Return 733w4q

ISBN: 9780985804329

Chapter I

Archive

“We need to make a record of what happened here. I don’t trust The Company or the military to reveal the truth about what happened.” She was trying to get her pain- and now drug-dazed partner to acknowledge what she was saying. He had been injured severely in their escape and needed medication to dull the physical pain. Although the medication helped, it also severely diminished the man’s capacity to string coherent thoughts together. “I haven’t got any s left that can help after all these years,” she continued, “do you have someone you can count on; someone you would trust with your life?”

His eyes were unfocused and glassy as he responded weakly, “My cousin… has…”

Has what? She thought, but didn’t try to rush him. She waited for thirty seconds and realized that he was drifting back into sleep before she gently nudged him saying, “Stay with me now. I know it is difficult, but we have to somehow get word back in a secure way so the company can’t filter or cover up what has happened here.”

She’d experienced firsthand how The Company had controlled the story of the first Event. They manipulated and covered up the truth to suit their corporate agenda. She knew The Company would never change, protecting their corporate profits and the security of their own executives - at any expense. They had no moral issues with bending the truth to limit their stockholder’s financial pain and suffering; choosing to couch their bastardized spin as altruistic corporate

policies. It was impossible for them to believe that their shareholders and the public would benefit from transparency. Her argument was that truth is truth; period. The story of what had just happened on the planet needed to be evaluated by people without profit motivated thinking. If not, the truth would be compromised once again, the same way as it had before - at her expense.

“Are you saying you trust your cousin?” He nodded, but without enthusiasm. She knew this was going to be difficult in his current state, but it was imperative that she - they - get word back to someone trustworthy so that their story could be documented and archived properly. Over one hundred and fifty people had just died and the last thing she was willing to give into was The Company controlling the story about the last survivors of a mission gone terribly wrong and the company’s complicity in the deaths of all those people.

Granted, there was a part of her that wanted to stick it to The Company and the corporate executives who had initially tried to make her the scapegoat in the previous disaster. Then, she became the victim of their corporate cover up and she suffered personal attack without the benefit of documentation or witnesses. Only after The Company had lost control of the previous situation was she offered feeble vindication when portions of her story were grudgingly accepted.

Unfortunately, any real exoneration was hollow as now the first Event story had been largely superseded by the series of horrible events that had occurred over the past few days. The story had just expanded in an exponential way and unless it was recorded independently, the truth would again be buried; becoming the exclusive property of The Company and the government and no one outside of the survivors currently on board her ship would know what had just transpired. No, her goal was to make sure that the truth was properly archived so that it could someday, if needed, become public and a real solution to the problem could be discussed outside of the agendas of those who had sent them to face the horrors of the mission.

She knew she also had to help her injured partner, even if he couldn’t help her deliver the story. But she knew what must now be done, even if it was dangerous; her partner needed a stimulant to compel lucid thinking from him, but doing so may damage his frail condition even more. However she had to take the chance. If he couldn’t help her archive the real truth, their story would certainly be compromised by The Company, the government, or others who would “tailor” it to cover up their massive mistakes.

She istered the stimulant.

In a few minutes, her partner was able to start speaking in full sentences. Except for the cuts, bruises and bandages on his body, his mental activity seemed to become almost normal. She knew they didn’t have much time before the effects from the stimulant diminished so after making sure he was rational, she coaxed him into recalling the trauma that caused his bodily and mental injuries. Together they reviewed the story that had unfolded over the past few days, partially to see if he ed what had happened and also as practice to efficiently tell the story should a secure transmission be possible. Her partner seemed to have a good memory of the events so she started at the beginning.

“You know, we have to get our story back?” she began.

“What do you mean?” he responded as though this was an entirely new question.

“You’ve seen firsthand how The Company manipulated the rescue mission and now you know what their real agenda was all along. Now that their objective is out of reach, they will do everything in their power to skew the story in their favor.” She continued, “We all were played as pawns in their little game. Because of their deceit, over one hundred people are dead now, including your entire team.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“You’ve been around long enough to know that this situation and the information we have is too important to simply put back into their hands and let them do with it what they want,” her voice taking on a soft tone.

“You got that right,” he puffed.

“And what do you think would happen if this information fell into the hands of the government or, pardon me for saying, even your military employers?” she speculated.

“I don’t know, but I can’t think of anything good that would come of it,” he itted and continued, “one thing for sure they’d make us the fall-guys.”

“That’s right. We were almost killed, just like the rest of our people,” she went on, “and no one outside of you, me and this little girl,” she thumbed over her shoulder pointing at the third survivor, “are going to get a fair hearing unless we can get the truth about what happened back to someone who gives a shit.”

“I’m with you all the way,” he replied, “but how are we supposed to do that?”

“Look, I have no one around who is reliable any more, all my trusted friends, except for you, are gone. But that doesn’t mean getting the information back can’t be done,” she said firmly. “What we’ve seen is just too important, so we

have to find a way to get our story back to someone who will guard it.”

“Thanks for considering me a trusted friend. Yes, go on,” his interest in what she was suggesting rising.

“Before, while you were still half out, you started saying something about a cousin that you trust. Do you have a cousin that may be able to help us out?”

So that wasn’t a dream he’d had regarding his cousin and the possibility of his help. “Well… I really don’t know,” he hesitantly offered, “but there is an outside possibility that my cousin could help us.”

“Anything, everything is a possibility at this point!” she said with conviction.

“OK, here is the deal. When I ed the military, my cousin, Michael, ed me and gave me what I thought at the time was a kind of bizarre offer,” he said in stilted speech as though the story was all coming back to him in pieces.

“And what did he offer?” she questioned.

“Um, well, I think I may have to give you some background on this,” she waited without interrupting. “Mikey, is my age and we grew up in very close families. We were almost like brothers. I was never a good student, but Mikey was a primo student. He was into technology, especially computers. When we got older, I ed up, but Mikey was so bright he got a ride to several universities and when he graduated he was recruited by, get this, our favorite Company!” She

groaned because she knew it was the same Company that had shafted her and sent them all on this deadly mission. He continued, “Don’t think less of him, he went into it just like we all do when we are young, expecting to change the world,” he was collecting his thoughts more quickly now. “Mikey soon realized he would have very little opportunity to immediately change things, as much as he wanted to it otherwise. The Company would do what they would do and there was very little he could actually change, other than be the best at what he did. So he did a couple of things; One, he kept documentation about any kind of what he deemed questionable Company decisions on a personal server that was off the grid so that no one could access the information he was storing. I don’t have a clue how it is done, but Mikey is so good at network security he probably could have left it on the grid and no one would have been able to hack through his security systems and firewalls and whatever else propeller-heads do to have fun.”

She wondered if he was starting to babble or if this was just a circuitous route to a complete story.

“Well,” he continued, “when I was on leave one time, Mikey came to me at a family gathering and told me that if I ever got into trouble, he wanted to know about it. Mikey never trusted authority much – especially the military. Anyway, he told me that he’d just implemented a secure communications and data storage system and that I should him using his system should I ever need help or even just a big favor. He asked me for a that I would never forget and gave me the frequency of his communications system. He said he also set the system up so that he would get any message I sent 24-7, meaning he would respond to it whatever time or day.

“I know he wasn’t kidding because by this time Mikey had developed a deadlyserious idea of who he was and what his life’s calling was. He’d become some sort of a standard-bearer for his idea of righteous cause, which was not held in the same regard as those in his authority. Believe me, Mikey is not a kook. He’s probably the most intelligent and stable person I know. Anyway, the point is, I’d

trust Mikey with my life as well as I’d trust him to do the right thing.”

She was amazed that she was hearing this story. She didn’t know “Mikey” from a hole-in-the-head and he worked for the Company that had almost killed her, but what options did she have?

What she did know was that the man telling her this story had just shared the most evil, horrifying and bizarre experience imaginable with her. Because they had survived a sort of ultimate intimacy, she had to trust his story because of what they had experienced together. Could she trust him with her life? Yes, because he’d saved hers already – at least once. And she’d reciprocated by saving him and was now caring for his injuries.

After a few moments, she responded, “This could be the answer. Maybe we can give your cousin an opportunity to demonstrate his sense of social conscience. OK, what do we do?”

Without delay, he gave her the frequency and they transmitted the previously known only by two people. There would be a delay due to the long distance the signal had to travel she knew, but she was amazed that in less time than expected the response came, “Hey, Tom-tom, what’s your situation?”

“‘Tom-tom?’” she asked.

“Never mind,” he responded. “Answer, ‘Billy-Bob, I have trusted guests with me and the situation is critical.’”

Doing as she was told, she entered the cryptic message by keyboard. Again the response was quicker than expected, “Thanks for the verification. I’m all yours.”

Apparently “Billy-Bob’s” system of using coded names and verification worked. Hopefully, Mikey was trustworthy and the encryption of the communications system was as good as her partner claimed. They all understood that using the system should only be for real emergencies and not as a means to simply say, “Hello,” and this was an emergency.

The stimulant was starting to wear off and she could see that her partner’s pain level was increasing. She suggested that she take over communicating with Mikey if he trusted her to do it on her own. Of course he did, reiterating an earlier statement that he trusted her completely, but just because he did, “it doesn’t mean we’re married!” With that, she couldn’t help but return the smile he beamed at her through his increasing pain. Another shared intimacy. The comment further confirmed the increasing bond they were building with each other and suggested that he trusted her as much he trusted his cousin.

Collecting herself, she sent a message to Mikey, “Give us a moment,” then she gave her partner a bit more pain medication and helped him lie down to promote his recovery. As the pillow caressed his aching head, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Mikey waited patiently for her return. When she did, she began by explaining his cousin’s condition and how he came to be in that condition. She didn’t fill in all the details of their story because she knew it would take some time to document it completely. She hadn’t used a keyboard for a while so she asked Mikey if she could compose the whole story and then him again when it was completed. Mikey responded that he’d be available and they signed off. She knew she’d be up for a while to make sure she included all the facts in her transmission.

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Chapter II

The Financier

The wealthy Financier had organized, funded and recruited a band of corporate ‘IT specialists’ who had been approached individually to do specially commissioned projects. Most of his specialists had “day jobs” working as regular employees for legitimate companies. As is general practice, they had all signed non-compete contracts with their respective employers pledging that they would not take outside employment in the network security industry. If they were caught doing so, they would be instantly fired and likely blackballed from working at another legitimate company in the industry; effectively ending their careers. However, the financier paid well – almost extraordinarily so – therefore justifying their decision to moonlight for him which was a lot easier than thinking about being caught.

Each of the Financier’s specialists was assigned to corporate network hacking jobs. The Financier’s business model was fairly straight forward: his specialists would break into a company’s network, steal data, develop a “solution” to improve the company’s network security and then present their solution to the attacked company.

The Financier never asked his employees to hack the companies that regularly employed them, nor did he ask them to hack the companies of the other moonlighting specialists he’d hired. Further, the Financier was always careful to not use the hackers who did the actual hacking to be involved in developing a customer solution for the security breach their co-conspirators created. The hackers would turn the hacked data over to a team of “fixers,” as the financier called them, to develop a security solution. In this way, the fixers would be isolated from the original hacking crime while at the same time have the benefit

of access to all the documentation regarding the techniques used by the hackers to penetrate the targeted network. The fixers also had access to most of the stolen data. The Financier selectively chose to filter some of the stolen data, keeping it from his fixer team for future personal use.

The Financier’s hackers would steal only bits and pieces of critical information from the attacked company, usually over the course of several weeks or even months, so as not to set off the network intrusion alarms of the hacked company.

After enough information was taken, usually after many seemingly minor intrusions, the Financier’s specialists would intentionally trigger the victimized company’s network security systems. When the security breech was discovered, it was normal that faith in the attacked company’s own IT staff greatly diminished. Of course, networking security was a cloudy area of smoke-andmirrors for most corporate executives under the gun to quickly find answers to and fixes for any problem that came across their desk. When a security breach happened, many times outside security firms were sought to augment their own company’s dubious IT department.

It was uncanny how the Financier’s network security consulting company somehow always bid on security upgrade projects of recently attacked businesses. In some cases the Financier’s company had not received a formal invitation to bid on the stricken company’s security breech, yet his company submitted a bid to correct the problem anyway. When asked how his company knew about the breech, the Financier’s representatives always brushed off the question by claiming their company was well connected and made it their business to know about any network security violations in the industry. Insisting it was not only their business to stay abreast of all security problems in industry, the company line stated confidence in their expertise as they were the best in the industry. This answer was never challenged further and the proposals they submitted were so comprehensive and precise that most of the time their proposals were accepted in the rush to plug the hole in the dike of the hacked company’s precious, but seemingly flawed network.

The Financier’s company continued to win many contracts and accumulated a prestigious client list. His company’s success wasn’t surprising because his IT specialists knew where the network holes were, how the system was breeched and what information had been stolen. The Financier had many a chuckle at the expense of executive idiot’s who accepted his company’s seemingly clairvoyant proposals to solve their network problems. Of course, their alternative was to face exposing more of their own executive blundering.

The Financier was always careful to maintain complete ownership of all the original data that was stolen as well as how the original hacking had been done. This was critical to his plan. The man made sure his employees understood that he was the ultimate owner of all the information collected by paying each specialist handsomely for their work. Of course it never hurt to imply that all employees were being watched by at least one other employee.

The Financier didn’t want his employees having personal financial problems either – doing so was a formula for potential disaster. Employees allowed to have financial problems were an invitation to trouble which could threaten his entire organization. So the Financier implemented several effective policies designed to improve employee loyalty. First, he understood that just because each of his hackers had certain technical competencies, was no guarantee that they knew the first thing about finances. Therefore he offered each of his them first-rate financial counseling to give them the necessary tools to manage their personal financial affairs.

Second, the Financier implemented another not-so-magnanimous policy. Each of his hackers had to investigate the financial stability of two of their counterparts. The Financier would collect the financial data from one employee and crosscheck its validity against the information from a second. Although each of his hackers knew the identities of the co-workers he was investigating, no one was sure who was investigating them. If one suspected a close acquaintance was one of his investigators, he couldn’t be sure who the other investigator was.

Therefore, even if the acquaintance did provide a glowing report or tried to cover up a problem on their friend’s behalf, their report would not match the information provided by the second investigator. If that happened both hackers were suspect until the truth was found. The investigator providing the accurate report would be exonerated and life went on. The other was cut loose from his high-paying moonlighting position and threatened with exposure to their legitimate employer should an unfounded claim be lodged about the Financier’s operation.

It was never verbalized per se, but it was compellingly implied that should any of his employees stray from the Financier’s ironclad of employment, the Financier would have no conscience about informing the exposed hacker’s regular employer about the extracurricular activities of one of their IT staff. If this were to happen, the IT professional would be seeking a new profession for violating their non-compete agreement - or worse. Hence, there existed a mutual understanding among the all hackers in the Financier’s escapade. The system worked and it insured employee compliance to his rules - no questions asked.

The Financier’s network of isolated, independent IT specialist teams exposed the security flaws of many large and influential clients and then proposed ‘miraculous’ fixes - many times recovering all or most of the original stolen data. The solutions provided to the grateful companies helped the Financier’s company grow to be the largest, most respected consulting firm in the network security business, and the Financier became even wealthier.

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Chapter III

The Company

Derwent Maxwell had worked his way up through, the new company, BioWave’s, ranks and after forty years of slugging it out to make a name and place for himself, things had finally fallen into place in the past few years. He had made careful plans for his career, but even so, it would not have been possible to rise to the pinnacle of the new venture if it hadn’t been for his guide; his Mentor.

BioWave had been formed from the ashes of the previous company, the bioweapons division of Weyland-Yutani Corporation. That company had become a behemoth that had become too unwieldy and arrogant in its aspirations. Years previously, Weyland-Yutani had made too many mistakes and accumulated too many enemies - enemies in very high places. Two of those high-placed enemies were a government industrial oversight committee and the justice department that had ruled that Weyland-Yutani had overreached the boundaries of their corporate charter and the business license they’d been granted. After word had leaked about an investigation, the company’s inside benefactors scattered before the final ruling that the company had breached the public trust and action was being taken by a more-than-pissed-off government.

Forty years previous, nearly everyone on the planet – to at least some degree had been aware of the events that had caused the downfall of one of the world’s most prestigious technology companies. News “leaked” to the press surrounded speculation that the government had been investigating problems at a WeylandYutani terraform outpost after communications with it were lost. Speculation mounted that known armed raiders, aka pirates, who were known to operate in outer rim areas, were involved and central to the cause of the investigation.

Since the terraform operation was a major installation of one of the world’s largest companies, the story gained even more momentum when disgruntled former employees discovered that a “rescue mission” under the authority of the military had been organized to intervene; and the story went viral.

Even more sensational was speculation that a nuclear blast had destroyed the company’s high-profile facility and killed all of the workers living in it including their families. The ongoing rumors continued by postulating that the military craft sent to rescue the colony had crashed on a nearly deserted planet during its return voyage with all hands lost due to with whatever it was that caused the colony’s mysterious ruin.

In reality, investigative hearings revealed that Weyland-Yutani had not shared critical information with the government about all the elements of the original mission and the company was rightly blamed for the colony disaster as well as the demise of the follow-up rescue mission. This had been the final straw for Weyland-Yutani. Because of their enormity and the inordinate power they held within the very fabric of the global economy, the government came down on them hard in a high profile power strike which exposed many of their executive practices as fully blown illegal. After years of litigation, it was finally decided that Weyland-Yutani was too large and, in fact, a monopoly that needed to be punished by breaking it up into smaller, more controllable business units.

Accompanying the company breakup was the inevitable head-rolling of company executives in many of the company’s divisions, many of which could have been large companies by themselves. There were only a few divisional executives who escaped the wrath of the government’s hammer. But the most government scrutiny was focused on a bio-weapons division that had manipulated the colony information they provided to the government’s investigating committee and had mismanaged the entire colony operation - most importantly; the safety of the colonists themselves.

The bio-weapons division had provided the government with many innovative high-tech products for many years and had therefore formed a cozy relationship with the government and a number of highly placed government officials. The scope of the products offered by the division ranged from weapons systems in the form of hardware, software, all forms of electronics, the latest in psychological analysis and control as well as many encouraging projects that were close to fruition as usable biologic weapons. The interweaving of the government and the bio-weapons division had become so entwined that many outsiders as well as some in the government felt the situation had ultimately become too dangerous an association. This widespread feeling had, in part, fuelled the government’s ability to prosecute the corporate dismantling of Weyland-Yutani. However, after all the recriminations had been made and the smoke had finally cleared, there was overwhelming consensus that the original division’s development of biologic weapons was too important and therefore the division should be reorganized under more stringent control “in the interest of global security”.

There was also plenty of political fallout from the government’s action. One would have to be totally naïve to assume that the highly-placed government officials who had worked closely with Weyland-Yutani would be immune from implication in the debacle. And, indeed, there were many government servants who were summarily sent out to employment pasture. Some could not avoid facing more severe music and they were convicted of a variety of crimes and sent to prison because they were ultimately deemed more Weyland-Yutani lackeys than representatives of the government to which they’d sworn an oath in exchange for their high-level security clearances.

The final judgment of the justice department against the Weyland-Yutani bioweapons division was that it would be spun off into an entity outside of any existing company jurisdiction. Unlike the other divisions that were spun off, all the bio-weapons division’s top executives were fired, fined and/or imprisoned. Most of the retained personnel, were top-level scientists who had been investigated, but since most were found to not have serious political leanings or had colluded in the mismanagement of the original division, were retained as valuable assets in the new startup company, BioWave.

In addition to the personnel purge and the subsequent company reorganization, the government mandated that, as important to global security as bio-weapons development was, BioWave would have to bear close government scrutiny and oversight for the foreseeable future. Oversight of the new company would be assigned to two unrelated government departments where semi-annual reports were reviewed under the scrutiny of a third government agency to ensure BioWave’s compliance to the law.

Derwent Maxwell was one of the very few who was retained by BioWave after the Weyland-Yutani breakup and purge. He had been a minor scientist and junior-executive-in-making who had started with Weyland-Yutani fresh out of university just six months before the shit hit the fan. He was spared having to look for a new job as his security clearance had come back clean as a whistle so he’d been retained as a rising star in progress.

No one knew that Derwent Maxwell was entirely complicit in the events that caused the demise of Weyland-Yutani. No one knew that Derwent Maxwell had an insider from the original Weyland-Yutani bio-weapons division who was grooming him for much bigger things at BioWave - his Mentor.

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Chapter IV

Amanda

Amanda had been all too aware that she was in trouble for a while. She still bore the scars of her mother’s disappearance almost ten years previous. Her mother had promised to be home for her eleventh birthday and after that day came and went, Amanda suffered an enormous emotional upheaval when months went by without any news from her. Finally, the dreaded day came when she was given the official report that her mother had perished and Amanda was sent to live with her father in Wisconsin.

Amanda had made it through high school with academic honors and she had never been considered a wild child as, according to the hand-written messages in the margins of her senior class yearbook, she was more of a go-getter whose classmates had deemed her, “Most Likely to Succeed.” A book, now a rarity and about the only printed thing left in the hyper digital age. She had never been too interested in the boys at her school but, never wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings, she had agreed to go to a number of school functions with a few of her male classmates.

However, there was a darker side to Amanda’s existence. She had been having a secret affair with an older, married man with whom she had eventually fallen in love. Compounding her problem was the fact that this older man was the superintendent of the entire school district from which she had just graduated and who, therefore, was in a position of considerable local power as well as vulnerability from his dalliance. Both Amanda and the superintendant played their cards coolly to the point that, for a long time, no one knew of their affair. Unfortunately, it was inevitable that there would be a problem. The problem being that Amanda’s affiliation with the superintendent produced an offspring.

If discovered in the small town, Amanda’s affair with the superintendant would be considered quite scandalous and Amanda’s father as well as the superintendant encouraged her to leave the small town early enough in her pregnancy before the little bun-in-the-oven began showing. Her leaving town was rumored to be for a job opportunity. Since Amanda came from modest means, her family could not afford to send her to college even though she had graduated with high marks from high school so the story of her leaving town for a job was plausible to all but the superintendent’s wife who had suspected something was going on between her husband and Amanda for some time. Due to her husband’s standing in the community, his wife had kept dutifully mute on the subject in public. In private it was a different matter. The superintendant deserved the scorn he received from his wife. He also deserved his own shame for changing the course of Amanda’s life.

Amanda ended up in a larger city where she could get far enough away from her home town, but remain anonymous throughout her pregnancy. She did a lot of thinking about her baby and their mutual future during her time away from the prying eyes and the innuendo of her hometown. She came to understand that she could not manage a baby and achieve what she truly wanted out of life. She eventually came to the gut-wrenching choice that she would give the baby up for adoption. She knew this choice was selfish and self centered, but she also didn’t trust adoption agencies to guarantee that her baby would be placed in the kind of home she envisioned for her child. Therefore, she knew that in order to give her baby the best opportunity, she must be proactive in finding a good home for her child, but how? After giving birth to a beautiful baby girl she spent some of the money she was receiving from the superintendent and her father to purchase a nice baby carriage to walk her baby while she contemplated the problem.

On one of her afternoon walks with her young child, she had occasion to be sitting on a park bench when a woman, just a few years older than she, chose the same bench and sat down next to her. Of course the conversation between them focused on the baby and they chatted about Amanda’s daughter, Jane, for much of the afternoon.

Amanda and the young woman, Ann Adams, met each day for two weeks and Amanda became comfortable with the kindly, soft spoken woman. At the end of the second week, Amanda divulged her true and complete story to the kindly Ann who gave her nothing but after she heard the circumstances of how Amanda fell pregnant and had to leave her hometown. After they’d parted that day, Amanda felt relieved to have finally talked to someone about her situation. Except for the joy only a child can bring, Amanda had left that day’s meeting with Ann feeling upbeat for the first time since she left the familiar surroundings of her hometown.

The next day changed Amanda’s life again. She’d met Ann as usual in the park and in the middle of their usual conversation; Ann dropped a bombshell proposal on Amanda. Ann said that she had come to love Amanda and baby Jane and she wanted Amanda to have the life she wanted and deserved. Ann realized that Amanda was a truly good person and deserved better than the cards fate had dealt her. Ann also divulged to Amada for the first time her own closely held secret – that she and her husband could never have children of their own.

It was at this point that Ann asked if Amanda would be willing to let her and her husband adopt baby Jane. Amanda was thunderstruck by the initial idea. A million thoughts raced through her head. Anticipating that Amanda couldn’t be expected to make such a life-changing decision at that moment, Ann suggested that Amanda meet her husband the next day at their usual park-bench meeting so that they could get to know one another. Amanda agreed of course as doing so was the only thing her mind could make sense of at the moment.

The next day, Clark Adams was with his wife when Amanda arrived at the park bench. Clark, as had Ann, seemed equally genuine to Amanda and since his wife was so enamored with Amanda’s child, he quickly came to feel the same about the little tyke. The three of them discussed how to go about circumventing the normal adoption service processes.

Another two weeks went by and Amanda had come to the conclusion that; Ann and Clark Adams were worthy of raising Jane. Amanda also realized that if she didn’t make a decision soon, she would become too attached to her baby daughter to give her up for adoption to anyone. So finally, Amanda determined that Jane should be raised by Ann and Clark Adams with only one proviso: Amanda insisted that she be given freedom to visit her child whenever she wanted with the courtesy of advance notice of course. Ann and Clark gladly agreed that it would be best to have the child’s birth-mother in Jane’s future, but they had all agreed that the little girl would know the woman as Aunt Amanda as she grew up until such time as Jane was old enough to absorb the idea that her birth mother gave her up for adoption – if there was such a thing as a “good time” to receive such news.

The three adults also agreed that Ann and Clark Adams would be Jane’s parents. Amanda was convinced after getting to know Ann and Clark over the past weeks that they were a worthy couple who would take special care of her daughter now to be known as Jane Adams.

Only six people knew that Amanda Ripley ever mothered a child and all kept the secret. Since this decision had been made outside of official channels, Amanda’s motherhood was never part of any official birth record. Neither Jane’s father, nor his wife ever knew the details about the baby’s adoptive parents.

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Chapter V

Michael Hicks

Michael had been at his new job at Weyland-Yutani for only ninety days and he was going over the previous night’s data. To the less talented, it would have never been noticed, but there was a minor issue that had shown up in the previous night’s data report that at first glance would be considered a glitch of only milliseconds in duration and one of the alarms of the sophisticated security systems used by division had been triggered. However, Michael recognized this glitch as similar to one that he’d observed as a remnant in a computer lab experiment when he was an undergraduate at university. The glitch he observed could be a forbearer of a trial security breach and someone might be subtlety probing the system for a way in. He tracked the glitch to an exact time and ran a diagnostic of his own design on the system which determined there was cause for further investigation.

He didn’t want to raise any alarms with his superiors, so he decided to lay a little trap for whoever was attempting to attack his network. While at university, Michael had originally designed a double-agent virus that did a number of things; first, it appeared to allow unencumbered access to a network. By original design and now modified to his current employer’s requirements, the doubleagent virus would direct a hacker to a virtual environment which appeared to contain all the normal data a division of the size of Weyland-Yutani’s bioweapons unit would have. However, the files of Michael’s virtual environment were scrubbed of the most sensitive top secret data while still providing the look and feel of plausible research data, including critical ing documentation.

The second thing Michael’s double-agent virus did was piggy-back a series of small encrypted packets of information that the hackers would unknowingly

receive as a small gift. The encrypted packets surreptitiously and stealthily infected the hacker’s own network where upon command from Michael, would the hacker’s own critical information to Michael. Michael took great care to only access small bits of the attacker’s own data so that no suspicion of his reverse hacking would be aroused.

