Two more intersections passed by before they heard anything other than the shuffle of their own footfalls. A set of eyes burned at them to their left, just as they crossed through another intersection. A hand reached out for Shields but caught the trailing Montez instead.

  Shields’ flight-not-fight mentality ushered him onward, but his feelings for Montez forced him into action. He grabbed the person’s arm and somehow pulled the attacker off her. Before he could celebrate the fact that he successfully freed her from her killer’s bonds, Shields himself was apprehended and dragged away, kicking and screaming.

  He couldn’t get a good look at his assailant except that it was a man. The emergency lights weren’t bright enough, and his awkward, upward angle shrouded the person’s face in darkness.

  Seconds later, his screams turned into a gagging, choking sound as something forcibly entered his mouth and snaked its way down his throat. Then, searing hot pain, which was followed shortly by blissful darkness.

  * * *

  Now, more than ever, Buddy needed to make a call. And now, more than ever, he despised the Endeavor’s finicky comms system. Putting a finger to his ear, he held it there for two seconds and waited for the infrared scanner built into the casing to pick it up and activate.

  “Piece of junk,” he said, ripping the device from his ear. He wiped the scanner on his shirt, hoping that cleaning it would do the trick. It didn’t work before, but eventually, he hoped it would. He stopped mid-wipe and sighed when he saw that he was, in fact, smearing it through a streak of blood and grime.

  Fantastic, he thought, finding a much-less soiled piece of fabric to use instead.

  “Um, Chief Malone?”

  “What?” he asked, snapping at Shannon. He gave her an apologetic smile and calmed. “What is it, Ms. Kyle?”

  “You have a WiMP on, sir,” she replied, pointing at his left wrist.

  He lifted the arm that held the piece of equipment. “And?”

  “Anyone who uses a WiMP has their calls dial directly through it now, not your earpiece. Gianna and I installed a rather hefty update last week per DARPA brass. They wanted to give it a field test before we were done in the Antarctic.” Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “You should’ve gotten an email about the changes. It came with instructions on how to properly operate it.”

  Buddy was enraged, and with a deep inhalation, he kept his skyrocketing blood pressure from launching him into oblivion. Then, he expelled the air slowly and evenly, reveling in how the exercise made him feel.

  Almost normal.

  “Email, right…” he said, grumbling under his breath. “Must’ve missed the memo.”

  Re-securing the earpiece in his right ear, he looked over his WiMP and squinted hard, spying a small, glowing, green icon in the corner of the two-by-four inch screen. It looked an-awful-lot like a telephone. Biting his lip and shaking his head in disbelief, he tapped it, hearing the familiar chime in his ear.

  “Captain House,” he said, voice dialing the man he needed to hear from.

  After three seconds, he heard the same tone ding back, followed by, “Buddy! Thank God!”

  As much as the old man wanted to continue with the pleasantries, he knew he needed to relay everything he saw, just in case he and House didn’t get to speak again for a while. Without emotion, Buddy retold the events of the last few hours—even before the ship was overrun by monsters.

  “You’re not alone, old friend,” House replied, likewise filling Buddy in with his escapades. They even included some more recent events, like the pair of scientists the captain had sent to the server room to meet Gianna and Sam. “Good to see you finally figured out how to use the new call system.”

  Buddy blushed, his eyes darting to Shannon. “Yes, well, I had some help with that.”

  His eyes locked on hers. “I watched one of my own men murder another human bein’ in cold blood, Sebastian.”

  “Yeah…” House replied. “I’ve seen some terrible things too, Bud. Seth said that the joining process doesn’t always take. Deaths occur instead of them, um, dying. Sorry, it’s hard to explain.”

  Buddy recalled watching Peck get the back of his head blown out.

  “No, Sebastian. Peck’s murder was meant to do nothin’ more than to fuck with me!” His voice caught. “I…I saw it with my own eyes. Frohm…Seth…eyed me the whole time. He wanted me to see my man die at his hands.”

