And it drove him mad.

  29

  “Dad!” Gianna shouted, staring down at her iPad.

  An explosion of some kind just erupted outside the launch bay door. She quickly dove into her pack and dug out her tablet to check it out. Waking it, she rolled back the footage and gasped.

  The only image the iPad currently displayed was that of the newly installed camera down the hall from the second-floor entrance. So far, no one had tried to enter, but what she saw still troubled her. A dozen or so of Donovan’s drones had sauntered by over the last forty minutes. Each of them seemed as ordinary as the next, except for a trio of them. They displayed some odd changes—even for anyone associated with Coalesce.

  She turned the device so her father could see. Three of the joined jolted as if they were hit with a bolt of lightning. One of them was blown entirely off her feet with a blast of electric blue light. None of House’s people knew what to expect from Coalesce in the first place, but this…

  “That can’t be good,” House said, stroking his chin in concern.

  She put the tablet to sleep after two more of them passed by and dropped, hit with the same strange… House didn’t know what to call it. One didn’t get up again. His demise looked horrible from behind the camera’s lenses. In person? No thanks. The jolt was so powerful that it took the sailor’s head right off his shoulders.

  Gianna swallowed hard, disturbed.

  “We could wait it out?” she asked, looking up at her father. “Maybe they’ll all blow themselves up before we get to McMurdo.”

  House shook his head. “We can’t take the chance.” He lifted his WiMP, checked the time, and sighed. “Only thirty minutes till we get to port after our recent speed change.”

  Time stood still while waiting for Donovan to show himself. Everyone’s nerves were cooked. Playing the waiting game had made everyone edgier than ever, twitchy, irritable even.

  What have you been up to, Seth? House thought.

  “Sebastian,” Buddy said from across the room, “we’re ready to roll.”

  “Right,” House muttered to himself, “let’s see what’s been taking him so long.”

  He took one last look around the bay and then placed the call. Six rings later, no answer. Either Donovan had backed out of their deal, or he was having trouble with his communicator. After what they had just witnessed on Gianna’s tablet, House was beginning to think that there was another option.

  Maybe Donovan couldn’t accept the call. Something could’ve gone wrong. Coalesce was connected directly to him, so it made sense that if they were malfunctioning, it would start with him and trickle down to the others.

  Needing some advice, House relayed what he and Gianna saw to Buddy. Of course, Buddy said the exact opposite of what Gianna had suggested.

  “Let’s go after him.” Both Houses rolled their eyes, infuriating the older man. “Well then,” he snarled, “don’t ask for my input if you don’t wanna hear what I got to say!”

  Buddy stormed off, leaving House and Gianna alone once more. Gripping his axe, House actually thought about doing what he suggested and take Donovan out while he was weak. It might be the only chance they had.

  No, House thought, going with his gut. Stick to the plan.

  He tried to contact Donovan twice more before finally giving up. With nothing else to do and nothing else to go on, House tasked Gianna and Sam with continuing to track the Endeavor’s path while also trying to delay them any way they could. If they got close enough to McMurdo without hearing from Donovan, they’d have no choice but to take the fight to him.

  Fifteen more minutes. Then, we go to war.

  It seemed that Donovan was doing the exact same thing House was attempting to do. Apparently, drawing the enemy out of hiding wasn’t that unique of an idea. Still, House was betting on Donovan not being himself anymore. At least, that’s what he was hoping.

  That didn’t mean he wasn’t just as dangerous. It might make him even more dangerous than before—more volatile and unpredictable. But as the minutes ticked away, House grew incredibly nervous.

  “Now or never, Dad,” Gianna said, holding out her tablet.

  House took it and swiped through a series of windows. They all told the same story in a variety of ways. The storm had died down just as McMurdo said it would. As it did, the Endeavor turned and was moved into position, accelerating further.

  “Doesn’t make sense, though,” Sam said, taking the offered tablet. “He can’t initiate a successful docking sequence without the captain and Becker’s codes.”