Another feature of Michael’s double-agent virus was that it analyzed all communication between the hacker and the hacker’s network associates as well as other networks the hacker accessed whether friendly or attacked. Michael’s double-agent virus would gather bit data from these additional networks for further analysis and identification as substantive evidence as needed for the future.

After a few weeks and several attacks on Michael’s virtual environment and the data it contained, Michael had all the information he needed to strike back. He informed his superiors whose initial reaction was that Michael had seriously compromised the company to known hacking. But they soon came to their senses in realizing that Michael’s virtual environment had given the hackers nothing and, further, Michael had single-handedly acquired all the information that would potentially break a ring of illegal and possibly dangerous industrial hackers. The company called in the government agency responsible for funding much of the bio-weapon division’s research to demonstrate their operational transparency in managing such serious business as network security issues.

In a highest-stakes meeting between need-to-know-only representatives of Weyland-Yutani and the government, Michael laid out his technically meticulous activities that had brought them all together. No one at the meeting, not even the highest level IT staff of the division, completely understood the technical aspects of Michael’s system of double-agent data collection. Michael stunned everyone at the meeting by inviting them all to be first hand witnesses to the straw-thatwould-break-the-camel’s-back in allowing one final hacking entry to his virtual environment where Michael would cull the final pieces of the hacker’s own network data necessary to bury the hacker and his accomplices in their own

collective complicity in their crime. After Michael reassured the nervous company executives and government officials for the third time that all Weyland-Yutani data accessed by the hacker was contained in his virtual environment and was scrubbed of sensitive data (verified to some degree by the mostly dumbfounded senior IT security staff ), the machinery to catch the perpetrator was set in motion.

Multiple government security agency officials were alerted to the exact whereabouts of the hacker and his associates as well as the location of their equipment. Personal data on each suspect was supplied by Michael’s system that was easily corroborated by cross referencing the information with the government’s own existing security data. Michael’s trap was sprung and as corporate officers and government officials watched with amazement and great satisfaction, the hacker was caught red-handed accessing the Weyland-Yutani virtual environment Michael had designed. Quickly the legal search warrant “I’s” were dotted and “T’s” crossed and the hacker and his accomplices were rounded up in a lightning strike by government officials. Most of the individuals caught through Michael’s talent were “clean” up to their arrest. Others in the hacker’s organization weren’t as clean, some having minor run-ins with the law previously, but none had serious criminal records. However, it was understood that without previous suspicion, the hackers may never have been caught had it not been for Michael’s talent and vigilance.

All in all, thirteen people were arrested and a major crime network was uncovered. Further investigation revealed the depth of the information the hacker’s organization had gathered which resulted in jail time for each. After serving their sentences, most were offered legitimate positions with companies that could use their talents. All were monitored to keep them out of future trouble. The hacker and his network of criminal associates never did know how they were discovered as government lawyers were not compelled to reveal their sources under the guise of Global Security laws.

Michael was recognized by the company for his technological expertise as well

as his savvy handling of the entire situation. His career leapfrogged the other IT “experts” in the company and he was eventually promoted to Vice President of overall network security for the division. He was also offered the kind of money few made - even in his profession - so that he would theoretically never be corrupted by the siren’s song of needing additional money from a competing or nefarious suitor. Additionally, and more importantly to Michael, he was given the latitude to manage the division’s security systems the way he best determined. Because Michael had demonstrated extraordinary technical ability as well as uncanny management skills, unbudgeted money seemed to appear from thin air when Michael requested it for his department.

By the time Weyland-Yutani was gutted by the government for their illegal activities, Michael had made a number of high-level official associates - friends outside the Company - that Michael had done many “favors” for over the years. Michael had been able to successfully cover his tracks from the oversight committee investigating the events that caused Weyland-Yutani’s meltdown even though some people on the committee thought the head of Weyland-Yutani network security department should go down with the ship. And, indeed, under different circumstances that would have been the case for a person not having Michael’s talent. But Michael was smart and cagey. Of course he knew about what the company had been working on and that certain individuals had personal agendas that were dangerous and illegal. Michael had been archiving all this information on his own personal secure server network. Through the associations he’d made over the years, Michael also knew about the government indictments being prepared against the company. At least that is what Michael had led his associates to believe. In fact, Michael had known much of the information about the case being prepared against the company before most of those associates had an inkling of what was going down. However, Michael had time enough to compile important elements of his personal stash of incriminating data to make it appear that he had been building his own case against the Company. Michael had injected a series of near completed reports into a “hidden file” on the company servers just before the government seized Weyland-Yutani Company records.

Michael could easily claim plausible deniability that he hadn’t come forward

sooner because his hidden file contained near-term future dates indicating when he’d planned to release the data exposing the Company’s wrongdoings. Michael even named names of the government officials he intended to release the information to. Of course he was very careful not to implicate any of the associates who’d tipped him off to the case against the company. Michael’s story, his hidden files and the data they contained provided a compelling argument that he was not responsible for any of the reasons the company was being investigated in the first place.

Not only would Michael not have to fall on his sword by being directly linked to the illegal business decisions of guilty company officials, he was retained in his identical position at the newly formed BioWave. Michael’s government friends were that powerful and Michael’s talent in network security was deemed that important to the new company’s global security. And Michael was that good. He was pleased, but not satisfied.

#

Chapter VI

Home Suite

Early on in his career Michael had become skeptical of many people in authority as well as some of the practices of his company. He had developed these feelings as an outcome of his increasingly critical assessment of many company’s political, social and business policies. However, Michael was as good a stealth protester as he was an expert in network security systems. Choosing to keep his thoughts well concealed, but at the same time, putting into action a system of data collection that could be used to enlighten those in power, i.e. those who would ultimately need enlightenment when the proper time came.

In his position with the newly formed BioWave, Michael maintained istration rights to much of the company’s data outright. He had received this privilege when he became the director of network security after the government’s personnel purge of the old Weyland-Yutani Corporation as well as lasting recognition for single handedly smashing a ring of hackers who were ignorant enough to attempt to violate Michael’s network. The data he wasn’t given official rights to belonged to the corporate directors who thought they’d hidden it from Michael by hiring outside IT experts to provide sophisticate firewalls and multi-layer, biometric gateways. These experts came up short and the executive files were easily accessed surreptitiously by Michael’s superior methodology. Michael found hidden partitions on executive’s personal databases or offsite servers containing executive information and other sensitive information usually due to carelessness of the data’s owner in using obvious s or threads of access information in files Michael had been given official rights to access. Michael believed that the majority of s tended simply be too lazy to maintain network security protocols which may in fact lead to mankind’s downfall. But more realistically, it was the downfall of executives who owned what they believed to be secure secret information. Michael was

good, so good in fact that his hacking would never leave any traces that he’d accessed their secrets. He knew the abilities of all the IT pseudo-geeks that worked for the company and he knew the intricacies of their security techniques. Michael was always a number of steps ahead of them.

Similar to his attention to detail at work, Michael had equipped the home he built with many of his own “personal touches.” A lot of people, including the architect friend who designed his house as well as the builders who provided the first-rate construction, believed that what he and his wife had created was overkill. The house was expansive and modern in the way many homes are and featured extras the missus had requested as well as some that were a bit unusual, but only a little bit unusual in the estimation of his builders.

Michael had let his wife have about eighty percent say in the design of “her” home. He didn’t mind as he knew that she would require all the amenities including some higher-end, labor saving features. The features would make both of their lives easier and besides, his income was high enough and his investments substantial enough that purchasing top-level domestic equipment – even with the other amenities - would only diminish their savings a very small amount and only momentarily.

One of the personal touches Michael added for himself was his technology environment. Michael had finished the lower level getaway to his own technical specifications. Amenities he added were a double-mesh and grounded, frequency-blocking shielding that encapsulated his entire technology domain. Additionally, he installed special gold-polyester sheathing that enclosed his tech suite with another separately grounded cocoon of anti-RF security. All Michael’s personal additions were purchased from different suppliers and shipped to the addresses of post office boxes in the name of several companies Michael had set up using fictitious owners to avoid inordinate suspicion.

Michael’s tech suite was actually a series of interconnected rooms, each with its

own special purpose. One was a room housing the most efficient heating and cooling system money could buy. The system was used to keep all Michael’s personal electronics within an optimum temperature and humidity range. Another room housed a backup generator system to ensure that there was no interruption in his ability to continue working in his tech shack due to outside power failures.

All Michael’s special rooms were sound insulated and below ground far enough so that not a peep; either acoustic, magnetic or electronic, could be detected from his shack. Furthermore, the floors and walls were shock and vibration limited by a system of fluid dampers which kept any vibrations emanating from his inner kingdom to, well…, effectively nothing.

Michael had equipped his personal domain with the latest in computers and security equipment of course; some of which he’d designed and built himself. He had nearly as much computing power in his personal space as did his BioWave office. Physical access to his technical kingdom was through a secret in a wall behind shelving in what appeared to be a standard storage closet. The shelving was designed as foldable to gain access to the wall behind it. Even if the foldable shelving was discovered, the wall behind looked entirely normal. Electronic access could only be granted via a retinal scanner built into, but hidden in one of the legs of the shelving unit. ission through the secret door would only be granted after activating a hand held wireless module Michael carried with him activated within five seconds of the initial retinal scan. The wireless module appeared to be a standard vehicle remote control - which it was - but also had a little voice activated modification Michael had implemented for the access system. Both systems’ integrity was virtually assured as the retinal scan and the subsequent voice activated initial trigger could only be recognized as Michael’s unique physiology.

Michael kept the data in his main server isolated from the outside grid as a failsafe against unlikely hacking. Even though his technical environment was entirely shielded from the effects of any radio frequency transmissions either in

or out, he had used old-tech fiber-optic connectivity between his equipment and a remote node at a secured location to further ensure his network’s security. He had organized the construction of this special infrastructure by calling in a favor from an old friend who had once worked for the planetary communications services.

Several firewalls were in place into and out of that remote location which monitored traffic to and from the location. Should any communication that did not have the proper authentication be detected, his systems would route traffic to appear as normal cloud communications to the intruder. Michael only used this system in highly sensitive situations.

Michael did have two concessional pipelines accessing the outside world. One was to access the grid by normal means. This access pipeline was channeled through several firewalls of his own design to the computer room in his upstairs study. Michael had programmed this system in a special way which had in place a randomly generated system that would appear to an outsider as if Michael had logged onto the net from his home office even though he was actually in his technology suite. Further, the system would generate keystrokes and voice commands in Michael’s own voice as if he were doing research. His system would continue a research thread for several days or even longer intervals and alternate on a single day (or not) in searching for key areas he found personally interesting such as the latest technology products, gardening equipment or sporting teams.

He had also programmed this alternate system to log off when his wife entered the study to do her own surfing. Michael had done this to allay any suspicions of his real activities in his lower level technical rooms. In this way anyone interested in what Michael was doing in his spare time would be faced with the notion that Michael was a normal person when he wasn’t working. And to any outsider, even tech savvy IT geeks, it would appear that Michael or his wife was conducting typical domestic ritual.

Michael’s second concessional pipeline was even more secure. It was a secure point-to-point connection to an offsite mirrored server. This was used as a backup for most of Michael’s conspiracy theory research. Some of the research dealt with the government’s interference with the personal lives of people or data regarding a “hidden” agency’s outside-the-law activities. However, most of the data Michael collected was about what he considered his employer’s immoral or possibly illegal activities. Any data Michael sent to or received from this outside server was encrypted to Michael’s own specifications and nearly impossible to crack.

Another feature Michael had devised was a secret communication system to the outside world. The system was complex, but essentially it utilized a rarely used subcarrier channel of the world’s latest global satellite navigation system to relay outgoing and incoming signaling. This channel was originally designed to be used in last-resort cases to flash firmware changes to the global sat-nav system when one of the satellites lost normal communication through regular allocated frequencies. The subcarrier channel was slow by current technology definitions, without the ability to carry highly compressed video. Basically it could carry low speed data, which Michael had enhanced by a programming algorithm of his own design where it could carry some limited audio signals if pushed to its limits.

Michael monitored this subcarrier channel continuously. He had his secure offsite server transmit any incoming activity from the global sat-nav channel to his SatCom personal communicator as well as his home tech kingdom computers. Since he carried his SatCom everywhere there was no need to transmit the subcarrier channel signals to his work computer.

This is the system Michael revealed to his cousin as his emergency communications system. Michael was working on an improved communication system that would provide vast improvement over the old subcarrier system.

#

Chapter VII

Jane Adams

Jane was looking forward to seeing her father after such an extended period. She probably hadn’t seen him in at least two years. It was easy to make the excuse that her job had been the culprit and that was entirely true, as her job had kept her away for the past eighteen months. Jane couldn’t shake the nagging guilt she held just under the surface as she knew when she had accepted the position as a senior sales consultant she would spend a large part of her existence travelling and therefore away from the normalcy and stability of her upbringing.

Jane was driven. She had thrown her life into her career right out of college. She worked tirelessly on her career for several years, but at one point had come to the conclusion that at twenty-four she wanted to be a mother. However, she had no interest in the encumbrance of marriage as she was too independent to settle for someone else being involved with any part of her life decisions. Jane was very attractive, turning the heads of many males and almost as many females unless of course they were blind - some thought she actually turned a few blind heads too. However most of the men who were attracted to her were immediately overpowered by her dominant aura and shrank from actually engaging Jane at a social level. There were many men that didn’t meet Jane’s specifications who were quickly dispatched as if kicked in the nuts by the cool, intimidating response they received from Jane when she was not in the mood for companionship. Jane didn’t really intend to come off in that manner, but she never-the-less intimidated those ill prepared to deal with a strong woman.

Jane by necessity needed to become the aggressor in social situations when she required male partnership. On those occasions, Jane virtually had her pick-ofthe-litter in male companionship and she dabbled mostly with men who were

obviously at the top of the human gene pool in good looks. More importantly, Jane was interested in men with intelligence and confidence. After Jane had sampled a few prime specimens, she selected the one fitting her idea of the best choice to father her progeny and posed the question of fathering a child to him. The man took the question in stride (Jane had chosen well) because he had come to understand Jane more deeply than even she realized. He was enamored with Jane’s offbeat capacity for the road-less-travelled so the question was almost expected. Plus he was just as strong as Jane was in managing his own life. Jane assured him that she had prepared for motherhood without a husband/father in the picture so she detailed her plans for him which demonstrated she’d contemplated this important decision for a long time. She cemented the agreement with her “mister right” of the moment, by affirming that he could be in their child’s life almost as much a he required as long as marriage or living together for an extended period was never an expectation.

Now, long after her decision to mother a child, Jane was returning to her father’s home with her daughter, Rhys, who was now a young woman in her mid twenties. Rhys loved her grandpa as if he where her father. After all grandpa had played a very large role in Rhys’ upbringing and she spent as much time in his house as she had in her mother’s house, much of the time under the care of nannies her mother had hired when she was away on business. Rhys was happier however visiting her grandparent’s house when Jane was on extended business trips. There was something special about being with her grandparents and the comfort of her second home. It was a real shock for Rhys when her grandmother had died a few years prior, but now Rhys was just as excited to see her grandpa as Jane was to see her father.

The two women arrived at the home where Clark Adam’s had lived all of his adult life. It was therefore “home” to all three of them. When Jane and Rhys walked in the door, the evocative smells of their upbringing accompanied the familiar sights of the house that hadn’t changed much throughout the years. The man was getting old and they both knew that this visit should be treasured as there may not be too many more in the future. Certainly time would soon take its toll on the family and unwelcomed change was inevitable, but these thoughts went unsaid between them.

The man had relented and agreed to have the major meal that greeted his girls catered by professionals as it was just too much work at his age to prepare all the elements of a large meal himself. He was quite capable of preparing simple dayto-day meals for himself which consisted mostly of sliced meat, cheese and bread. Sometimes he even combined all of those options together in making a proper sandwich for himself. Occasionally he got extravagant and prepared hot soup out of a can or package. The real reason he didn’t want to cook very often or take on the task of preparing a large meal for guests was that he accepted that he was getting forgetful. Clark Adams realized that he had been experiencing, with increasing frequency, close kitchen calls where the fire alarm had gone off to brusquely remind him that something was burning on the stove. So grudgingly he had come to the conclusion that it would be best to limit the amount of stovetop or oven dependent meals.

However, Clark Adams had a more important reason to invite his girls other than to feed them in the typical family gathering ritual of their past. Besides the fact that he was getting old and forgetful and that his girls needed to be fed, he hesitated to immediately divulge his real reason for inviting them. He knew it wasn’t right to continue holding back on what the women needed to be told, but he had promised his deceased wife that he would not reveal the long-held secret before their grandchild became an adult when she as well as her mother could both comprehend the implications of the story. It was only right that the grandchild be emotionally mature enough to come to her own conclusions about the story as it would undoubtedly change both the women’s perceptions of themselves. Clark had dreaded having to tell this story since the moment he and his wife had agreed to keep it secret when they were much younger. It would have been so much easier if Jane had not had a child so that he could have told her the story years ago when the of his wife and her memories of its events could be enlisted to provide a counterpoint to his own version of it.

But, today was judgment day. It was possible, however unlikely, that his girls may never speak to him or even want to see him again after they heard his story. But, a promise is a promise so he knew that the only thing to do was soldier on

with getting the story off his chest once and for all. Since he realized that his mental capacity was diminishing, he had begun making notes about important aspects of the story that he didn’t want to leave out. He and his wife had discussed this moment of truth on rare occasions and agreed to put some of their thoughts together to provide a complete rendition when the day came to tell it. Unfortunately, now his beloved wife was no longer alive to assist him with the task.

The meal the three shared as a family was completed early enough in the day to allow his girls to clean up the kitchen and generally straighten up the house while he slipped away for a quick nap. He didn’t want to begin the saga he was about to reveal at the end of the day when his mind wasn’t as clear as it usually was during daylight hours.

About three o’clock in the afternoon the family all sat down in the familiar setting of the living room and the old man told the women he had something important to tell them both. The mother and daughter looked at each other hesitantly as the tone of the old man’s voice was strikingly somber and yet remarkably strong. He reached over to the end table next to him and collected some papers he’d previously placed in its drawer and turned on the lamp of the end table even though the room was filled with mid-afternoon sunlight. The girls felt something ominous was about to be said and they independently, but wrongly assumed that their father/grandfather was going to tell them about his last wishes for his estate when he died - so they both steeled themselves for what he was about to say.

The old man started out by revealing to them his trepidation in having to tell them what they were about to hear. He told them about his sacred obligation to do so and that today was the day for the information to be ed along to its intended recipients. He continued by framing the requirement to tell them the story now rather than earlier because he was bound by an oath that he’d taken many years previous.

After a slight pause, he asked them if they ed Auntie Amanda. This was a silly question he realized because of course Jane ed her aunt and Rhys, who was only five years old when Amanda had died, said that she too ed the woman, but for Clark asking the question was the only way to begin the revelation he was about to tell.

“Your Aunt Amanda was not really your Aunt, Jane,” he continued.

“What do you mean, daddy? I thought she was mom’s sister!” Jane offered. Although it had never been a subject Jane felt the need to discuss with her parents, she was eager to hear what her father was about to tell the two women.

Her father continued, restating that this was difficult for him, “Your Aunt Amanda, Jane, was actually… your biologic mother,” he said flatly.

Both women paused as their minds tried to process the information they’d just heard. The old man could see both his girl’s eyes darting back and forth as their brains tried to assimilate what had just been said. There was a long silence between them which was finally broken when Rhys recovered her composure enough to ask her grandfather to continue his story.

The old man told the story from start to finish, only rarely referring to the notes he and his wife had made to the story he was telling the women they’d raised. He told them about the circumstances of his wife’s initial meeting with a young woman in the park where both Jane and Rhys had played as children. He told his girls how he and Ann had befriended the young woman whose life had been commandeered by fate. He told the girls about the young woman, Amanda Ripley, and her upbringing in a small town. They were told about their biologic father/grandfather and his circumstances. The old man, held nothing back and told them about how Amanda came to the gut-wrenching decision to give Jane

up for adoption to him and his wife, all knowing full well that he and his wife were far better suited to raise Jane so that Amanda could reclaim her rightful life.

Clark Adams knew that the story he was telling them would not minimize the confusion, fear, anger, distrust and any other emotions that were pulsing through his girl’s thoughts as they listened. He knew that in their minds, there may be no excuse for Amanda’s actions and he was quite sure that they would be angry that the story had been kept from them for so long. Clark Adams also knew that there were many “whys” that could never be answered sufficiently and that together, all three of them would have to deal with never having ideal answers to many of them.

Clark continued the story by telling them about how Amanda was very distrustful of the adoption system and that it was important that she was an active participant in selecting the right couple to raise her child. The old man said that he, his wife and Amanda all felt fortunate that fate had brought them together to come to a decision that would benefit Jane. He told the girls about the final aspect of the agreement to raise Jane in that Amanda wanted to be a part of Jane’s upbringing, but did not want to supersede her adoptive parent’s rights to raise her as they saw fit. Amanda didn’t want to interfere in Jane’s upbringing, she only wished to augment it in any way she could.

Clark Adams then produced a hand-written letter signed by Amanda Ripley, the woman they had both known as someone else just a few minutes ago. It was short and to the point. It simply reiterated what the old man had just told them. The only additional item it included was a sentence about the remorse in not having been able to raise Jane herself. The letter had been signed and notarized.

The old man sat back in his chair looking drawn and weak as if he had just raced up and down the stairs, but without the heavy breathing. He sat quietly there for a moment collecting his thoughts while preparing for the many questions his

girls undoubtedly had.

The girls stared back and looked at him as if a flash photo had been taken and their eyes couldn’t readjust. For as much as Jane was normally a competent, tough and outspoken woman in most circumstances, this was not a normal situation. It was Rhys who first spoke, “Well, grandpa, I guess we both don’t really know what to say,” trailing off as both she and her grandfather nodded their affirmation of the statement. Jane sat stone still.

After a few more moments of silence, Rhys excused herself to prepare some coffee for them all. While Rhys was in the kitchen Jane’s father looked lovingly at his daughter. He now felt the same loving feelings and empathy he had felt many times in Jane’s upbringing - like when Jane had hurt herself on the playground and needed the security and love that only a parent could provide. Jane stared back at the man who had raised her, but gave him nothing in return.

When Rhys returned with coffee and some doughnuts that the caterers had left, they all sat around and made absent minded small talk about something other than the information they’d just heard. Rhys was anxious to break the tension regarding what was now a new chapter in both her and her mother’s lives, but she felt her mother was trying to avoid the subject. Rhys eventually convinced her mother to take a walk and the two women strolled together in the crisp autumn air for about a half mile before beginning conversation.

“I know this probably won’t influence your thinking,” Rhys began, “but this news changes very little for me.” She continued, “I’ll bet that grandpa is relieved to finally get this story out in the open.”

Jane replied through slightly clenched teeth, “Your grandfather was an accomplice in keeping this information from us both. I’m numb right now and I

need some time to mull this all over.”

“Yes,” Rhys offered, “I’m sure you do and, of course, I may wake up tomorrow and have completely different feelings than I have now. But, for the moment, I’m just trying to keep an even emotional keel while I process all this information.”

“I suppose you are right, but I am still pissed off,” Jane shrugged.

“And you have every right to be,” Rhys confirmed, “especially having just been informed that your world is substantially different than you knew it to be just a few hours ago. I’m just thinking what would go through my mind and what actions I would take if I had to deal with what auntie - I mean grandma Amanda had to deal with! I’m sure under similar circumstances,” Rhys confided, “I wouldn’t be able to handle it any better than she did.”

“God, I can’t believe I am trying to justify anything about anyone at this point,” Jane itted. “I wonder what the hell else is going to happen. Maybe the sky will fall, or we’ll be hit by a meteor or worse…” Rhys knew that her mother was going through too many emotional twists at the moment to be expected to connect with rational thinking without those emotions dominating her every thought.

“Fortunately,” Rhys replied attempting to interrupt her mother’s negative thread, “I’m quite sure that none of those things will happen. However, if one of those things did occur it would certainly write the final chapter in today’s story!”

Jane looked at Rhys to see if she was serious. Realizing her daughter wasn’t,

Jane couldn’t help the small smile that betrayed her overall dour mood and she relented, saying, “Man, I’m so glad you are my daughter… as far as I know!” Touché! Rhys thought and with that she knew that her mother just had taken a step toward dealing with the here and now of the new story.

The two women walked arm-in-arm back to the house of their childhood with smiles on their faces, closer now than ever before because of the story they’d just heard. After arriving back at the house, they followed Clark who had long before gone to bed and the women retired for the evening. All three family had a restless night, all going mostly without much sleep.

Jane was trying to get a grip on her feelings and didn’t want to continue to blame her father. She knew in her heart that he’d always loved her very much and always did what he thought was right and honorable for her as a father and as a human being.

Clark’s thoughts focused on his dead wife, wondering with tears in his eyes, if she would approve of his handling of the story’s telling. He also looked back now and regretted that he had agreed to keep the story from his girls until now. He would have preferred to let his daughter know as soon as she was capable of understanding the story so that she would know fully who she was and that the parents who chose to raise her were truly her mother and father. But, then again, was there any good time to reveal such a story? With that thought, he rolled over in bed for the hundredth time.

Rhys was surprisingly neutral in her emotions regarding the new-found knowledge, even thinking at some point that her emotional neutrality must be some kind of character flaw. Those thoughts soon faded as her mind clicked into another mode; that being the sudden realization that she had to find out more about her grandmother, Amanda Ripley. She’d understood the story about the young Amanda and her plight and her decisions. Whether flawed or not, Amanda was still her blood grandmother and Rhys needed to find out more

about this woman who, until today, had shown up a few times every few years bearing gifts for her and entertaining Rhys and her friends with magic tricks and stories. But, who was Amanda Ripley really and who were the other people in her newly discovered biologic family tree? Rhys finally fell asleep with that thought on her mind.

The next morning dawned a new day in more ways than one for the newly defined family. Jane was up early (or was it stayed up late?) to cook breakfast. She had made a quick run to the store to buy eggs and some bacon that she didn’t normally eat, but knew that her father enjoyed it even though he’d been lectured by his doctor not to eat it very often. Shortly after Jane returned, her father got up and said nothing more than, “Morning,” to his daughter as she cooked breakfast. Jane actually had to wake her daughter as Rhys had fallen into a deep sleep after going through hours of rehashing the previous day’s events. After Rhys used the toilet and washed the sleep out of her eyes she ed her family just as Jane was putting food on the table.

Jane broke the conversational ice by blurting out an ill timed, but heartfelt, “Ha, ha…,” laugh that trailed off. And as each family member looked at one another wondering what had just happened, they all started to laugh at the absurdity of their collective tension. After that, Jane, Rhys and Clark Adams had a satisfying breakfast filled with stories of the girl’s upbringing and shared their feelings about dealing with the newfound chapter in their life’s story, now reconnected as an even stronger family.

#

Chapter VIII

Ripley

The first Event was so dreadful that she should have followed her initial instincts and never gotten involved in the second incident. The first Event transpired when the Company had compelled her and her small crew to investigate a “distress call” from a little known planet. Before Ripley had discovered that the distress call was in actuality a warning, one of the crew had been infected by an alien life form and the cascade of following events killed each of her other crewmates. In a narrow escape after eliminating the alien creature in a final death dual, she drifted through space for an astounding fifty-seven years in age-suspending, hyper sleep. After her recovery most of her contemporaries and family had either died or were senile with age and her world was almost entirely new – except for the nightmares.

Even though it had been forty years since the tragedies of the more recent second Event, the thought of both events had haunted her as if they both had happened yesterday. To this day, she still had difficulty believing that the details of both events were still cloaked in as much secrecy as the company, and then later, the government had contrived.

