Sub zero, p.16
SUB-ZERO, page 16
His presence spoke volumes.
Donovan didn’t understand it at the time. The sailors directly beneath House’s station did. If his title of “Captain” didn’t beat you into submission, his fists surely would.
From the start of his naval career to the end, House’s resume contained that of the average man-at-sea, nothing more. Donovan growled, knowing he’d severely underestimated the man’s abilities.
Maybe I should go after him myself?
Donovan understood the gifts he now possessed, those that served him, didn’t. They were more like mindless drones than anything else. While more confident in himself, regardless of the man he used to be, Donovan wasn’t sure what would happen if his life was lost in battle.
Would Coalesce go on without him, or would his efforts perish with his own death? Leaning toward the latter, he decided to stay put in the wheelhouse, surrounded by a dozen of his underlings. Plus, he wanted to know more, and he needed to be alive for that to happen.
Stepping away from his own thoughts, he tapped into those of his people in pursuit of House and the others. He witnessed the captain’s savagery for himself, through the eyes of Dr. Bowen and Jeff Cohen, the man that accompanied her below decks. If Coalesce’s death toll continued to rise, Donovan was going to have to put all his cards on the table and give in and send a mass of his people House’s way. The captain showed the ability to take out one or two at a time, but what about twenty?
Strength in numbers, he told the others, reaffirming their mission. I require more.
Once he figured out what House was up to, he’d send an overwhelming force to collect him. Initially, Donovan figured that the captain would charge into battle and attempt to retake the Endeavor. That didn’t happen, however. But until it did, Donovan needed to concentrate on growing Coalesce as large as humanly possible.
The word “humanly” rang out loudly in his head.
Donovan knew he wasn’t one of them any longer—but he still didn’t quite know what he’d become after melding with the octopus’ plasma. His people had orders: Collect Sebastian House and Damon Becker alive. He wanted to personally join with them both, not trusting anyone else to do it. If one of his own fouled up and killed the two men instead…
“No,” he said, grinding his teeth, projecting his feelings, “they’re mine.”
He smiled when he felt all of Coalesce quiver in fear.
Becker… No one had seen hide nor hair of the man since he escaped the mess hall. One at a time, Seth. House first.
Turning around, Donovan walked over to the captain’s immovable chair and sat. Instead of waking the monitor to his left and scrolling through the sailor’s reports, Donovan did something he hadn’t tried yet. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and willed a line of communication to open between him and the thing living inside of him.
So far, all he’d heard was his own thoughts and ideas. He understood that they’d been planted in his head by the creature—the microbes deeper within the organism. This time, Donovan intended to speak directly with it, not be influenced by it.
He quieted his mind and concentrated.
“Hello?”
It almost felt as if he was praying to God. Some people said they heard the Almighty’s voice in their head. Never being a man of faith, Donovan had honestly never tried to talk to God.
His inquiry was met by silence, agitating the already restless man. Donovan’s mind wanted sleep. His regenerative capabilities fixed that, however. Donovan no longer required rest.
“Answer me, beast.”
“We are here,” boomed a voice.
He spoke with his own lips.
“Who…who are you?” Donovan stammered, stunned that they actually responded.
“We are you, Seth,” he replied. “We sound like you, don’t we?”
Never one to beat around the bush, he got straight to it. “Where did you come from?”
“Ah, I see, yes. You want to know our origin.”
The voice—his voice—went silent.
Donovan grew frustrated. “Hello?”
“We are still here. We are formulating an answer to the best of our ability—one you will comprehend.”
That was a fancy way of saying that they didn’t know, which upset Donovan even more.
“How do you not know where you’re from?” he asked.
“Put it like this… How do you know where you’re from?”
Seth’s reaction was one of confusion. He’d never really thought about it like that. He knew where he was from because he was told where he came from—he was imparted with that knowledge by another. People that were part of modern civilization all understood where they came from.
Conception. Birth. Life. Death. Every living thing’s cycle.
“Yes,” the voice said. “You are right. We do not know how we were conceived because we were never privy to the information. We are here because, well, we are. But what we do know is how we were born.”
“How?” Donovan asked, at the edge of his seat.
“Of fire.”
“You were birthed from fire?” It sounded preposterous.
“Yes. Some time ago, we came to be because of what you would call, ‘fire.’”
“But,” Donovan said, trying to work it out, “you—the animal we found you in—were discovered at the bottom of the Southern Ocean—off the coast of Antarctica.”
“The cold…” it replied, causing Donovan’s body to shiver.
Donovan explained. “The water around here is the coldest in the world.”
“Yes,” it said, “we know that now. We have gained your knowledge, remember.”
“Then why can’t you use that to tell me what you are?”
Donovan felt his own shoulders shrug. “Because no one on Earth does. Because of that, we cannot know either.”
Still confused, Donovan decided to move on. “But you’re here now, right?”
“Yes, we are with you because of our first host’s sacrifice.”
“The octopus?” Donovan asked.
“Yes, that’s what you call them.”
