Henry hurried to switch the holographic platform to a two-dimensional map that reflected the ocean with the presence of heat sources. As soon as the thermal mode was started, Henry exclaimed:

– Captain, there is a heat signature!

– What are these spots around? – Hector asked, approaching the platform. – Hydrothermal springs?

– Yes. They are static. And this one… see? It’s moving.

After the signals on the sonar began to sound at a lower frequency, the captain’s commanding voice was heard:

– Morgan, what’s on the sonar?

– Eight hundred meters. Speed twenty-four knots.

The crew continued to look at the images from the night vision cameras and thermal cameras that were displayed on the large screen, from time to time turning their attention to the thermal mapping platform. The chief mate, meanwhile, reported a change in the distance between the Amphibia and the object, which continued to shrink:

– Seven hundred meters… six hundred and fifty… The speed is falling. Sixteen knots. Changes trajectory. Course three-one-three. Continues to shift. Course two-nine-six. Distance six hundred and twenty. Turns around. Course three-zero-one. Distance six hundred. Jumping back and forth!

– Seven hundred meters… six hundred and fifty… The speed is falling. Sixteen knots. Changes trajectory. Heading three-one-three. Continues to shift. Heading two-nine-six. Distance six hundred and twenty. Turns around. Heading three-zero-one. Distance six hundred. Jumping back and forth!

Captain De Bont felt a sudden urge to smoke, something stronger and without a filter. For many months the craving for cigarettes faded. But now it suddenly intensified, reminiscent of the state that was difficult to endure in the first days after Luther firmly decided to give up nicotine. It was especially difficult for him then, but as time went on, it became easier for Captain De Bont. He began to realize that every day the old habit reminds of itself less and less and every day he buries it, burying it deeper and deeper into the ground. Now his lungs were burning with the desire to smoke like a locomotive. Captain De Bont reached into the side pocket of his trousers and found the last piece of candy from the package he had opened two days ago.

Even the loudest noises in the central compartment were drowned out by the engineer’s cry:

– VISUAL CONTACT!!!

At the same time everyone turned their gaze to the big screen. Night vision cameras caught the object flashing on the horizon. The speed of movement was irregular. The object moved in different directions, jerking up, then left, then right. It jerked down several times, pressing as close to the bottom as possible. But one thing remained unchanged: slowly, but it was still approaching Amphibia XXI.

– Captain, – the first mate said in a whisper, – what will be the instructions?

– Do nothing. Everyone keep calm.

Unable to remain idle, the first mate quietly said:

– Distance four hundred and fifty.

– Morgan, stop. I can see everything perfectly myself.

As soon as the contours of the object began to emerge, Kayla felt a lump rise in her throat, and her legs immediately began to weaken. A trembling enveloped her knees and hips and her body suddenly began to be pulled down. She leaned her entire weight on the edge of the holographic platform. Now Henry saw with his own eyes what appeared last time as a black rectangle on the platform. Now not only the fin was visible. Every few seconds Morgan interrupted his gaze to look at the captain’s imperturbable face in the hope of receiving some instructions and taking decisive action. And only Hector Cage examined the image on the screen with genuine, absolutely professional scientific interest. He was fascinated by this spectacle. Here it is, the subject of many years of work ahead. From now on he can forget about scientific articles and monographs, in which he had to wash the bones of those species, about which absolutely everything is already known for the thousandth time.

The object stopped approaching the Amphibia at around two hundred and eighty meters, beginning to describe circles around the submarine, maintaining its distance. It seemed to draw a perfect circle, going around the central point. This continued until it began to move in slow and chaotic movements in one direction, gradually moving away from the submarine. The signal, coming from the sonar, began to sound at a lower frequency, and the signature continued to move towards the extreme edge of the sonar.

As soon as visual contact was broken, the ichthyologist rushed to his computer. He was overcome by a desire to rewind the recording and examine the replay in detail. But Captain De Bont looked at the ichthyologist and, clenching his fists, leaned his elbows on the holographic platform with the words:

– Mr. Cage, as far as I understand, a job has been found for you. But I am forced to tear you away from your scientific work and find out what your competence can claim?

The signature from the sonar has already disappeared and the signal has been interrupted. Kayla practically collapsed into the swivel chair.