She knew that the official story the government had disseminated regarding the most recent disaster, was totally preposterous. However hard the conspiracy theorists had tried to guess, blog, ruminate and argue they had never been able to compile the story into a plausibility that could challenge the government’s fabrication of what had happened. This fact had, in itself, amazed her as some of the world’s best kept secrets had been revealed by people who had previously been branded as paranoid nut-cases by a disbelieving public as well as legitimate journalists. Many conspiracy theories over the years had been validated as

having various levels of truth to them - but that never applied to the latest Event.

The “C-T boys” or simply “C-Ts” as she referred to the conspiracy theorists had never gotten the story right even though she almost hoped that they would come across some evidence that revealed the real story. She felt that if they uncovered the truth, it would take her off the hook as well as honor those who had died. She relished the day when she could finally tell the true story openly.

The story of the second Event had been discussed by B-level reporters in dubious publications and at C-T gatherings since the event had become public. But, even after so many years of C-T probing and C-T conferences - where they would all convene on an annual basis to discuss their thoughts and theories – no solid evidence was ever uncovered about the incident. The story of that original event was at first guarded by The Company rather than the government. But even then, the information was so controlled by them that the small, controlled leaks of portions of the story were never stitched together as fact into a single coherent tale.

The only things that the government was willing to it regarding the second Event were confined to two incidents: One: that a problem had occurred at the Weyland-Yutani terraform site and that; two: a military mission to the planet had indeed been undertaken and the mission had gone terribly wrong.

She itted that both stories were, on the surface true, but not in the way the government had spun their effective, however preposterous versions. Both story versions were woefully incomplete and did not honor the many victims of the combined tragedies. But the fabrication had been so complete in masking the truth that now the government’s version of history was accepted to the degree that no news organization had any interest resurrecting the story after it had been a sensation forty years previous.

The government had its secret and she and her story was not part of that secret. Of course she also had her secrets, but her being part of the government’s fabrication was only a part of her secrets. She realized that she had made a mistake in not archiving the story of the first Event where The Company would have gladly sacrificed her life as they had the others on her crew and only through her own tenacity - and a fair bit of luck - was she still alive. At the time, things were just too hectic, disted and frightening to have made a record of the situation – it’s hard to maintain a presence of mind when you’re scared shitless.

Ripley was still pissed off that the Company had tried to disembowel her life after she turned up alive and told the story of what had happened during the first Event to the Company’s investigative committee. Although she had originally been marginalized and branded as a heretic by The Company, she was ultimately vindicated when her story of the first event had proven true. However, her vindication was all too hollow because the events that followed were so ghastly they never should have been allowed to happen.

As pissed off as she was about the Company treating her with initial contempt, she was now angry with herself for agreeing to live with the false story the government had fabricated regarding her demise after the second Event in order to keep the horrible truth from becoming public knowledge. She was only comforted slightly for her acceptance of their story for the past forty years in knowing that she was protecting the other survivors of the tragedy. They deserved to be rightfully compensated for their loss and the terror they had endured.

Never-the-less, she had learned from her first mistake that few people outside her survivor group could be trusted – especially The Company – so she recorded true events of the second Event after the failed rescue mission, saving it as a secure archive on Michael Hick’s secret servers. Ripley called those aware of the true story and its secret archive, “The Family”. Only inner circle confidants that needed to know the story for very specific reasons were itted to the Family.

For forty years, The Family consisted of the three survivors plus Michael. There was no way of erasing the memory of their story even though the government wished it so. Because of the horror of their collective experiences, the four were indeed a family bound together by the real story of its truth and its tragedy.

Professionals know that life changing events often times have a profound psychological effect on groups of people affected by mutual tragedy. For example earthquake victims, soldiers and crash victims who share common tragedy will often continue to feel a post-event kinship with each other after sharing a life-threatening event for many years. Often a lifelong bond develops between survivors of tragedy based on that one, unforgettable moment in time when their lives were inextricably stitched together forever. Not all victims will be affected in this way, but it is a commonality that has been well documented and recognized by psychology professionals. So it was with the three survivors who were so bound to each other where only death could separate them from that bond.

The four-member Family had formed a pact with each other. The pact was actually an oath to take action at the appropriate time and place should certain conditions demand it. They all knew the form that action had to take, but there were details that needed to be worked out to execute it. Ripley had anticipated and dreaded what must be done now forty years later. The significance of the anniversary could not be understated, but it was inevitable that the next series of events must take place.

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Chapter IX

Ben Hicks

It did not take Ben long to demonstrate that the decision to hire him had been the right one. He was still a legend in a very small community of top security experts.

Ben Hicks had been initially hired as an IT wizard after receiving his doctorate from a quality university. Near the top of his class, he wouldn’t normally have accepted for the position he’d been offered because the hiring company had an elitist policy of only taking the top people from select major universities. However, Ben’s father, Michael, had been a long-term, loyal employee who had been retained after the purge of the former Weyland-Yutani Company to form BioWave. His father was also a legend for how he had achieved his status at Weyland-Yutani prior to his position at BioWave. The weight of his father’s talent and his standing in the company swayed the BioWave selection committee in Ben’s favor.

Ben’s initial security check prior to being employed by BioWave had shown that he had been up to some digital hijinks at university. Nothing illegal, or so it was ultimately deemed, but Ben’s doctoral dissertation had taken a page out of his father’s geek-book and involved hacking his way through the Global Security Agency’s most sensitive servers to prove that there were flaws in their network security system. Some say Ben’s father put him up to it and even though Ben blew the whistle on himself and turned over all his documentation to the authorities after presenting his dissertation, half the stiff-necked government security officials wanted Ben to serve jail time while the other half wanted to hang a medal on him for his talent and trustworthiness.

Ben actually thought the most difficult part of the project was convincing the university’s doctoral committee to go along with the exercise. But Ben played the trump card of total transparency in keeping committee fully informed of every activity he conducted during his investigation. Ben also made sure that the committee knew that his father, Michael, had an off-the-chart security clearance and was in such a high position with possibly the most security conscious company on the planet, that Ben could not possibly jeopardize his father’s position by not following through in turning over all of his original documentation and electronic data to the Global Security Agency.

In the end, the second group of stiff-necked officials had won out. They didn’t hang a medal on Ben, but he did earn the respect of a small, select group of Global Security Agency personnel who were ultimately made aware of Ben’s findings. This privilege only came after Ben walked into the main Global Security Agency offices to disclose his findings to them. Ben had dramatically thrown his documentation on the desk of the Vice President of Operations causing all the corporate executives as well as the department head of the Agency’s internal security division to be summoned to a hastily called luncheon in the main conference room. There, they all dined on a not-so-delicious luncheon combination of corporate angst and big shit-burger that Ben had just delivered.

Ben was so good in covering his tracks while gathering data about the Agency’s security flaws that no one at the Agency knew they’d been hacked. As he’d planned, Ben had been arrested immediately, but with the weight of the significance of his revealed findings, his doctoral committee’s backing and his father’s reputation on Ben’s side, he was released on the university’s recognizance. Ben had presented Agency officials with a complete report about how he had discovered a flaw in their network security, how he had breached their systems without their knowledge and his suggested recommendations regarding improvements to their systems. It was deemed that silence about Ben’s huge security violation would be the ongoing Agency imperative on the matter and after Ben had politely commented that the Agency’s in-place security

systems were the best he’d ever encountered; most of the network security personnel at the Agency were retained as ongoing employees.

Agency officials had tried of course to hire Ben to ensure the ongoing technical quality of their security systems, but Ben had other ideas for his future and politely turned their offer down. In a conciliatory gesture, Ben and the red-faced Agency IT executives came to an agreement that Ben would, on occasion, be hijacked from his future employer to assist ongoing Agency security monitoring.

BioWave was actually thrilled to have someone of Ben’s caliber working at the company even though they’d breached their own elitist HR protocol to hire him. Ben was delighted to be able to achieve his dream of working at one of the premier technology companies in the world as well as working alongside his famous father.

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Chapter X

Rebecca Jorden

Rebecca had experienced major trauma at a young age. Her upbringing had started out normally in a loving family with all the security and opportunity such an environment typically provides. At ten years of age, Rebecca’s life changed drastically.

Rebecca was one of three survivors of the rescue mission that had gone bad. Her mother, father and brother lost their lives in that horrific incident and she suffered what no ten year old should ever have to experience. After returning to the safety of earth, she was raised by her aunt and uncle as part of their family. Her father’s sister had two children, both daughters older than Rebecca. Her uncle was a semi-wealthy industrialist who owned two specialized fabrication plants that manufactured exotic alloy finished goods for aerospace contractors.

Like the two other survivors of the second event, the government had set aside a substantial amount of money from the fines levied on the Weyland-Yutani Corporation after the company’s breakup. The funds Rebecca received came in two parts: One; a monthly stipend paid to her adoptive parents, for Rebecca’s ongoing welfare and upbringing.

The amount of money Rebecca was paid monthly under the of her settlement with the now defunct corporation was not insubstantial. Frugal istration of the generous monthly welfare and upbringing payments Rebecca received could have easily been channeled toward raising all three of the children in the household. However, since Rebecca’s aunt and uncle were

financially solvent, they had chosen to put most of the monthly payments into an interest bearing investment on Rebecca’s behalf. These monthly payments would continue during the duration of her education beyond the age of twenty-one should she choose to pursue a university degree. Affectively, this arrangement meant that if Rebecca wanted to be a lifelong student, she could receive the stipend from the first part of the settlement as long as she remained an active student.

The second part of the money Rebecca received was in the form of a trust fund that was established for her by the government. An outside professional was responsible for managing the fund. Under the of the trust fund, the money could be accessed either when Rebecca turned twenty-one or when she finished her education after her twenty-first birthday and ed the workforce.

The the trust fund money would be paid in generous monthly installments to Rebecca for the rest of her life after she turned twenty-one or when she chose to leave her classroom studies. A somewhat unusual aspect of the trust fund payout was negotiated by her wealthy industrialist uncle where an additional payout option was offered to an adult Rebecca Jorden. The option would provide negotiable sums of the trust fund to be available as seed money to start a business upon Rebecca’s submission of a sound business plan to the fund’s .

There was only one other condition in accessing the substantial trust fund money. Rebecca was forbidden to reveal at any time to anyone outside of government officials what had actually happened to her family and the others that hadn’t survived the disaster of her youth. Should she ever reveal the true story, the trust fund would be forfeited. Forfeiture would also include any assets Rebecca held that were even slightly connected to the trust fund payouts. This, of course, included any of Rebecca’s business holdings should she choose to exercise the business development clause her uncle added to the trust fund payout options. Additionally, it was quite likely that the interest bearing

investments her aunt and uncle had set up for Rebecca’s welfare would also be forfeited should an investigation reveal that Rebecca had breached the of her paid silence.

The government child welfare agency officials originally ed Rebecca originally on a regular basis to ensure she was being raised well. But those visits had ceased as it was apparent that Rebecca was being raised in a loving family that was managing her welfare nicely.

Rebecca’s uncle didn’t have much of a hand in raising any of his children. He chose to keep his nose buried in his business affairs for eighteen hours on most days. This meant the duty of raising all three children fell to Rebecca’s aunt. This was just fine with Rebecca as her aunt treated her as an equal to her own daughters. Rebecca enjoyed many of the normal things that children experience, however Rebecca was driven in a way her adoptive siblings could never understand. Rebecca would never forget the trauma of her youth and the circumstances of her family’s death no matter how much psychological counseling she received. Rebecca had a plan for her life.

Rebecca’s plan began to develop when her uncle took her under his considerable business wing when she had shown an interest in his business. His two natural daughters had shown no interest in his business and as he got older he realized that his children were growing up fast and that they would all-too-soon be leaving his immediate purview. He came to realized that he would never be able to rekindle the experience of proactively raising young children so if he didn’t get involved with their lives now, he would also miss raising adolescent children. Rebecca, being the youngest and most eager to learn about his business world, satisfied his latent need to be an active father and he mentored Rebecca in the only way he really knew how.

Rebecca started going to work with her uncle on weekends when she was thirteen years old. By the time she was sixteen years old, she was well versed in

the front office mechanics of running a successful business. She worked with her uncle full time during summers and part time every day after school while most kids her age either played sports or attended other school functions. Several employees at her uncle’s firm took her on and tutored her in the production side of the business as well. By the time she graduated from high school, Rebecca was an expert in exotic alloy manufacturing processes.

Rebecca had actually toyed with the idea of working with her uncle full time after high school, but that thought was quashed by both her adopted parents who insisted that she go to university and get a proper degree. The decision to do so was ultimately an easy one, because obtaining a higher education was also part of Rebecca’s personal long term plan.

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Chapter XI

Rhys Adams

Rhys was fortunate that her mother not only valued higher education, but was in a financial position to send Rhys to some of the finest schools in the world. Therefore, her success as a talented linguist, or more accurately a linguist specializing in ancient and archaic communication, was ed by expectation and finances.

She had graduated at the top of her class at university and was therefore identified as a promising graduate student by several post-graduate institutions. She had selected schools in Europe for her master’s and doctoral degrees, so it was no fluke that she had superior job offers waiting to bid for her services when she was ready to exercise her skills as a paid professional.

Rhys had chosen to work for a smaller company, Linguistic Logics, after interviewing with several competing companies. Each of the companies vying for Rhys’ talents offered considerable salaries, but Rhys felt an intangible connection with Linguistic Logic’s Vice President of Operations, Karen Butler. Karen knew that LL was not in a position to match her competitor’s financial offers so her strategy to entice Rhys to LL was framed around allowing Rhys complete control of what she felt important. Rhys was allowed to take on projects of her choosing without the oversight or interference that she would likely encounter from most of the crusty, layered-management styles of LL’s competitors.

In a subsequent discussion after accepting LL’s offer over cocktails, Karen

Butler had itted that there was no way that LL could offer the same salary as some competitors. Rhys responded, to Karen’s amazement, that she knew all along what Karen’s strategy was and what kind of financial position LL was in, but financial remuneration was secondary to finding the right fit, at the right company, surrounded by the right people.

Rhys enjoyed her job at Logistic Logics immensely as it offered her opportunity to travel as well as meet interesting people from a variety of professions. Rhys appreciated Karen being her business mentor as much as Karen enjoyed having successfully recruited such a talented employee. It was obvious that Rhys would be a long-term asset for the company.

Outside of her love for linguistics, Rhys had taken up genealogy after her grandfather shockingly revealed at a family gathering that her mother had been adopted by him and his now deceased wife. Part of that revelation included her mother being given a key to a safety deposit box that her biologic grandmother had paid for in advance for fifty years in the Wisconsin town where she’d lived much of her life. Rhys’ mother, Jane, was still having problems dealing with the emotional trauma of not learning of her adoption until she was in her late forties. Rhys was nonplussed by the fact that the woman she’d known as her aunt for her entire life was actually her biologic grandmother. Rhys was eventually given the key to the safe deposit box by her mother to do with it as she wished.

Rhys’ interest in her family heritage grew in the months following the revelation of her new genetic background. Unlike her mother, whose attitude that life had changed for the worse after learning of her true heritage, Rhys bore her task of genealogic sleuth with a degree of detachment. Rhys felt excited to have something unusual and unexpected come into her life and her training as a professional academic served her well in the step-by-step process of discovering her genealogic history. However exciting the discovery of her genetic history, Rhys realized that she also needed to respect her mother and the grandparents who raised her and the combined roles they had played in defining who she really was.

So Rhys proceeded cautiously, being mindful to give reverence to her mother and her grandfather - the living people, who loved, nurtured and had cared for her. They were the ones who actually wanted her to be part of their lives.

Rhys’ first step in approaching the bank holding Amanda’s safety deposit box was to get legal advice on her very personal mission. She wanted to be aware of banking procedural issues in something so important to her. Rhys picked up the phone and called a friend from her days at university who was now a junior partner at a law firm. Of course the phone conversation was also a good excuse to catch up and chat about how life had changed since their mutual university experiences. Her friend was amazed at the story Rhys told her about her family history, but by the time the conversation culminated, her friend said it would be no problem for her to write a letter of introduction to the bank as Rhys’ legal representative. Her letter would include a copy of the notarized letter her grandmother had left for her daughter, Jane, which was now in Rhys’ possession.

Neither Rhys’ lawyer, Jane or even Rhys realize that Rhys’ efforts to explore her family lineage would lead to the dramatic events that would transpire in Rhys’ future.

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Chapter XII

Dwayne Hicks

Dwayne was the last of the three surviving of the previous ill fated rescue mission. His cousin, Michael, had provided an independent refuge and safety net for the survivors by archiving the true story of that mission which the government had twisted to keep the public ignorant. Dwayne had been injured severely at the time and his body and mind had been figuratively as well as literally stitched together by his now good friend, Ellen Ripley, before their hyper sleep return to earth.

In time, Dwayne recovered from the physical injuries of that mission, however like the other two surviving mission , he too had lifelong mental and emotional scars from it. Dwayne had the benefit of a continuing friendship with Ellen after their return to earth. The government had allowed controlled between the three survivors so there were a few opportunities to see one another during official reunions. Unfortunately, the three survivors were also officially restricted from communicating with each other outside their controlled reunions to ensure containment of any linkage between them that the press might discover.

Shortly after returning from the rescue mission and recovering from his physical injuries, Dwayne was discharged from his duties with the Colonial Marines. After his retirement from the military, the government organized a position of his choosing that would secure his long-term future as well as buy his silence. Even more lucrative for him, Dwayne, like the other survivors, was provided generous monthly payments deposited in a secret bank courtesy of the government settlement with the defunct Weyland-Yutani Corporation. The fund was ultimately controlled by the government who monitored it closely. Under

the of the agreement, in return for the financial windfall, Dwayne was sworn to secrecy about his involvement in the failed rescue mission. Should Dwayne breech the agreement, the monthly payments would disappear and his well paid job would vanish along with any significant financial future he could expect.

Though the government controlled the three survivor’s official face-to-face encounters with one another, Dwayne and Ellen took advantage of their meetings for personal benefit early on. Their encounters pissed their government handlers off, but there was little they could do about the sexual relationship that had developed between the two survivors. The government psychologists had itted that it wasn’t uncommon for trauma survivors to find such comfort with each other after such a shared experience, so with the blessing of professional psychologists the government was compelled to grudgingly turn a blind-eye to their subject’s protocol breech.

Dwayne needed more help than the other mission survivors as he had developed post traumatic stress disorder because of it. His relationship with Ellen had significantly helped him deal with his issues and her companionship became part of the therapy endorsed his psychologists. Eventually however, and somewhat as a function of his P.S.D., Dwayne and Ellen sexually drifted apart, but they continued being close friends. Their friendship continued throughout the years and was manifested by semi-regular, covert and unofficial rendezvous.

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Chapter XIII

Genealogy

Rhys travelled to her grandmother’s the small town that was only four hours from her home. It was a beautiful fall day and the colors of the season alone made the trip worthwhile. She had spoken with the bank manager prior to her arrival before the bank’s noon Saturday closing time. The bank manager had already received advanced copies of Rhys’ legal right to access the safety deposit box and when she arrived, the appropriate documentation awaited her signature. After the procedural two forms of ID had been supplied, Rhys was given access to her grandmother’s safety deposit box.

In it Rhys found a single large envelope which she removed then returned the safety deposit box to the bank representative. Rhys had anticipated that she’d be excited to examine the message her grandmother left behind so she booked a motel room for the night in advance and checked in directly after leaving the bank. Rhys had a late lunch delivered to her room as she didn’t want to let her newfound treasure out of her sight or risk transporting her family possessions to the uncontrolled environment of a local restaurant.

Rhys was in awe that she was about to rediscover what had been locked away for many, many years. Her mind contemplated what she was about to find and was initially saddened and then surprised by the physical flush as a wave of sorrow enveloped her body. She’d never really known the woman whose possessions she was about to unveil and the emotional conflict between her known past and her rediscovered history raged within her. She opened the envelope containing her late grandmother’s legacy and gently removed its contents.

The inventory of the envelope contents was fairly modest. However, Rhys anticipated that the story she was about to discover would frame Amanda’s life and provide an explanation of her grandmother’s decision to give her baby daughter away and the emotional weight she had to bear because of it.

The envelope contained a wedding ring and a certificate of marriage to John McLaren with only two photos of the couple that were identified by handwriting on the reverse of each with the couple’s names, dates and locations of each photo. Rhys was struck by the notion that Amanda needed to tell her daughter about the life she came to know outside of her feelings about her daughter and the adoptive couple who had raised her. Rhys knew that this modest offering from her birth grandmother was not the total of the woman’s life, however long spent, with her husband. It was a simple statement to the child she had left behind.

Other contents of the envelope included a number of newspaper articles. Two of the articles were printed in the small town’s defunct local newspaper. The first article featured a story about the new school superintendent who had been hired to run school district operations at that time. There was a photo included that showed a handsome, middle aged man with a group of office personnel surrounding him. The man was noted apparently in Amanda’s handwriting in the margin of the yellowed newspaper clipping as Rhys’ biologic grandfather, his name; Carl Sanders. There was an additional newspaper clipping with a story about Amanda’s senior prom with several names circled in pen which must have been Amanda’s high school friends or classmates.

But, one of the more interesting contents of the envelope was a yellowed, dogeared birthday card. The card must have spent a lot of time in a pocket or under a pillow as it was discolored, creased and water stained. Were those water stains tears? Could be, but the card was apparently a beloved treasure that held significant meaning for Amanda.

As Rhys opened the card gingerly, two additional newspaper clippings and a photo fell on the floor. Rhys carefully picked up the clippings and moved the rest of the envelope contents to the side of the desk she was working at so that she could focus on the card and its contents. First, she fully reopened the tattered card. Inside was the familiar happy birthday greeting plus in cursive writing an inscription read, “Amanda, I’ll be back home to celebrate your eleventh birthday with you. Until then, love Mom.” Shocked at finding another key element in her family tree, Rhys unfolded the first newspaper article from the card. The article was dated about two years prior to what Rhys calculated as Amanda’s eleventh birthday. The article showed a group of people who worked for the celestial mining division of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. The people in the photo were the crew of the Nostromo, an ore towing vehicle used by the company to transport massive interplanetary mineral shipments back to earth. Handwriting along the border of the newspaper article matched that written on the birthday card and said, “This is where I work when I’m away and these are my crewmates. But I will always be at home with you in my heart, Mom.” There were seven crew named in the photo along with the rank of each. There were two items circled in the article; the first circled the name and rank of Ellen Ripley, Warrant Officer. Although the text identified each of the crew in the photo, the second circle surrounded the image of Ellen Ripley. Rhys had just discovered another beginning in her own history; she now had a name and a face to connect with the relatives of her past. The woman in the photo was her great grandmother.

Rhys placed that newspaper article next to the birthday card almost like setting out pieces of a puzzle prior to matching the individual pieces together to form a completed timeline. Next Rhys unfolded the second newspaper article from the birthday card. It was dated four years after the first. In it, the article showed the same crewmember photo from the previous newspaper clipping. However the headline read, “Nostromo Crew Missing, Declared Dead.” The story went on to say that the last communication with the missing Nostromo was over two years prior and after no communication from the crew and an exhaustive, but unsuccessful search of the last known coordinates and possible flight projections, family had been notified and the case was closed.

Oh my God! After just discovering her great grandmother’s identity and mentally preparing herself to get to know more about her long-lost relative, Rhys realized that Ellen Ripley had been torn away from her daughter. Rhys was angry and frustrated that her journey to discover more about her heritage had been suddenly and permanently cut short in such a painful way. Her great grandmother was apparently a talented and educated person who also had an adventurous spirit. The million questions Rhys had swirling through her head would remain unanswered.

After a few minutes of sadness for the person Rhys was willing to emotionally adopt as kin, she caught herself in mid-thought and mentally berated herself for being selfish in her brief emotional attachment to Ellen Ripley. What about Amanda, her grandmother, that poor little girl who expected her mother to return for her eleventh birthday party? What could possible alleviate the pain and remorse that Amanda must have gone through in never hearing from her mother again? All the doubt and uncertainty of a young life shattered by what Amanda must have initially thought to be her mother’s abandonment and then to realize to her horror that her mother had simply disappeared without a trace. What a terrible burden to have to carry as a child and for the rest of your life. Rhys couldn’t imagine the emotional trauma her grandmother must have gone through.

Rhys idly fondled the envelope while a variety of thoughts filtered through her head. She was staring off into space when she discovered one last document that was still inside the envelope. A small amount of adhesive had been used on the piece of paper making it stick to the inside of the envelope so that Rhys hadn’t immediately realized it was there. After liberating this final puzzle piece from the envelope, Rhys had to stop before opening it completely. What new surprises will this discovery reveal? Will it disclose more pain that her grandmother had to endure? Will it afford more information critical to her understanding of her family? Or, will it provide a more benign aspect of the story Amanda wanted to on to her family?

Rhys finally decided that she was ready and she unfolded the paper. It revealed the official Weyland-Yutani Corporation announcement of Ellen Ripley’s official death notification. It was addressed to Amanda and was dated a day before the newspaper article revealing the Nostromo and her crew’s demise. The letter was pretty much a standard cookie-cutter legalese document that must have provided little solace for the disappearance and death of the mother of a distraught young girl.

After recovering her composure and taking a few deep breaths, Rhys considered her situation. She rationalized the importance of this information in the context of her life juxtaposed to Amanda’s and considered her situation far less traumatic than her grandmother’s. Rhys finally decided that with all that she had just discovered there was no way that she was going to be able to stay in the motel room so she repacked her small overnight bag and replaced the contents of the envelope. She closed the door to her motel room and made her way to the office to pay for her largely unused room. Rhys knew that time spent during her travel home would be more useful than sitting in an unfamiliar motel room thinking about what this newfound information meant. The time it took to get home would allow her to think more clearly about what she’d just discovered.

Rhys consciously tried to relax her shoulders and calm down so that she could think clearly about what her next step would be. Of course one of the first things to do was to figure out how to approach her mother with the information she’d uncovered. Jane previously seemed indifferent regarding learning about the mother who had abandoned her and Rhys couldn’t blame her mother too much for feeling that way. Maybe indifferent was too mild a word for her mother’s feelings. Possibly unsympathetic was closer to how her mother felt about the abandonment her grandmother had perpetrated on her daughter and, indeed, the entire family that followed. After all, Jane had raised a daughter of her own and shared her life completely with her offspring so the concept of giving her own flesh and blood away was as foreign to Jane as travelling to the outer planets would have been several hundred years ago. Approaching her mother about what she had discovered in the small town that her grandmother had called home

would be a somewhat delicate task.

Rhys’ thoughts turned to her own feelings and she considered what conclusions she wanted to draw regarding her family heritage. Rhys still considered the news that she was not genetically linked to the couple that raised her was a bit of a shock, but she was also pragmatic about the information. Rhys would always consider Ann and Clark Adams to be her grandparents. After all, they were the ones who provided the love and financial for her and her mother throughout their lives. Rhys had no problem juggling her feelings regarding the duality of the grandparents who raised her and her newfound biologic heritage. It is what it is and until now, had never been in her control anyway. She had initially chosen to approach this situation in a calculatingly investigative way that she had trained for at university and practiced in her profession. However, this was nearly impossible as, unlike being cool and calculating in executing some academic process, this was personal. As her investigation proceeded, Rhys found that she was being drawn into the intrigue of her biologic history more each day as there were many unanswered questions that needed further study and research to satisfy her growing interest.

Rhys came to the decision as she approached her home that her personal mission in life was now to find out everything she could about her great grandmother, Ellen Ripley, including the circumstances of her death.