Donovan did the math, per se, and put together the pieces. He was infected because of a random accident. The others within Coalesce were joined because Donovan made it happen. His eyes snapped open, and he accessed House’s computer while still staying connected to the voice within. He didn’t even notice that he’d successfully stayed connected while going about another task.
The new species of octopus was first seen about ten years ago, give or take. If Donovan could find something in House’s files relating to around that timeframe, maybe he could fill in a few of the missing holes himself. It took him five minutes to find what he needed, in a classified document, one he shouldn’t have been able to access. The password came to him like it was in his own memory, but he knew the memory belonged to someone else.
“A decade ago, a meteor splashed down just outside of McMurdo Station,” Donovan’s eyes went wide when he read the coordinates, “right where we found you…” He shook his head. “The report was eventually handed in but seen as nothing overly important.”
“Why would it be?” they asked while Donovan continued to scan the file. “Why would the government care about another object falling from space?”
“You’re an alien?”
The voice caused Donovan to shrug again. “That’s what your kind would call us, yes. We are a living organism, not of your world. Neil Armstrong was an alien himself during the moon landing.”
Donovan sat back, taking it all in. “I’ve been infected by an alien parasite.”
“Parasite,” they defined. “An organism that lives in, or on, an organism of another species—its host—and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other’s expense.”
Donovan was taken aback by the definition, repeating the portion of it that hit him. “…and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other’s expense.”
“Is this a problem?”
Donovan shook his head. “Absolutely not. You’ve given me a wonderful gift—a chance at unlimited knowledge.” They smiled together. “We will change the world.”
Donovan kept silent for a few minutes, relishing in his newfound understanding. But he needed to know more. He had to know more.
“Tell me more about you—physically.”
“Very well…” Donovan felt his brain kick in, similar to how a hard drive spins to life. “We stay mostly dormant in cold weather. Space, as you’ve named it, is no different than the waters surrounding us now. But when we were brought on board, and our cores were warmed to a more agreeable temperature, we quickly made up for lost time. The specimen you collected… Its home was the seabed beneath. As a result, it was our home too.”
“You sound so normal,” Donovan said, sitting back.
“Seth, we are not talking to you. We, as a species, do not talk at all. This is just our minds melding and interacting with one another. We are conversing as you would with anyone else. We do not have language like you humans do. We adapt and communicate as our hosts do. Homo sapiens have a complex verbal language, and that’s what we’re using now. We are speaking to one another.”
“So,” Donovan said, “I’m talking to myself right now?”
“For the most part, yes,” they replied, “but we are feeding you the answers you are searching for via thoughts and ideas. Again, we do not have a language.”
Feeding.
“You really are a parasite then.”
“I suppose, that’s what you describe our kind as, yes. We do not know what that is, but we do, in fact, do the same things as your world’s parasitic entities.”
“Do you have a name?” Donovan asked.
“No, we are just ‘We.’ There is no ‘I’ here. We are one, as the two of us are now.”
“You’re—we’re—an organism with multiple consciousnesses, but with a unified, singular purpose.”
“Two, actually,” it corrected. “Advancement and—”
“And what?” Donovan asked. He was given the answer immediately following the question. Everyone within Coalesce smiled again. “Yes… Advancement and assimilation.”
He stood. “We are Coalesce,” Donovan said, speaking to everyone connected to him, “and we will become even greater.”
As soon as the words were uttered, Donovan collapsed in on himself, experiencing a pain he never thought possible. His chest and stomach were on fire, and so was the inside of his skull. Synapses fired…and he felt them all. Unlike the others, Donovan was still technically alive. For whatever reason, he was spared the same fate he’d bestowed unto the rest.
Since his bonding, the only pain he’d felt came from within.
He fell to the ground, his vision blurred. But through the haze, he saw the blood vessels in his hands pulse an even darker shade of blue—like the depths of the sea. The rhythm matched his heartbeat. Both were at an all-time high.
“What’s…happening?”
The nearest sailor turned her blank expression away from a monitor and looked down at him and spoke, matching his own voice. “You are experiencing the next stage of your joining, Seth. Stay calm, and you will soon see everything.”
Everything?
Donovan heeded his own advice, unsure of why he hadn’t thought the words instead. It was the first time he received a verbal message from himself, through another member of Coalesce, one that he didn’t see coming.
“Argh!” he shouted, feeling as if he was being torn apart, fractured into a million pieces.
Those connected to him shouted in agony as well, but they didn’t seem to be feeling the same pain as him. Every shout came from inside of him as he was repeatedly ripped away from himself. Each reaction was his, yet, separate and disconnected.
Not knowing what to do, and unable to move, Donovan did as “he” said, and he waited. What would become of him, he had no idea, but he knew one thing… If he was forced to do it all over again, he might have actually taken House’s advice and halted the dissection for another time.
“No…” he said, feeling something deep within him glue back together. “We are better this way.” Then, another piece, and another. His entire being became stronger with every shard reassembled.