  “Hmmm,” House mumbled deep in thought.

  Buddy knew House better than most. He was thinking hard, probably rubbing his salt and pepper stubbled chin too.

  “This isn’t good.”

  Buddy laughed. “No shit, ‘Seabass.’”

  House grumbled again. Buddy knew House expected to be addressed formally when in the presence of other crew members. Buddy never minded being casual with his own crew, but he always crossed the line with House.

  “What I mean is…this is a new reaction on Seth’s part.” House continued. “From what I can tell, he’s been more interested in collecting bodies, more minions to control. The fact that he’d willingly sacrifice someone just to get a message across doesn’t feel like the new Seth—the one I’ve come to expect.”

  “He’s desperate,” Buddy said, trying to put the pieces together.

  “Maybe,” House replied, “but I think it’s more that he’s changing. He’s evolving his thought process.”

  “You seem to know an awful lot about this, Sebastian.” Buddy started to pace, needing to make sure the man on the other end was still the boy from Albany, Georgia. “I’m still talkin’ to the scrawny little punk from Athens, right?”

  House laughed. “Albany, but yes.” He laughed again, sounding tired. “I see what you did there, Bud. Good try, but if I weren’t myself, I’d still know where I’m from. Seth gains all the knowledge and memories of the person he joins with. It’s the reason we haven’t tried to make contact with any of the crew besides who we’ve already found in person.”

  Buddy had no clue what do to next since it was only him and Shannon. Hopefully, House did, though.

  “What’s next?”

  “Well,” House replied, “now with you back in the fold, I was hoping we could shut down the engines. We can’t make port, Buddy. Under no circumstances can we make port.”

  Buddy nodded to himself, understanding the implications if they did. Donovan was able to take over half of the crew in a matters of hours. While the major players on board, besides Donovan himself, had yet to be turned, they’d still lost some key sailors.

  Including George, Buddy thought, wishing Nova was around to help. Then, he remembered that he’d already done more than Buddy could’ve asked for. Nova sacrificed his own life to make sure Buddy got away.

  Buddy nodded again, agreeing with House. “Seems to me that we need to draw Seth out of his nest somehow.”

  The line went silent, and Buddy thought he dropped the call. “Sebastian? You—”

  “Yeah, I’m still here…” He sighed. “And I think I know how to get Seth to personally come to us.”

  “How?” Buddy asked, optimistic.

  “Me.”

  “You?” Buddy had no idea what that meant, but he hated it. “Why you?”

  “Because,” House replied, “he needs me and Damon’s info to pull off a successful docking sequence. He needs to make it look like nothing is out of the ordinary.”

  “I thought we couldn’t let him do that.”

  “We can’t,” House answered, “but if he thinks I’m willing to cooperate and play his game…”

  “He might bite and agree.”

  House went silent once more, but Buddy could hear someone else speaking to him off-microphone, waiting to be filled in.

  “That might just work,” House said.

  “What will?” Buddy asked, not hearing the proposed plan.

  “Hang on, Bud.” He heard another tone, then House spoke. “Add Cole Triplett to call.”

  An identical tone confirmed that Trip had been successfully added to the call. It was another feature of the new system that Buddy hadn’t been aware of. “How you doing, Chief?”

  “Better than most,” he replied. “So, what’s up?”

  “Right,” Trip said, “what I was explaining to the captain was that I think I know a place to make a stand against Donovan.”

  Buddy’s eyebrows knit in thought. “You do, where?”

  Trip’s plan was insane!

  “He won’t go for that,” Buddy retorted, scoffing at the notion.

  “Says who?” House replied. “Seth isn’t exactly the greatest of strategists, neither is anyone else on board, for that matter.”

  “And you’re really going to meet him alone?”

  “Hell no!” House laughed. “I’m not an idiot, but Seth will assume I’m being truthful when I give him a reason to believe me.”

  “And that is?” Buddy asked, becoming more and more hopeful by the second.