Reluctantly, the ichthyologist approached the crew members and tried to say:

– Well, judging by its appearance… – confused in his thoughts, Hector decided to start his speech again. He was still haunted by the increased pulse, and he still felt his heart pounding against his ribs. He still couldn’t believe what his own eyes were seeing. With a shaky breath, he made a second attempt: «In the Eocene era, that is, about forty million years ago, a species of cetaceans lived in the world’s oceans, which in science were called «basilosaurs». These were real predatory giants. Top of the food chain at the time. The one we saw from a distance looks very similar to a basilosaurus. But only externally. It even moves with the same snake-like movements in the vertical plane. And yet there are a number of compelling reasons that cast doubt on whether this could be a basilosaurus.

– Explain it – the captain asked.

– Firstly, basilosaurus has thin bones, and there are cavities in vertebrae. Only these two structural features of their skeleton make it impossible to live at such depths. Pressure too high. And secondly, there is thermocline. Even if we assume, that individuals of this species have somehow undergone evolution and their body has undergone radical changes, this still does not guarantee a free path to the bottom of the ocean. Thermocline is an insurmountable obstacle. The waters in the middle layers of the ocean are too cold. They are simply icy and will not allow one to travel such a long distance from the warm surface waters to the abyssal, where the waters are warmed by thermal springs.

– So we don’t know anything about this creature?

– If I study the recordings from the cameras, then maybe I can determine something.

– Then I don’t dare detain you any longer – said Captain De Bont, after which he turned to the first mate: – Morgan, when did we start all the engines?

– When we received the acoustic signal…

– No, no. I am not talking about that. How much time has passed?

– We kept the speed for about seven minutes at most. A couple of hours have passed since we stopped. Mr. Hughes injured his hand and then we stopped.

Scratching his unshaven chin, Captain De Bont tried to build a logical chain, that led him to the question, addressed to the engineer:

– Henry, how much is the minimum required to move?

– At least two main engines are needed. Without them, the auxiliary engines are unable to move the boat. Taking into account the energy costs for life support systems, lighting, the operation of the central compartment and some small things, we can reduce the energy supply from the reactor to sixty percent of what it produces in normal mode. But I would still lower it to seventy. Because if any electronics burn out…

– I understand you – the captain interrupted. – Then set limits.

Henry began to carry out the order, leaving for the engine room, and the captain addressed the others:

– Okay, just a minute. This is how we will do it. Any equipment, that is not vital on this submarine, should be turned off. Any electrical appliance. TV. Coffee maker. Even the electric oven. We consume what does not require heat treatment. – After a few seconds Captain De Bont added in a calm tone: – That’s why I hate civilian ships. They are defenseless.

– You have some guesses – Kayla said with some confidence. – Isn’t it?

She looked at the captain with some suspicion. Kayla had a look on her face as if she considered Captain De Bont to be some kind of evil genius, who had unraveled the secret of the universe and now the whole world could be at his feet, not to mention some uninvited deep-sea guest.

– Yes. I have some guesses, Miss Fox. We were going at full speed. The engines were running at full speed. Apparently, this creature is capable of perceiving an electromagnetic pulse, so it was drawn to the source of this pulse. Or it has well-developed echolocation organs and is guided by sounds.

At that moment the biologist sharply straightened her posture, sitting in her chair, as if she had an epiphany, after which she asked:

– Were the spotlights working when we were shaken?

– Yes. And what?

– In that case, I think your assumptions are not groundless. The fact is that a living organism, that lives for a long time at such depths in complete darkness, will sooner or later undergo mutation. Their eyes begin to get used to the absence of light and their vision becomes hypersensitive. And if this feature is genetic, then even more so. In this case, any exposure to strong light can blind. If it was this creature that attacked us then, then under the glow of the spotlights it most likely went blind.

Immediately raising his voice, the captain turned to the ichthyologist, who examined the video footage no less carefully than gamers watch the screen, sitting at the computer for days in an effort to complete the level, buy additional weapons, return to base in time and discover the lair of the living dead.

– Mr. Cage, what do you think?