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Chapter XIV

Business Plan

Rebecca Jorden graduated with honors from university with an aerospace engineering degree. Her proud uncle and aunt as well as her sibling nieces had attended Rebecca’s graduation ceremony. After graduation, Rebecca ed her uncle’s business on a full time basis. Since her uncle wanted to retire early to enjoy life and travel with his wife, Rebecca was swiftly handed the day-to-day reins of the business’ management. Rebecca thrived in her capacity as the new president of the company. She guided the company in new directions with her savvy business acumen, growing it through several diverse business units, each quite profitable on their own.

The company division that benefited the most from Rebecca’s guiding hand was the space transportation unit she had formed. Using the fabrication business her uncle had developed as a primary contractor for her transportation enterprise, Rebecca took advantage of the expertise and manufacturing capabilities of that unit to deliver high quality materials and engineering competencies to build new and innovative space transportation vehicles and modules. Rebecca negotiated contracts with the government to provide freight transportation services for the ongoing expansion of interplanetary exploration. This included delivering goods and materials to mining and scientific companies with operations on inner as well as rim-planet operations.

Starting off as a freight vehicle only supplier, Rebecca directed the expansion of the company to include personnel transportation services to her company’s mining and scientific research customers. The space transportation business became the backbone for Rebecca’s new vision of the company. This vision was also the backbone of Rebecca’s long-term plan.

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Chapter XV

BioWave

Derwent Maxwell was being pressured by the public as well as the board of directors to update the interspecies communications protocol mandate of the company’s charter. A worldwide protocol had been developed when humans first ventured into space as a framework of conduct and procedures to be used if and when with extraterrestrial species was made. The protocol, by law, must be followed as an operating criterion by any entity involved in space-based operations or exploration. Periodically, all space involved entities needed to update their own internal documentation demonstrating adherence to the latest modifications of the worldwide protocol. Complying documentation needed to be signed off by, in this case, the board of directors as officials of BioWave and then approved by government officials with pompous titles.

BioWave had retained rights to the atmosphere processing technologies originally developed by their Weyland-Yutani Corporation predecessors. The company still provided terraform technology and equipment for third party companies as well as their own scientific space exploration operations. Even though humans had been in with several extraterrestrial species after the original protocol had been implemented, Maxwell felt the protocol and the update process was a complete waste of time and resources. But since an aspect of BioWave’s existence was interwoven with government directives and licensing, Maxwell was compelled to accede to a review and update BioWave’s internal documentation.

Maxwell and several of his personnel met with government contracted companies as part of the protocol update process. The lead representative of BioWave’s update committee was Ben Hicks. Maxwell felt that Ben would be

able to implement a rational technical framework for the new protocol and he would do so to the company’s advantage. Maxwell knew that Ben not only had the technical expertise to develop an appropriate update, he would do so in such a professional manner that the agencies overseeing the new protocol would be overwhelmed by his competence and the perceived compliance of his work that they would approve the protocol updates - even if the whole exercise was all horseshit. Maxwell was confident that Ben would deliver a technically brilliant end product which represented the company well even though Maxwell couldn’t care less about its importance.

One of the three government contracted companies involved in the new protocol was Linguistic Logics whose representative, Rhys Adams, was assigned to the protocol update team because of the need to address the probability of interpreting interspecies language and writing that could develop likely communications pathways between species.

The addition of Rhys to the team was a revelation for Ben Hicks. He was immediately taken by Rhys’ natural beauty as well as her considerable intellect and confident charm. Rhys on the other hand was ambivalent about Ben’s existence. Except for the introduction when the combined committee gathered for their first meeting, Rhys didn’t even take notice of Ben at first. Subsequent meetings and the need to work closely together, allowed Rhys to develop a professional comfort about Ben so when he finally asked her to dinner under the auspices of going over midstream protocol development, Rhys accepted his invitation.

After a short period of time, Ben and Rhys developed an exclusive personal relationship with one another outside of work. Both were professional enough to realize that their interpersonal relationship could not cloud the intended outcome of the new protocol’s development so each kept their personal relationship well hidden from the other committee . Doing otherwise would have had disastrous consequences for them both in ways that neither of them wanted to experience firsthand.

By the time the protocol update team had finished their process, the committee had indeed put together a final report that was not only technically competent, but sensitively written from the standpoint of interaction with potential alien life forms. It was cautious in its recommendation to only make actual well after remote communications were established that followed strict, step-by-step guidelines and benchmarks. The final report was enthusiastically received by government representatives who said that they would review the report and make a decision about its contents within six months. But for now, BioWave was off the hook as long as they followed the procedures the preliminary report espoused.

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Chapter XVI

Call to Action

It was time. Michael Hicks had become the fourth member of the Family even though he was not one of the actual survivors of the rescue mission disaster. Of course being survivor Dwayne Hicks’ cousin, Michael had become intimately implicated with the three actual survivors when he had been ed by his cousin during their escape from the debacle forty years previous. Michael had safely archived the survivor’s story to ensure the truth was available when it may be needed.

Michael had now ed the three mission survivors to set a face-to-face Family meeting. The reason for the meeting was to inform the survivors that Derwent Maxwell had actively pursued a new contract to provide updated atmosphere processing equipment for the mining facility that had been licensed to explore the planet of the disaster, LV-426. Michael was immediately suspicious when BioWave won the contract by offering equipment and its installation for an extremely low price.

Michael had been monitoring all of BioWave’s interest in anything having to do with this particular planet as it was the source of the disaster that had created the Family and affected each of them so deeply. Since BioWave’s inception, Michael had been monitoring any communications regarding LV-426 and especially the personal computer files of Derwent Maxwell. The Family had expected that someone, at some point, would feel that the creatures encountered on the planet would be deemed too important to simply comply forever with the government’s restriction to never pursue any kind of with the species again. There was just too much money to be made and influence to be gained by those whose lust for power and control overrode any social conscience they may have. When

Derwent Maxwell obtained the contract to return to LV-426, Michael’s bullshit detector went off loudly.

This scenario similarly happened once before when unscrupulous WeylandYutani executives had hidden the dangers of with the alien species from the exploration team sent out to find an “unspecified source of interest” near the company’s original terraform operation forty years prior. The Company’s executive communiqué suggested that it would be financially lucrative to the participants of an exploration team should something important be found at the investigation site. The exploration team eventually made with the deadly alien species which started a chain reaction causing the deaths of over one hundred thirty innocent people including Rebecca Jorden’s family as well as Dwayne Hicks’ entire rescue team. The three survivors of that mission were lucky to have escaped with their lives, but the memories from the encounter left lifelong scars that drove each of the survivors to make a pledge with one another that they would do everything in their power to ensure that mankind would never be faced with the horror of having to deal with the species again.

The location, date and time of the Family face-to-face meeting was agreed upon. Three of the Family took extra precautions to ensure that the government was unaware of the meeting as doing so would breach the financially lucrative government agreement they had each been compelled to agree to after safely returning to earth so many years ago. Should their meeting be discovered, they all risked losing their generous financial forever. Not only that, they were sure that if discovered, life after discovery would be nothing like the cushy lifestyles they now maintained. They knew that although it had been forty years since the second Event, it was probable that someone in the government or elsewhere may be even more closely monitoring them than they were aware.

Over the years, Michael had been diligent in monitoring all forms of communications for anything resembling interest in the Family’s past or current activities. At Michael’s suggestion, the Family had long ago approved enlisting

additional assistance in monitoring those communications. Michael convinced the Family that two people searching the entire communications spectrum would insure discovery of any activity related to their cause. Since the Family needed to play their interests close to the vest, Michael had asked his son, Ben, to be the second researcher. Michael had told Ben only as much as he needed to know his new assignment. Michael stressed the need to maintain stealthy proficiency in Ben’s search for spectrum chatter regarding obscure event.

Ben had been used to his father asking for his assistance while providing little explanation for his requests. Ben trusted and respected his father, so he rarely questioned why his father enlisted his services when a reason for the request wasn’t offered. After all, Ben figured that he may need his father’s assistance in the future for a clandestine operation of his own. Ben knew that his father would tell him whatever he needed to know if and when the time came.

It had been five years since Michael had originally asked Ben for assistance in spectrum monitoring. Now that BioWave had been awarded the contract for the equipment on LV-426, Michael was glad that Ben was involved in spectrum monitoring. However now, more than ever, it was important to maintain the Family’s secret interest in BioWave’s return to the planet.

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Chapter XVII

The Meeting

Ripley was the first to arrive at the meeting site. Like the other Family , she had used a number of transportation means as well as circuitous routing to reach her final destination. All the participants had several forms of false identification which they used for their travel purposes and all used cash as payment for all purchases during their travels to avoid being tracked. Ripley was staying in a hotel at one end of the city and the others stayed in random accommodations elsewhere. Rebecca Jorden was the next to arrive, followed by Dwayne Hicks and finally Michael Hicks an hour later. Every Family member knew that when a meeting was called, the reason for calling it would be extremely important. Since Michael had called the meeting, the others did not know his actual reason for calling it, but welcomed the opportunity to get reacquainted and catch up until Michael’s arrival.

Michael efficiently laid out what he had discovered about BioWave’s intention to return to LV-426. No one questioned Michael’s reasoning and deep concern that because Derwent Maxwell signed the contract at a loss to the company, he had motives beyond simply selling and installing updated atmosphere processing equipment.

“I don’t like the sound of this situation at all,” offered Ripley, “and you were right to call this meeting. We need to find out more about Maxwell’s intentions as it is clear to me that this isn’t about selling equipment.”

“Agreed,” Rebecca Jorden offered. “I met Maxwell a few years ago at an

aerospace conference and I thought from the moment I met him he was a smarmy S.O.B. Of course, he didn’t know who I was at the time, but we did have a brief chat about my company providing transportation services for BioWave products. I think since I didn’t respond to his personal advances, he wasn’t interested in speaking to me any further about business.”

“That sounds like my fearless leader alright,” Michael responded, “but he can be a real charmer when he’s focused. And believe me the guy was dialed-in to secure the contract. I know he and the senior sales guys worked night and day for over a month to put that deal together. I have suspicions that Maxwell he creatively found extra money in the company budget to buy influence with the government’s selection committee, but I am still chasing that down.”

“OK, for me,” Dwayne Hicks said, “that alone is cause for us to be very concerned about Maxwell’s motives. So what do we do?”

Ripley was first to respond, “We need to gather some additional intel. Michael is in the best position to provide information from inside BioWave so he’s our goto guy there.” All nodded agreement.

Next Rebecca Jorden spoke, “It is no secret that my contribution to our cause has always been to provide transportation and logistics through my company’s resources. I have been working on a few projects, including special vehicle and delivery systems to be revealed at the appropriate time. It appears that time maybe upon us.”

No one wanted to request that Rebecca place herself in the exposed position to offer the resources she had worked so hard to amass. Although she had provided a glimpse of her potential future contribution in previous discussions, all were relieved that she had now officially offered her company’s resources for

whatever was needed.

“Thank you Newt,” Ripley returned, using Rebecca’s childhood nickname that only Ellen Ripley and maybe Dwayne Hicks would use, “that is most generous of you.”

“My pleasure,” Rebecca responded, “although it is an offer that I never wanted to make from a business point of view, but from a personal point of view I am in a financial position to offer it without hesitation. Circumstances now seem such that exercising this option may ultimately be necessary.”

“I think that we need to get in the mode of hard planning for a return to our favorite planet,” Ripley offered sarcastically.

At their first meeting, the group had discussed the possibility of returning to LV426 where it was possible that humans would again come into with the alien creatures from their past that caused their collective and ongoing nightmares. The Family had known that a mining operation had been operating on the planet for several years, but the mining site was located a distance away from the original Weyland-Yutani terraform site of the second Event. Furthermore, the mining operation was also situated well away from the crash site of the derelict spacecraft which was the original source of the alien creatures and the first Event. Ben was the one who actually discovered the government had permitted the mining company access to the plant’s resources. He also uncovered that it did so only after the company agreed to strict limitations of the exploration area. The company was licensed to mine only within precise boundaries which Michael had calculated specifically excluded the areas where the alien creatures were first discovered as well as the terraform operation of the second Event. The mining company was eager to sign a contract for any rights to the planet’s resources as their own geologists had confirmed that the planet was likely rich in the minerals they sought. The mining company hadn’t argued when the government explained that the restriction of their exploration rights was due

to nuclear fallout in the those areas from a previous incident.

Since its creation, BioWave had been denied first-hand return to LV-426 due to its lineage with the former Weyland-Yutani Corporation. However, part of the mining license granted by the government necessarily included reconstructing a terraform operation to continue making the planet more habitable for humans. The affects of the previous planet engineering that Weyland-Yutani had begun more than forty years prior were starting to wane so there had been a need to include an atmosphere processing operation on the planet that would be managed by the mining company as part of their contract. The mining company did not have to bear the entire burden of the cost of the terraform facility as the government highly subsidized its construction to encourage commerce and planetary mineral exploitation.

Derwent Maxwell had found a way to return to LV-426 by acting as a subcontractor to the mining company for the terraform equipment and all participants at the Family meeting were convinced his agenda included some plan to return to the site of the original alien encounter.

“Maxwell has probably analyzed the situation on the planet and came up with the same conclusion about the viability of the original site as we did,” Ripley offered. “We know that the blast radius of reactor explosion at the terraform site was about thirty kilometers. The blast, of course, destroyed the terraform site and the aliens in it, but Maxwell is probably counting on the fact that the original derelict spacecraft that we discovered previously is about thirty-five kilometers from the colony terraform site. He is probably betting that there are viable alien eggs still in the spacecraft. Winning the contract to supply replacement equipment for the mining operation provides him a free to investigate that spacecraft site.” Ripley paused and took a deep breath, then continued, “We’ve all feared that this was a possibility, so now it is time to execute our contingency plan.”

“I will make my calls,” Dwayne Hicks offered.

Dwayne still retained his s though long retired from the military. His seasoned group of s included several ex-military professionals who had started “consulting companies” that supplied trained security personnel for almost any reason. Most recently, one of Dwayne’s best s had his mercenaries involved in private hire on remote stations that were, “sensitive to encounters with unwelcomed guests.” This was security-speak referring to the incursions of the many pirate organizations that raided licensed mining freighters transporting their cargo back to the earth for processing. These raids had now become increasingly common and the military was either overwhelmed by their frequency or handcuffed by the lack of clarity in jurisdiction of the matter. In any case, mercenaries were becoming a more popular option for private operators where the government couldn’t guarantee the protection required to keep legitimate commerce flowing.

The Family had foreseen the necessity to include “hired guns” when their mission needed to be activated. Each Family member had been setting aside money from their monthly government allotment and putting it into a secret fund to be used when required. Dwayne Hicks, being former military himself, had used his own experience from the previous encounter with the alien species to identify what talent and expertise would be necessary to select the appropriate personnel for a return mission. He knew that his s through the security companies they owned would be able to supply experienced talent that would be, as a single group, better than any military unit of similar size. And, because these security companies selected the newest technology without the prejudice of the snail’s-pace selection process the government insisted upon, they would come with weaponry that was better than the military could supply. Only one operational worry was on Dwayne Hicks mind – where to find a nuclear weapon should one be needed.

“I have a special ship that I’ve been outfitting with some of the equipment we’ve previously discussed,” added Rebecca Jorden now addressing the entire group,

“but I need your help in suggesting additional equipment, especially your input, Dwayne.”

“Of course,” Dwayne intoned, “but I think Michael and Ripley’s input will be just as important as mine.”

“Don’t worry; I think it is fair to say that any final decisions will be agreed upon fully before we move forward,” Ripley encouraged.

“There is one more thing that I need to bring up before we each go off and plan our respective contributions for a return,” Ripley offered. “We have a larger problem.” Lowering her voice so that everyone focused completely on what she was about to say. “We have expected someone would want to return to LV-426, we have agreed to organize our contingency plan to address that possibility and we have now agreed to act. But has anyone ever considered a larger reason for a return to the planet?”

Now all in the room sat motionless in anticipation of what Ripley had to say. Everyone remained quiet; their silence at the same time answering a collective “no” to Ellen’s question while their faces urged her to continue.

“The creatures we encountered on LV-436 were engers on that derelict ship, just as the alien queen ended up a enger on the Sulaco and previously a single creature was a enger in the escape pod I used in my escape from the Nostromo. In each case those “things” found a way to hitch a ride on someone else’s spacecraft. I have been thinking about that and the larger question I’ve been asking myself is where did the fuckers come from?” The others in the group sat in silence waiting for Ellen to continue. “The creatures are extremely efficient in exploiting their victim’s weaknesses and then propagating their own species at the expense another species. Did the aliens of the derelict spacecraft

encounter the evil creatures as we did, by plan or by happenstance? Or did they encounter them when they travelled to the evil creature’s home planet? I feel that the overriding aspect of our plan must be to consider how we can find an answer to these questions.

“We’ve all agreed that stopping an attempt to get an alien specimen off the planet or exploiting those creatures in any way could have catastrophic consequences for human life – especially if the creatures were brought back to earth. I know you all agree that destroying all evidence of them is imperative.

“What would happen if Maxwell’s crew finds that the aliens or their eggs at the crash site were in fact destroyed by the bomb we set off at the processing station site? I doubt that they would have planned this long or gone this far to simply shrug their shoulders and say, ‘Well, that’s it. Let’s go home.’ We have to include the possibility that they too would like to find out where those eggs came from so that they could continue looking for them,” Ripley paused to let her thoughts sink in.

“OK. I think you have the attention of everyone here. Please continue.” Dwayne said.

Ripley responded, “I’ve spent a lot of time going through a number of scenarios that I think we all should consider in our return to the planet. The one you haven’t heard yet is that this is our opportunity to find the answer to the question of where the evil creatures were encountered by the derelict craft’s owners.

“Can we assume that the derelict spacecraft had a computer guidance system sophisticated enough to record data of their journey?” Ripley asked rhetorically, “And, can we assume it is possible that data was not damaged by the nuclear pulse from the blast? If the answer is ‘yes’ to these questions, then is it possible

that we could access the information in that database?” Now each of them knew what Ripley was suggesting. She continued, “If there is still data contained in their computers is still viable and if we can access it, we could answer the questions of the spacecraft’s journey, its mission, where it is from and probably even trace back to how the evil aliens were ed and what the derelict ship’s crew did to deal with them. Although we know that the spacecraft’s crew was ultimately unsuccessful just as our last mission was, knowledge of the interrelationship between the two species will be an important addition to our knowledge base in dealing with them should we have to come into with them again. Plus, if we are very lucky we will find the evil alien’s home planet.

“Finally,” Ripley concluded, “although what we’ve been planning up until now is important, I believe that our ultimate goal should not only be to deny someone attempting to collect an alien specimen, our larger goal should be to deny mankind a pathway to easily finding this species again. Should data be available in the derelict craft’s systems, anyone could theoretically access it in the future and use it to re-establish with the creatures. We can’t let that happen.”

After a few moments of collective contemplation on Ripley’s proposition, Michael Hicks said quietly, “As you all know my son, Ben, has been a contractor, working on our project. I think it is time that we fully informed him of our cause and, further, I think we should bring him in as part of the Family.” There was complete silence from the rest of the Family and they let Michael clarify. “We have taken great caution in keeping our knowledge of the past disasters as well as our possible intention of a return to the planet within this closed group for obvious security reasons. However, we all know that we are all too old to go off on some righteous, yet probably foolhardy mission to do what needs to be done. At some point we all know that we have to expand the Family to include a trusted new generation of people to carry our standard. I believe that Ben is the most likely new candidate for Family hip for a number of reasons. First, he is trustworthy as he has proven for five years in assisting us with tracking information we need and he has demonstrated skill in keeping enquiring minds from becoming aware of our plans. Second, he is smart. Third, he has technical skills that will be invaluable to our mission, and fourth, he has leadership skills that I have seen him demonstrate in his paid employment as

well as his initiative in gathering information for us.”

The family continued their silence while Michael went on, “I think the time is right to invite Ben to our next meeting. I have given him limited information about the surveillance he has been conducting for us and he hasn’t probed me for more information since I initially requested his services. I am inclined to invite him to our next meeting without me giving him additional information and let you all tell him your stories personally. I think doing so will have the most impact and set the stage for him accepting a role as a Family member. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is send my own son into the hell that the rest of you have personally experienced. However, I am convinced that our cause is just. Of course whoever we select as our surrogates must be given the opportunity to opt out and say ‘no’ to our request. Therefore, anyone we approach with our request must be trustworthy enough to swear an oath of secrecy whether they are willing to be involved in the mission or not.”

After the ensuing lengthy Family discussion, all agreed that Michael’s assessment was a good one and that Ben should indeed be welcomed as an addition to the Family. However, they all knew that they needed to move quickly as their adversary was fast-tracking a return to LV-426 for entirely opposite reasons than the Family’s so they collectively requested that Michael inform his son of everything regarding the mission, including paraphrasing everyone’s individual stories, before he was brought to the next meeting so that they could accelerate their own mission planning as much as possible. Michael was given their united blessing to invite Ben to the next meeting being fully informed – if he was willing to accept their calling.

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Chapter XVIII

The Mentor

The secret Family meeting was not the only meeting taking place that weekend. Derwent Maxwell had been called to a meeting by his Mentor. Still reveling with the euphoria of having won the contract that would enable their long-planned return to LV-426, Maxwell hadn’t expected the greeting he got from his Mentor.

“Don’t prove to me that I’ve wasted my time on you!” his Mentor barked.

“What do you mean by that?” Maxwell shot back.

“Do you think we are the only ones that know about our real intentions to return to that planet?” the Mentor questioned.

“Believe me,” Maxwell replied, “I have thought about that and every precaution has been taken to ensure a safe return to collect our objective while doing so under complete secrecy.”

“If you think that, then proof of my time wasted is, in fact, a reality,” the Mentor said without emotion.

Maxwell was stunned by the rebuke. He believed that he had successfully taken the apprenticeship his Mentor had offered over the years to a new level - a level that made him equal in wisdom if not equal in power to his Mentor – as a full partner. The swift sword of a few words from the Mentor had cut Maxwell’s confidence to shreds. He now weakly offered, “Tell me what you are talking about.”

The Mentor went on to tell him about his own background checks regarding forces outside of theirs that may have a common interest in returning to LV-426. He pointed out that the government’s perceived suspension from actively watching BioWave was, in fact, a ruse to draw such activity out. Maxwell had miscalculated the significance of his ploy and the bribe paid to the government committee member would have blown up in their faces had not swift action taken place.

That committee member had specifically been placed on the contract committee by the government for the purpose of monitoring BioWave’s activity for potential illegal activity. Had the Mentor not had even more highly placed operatives within the government who informed him of the committee member’s real agenda, BioWave’s intentions regarding LV-426 could have been exposed. If that had happened, everything that had been planned for and worked towards for four decades would have been nullified.

Maxwell asked, “So what do we do?”

The Mentor replied, “You’ll do nothing. You will act as if all is normal and carry out your normal business dealings. Don’t change your activity level one bit as doing so may cause further unwanted scrutiny. I want you to stay on the planned task of organizing and delivering our contracted materials to LV-426. Doing otherwise may bring additional unwanted examination of our intentions.

“While you were basking in your oblivious bid preparations, the government’s committee member was being ed by some of our own BioWave employees in allowing him to access your bid process without your knowledge. You were sloppy in leaving a trail of your activities that, if exposed, surely would have been construed by the government as suspicious. This includes your bumbling efforts to cover up the allocation of funds you appropriated from BioWave financials as bribe money.”

Maxwell was dazed as if punched in the stomach by this news. How did the Mentor find out what he, himself didn’t know about his own company’s employee involvement, let alone the government committee member? “What do we do about this government committee member?” Maxwell croaked.

“That person is no longer a concern,” the Mentor confidently stated. “It seems he didn’t even have time to deliver the damning evidence he’d collected to his superiors. In his zeal to celebrate his information gathering triumph, he was enticed to enjoy the company of a prostitute while carrying the information with him. His companion for the evening was an operative for us. She saw to it that our government friend met with an untimely heart attack while in her company. Of course the evidence against us he was carrying was conveniently re-worked to BioWave’s advantage by my own trusted staff before it was returned to his posthumous possession. Making sure the adjusted documentation was with the body, insured that the government not only was left with a positive impression of BioWave, they also kept the demise of their operative while in the company of a lady-of-the-evening out of the news.

“As for your sorry attempt to cover up the company financial records, I had my personal representatives adjust our now deceased government friend’s bank to remove any trace of your bribery. I also had my people return the bribe money you creatively appropriated from BioWave returned to the appropriate company ledgers. The entire monetary event never happened. As far as the government believes, BioWave deserved the contract you secured. If an investigation should be initiated, our deceased government friend will be

acknowledged by his superiors as a philanderer who took a minor detour in reporting his final activity, but in the end, to his credit, he delivered vital information in fulfilling his job duties.

“Lastly,” continued the Mentor, “the BioWave employees who assisted our deceased government friend will find their jobs evaporating in the next few weeks when a series of on-the-job improprieties they’ve committed will be exposed.”

Maxwell was speechless and he knew the Mentor well enough to gauge his mood as foul so it was best that he stay silent until the Mentor spoke again.

“Although I have no direct evidence to my assumption,” the Mentor acceded, “I believe we have to expect that our dormant survivors will be attuned to our interest in and inevitable return to LV-426. My instincts have served me well in the past, so I believe we may have some interference to deflect from that group. Each of the three survivors has been living comfortably on government money. They have attempted to keep a low profile in following the government’s wishes to be model citizens and they’ve stayed out of the controversy surrounding their past encounter with the alien species which we so covet. However, I trust them as far as I could throw any of them – especially that meddling, know-it-all Ripley. She is a trouble maker that we should have eliminated long ago. At this point, we’ll need to work quickly and I have a plan to do just that.”

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Chapter XIX

Invitation

Michael detailed for his son, Ben, what he knew about the original LV-426 colony, the alien creatures the colonists encountered there and the military rescue mission sent to save them. Ben was told about the total annihilation of everyone except the three survivors. Ben listened in fascination as his father told him about how he was ed by his cousin and Ripley after their escape from LV436 forty years ago. Michael showed Ben some of the official news releases fabricated by the government detailing how the only survivors of a rescue had been lost in a terrible crash on their return to earth with all hands lost. Ben was also shown the survivors’ true of the events which had been archived for just such an occasion as this.

Ben respected his father and he believed every word of his father’s story as absolute truth, Ben still found it amazing the detail his father provided about the story’s background, the former Weyland-Yutani Company, the Company personnel that were involved and the actions of the survivors. Michael told Ben how the government gave the surviving family false identities to keep the press off balance and uninformed in an effort to keep the alien presence on the planet a secret. Ben was told how the government had financially taken care of each of the survivors by providing hush money to keep them quiet. The payments they received were also acknowledged as reparation for the horrors they all had to live with from their ordeal. Michael’s story was so compelling and thorough it was as if he were actually one of the survivors of the event itself and not just an extended Family member.

Michael continued briefing Ben telling him about how the Family had stayed in touch with each other and their planning for a worse-case scenario should

someone try to return to the planet and attempt to exploit the evil creatures should they still exist. Michael explained that Derwent Maxwell had recently positioned BioWave for a return to the planet which had triggered the Family to meet and activate their contingency plan.

Ben anticipated that his father was telling him this highly detailed saga for a specific reason. So when Michael concluded his story, Ben could barely contain his enthusiasm when Michael asked him if he would be willing to play a role in the return to the planet by becoming a Family member. Of course Ben’s answer was yes even after his father reminded him that if the evil creatures survived the nuclear blast, they were possibly the most dangerous things imaginable.

