Page 24 of Music of the Ocean

There was no escaping. No compromising. There couldn’t be, because the simple touch of the water sparked a biological change that resisted all attempts to stop or undo it. At least, not if whoever touched the water wanted to live.

Only the planet’s vast oceans could support individuals with mutated DNA. What was even scarier was that the entity had actually tracked down those who touched the waters and resisted the call.

The planet kept what it touched.

Chapter Ten

THE HUMAN was here.

Saxby’s emotions arrived before his body did—a churning swell of confusion, questions stacked on questions, and underneath it all, a hot vein of anger that pulsed like a wound.

The entity let it wash through the link without resistance, the way the ocean floor receives a storm. It had felt this before, from others who had touched the water. It would feel it again. There was no running, no bargaining. Saxby would submit like all did here. There was no other way.

It drifted lower, letting the mental turbulence even out. The human mind was a messy thing. His responses fired off in directions that made no sense, tangled with memory, desire, and panic.

The entity was ancient, but it was not insensitive. It knew the first touch of change was agony, like being unmade and rebuilt at the same time. The first days were always the worst.

You need to rest.

What I need is answers!

After you rest. The change is ongoing, and your body needs rest. It will be easier on you if you do.

Fine. I do feel tired. I was so sick before.

Of course you were. Your body was changing. It is not a simple process.

The human trembled thanks to small spasms flickering down his back. The gills worked, but inefficiently, like a baby animal learning to breathe. That would get better as time passed. The entity watched as Saxby struggled to orient himself.

Saxby’s thoughts were a hurricane of questions, like would he ever see his friends again? What would the repercussions be from him taking the shuttle? What if the Federation launched another Landing Team? Would he ever walk on land? What of the life he had?

The entity wanted to answer, but for now, it needed Saxby to rest more. Saxby’s body was going through a lot. Instead, it projected reassurance as it guided Saxby toward its bed.

Hold up. Saxby struggled to a stop. I am not sleeping with you. Absolutely not!

I will not force my attentions on you. You are safe.

Saxby gave him an unbelieving look but didn’t fight as he was guided into the mesh that functioned as a bed. It flexed to cradle Saxby.

Okay, this is weird. Since when is mesh a bed? Saxby grumbled as he stretched.

It is what works best down here. You will adjust.

You keep saying that. Saxby yawned and snuggled into the mesh.

Because it is true.

Saxby didn’t speak again and soon drifted off. One of the entity’s smaller tentacles reached out, brushing the back of Saxby’s hand as it settled on the floor next to Saxby. It was enough contact to remind Saxby that he was not alone.

The transformation would be completed by morning.

Chapter Eleven – Saxby

SAXBY DRIFTED out of unconsciousness for a moment to find himself tangled in the cool, sinewy embrace of the tentacles, which felt neither predatory nor especially alien. If anything, the creature’s grip was oddly reassuring.

Huh. He didn’t know what to make of that. And it had kept its word. It wasn’t in the damned weird bed with him. Just its tentacles.

Saxby sighed mentally. Okay, so, yes, he hadn’t put up much of a fight when it had all but kidnapped him. He’d been scooped up, bundled through a labyrinth of bioluminescent corridors in a fancy building, and deposited into what looked like a type of mesh that passed as a bed around here.