  “He doesn’t need to,” House said. “All he has to do is run the ship aground and storm the station.”

  “Run it aground?” Buddy snorted. “There is no ground! It’s all ice out here!”

  House rubbed his face. “You know what I mean, Bud… It’ll give him away, but it won’t stop—” He stopped mid-rub and swung his attention back to Gianna. “The intercoms!”

  “What about ’em?” Buddy asked.

  “Can you patch me through?”

  Gianna shrugged. “Probably, but we’ve never tried.” She tapped her ear. “Not with these things in use. That tech is ancient.”

  Trip appeared beside her, yawning. “What’d I miss?”

  House had ordered him to lie down for a few minutes. The rest seemed to have freshened the young man up a bit.

  No one backfilled Trip with an explanation. Instead, they continued at warp speed with what House wanted done.

  “Get me on air ASAP. I need to get ahold of Seth now!”

  “What are you gonna say to the loon?” Buddy asked, crossing his arms.

  “Anything—everything!” House replied. “I need to irritate him as much as I can. We need him here where we can contain him.”

  Gianna looked worried.

  “What?” House asked, seeing it plain as day.

  “Sorry, Dad, but you aren’t exactly the antagonizer of the group.” She pointed at Buddy. “But he is.”

  Buddy smiled wide and cracked his knuckles. “Let me at ’em. I’ll make his great-granny wince.”

  With no better plan, House agreed to have Buddy make the call instead of him. If he was honest, he was happy someone else was doing it. He was exhausted and wanted nothing better than to curl up on his couch back home in Georgia and fall asleep watching a movie or reading a book.

  “Hey, Shannon, give me a hand, will ya?”

  The analyst that had accompanied Buddy here waved back to Gianna, quickly finished her conversation with another crewman, and hustled over. Even before she stopped, House’s daughter was already shouting out instructions. Shannon pulled out her own tablet and swiftly began typing away. It pleased him to see her happy and in her wheelhouse.

  Wheelhouse.

  The word saddened him. House had lost his boat, which to him was like losing his identity. The only people that knew “Sebastian” were Gianna and Buddy. One was family, the other was as close as it got without actually being a part of it. After them, he was just “Captain House” to everyone else. Without the Endeavor, he was nothing more than Sebastian from Albany, Georgia.

  He squeezed his fists hard. Stop selling yourself short.

  House glanced over his shoulder. Gianna, Buddy, and Shannon were conversing quietly, no doubt going over what they’d do next. The first two of the trio saw him as more than that, which was all House needed…Trip too, who was called over to help. He liked the guy. He was a good soul, and he obviously cared for Gianna immensely.

  * * *

  With a hodgepodge of equipment set up on a large metal crate near the elevator entrance, Buddy waited impatiently to get started. He had a lot to say to Donovan and couldn’t wait to get it off his chest. He’d seen some awful things in his long life on Earth, but everything that had transpired in the last few hours topped it all.

  He was surrounded by everyone that could walk. They were all in this together, but Buddy knew that the people gathered were more curious with what he was going to say than anything else. It honestly felt great to have the full support of the human crew, ReVengeance. Very little of what he did aboard the Endeavor was ever given this much attention.

  Too old to shrink under their eyes, Buddy was signaled to place the call to Donovan. The system, however, was reprogrammed and the comms system connected to the overhead intercom. It ran through the entire ship, never used to this day. No one would be able to hide from his future berating.

  Gianna nodded, telling him he was live.

  It’s go time, he thought, surprised at where his mind took him first. It wasn’t down a road of unbridled rage. Buddy felt compassion for a man that had wandered down a dark path, whether on purpose or not. He wasn’t an idiot. Buddy knew that Donovan was being influenced by an otherworldly evil.

  * * *

  “Seth Donovan!” a voice blared over the ship’s loudspeakers. The speaker’s tone was low and had a southern drawl baked into it. Its owner was someone Donovan loathed almost as much as House.