Transportation for the mission would be provided by Rebecca Jorden’s company via a “research project” spacecraft that was officially ed as a personnel and special mining equipment vehicle. Ben’s role would be to act as the mission commander and senior technical leader for the return team. The team would consist of Ben and a well equipped, ex-military security unit that would be handpicked by his uncle Dwayne. Ben would have overall command authority and the security unit would report to him.

Michael explained Ripley’s idea of accessing and ing the derelict spacecraft’s data files including alien information. Ben’s technical role involved overseeing the data collection operation which was deemed the number one mission priority and then destroying the entire spacecraft including the deadly alien eggs it likely housed. Ben immediately started thinking about the technical aspects of physically accessing the data as well as interpreting the data when and if it was possible to actually extract it.

“Assuming that there is intact data available from the derelict spacecraft and it is actually possible to the data, what will be done with it?” Ben rightly asked.

“Our first priority,” Michael responded, “is to secure it so that no one else is privy to either its existence or its contents. Therefore, our plan is that once it is secured to destroy the original data and then analyze the data after.”

Ben questioned, “So what sort of analysis are you planning?”

“We thought it best to physically bring the data back to us rather than using the old subcarrier communications system to transmit the data. The subcarrier is still designated as an emergency backup, but has never been used officially for that purpose. It appears to be the very last layer of a multiply-redundant system. I’ve monitored its use since I began using it. The only time it is ever used is once a year when a regular automated diagnostic is run on it. That diagnostic was run two weeks ago so it shouldn’t be done again for almost a year. That system, although proven reliable is much too slow to transmit what may be enormous amounts of data from the derelict systems.”

“Sounds right to me, but since I am going to be the on-the-scene Caesar for this operation, I think there is some benefit to having local data interpretation expertise – if for nothing else than for emergency purposes,” Ben stated authoritatively.

“Are you referring to adding an additional expert to your team?” Michael asked.

“Yes.”

“We’ve also considered this possibility, but we are reticent about adding too

many people to a need-to-know-only scenario…,” Michael trailed off as he could see that Ben had something else to say. “However, I respect your opinion since you are going to be the one responsible for field decisions. If it were possible to find a suitable candidate, I’m sure a compelling argument could be offered to allow Family hip.”

“Ok, let me think about this,” Ben continued, “I think I know of someone who is enormously talented in this area – possibly the most qualified anywhere. I just need to approach them with due caution.”

“Of course, can you share with me who your potential candidate is?”

“I will, in time, but I can say you are not unfamiliar with who I have in mind.”

“Alright, but I just need to stress our need to move swiftly as well as cautiously.”

“Duly noted, this won’t take but two days.”

“I’m sure the candidate you select will be acceptable.”

“I will you,” and with that Ben and Michael parted, each with much to do.

#

Chapter XX

The Dating Game

How in the hell was he going to broach the subject to Rhys? Ben’s mind was a blizzard of thoughts regarding bringing her into this; what…, conspiracy? Well yes that would be accurate, but likely that term was overly dramatic for the purposes of an explanation for Rhys. He was willing to put his life on the line for this cause, let alone the very real possibility that following through could put his and every other Family member’s future in grave circumstance should the mission go wrong. However, asking the woman he was falling in love with to put her life at risk was maybe the moral equivalent of deciding whether to flee a burning building to save yourself, or to run back in to assist your friends and maybe die trying.

As questions swirled though Ben’s mind, he began focusing on what his role needed to be and how he would approach his own mission task. He set aside the idea of how to approach Rhys for the moment and began to make a mental list of duties, thoughts and rationalizations of his near-term as well as future actions. Ben found that in focusing on his responsibilities, he found the mental clarity he needed and after about an hour, he was able to think about Rhys’ role and how he could make such a preposterous invitation to her.

In the end, Ben felt that Rhys truly was a grown-up and she deserved to be treated as such. She was highly intelligent and insightful in a great many ways. She was competent and had few peers in her field. Her training in linguistics – especially archaic languages - was absolutely perfect for what would be required of an on-site specialist for the mission. And maybe the most important point of all was that Ben trusted her implicitly. Ben knew that even if Rhys turned down the challenge and danger of the mission, she would never reveal the mission to

anyone.

Rhys had told Ben stories about how intellectually stimulating it had been to study the original texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls as a university student. The Scrolls were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. In her independent study of them, she had actually interpreted a few of the ages in such a way that the nuances of her interpretation re-stimulated discussions among Scroll scholars that shed new light on the intertwined relationship between the Scroll writers and the generally accepted ages of the Old Testament of the Bible. Rhys considered her role as a language expert to solely interpret the Scrolls accurately and to the best of her ability. Rhys was never dragged into discussions about the religious relevancy of the Bible vs. the Scrolls version’s of history. However, she did have to it that it was exciting and intellectually stimulating to be responsible for initiating a new discussion thread among her peers and religious scholars.

Because of Rhys’ excitement with such academic endeavors and the fact that she became a leading expert in the field as a professional, Ben felt that Rhys would likely jump at the chance to be the first to have access to alien data and the challenge of alien language interpretation. After several more hours of agony over the whole issue, Ben was finally convinced. He ed Rhys and invited her to dinner the next day at his place.

Ben tried to put extra special touches into the meal’s preparation as he wanted not only to impress the woman he loved, he wanted to make the dinner he was preparing to be a seamless segue to the heart of the dinner’s subject matter.

Ben started out hesitantly, but Rhys sensing Ben’s discomfort, assured him that whatever it was he wanted to tell her was OK and that she trusted him. Ben realized that the connection between them was truly at a deeper level than just dating so with Rhys’ affirmation of her trust in him, Ben began The Family Story.

While she listened to Ben speak, Rhys tried to remain calm on the outside as her intellectual juices boiled on the inside, only once stopping him throughout his story needing clarification on a point he’d made. Rhys could hardly contain her zeal as Ben told the story of The Family, their past experiences and their intended return to the planet. When Ben finally “popped-the-question” of the Family’s need for a professional having the unique skills Rhys possessed, she almost exploded with internal enthusiasm.

After Ben finished, Rhys launched into questioning like the true professional she was as if she were meeting a client for the first time. Her questions were intuitive and insightful, several were questions that Ben couldn’t answer and more were questions Ben hadn’t even thought to ask himself.

“So what do you think?” Ben proposed.

“Oh, Ben, I am so thrilled that you’ve thought of me as the professional the Family would want on this mission! Of course I want to be involved!” Rhys confirmed.

“I almost didn’t want to ask you as you’d be putting your life in danger and I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

“Ben, you know I could say the same for you, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity professionally, so I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Well, I am relieved in one way in that, although I trust you completely, keeping

such a security-sensitive issue a secret may be difficult – especially if someone outside the Family finds out about our little plan. If the government were to find out, you might be considered an accessory after the fact and be convicted of conspiracy against the government.”

“Well, now that I have accepted a role in the Family’s return, if the government finds out, I won’t be viewed as just an accessory!” Rhys stated confidently.

With that comment, the tension surrounding several hours of intense interpersonal intrigue diminished considerably and the couple, now even closer than ever, focused on the impending meeting with the rest of the Family.

Rhys did not mention to Ben that another reason she was overwhelmed with the invitation to the Family was that she had immediately made the connection with Ben’s version of the story and the news articles her grandmother had kept in her safety deposit box. Rhys could hardly believe her good fortune to have seemingly stumbled into a continuation of the story of her own family. Could it really be a possibility? After leaving Ben’s apartment, Rhys would double check her grandmother’s affects again.

#

Chapter XXI

Introduction

The growing Family followed the careful travel script they’d used before. All used various modes of travel, using cash only and booking rooms in random hotels in the selected city.

The meeting hotel was a nondescript property in a suburb of the city to minimize with any high profile media-types and unwanted curious stares. Family arrived either the evening before or early afternoon the day of the meeting. Pizza or other take out was purchased prior to the meeting by each individual to limit any linking of the meeting participants with one another.

This time it was Dwayne Hicks who reserved the room - a suite that would serve as the meeting venue. The room was well lit by the large, sheer-draped window which overlooked the roof of the hotel’s adjacent wing. The view from the window was romantically enhanced by a farm of air conditioning units on the flanking roof one story below the suite. The furnishings of the room were simple and functional with a large sofa along one wall and a love-seat along another. Both sofas gave a good view of the entertainment center in the room while a small work-table with two chairs occupied space with a less advantageous entertainment center view. There was a small kitchenette for long term guests which provided another table with four chairs. A carpet that was due for replacement was a perfect match to the dull, off-colored walls of the room. The larger kitchen table and its chairs were moved into the living room suite and the smaller table there was combined with the rest of the furniture to make enough room for the six meeting participants.

As per plan, Ben and Rhys were last to arrive. Michael had, prior to meeting, fully informed Family that both of them had agreed to participate in the Family’s return to the planet. However, the existing Family had arrived early to come to a consensus regarding exactly what role each of the new should play to best suit the mission. The existing Family also needed to discuss the additional that Dwayne was working on to ensure everyone was on the same page.

As soon as the Family finished their discussion, Rhys and Ben were introduced. Ben opened by giving a brief synopsis of his background and his excitement to be part of such a special mission. Since Ben had been working for the Family behind the scenes for some time, the Family was familiar and quite comfortable with his selection to the Family. After a half hour of questioning, Ben segued into an explanation of his thinking by recommending Rhys as a potential Family member which also included a full disclosure of their personal relationship. Without any questions from the Family, Ben turned the meeting over to Rhys to explain her professional qualifications, background education and any personal details she felt should be mentioned.

Although Rhys was more nervous than any job interview she’d experienced, the Family could tell right away that Rhys was genuine, knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. When Rhys finished speaking, the Family asked a number of questions. Ripley’s questions were the most probing, but even Ellen’s questions were asked in a professional yet almost matter-of-fact way. Finally, Ripley reiterated how dangerous the creatures were and asked if Rhys may be underestimating the danger of the mission. Rhys was prepared for this question and her answer proved that she understood the lethality of the creatures, but she viewed the mission as a professional, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that outweighed any potential personal harm that she may encounter. She made sure that the Family knew she was serious by presenting them with a freshly updated copy of her will. When all were satisfied both Ben and Rhys were asked to leave the room as the Family needed to discuss their full Family ission. Because Ben was being vouched for by his father and everyone respected and trusted Michael completely, all recognized that Ben’s ission was pretty much a foregone conclusion. However, as a matter of important protocol, any family

member who had a problem with Ben’s ission to the Family would have a right to voice their opinion. There were none. After a fairly brief discussion regarding Rhys, their ission to the Family was finalized and both were formally granted Family status.

Since each original Family member had been given an alias by the government, the true identity of any of them had not been officially revealed to Rhys. Michael had only heard about Rhys from Ben in that he had been dating a woman, but there was no formal introduction until the Family meeting. Michael introduced the other Family to the couple, now using their true given names starting with Rebecca Jorden. Next was Dwayne Hicks with the explanation of the family relationship between Ben, Dwayne and Michael. Finally, the introductions came to Ellen Ripley.

At the mention of Ripley’s name, Rhys flinched noticeably. Ripley couldn’t help but notice the reaction and responded, expecting her comment to put Rhys at ease, “Am I that scary?”

Rhys studied the face of the older woman. She questioned herself and wondered how it could be possible? Of course, it couldn’t be, could it? The name was right and the face, though much older, looked similar to the archived information she had just reviewed from her grandmother’s safety deposit box. Rhys mumbled almost under her breath, soft enough that no one in the room could hear except Ripley, “But how…?”

Seeing the almost strained look on Rhys’ face, Ripley replied, “I don’t usually get this kind of a response with a first introduction. It usually takes a few minutes for people to become exasperated with me before they trail off in their thoughts.” But Ripley’s stab at levity didn’t change the expression on Rhys’ face, nor Rhys’ inability to speak. Finally, after realizing that there was something more to Rhys’ reaction, Ripley took Rhys’ hand and gently encouraged, “Tell me what it is, my dear.”

Rhys willingly took Ellen Ripley’s warm hands, now rubbing her fingers gently and after a few moments, she composed herself and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry, I must be making a terrible mistake. You must all be thinking, ‘Who is this person we’ve invited into our Family?’” She never took her eyes off of Ellen’s, now peering into them even more deeply.

“No, I don’t think that at all my dear, but there is obviously something that is bothering you. Why don’t you tell us about it?” Ripley softly replied.

Rather than feeling more comfortable with his comment, Rhys’ head started to spin as she realized that what she’d stepped into was in fact something she had considered, but was too bizarre to consider seriously plausible. Overwhelmed, Rhys lost further composure when she blurted out, “Ellen Ripley was the name of a woman who died in a space accident nearly one hundred years ago.”

Now it was the original Family who were confused and slack-jawed. It was very unusual for a person so young to know about the government’s story of their contrived demise. It was Ripley again who then spoke, “How remarkable that you know about that incident!”

Rhys continued to study the face of the woman in front of her stating, “I read about that story in the personal effects of… my grandmother who had the news articles and some other personal documents in her safety deposit box.”

Ripley, only hesitating slightly at the comment of the young woman replied, “What do you mean, your grandmother? Who is your grandmother?”

Rhys then knew it had to be true, “Her name was Amanda, Amanda Ripley McLaren!”

Now it was Ripley’s turn to stare blankly back at Rhys with a dumbfounded expression on her face. After a few moments, it was Rebecca Jorden who first spoke, “Ellen, what does this mean?”

Ellen Ripley slowly mouthed the words, “Amanda McLaren was my daughter’s name.”

Rhys let the comment hang in the air for a moment before responding, “Then it has to be true!”

Rebecca Jorden still did not understand and said, “I’m confused, what are you two talking about?”

Rhys and Ripley stared at each other; both emotionally stubborn in their belief that it couldn’t possibly be true, both slowly wrapping their heads around such a foreign and remote possibility. Ripley finally broke the silence in stating, “If Amanda was your grandmother and she was my daughter, then…,” her own voice trailing off.

“Then,” Rebecca Jorden completed Ripley’s statement in a questioning, “you are Rhys’ great grandmother? What is happening here?”

Neither Ellen nor Rhys, wanted to speak first, but it was Rhys who finally said,

“I don’t know how this is possible, but if you were involved in that incident almost one hundred years ago and are officially dead, then I guess we both have some explaining to do.” Now all eyes in the room flashed between Rhys and Ellen wondering where this was all coming from and heading. Gaining a little more confidence, Rhys continued, “Since I have done some research on this, I guess I will go first.” And with that Rhys explained what she knew. She talked about the circumstances of Amanda becoming pregnant as a very young woman, she told the story of how her mother Jane was adopted outside of the official adoption processes and was raised as the daughter of the Adams couple. Her story continued with the explanation that Amanda’s existence wasn’t revealed to her until after both Jane and she were adults by Jane’s adoptive father and Rhys adoptive grandfather, Clark Adams. She explained how she was given the key to Amanda’s safety deposit box where she discovered the story about her birth grandmother and found the information about Ellen Ripley’s supposed demise.

Ben had retold his father’s story of the surviving Family to Rhys in recruiting her to potential Family hip. Rhys said that when Ben was telling the Family story it was like repetition of a story that she was already familiar with, but as he told the story, how could it be the same Ellen Ripley who died once, be the same person who died a second time after another encounter with the aliens on the planet? She found it difficult to believe that the story Ben was telling her was also part of her own family’s history. When her mind cleared enough to start assembling the puzzle pieces, Rhys immediately realized from Ben’s story that she may have a direct biologic link to Ellen Ripley, but she never revealed it to Ben at the time is it was too unbelievable. This was so confusing, but Rhys had to press on to find out how her story may interconnect with the other people now in this room.

Then Rhys revealed the kicker – she had enough foresight to bring Amanda Ripley McLaren’s affects from the safety deposit box to the meeting and she now laid all her grandmother’s affects out on the table for the Family to examine. Each survivor of the rescue mission took particular interest in Rhys’ evidence. None had expected this turn of events, least of all Ellen Ripley.

When Rhys finished her story with the included evidence, everyone in the room was dumbfounded. It seemed that this meeting had just turned into a true Family reunion of sorts. Finally, Rhys said softly, “OK, that is my story,” looking directly into Ripley’s eyes, “now explain to me how it is possible one; for you to be alive, and two; for you to be, what, younger than my grandmother?” Rhys had heard the story from Ben of course that the government covered up the reality of the rescue mission by fabricating a crash with all hands lost, but she had to hear the story from the survivors in order to bring the reality of meeting all of them including her actual birth great grandmother who was now, what, infamous?

Ripley had always been a strong person; a true leader who was rarely at a loss for words or actions. She found herself out of her element in now being at a loss for both. After collecting her thoughts, she eventually composed herself and responded, “The government contrived the story of our deaths to put the media off our scent and to cover up what had really happened on LV-426.”

Ellen Ripley went into the short version of her story regarding her encounter with the creature in the first Event and then she moved to the second Event story that had ultimately been responsible for the formation of the Family. Although the Family had all heard her previously, they were still fascinated to hear her re-tell the story of how the crew of the Nostromo, under direction from senior Weyland-Yutani executives, had been directed to investigate a beacon on the planet coming from the same derelict spacecraft to which they were now planning a return. Unfortunately, the Nostromo crew hadn’t realized until it was too late that the beacon sent from the derelict spacecraft was a warning. Ellen coldly told of the single creature that wiped out her total crew before she had narrowly avoided the same fate when she used an escape pod to leave the Nostromo before its destruction. After finishing off the alien that had somehow found its way onto her escape pod, Ellen had ultimately been found by a salvage team after floating through the core of the system while in hyper sleep for fifty-seven years! Ripley finished by stating, “I slept through most of Amanda’s entire life. When I left her, I’d promised to return by her eleventh birthday. That statement haunts me to this day. But, the fact is, that hyper sleep is responsible for suspending my aging and for me being here today.”

Ripley then gently picked up the water-stained birthday card she had given her daughter so long ago and after staring at it for a few seconds, she held it to her breast and took a long breath as tears welled in her eyes. Rhys could tell that the thought of disappointing her daughter on her birthday still struck a raw nerve in the woman. Although it felt awkward, Rhys did the only thing she could think of and gave Ellen a tight hug. Ripley responded as the emotions of seeing her daughter’s birthday card again coupled with the improbability of meeting her great granddaughter had overwhelmed her and she returned Rhys’ hug.

They both nervously laughed and tears welled now in both the women’s eyes as they shared the moment between them. Finally, they composed themselves and while still looking into each other’s eyes in continued disbelief, they realized that their newly discovered lineage had inadvertently hijacked the Family meeting and it was now time to get back to the originally planned agenda. Each knew that they’d have much to talk about later.

#

Chapter XXII

Family Planning

Michael began, “As you know, I have been monitoring Derwent Maxwell’s communications and I know that he’s doctored a lowball bid to obtain the updated atmosphere processor upgrade contract. I also know that he has been working with someone who has been feeding him inside information and who at this point I haven’t identified. Therefore, I have to assume that we may not be the only ones on the planet looking for the alien species. A BioWave engineering group is now being put together under the guise of installation contractors for the equipment. We’ve all expected that BioWave will mount a clandestine effort to return to the planet and now under the ruse of the contract upgrades, they must also be putting together a special team to deal with “off contract” operations. I believe their intention will be to collect viable alien specimens and return them for study. They may take the specimens to some remote BioWave location if we are lucky. If we aren’t lucky and our worst nightmares are realized, they will bring specimens back to earth. And we all agree that we cannot let either circumstance happen.

“The mining site is in a location over one hundred kilometers from the original Weyland-Yutani terraform site. The new mining site is also about sixty kilometers from the derelict ship’s location. The mining operation was only licensed by the government bureaucrats because it is far enough away from both locations. Since the government seized all Weyland-Yutani records including records of the derelict spacecraft, no one except a small, exclusive group knows it even exists. Of course, the new mining operators were told of the terraform operation and its destruction from a nuclear event, after all, that information is part of official public records. It was fairly easy to convince the mining executives that residual radiation from the blast created a dead zone that could not be entered. For safety reasons and by contract the new mining company

cannot go beyond thirty kilometers from their current location in the direction of the terraform site which we know is the same general direction of the derelict spacecraft.

“The government had, up until a few years ago, closely monitored mining activities at the new site to insure that new exploration was directed mostly away from the derelict spacecraft’s location. The new mine operator was too busy with the success they’d achieved in their licensed area to be concerned with additional exploration outside their mandated area so the derelict spacecraft site has remained a secret to them. Rebecca, do you mind giving us an update on our transportation?”

“Thank you, Michael. I have been in with Dwayne who has ed along several important armament aspects that we’ve included in the design and fit out of our vehicle. We have included many systems used by the military, but through Dwayne’s s with arms development companies, we have adopted some that are so advanced, many are deemed “in development” by the military and therefore have not yet been adopted. This is not to say they are untested technologies, in fact they have been proven to be extremely effective and reliable, but our military has processes that, shall we say, delay deployment due to bureaucratic red-tape. But, I will let Dwayne comment later on the specifics of the systems we will be using.

“We have a vehicle that is one of the most advanced from the standpoints of propulsion and armament as well as guidance. Following the basic model of a main delivery ship and two drop ships for actual planet landings each will carry a wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) to extend ground operation range, carry equipment and armament and provide protection to our team. We have additionally incorporated several backup and safety systems to avoid some issues we deemed as weak-links in the last mission to the planet.”

“Excuse me,” Rhys asked, “sorry for interrupting, but what sort of ‘weak-links’

have been corrected?”

“That’s OK, thank you for asking,” Rebecca continued, “For starters, the aliens have an extraordinary capacity for stealth. All three of us experienced first-hand that the creatures found ways to breach standard identification and security measures both at the terraform complex as well on the second drop ship; hiding there, before almost killing us on the Sulaco once we escaped the planet. Further, we believe the creatures somehow gained access to the first drop ship and likely killed the flight crew as they returned from their off-station hiatus to extract the rest of the team after our initial fight with the creatures in their nest under the cooling towers of the terraform colony.

“We know that thermal imaging doesn’t do much good in detecting the aliens as they appear, to normal instrumentation, cold blooded. Therefore, we have incorporated sensors in internal ageways as well as in 3D arrays around the exterior of all of the vehicles that are attuned, not only to motion, but to the chemistry of the alien species as we know it. These systems are not one hundred percent, as we have good, but limited information about the creature’s chemistry.

“Even more importantly, the new sensors are programmed to detect humans both thermally and by molecular biometrics to differentiate between our species and the aliens. Each of the crew who go on our mission will be bio-scanned by our system – not only for height, weight, temperature, blood type, eye color and retinal mapping; but also at a molecular level. Our system is so precise that we can detect not only the aliens, but differentiate between and identify different humans. The system will also flag changes over time by comparing one second, multi-layer video recordings of interior and exterior activities and alert us to any abnormal changes. Our systems have an external range of about two hundred meters in all directions – including elevation as we know that the creatures nest in ceiling areas as well as wall cavities. Basically they are opportunistic and adaptable to any nesting arrangements,” Rebecca paused for a moment and looked at the newest member of the Family.

“OK, thank you for that explanation,” Rhys replied, grateful to obtain as much information as possible as she felt the need to catch up with the other Family .

Before Rebecca could continue Ripley jumped in and said, “Excuse me, may I interject something here, Newt?”

“Be my guest, Ellen.” Jorden replied.

“Thank you. I think this may be a good time to reveal some additional intelligence we’ve gathered over the past forty years.” Ellen stated authoritatively, casting a glance and a nod toward Michael Hicks and with his returned nod, Ripley knew he gave his permission for her to continue with what she was about to say. “Michael here has been an invaluable resource to our cause and has been busy searching for information on our behalf from his unique positions from inside both Weyland-Yutani and BioWave. Michael discovered that the android on my first mission secretly transmitted data back to WeylandYutani regarding the first encounter with the derelict spacecraft and the alien species that attacked and eventually killed all my crew . Once Michael discovered this data, he probed more deeply and found more information stored in the same secret Company files from the second Event. That information, like the first, had secretly been recorded and secretly stored by the Company.

“Before Weyland-Yutani was compelled by the government to give up their records of both events, Michael made copies of everything and we have analyzed it over the years. The information originally transmitted back to the landing craft at the time was mostly garbled due to planetary storm interference. However, those secret records from the Company vaults revealed that each of the three member excursion party carried a personal data recorder that made clear voice and video records of the entire excursion. Due to time constraints, I won’t go into details about everything contained in those secret records today, but the recordings are enlightening and give us a good idea of what to expect when we

arrive.

“We also have data from Rebecca’s parent’s journey, the second excursion team’s encounter with the derelict craft. Although her parents did not carry personal recording equipment with them when they inspected the spacecraft, colony technicians were instructed by the Company to copy the “black box” transmission records that all rover vehicles are required to record. The technicians then ed the Jorden excursion data to the Company after erasing the black box records.

“Also, the android on the second mission must have been instructed by the company official, Carter Burke, to secretly record all of the research data he compiled on that mission. Although our android was severely damaged in the final stages of that mission, his processors were still intact. I know that the scientific information the android collected couldn’t have been transmitted during the mission as much of the research was conducted after the colony transmitters were damaged by the crash of the first drop ship. So that means the Company had to have collected the data after we survivors returned to earth from the only source possible, the android. Anyway, that data too was discovered and copied by Michael.”

Ripley continued, “Why I am bringing it up now is to highlight several points for you. One: from the secret recordings, we now know there are at least two major openings in the derelict spacecraft. There are three main openings or portals, all located between the spars of the derelict craft, the left-most portal was used by the first excursion team to enter the spacecraft. We don’t know if all three portals lead to the same destination or not, but the entrance that excursion team used leads directly to the domed control console area where the dead pilot of the spacecraft is seated. We believe this is the command and control area for the entire spacecraft and if it is, any data records we hope to recover should be available from this area. When you see the recordings, you will see that the first excursion team also found a hole in the floor of the control area and lowered Kane through it to the spacecraft’s egg chamber below.

“The voice recordings from the Jorden excursion indicate that Newt’s parents entered the spacecraft through a different opening described as a “crack in the hull” by Rebecca’s father which must lead directly to the egg chamber. This second opening will hopefully turn out to be a benefit to us for a couple of reasons or, it just as probably could end up being a problem for us. We will have to assess that one way or another once our team arrives on the scene.

“Another point I’d like to make addresses our confidence in the molecular biometric identification system to differentiate between the aliens and humans. Biologic data which was likely part of the information collected from the surviving android of the second mission provided enough alien DNA analysis for us to identify many alien genetic markers used to develop our molecular biometrics discrimination system. We’ve tested it and we are as confident as we can be that it will work as d.

“However, one of the most important elements revealed in the company’s secret data recordings – the one responsible for me thinking that the derelict ship’s data could still be intact was when I watched the video and heard the audio from Kane’s personal data recorder that showed a thin, laser-like, blue light barrier located about a meter above the entire alien egg chamber, sort of like a sheet covering the entire chamber or more precisely, multiple chambers as there appears to be several chambers; each divided from one another by a series of walls. Kane lost his balance and fell through the blue light barrier and into the egg chamber after which he was attacked by the alien egg hatchling. You can hear from the recording there was an audible sound as he fell through the light barrier and the mist surrounding the eggs below. It is possible that this light barrier acts as a protection system or some kind of an alarm which alerts the eggs to the presence of an intruder. We don’t know for sure, but whatever its purpose, the blue light doesn’t come out of nowhere, it is being generated. And because it is being generated, then whatever is generating it has got to have a power source. That power source could very easily be powering the entire spacecraft’s systems including the ship’s computer.” Ripley paused and let her last statement sink in for a moment before she continued. “If a power source is

protecting the alien eggs, then the data in the computer system could very well be protected too!”

