1191 lines
51 KiB
Plaintext
1191 lines
51 KiB
Plaintext
Bearer of the Beast
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It begins with peace and sleep. Then distant,
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brilliant light approaching. Just as it always
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had. As it must.
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CHAPTER 1
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"...hhMMm?" The Richard's eyes fluttered
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open, locking upon the face hovering above that
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curiously regarded him.
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"Hi." She smiled.
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Richard's eyes shut.
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"Hey," A hand tapped the boy's face, light
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but insistent. He squeezed his closed eyes even
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tighter as he turned away, aranging himself back
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into the sleep from which he'd emerged.
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Denial worked just fine, right up till the
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hands grabbed his shoulders and hauled him up.
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"Hey damnit!" This woman was shouting right
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into his face. "What's the matter with you?"
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One eye, reluctantly, opened. Regarding her
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again. Then both eyes were open and flashing
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about, fitfully assimilating the sights over her
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left shoulder before returning to the woman who had
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never stopped regarding him.
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She tilted her head in query.
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Richard wiped his nose absently "This.." He
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was speaking to himself, "'s a detailed one." His
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voice was thin as a breath.
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"It speaks." She tried her smile again.
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"Which means you can tell me how you feel?"
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He only stared at her, blankly.
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"Let me try." A man's voice, behind them, said.
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The boy's heart... clutched, in
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an understanding ignited by that familar locution,
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he turned slowly, impelled instinctivly, to face
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the source of his suuden comprehention and fear,
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this voice.
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Richard met those eyes.
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With a jolt he was off the examination table,
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IV's and diaprobes popping. He fell to the floor
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in a flailing tangle of sheet and limbs. Trying to
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spring to his feet, he only staggard back, balance
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strangly unfamiliar, and fell again. Crawling
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backwards mecanically, methodically untill a wall
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stopped him, his gaze still fixed to the center of
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the room by the motionless man with the steel grey
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eyes.
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"Hey," The woman was calling after in
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soothing tones. "Your... ok now."
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The boy levered himself upright against the
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wall, flashing her a glance as
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her hands raised, threatlessly.
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"We'll stay back." She began as the boy
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snapped his attentions back to the man, a bead of
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sweat shaking down his forhead as his eyes darted
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back and forth, as if seeking to pin them both with
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the threat of his notice.
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"She's right," The man was edging closer.
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"Now listen, now, You've nothing t--"
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"Keep away from me!" the boy shrieked wildly.
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The man whispered something to the woman.
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"What?" The boy was trembling, he looked to
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the woman. "What'd he say?"
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The man's brow furrowing at the boy with
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unknowable estimations, he eased himself across the
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room. Arrays of campartments and trays of medical
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impliments suddenly lay within his reach.
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"What'd...He...Say!" The boy repeated,
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clearly panicking. Eyes locked still with the man
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that continued, rather sincerly, to NOT be
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selecting a dermal spray.
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"It's awlright Ash." The woman held up her
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hand, never quite turning away from the
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boy. "Don't do anything. Everything's ok. Let's
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just CALM down."
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"I'LL be calm!" The boy skreached desperatly,
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"When he.... is OUT of HERE!"
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The woman considered the boys face carefully.
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"Ash," She said softly, "Leave us alone here.
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It's ok, I can handle it."
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Ash gazed coolly at them both. "I'll fetch
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Dallas." was his cliped responce as he walked to
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the medlab's exit. No one noticed the comm he
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thumbed as he walked quietly out through the
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doors.
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"'Dallas...'" The boy repeated the name
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like a preposterious notion.
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The woman stepped smoothly, casually
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backwards. She glanced out the medlab doors before
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shutting them, then returned to where she had stood
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before, by the examination table, but no closer.
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"Gone, see? He wont come back if that's
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what you want. So just relax. Everything's
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going to be fine."
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"--yeah." The Richard seemed almost to
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chuckle. Spent, he slid down the wall and slumped
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there.
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"My name," She tried again, a keenness in her
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gaze as she knelt to face his rapidly deflating
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attentions, "Is Ripley."
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"I know that!" The boy snapped. The woman
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tilted her head skeptically.
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"I know." He said again.
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Then the boy pinched his arm. Hard.
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"OowW!"
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He sighed,
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He took several slow breaths, deep and slow. "Ok,"
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He looked up. "'m naked." he informed her.
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"I'm told you didn't have any clothes benieth your
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suit." And she rose from her crouch.
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"Ahh." he obsorbed this blankly,
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"Right. Well, 'Ripley' can I have the sheet back?"
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"One second." She was picking through an
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overhead cabinet and chose a grey one-size-fits-
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all jump suit. She tossed it to him.
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"No underwear?" He answered finally as he
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finished steping into the jumpsuit, it fitted and
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sealed itself around him.
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"Your welcome." She returned to her chosen
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spot on the floor and sat down this time, as the
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boy sat, knees to her chin. "What's YOUR name."
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For some reason, he had to think about
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that, it seemed all... slipery for a second.
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"I'm Richard."
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"Who?" She coaxed.
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"Richard Magyar."
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With a woosh the lab doors opened, Dallas
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strode carefully in.
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* * *
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(Harsh overhead pov from a camera in the corner
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of a square metal room, looking down on three
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spacesuited individuals sitting along a molded
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bench.)
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"Ok Ash," (Dallas' voice)
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(Now suddenly pov has jumped to look out from
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the camera beside a helmeted head, the view pans to
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address a large lens mounted high against a cieling
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corner, then back to the bare wall oposite.)
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"We're set here. Open the outer hatch."