Kayla had to restate her assumptions, which Hector immediately commented on:

– And by the way, I would not deny such a possibility. As soon as all the equipment was turned off, it began to slow down, and then completely became confused in its direction. We cannot verify this, but it is quite possible. We can only be mistaken if this individual has inner eyelids, which serve as a filter to reduce the sensitivity of the visual organs. Some species of modern reptiles have them. – After a short pause, Hector continued: – Yes, and one more thing. If we assume that our guest has a common origin with the basilosaurus, then your theory is absolutely correct. Basilosaurus lacks echolocation organs. Finding an object at such a distance would only be possible with the help of hypersensitivity to electromagnetic waves or vibrations.

– Great. That’s at least something, summed up Captain De Bont.

After the engineer reported on the completion of the system reconfiguration, the captain gave the order to the first mate:

– Morgan, watch the sonar. Let me know when the signal appears. Visual contact only through night vision devices. No spotlights. – Immediately the captain looked around and turned to the others: – Let’s wait until this creature sails away. After half an hour we continue our journey. Where’s Miss Fox? – the captain uttered the last phrase in confusion.

From somewhere in the corridor came a deafening hysterical scream.

13. ALPHA-1

Kayla literally flew out of the infirmary. She left the room so quickly that, tripping over the threshold, her whole body fell to the floor. Moving with all her limbs, she still managed to take a few steps on all fours before she rushed forward, not realizing exactly where she was running. The main thing is as far as possible.

The captain, Henry, Morgan and Hector ran to the infirmary in a hurry. Upon entering, their eyes involuntarily turned to the right, through the open door. The picture appeared more than disgusting. Dr. Kate Moore stood motionless on her feet, her arms hanging at her sides. But it only seemed so from the outside. In fact, she didn’t even stand and didn’t feel any solid support underneath her. She was held down by a limb covered in disgusting slime. What a few hours ago had been Tucker Hughes, had a death grip on Kate’s neck, sticking a meter-long tongue covered with multiple small teeth into the oral cavity. With its fanged tongue, this creature disembowelled Dr. Moore’s body. Sensing someone’s presence, the former Tucker began to take out his fanged, meter-long tongue, which crawled out of the doctor’s mouth like a python, covered with fresh blood and his own viscous saliva, stretching to the floor and flowing down Kate’s chin. It released its grip on Kate’s neck and the doctor’s gutted body fell like a weight to the floor of the isolation ward. There was the sound of the falling corpse.

Infected with Alpha-1 particles, Tucker turned his face towards the exit, where someone else was standing in front of the threshold. It was never clear by what senses Tucker recognized the presence of people. The pupils were no longer there. His eyeballs unfolded so that the pupils were hidden behind the upper eyelids, and the whites were covered with a dull gray shell, on which pale blue sclera were visible. The fingernails were missing. The skin on the face, arms and feet began to slide, exposing the blood-colored internal tissue. His legs moved, taking small steps towards the exit. Lifting off the floor, the foot left behind an abundant trail in the form of a semi-liquid consistency, which had not stopped flowing since the skin slipped off. In place of the heels, bones protruded, similar to those that birds of prey have and use to capture prey. His right arm was already completely free of skin from the elbow to the fingertips; although what he had now could hardly be called fingers. It was something more reminiscent of claws, but with membranes. Blood-stained teeth lay on the floor, replaced by the giant tongue with a thousand of its own teeth. This same tongue, which became several times thicker, began to float through the air towards the exit. As if replacing eyes, it moved, guided by some smell.

Without hesitation, Captain De Bont slammed the door, battening down the hatch. The predatory tongue hit the round window made of high-strength plastic with monstrous force, leaving a bloody stain.

Without saying a word, the captain left the infirmary and moved towards the bow of the Amphibia. He ran through the central compartment, approaching his cabin. Luther took out the ninety-second Beretta from the safe and hurried back. Once outside the threshold, he involuntarily glanced to the side. Huddled in the corner, Kayla was sitting on the floor. Her hands clasped around her bent knees, her shoulders shook, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Captain De Bont headed back with a determined gait.

Kayla continued to sob and involuntarily listened to the fading patter of the captain’s steps as he moved away from her to the other end of the submarine. When the footsteps completely died down, she heard the voices of someone among the crew members. The trembling, that seized her, did not allow her to listen to the content of what was being said in the infirmary. Soon the captain’s exclamation was heard, which was immediately replaced by a deafening bang, from which Kayla jumped. Next is the second one. Third. Four shots, which shook the entire submarine, were fired at such a speed that they were more like machine gun fire. The sound of a closed door was heard. The stomping grew. Soon the figure of Captain De Bont reappeared at the threshold of the corridor.