  “I’ll do something that he’ll never expect.” Buddy could almost hear House grinning on the other end. “I’m going to lie my ass off.”

  Buddy wasn’t sure it would work, but if there was something House never did, it was lie to his people. It’s one of the things that made him such a great captain.

  “What do you need from me?” Buddy asked.

  House’s reply was serious and straight to the point. “Save as many as you can and bring them to our rendezvous point. We’re going to need all hands on deck on this one.”

  27

  For the next hour, House and the others did nothing else except search for survivors. With a plan in place, and most of the key officers still on the side of normalcy, the humans gathered as much intel on Coalesce as they could.

  It was time to fight back!

  Gianna went as far as setting up a private group chat that only her father could invite people to. Not even she wanted to know the password to get in. Just in case… The name of the group: ReVengeance. House thought the name was ridiculous, but everyone else loved it. They all wanted payback for those they lost.

  And of course, Captain House led the uprising himself.

  But not before placing another call to Donovan.

  “That’s right, Seth,” he said, laying it on thick. “I’ll surrender myself over to you if you keep your word that no one else aboard our boat gets hurt—including being added to your new…family.”

  It took a lot for House to say the last word. Donovan and the others weren’t a family. If anything, they were a walking disease with several moving parts across multiple locations. The major problem with Coalesce was that they were all connected to one hive mind. If even one of them saw House’s team and lived to “notify” Donovan, they’d be screwed.

  The first person they came across wasn’t a monster at all. It was someone House just saw only hours before. Kimberly Montez was alone this time, however, and it saddened him when she recounted what happened to her friend, Gregg Shields.

  “He saved me,” she said, sniffing. “One of the things grabbed me on the way to the server room. He…” her voice caught, “Gregg died protecting me.”

  As the ReVengeance found survivors, they took it upon themselves to escort each and every one of them below decks. Sometimes they’d have a small cluster of people to watch over, like a dirty, blood-splattered flock of sheep. House was the shepherd, along with Trip and Sam.

  The three men were required to take down a handful of their own crewmen along the way too—but it was House who delivered the killing blow to each and every one of them. Gratefully, there weren’t many. House only had to put three out of their miseries.

  Unfortunately, one of them was Chief Navigational Officer Dominik Lucas.

  On one of the lower levels, House ushered Trip and Sam up to the lone Coalesce segment, unsure of who it was. The emergency lights made it too difficult to tell. So did the torn uniform and smeared blood. Even from behind, he was easy to identify as friend or foe. His eyes strobed wildly, giving away the side he was on.

  In reality, House didn’t want to know who he was. House just wanted the man to stay put and not turn around. Then, he’d slide up behind him, jab the blade of his knife into the person’s throat, and it’d be all she wrote.

  After signaling Trip and Sam to stay back, House slowly crept up behind the unidentified sailor. Then, he silently stood, reached out, and wrapped a hand around his target’s mouth. The blade was next, and like the others he killed so far, the reaction to having the parasite mortally wounded was instantaneous.

  House hid inside the nearest doorway and waited for the inhuman to stop thrashing. When he did, it wasn’t the captain who was the first to identify him…it was Sam.

  “Dominik?” he sobbed. “No!”

  House usually had a good read on people, but he had no idea that Sam and Chief Lucas were close. It saddened him immensely to lose a man of Lucas’ talents and leadership. Even more, he was a good guy, and someone House had trusted.

  Trip put a soft hand on the kneeling Sam and looked back toward House. The sorrow displayed on Trip’s face told House all he needed to know, and it crushed him to see that Sam had lost someone he cared about.

  Not knowing what to say, House kept his mouth shut and gave his XO the time he needed. He hated that Sam wouldn’t be afforded the appropriate time to mourn until, well, maybe never. It certainly wouldn’t be any time soon.

  Donovan was expecting House in two hours. That was the deal. They’d meet alone in the launch bay. He figured Donovan would go back on his word—but so would House. Every able-bodied human crewmember was to report to the same bay for one specific purpose. They were to be a barrier against the incoming horde of Coalesce cronies.