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Suddenly one of the walls slides away and a
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furious wind screams in. (Dallas stays motionless
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long enouph for the pov to default back to the
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airlock's overhead,) All three suited figures
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stand frozen for a long moment. The airlick's
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outcycle strobe working with red and eirie silence.
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"Everybody set?" Dallas brakes the thrall
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with his relaxed tennor, (the pov jumps back to
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him.) "According to Ash's atmospheric, it's mostly
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inert nitrogen, high concentration of carbon
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dioxide crystals, plus methan and frozen amonia."
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"Throw in the lava based rock, the deep cold--
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it's almost primordial." trilles Ash, (pov
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unchanged by HIS participation,).
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"Swell." Lambert mumbles, (summoning the pov
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as she looks out over the edge of the lock
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platform, to the Zeno-Firma 20 meters below.)
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Slowly, a light frieght gantry loweres
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the suited spelunkers to the ground. Outside the
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ship, accelerated plasma blazes across the
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enormous frieghter's belly as the Nostromo's
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navigation array presses outward a stronghold of
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light against the darkness. The immediate area is
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exposed for what it is. A mad, bent landscape,
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shifting before their very eyes by the behmoth
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winds.
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Up one immence flank of the Nostromo, Ash is
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waving and saying hello from his transparent perch.
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One of several crows nest, overlooking the loading
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arena below and amidship and more commonly employed
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in all manner of cargo shuffling. Above and
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watching, Ash appeared to be well in his
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element.
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Kane waves back.
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"One more thing," Dallas glances to his
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companions in turn, the anonymous suit to the
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right undoubtedly being Kane and the shorter one
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Lambert, "keep away from your weapons, unless I say
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otherwise."
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Lambert, ignoring Dallas in favor of her suits
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forarm displays, promptly turns off most of her
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telemetries.
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"SKrEEEkerkkkkKKKK aKKsrrrrr RIIiBSSSh",
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skreeches over the link. As Lambert twists to
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determin the the strongest reception of the beacon
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she's routed to her suit's headset.
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THAT way, she inclines, for the benefit of
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the two men.
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"OK Lambert," Dallas nudges, "You first."
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Her vicious mumble christens their march as
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she plodes ahead of the two men, picking a path
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over the queer landscape. Bare vocanic formations
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frozen in mid eruption. Heavy ash and strata
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flakes lying behind the formations in treacherous
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lee-clutches or bourn aloft in madening subsonic
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volleys. Walking grows frusterating and the three
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find it to be a popular dicussion point. The
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further they venture out, the less clearing the
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Nostromo's landing blasts accomodate them and the
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harder it's going.
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"It's not so bad--" Kane encourages between
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pants, "--as it could be. I'd say...this--"
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"Dallas," Lambert interupts, "I can't see a
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goddamn thing beyond the ship's floods!"
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"Quit griping."
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"I like g--"
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"--Christ!" They hear Kanes scream. Once
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Everyone yelling, some glimpses benieth the
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sands. Kane is down. They're all running.
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Lambert unjacks her handgun and pivots as she
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skids to a halt and brings it level.
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Kane is motionless as he gestures at their
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feet. "Don't move! Look. Down."
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"Shit." Dallas observes calmly.
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"Yah. Nostomo's blowoff must've exposed it
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when we landed." Kane agrees excitedly.
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"Is it Integral?" Ash's voice inquires over
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the link.
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"Yes," Ripley's voice--a new participant in
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these events-- suddenly joins in the link.
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Dallas shoves it, hard! For several
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seconds they wait anxiously.
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Nothing.
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"It's got feet." Lambert confirms as
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she fingers into the loose soils with her unarmed
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hand. "Could still be sealed."
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"Look here." Kane directs his hand
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light onto a part of the leg. The top half of which
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seems erribly eroded, but the lower area appearing
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nearly untouched. "It doesn't look as if it's
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moved in decades."
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"Maybe." Dallas is guarded. "Maybe these
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winds could score a suit like this in an hour. No
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way of knowing really." He glances for a moment at
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Lambert and Kane, then he's moving forward, leaning
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in over top their discovery.
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He hovers above it push-up fashion for an
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uncertain moment. Then eases closer
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towards the head, stopping as it's
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faceplate lay scant millimeters from his. With
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apprehensive curiosity, the man peers deep into
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the scored helmet's depths.
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Bam!
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Dallas gags in shock, spastically launching
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backwards away from the figure, landing on his back.
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"God!" Lambert skrieches.
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"Ok. I'm ok." Dallas growls, "I
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knocked faceplates."
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Breath returning, he rises steadily to his
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feet. "I was, just startled."
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Lambert's "HAH!" goes largly unacknowleged.
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"What did you see." Ash persists.
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"Nothing." Dallas shrugs. "The
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faceplate is too badly scored. It's
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totally opaque." "Can't find readable markings anywhere."
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"There may be more like this."
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"If the beacon's coming from a downed ship or
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lifeboat or something Ash wouuld've picked up
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something on the way down." Ripley, who had
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refrained from unnessicarily distracting the three
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outside, nevertheless interjected with this, "Or I
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would have. Core-splash, Resonance, something.
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Right Ash?"
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"Yeah" Dallas staring at the still figure.
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"Impossible to know for certain untill you
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find the beacon's
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source." Ash comments. "Sensors just havn't
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been capable of the nessicary resolutons in
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this maelstrom. Dallas I recommend that
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Ripley and I go out and retrieve your discovery
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whilest you continue after the signal, yes?"
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"Kane." Dallas speakes. "Brake out the
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gurney. We're bringing it back." Then the captain
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turns to Lambert, her gun still in hand.
