SUB-ZERO, page 15
It looked happy.
House was more astonished at how big it was.
Man, they grow quick.
Across the length of the pool, eighteen feet or so away, it suddenly turned and stopped. Facing House, its “tail” pumped side-to-side like a shark’s, propelling itself directly toward House’s face. He watched in disgust as a circular opening, its mouth presumably, opened and began drooling blue goo.
Letting it get in close, House dodged its advancement by merely tilting his head to the right and ducking, kicking deeper. He spun, planted his feet on the bottom of the pool, and shoved. House broke the surface and took in a much-needed breath. Not wanting the thing to sneak up on him, he begrudgingly ducked back beneath the water.
The parasite was right on top of him.
Startled, House grabbed its sausage-like body with both hands, giving him an up-close look at what it had to offer, physically. Its tiny mouth opened and shut violently. Naturally, its body pulsed in different shades of blue. The thing had no eyes to speak of, but House felt as if it was making eye contact with him, nonetheless.
Honestly, House wasn’t a hundred percent sure he was looking at its head. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see the other end well enough to make an accurate enough hypothesis—and this was the end it attacked with too. When it started pumping blue jelly from the orifice’s opening once more, he prayed that it really was the creature’s mouth and not its ass.
Like Nova, the thing reared its head up and arched its back. But unlike Nova, the parasite acted like it wanted to get away from House, not beat his head in. So, House let go and was stunned to see it zoom straight for Nova’s floating corpse. Then, it forced its way back into the inert man’s mouth, disappearing back down his throat with a spurt of lubricating slime. Surfacing, House witnessed Nova’s body twitch to life.
Oh, no… he thought, shocked.
It had the ability to reanimate a corpse multiple times. That also meant that Grigson wasn’t dead for good—none of those that died were. The realization that even a man like Abbott could get brought back made the situation even worse.
Seth Donovan presently held a blade to Death’s throat.
Paddling to the edge, House reached two feet over his head and snagged the lip of the pool. Soaked to the bone, and weightier than usual, he paused his ascent and moved to the closest ladder. Quickly, he shimmied up it, still struggling to pull his fully clothed frame out of the water. Moving slower than he’d like to be, he cried out in pain as something wrapped itself around his ankle.
He looked back and found the six-foot-five Nova standing behind him in only six feet of water. His right hand was locked around House’s ankle, squeezing it like a vice. If the thickly built man applied any more pressure, House was sure the bones would snap.
He couldn’t let that happen.
Flipping onto his back, House lashed out and kicked Nova square in the face twice while the larger man scaled the ladder. The second kick busted the giant’s nose. Injuring him had no effect, though—not now. House needed to kill the parasite inside of him, just like the one that had been inside of Agent Grigson. At least, for the time being, it would wholly disable the former engineer.
But how? he thought, kicking at Nova’s face again.
He doubted he could get close enough to use Grigson’s knife, and he really didn’t want to use his gun. There were too many of these things on board now, and every bullet was precious.
They won’t be so precious if you’re dead, Sebastian.
Drawing the pistol, Nova reacted to seeing the weapon by squeezing House’s ankle harder, making it difficult for the captain to accurately aim it. About to pull the trigger, he was surprised when a figure stepped into view beside him, bringing the axe head down on Nova’s outstretched arm as if he was hacking at a downed log.
The first blow loosened Nova’s grip, cutting precious tendon and muscle. The second and third hack removed the lower half of the man’s arm from his body. Unlike his fingers, his stump-of-an-arm didn’t begin to heal immediately—but it tried! Blue plasma spewed and spit from the stump beneath his elbow, solidifying in seconds. Kicking away the detached limb, House slipped and slid on the wet tile, dropping his gun.
Now free of Nova’s embrace, House scurried away from the emerging monster, unable to reacquire the pistol without getting back inside Nova’s reach. House was still unable to process that this thing used to be George Novacek—and just like the stories associated with the brute—Nova wasn’t going down without a fight. House knew the Coalesce version didn’t need both arms to do the job.