Ripley had just given the Family a final, yet crucial piece of the puzzle which made the skeptical among them believers in her idea. Ripley’s inspiration to extract intact extraterrestrial data from the spacecraft was no longer a long-shot guess. Her idea had been ed by what was on the recording as proof of a power source for the blue light. The blue light had to be protecting the eggs in some way because the eggs were still viable on two separate occasions: once on that first mission and a second time by the fact that Rebecca Jorden’s father was attacked in the same way over half a century later. Even though the atmosphere processing station and the aliens in it had been destroyed forty years ago, the aliens in the derelict craft had infected humans on two separate occasions many years apart. If the power used to protect the alien eggs had existed for so many years, it must still be functioning if the spacecraft wasn’t destroyed by the nuclear blast that leveled the terraform colony. So, if the spacecraft still existed, the same power source would still be protecting the data! Ripley concluded her story by stating, “The Company kept this information secret – not sharing it with the Jorden family, the atmosphere processing personnel or the second team sent in to rescue them. The Kane information alone could have saved everyone involved in the second Event had the Company shared it,” Ripley’s anger now palpable. “Anyway, there is a lot more information in the Company’s secret records that time doesn’t allow me to share with you right now, so you all need to study those records before we return to the planet.”

Ellen realized that her explanation, although extremely important, had been rather lengthy and had interrupted the flow of Rebecca Jorden’s technical overview. Acknowledging this, she somewhat sheepishly turned to Jorden and said, “Sorry, Newt, I didn’t mean to crap so completely on your parade. I hope you can forgive me.”

The rest of the Family at first didn’t know how to react first to the Company’s secret information and then Ellen’s interpretation of it. Now, her apology to

Newt proved to be another confusing mental chicane for the rest of the Family. Finally, Rebecca broke the silence and said, “Wow! That was the most worthy interruption I’ve ever experienced! If you have any more crap like that to drop, I hope my parade is ing by when you do.” Her statement broke the stress of the moment and allowed Rebecca to pick up where she left off in her technical presentation. But, before she continued, she suggested that group take a break. All were relieved with the pause and they chatted animatedly with each other regarding the new information that Ripley had just dropped on them.

After the break, Rebecca asked everyone to reconvene and when everyone’s attention was focused on her she began, “We have equipped our vehicle with a new propulsion system. The system will nearly halve the journey to the planet. The two drop ships can accommodate all of our team should our main ship become disabled and it becomes necessary to use them for a return to earth. The drop ships have been outfitted with long term food and water stores as well as two hyper sleep chambers that may be used for rotational sleep cycles for a larger crew. I also think that you will be pleased to note that if an extreme emergency escape is necessary, we have provided two escape pods that will augment the two drop ships in serving as an additional backup. Each escape pod is capable of transporting one half of our expected team numbers and although cramped and difficult, each pod will be packed with enough provisions for a long term journey back to earth if absolutely necessary.

Rebecca paused, taking an exhausted deep breath and said, “I think I should wrap it up for now, but before I finish, I would like to ask a personal favor. I would like you all to call me ‘Newt’ from now on. Using my childhood nickname will honor me and the legacy of my family. I also hope that using it will bring our mission good luck. I will brief you about the details of our vehicle more completely when we near departure, so for expediency and unless there are any other questions, I will turn the floor over to Dwayne.” There were no questions.

Hicks’ report detailed his obtaining of best in class “outside operators,” -

mercenaries – personally chosen by him as well as one of his military friends, the former United Seal officer, Colonel Ray Squires, who would lead the security team for the mission. Hicks together with Squires had selected the other four team from the best people known to them. All were combat hardened and experienced in using a number of weapons systems including explosives and each was keen to get their hands on the over-the-horizon weaponry they were told would be available for the mission. Each of the mercs was selected for their “operational discretion,” which is spook-speak for their ability to keep their mouths shut under any circumstances. And, while they were all recognized as “Big-Swinging-Dick” hired gunslingers who had demonstrated abilities operating within a strict military hierarchy, they also had proven skills working successfully within a civilian command structure that this mission demanded. Every one of the men had been selected because of previous experience providing contract security in other non-military missions.

Rebecca Jorden had consulted with Dwayne and Squires regarding the implementation of suggested vehicle modifications, including the weapons and detection systems she had previously outlined for the Family. The two exmilitary professionals had provided the specifications for the mission communications requirements and heavily influenced the food selection and storage systems for the transportation vehicles.

Dwayne continued, “Specific weapons for the mission include: the APR-26, Auto Pulse Rifle, with fifty percent more rounds per clip and twenty percent better penetrating power than what was carried by the last team. The versions we will carry have been mission modified with a selectable iron content and heat detection system designed to differentiate between a human blood/heat signature and the acid/cold-blooded aliens. When set to the ‘auto’ mode, the firearm will not function when the target presents a heat signature with significant iron-blood content. If the aliens happen to be in a high ambient temperature environment where they may be within human body temperature ranges, the iron blood content discriminator will still allow the APR-26 to fire in ‘auto’ mode. Of course the auto system can always be switched off if necessary.

“We also have a cold fusion powered High Power Distance Laser (HPDL) or DL for short. It offers almost limitless sustained fire power. It is also designed to cut holes through walls without necessarily damaging soft tissue targets beyond the initial structure. Augmenting the DL system we have AM-61 programmable attachment mines. The mines can be attached to almost any surface and may be programmed for either immediate or delayed detonation. The AM-61 system comes with a launcher or the mines may be attached by hand. The HPDL and the AM-61 may be used independently or together as a system. When used as a system, the HPDL cuts a hole through a barrier that may be shielding the bad guys such as an exterior wall of a building. After the wall has been breached, the AM-61 is fired through the hole and can attach to a secondary or interior wall for immediate or delayed detonation. The AM-61 mines can also be programmed for proximity fusing which will detonate its explosive a set distance beyond the initial wall breach cut by the HPDL. In this case, the AM-61 explodes at a set distance after ing through the hole where it takes out the bad guys hiding in buildings or bunkers without necessarily destroying the entire structure.

“Since we are dealing with two, distinctly different alien species on the planet – multiple, extremely bad hombre’s and the other a lone, dead pilot of the derelict spacecraft - we will designate the alien bad guys as simply “aliens” or “bad guys” to avoid confusion. The pilot of the derelict spacecraft will be designated “Hermes” and the derelict alien ship we will be primarily working in will be designated “DSC” for Derelict Spacecraft. Please begin using these references from now on to become proficient in using them.

“Operational tactics will include either finding or making at least one extra entry point into the DSC egg chamber. We know there are at least two existing discrete entry points described in the secret company data that Ripley described previously. Both entrances are roughly in the same area of the hull. If the BioWave team has reached the DSC before us, they will likely find the existing openings that we intend to use. Since their mission will be to obtain alien samples, they may only be concerned with the crack in the hull opening leading directly into the egg chamber. If they find and use the portal leading directly to the control center, it will make our mission difficult as they will necessarily need to Hermes’ position to access the egg chamber through the hole in the floor.

“Should we be lucky enough to beat a competing team to the DSC, we must create an additional opening in the hull providing easy direct access to the egg chamber. Doing so will hopefully keep them well away from Hermes’ console where Ben and Rhys will be working. We don’t know the extent of the damage the DSC has sustained. It is possible there are several hull breaches that could be used by another group to access the egg chamber, but we cannot assume that an existing breach is in a perfect position that allows us to carry out our mission without detection. Therefore out security team must be prepared to create a hull access in the most advantageous location to allow an adversarial force to enter the egg chamber. Also, we will have our military-trained specialists set up a defensive position around Hermes and the portal to the dome to protect our scientific team as they work at the console where we expect to access to the DSC’s data.

“Rebecca… excuse me, Newt mentioned several advanced systems that will be available in our various mission vehicles. Another is as yet not officially named, but we will call it the “AADS” or Alien Auto Detection and Destruction System. It is a three hundred sixty degree motorized, high rate of fire system that detects movement while excluding human signature. It is based on the same molecular identification system Newt discussed previously. This system should allow human protection if our people are in the middle of a pack of aliens.”

Ben interrupted, “Should?”

“Yes, as I said, this is a developmental ‘smart’ weapons platform modified using the molecular biometrics programming and detection system. The system has not been adopted for use by the military. The military has no specifications for a system like this since there has never been an official requirement based on alien biology markers. Don’t forget that even though my Colonial Marine team encountered the alien species on our last mission, the government covered up the encounter which effectively meant that the aliens don’t exist. So from the military’s point of view, why incorporate an identification system like our alien

molecular biometrics platform if there is no perceived threat? Anyway,” Dwayne continued, “I have it on good authority that the system works extremely well. Hell, it was designed by a good friend of mine specifically for this purpose. I’m sure you will be safely impressed if the need arises.”

“Let’s hope so!” Ben replied.

Hicks went on, “It will work. Like Newt; Squires and I will brief you on more of the military aspects of the mission prior to and during your travel to the planet. Now, I will turn the next portion of our meeting over to you, Ben.”

“Thank you, Dwayne, for your interesting and enlightening report. Now as you know our mission is two-fold. We must find and extract the DSC data from Hermes’ council and record it all. The data will undoubtedly contain invaluable information about both extraterrestrial species. If we are successful in obtaining the data, Rhys will attempt on-site interpretation to identify the relationship between the two species, where the aliens were encountered, find out what happened to the rest of Hermes’ crew and find out what when wrong with their mission. However, we have to assume that Hermes’ data will be too complex for immediate understanding so therefore the recordings we make will be necessarily interpreted later, after our return. Once the data is extracted to satisfy this mission objective, we will destroy the original DSC data. Plus the data will almost certainly be much too voluminous for complete interpretation on site. As much as we want to keep the data secure and limit copies of it, if our mission is discovered and we are physically intercepted while carrying Hermes’ data, we will have to destroy any on board evidence we are carrying. Therefore, we must have a backup plan to transmit and archive the data and we will do so as quickly as possible once the data is secured. We will Hermes’ data via Michael’s communications system to his secure server farm for future interpretation by Rhys.

“Let me stress that although our first priority is to collect DSC data or if there is

none, our second mission priority is to destroy all the alien eggs in the chamber and the DSC itself. This assumes that the aliens to do not go through their developmental cycle to become the much more dangerous adult form. If that is the case, our mission will include destroying adults too, but not at the expense of achieving the data collection part of our mission. We will only destroy the eggs and aliens after data collection success or all efforts to do so have been exhausted. Should the data be non-existent, garbled or fried from the nuclear pulse, we will then execute the second phase of the mission and destroy the aliens once and for all.”

Rhys took the completion of Ben’s last statement to interject, “Excuse me, Ben, before we continue I have something I’d like to say.” All waited for Rhys to carry on, “I have been doing some thinking about Hermes’ data outside of our mission’s objectives. The possibility of collecting Hermes’ data presents us with a moral responsibility beyond what we’ve been focusing on so far. The sheer nature of acquiring such important information compels us to look beyond simply collecting and hiding it. I know that Ellen feared what would happen if the alien information fell into the hands of the Company or even the government. I respect her fears as both have proven to have nefarious ideas about a great many things so we cannot allow either to have access to Hermes’ data. Although we have defined the primary purposes of our mission, I think we should all spend some time thinking about what to do with the data once we’ve collected it. We should all be pondering how the data might also provide humankind with a windfall of technical and cultural information about Hermes’ people that should be studied in detail. We have to consider the potential that the data in Hermes’ systems can eventually benefit mankind in possibly a number of ways. I am not suggesting that we confuse our mission objectives by looking beyond them. I’m simply suggesting that our success in completing our objectives compels us to look beyond those objectives and consider what we will eventually do with our findings. Someone needs to take moral responsibility for the benefit of mankind and, although a heavy burden, I am sure that everyone in this room is trustworthy enough to bear that burden and do the right thing when the time comes.”

As Rhys’ comments hung in the air, Ellen Ripley was the first to offer, “Yes,

Rhys, you are absolutely right. I for one have been so focused on getting our mission right that my personal feelings about the evil aliens have distorted my moral com. Hermes and his species were possibly victims of the aliens just like we have been. I’m quite sure that Hermes’ species has an important story to tell.” Ellen then, assumed her position as the Family leader by stating, “Please spend time considering a larger picture of Hermes’ data. We will take up the matter for discussion and ask for your opinions when our mission is complete.

After a moment of nodded acknowledgement from the other Family , Ellen continued, “Ben, do you have any more for us?” Ben shook his head, “no”.

“You will all be ed quite soon as our mission launch is close. Please attend to any last minute personal business quickly. Your activities must raise as little outside suspicion as possible. Any and all information you’ll require outside what you’ve been told so far will be available during travel to the planet. You will meet your security team at the time of departure where we will all have a final briefing. Also, our security team has only been informed of the basics of the mission to keep a lid on Family-only information details. We will not be detailing our efforts to extract Hermes’ data to them prior to our departure. These men are professionals, they have been around and they are intelligent. Once our mission is in progress, I’m sure they will figure out what we are doing, but they have their own mission parameters which are: one; to protect the scientific team and, two; destroy the alien colony on the planet. Please keep their mission parameters in mind when interacting with any of them including their leader, Colonel Squires. Now, unless there are additional questions, we will adjourn this meeting. Be ready to depart at any moment.”

Ripley let comments linger so that everyone had a chance to absorb her final words, each letting them sink in while gathering their own thoughts. All had prepared for this eventuality so each Family member was at peak mental arousal. There were no more questions and the newly expanded Family departed.

#

Chapter XXIII

Welcome to My Life

After the longer than expected Family meeting, Rhys and her great grandmother lingered in Dwayne Hick’s suite to discuss their family heritage after Dwayne retired for the evening. Rhys put on coffee and Ellen foraged through the remnants of the now long-cold remaining pizza so they could snack during their discussion. After being used for the Family meeting, both the kitchenette table and the chairs were returned to original their positions where Rhys and Ellen now sat facing each other.

Rhys poured coffees for them both and each grabbed a slice of cold pizza. After a couple of bites, Rhys started, “This must really be shocking for you.”

“Yes it is, but isn’t it also for you?”

“Of course, but I’ve had Amanda’s information for a while and I’ve thought about this issue, albeit in a different vein and until Ben approached me and gave me some preliminary details about your story and your first hand with the aliens I didn’t want to believe what I’d hoped. I put two and two together in anticipation of this moment so I think actually meeting you now may be a little less shocking for me, if that makes any sense.”

“It does.” Ripley replied calmly, “So where do we begin?”

“There are so many things I want to ask you now that we have improbably connected. I guess that since we are now united, we’ll be able to talk about them all at some point. However, under the circumstances, I’m really interested in talking to you more about how you escaped the second encounter with the aliens and how the government expected to keep it a secret – that is if you’re OK with talking about it.”

“Well, it is amazing to me that the story has been kept a secret for all these years. I really expected someone, some conspiracy theorist – and there have been many – to find some document or digital remnant of the event hidden somewhere; or more likely, some government apparatchik to leak something to the media. However, the mission was so long ago now that I think the luster of it and its sensationalism has been dulled over time.

“As far as our escape is concerned, I would like to have a long discussion with you about that, but I’m getting rather tired so I’ll just say for now that information was all archived by Ben’s father and will be revealed en route on your return to the planet. I think there will be considerable benefit to you and our hired guns in reviewing the history of my original encounter as well as our second encounter mission so that you can all experience the stories together, ask questions and be similarly informed about what to expect. I have also put together some other thoughts I’ve had about the aliens that’s included in the information. I hope you’ll forgive me for giving you such an ‘official answer’, but I feel that we’d be here until well past dawn if we got into our escape story.

“As for the government cover up,” Ripley continued, “what is amazing to me is that the story the government concocted was so ridiculous.”

“In what way?” Rhys pressed.

“‘Ways’ would be more accurate as there are a number of implausible aspects of the government’s story.” Ripley continued by briefly telling Rhys about how an alien queen had hitchhiked aboard the second drop ship to gain access to their military spacecraft, the Sulaco, and how she dispatched the queen. “But the most preposterous part of their concocted story is the idea that I wouldn’t have completely searched the rest of the ship for more aliens before retiring to hyper sleep for our return to earth. Hell, I am the one who survived those fucking creatures twice. I’m probably the foremost authority on their nature. So to think that, according to the government’s story, I would miss an egg left by the queen that would hatch and attack us while we were in hyper sleep causing the Sulaco to crash, is insulting and demeaning to me personally. Man, I checked out the Sulaco and the drop ship from top to bottom, compartment by compartment and then I did it again before I felt even slightly comfortable that Newt, Dwayne and I were safe to continue an extended voyage in such a vulnerable way as sleeping for months.”

“Yes,” Rhys responded, “that is preposterous, but then again I suppose that no one really wanted to it how intelligent and competent you really are since, as you itted, after your original fifty-seven year hyper sleep, no one who knew you was still around to vouch for your intelligence and character.”

“You’re right and I have considered that element as the only excuse for the press not questioning the government’s yarn more thoroughly. Although, there were some reporters who did question this point, very few did and not for long. Those who did were soon targeted by the government spin doctor, nut-cases and their questions were soon consumed by the weight of the government’s version of the story and, over time, the whole incident faded. I suppose in the end it is a matter of perspective. Without the historical significance of knowing who the real Ellen Ripley was and what I was capable of, there could be little resistance to the fabricated story.”

“I guess it is a sad indictment of the press being manipulated by the government.

But it is even sadder that the story of your life is officially insignificant,” Rhys empathized.

“I’ve come to live with it, I guess,” Ellen acknowledged reluctantly, then noting the time again she yawned and continued, “I have to it, I’m a bit bushed from all of today’s excitement and I think I need to retire. You’ve got a lot on your plate and you need to get your affairs in order and quickly plan for the trip.”

“Oh, I am so excited, I doubt I can sleep, but I respect where you’re coming from and you are right, I have much to do.”

The two women said their goodbyes, gave each other a lingering hug and Rhys left in the very early morning hours. Ripley decided not to stay with Dwayne, but told Rhys she’d leave a few minutes later to avoid both of them being seen leaving together. The women knew that they could only talk at length face-toface about their personal family history – doing otherwise might jeopardize the mission and possibly destroy the lives of many people. Just knowing that they now had each other and a mutual history was comforting to them both.

#

Chapter XXIV

Mission Preparations

Michael Hicks prepared his home technology suite like a command center for the mission. He had planned for this eventuality for over thirty years and now it was time for everything to fall into place. He had designed a new encryption system for the mission that he hadn’t yet introduced to the Family as he was finalizing its testing. Michael had programmed his creation using a system allowing a master-slave-master arrangement of encryption that only his command center and the onboard systems on Newt’s transport vehicle and the two drop vehicles could use to transmit and receive mission details.

Meanwhile, each member of the Family organized their individual responsibilities. Ben Hicks had worked hard in his job with BioWave and had accumulated enough work time to justify taking extended leave so it was just a matter of applying for what he was due. He had made his intentions clear to the HR department months previous with an agreed to, open-ended leave period. He now knew that he’d likely be gone for possibly two years – much of it in travel to and from LV-426 which would mean he may not have a position at BioWave upon his return, but he wasn’t worried about that now.

Rhys Adams, unlike Ben, decided to resign her position at Linguistic Logics. Of course Karen Butler was horrified that her star employee was leaving and tried in vain to persuade Rhys to stay. Rhys insisted that she loved her job and that neither Karen nor any of the Linguistic Logics’ staff was responsible for her decision to leave. In the end, Karen had to accept Rhys’ decision to leave with the explanation that she was doing so for personal as well as professional enlightenment – both of which were true. In the end, the two women agreed that if and when Rhys changed her mind after completing her personal sojourn, a

position would always be available for her at Linguistic Logics.

Dwayne Hicks was staying busy monitoring the final military aspects of the mission. His job was possibly the most difficult as he had to walk a tightrope between providing detailed instructions to Colonel Squires while not revealing complete details of the mission to his friend. The concept of “need-to-know” was a well practiced military discipline that Dwayne was familiar with having spent his military career living within its concept. He found himself at first a little rusty managing the duality of knowing something and keeping that knowledge secret, however it didn’t take long for his training to come back to him. Squires had been around long enough to recognize that he was being spoonfed limited information, but he knew Dwayne Hicks would give him enough information to allow him to prosecute his part of the mission properly without jeopardizing the safety of his men. Whatever Dwayne and his group were up to was secondary. He was a professional and he was being hired for a very specific purpose that he could live with.

Rebecca “Newt” Jorden was going over the results of the final space trials of her newest space vehicles. Results were even better than originally expected as she and her select team of engineers had complete control over the development of the final product. Rebecca knew that in order to develop the evolutionary, purpose-built product she’d envisioned she would have to allow some creative control to her experts. The only stipulation that Rebecca insisted upon was that she was kept updated by her most trusted technical confidant and head engineer. Development of the vehicles had taken place over five years as Rebecca had been building her companies and it was only at that time that she could devote her will and her resources to the development of the vehicles. Rebecca knew that she could not hurry the development process as doing so may raise unwanted scrutiny of her activities. As far as her own engineering group and construction team knew, the vehicles they were working on were next generation and to some degree concept prototypes that management felt would meet the requirements deemed necessary for the company’s future growth.

Test result of the trials showed that only minor tweaks were needed to some of the new software. Neither the engineering nor construction teams knew that Michael Hicks had helped develop some of the software they were now realworld testing. Michael had developed the software without the special code that would be ed after the Family and the security team was underway. Rebecca had introduced Michael to her team as a software developer and Michael only remotely communicated with Rebecca’s employees. When he did, Michael presented only a digitally altered voice to Rebecca’s on site development team and he only communicated with them when absolutely necessary. Although it was highly unusual to not have at least a holographic image of remote participants in a meeting, Jorden’s team found it somewhat unnerving to not even have video participation from Michael. But, after working for several years in this manner, the on site team didn’t even think twice about the omission now.

Michael also was pleased with the results of the latest trials. He was confident that the specialized code he developed could be successfully overlaid with the standard transport software. The final code included even more advanced molecular biologic discrimination metrics and, after consulting with Dwayne and Squires, Michael included upgraded fire control code for the new weapons systems the vehicles would carry. Michael had run many simulations of his unique modifications and was confident that the latest version could be inserted in the current programming to successfully provide the advanced features he, Newt, Dwayne and Squires had discussed.

Michael was also confident that his new, point-to-point encryption system would be able to deliver on-the-fly software changes or enhancements during the mission using standard communications frequencies without alerting any unwanted scrutiny from outsiders. Michael had also been developing a new high speed communications link that, combined with the encryption system, would eventually serve as the primary mode of communications for the mission. However, Michael did not reveal this to anyone else at this point as it was a divergence from the Family’s long standing operational plan. To introduce it to the Family now might cause some angst. Better to leave it for now and introduce it at an appropriate time. Michael knew that even with his own encryption

system, using existing communications technologies would likely prove too limited to carry the massive amount of information he hoped would eventually be discovered and then transmitted to his servers. Ben had questioned him about potential communication limitations of the old subcarrier system, but Michael assured Ben that the final vehicle fit out would include a suitable alternative.

Ellen Ripley had long planned for this moment. She had been in with Michael Hicks since first meeting him through Dwayne many years ago during their return to earth. Michael had helped Ellen not only with secure storage of the true story of disaster of the second alien encounter, he proved to be an excellent asset at Weyland-Yutani and then as an ongoing, highly placed and motivated insider at BioWave. Ellen used Michael’s private systems to store her current digital notes as well as records of her thoughts regarding her past alien encounters and her planning details for the inevitable return to the planet. Ellen had contributed library-sized volumes of her thoughts to Michael’s systems over the years to assist the Family to design a superior operational plan for the of the return party. She knew that her experiences and her knowledge of the creatures would prove an invaluable asset to the success of the mission.

From her two previous face-to-face encounters with the evil creatures, she knew there was no way that the return team could survive without her knowledgeable consultation. Even with her help, there would be no guarantees for mission success with these creatures. She was a consultant on the last mission and she only managed to save two others besides herself from the fury of the aliens then. Ripley knew that she’d have to do much better this time around – especially now that she had a blood relative involved. Ellen knew that she would have to probe much deeper into her thoughts and push through her own psychological obstructions to get past the emotional blockage that had limited her mental preparations the last time around. This time it would be even more personal.

#

Chapter XXV

Equipment Upgrade

Derwent Maxwell had been obliged by the Mentor to advance the delivery schedule of the new atmosphere processor equipment upgrade. The Mentor suspected that his adversaries would recognize the ruse of the equipment contract for what it actually was; a long-planned return to LV-426 to finish what hadn’t been completed the last time around. He acknowledged that he may be overly paranoid about potential opposition, but his instincts had served him well in the past so he pushed Maxwell to get his equipment and installation team underway fast. It took a bit of creativity to convince BioWave’s government oversight managers that it would be beneficial to deliver the equipment ahead of schedule. But the Mentor had his s plant the seed to mining company’s management that the equipment could be delivered sooner than the contract stipulated and the government signed off on an accelerated delivery schedule when the mining executives started pushing for a new schedule. The executives believed that their stockholders would be pleased that an accelerated installation would allow higher productivity from their investment and thus, higher profits from their decision.

Michael Hicks was attending the Family meeting when the BioWave equipment was unexpectedly loaded on the delivery vehicle and subsequently departed on the same day that Michael returned to his duties. Michael immediately alerted the Family and everyone had to further hasten their individual plans for departure. The Family knew that if they could leave within a week, the new propulsion system of Newt’s vehicle could get them to LV-426 before the BioWave team, even if the competing team left before them. None in the Family wanted to leave anything else to chance or risk any other unexpected delays so they’d agreed to depart in four days.

#

Chapter XXVI

Pre Flight

Rebecca Jorden manned the final countdown details from a remote location where her small, elite group of engineers were gathered. The engineers were told that potential military buyers were conducting an extended flight trial prior to committing to anticipated full scale vehicle production. There was no need for her engineers to be involved on site as anything related to technical aspects or deficiencies in the vehicle’s performance during the trials would be given to them for future modification.

Colonel Squires and his security team met at 0100 hours at the agreed location off site from the transport vehicle’s launch platform. His men were dressed in engineering smocks to give the impression that they were part of the technical staff of the potential customer. They travelled light knowing that except for the stripped-down personal light arms they carried in their attaché looking cases, all the equipment for their mission had been previously delivered and stored on board by NDS Ltd., a subcontractor Rebecca had contracted. No one was inclined to research that NDS was an acronym for Newt, Dwayne and Squires.

Ben and Rhys had been previously introduced to the security team’s leader, Colonel Ray Squires, by Dwayne Hicks as a no-bullshit, career military man who only left the military due to intimate involvement with his commanding officer’s (a general’s) wife. Colonel Squires had been responsible for many successful and varied missions in his illustrious career. He was well respected by everyone that had served under his command and recognized as smart, fair and professional. However, when his unfortunate liaison with the woman was eventually discovered, Squires knew it was time to pack it in and his honorable discharge was expedited before larger volumes of the general’s shit hit the fan.

The security team arrived outside the large hanger housing their new transport vehicle a few minutes after Ben and Rhys. Brief “good morning” greetings were exchanged between the unfamiliar mission participants; who were, except for Squires, meeting each other in person for the first time. Now they were teammates with a very serious mission ahead of them.

Ben, being the overall mission commander, took charge of more formal introductions inside the hanger where he introduced himself and Rhys Adams “officially” to Colonel Squires and the rest of the security . Colonel Squires introduced himself and began introducing his security team.

Norman “Des” Schofield had achieved the rank of major during his active military service. Maybe the most intelligent of the security team, he would be second in command after Squires. Des was recruited to the mission for his strategic skills and his quick grasp of situational awareness which included his ability to exploit his adversaries’ weaknesses and build his own tactical advantage from them.