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"You can holster that now, dead-eye."
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Then they pause in mid step, frozen.
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Dallas looked away from the monitor thet'd
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been watching and regarded the boy sitting across
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the room.
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Richard glanced from the now frzen image on
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the screen to Dallas and Ripley as they awaited his
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comments.
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"I've seen the movie, that's not how it
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happens. And what I asked you was how I got here."
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He said.
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"You just saw the how. That was you in that
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suit." Dallas reexplained.
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"Me" Richard repeated somewhat thickly.
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"Why would I be in a space suit buried under the
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sand in this movie?"
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"That's my question isn't it." Dallas
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reponded, "Why WERE you out there in the first
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place? Why are you on this planet? Why is your
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distress beacon so strange? Did you crash? --
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Feel free to interupt with answers any time."
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Richard began to protest, considered Dallas's
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words a moment more, then; "If that's... what
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happened, I'm more confused than before I... This
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is just a dream, I mean it's a movie." He was
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nodding at them assuredly, "Right?"
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Minutes later, Ripley and the man, Dallas,
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still spoke in hushes across the room from Richard.
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He couldn't make out what they were saying, though
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Dallas seemed angry with her for something.
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Richard just... watched them.
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He watched as them as if he'd come upon a pair
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of movie stars inexplicably chating in his bedroom.
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And this was not his bedroom, it was madness!
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And he was lucid as all hell. It was all so very
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real. He pressed his hands on the floor, traced
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the seams in the tileing to reassure himself of
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this hard fact. He felt giddy suddenly! Wildly
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excited, and insane, then terrified again, because
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if this was real (it wasn't--couldn't be)then he
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was presently exposed to perhaps the most horrible
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danger he could imagine. These people too. Course
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this can't be right? I'll wake up in a minute and
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laugh at myself.
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And Richard watched the people standing there,
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right before his eyes, waiting to wake up.
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"Um, excuse me." it was almost a whisper, but
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Ripley and Dallas fell immediatly silent, finally
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ceasing to peep at him in guarded sideglances, and
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just plain look at him. Richard tried to smile, it
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wasn't something he was good at. "Uh, I think I'd
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better say something here. I think you'd better
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listen."
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Immediatly, they were listening like
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gangbusters, and the young man squirmed a bit
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before this extream attention. "You'll never
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believe me." he muttered, a sqeeky bubble of
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laughter escaped him before he could swallow it
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back. "Nobody... EVER believes people like me in
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the movies!"
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"Try us anyway," Ripley said, arms crossed
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in an advocate's bearing. She stepped up to
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Richard. "I GARRANTEE we'll listen. Tell us
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everthing you can." She held out her hand to him,
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and he looked up at her.
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She had a reasonable, composed look, Richard
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thought. Pre-alien. Still whole and sane and
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without the horrible emotional scars yet to be
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inflicted upon her. Cocky. He could see it in
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her eyes. An innocence of a sort. It was scary.
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SHE scared him, a bit, her being right there.
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Ripley still held her hand out in invitation,
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and Richard grabbed it.
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"Yeah. Right." He accepted her help to his
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feet. She was strong for a woman.
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Sudden astonishment whirled through him.
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"Hey," He regarded her puzzeled brown eyes.
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"I'm... taller than you!" He shifted
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exploritivly opon his own legs. "I just
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never thought about it. I mean.., on screen you
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always..."
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Ripley regarded him perplexedly.
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Richard laughed, a sqeeky wild laugh.
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"You know, this could actually be fun."
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His grin darkened quickly upon them.
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"I want to figure out the best way to
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tell." He groped aloud. Suddenly and with clear
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deliberacy, he turned away from The woman and
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addressed Dallas instead. "I'm going to
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describe something. The things I remember.
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okay? Just hear me out. Till the end. Please."
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Dallas spread his arms magnanimously. He'd
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resighned to play along.
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"The last couple of hours I remember,"
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Richard began, "Me and a friend of mine had went
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and seen a movie--a... show. It was called Aliens.
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This show was a sequel. You know... like a
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continuation of the original story?"
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They nodded patienty.
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"The origonal story, was called Alien. That's
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where we are now--"
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So Richard went on. Reciting as best he could
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all he was able to remember of the tale. Often
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having to stop and plead with Ripley and Dallas to
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listen--To wait till he was finished. A half hour
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later he was done.
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"...and that's all of it. The only ones left
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alive are you, Ripley, in the emergency shuttle.
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You and your cat. Everyone else is killed."
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Dallas rubbed his face exhaustedly, saying
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nothing. He quietly abandoned the wall he'd
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listened against, walked to Ripley, and leaned
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knuckle-down into the cousioned tabled beside
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where she sat, internal debates evident in his
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expression.
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"Anyways. That's all I remeber."
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Richard was trailing off, with Dallas's back turmed
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to him. "But like I said. This is
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like some hallucination or something, I'm IN the
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story with you. I just.. don't understand it. I
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don't remember anything short of coming home after
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seeing the movie, then somehow I'm waking up on a
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hard table and seeing you" He looked at Ripley.
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"I just dont.. undestand how I could be in
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here just WARING you and all.. and..." and he
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traced a groove in the floor again.
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"Dallas," Ripley spoke sidlong to the captain,
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"He's not any danger, I--"
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"Please think!" Richard pleaded, suddenly
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envigored by the thoughts he'd just been
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exploring. "How can I
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know what happened on this ship even before you
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brought me on board! Hmm? Ripley how would I
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know you have a cat, I've never met any of you!