The crew commander squatted down and lowered the Beretta to the floor. There was a clang of steel. The captain leaned over, trying to speak as softly as possible:

– Miss Fox. Miss Fox, look at me. There is nothing to be afraid of. It’s all over. Do not be afraid. Everything is fine.

The biologist’s condition did not change at all. She was still shaking. Captain De Bont began to run his hands over her shoulders and speak even more calmly:

– Kayla, listen. Fear is normal. This will pass. I didn’t expect this either. – The captain remembered that he had strawberry-scented wet wipes with him. He took one out and began endlessly wiping the tears from Kayla’s cheeks, trying to hold the napkin as close to her nose as possible, so that the smell would enter her lungs. He sat down next to her, continuing to wipe with the napkin under her nose. He sat down next to her, continuing to wipe with a napkin under her nose. – I am a military man and, I must admit, I have seen a lot of things that a wide circle of people are not supposed to know about. But even I went crazy at the sight of this. What to say about you? Anyone would go nuts. Someone almost loses their soul just because they almost crash into a fire hydrant, and you survived such a meeting. But now no bailiffs will scare you. And tell me I’m wrong. I am here with you. Morgan, Hector, Henry are all alive and well. You are not alone. Don’t be afraid.

The first mate approached the place. Noticing him, the captain said:

– Find chocolate and a couple of bananas.

Captain De Bont knew the recipe for lowering heart rate in moments of stress very well. The pleasant aroma of strawberries, which Kayla inhaled along with oxygen, had already noticeably lowered her heart rate. With the touch of his hand, the captain felt how the trembling in the biologist’s shoulders had already stopped. Bananas and chocolate were supposed to enhance and consolidate the effect for some time, acting directly on the body’s chemistry.

– Have you ever shot?

– Hm-hm – Kayla mumbled through compressed lips, nodding her head negatively.

– Do you want it?

Kayla didn’t answer. Her head pressed against the captain’s shoulder. Morgan brought what the captain asked for, placed it next to him on the floor and, with his facial expressions, made it clear to Captain De Bont that he urgently needed to say something. The captain motioned to wait for him in the central compartment.

– Well, what’s here? – asked Captain De Bont, entering the infirmary.

– It’s better to see for yourself – the first mate answered.

The toothy python was hitting the door window with such force that three cracks had already appeared on the plastic circle and it seemed that a little more and it would shatter into fragments.

Maintaining a calm expression, Captain De Bont asked the engineer:

– Henry, do we have a welding machine?

– Yes, we do.

– Then find some stronger piece of metal sheet. Take the welding machine and weld.

Suddenly, to the surprise of the captain himself, Kayla entered the infirmary. She walked to the table, where the microscope, centrifuge and blood samples were located. The biologist took the containers with the blood of the monster, who lived in isolation ward number two, after which she picked up the portable X-ray machine and, with a completely restrained gait, retired to her laboratory.

Captain De Bont followed her and upon entering said:

– Miss Fox, as I see, you are cheerful. You quickly pull yourself together.

Lowering the X-ray machine onto the table, she said:

– Captain, can I ask you a favor?

– Take a risk.

Kayla recognized the humorous notes in the captain’s voice, but her grimace did not change at all.

– From now on, call me Kayla.

– As you say, Kayla.

Leaning his hand on the plastic shelving, the captain asked:

– Apparently, you know something that others don’t?

This question did not bother the biologist at all. She answered in a firm, calm tone:

– I suddenly thought that Mr. Hughes could most likely turn into that creature in only one case – by making contact with some pathogen, little studied, the consequences of which are unpredictable. There can only be one source of such a pathogen on our submarine. Suddenly he still came into contact with that fossil, unnoticed by himself. I want to find out.

– Why do you need the X-ray?

– I want to connect it to the computer and look at the pictures enlarged. Whatever it is, it’s still information. Maybe it will give something.

With narrowed eyes, the captain assessed Kayla’s expression. Without saying a word, he left the laboratory.

– Let’s wait until this creature sails away. After half an hour we continue our journey. Where’s Miss Fox? – asked the captain.