Samuel Stevens was known as “Woody,” a highly respected and retired military captain. He was flight certified to fly a variety of multi-vector, fixed wing and spaceflight vehicles. He quit the military after twenty-two years to become a contract pilot for a respectable commercial firm, wildcatting on occasion mostly being recruited by Squires - for several previous covert missions as a pilot and flight specialist.

Ramon Johnson – previous military rank of master sergeant. He was XXL sized and nicknamed “BJ,” short for Big Johnson and he deserved the name. BJ was the team’s heavy weapons specialist. He would be responsible for becoming an expert in using the new weapons systems designed for the mission.

Vernon “Poot” Desmond – while in the military, Poot rose above the rank of private on several occasions only to be busted back down to private due to his ongoing propensity for pugilism with his fellow soldiers. Eventually this attitude ended his military career. But, he had by that time endeared himself to a few astute officers who recognized him as being loyal (sometimes to a fault) under the right authority and one hell of an infantryman. Poot was small in stature, big in heart and a small arms specialist.

After the new crew were introduced to each other, Ben and Squires agreed that, because of the accelerated mission timetable, they could not afford the luxury of getting to know each other better over lattés so further bonding would necessarily have to wait until later. Each member of the team had been previously assured that academic and military of their group were the best in their individual professions and would prove it to one another during the mission.

The first order of business prior to mission launch was a video tour of the advanced space vehicle that awaited them inside the hanger presented by Rebecca Jorden’s voice with additional narration provided by two of her consultants. Neither consultant was ever identified during the presentation, but Rhys and Ben knew immediately the consultant was Michael even though his voice had been digitally altered.

After a brief welcome by Rebecca, the team was asked to enter the hanger. Since Squires and Dwayne Hicks had recommended the weapons systems for the mission, both were confident that the team would be packing the most advanced systems and firepower available. However, even Squires was stunned by the actual sight of the new transport vehicle, the Shakuru, which he and the other security specialists now viewed for the first time. His security team almost mutinied before the mission even departed. Except for a few external modifications, the new vehicle looked like it was an ordinary equipment transport vehicle, albeit a small one. There were few external signs of the

vehicle’s technical capabilities which included the advanced communications systems, propulsion, firepower and emerging-generation sensors specified by Squires and Dwayne. Squires’ security team shot glances at him and his confident expression gave them nothing to belie what he too was thinking at the sight of the vehicle.

Since this was Ben and Rhys’ first actual view of the Shakuru, their opinions were similar to the security team’s reactions. The two academic’s intellectual self-assurance now fought desperately to gain control over their sinking emotions. Newt’s briefing at the previous Family meeting had led them to believe that the transport vehicle had been conceived as some kind of futuristic dream machine that now seemed, in actuality, the nightmare before them. Ben and Rhys looked at each other and the surprised look they got from the other’s face told them to close their own gaping mouths. Rebecca’s voice walked them around the vehicle in a 360° tour; she spoke her matter-of-fact narrative of the Shakuru’s capabilities.

The team was then asked to enter the ship and Rebecca continued with her tour on internal vehicle speakers. Internally, at first glance, there were few visual signs that would convince any of them that their first impression of the ship was wrong. However, Rebecca had anticipated everyone’s questioning reaction to her company’s creation. Now her calm voice assured them that there would be time after departure to familiarize themselves with the advanced details of their new home as well as the new weapons systems they would be using prior to reaching their objective.

Although Ripley, Newt, Dwayne and Michael were actually on site at the hanger, they stayed hidden from the travel team to keep mission security compartmentalized. However unlikely it was that of the security team would recognize any of them, there was no need to be cavalier about even the smallest need-to-know background details of the mission at this stage.

Finally, Rebecca acceded to the other consultant and masked voice of Dwayne Hicks said, “I know that the Shakuru does not appear to be the advanced vehicle you may have expected; I assure you that notion is incorrect. The vehicle’s benign appearance was necessary to avoid undue suspicion. As you all have been told, you will have some of the most advanced weapons systems available – in some cases not available, or more correctly, not available to anyone other than you, yet. Also, since one of our mission parameters is to destroy any viable alien life forms, after a long and difficult search, we were also successful in securing a nuclear weapon.” Ben and Rhys had known that one had been sought, but now it was confirmed that there would be one on board. They were both nervous yet relieved at the same time. They knew that if the eggs on the DSC were still viable, using a nuke would be the best way of assuring their total destruction. Dwayne’s voice confirmed their thoughts, “So from a weapons standpoint we have everything necessary to complete a safe and successful mission.”

Now, it was imperative that they get underway as soon as possible. Dwayne’s voice intoned, “Best of luck,” to the flight crew and signed off. After final systems checks the transport vehicle was given its blessings by Jorden’s remote engineering team and the return to LV-426 commenced. The travelers now speculated about their ability to complete their individual tasks, although from vastly different perspectives.

#

Chapter XXVII

Flight

After departure and flight stabilization, Rebecca and her consultant continued a more detailed pre-recorded tour. The first area to be examined was the Shakuru’s internal hanger bay containing the two drop ships, the Nemesis and Perses.

The two specialized drop vehicles had been delivered and secured on board the Shakuru the previous day. When the security team saw the two purpose-built vehicles in the hanger, their attitudes about their decision to accept the mission in the first place immediately changed; now their opinions were quite the opposite of their initial impressions of the transport ship. The new drop ships appeared to mean business – military business - in a loud way. The security team immediately knew that someone had their best interests in mind when they designed these vehicles.

Rebecca’s recorded voice went into great detail about the Shakuru’s advanced systems for the hired security team that contradicted their first impression that they would be engers on a bus ride in a standard space freighter. They were shown a holographic tour of the Shakuru’s external perimeter molecular biometric identification system as well as its fire control and associated AADS high fire-rate systems. Jorden’s voice pledged to go into even more specifics and training details at a later time. The team was also given details on the two drop ships, additional details of their mission parameters as well as some preliminary information on the other advanced weapons systems that they would be using. Rebecca’s description left even the most experienced among the security team itching to test their new “toys” personally.

The military team stayed behind to examine the new hardware and Ben and Rhys were asked to go to the off-limits-to-the-security-team science suite. There, Newt directed Ben and Rhys to the more academic aspects of her company’s creation. There was a massive data catalogue of linguistic and historical information that Rhys would find intellectually stimulating as well as informative – even for a person of her professional qualifications. Ben was directed to the communications capabilities of each of the three vehicles that Michael had designed which would allow enhanced and secure mission management. Ben knew what was not said to the entire group previously pertained to the covert aspects of the ship’s qualities. That information would be provided to them later.

Since all of the travelers had gone without much sleep in order to meet at the vehicle hangar during the early morning hours, they were all told that more of their questions would be answered and additional mission details would be revealed in the next few days before their extended hyper sleep. Now it was time to retire to prepare for the intense orientation that would begin the next working day.

The ex-military of the team smoothly took advantage of the allotted eight hour sleep period. Due to their military experience, every one of them was used to sleeping at a moment’s notice in almost any situation – including space travel. Rhys and Ben being unaccustomed to space travel were too excited to get much sleep so they took advantage of their energy and decided to find a more secluded area of the ship where they could practice some very unscholarly activities.

After breakfast was served, Ben took the lead in making the ex-military team feel more comfortable with him and Rhys. Of course being the only woman on board, Rhys was immediately the object of some attention from the all-male security team, not only because she was an attractive female, but because she was also disarming in her intellectual, yet easy-going manner. Plus, the radiated glow from her recently concluded tryst did not go unnoticed.

While Ben expanded on operational details, everyone finished their meal and then each was assigned their morning tasks. Colonel Squires took over by leading his team to the drop ship bay that housed not only the steroidal Nemesis and Perses, but also served as the location of the lockers where the rest of their new weapons systems were stored. Technical details of every weapon system were available in a pre-recorded digital database with complete holographic presentations made by Colonel Squires and Dwayne Hicks’ disguised voice. Michael Hicks narrated many of the non-military technical details of other systems while Squires supplemented answers for any weaponry questions the mercenaries asked.

Ben and Rhys convened in the off limits science area of the Shakuru. There, they were introduced to the communications package using Michael’s encryption system and were greeted by Michael, Newt and Ripley assembled together, live at the other end. The meeting was relatively short. Michael decided not to broach the subject of using his advanced communications system as the primary communications connection at this time. Newt filled in additional scientific details of her company’s creation for Ben and Rhys while Ripley ed a transmission of thoughts and ideas she had recorded over the years. The information she sent was recently liberated from exclusivity on Michael’s secure servers. Rhys and Ben would have time to go over some of Ripley’s data over the next couple of days prior to hyper sleep.

Later during that first day, Ben and Rhys ed Squires’ team for their own drop ship vehicle orientation. The security team was assembled in the holographic projection theater where viewers sat in the middle of the theater and were surrounded by the holographic projection presentation. The combined effect of the holographic and global audio projections gave the viewer a lifelike orientation that made even experienced viewers flinch during intense action sequences.

Squires provided Ben and Rhys with preliminary weapons orientation showing

them the latest small arms modified for the mission. Ripley and Dwayne Hicks had insisted that all team needed weapons training to be useful to the mission. Ripley endorsed the training as she knew first hand that such training had previously saved her life and the lives of others. Ellen knew that she couldn’t have survived her last encounter with the aliens had Dwayne Hicks not given her weapons orientation. As far as Squires was concerned, Ben and Rhys being familiar with the available weapons gave him additional assets should they get into some real shit.

The evening meal provided an opportunity to recap the day’s activities and go over the next day’s schedule. Ripley’s collection of forty years of event details and ruminations would be presented to the entire team the next day anonymously so as not to reveal her true identity. Ben and Rhys both knew the information they would hear had long been a secret known only to very few people. Ben would introduce the information to the military personnel as if it were gleaned from top secret intelligence sources. The information they would hear and see would likely contain details none of them would want to know about if they had a choice. Unfortunately, all of them would it that they had surrendered a great many choices in agreeing to be mission participants in the first place. Even with their trepidation about what horrific stories Ripley may reveal, both Family knew that Ripley’s collected intelligence would benefit the entire mission. The information may in fact save all of their lives.

#

Chapter XXVIII

Revealed

Ellen’s story of the two previous alien encounters was narrated by Ripley herself. Her voice had been altered to sound like a male to preserve her anonymity and her narration was presented to make it difficult to firmly link the narrator as an active participant in the stories being told. Though Squires’ security team wondered where such detailed creature and planet information came from, only Ben and Rhys knew that the narrator was speaking in the first person.

The narration began by explaining that what the group was about to hear was in three parts in the form of; a preface to, encounters with and suppositions about the alien species – A.K.A. xenomorphs – that were the root of their mission objectives. The narration included expectations that the security team would; one, provide overall mission security and two, ultimately eliminate any aliens and any alien evidence that may still exist. There were no details given to the security team during the narration regarding the specifics of Ben and Rhys’ mission objectives. Once the team reached the planet’s surface and the two academics started their mission specialties, the mercenaries would soon figure out at least the basics of the work they’d be conducting and the two scientists could answer questions posed by them.

The narration included Ripley’s original alien story – the first Event. Ripley’s story as the only survivor of the initial alien had been confiscated from the Weyland-Yutani files by the government when the company had been broken up after the second Event. Although the story was never publicly revealed, Michael Hicks had made sure that the original story was not singularly owned by the company or the government. Michael had

liberated a copy of the details of first Event story which was once exclusively Weyland-Yutani’s “intellectual property” after Ellen and his own cousin, Dwayne, had transmitted the second Event “rescue mission” failure to him. The two stories eventually became part of the Family’s personal archives that were now being presented to the assembled crew of the Shakuru. Part of the Weyland-Yutani records Michael had copied included the inquest proceedings where Ellen Ripley was questioned about why she destroyed the company’s property without physical evidence that an alien life form existed to her actions.

After Ripley’s story of the first Event concluded, the narration continued with the second Event “rescue mission” story as if it were a saga surreptitiously gained from secret sources. Ben and Rhys had been privy to the story of course, but they now watched the reactions of the security team as it was presented by a young Ellen Ripley at the company inquest forty years ago. Reaction to Ripley’s original story made both Ben and Rhys’ stomachs turn as each of them knew the story was frighteningly true. The recording was made when Ellen Ripley was at the time younger than her own daughter who had predeceased her due to her lengthy, age-suspending hyper sleep. Rhys was particularly stunned by the personal nature of the young Ellen Ripley and her story. Now, seeing her great grandmother in person, Rhys submitted to the emotional pull of her new-found biologic connection to the young Ripley. Ben glanced at Rhys as tears welled up in her eyes. He so wished to be able to hold her in his arms now, but that would have to wait until later. The security team viewed the story with a degree of ambivalence as it was impossible for them to make a personal connection with the characters of the story.

Ripley expected that this security team’s reaction to the aliens would be similar to the reaction of the Colonial Marines on the rescue mission. Ellen knew that she needed to change the soldier’s ambivalence to fear during her secondencounter narrative to get them to focus on the deadly reality they could be facing when they arrived at their objective. Ellen knew that if she could convince the seasoned military men that the aliens were true and worthy adversaries, they would assume the appropriate mental, emotional and professional mind-set in their preparations to face them.

The official story of the rescue mission was on record as ending with a crash during the return flight that killed all survivors. Now the security team were presented with an audio-only, post-mission message of the transcript Ripley and Dwayne had transmitted ostensibly before the fatal crash.

Ripley’s rescue mission included: details of how the aliens had created a nesting area where they kept the cocooned colony victim’s en mass; ambush of the Colonial Marine team details; and the Marines’ fallback after an ill-equipped fight with the aliens including conjecture that the original drop ship had been infiltrated by the aliens and ultimately destroyed, which narrowed the rest of the team’s options to escaping the planet. The narration included the aliens’ ability to breach the rescue team’s defenses by attacking through air ducts and false ceiling access routes. By the time the rescue mission narration finished, the travelers had a complete picture of the two previous encounters with the aliens - excluding the truth about the three survivor’s actual return to earth.

At this point the team took a break and, over sandwiches, began to discuss what they’d just heard and seen. Now that the security team’s mission had been defined, Des Schofield broached the question of what Ben and Rhys’ roles were on the mission. Ben deferred to Rhys to provide a pre-scripted answer to the anticipated the question.

“There is a considerable scientific component of this mission. There are significant forces backing our mission that feel this alien species is important enough to gather as much information about them as possible – information that has eluded us until now. As you have seen and heard from the intelligence we’ve gathered, the alien species is deadly. They eliminated the extraterrestrial crew on the DSC and later killed every human they could in two separate incidents.

“The alien species has been deemed too dangerous for wide-scale interspecies

interaction. Ben and I will be adding to our knowledge base by collecting as much data and recording as much physical on site evidence as possible in order to develop an effective strategic plan that gives humans an advantage if and when future with this species is made again. Therefore, after we collect as much data as possible, with your assistance, we need to eliminate the possibility that humans will accidently or intentionally interact with the alien species for the foreseeable future.

“Also,” Rhys continued, “any data we collect on this mission will be deemed top secret. Each one of you, have been selected for your reputations that go beyond your physical and mental agility on the battlefield. You’ve also been selected because of your proven understanding that top-secret means a blood oath never to divulge the information you’ve been privy to.”

Rhys turned to Ben for any additional comment. The military trained professionals in the security team recognized the authoritative tone and the rhetoric Rhys had used in her answer. They also recognized that even though Ben had deferred to Rhys, Ben’s lack of additional remark amounted to a full stop – meaning that they had just received the official statement and no amount of additional questioning would pry more information from either of them.

#

Chapter XXIX

Expert Testimony

After sandwiches, the team reconvened to continue the final session of their briefing. Ripley’s male narrative voice now took on an aspect of authoritative speculation regarding the possibility that the latest team would make alien on the planet. The narration and accompanying visuals were given in such a way that the audience assumed long man-hours of official analysis had resulted in the detail now being presented. The security team would never realize that the presentation was the speculation of Ripley, Dwayne Hicks and Newt about humans making with extraterrestrial life. The intention was to stimulate thinking about an alien culture and any thought regarding that, however implausible, was on the table.

The presentation also included the recently revealed video and audio recordings of the first DSC excursion party. Everyone was stunned that this event was available and recorded is such detail. This was a real bonus as both the scientists and military men now had an accurate representation of what to expect when they arrived at their destination, making successful mission planning much more feasible. They observed how the alien eggs hatched and therefore understood more about what to avoid. The scientists got a good view of Hermes’ control console and the layout of the area where the majority of their work would be conducted. The video and audio clearly depicted the opening on the floor of Hermes’ control area used to access the egg chamber during that mission. Certainly the opening would allow another entry point to the egg chamber for their use if it were needed. However, it also could be a potential security problem if used by an adversarial team to access the control area from the egg chamber below and therefore the security team should consider that possibility in their protection setup. The three vaginal shaped portals of the DSC from the first excursion recordings were highlighted as was the audio only description of a

second opening – the hull crack - which the Jorden family had unfortunately used as an access to the egg chamber.

Theory was presented that the aliens may function something like an ant colony or bee hive in the way they protect a queen as the highest ranking unit in their social structure with different levels of servitude beneath her. The narration supposed that similar to these earthbound species; physical specialization likely exists within the different levels of alien culture. Just like worker bees who serve the queen or century ants had adapted for fighting, the aliens were known to manifest similar hierarchical adaptation.

And the aliens were adaptable. They had adapted to the environment of Hermes’ species - possibly being exposed to the vacuum of space - since the Hermes’ console area was accessible through an unobstructed tunnel leading to the exterior entry portal used by the first human visitors. The alien species had also survived in the hostile terrestrial environment of LV-426 before humans arrived. And the aliens had adapted to the human nitrogen/oxygen environment after atmospheric processing had been in place for years. Therefore it is probable and should be expected that the alien species – even within hierarchical groups - will also mutate based on environmental necessity.

Since the DSC would ultimately be destroyed to eliminate the aliens, returning without detailed evidence of an extraterrestrial spacecraft would be scientifically criminal and much too valuable to simply ignore, the military team was also given an additional assignment after arrival at the DSC. When they had set up their initial defensive structures, they were to record as much of the exterior and interior of the DSC as possible, in as much detail as time would allow.

#

Chapter XXX

Hyper Sleep

The team’s final day before hyper sleep included detailed weapons orientation and testing for the security team. Ben and Rhys received the “light” weapons training version. Their main agenda for the day was to go over information not intended for the security team. They spent most of their day in the scientific suite of the ship communicating with the three earthbound Family and going over additional pre-recorded “eyes-only” data.

After the work day came to an end, it was time to prepare for the months-long hyper sleep allowing long distance spaceflight while virtually suspending human aging processes. Hyper sleep had been improved to allow the added benefit of HST, Hyper Sleep Training, during their journey. The HST experience was akin to something like dreaming and was in fact also called Dream Learning. The brain could only absorb limited information while in hyper sleep, but unlike actual freeform dreaming, the affect of HST had been proven to be as permanent as conscious training and was only limited because the mind functioned at very low activity levels during hyper sleep.

HST was an enormous benefit to the travelers who, from the security team’s point of view, would experience additional weapons, vehicle and general mission training while Ben and Rhys could experience similar training while reviewing more specifics of their mission’s technical parameters. Michael would important information as it became available during the flight which included providing any up-to-the-minute news that would be targeted to the requirements of the individual team . Although restricted due to mission security, HST could also deliver personal messages to hyper sleep individuals that would allow travelers to experience personal events as if they were real. It was quite

useful to inform travelers of significant life events such as wives giving birth to a new child or a grandparent ing away during a long flight. HST allowed the traveler to experience the emotions of joy, remorse or grieving before their arrival at their destination. Thus, personal Dream Learning also allowed the added benefit of limiting mental distractions during a mission.

The travelers had a quiet dinner, relaxed for two hours, hooked up and checked into “HST Hotel.” They would be awakened from hyper sleep two days before arriving at LV-426.

#

Chapter XXXI

Rise and Shine

It was tough waking up after lengthy hyper sleep. The body didn’t want to move properly at first, but this was fairly short-lived. The suits they all had worn during their time spent in the hyper sleep chambers were designed with special electrodes that would provide regular, but low-level, muscle stimulation to retain tone and allow re-acclimation to normal activity as quickly as possible.

All were hungry when they sat down to complain about feeling like shit after sleeping so long. Like organic dreaming, few would immediately details of their HST experience. However, all would later marvel at what seemed to be their instinctive familiarity with the new weapons systems and other equipment they would be using on the mission. Ben and Rhys, for example, both felt perfectly comfortable with disassembly and reassembly of the advanced pulse rifles. They caught each other looking at the more ominous DL and AM-61 attachment mines and burst into laughter when they realized the other understood exactly how the weapon systems functioned. Although they never imagined they could be considered experts in using the weapons, both of them could be relied upon to use them if need be. Additionally all of the crew had knowledge of significant current events which had taken place back on earth.

The Nemesis had been chosen for the primary drop ship. Perses was deemed the backup vehicle. The Nemesis was systems-checked and loaded for the drop to the planet surface. Simulated weapons fire was conducted and the molecular biometrics and AADS systems were tested and armed. The innovative systems functioned flawlessly in testing, identifying precisely each team member while flagging the alien test dummy they’d brought along which presented a simulated

DNA signature of the alien’s acidic blood gleaned from the medical analysis of both android’s secret data.

The next day all went according to plan and final preparations were made. To minimize detection, the Shakuru was brought into geosynchronous orbit keeping the planet between it and the mining site. Extra ammunition was loaded and secured on the Nemesis and the scientific canisters where locked down for the drop the following day. Everyone was hyperactive and only Poot slept well after he hit the rack for the sleep period. None of the others really felt more sleep was necessary so they went over their individual mission assignments in their minds again wondering if they could meet the actual requirements when they arrived on the plant’s surface.

#

Chapter XXXII

Drop

Woody Stevens controlled the Nemesis drop ship as if it were part of his own body. Captain Stevens kept his approach to the DSC as stealthy as possible following the intended flight path. The computer had been programmed with the exact location of the DSC and Captain Stevens kept the mountains surrounding the DSC between the Nemesis and the mining site thus hiding their approach from visual as well as electronic detection. No one knew if the DSC actually still existed or was intact in any form since the nuclear blast radius that had leveled the original terraform site extended nearly to the DSC’s location. Woody kept his final approach low, flying nap-of-the-terrain to maintain concealment from the mining base, but there were few visual clues that the blast had reached the area they were approaching. Suddenly the DSC appeared like a ghost out of a horror movie.

Part of the intel they’d previously received from Ripley’s disguised-voice narration included Newt’s original childhood observation that the alien’s activity was mostly nocturnal so the drop ship’s arrival had been planned for mid day. The DSC appeared intact, but terrain details near it had not been sufficiently mapped so it was up to Stevens to eyeball a suitable landing zone sufficiently far away from the DSC to make a stealthy, undetected ground approach using the APC.

Stevens could not use the molecular biometric scanning system at this range so he circled the DSC several times for a visual inspection of the derelict spacecraft and its surroundings for any sign of alien activity. Detecting none, he found a suitable location and brought the Nemesis in for a smooth landing where the wheeled APC could be disgorged with the four security team and the

two academics. Squires would lead his small security detail as close as possible on foot to the hopefully quiet DSC and reconnoiter and secure the objective before bringing Rhys and Ben in. The four man team exited the APC and armed the molecular biometric scanner and weapons systems.

Squires’ team circled and approached from the opposite side of the known entries to the DSC. Using two hand-held molecular biometric scanners, they surveyed ahead at maximum range to ensure they weren’t surprised by an unwelcomed visitation. The team moved together, one covering the other as they worked an arc around one side of the DSC until they could eyeball the known entry points. Luckily, both the portal and the hull crack openings were fairly close together which should be to their benefit in creating a secure working environment for the scientists. When they could see both entries clearly they doubled back and completed another arc around the other side of the DSC, clearing it before eventually reaching the entries from the other direction. Seeing nothing unexpected, they radioed Woody in the Nemesis to provide another aerial visual so as not to be surprised by an attack from behind before they entered the craft.

Woody reported all quiet and while Stevens deftly returned the Nemesis to the previous LZ, Squires led his contingent to the portal used by the first excursion team leading to Hermes’ dome while continuing to use the hand-held scanners as they approached. Once at the portal, Squires and BJ cautiously entered the opening while Major Schofield and Poot covered their rear. Squires and BJ continued to move cautiously into the tunnel leading to Hermes’ console area.

As reported, Hermes was at his console as the two security men visually and electronically scanned the area. Ripley’s altered voice briefings suggested that the aliens had been known to attack from above. The ceiling of Hermes’ dome was high and it was hard to imagine an attack from that direction, but their training dictated they also scan vertically for any signs of the creatures. Satisfied that the scanner detected nothing, they continued their investigation.

The two found the hole in the floor leading to the egg chamber and they probed the shaft with their high powered lights, but found nothing. Rather than use the shaft to the chamber, they returned through the tunnel to the two other men and the team moved on to the hull crack opening leading directly into the egg chamber. This time Squires and BJ stood watch outside the opening as Schofield and Poot entered it. The egg chamber of the DSC was vast and it took the two men an hour to conduct their search being careful walking along the walls surrounding the egg pits. Moving as a pair, they continued around the perimeter of the chamber inspecting the DSC’s internal hull for any other crash damage or openings that could be used for a future ambush by the aliens or by the expected arrival of the BioWave personnel. Seeing none as they circumnavigated the inside of the cavern, they returned to their waiting counterparts at the crack entrance satisfied that there were but the two known openings. They radioed back to the drop ship that the DSC was secure and they sent Des and Poot back to collect Ben and Rhys in the APC along with their scientific gear.

The two soldiers approached the armed APC gingerly. They trusted that the armed weapons scanning systems would identify them properly and not blow their heads off, but – well they really didn’t trust the system even though they had previously departed the Nemesis successfully with the scanning system armed. They continued their cautious approach and were ultimately successful in reaching the APC’s access door which Ben opened for them. The security systems worked!

Rhys, Ben and the returned security men arrived near the DSC and exited the APC, it was locked and the security and weapons systems were rearmed. Des and Poot had radioed their approach to Squires at the DSC who led them all inside to Hermes’ location. The four-man security detail fanned out around the console and went into sentry mode to protect the academics as they worked. Rhys and Ben inspected the console to locate any kind of data interface to that may reveal Hermes’ secrets. The DSC’s instrumentation was unlike anything they had ever seen. Rhys used a high definition, holographic camera and recorded Ben’s investigation of the console and his narration of his observations; the headset he was using provided superior audio of his comments. Even Ben’s whispered mutterings could easily be heard later on the playback.

After a period of time, when there were only two hours of daylight remaining, Squires decided that the serious business of setting up all the needed security measures could be conducted the next day. The two scientists had been disheartened when daylight waned and they had to pack up and leave before uncasing much of the additional gear they’d brought. Even though the scientists came away with nothing except the recording Rhys had made, everyone was relieved when the APC approached the safety of the Nemesis.

Woody Stevens had kept the Nemesis buttoned up tightly after the APC had previously departed. He had the molecular biometric scanners lit up and had engaged the ship’s weapons array to ensure no unwanted guests approached. Even though Stevens knew the APC was returning, he almost shit his pants when the sensors went off signaling its return. After taking a deep breath and gathering his wits, he had to it he was pleased the system had worked. Hopefully it would work equally well in the other aspects of its design.

After collecting the APC and its occupants, mission protocol dictated that Stevens pilot the Nemesis a safer distance away from site of the DSC to avoid possible discovery by nomadic aliens – if there were any even around. After skimming the planet surface Woody found another suitable LZ and put the drop ship down for the evening and turned the security and weapons systems on.