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Richard edged nearer. "How can you NOT check!
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Maybe... I really work for the... Company, somehow
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or, or... I don't know! Just go to that-- MOTHER
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computer of yours--like Ripley did in the story.
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Ask IT about your real purpose! Please! How hard
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would be!" The boy was shaking again. "THEY are
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OUT there! This is your shot at not letting it all
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happen!"
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Dallas eyed the boy untill he sat back down.
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Richard slumped heavily to the deck.
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"Fine, die
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like stupid dumb fucks." He spit the words,
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deflating. His head drooped and he stared at the
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floor, "That's how you all die anyway."
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Dallas slowly walked to the lab's door. Ripley
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followed him out of the boy's earshot.
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"Do you think you can handle him for a little
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while?" Dallas spoke softly.
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"Well... sure," Ripley answered the Captains
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quiet voice in kind, "He's paranoid, not anything
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violent or dangerous, But
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I'm no psyctech or babysitter.
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Let Kane or someone watch him. Or put him under
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again, I have work to do."
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"No. You thawed him, you voulenteered."
|
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"And what about the signal, then."
|
|
"I have Ash on that."
|
|
|
|
DALLAS, REPORT TO THE BRIDGE PLEASE
|
|
The P.A. trilled.
|
|
|
|
Dallas sighed with burden. He turned to
|
|
Ripley again. "All I'm asking... is just keep an
|
|
eye on him, just for a while. He seems to respond
|
|
to you. Watch him. How he acts, if he speaks
|
|
even one sane word, for
|
|
the next few hours. Then we'll decide how to handle
|
|
this. Kane's good at cute reg- interpretations, &
|
|
he's never locked me out of my own ship."
|
|
"Listen," She hesitated, "I was right you
|
|
know, The boy SHOULD have undergone the 24 hr
|
|
decon--"
|
|
"God," he gave her a rare smile, "My
|
|
dear,
|
|
it's just a job. Something else, none of this is to be
|
|
discussed with the ANY of the others until I call a
|
|
meeting. Especially that shit about Ash, got it?"
|
|
He moved to leave but she grabbed his arm.
|
|
A pensive gaze that drew his eyes, "You know he
|
|
really BELEAVES everything he said."
|
|
"You mean, will we check it out?"
|
|
|
|
The captain looked to the boy, who was quietly
|
|
looking at them.
|
|
|
|
"Hell yes." He said softly. And Dallas
|
|
walked out the door.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* *
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ripley sealed the door behind her, turned and
|
|
smiled stiffly at Richard, then walked over to sit
|
|
herself before a terminal built into one of the
|
|
ships-consoles.
|
|
|
|
"So what now?" Richard asked despondently.
|
|
"You make yourself comfortable," Ripley said,
|
|
"And I get some work done." She looked over to the
|
|
the boy sitting sullenly on the floor.
|
|
"Also," she pursed her lips thoughtfully,
|
|
"You can tell me some more."
|
|
"More what?"
|
|
"About the fates I suppose."
|
|
"Fates? That's cute. I wouldn't have
|
|
expected that."
|
|
Ripley looked down at him.
|
|
"Why should I say anything." He looked up in
|
|
anoyance.
|
|
"Because you desperatly want to." she
|
|
answered casually, "And because I believe that
|
|
you do know something, Richard." She said now
|
|
concentrating on the screen before her. "I'm curious."
|
|
The boy perked up. "You've got good sense,
|
|
lady." He said. "I guess that's why your a
|
|
surviver."
|
|
"How so?"
|
|
"The sequel. It's all about you, your the
|
|
heroin in it. Do you... even know what a movie
|
|
is?" He asked.
|
|
"I have some idea." She teased him.
|
|
"Ok then. I just saw this movie so it's fresh
|
|
in my mind. Imagine this huge action packed movie
|
|
all about you."
|
|
"Why me?"
|
|
"I told you. Your the only survivor of the
|
|
Nostromo."
|
|
"Not yet." She reminded him once more.
|
|
"Right." He nodded, the significance not lost
|
|
upon him. "Anyway you go running around with this
|
|
huge gun blowing the aliens away--"
|
|
"Hardly," She interjected, "I hate guns."
|
|
"Believe me Ripley," Richard half laughed,
|
|
"You get over it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Progress?" Dallas bent to watch the
|
|
flickering symbols rise into the top of Ash's
|
|
screen. The bridge hummed quietly about them.
|
|
"MOTHER's getting bogged." Ash said over his
|
|
shoulder. "We know the beacon references
|
|
trigonometric correlations to this planets diameter
|
|
as a common bassis for comunication. The crux of
|
|
it is a don't-cross-this-line sort of thing. To
|
|
that end it demonstrates planetary orbit. But
|
|
that's all we have, so far. It's diabolicaly
|
|
foriegn. Terribly facinating."
|
|
"Keep on it."
|
|
"Well there's the problem, I called you
|
|
because the damn thing is fading. And without that
|
|
signal to follow, in these conditions," Ash
|
|
gestured to the bridge's main ports as the abrasive
|
|
tempests raged beyond, "it might take days,
|
|
even weeks to actually find the source on
|
|
foot. I don't need to tell you our cost in
|
|
the consumables are--"
|
|
"Damnit. How long before it goes out
|
|
entirely."
|
|
"No idea. Eratic degradations began over an
|
|
hour ago."
|
|
"Why?" Dallas was shaking his head, "I don't
|
|
get it. The beacon's broadcast envelope is decades
|
|
in radius, at least! Why suddenly fail just now?"