  “Chief Engineer Buddy Malone here,” the speaker said, confirming his identity. “I’m not sure what’s happened to you, but I understand the pickle you find yourself in. You’ve made some terrible choices of late. I can’t forgive you for that—no one can, nor should they. It…” his voice caught, “it’s just not right.”

  Oh, please, Donovan thought. The last thing he needed was to receive a speech like this from Buddy, of all people. The man was rude and short with everyone he came across.

  Yet, Donovan was forced to sit through the rhetoric. He couldn’t disable the speaker system or even interrupt the man.

  “You’ve taken the lives of dozens of good people, Seth. I know you think what you’re doin’ is some great achievement of science, but in reality, it’s a wicked, wicked deed. I could never comprehend acting out such atrocities.”

  “Quiet!” Donovan shouted, making all of Coalesce slink back in fear. “Shut your fucking mouth, Malone!”

  Halfway back up to the bridge, Donovan turned and bolted back the way he’d come, leaping from landing to landing, skipping the stairs between them entirely. He knew his rage was getting the best of him, but he didn’t care. Now, he had one single focus, shutting Buddy up for good.

  No, Seth, a voice said from within. Don’t do this.

  He staggered. The voice was Dr. Bowen’s, and she was trying desperately to dilute his mania. Donovan had never felt so unhinged before. The power he gained was incredible, but his brain was having trouble processing it—controlling it.

  Please, stop, Grigson begged.

  “Quiet!” he roared, hands to his head. “Everyone be quiet!”

  Now it wasn’t just Bowen and Grigson trying to calm him down, it was everyone. He pleaded for them to stop. The noise itself was excruciatingly painful—like his head was about to explode.

  If he couldn’t mute the voices in his head, then Donovan would do the next best thing. He’d personally silence the world and kill every single last one of them. All of them. Assimilating the people of Earth meant nothing if he couldn’t enjoy the fruits of his conquest. Knowledge meant very little to a broken mind.

  He’d still conquer the world. Only, now, he’d do so, so he could be alone, to find peace, to rid himself of the nuisances that mankind carried with it.

  Silence the world, Donovan thought, drooling a mixture of blue plasma and saliva down his chin and chest. As he charged forward, he tore away the rest of his clothing and marveled at what he’d become. He really was a monster from the deep.

  And he loved it.

  Discombobulated, he tripped and fell to his hands and knees. Breathing hard, he snapped his flashing eyes up and visualized his targets. When he spoke next, it sounded as if every voice in his head was conversing at once.

  “We are not Coalesce… I am! And I will silence the world!” He sneered. “Starting with Buddy Malone and Sebastian House.”

  30

  Eventually, Buddy’s heartfelt speech turned into what everyone initially expected. House’s long-dead grandmother had, no doubt, rolled over in her grave—twice! Still, even as nasty as his friend got while on the air, House couldn’t really disagree with anything he said.

  Once Buddy started talking about Donovan willingly getting anally probed with a telephone pole all in the name of science…and personal curiosity…that’s when House did his best to tune the man out. Gianna and Shannon let Buddy rant as long as he could before he needed a break. Apparently, swearing while making horrible space-sex innuendo took a lot out of the old man.

  All House could do was chuckle to himself.

  “Bud has a way with words, huh?” Gianna asked, collapsing on the floor next to him.

  The Houses sat together, on the opposite side of the launch pool. They reclined against one another next to Trip’s ADS suit, away from any, and all, commotion. In her hand was her trusty tablet, and on its screen, where it had been since setting it up just outside the bay door, was an image of the empty hallway.

  “Anything?” he asked, plainly seeing nothing but a lifeless corridor.

  “No,” she replied, “and we’re scheduled to make landfall in ten minutes.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “What are we going to do, Dad?”

  “I’m not sure, baby, but—”

  “Hang on, Dad,” she sat bolt upright. “I think we’ve got… Oh, shit!”