I got lucky.
Gianna bolted forward, snagged the pistol, and promptly pulled the trigger just as House fully emerged from the water. Point-blank, the bullet entered and exited Nova’s skull with a splatter of bone, grey matter, and goop.
It didn’t stop him, though.
Even with pieces of his head missing, the dead man kept coming. At a complete loss, House couldn’t come up with another plan before the monster fully emerged from the pool. With his mechanic’s jumpsuit waterlogged, Nova’s exit was slow and clumsy.
The few extra seconds gave someone else time to act.
Trip rushed forward and wound up. Then, as if he was a professional baseball player, he swung the axe like a Louisville Slugger, grunting hard from the effort. The already tainted blade connected with Nova’s open mouth. More importantly, it connected with the creature protruding from it. The front half of the entity was cleaved right down the middle in an explosion of slime.
The axe head’s forward momentum quickly passed through the parasite and sliced into Nova’s cheeks like they were made of butter. Only when metal found bone did it stop, wedging itself in deep between Nova’s upper and lower jaws.
House’s lower body was showered in the awful smelling plasma. Seeing Trip move in for another go, he quickly backpedaled away, still in a somewhat seated position. If he didn’t move, the infectious fluid might get on his face or, worse yet, in his mouth.
House wasn't sure what it took to turn into one of the creatures. Either way, he wasn’t planning on finding out.
Nova’s twice-reanimated corpse flailed, pawing at the wounded entity with a hand and a stump. His reaction wasn't any different than Grigson’s when she was stabbed in the neck. Both host and parasite had freaked out. House was hoping that, like Grigson, Nova would suffer a quick death.
But instead of laying into Nova again, like House assumed he would, Trip grabbed him under the left armpit and helped drag him away to a safer distance. Sam was doing the same on House’s right side. Gianna still held the pistol but hadn’t loosed another round. Her eyes were wide, terrified that the headshot had done nothing.
House didn’t have an answer for the failed headshot until Trip had explicitly targeted the entity itself. Damaging the creature’s vessel—the people it killed and brought back to life—was a waste of time and energy. They would need to impair the pilot of the vessel for anything destructive to occur.
Trip and Sam helped House to his feet, steadying him while he tested his ankle. Patting both men on the back, House stepped away, limping slightly. The injury wasn’t serious, but it would be sore for a couple of days. They’d seriously averted disaster. Everyone’s quick thinking saved his leg…and his life.
“Thank you,” House said, looking at the three of them individually, panning back and forth between them all. “I’d be a goner if you hadn’t acted as fast as you did.”
21
Gianna threw herself into her father’s arms and cried softly. They didn’t sound like tears of sadness, though. She was crying because she was happy that her dad was okay. House rubbed her back softly.
“It’s alright, G. I’m fine.” He tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes. “You’re doing that a lot lately, you know?”
She averted her eyes and stepped away. “I know,” she said, glancing at Trip. “I’m… I’m good. Haven’t been feeling well with everything happening to us.”
House studied the couple before settling on the sweaty face of his XO. “What’s the news?”
“Besides that?” Sam asked, thumbing over at the inert, beached form of George Novacek. The thing in his mouth had finally stopped wiggling and shriveled up in the same manner as the entity that had taken over Grigson’s body.
“Well,” House said, “at least we know how to kill them.”
“But…” Trip said, looking sad, “they’re our friends.”
Somber, House glanced at Nova. “Believe me, I know.” He turned. “From now on, we stick together and watch each other’s asses as if our lives depend on it—because they do.”
He turned to Trip. “You knew how to kill it, how?”
Trip cowered, shrinking in on himself. He looked mortified. “I, uh, don’t know anything. I, um…I missed.”
“You missed?” Sam asked, pointing at Nova. “That doesn’t look like missing to me.”
