak was given a blanket. He'd tried to explain to the soldiers that he was on the scientific arm of the committee, but they weren't prepared to listen. Their job was to make sure he didn't get away. When it was clear that he wasn't going to resist or make a break for freedom, they took him back to the barracks, where there were more soldiers and an officer who peppered him with questions. Anawak knew it was pointless to lie, since he wouldn't be allowed to leave anyway, so he told him who he was and what he was doing there.