Kayla walked up to the infirmary and opened the door to inquire about the paleontologist’s well-being. Dr. Kate Moore was not inside. The isolation ward, where Tucker lay, was closed. Kayla saw a centrifuge on the table with tubes filled with patient blood samples. Looking around, Kayla went inside, trying to do everything as quickly as possible. She jogged to the table to get the test tubes, when she suddenly noticed that the door to the isolation room was not completely closed, and through the crack came some kind of unhealthy, barely audible animal growl. Kayla placed her fingers on the doorknob to slightly widen the gap between the frame and the door. A very small gap was enough for her eyes to believe what was happening. She forgot about the tubes with blood samples, rushed away from the infirmary and reflexively jerked her hand, leaving the door wide open.

Morgan and Henry welded the window on the door in the infirmary, applying a three-millimeter-thick sheet of chrome steel, that had previously served as a door, covering a panel with electrical cables. Hector continued to study the enlarged still frames of the video. The captain monitored the instrument readings and sonar data, setting the Amphibia to low speed. The submarine continued to move along the planned route.

After two hours, when the biologist completed her review of the medical examination data, Captain De Bont gathered the living part of the crew in the central compartment.

– So, today we had a particularly difficult day. We lost two colleagues at once. We witnessed an underwater monster and another one, that settled right on the board and which was useless to feed with lead. It is clear that many of you would like to consider making adjustments to our future action plan. But in order not to make hasty decisions, we first need to understand what we are faced with. Let’s hope that Mr. Cage and Ms. Fox will bring some clarity and we will still get a more complete picture of what happened. As already mentioned, we are dealing with two problems. One of them is located right on our submarine. Actually, this is where we will probably start. Kayla, what did you find out?

Standing in front of the working screen, Kayla began to expound:

– The main thing is that my fears were confirmed. Mr. Hughes’s blood contains traces of the bacteria that were found in the fossil we found. It is unknown how, where and when, but he definitely came into contact with the find – at that moment Kayla began to fiddle with her earlobe, and then cleared her throat. – Once inside, these microorganisms began to create copies of themselves. Over time copies of these cells began to communicate with Tucker’s cells. In foreign cells there are forty-six chromosomes, twenty-three pairs each. People have the same amount. From the moment these microorganisms began to multiply; their copies, in turn, also began to divide, but forming two haploid ones from one diploid cell. In other words, the number of chromosomes in new cells was halved. The same thing began to happen to Tucker’s cells. Then his cells and copies of the foreign bacteria began to combine. The chromatids of two different organisms fused together and the original number of chromosomes was restored. Thus, new cells with new DNA appeared. An individual has formed – a hybrid of a human and some unknown species. – Kayla paused for a moment, swallowed the lump that had come to her throat and continued: – But the curious thing is that the mother cells that created their copies never divided. They were left on their own. They created copies of themselves so that they would grow together with the cells of the organism where they ended up and change the environment to a more suitable one for them. Once this happened, they began to feed in this environment, absorbing some of the chemicals that only a living organism can secrete. But when the habitat exhausted itself as a source of nutrition, the hybrid cells began to live on their own, and the mother cells began to move closer to the skeleton, pass through bone tissues and penetrate from one bone to another throughout the skeleton until they found themselves in those areas where bone marrow is present. To develop, they need a living organism that they can parasitize and feed on, but to survive in the absence of food, they require stem cells. They are present in abundance in the bone marrow. Stem cells are immature and can self-renew, divide, and become cells in a wide variety of organs. Having received such a habitat, these bacteria greatly slow down their metabolism and guarantee their survival for hundreds of millions, billions of years. For this reason, Tucker’s skeleton began to fragment. I enlarged the X-ray images and the computer shows how there are tiny spots in the skeleton in places. The mother cells of the parasites violated the integrity of bone tissue, thereby sharply reducing their strength. That fossil, we pulled up from the ocean floor… apparently it was a part of the skeleton that contained bone marrow, and its owner turned into the same kind of food for these parasites as Mr. Hughes.

– This is all, of course, very interesting, – said the captain, – but tell me better, how can I get rid of this? It is not afraid of guns.

– You… – Kayla stuttered – do you want to kill?

– Yes, Kayla. I intend to get rid of him. I will not allow any infection to travel around this boat. So speak up.

Taking a breath, Kayla replied:

– As I said, the fra