|
|
"I'd say we caused it. Mother has been
|
|
beaming respoces at it for over ten hours now.
|
|
Maybe shutting off is it's way of telling us we got
|
|
through. Perhaps it would be wise to
|
|
send out a search party after all? Before it goes
|
|
out altogether, yes?"
|
|
Dallas paused at that. He looked down at his
|
|
science officer with cold appraisement. "My orders
|
|
stand." He stated with cool precision. 'Unless you've
|
|
got a hell of a better reason, under no cercomstances
|
|
are we approaching something that expressly warns
|
|
us to stay away."
|
|
"We've already defied the warning, we landed."
|
|
"I said no Ash."
|
|
Ash sighed.
|
|
"And the signal source?" He seemed unaware
|
|
to the captains tense posture towards him.
|
|
"Yeah..." Dallas exhaled, "Uplink with the
|
|
Refinery and triangulate a location as best you
|
|
can."
|
|
Lambert spoke without looking
|
|
up. "Already done. Location maped at 3.3 to
|
|
3.8 kilameters distance. With an arc tolerance of
|
|
.002 seconds. That works out to search an area to
|
|
search just over 1 and one eighths klicks
|
|
square." She sat at a nearby station, fully absorbed in
|
|
a notebook full of scribbled computations.
|
|
"On foot? That's horrible." Dallas scoffed.
|
|
"Clean this 'mosphere and a straighten out
|
|
that beacon, I'll give you better tolerance"
|
|
Lambert shrugged. A cigarret gripped tightly in
|
|
her lips. "So tell, Dallas, what's the story on
|
|
the kid? Ash says he's up and talking. Is he
|
|
really crazy?"
|
|
"Yes," Ash looked up from his work, "has he
|
|
provided us any answers? He seemed... less
|
|
than lucid."
|
|
Dallas eyed Ash suspectively. "Keep me
|
|
posted on the beacon's status" Then he turned to
|
|
Lambert and answered carefully "The boy has said
|
|
almost nothing. He's delirious, maybe worse. I
|
|
don't know really. I have Ripley
|
|
keeping him under observation for now."
|
|
Lambert laughed. "Serves her right." She
|
|
shot Dallas a sarcastic look. "I'm gonna go down
|
|
and meet him." She began to untagle herself from
|
|
her station.
|
|
"No." Dallas cut her off, then in a more
|
|
anounciary tone he lied, "Listen, I'll
|
|
be calling a crew meeting soon. Everyone can meet
|
|
then, and we'll decide how we deal with our guest.
|
|
untill then I want no unnessicary... breaches in
|
|
the quarentine."
|
|
Lambert rolled her eyes. "Where'll we
|
|
keep him? He can't stay awake on the trip in,
|
|
any more than we can, and he sure as hell can't
|
|
have MY capsule."
|
|
"We could put him down in one of the
|
|
Narcissus's freezers." Kane said. Dallas turned
|
|
to see Kane entering the bridge, a fresh cup of
|
|
coffee in hand.
|
|
"That's what I figgure too." Dallas agreed.
|
|
Satisfied with the solution, the navigator
|
|
took a deep drag on her cigaret, and returned to
|
|
her notes. It was a pension of Lambert's to recheck,
|
|
on paper, her navigational calcs whenever she had
|
|
a chance. "So when are we out of here? I'm sick
|
|
of compensating for this shitty ball's wobbles.
|
|
Consumption gonna suck. Stupid JOB!" She snapped
|
|
after the captain, imitating Dallas's favorite dig.
|
|
"New invention Lambert," he said as he stepped
|
|
by the testy navigator, "Called a computer."
|
|
"Fuck you, SIR." She mumbled around her cigarett
|
|
and continued her laborious calculations.
|
|
He resisted smiling as he turned to Kane. "What
|
|
is the word from Parker?"
|
|
"Nothing in the past hour," Kane replied,
|
|
|
|
Down in the Engine Room a beeper whooped
|
|
over the noise of heavy labor. A sweaty Parker
|
|
cursed the tone and stepped up to a comm box.
|
|
"What!" he barked in annoyance.
|
|
"Dallas. How's it coming gentlemen."
|
|
"S' comin' as fine as can be expected.
|
|
Mostly puttin' things back together with spit and
|
|
solder, but it's gettin' done."
|
|
From behind a power Cell, Brett grinned at
|
|
his partner.
|
|
Parker grinned back, "Also Brett and I would
|
|
'preciate some beer, if you don' have nothing to do
|
|
but chat."
|
|
Dallas listened patiently,
|
|
"Just make sure you keep to Ripley's 15
|
|
hour deadline."
|
|
"Hey." Parker hastened. "Whats the story
|
|
with this kid we found? Kane says Ripley and Ash
|
|
woke 'im up after the rest of us got tired of
|
|
lookin' at him sleep."
|
|
Word traveles fast on a ship of 7 people.
|
|
"You'll see him once you two finish down there."
|
|
"Way'll shit," Parker snorted, "we'll actually
|
|
start working then.."
|
|
"Don't fuck with me Parker." Dallas sounded
|
|
tired. "Not today. I want us orbit-ready pronto.
|
|
And I want to to know the minute we are." He broke
|
|
the connection.
|
|
cursing, Parker walked back to the exposed
|
|
erj cells he'd been working on.
|
|
Brett succeeded in both smiling
|
|
and talking while never once droping the cigarrett
|
|
from the corner of his mouth. "Show me our pronto
|
|
clause."
|
|
"Heard that, man."
|
|
Brett pondered his next inscision as he
|
|
reignighting his cutter. "Asshole." The thin man
|
|
shook his head.