Trip handed the axe back to House and almost stepped entirely behind Gianna, trying to hide from everyone. “I was going for his neck.”
House chuckled, then sighed. “Well, either way, we know what to do now.”
“What are they exactly?” Trip asked.
House recalled his conversation with Donovan—with Coalesce. He recounted the discussion’s finer details, filling the others in.
“To come together. Unity in one mass,” Sam said, still staring at Nova. “That’s what ‘coalesce’ means.”
Trip snorted. “Nerd.” He grinned and winked at Sam.
The XO rolled his eyes. “Says the guy wearing sunglasses indoors. Who are you, Corey Hart?”
Trip frowned, raising his voice. House wasn’t even sure Trip knew who Corey Hart was. “It just so happens…” He retorted, before getting shushed by Gianna. He calmed a little. “It just so happens that I’m suffering from some really bad headaches!”
Sam smiled, but his mood darkened. House understood his change in emotion. It was hard to be jovial about anything considering their surroundings. If there was anyone that could appreciate that, it was his own XO, a man who was put in some difficult situations since coming aboard.
The science trip wasn’t going to be recognized as a way to get a leg up or to get your name noticed. Sam didn’t know this, but House knew there had been several sailors turn down the job that Sam jumped at. The fact that House was brought in, a man who never commanded his own ship before, didn’t help either. No one wanted to work for the recently un-retired Sebastian House. It wasn’t until the rest of the crew joined him that they understood how good of a boss House was.
The fact was that House was a good person. He treated everyone the same, regardless of race, beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation. It started with his upbringing. He had grown up in a Christian home and his family taught him to love everyone because Jesus loved everyone—even his enemies. As an adult, House had strayed away from the Church, but deep down, he still possessed some of its core beliefs. It’s what made him the man he was today.
Not that he ever acted like he was “above” anyone.
If you did your job to the best of your abilities, you’d get nothing but praise from the captain. There was never a time when House didn’t give one of his crewmen the time of day. If someone needed to say something, he made an effort to hear them out. Nothing was off the table, even if he didn’t agree with their point of view.
“How’s the ankle?” Gianna asked, heading for the entrance.
House shrugged. “Sore, but fine. Could’ve been worse.” She looked worried. “Why do you ask?”
“Because,” she replied, head tilted to the side in thought, “I think I hear more of them coming.”
House rushed forward, pushing aside the discomfort, and turned the corner out into the corridor. Two more of Donovan’s minions stood before him. One was a member of his science team. The second person was someone House knew well. She was the ship’s medical specialist, Dr. Lisa Bowen.
“Lisa,” House muttered, gritting his teeth. “Damn you, Seth.”
“Lisa?” Gianna asked, hurrying into the hallway.
When she saw Bowen, her footing faltered, and she stumbled back, lips quivering. She looked like she was about to faint. House wasn’t sure why Gianna was so upset over the woman being turned, besides her caring for someone else’s well-being. As far as he knew, the two ladies only knew each other casually.
Bowen turned her attention to Gianna but spoke to House. “She hasn’t told you, has she?” Her left eyebrow raised, amused.
House’s armor cracked, and he looked over his shoulder at his distraught daughter. “What’s she talking about?”
Both of Gianna’s hands went to her mouth and she shook her head wildly, eyes locked on the doctor. Whatever Bowen was talking about, the subject petrified Gianna.
With no reply from Gianna, House turned his attention back to Bowen. “What hasn’t she told me, Seth?” House asked, knowing who he was really talking to.
“Your child,” Bowen gently caressed her own stomach, “is with child.” She smiled wide, amused with House’s ignorance. “With him.”
House followed her outstretched index finger over his right shoulder and found a cowering Cole Triplett. Under everyone’s gaze, he shrank back, half-hiding in the doorway to the pool, looking away from the irate and betrayed captain. House was mad, yes, but he was also aware that Donovan was trying to drive a wedge into their group. Mistrust was a dagger in a situation like this.
Divide and conquer, he thought.
