Tony ran through the ship like a madman. Thankfully, the god-awful screaming had only lasted a few seconds. The only noise now was the pounding of his own footsteps, which was almost as loud as his heartbeat hammering in his chest. He got to the galley and grabbed garbage bags, which he proceeded to fill with water bottles and juice, dehydrated food packets, cans of food, and anything else that didn’t require cooking. When he had as much as he could carry, he threw the bags over his shoulder and headed up to the bridge.
Theresa and Jessica had sprinted to the sickbay and grabbed the largest bottles of alcohol they had. They were four-gallon containers with handles, and they each took two. They were heavy, and the women waddled down the hall as fast as they could, straining against the weight as they headed to the bridge, stopping to close each set of watertight doors behind them.
Within fifteen minutes, the three of them were together on the bridge. Tony sealed the two doors to the bridge and dropped the bags to the floor. He saw Jessica and Theresa and nodded. They were all still alive. Tony walked over and plopped into the captain’s chair.
“What happened down there, Tony?” asked Jess.
He looked back and forth between Jessica and Theresa and tried to gather his thoughts. “I’ll try and explain as best as I can. If I didn’t see it myself, I’d think I was narced out or something, but I’m telling you—it was no hallucination.”
They two women stared at him and waited.
He looked at Theresa. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. “Mike’s dead, Theresa. I walked into the power plant because I had a feeling he was headed there. He wanted to see the biofuel room. It was the one place aboard ship that was off limits, and he didn’t trust Ted. He thought Ted was hiding something in there—like maybe Jim’s body.”
Theresa felt sick. She had been helping Ted—what had she done?
“When I opened the plant door, I knew something was wrong—that awful stench. Then I saw Mike. He, uh . . .”
“What? What happened to him, Tony?” asked Theresa.
“He was attacked by something. It tore him wide open. Ate part of him.” Tony was looking at the floor as he spoke quietly. “It was unbelievable. Then they came for us.”
“They?” asked Jessica. “How many? What were they?”
“There were two of them. They were, uh, they were . . . Ian and Jim. They had turned into something else. They were so fast. They had Ted torn to pieces before I could even move. They were eating him right in front of me.”
“Ian and Jim?” repeated Jessica. “Tony—Ian was jettisoned over a week ago. It couldn’t have been him. You’re hallucinating.”
“Maybe Mike’s not dead!” screamed Theresa. “Maybe you just thought you saw him.”
Tony stood up. “I know what I saw, okay? It was Ian and Jim—except it wasn’t them anymore. That bacteria totally changed them into something else. It’s totally messed up—I know what it sounds like, but I know what I saw.”
“Tony, maybe its narcosis,” said Jessica.
“Jess, you heard that screaming. That was Ted being ripped to shreds in front of my face. I know you don’t wanna believe this crazy shit, but it is what it is. Those two are loose amidships, and we need to surface and get off this ship. And then sink it.”
Jessica and Theresa looked at each other. They knew he was right; they just didn’t want to believe it.
“How can it be Ian?” asked Jessica.
“Ted,” said Theresa quietly. “He must have brought him back on board. He was so intent on understanding the bacteria. He was keeping Jim under observation. He must have had them both in the biofuel room.”
“What was he doing?” asked Tony.
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. But I saw some crazy stuff.” They stared at her. “Jim’s finger. He had cut off a finger and was growing it in a beaker.”
“Growing it?” they both responded.
She looked up, feeling ashamed for not reporting it earlier. “The finger—it had changed into a mini worm or something. The bacteria—it’s very powerful stuff. It was using the finger as a host and changing it. I guess it’s what happened to Ian and Jim. They’re just hosts for this bacterium. It’s like Ted was explaining to me last week. They colonize. They take over and communicate somehow. I guess Ian and Jim are going to take over this ship and make a whole new species.”
“Jesus,” said Tony. “Keep your shit together, Theresa. They aren’t taking over this ship! We’re locked up here in the bridge and we’re heading up to the surface as fast as we can get there.”
Tony spun around in the chair and began typing into the computer. VAL’s female voice filled the bridge.
“How may I assist you?”
“Begin sequence for surfacing immediately,” said Tony.
“Surfacing is not scheduled until October eleventh, in three hundred and twenty two days...”
“Yes, I know that. Override schedule and begin emergency ascent immediately.”
“All systems are fully functional. There is no need for emergency ascent. Scheduled ascent is not for another three hundred . . .”
“Computer! Shut the fuck up and listen to me! Begin emergency ascent now!”
“Emergency ascent override can only be authorized by the commanding officer, Theodore Bell.”
Tony looked up at Jessica. Ted?
“Ted Bell is dead! I am commanding officer, Anthony Martinez! Now begin emergency ascent!”
“Theodore Bell has not been reported dead. I cannot begin emergency sequence.”
“Computer! How was he supposed to tell you he was dead? He’s dead! Now bring up this fucking ship!”
“Override sequence not authorized.”
Tony slammed the off button as hard as he could.
“Thank you and good-bye . . .”
“Now what?” exclaimed Theresa. “We just sit here until they break in?”
“Like hell,” said Tony quietly. “There’s another way to surface. We can drop the legs manually. It was a safety built into the system in case of total power loss. But there’s a catch.”
They waited.
“The legs have to be jettisoned from the lab.”