Donovan slowly opened his eyes, seeing through the eyes of everyone joined to him. It reminded him of the way an insect saw the world, but the variety of lenses before him were all unique images—live videos—not copies of the same thing.
He grinned, knowing he’d be able to do so much more now that he saw everything they did, not just in his mind, but through their eyes.
Sluggishly, Donovan stood, and in unison, everyone tied to him said, “We are better together.”
23
Everyone followed House out of the pool area and headed left, further into a part of the ship no one ever went. It wasn’t that the area was forbidden, few places were labeled as such, it was that there wasn’t much there except the ship’s servers and other electrical equipment.
It was the warmest section of the Endeavor because of the servers, and right now, House needed that warmth. He’d never admit it, but Trip knew the captain was freezing his ass off. He was still soaking wet and cold, plus, his nerves were fried—everyone’s were. They needed a place to recover and regroup.
“Should we try and call someone with these?” Trip asked, tapping his earpiece. “I mean, there still have to be others like us, right?”
“We can try,” Sam replied, sitting on the floor, just inside the door to the server room. He said he was going to listen for anyone coming, but in reality, Trip figured he wanted to sit down, so he didn’t nervously pace the room. “Who do we try first?”
House joined his daughter at the server’s main terminal. For her to hack into the mainframe without Donovan knowing about it, she was going to need her father’s security clearance, thumbprint, and nine-digit passcode.
Instead of sitting on the floor like Sam, Trip decided to lay on it. He was also near the door, but unlike the XO, that’s where he dropped to rest and nothing more. His head was killing him, and he needed to lay down and close his eyes. That was fifteen minutes ago, and he was still moaning like an injured animal.
“So, what happened again?” Sam asked, not hearing the entire story yet.
“I…” Trip replied, wincing as he opened his eyes to look at him, “got flashed point-blank by the squid we brought up from below.”
“Squid?” Sam asked. “I thought it was—”
“An octopus,” Trip interrupted, “yeah...” he chuckled softly. “We called it a squid to piss off Donovan.” He smiled. “Driving that guy crazy should be America’s greatest pastime, not baseball.” Blinking hard against the discomfort, Trip sat up and propped himself against the wall on the other side of the door opposite of Sam. “Anywho… I guess the thing cooked something up here.” He gently tapped his right temple and sighed. “I’ve been dealing with these godawful migraines ever since.”
“That bad?” Sam asked, looking sad.
Trip nodded. “Like someone driving an icepick into my brain.”
“You take anything?”
Trip nodded. “Everything I could.”
“Drink anything?”
Trip laughed. “No, but I could use one right about now—the captain too!”
“Water, Trip,” Sam said, smiling. “I mean, have you had any water lately?”
“Oh,” Trip replied, shrugging, “with the pills, sure, but we’ve been a little busy since then.”
Sam nodded. “Tell me about it… Anyways, get as much water in your system as you can. Sometimes the headaches can get worse because of dehydration.”
“Sure thing, Doc,” Trip said, saluting his XO.
Sam’s eyes left Trip and found Gianna. “So, a father, huh?”
Trip shrugged and slipped his sunglasses back on. “Wasn’t exactly planned, you know? Regardless, she’s the best.” He glanced back at Sam. “We’ll make it work.”
He noticed that Sam wasn’t really staring at Gianna—he wasn’t looking at anything. Sam was staring off into space, thinking of something else.
Someone else? Trip thought.
“What’s really on your mind?” he asked.
When Sam looked back at Trip, his eyes were wet. The tears had yet to fall, but the sorrow in them was real. Trip had no idea why his XO was so upset, besides the obvious.
“I…” Sam said, getting choked up, “may have lost someone I cared about today—and…” he wiped his eyes before the salty liquid ran down his face, “I’m not sure what to do. I can’t contact them either. It’s not safe for anyone. What if I call them and they’re one of Donovan’s people now?”
Them? Trip thought. Why didn’t he say ‘her?’
Then, it dawned on him. It was because Sam wasn’t referring to a her, he was referring to a him. Trip didn’t care if his XO was gay or not, and he wasn’t going to force him to spill the beans. He’d support the guy no matter what. At the end of the day, it was going to be Sam’s decision to officially “come out.”
“My friend…” Sam said, choosing his words carefully.
“What about them?” Trip asked, keeping the codeword going.
“Their father is a retired English teacher, and it rubbed off on them. We’d stay up late and do word games and puzzles for fun. Dorky, I know… It’s how I knew the definition of coalesce so easily.” He frowned. “Didn’t realize how much they rubbed off on me.”
“You seem to know them well.”
Sam shrugged. “Two years is a long time to get to know someone, even if it’s in the shadows of the public eye.”
Sam was most definitely gay.
Wait… Two years?
“You knew them before boarding the Endeavor?”
Sam blushed but answered. “It was the main reason I jumped at the chance to be House’s XO. But the other main reason is that I like House as a boss. Both reasons made it an easy choice for me.” He looked at Trip. “He’s a good guy.”