|
|
Parker just
|
|
studied a charred surge link
|
|
thoughtfully.
|
|
|
|
"Why so jumpy?" Ash studied the
|
|
captain out the corner of his eye.
|
|
Dallas smiled quick.
|
|
"Just covering my ass." he mumbled.
|
|
"Kane," He said hoarsely, "Give me a hand
|
|
with the coolant for the Narcissus's freezers. We
|
|
also need to review any policies--"
|
|
"--Our mystery boy. Right!" Kane gulped down
|
|
the last of his coffee, "What IS the scratch on 'im
|
|
now?"
|
|
"Don't ask." Lambert called sarcastically
|
|
as they left. "He wants to get to call a meeting."
|
|
"We'll talk on the way." Dallas said. But as
|
|
he and Kane entered the hallway, Dallas stopped,
|
|
turned, and studied Ash one moment more.
|
|
|
|
The captain snaped about and strode down the
|
|
corridor, a sudden purpose fueling his stride.
|
|
Kane followed quietly. Dallas slowed suddenly as
|
|
they passed a narrow side tunnel.
|
|
|
|
"What is it?" Kane asked. Dallas continued
|
|
staring down the corridor that led to the
|
|
Nostromo's brain.
|
|
"Kane, see what you can get done in the pod
|
|
without me for now. Run the Narcissus systems
|
|
up, ok? I wont to make sure ALL it's freezers are
|
|
up to it. I've just
|
|
remembered something I have to do first."
|
|
"What? Mother again?"
|
|
"Use the full checklist." Dallas continued.
|
|
"I'll be along to help in a while."
|
|
"..., All right." Kane obeyed hesitantly.
|
|
"Whatever you say."
|
|
Dallas watched the executive officer turn
|
|
off, through the Nostromo's dinning room.
|
|
Then Dallas turned back down the corridor they'd
|
|
past.
|
|
The side tunnel led to a bulkhead which
|
|
opened to the same corridor leading direcly from
|
|
the bridge to Mother's core. He glaced left and
|
|
heard Lambert and Ash discussing something. With
|
|
an aukward stealth Dallas stepped into this next
|
|
corridor and crept to it's far end. It, too, ended
|
|
with a bulkhead, opened with a simple tap to it's
|
|
controls and closed behind automatically as he
|
|
moved through. Dallas was now confronted with a
|
|
bulkhead yet again. This one however required
|
|
thumbing a print scanner and typing the his ID
|
|
code into the pad.
|
|
|
|
MOTHER spread wide for him.
|
|
|
|
The captain eased into the Nostomo's tiny
|
|
nerve center. It's sole furnishing, a generously
|
|
cushioned chair mated smoothly
|
|
with the master terminal. MOTHER's maximum
|
|
security door slid firmly closed at his back
|
|
and Dallas soaked in the comfort and
|
|
security this small room lavished. The sigh of
|
|
the computer core's dedicated venilation dispelling
|
|
the tension that'd been gathering in his neck all
|
|
damn day.
|
|
"Ok MOTHER," he said, "I've taken a big bite
|
|
and I need some help chewing it." His fingers move
|
|
like lightening over the keyboard as he began to
|
|
dig.
|
|
|
|
|
|
"I don't know," Richard answered Ripley's
|
|
question unconfortably, "That's just where it ended. I
|
|
guess you and Hicks might've went on to raise Newt
|
|
and live happily ever after together on earth.
|
|
Something like that. That's how I imagined it."
|
|
|
|
"That would've been nice." Ripley reflected
|
|
wistfully. "Unrealistic, but nice."
|
|
Richard picked at the corner of a floor tile.
|
|
"Why unrealistic?"
|
|
"Lots of reasons."
|
|
"What WOULD you have done."
|
|
"Oh, mad as you make me? I'd probably go to
|
|
the Net with my story. Blow the lid off the whole
|
|
thing."
|
|
"I got the impression these guys'd kill to
|
|
stop that."
|
|
"The Company does't need to kill." She said.
|
|
"But then, I'm the invincable star here, right?"
|
|
|
|
Richard condsidered that.
|
|
"Why do you call it 'The Company' without ever
|
|
saying it's name?"
|
|
"It's just slang, for whichever corporate
|
|
thing you slave for."
|
|
"That being, 'THE COMPANY'?"
|
|
"No, look, Wehland owns the Nostromo,"
|
|
"Yeah! Oh right 'Wehland-Yutani'. I remember
|
|
now. That was the Company's name!"
|
|
"No. Never heard of any Yutani."
|
|
"Oh... so you... Contract right? Contract to
|
|
work for Wehland?"
|
|
"I'm ICC talent, licenced to bid myself as
|
|
freelance to ANY shipper in the Network. This time
|
|
it's Wehland. The shipper cuts the deals with the
|
|
governments or Guilds or whomever, and I get the
|
|
percentage I contracted for out of the run's net
|
|
profits. That's it."
|
|
"Your a trucker."
|
|
"Hauler."
|
|
"Your young for your position too, right?.
|
|
Astronaut on a star ship, second in command."
|
|
"Third. I'm third ranking officer."
|
|
"Oh, what's your rank?"
|
|
"This isn't the military Richard, and I'm no
|
|
astronaut. We're all just haulers."
|
|
"You don't have a title or anything?"
|
|
Ripley sighed. "I'm the Warrant Officer on
|
|
this run." She stated, almost entirly
|
|
without pride in the admission.
|
|
"So, what do you do with all this iron ore
|
|
your shipping."