  House glanced down at the tablet long enough to see a figure come barreling towards the camera, passing beneath it in a strobing blur. Then, the door was impacted with the force of a small bomb. The door lock snapped, and it swung open, impacting the nearest, unsuspecting sailor. He was thrown off his feet and rolled to a stop where he didn’t get up.

  “Scatter!” House shouted, jumping to his feet and moving to intercept the bat-shit crazy scientist.

  The feat of strength that Donovan just displayed was more than even Nova showed during his and House’s skirmish. Whatever Donovan was now, he’d be even more of a challenge than the monstrous mechanic.

  “Get that door shut!” Buddy shouted, helping three others. It protested with cries of screeching metal, but at least it was still operational.

  And so was Donovan.

  House slid to a stop in front of the pool, axe in hand, absolutely stunned at what he was seeing. Even with the chilling water at his back, he broke out in a sweat. Donovan ceased to be human long ago, but what he was now, well, House wasn’t sure what to call him.

  “Oh, my God, Seth,” House said. “What have you become?”

  On his stomach, Donovan craned his head up at an ungodly angle to make eye contact with him. Then, one by one, the broken vertebrae in his neck, back, and limbs mended together and popped back into place.

  All while Donovan smiled at him.

  “What…” he replied, in between cracks, “have I become?” He cackled uncontrollably and slowly climbed to his feet. “I’ll tell you, Captain…” His naked body flashed and pulsed, precisely as the octopus had.

  From here, House could see the parasite beneath his translucent skin. It was in Donovan’s chest and abdomen, tearing apart his organs and flexing his sternum and ribs as it moved. The only thing beating in Donovan’s chest now was the creature’s heart, not the heart of the DARPA scientist.

  Seth Donovan was dead.

  “I,” he rasped, his voice harmonizing with dozens of others, “am Coalesce.”

  “You are Coalesce?” House asked. “What about the others?”

  “Shut up!” Donovan shouted, pounding on the side of his head. “I am in control, not you!” His eyes found House’s. “I’m in control.” He stepped toward House and twitched, his head turning slightly and his eyes squinting. Donovan was mumbling to himself too.

  What the hell?

  House wasn’t a medical expert, but he knew Donovan was displaying a form of schizophrenia. He was talking to himself…or maybe he was talking to someone else?

  Hmmm, House thought, raising his axe, Maybe I can use that against him?

  “Who you talking to, Seth?”

  “I am Coalesce!”

  Donovan launched himself at House and unfurled the parasite within. It too had evolved into something else. The mouth opened and shut like an octopus, beak and all. It flailed around like an out-of-control firehouse, and just when House was about to catch it midair with the blade of his axe, it recoiled back into Donovan’s body and the two men collided with one another.

  Seeing the impact coming, House braced himself and met Donovan with his shoulder. He took Donovan off his feet but felt like he dislocated the joint. The former scientist was dense and powerful and acted with no fear of death—just like the others.

  “Quiet!” Donovan yelled, stumbling when he tried to get back to his feet. His hands went back to his head.

  “Who are you talking to, Seth?” House asked again, antagonizing his foe to the best of his ability. He needed Donovan to continue to act irrationally and violently.

  Snickering, Donovan stood. “Me?” he laughed. “Oh, I’m talking to a couple of friends of yours.”

  House’s bravado waned.

  Donovan shivered but looked more in control. “Say hello to Lisa Bowen.”

  Donovan’s face instantaneously morphed from one of rage to one of fear. It was the best acting job House had ever seen, except he didn’t think the man was actually acting.

  “Sebastian?”

  House’s shoulders fell. It even sounded like her.

  “Lisa?”

  Donovan laughed, his body pulsing with every loud guffaw.

  Boom.

  His attention turned to the door long enough for Donovan to do the same. Trip, Sam, Buddy, and Shannon had finally gotten it shut before something else got inside. The lock was decimated and wouldn’t be getting fixed any time soon. For now, it would have to be held closed from their side.

  Donovan turned toward them.

  “Seth, no!” House yelled, stopping any advance.