Free The Swarm by Frank Schätzing

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    Johanson remembered the bottle of Bordeaux and the French and Italian cheeses in his suitcase. He went to look for Lund and found her conducting a pre-dive check on the robot. The three-metre-high open-sided box was suspended from the hydraulic boom. The outer casing of its lid bore the name ‘Victor’. Cameras and an articulated arm were mounted on the front.
    Lund beamed at him. ‘Impressed?’
    Johanson dutifully looped back around Victor .
    â€˜It’s a great big yellow vacuum cleaner,’ he said.
    â€˜Spoilsport.’
    â€˜How much does it weigh?’
    â€˜Four tonnes. Hey Jean!’ A thin man with red hair peered out from behind a cable drum. Lund beckoned him over. ‘Jean-Jacques Alban is first officer. He keeps the Thorvaldson afloat,’ said Lund. ‘Jean, I’ve got stuff to get on with. You’ll look after Sigur for me, won’t you?’ She hurried off. The two men watched her go.
    â€˜I expect you’ve got more important things to do than explain Victor to me,’ said Johanson.
    â€˜Oh, it’s no problem. You’re from the NTNU, right? I gather you’ve been examining the worms.’
    â€˜Why’s Statoil so interested in them?’
    Alban made a dismissive gesture. ‘It’s the characteristics of the slope that we care about, really. We found the worms by accident. I reckon the problem’s all in Tina’s mind.’
    â€˜But isn’t that why you’re here? I mean because of the worms,’ said Johanson, surprised.
    â€˜Is that what she told you?’ Alban shook his head. ‘No, that’s only part of the mission. We’ll follow it up, of course, as we always do, but ourmain task is to clear the way for an underwater monitoring station. The idea is to build it on top of the oilfield, so if the site seems safe, we can install a subsea unit.’
    â€˜Tina mentioned something about a SWOP.’
    Alban looked at him uneasily. ‘Er, no. As far as I’m aware, the subsea processor is a done deal. I don’t think there’s been a change of plan.’
    So, no floating platforms, then. Johanson decided to quiz him about the robot.
    â€˜It’s a Victor 6000, a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV,’ Alban explained. ‘It’s got a working depth of six thousand metres and can stay under water for days at a time. We guide its movements from the boat - a cable leading up to the control room delivers its data simultaneously. The next trip is a forty-eight-hour recce. We’ll get it to fetch you a handful of worms - Statoil prides itself on preserving biodiversity.’ He paused. ‘What do you make of the creatures?’
    â€˜It’s too early to say,’ said Johanson.
    There was a clunk and Johanson watched as the boom hoisted Victor off the deck.
    â€˜Follow me,’ said Alban. They headed amidships towards five shed-sized containers. ‘Most vessels aren’t equipped for using Victor, but since we could accommodate it, we borrowed it from the Polarstern .’
    â€˜What’s in the containers?’
    â€˜The hydraulic unit for the winch, plus some other bits of machinery. The one at the front is home to the ROV control room. Mind your head.’
    They stepped through a low door. Inside, over half of the space was taken up by the control panel and twin banks of screens. Some were switched off, but the rest showed navigational data and operational feedback from the ROV. A group of men sat with Lund at the consoles.
    â€˜The guy in the middle is the pilot,’ Alban murmured. ‘To his right, the co-pilot operates the articulated arm. Victor’s very sensitive and precise, but the operator has to be equally skilled in telling it what to do. The next seat along belongs to the co-ordinator. He maintains contact with the watch officer on the bridge to ensure that the vessel and the robot work together. The scientists are over