|
|
She stared at him a moment before shaking her
|
|
head. "At no point did anyone tell you we were
|
|
hauling ore"
|
|
"No, I just remember it from the movie"
|
|
"Mmm. Well, Antarctica gets the cheap
|
|
processed ore and the Solomans Belt got cheap
|
|
consumables, water and oxygen, from the ice we
|
|
hauled out."
|
|
"Ice?"
|
|
"A glacier"
|
|
"Neat. How long this whole thing supposed to
|
|
take?"
|
|
"This was supposed to be a 13 month round
|
|
trip, but now that we've been diverted here, plus
|
|
the fuel expended, Our navigator slotted us
|
|
for a slow burn home in ten months."
|
|
Richad thought a bout that a bit. "How do you
|
|
deal with being away from everything for what?--
|
|
years ata time?"
|
|
"Not years, not usually, I mostly contract for
|
|
flights of less that 1 projected year."
|
|
He nodded. "But that's not an answer. Who
|
|
takes care of your kid while your gone?"
|
|
|
|
Ripley's head snapped to face him.
|
|
"In the book version--I read that too--," he
|
|
hastened to explain, "It mentions that you had a
|
|
kid, a girl. She was dead by the second movie but
|
|
since this is the first I figgure--"
|
|
"--Amy?" She stared shocked and confused at
|
|
him.
|
|
Richard felt oddly like one of the characters
|
|
he'd been describing, "I said you were in
|
|
hypersleep for over 50 years." he reminded her
|
|
carefully.
|
|
"Hold it!" Ripley's eyes flared with rage.
|
|
"I'm a good MOTHER and I do the best I can!--"
|
|
"Hey--"
|
|
"--don't like my life being picked apart like
|
|
I don't exist! I didn't ask for it to be
|
|
like this. Amanda came later, but I love her and
|
|
I've worked my ass off to make sure she'll live
|
|
right, she UNDERSTANDS why I'm away every few
|
|
years."
|
|
"Ok! I'm sorry. I didn't realize... Ok?"
|
|
Ripley's teeth were still clenched as she
|
|
fixed her rankled scowl back onto her screen. "I
|
|
don't like how you know so much about me." She
|
|
stated flatly. "Like some damn clerk."
|
|
|
|
Richard sat there on that floor feeling like
|
|
a scolded puppy. "Sorry." He mumbled after a
|
|
moment.
|
|
"I'm all alone here. I can't afford to be
|
|
making enemies. I was just talking...
|
|
thinking in terms of charecters, and plots and
|
|
things. It's hard to accept all this, ok! And I
|
|
think I'm handling this preaty damn well!"
|
|
She was ignoring him.
|
|
So Richard stood. "You have to understand
|
|
that I DO know a lot about you. About all of
|
|
you. About what's happening. But... as words
|
|
in a book! See? As pictures on a screen, or
|
|
Starlog articles. I don't know you as actual
|
|
flesh and blood people who I talk to, and meet,"
|
|
He streached over the console and tilted his head
|
|
to look straight into her eyes, "and be taller
|
|
than.".
|
|
He watched her for moment, then sat back
|
|
down. "It's real hard to bealieve that I'm not
|
|
actually here talking it up now with -
|
|
-Sigourney Weaver, somehow." He mumble, more to
|
|
himself than to her.
|
|
|
|
She listened, and Ripley's gaze droped finally
|
|
from the screen she'd fixed on. She looked down at
|
|
the boy, and evenly let out the breath she'd been
|
|
holding. "Sig-- who?" The woman asked, letting her
|
|
anger go.
|
|
Richard looked up, "Yeah," He smiled a bit.
|
|
"Sigourney Weaver. It's the name of the actress
|
|
that... er, played you--in both the movies."
|
|
"Odd name," She said. "That's from The Great
|
|
Gatspy isn't it?"
|
|
The boy turned, confused.
|
|
"Sigouney May? The Great Gatspy is one of my
|
|
favourite books from childhood.
|
|
He blinked in astonishment. "I never knew
|
|
that." He said slowly.
|
|
"Good." She replied.
|
|
Ripley thought quietly a moment, then asked,
|
|
"What'd this actress look like?"
|
|
That surprise the boy even more. "Just like
|
|
you." Richard answered with reflection. "Exactly
|
|
like you in every way. In fact, you even talk the
|
|
same. Snobby 'O's and all that.
|
|
"Oh." She said, somehow disapointed.
|
|
|
|
"Hey, Y'know," he realized suddenly. "What's
|
|
YOUR name? I mean your first name. It seems dumb
|
|
now but I don't think they ever mentioned it in any
|
|
of the movies, or the books."
|
|
"I bet." She jut out her chin in a wry and
|
|
thoughtfull expression. Her tone was filled with
|
|
sarcasm. "Personals are'nt used much around
|
|
here." She turned to Richard and saw his unmalicious
|
|
curiosity.
|
|
"... Ellen." She confessed reluctantly.
|
|
Richard looked truely shocked.
|
|
"It's not that bad." she sniffed with
|
|
unaccostomed self-consciousness.
|
|
Richard eyed the far wall. "It's a nice
|
|
name." Was his reply. "You DO look like an
|
|
'Ellen'. I just expected something more
|
|
glamourous, or futuristic, or something."
|
|
"So did I." She agreed, tossing the pen away
|
|
and forgetting it. "Maybe I should try Sigourney?"
|
|
They both smiled.
|
|
Ripley turned back to her keyboard.
|
|
"And you ask a lot of damn qoestions."
|
|
"Yeah." he agreed with a nod, "I do.
|
|
Makes me feel
|
|
less... out of control, I think." He looked over
|
|
her shoulder at the terminal with mock
|
|
interest. "How long you gonna pretend to be
|
|
doing something with that termal screen Ellen?"
|
|
She stopped tapping at the keyboard.
|
|
"You're just babysitting me aren't you?"