Taking a deep breath, House asked, “This true?” He didn’t take his eyes off of Bowen for a second. So far, the man that had accompanied her had said, and done nothing. Neither of them advanced, seemingly here to do nothing more than to deliver the shocking news.
“Uh…” Trip replied, stepping forward a little. “Yes, sir… It is.”
House glanced over his left shoulder this time and found Gianna’s tear-filled eyes. She was obviously mortified that he had found out this way. Hands in his pockets, and shoulders slouched, Trip fully emerged from his hiding spot and nervously stepped up next to Gianna.
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, sir. It wasn’t our intention to hide anything from you. But with everything going on…”
This wasn’t the place for a conversation like this, but House wasn’t sure when he’d be able to have it again. So, he asked the one question that needed asking.
“Do you care for my daughter, Trip?”
Trip glanced at her and then met House’s eyes with a stern look. “Yes, sir. She means the world to me.” As Trip spoke those words, he and Gianna locked eyes and smiled at one another.
Nodding, House turned back to Bowen, glad to hear Trip confess his love—even happier that his daughter was able to hear it.
“Thank you, Seth,” House said. This was the boost he needed.
The Bowen-creature was visibly confused. “Thank you? Thank you for wh—”
Uncaring what Bowen had to say in response, he tossed the axe back to Trip. “Take care of them!”
House charged the two members of Coalesce, roaring into the air like a feral animal. He unsheathed Grigson’s combat knife and took a page out of her book. Leaping into the air, House drove the blade deep into Bowen’s chest. His body weight and downward momentum drove her into the ground hard. He quickly yanked the knife free and jammed it right back into her, specifically the soft tissue beneath her lower jaw.
Bowen gagged, swallowing hard. House had no doubt he punctured the entity within but didn’t stick around to make sure. Yanking the blade free, he turned his attention to the other member of Coalesce.
The science team member put up a better effort than Bowen did, taking two slashes to his forearms before House buried the blade in his abdomen. Like the stab wound to Bowen’s chest, it wasn’t a killer blow. It served its purpose though, bending him forward at the waist. House met the man’s face halfway with a savage, rising knee strike.
Teetering back, Donovan’s assistant regained his composure and stood tall, his nose crushed and bent sideways. Next, he did what House figured, and he freed the creature within. Like the others, the bug didn’t make the scientist a more capable foe. It only made him fearless. It also made him predictable. An adversary that knew fear—an average person—would show a certain measure of caution for his, or her, own life. Coalesce didn’t display such concern. It gave House a sizeable advantage. He knew they’d go for gold every time they attacked him.
Like this one now, he thought, getting ready.
The man’s jaw popped and unhinged, but House reacted instantaneously bringing the knife up, and in one, skyward arch, cut the thing in half. What was left of the creature jerked upward and coated the ceiling in blue plasma. As the scientist collapsed, more and more of the goo sprayed, equally covering the walls and floor—Bowen’s body too.
With the enemy dead, House grunted, bent down and wiped the blade clean on the scientist’s shirt. Then, he stood, felt his lower back pop, and breathed a sigh of relief. Turning to his party, he slid the weapon back into the sheath on his hip.
House eyed Gianna and Trip. “Pregnant, huh?”
22
Donovan was losing pieces left and right. House had personally slain a number of them too, which enraged him that much more. Even some of the captain’s people were joining in on the rebellion. But with Coalesce’s numbers slowly growing, more than half of the crew now, Donovan was still confident that House would be joining him soon enough.
Regrettably, it was taking longer than he’d first thought.
Patience, Seth. Patience…
Donovan had no idea if House was combat trained or not. Nevertheless, he witnessed first-hand that the captain could handle himself in a fight.
Four days after setting sail, two sailors got into it with one another over something nonessential and trivial. To break up the skirmish, House simply stepped into the room—the mess hall. Physically, the only thing the captain did to intimidate the duo was fold his arms and deepen his scowl.