  The launch bay only had two entrances/exits. One was a floor above the bowl-shaped room, the one House had used earlier that day. The second door was directly beneath the first, and it led to one of the three elevators aboard the Endeavor. House bet that Donovan was going to use the above door which would allow him to enter unperturbed.

  Plus, Gianna planned on shutting down the elevator remotely using her tablet and genius knowhow. If Donovan really wanted to get to House, he was going to have to use the entrance of their choosing.

  Once Donovan was inside, the remainder of the human crew was going to seal the entrance until he was taken down for good. Then, hopefully, Coalesce would go into a panic—or die—without their leader. House prayed it was death. This was uncharted waters for everyone aboard. No one knew exactly what to do or what would happen.

  “Come on, Sam,” Trip said, coaxing the XO to his feet.

  Sam wiped away his tears and faced his captain. The only thing House could do was place a reassuring hand on his loyal number two’s shoulder, matching Trip’s earlier gesture. Trip added his own hand, once more, and the two men’s strength seemed to energize Sam’s spirit.

  He stood tall, ready for action. House admired Sam’s courage but doubted he’d display much of it in a fight. He knew of Sam’s past, being a collegiate long-distance runner, and recognized that he was in incredible shape. He frequented the gym every morning. Being a runner, could he kill a man if he had to? Would his titanium-plated moral compass allow him to do so?

  House could do it.

  House had done it.

  And he’d do it again.

  The other issue with Sam being so quick on his feet is that he knew he was fast. Runners ran. He’d probably take off at the first sign of trouble. His station as the ship’s XO kept him from ever having to put his run-first response to the test, though. No one ever crossed him…that is…unless they also wanted to cross the captain.

  No, House thought. Sam is stronger than that. He won’t run.

  He berated himself for thinking poorly of Sam. If there was something he wasn’t, it was weak. He was one of the youngest XO’s in naval history for a reason.

  Because no one else wanted the gig.

  House needed to stop thinking poorly of himself too.

  He hated to give himself credit for anything. Both his father and Buddy taught him to work for it and never be self-complimentary. The moment you started to do so was the moment you became an egotistical prick like Seth Donovan. The old Seth Donovan… House would give anything for the DARPA scientist to return to normal. That would be the easiest victory of his life.

  Even after successfully “freeing” a handful of Donovan’s people, House wasn’t sure of their true capabilities as a whole—as an army. He pictured tens-of-thousands of them rolling over a city, consuming everything, and everyone, in their paths. The death toll would be catastrophic, including those assimilated into Coalesce.

  He gave Sam a few more minutes to recover. Then, the trio headed off again. Level by level, they cleared the floors the best they could. Along the way, Sam found one of the ship’s pilots, Bill Johnston. As far as they knew, Sam was the only one who made it out of Command alive. When they approached Seaman Johnston, their estimation was, indeed, correct.

  Sam leaped away from the injured man as he snarled and swiped at him. Johnston’s legs were bent horribly, broken from a nasty fall. Broken before he was turned. He couldn’t stand, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a dangerous threat. Without a second thought, House stepped forward and drove his knife into Johnston’s throat with two quick strikes.

  They left the man to die on his own, not needing to witness another of their crewmen’s demise.

  * * *

  After watching five of his own fall to Captain House, including Bill Johnston just now, Donovan finally emerged from the wheelhouse. He was scheduled to meet House in thirty minutes but needed to try something he’d been contemplating for some time now.

  Accompanying him was a squad of a dozen Coalesce members. Until he understood more about his own potential demise, he’d protect himself better than the President of the United States did.

  He stepped into the office of the Endeavor Security Detail and spotted his first and most special, Agent Jennifer Grigson. If he had known then what he knew now, he would’ve kept her close by his side up in Command. His connection to her was incredible for the short amount of time she was with him.