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"In a way." She said honestly. "Don't call
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me Ellen."
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"How much do you really believe me? Honestly."
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His voice unleashed new intensity, "I
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mean, if I'm right, what will you do? Those
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things are really out there --Ripley. And what
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about Ash?"
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She studied the boy for a moment.
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"Your not stupid Magyar." She
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said. "I wont tell you Dallas or I believe you.
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Hardly any of it. But we're not stupid either, we
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listen to warnings."
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He considered that, turning to stare at the
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table he'd woken apon. Quietly imagining a
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man named Kane lain apon that table, a man with
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a hidious thing latched to his face. A thing that
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pulsed with insidous purpose.
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A beast.
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"Good." Richard whispered. "Don't call me
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that though, just Richard ok?"
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"Anything else?" she asked, sarcastically.
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"Um..., Yeah, actually." he said after a
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moment. "what... year is this?"
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Ripley typed a button or two on the closest
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console and gestured for Richard to look.
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It read
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13:42:26/01-17/2223/(Solis)--------------
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"T.G.I.F." She added.
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Richard sat back down.
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Slowly Dallas had been making progress.
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"God." He kept whispering to himself.
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With a totally illegal Command Override he'd
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broken through MOTHER's securities. They weren't
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strong. No one'd ever expected these types of
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questions to be asked. Dallas had been hoping
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dearly that he'd find nothing, but to his horror...
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there it was.
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NOSTROMO REROUTED TO COORDINATES---------
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A620 D-6392------------------------------
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INVESTIGATE LIFE FORM GATHER-------------
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SPECIMEN PRIORITY ONE-------------------
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INSURE RETURN OF ORGANISM TO ML-SO LAB---
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ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS-----------------
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SECONDARY--------------------------------
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ALL PRIEVIEOUS PRIORITIES----------------
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RECINDED---------------------------------
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Sonofabitch...
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It's all true.
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"Sonofabitch!" Dallas seethed with
|
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rage.
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Spontaneous rage consumed him and he slammed
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his fist against a padded wall. It barely made a
|
|
sound. Betrayed! By someone
|
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in his command!
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Fury smoldered in his eyes.
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Only by force of will did he swallow his
|
|
bitter anger. The man pivoted his chair back
|
|
towards the terminal. "What about us damnit?" He
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typed furiously.
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CREW EXPENDABLE---------------------
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"There is an explanation for all this you
|
|
know." Ash spoke softly.
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Dallas's heart skipped it's beat. The voice
|
|
was right behind him. He turned his head minutely
|
|
and out of the corner of his eye saw Ash in
|
|
the now-open doorway. The Science Officer bent
|
|
down to examine the console before them both.
|
|
"How the hell did you get in here?" Dallas
|
|
had remained compleatly motionless, rage all
|
|
forgotten now.
|
|
"Well," Ash began melodically, his entire body
|
|
beginning to surge with spastic twitches, "Perhaps
|
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you should first join Lambert, yes?. You see
|
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we've--"
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|
Dallas bolted as fast as he'd ever moved,
|
|
leaping back from his chair and hitting the deck
|
|
running. Impossibly, Ash was faster. Something
|
|
struck Dallas across the back of his head
|
|
incredibly hard. He careened, bounced off a wall
|
|
and kept running.
|
|
Despair swelled in him as Dallas was forced to
|
|
stop, to wait as the next bulkhead opened.
|
|
Then Ash had him.
|
|
Snagging his arm and yanking Dallas around as
|
|
the man tried to bolt though the doorway. It was
|
|
only partially by luck that Dallas slamed his
|
|
shoulder against the bulkhead's controls as he'd
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|
spun. Ash's other hand fisted and blurred through
|
|
the air, striking Dallas down in the same instant
|
|
the massive door pistoned closed with a whoosh,
|
|
utterly crushing Ash's hand to the Nostromo's deck.
|
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Dallas could hear no sound at all.
|
|
Androids don't scream.
|
|
Fingers still gripped Dallas's sleeve, but
|
|
whatever else remained of the Ash's hand lay
|
|
crushed benieth, or on the other side of, the now
|
|
closed door, milky blood oozed along the floor to
|
|
meet Dallas's cheek as he lay panting and dazed
|
|
against the deck.
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Dallas ripped his clothing free, staggared to
|
|
his feet and
|
|
ran, never looking back.
|
|
Something warm trickled down the back of his neck,
|
|
into his shirt. His head was spinning. Vaguely he
|
|
thought he heard the bulkhead far behind him open
|
|
once again as a worsening stager delivered him at
|
|
last to the bridge. The bestrucken man pawed at
|
|
the bridge access until he found the buttons. Slowly,
|
|
ever so slowly, an emense isolation wall
|
|
emerged from the floor and cut off the entire
|
|
bridge area from the rest of the ship.
|
|
At
|
|
last, sealed safely within the bridge's
|
|
quiet recesses, Dallas
|
|
leaned securely against the
|
|
wall that could only be opened again from his side.
|
|
"...Lambert?" He croaked. He swayed heavily
|
|
and tried to calm his ragged
|
|
breathing as he felt the back of
|
|
his head. "Ash, he's..." His hand came back
|
|
soaked in blood. Dallas collapsed upon the deck,
|
|
never realizing that niether Lambert, nor anyone
|
|
else, had ever answered.
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* * *
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