While the security team relaxed and exercised, Ben and Rhys went over the holographic video Rhys had made. Rhys had zoomed in on most of the DSC console area in search of a data interface. They both had fully bought into Ripley’s concept that data from the spacecraft was still viable.

The scientists were excited to have come this far and discover that their objective was intact. Now Rhys and Ben eagerly anticipated completing their mission, but their attempts to identify any kind of interface allowing access to

the DSC’s data had so far eluded them.

#

Chapter XXXIII

Dawn, Day Two

Rhys and Ben woke early, neither being able to sleep much. They could not stand being so close to completing their objective; yet at the zenith of their careers, fail in delivering on that objective. Maybe they’d been overly optimistic about their chances of finding and gathering data. After all, the DSC had been here for years, maybe centuries. Even with a power source how anything, including technology, could be viable after such a long period was difficult to imagine. What about crash damage? Could information and possibly delicate instrumentation survive the crash and survive the inevitable march of time; or had both conspired to deprive them of their prize? Well at least the security team verified that the alien eggs in the chamber still appeared intact with the assumed protective blue light still operating.

“No, damn it,” Rhys insisted, “those fucking aliens survived in this environment up until at least forty years ago and they were viable enough to be revived and then kill over a hundred people including trained soldiers! I will NOT accept that we’ve come this far just to it defeat. There has got to usable data there, hell data has got to be more stable than animate life.”

Ben knew that Rhys could be ionate about many things – especially her work. This mission was now personal for Rhys and her emotions were rampaging. Ben had been with Rhys for almost a year now – not counting the long hyper sleep - and he’d never heard her utter an obscenity-laced outburst like this. Ben blinked and responded to his lover with all the he could muster, “That’s right, so let’s take a harder look!”

After Rhys calmed a bit, she offered, “You know, we may be looking in the wrong place.”

“OK, I’ll accept that,” Ben replied, “but where else should we be looking?”

“I think we are both too tired and excited, but it occurred to me that console is very large.”

“OK, that’s a fact.”

“And, we just inspected around the bottom of the console. Hermes is sitting on top of the console so there must be a data port near where he is sitting.”

“OK that tracks and you are probably right. Why didn’t I think of that? I must be losing it. “

“It’s OK, Ben. Like I said, we’re both tired and it is easy to miss things when we’re under fire,” Rhys continued in an effort to lighten the mood a little added, “but, let’s not make a habit of it!”

Her comment made Ben smile. They were a team now and each day they worked together proved more enlightening than the previous day. Ben had to accept that Rhys had just provided sound thinking in an area where he should have been more suited, by training and employment. Ben realized that it ultimately didn’t matter who came up with the ideas as long as the answers came. He said, “You know Rhys, I’m going to have to buy you a beer for that one.”

Rhys smiled and said, “You’re on!”

They decided to go over the previous day’s recording for a last time before the day’s mission commenced.

#

Chapter XXXIV

Discovery

The excursion team retraced the previous day’s events starting at daybreak. Each step was fastidiously repeated from the aerial observation to the two-team external investigation before entry. Poot and Schofield collected Ben and Rhys and they returned to Hermes’ console together.

Hermes’ expression seemed to eerily change when Rhys and Ben climbed to his level. It was obvious that Hermes had been a host for an alien as his chest cavity had exploded from within caused by an alien’s metamorphic exit. They could see by Hermes’ expression that his last living moments were twisted in horror and pain. Ben and Rhys resolved at that moment that they would avenge Hermes’ death in their own small way by successfully completing their mission.

The controls of Hermes’ console were equally unusual to the instrumentation on the lower half of the stanchion that served as his console. He appeared as if lounging on a throne in a reclined position. After careful review of the previous day’s holographic video, Rhys was starting to see a pattern in the layout of the instrumentation. Her linguistic training was now fully engaged and a ray of understanding was gathering in her mind. She began to see the order of the controls, giving her a growing perception of the logical layout of the instruments on the console. Ben picked up on her thinking and now they both started to see the same patterns. But where would these beings place an interface? There had to be one.

As they continued to look, they worked their way around Hermes’ throne.

Maybe there could be a port on it. Hermes was seated in a near prone position, as if he was seated in a lounge chair; he seemed to be using some kind of telescopic instrument in his last moments. As Rhys neared the top of the seat near Hermes’ head, she noticed some irregularities along the seam near the top of the seat. She said, “Ben, take a look at this,” Ben moved around to where Rhys was standing as she pointed at the irregularities. “What do you make of these?” she questioned.

Ben looked closely. He’d never seen anything like this, but he did notice some material in the opening of each of the irregularities that may have some significance. Thinking out loud, Ben said to Rhys, “You know, this material change could be conductive. If it is, it could be what we’re looking for.” Ben asked Poot to hand him one of the instrumentation cases they’d brought. Ben extracted some probes attached to a meter and started testing. He couldn’t get any reading from the material that would indicate electrical conductivity. Ben scratched his head and decided to gently shave a little of the material off the surface.

The material was much softer than the surrounding irregular carapace. It was relatively easy to take a few small samples for testing and he placed a sample of the shavings in one of the field analyzers he’d brought. He got a hit in the first analyzer. The sample seemed to be organic! How could that be in this environment after being subjected to the ing of so much time? His was not to wonder why…

Ben said excitedly, “Whoa, a hit!” But he didn’t elaborate for Rhys, he simply asked her to hand him another oddly shaped device. Ben carefully placed a duplicate shaving sample in the new instrument and said after examining the readout, “No it seems to be more chemical in nature.”

Suddenly Ben lurched awkwardly back on his heels. His sudden movement made Rhys gasp loud enough that even the soldiers setting up their field security

systems snapped their heads toward the two scientists.

“My gosh, I wonder…” Ben trailed off. Then excitedly he seemed to gather his composure and exclaimed, “I think I know what this is,” now in controlled, breaths he offered, “I think I’ve seen something like this before!”

Ben paused a moment, but Rhys now picked up his enthusiasm, not waiting for him to continue she blurted out, “Tell me!” Ben stared off, his eyes not focusing on anything in particular; he was obviously deep in thought about what his instruments had shown. Although he hadn’t intentionally wanted to ignore Rhys, she started to become impatient with his excitement, now rubbing off on her. So she firmly, but quietly, took Ben’s face in her hands and physically turned it so that his eyes met hers and she asked slowly, “Ben, please tell me what you think it is.”

The question didn’t immediately , but soon a wry smile crossed Ben’s face and Rhys knew Ben had the eureka moment. “Baby,” Ben said slowly, choosing his words carefully, “I think this is a synaptic interface.”

“Are you talking about brain-junction synapse?” Rhys questioned.

“Yes.” Ben said flatly, now convinced he was on the right track. “However, there are a couple of synaptic junction functions; the most common being a chemical synapse, but there are also electrical and maybe more types, but I’m not an expert on this subject. Furthermore, if it is a synaptic junction, building an interface may be a little tricky. Let me gather some additional samples.”

Ben did so as Rhys helped him. Ben asked her if she could pack up the test

equipment because it was now urgent that he return to the science suite on the Shakuru to use its sophisticated technical equipment. Ben also thought it imperative that he his father and transmit what information he could in an effort to construct a potential interface to access Hermes’ database. However, now he needed to speak to Squires.

He gave a brief rundown about the important find that required him to return to the Shakuru and told Squires to move forward with the next phase of the mission without him. Squires recognized that Ben needn’t be present for his men to conduct their security setup. Besides, a civilian may get in the way anyway so with Squires’ concurrence, Ben and Rhys left with the four of the security team, returning to the APC. Poot and Des escorted the two scientists, back to the drop ship while Squires and BJ unloaded the security gear they would need before returning to the DSC. Squires had given Des and Poot orders to bring the rest of the gear they would need from the Nemesis when they returned.

By the time Des and Poot returned, Schofield and BJ had unloaded the first of the equipment near the hull crack opening, now called “Door Two” and were nearly done assembling it. Squires left BJ and Poot to do the rest of the grunt work regarding the equipment assembly while he took Schofield for a walk around the perimeter of the egg chamber cavity of the DSC. The cavern was large and the limited light available inside the chamber made the cavity appear as a huge dark hole except for the blue light reflecting off the mist covering the eggs above the chamber floor. Although the eggs were clearly visible from the walls where the two men stood above them, the moving mist in the chamber made the actual floor the eggs were sitting on appear ethereal and almost invisible - as if the eggs were floating just below the surface of the mist.

Squires and Schofield were analyzing the egg chamber to design defenses to protect the scientists when they were working in the control room above the chamber. They didn’t want the barrier between the two rooms to lull them into complacency, so they needed to set up their defenses in a way that would alert

them to any activity in the lower chamber. Squires was actually pleased that the scientists had returned to the Nemesis. Doing so allowed his men unrestricted freedom to execute most of the security design.

“Well, Des, what’s your analysis?” Squires asked his second in command.

“I think simple proximity sensors will suffice in the channel leading to the hole in the floor. Setting them about right there,” Schofield was pointing to a spot on the wall about four meters above where they were standing, “should give us plenty of time to react. As for the charges to take out the eggs and the chamber, we’ll have to use the scopes,” Schofield replied continuing, “and if this henhouse has the worse-case scenario of containing eggs in each of the walled cavities, we’ll have to map the whole works to set up the right fields of fire and explosive charges.”

“Agreed,” offered Squires, “where should we begin?”

“Of course our first consideration is a defensive plan, so that we can protect the scientists while they work. It is pretty obvious that they aren’t telling us the whole story of what they are attempting, but we’re not getting paid like the kings we are for expecting to know what is going on in the board room. I only hope that their lack of transparency doesn’t put our guys in harm’s way.”

“You and me both,” added Squires. “I’ve always had a lot of faith in Dwayne Hicks. For a guy that never went much farther than corporal rank, he’s got a good head for military operations so I doubt he’d let the pencil-necks off his leash to do something intentionally stupid. I’ll keep a close eye on both of them, but at this point I think we both know that they’re concentrating on the goods in that pedestal Hermes sits in. Whatever they are up to is not our concern unless the shit hits the fan, so I go along with your assessment that our first order of

business is to earn our pay and set up our defenses to protect the main work area in the dome.”

“Next,” Schofield went on after Squires finished, “we move to offensive. I’m pretty sure that we’re packing enough firepower to eliminate any threat in those pits unless something FUBARs that from happening. One thing for sure, we’ll have to manufacture another opening to allow the BioWave guys access when they arrive. It could also serve us as a second escape route if needed and I don’t want our backs to the wall without one. I figure we could cut the opening right over there,” pointing now across the expanse of the egg chamber in the general direction of the mining site, “which will allow our adversaries good access to the chamber while keeping Door Two inconveniently far away from their probable work area. We’ll have to carefully find a suitable spot on the exterior of the ship which will allow easy access from their approach. We may have to have our guys bring the APC around and scout the direction of the most logical approach so that we can guide the BioWave guys to the door we manufacture.”

“I knew you were worth your overpriced salary,” Squires chuckled. “Keep those cards-and-letters coming in and I may even consider promoting you for the next mission.”

“You couldn’t pay me enough to put my ass in a sling again going out on another of your dip-shit missions,” Des retorted. “I’m retiring after this gig.”

“Yeah, right,” Squires responded, “and pigs will take flight.”

While BJ and Poot finished equipment assembly, Squires and Schofield finalized their tactical plan.

#

Chapter XXXV

An Alternate Plan

The Mentor had been responsible for making Weyland-Yutani massive profits by expanding the company into large scale interplanetary terraforming. WeylandYutani had convinced the government, which licensed mining rights to private businesses, that purchasing and installing atmosphere processing equipment would be a far better long-term investment to exploit a planet’s resources than having workers wearing inhibiting and potentially dangerous atmosphere suits on the job. Although there was no long-term financial studies that ed the government’s declaration to purchasing the enormously expensive atmosphere processing equipment, enough official government palms had been greased to ensure ongoing purchases. Government officials looked the other way and Weyland-Yutani made huge profits.

The Mentor had foreseen the possibility of an incredible new revenue stream if the story Ellen Ripley had told about the alien creatures found on LV-426 was true. He had demanded that the inquiry committee that questioned Ellen Ripley’s story close the case quickly, while in the background he masterminded a secret plot to entice a crew to investigate an anomaly thirty-five kilometers from the original terraform operation. The people he found to investigate the anomaly turned out to be a match for his financial offer on the first go-around. They also happened to be Rebecca Jorden’s parents. The anomaly was, of course, the derelict spacecraft and the dormant aliens in it couldn’t be controlled by the terraformers and the entire terraform operation was quickly decimated.

When was lost with the terraform colony, the government, by law, had to step in and they sent a military rescue team to the colony. The Mentor desperately wanted one of the aliens for the Bio-weapons Division of the

company so he organized placement of a loyal company employee on the rescue team. He successfully argued that because the terraform operation was a Weyland-Yutani asset, the company had a right to representation on the rescue team. In the end, it was easy to insert Carter Burke on the team as an adviser. Burke went along with the Mentor’s plan to ensure the aliens impregnate one or more of the rescue team for return to earth. Burke was also instructed to have the android on the rescue team collect as much data about the aliens and transmit it back to the Company. If the plan worked, Burke would be set for life and the Mentor would have his newest technology for Weyland-Yutani’s Bioweapons division.

Unfortunately, the aliens proved too dangerous and cunning. When the rescue team’s communications went silent without receiving any transmissions from Burke, the Mentor didn’t hesitate to tender his resignation to the board of directors sighting personal health issues. By the time the rescue team arrived at LV-426, the colony had been overrun by the aliens and eventually the entire colony complex had been vaporized by the nuclear blast when the terraform colony’s fusion reactor reached critical mass. No one knew of the backroom plans the Mentor had devised. All evidence of his collusion with Burke had been erased with Burke’s death on the mission.

The Mentor continued his relationship with highly placed government employees who fed him ongoing information after he retired. The money he had paid them over the years had been enormous, but after his resignation, he called in favors from his informants who told him of the secret return of the three survivors of the incident and the government’s elaborate hoax to cover up existence of the deadly alien presence on LV-426. With the surprise return of the three survivors the Mentor was able to convince a few of his government cronies who owed him favors to give him copies of the alien data from the damaged android’s memory. The Mentor became one of the very few people on earth who knew about the data and that fucking, meddling Ripley and the other two survivors. Over the years the Mentor kept tabs on the “Gang of Three” as he called them and he suspected that they were plotting something that was diametrically opposed to his long term plans.

The Mentor eventually didn’t trust Derwent Maxwell’s ability to carry out his plans even though he’d groomed the man to take his place when WeylandYutani’s technical assets became BioWave’s. The Mentor had approached Maxwell early on in his career and discovered that Maxwell was just as money and power hungry as he was – only without his smarts. He paid Maxwell handsomely for years over and above Maxwell’s substantial BioWave salary. It had been easy to turn Maxwell into his lackey and Maxwell basked in the extra cash the Mentor was feeding his secret bank s. Maxwell benefited from the Mentor’s seasoned business savvy in guiding his career at BioWave. At times Maxwell had second thoughts about some of the activities the Mentor asked him to do over the years, but by the time he realized he was really just a pawn of the Mentor, he was in too deep so he continued the game. What else could he do?

The Mentor insisted that Maxwell head up the on-site delivery of BioWave’s upgraded atmosphere processing equipment himself. Maxwell was told it would be good PR for the company especially since there were murmurs that BioWave had manipulated the equipment contract. Having Maxwell accept a role on the equipment delivery could be used as a highly visible marketing tool for the technology company. The company could show that their leader was a hands-on executive and highlight how the company continued to pave the way to the future with the products and services they offered. The Mentor wanted Maxwell on the equipment delivery team to complete his future plans.

#

Chapter XXXVI

First Transmission

After being in orbit around the planet to launch the Nemesis drop ship, the Shakuru had been commanded to move to a secluded position several hundred kilometers from LV-426. The Family team knew that when the BioWave ship arrived, it would likely go into planetary orbit where the Shakuru would be spotted if they simply left the craft in orbit there. Travel to the Shakuru’s isolated position took a little longer than the Family wished, but it was imperative that they keep their mission secret – or at least secret as long as possible.

Woody Stevens deftly landed the Nemesis inside its cargo bay home aboard the Shakuru transport ship. After the outer doors of the transport vehicle were closed and the area pressurized, the two scientists returned to the science suite in order to establish communications with their earthbound Family , more specifically Ben’s father who would have the technical means and, if necessary, draw from any outside talent needed to analyze the data Ben sent.

After Ben and Rhys left the cargo bay, Woody Stevens organized the items necessary to properly resupply the security team at the DSC when he and the two scientists returned to the planet’s surface. Additional AM-61 attachment mines were gathered along with a backup cold fusion generator should one of the normally reliable systems fail. Lastly, Woody grabbed extra pulse rifle ammo. Stevens marveled at how much lighter each magazine was from those still in use by the military.

When Michael responded, Ben began to lay out the specifics of his call. Before

Ben started transmitting his data, Michael thought that this was a good time to introduce his updated communications system - by now its reliability had been verified through a rigorous series of tests. Although introduction of the system was outside the mission’s operational plan, Ben and Rhys were far from being in a position to say “no” to Michael’s proposal. After all it was far superior system to the dated backup global sat-nav subcarrier system as well as the better, but busy commercial channel they now used. In the end it was up to Ripley to give final Family approval. Ripley had actually hoped that a better communication system could be found at some point, but it wasn’t up to her to suggest better technology to the technically knowledgeable Family . Ripley’s role was a strategist and an overall mission specialist with firsthand experience of the planet, the aliens with a history of two previous missions to back her credentials. Ripley gave an emphatic thumbs-up to the Michael’s new communications system he dubbed “StarLink.” Dwayne was glad that Ripley said yes to Michael’s system as he didn’t want to be in the middle of a decision that may not go his cousin’s way.

Michael sent the StarLink activation code to the Shakuru’s onboard systems and the now confronting Ben and Rhys came alive with a digital rendition that altered the identities of the three Family from earth. Michael’s modified voice acknowledged that they were receiving the two Shakuru scientists digitally altered images on their end so the system apparently was a fantastic asset to their cause.

Ben stated his findings about what he thought could be a synaptic interface used by Hermes’ system and he punched in the code to scramble the data he was sending. Michael told him that the data was received and that he would get back to him with an analysis within the hour, one way or the other – sooner if he could solve the puzzle quickly. Michael closed with a statement that each drop ship carried the ability to use the new transmission system which should now have been automatically activated and the Shakuru would act as a booster for uplinked signals from either of the drop ships that may be on the planet’s surface. Finally, the old global sat-nav subcarrier system would now be retired. Although it had proven vital forty years ago, no one in the Family would miss its limitations.

Rhys told Ben she was going to check in with Woody in the cargo bay to see if he needed any assistance while Ben waited for Michael’s response. Rhys needed a small job to take away the anticipation she was feeling about being so close to a possible “experience of a lifetime” if an interface to active data were found. Woody was happy to accept the assistance Rhys offered. Although he’d finished his resupply duties, he enjoyed talking to Rhys as she kind of reminded him of his own daughter who had to be about her age. Moreover Rhys was easy on the eyes so that didn’t hurt either. Should he be thinking this way about a girl, woman really, who was his own daughter’s age? The thought quickly ed when Rhys asked about some of Woody’s professional experiences just to make conversation.

Michael’s findings came in forty-three minutes. Indeed it was verified that the evidence Ben had sent had been computer modeled as a synaptic interface. Ben was stoked by that news, but he was feeling apprehensive about what Michael would say next. Ben’s mind almost couldn’t believe their good fortune when Michael’s s suggested that it could be possible to bridge Hermes’ technology with existing human technology. By using the medical equipment they had on board together with the on board lab to develop a suitable interface medium, it was theoretically possible to fabricate the interface they needed! The computers on board the Shakuru would interpret Michael’s transmitted information providing the options to complete a chemical link with Hermes’ socket, but it would be up to Ben to manufacture a suitable physical plug to match the unusual irregular shape of the socket opening itself.

Ben would have to fabricate a mold of some kind using flexible putty to match the shape of the unusual interface pattern of the socket. He thought it could be done with a little work, but he also thought it best to let Michael know that he was worried about the application and bonding of the biochemical medium to the plug once he fabricated one to match the shape needed. Ben transmitted his thoughts using Michael’s StarLink system.

Ben was in the lab mixing a batch of chemicals needed to mold the material to cast a suitable shape for the plug. After a few minutes, Michael’s reply came over the remote earpiece Ben wore. Ben was increasingly aware that he didn’t have time to be running back and forth between the Shakuru and the DSC during the development of the interface, however there was no getting around the fact that the Shakuru had all the sophisticated equipment and resources necessary to design and fabricate the final interface. On the other hand the DSC was where he needed to be to use his invention to complete his mission, two different places!

Ben’s mind raced frantically trying to think ahead to solve the dilemma. How to be in two places at once? Damn it, how come someone hadn’t figured out a teleportation system yet? Better yet, why not invent a system where you actually could be in two places at once? Ben mentally slapped himself, realizing he was wasting time thinking about fantasy when he should be focusing on the reality of the here and now.

#

Chapter XXXVII

Back Home

Ripley and Dwayne Hicks were aware of the unfolding events on LV-426 as they had been monitoring what was happening from their separate locations via a version of Michael’s StarLink. When Michael received Ben’s request for biochemical synaptic data interpretation, he had forwarded it on to a good friend who had the technical credentials to provide answers for what was needed. Michael knew that if anyone could figure this out, his friend was just that person.

Ripley offered, “You know Michael, the development process to build a suitable data interface worries me. Normally, this kind of thing would take weeks to properly develop. Then it would take multiple trips between the equipment on the Shakuru and the DSC console to finalize the mechanical, chemical and electrical requirements for the interface between our systems and Hermes’.”

Michael said, “I’ve been thinking about that very subject. I’m sure Ben will be on the same wavelength too.” Michael had been considering when he might have to introduce the special surprise he’d been keeping to himself and after a moment he decided the time was right to bring the subject up with Ripley and his cousin, Dwayne.

Michael continued, “I’ve been working a project for some time and I think it may be a good time to get your opinions on the matter.”

At the same time both Ripley and Dwayne responded, “OK, go ahead.”

“As you know, there were not three survivors on your last mission to LV-426,” Michael droned.

Dwayne said, “What do you mean, Ripley, Newt and I were the only ones I know of.”

Ripley thought she knew what Michael meant and gently reminded her good friend, “No, Michael is right, Dwayne. You are probably only thinking in of human survivors,” Ripley left a pause for Dwayne to chew on that thought and Michael picked up on her comment.

“Yes. You’re absolutely right, Ellen, there was a fourth. Your good friend, Bishop survived too.”

“But, Bishop was torn to pieces by that alien queen before Ellen blew it out of the airlock,” Dwayne added, “and besides, as far as I know the government took what was left of him and likely put him through a trash compactor or something.”

“Yes that is the fate you’d expect. But the government overlooked Bishop when they dismembered Weyland-Yutani. Bishop actually ended up forgotten on a shelf in a storage area of the company. Or,” Michael corrected himself, “I should say, what was left of him, ended up on that shelf. Bishop it seems was too damaged to repair at the time and Company personnel were too busy covering their asses when the government came down on them to worry about Bishop. After your return, Bishop had been deactivated and his processors were removed

from his shattered carcass. Those processors were placed on an obscure storage shelf and quickly forgotten. Several years after you all returned, I started thinking about Bishop’s fate, but I didn’t want to make anyone suspicious that I was looking for him. As you are aware, being the director of the IT department allows me special access to information and areas of the company few others are privy to. It took me some time and I had to become a bit of a private detective, but eventually the near cold trail finally gave up its secret and I found Bishop’s processors in storage at BioWave.

“I took the liberty to borrow Bishop from storage, because after all, Bishop didn’t belong to BioWave and the government apparently didn’t want him. So I made reviving Bishop a personal project.”

“So tell us, was he usable?” Ripley asked.

“More than that, Bishop is quite a character for an old - Artificial Person.”

“OK now that does sound like Bishop. He always did prefer to be called an Artificial Person rather than synthetic,” Dwayne offered.

“What do you mean, he’s quite a character? You must have rebuilt him, tell us about it,” Ripley encouraged.

“OK. I had to use Bishop’s processors differently than their original design. I felt that Bishop would be too conspicuous if I were to re-fabricate him as a corporeal being, plus I didn’t have an interest or the time to build an Artificial Person anyway. I was at first interested to see if the processors were still functional and find out if Bishop was well…, still Bishop. After I hooked him up and found out

that he was still ‘alive’ I discovered not only that he retained his programming, but he even ed the events you shared on your mission. At that point I realized that he could be an asset for us. Until just a month ago, I never knew how to best use Bishop, that is, in what form he would best serve us. It struck me that he has unique intimate memories of and experiences with the aliens. He also has the most scientific knowledge about the creatures – more than any human except those who ed the data Burke demanded he record. By the way, Ellen, he apologizes for being forced to the alien data to the Company before his processors were mothballed.”

“He apologized?” Dwayne enquired.

“Yes, he did.” Michael went on, “He is really quite a character. Ellen, you must have had a powerful influence on him because his social integration is highly acute for his series of artificials. Plus he speaks very highly of you.”

Ellen responded, “After my first encounter with Ashe on board the Nostromo, I never would have thought that I could actually trust an artificial person. Bishop I considered to be …” Ripley fumbled for the right word and after a moment she softly said, “a friend.”

Michael responded, “He uses the same term for you too, Ellen. Anyway, Bishop is excited to be part of a new mission so we both discussed what form he could take and we came up with a special helmet.”

Both Ellen and Dwayne sat slack-jawed waiting for Michael to continue.

“Yes a helmet. I have made Bishop into a helmet with a power source and an

array of sensing and communications features. He has a three hundred sixty degree recording and projection system that allows him to see and to be able to project holographic imaging. He can project an image of himself or anything he wants for that matter. For example he has shown me what one of the creature’s looks like in the two stages of development that he is familiar with. Of course there are audio capabilities in the helmet that allow Bishop to listen and speak to the helmet wearer. The helmet is designed to look like a normal military helmet and provides similar protection. It is a just little heavier than a normal helmet.

“So how can the Bishop helmet help our mission?” Ellen asked.

“Bishop is already on the mission, Ellen. I put him in a compartment on the Shakuru with Newt’s help before anyone else arrived the day our team departed. I took the liberty to Bishop with mission particulars so he is up to speed on our mission parameters including personnel, vehicles, security and weapons systems details.”

“OK, but what does all this have to do with the current situation?” Ripley asked.

“I think that in his new form, Bishop may prove a critical element in helping us develop our biochemical synaptic interface. Bishop’s holographic imagining system could be used to map Hermes’ input socket and thereby assist in deg the interface from the DSC while we manufacture the plug using the equipment on board the Shakuru. Bishop’s processors and imaging systems could provide virtual modeling of the interface design and its manufacture for us on both ends. Or the precise holographic imaging Bishop is capable of could be interfaced to the 3D printer and we could manufacture components right at Hermes’ console.

“I also built a second helmet. It isn’t the same exact design as I didn’t have

another set of the sophisticated processors like Bishop’s, but the second helmet acts as a companion to the first because it communicates directly with it. I call it ‘Bishop II.’ It receives all the information from ‘Bishop’ and displays the information either on a helmet viewer for the helmet wearer or by retransmitting information from Bishop as a holographic projection for multiple viewers. The wearer of the Bishop II helmet can conversely provide direct to the Bishop helmet via optical holographic and audio signaling. The two-way signaling can also provide the two people wearing the tandem helmets with Bishop’s intelligence and thoughts. Theoretically, we could produce a perfect plug/socket match in one stroke so that we don’t have to make multiple trips to and from either site. In essence, together the system adds the element of a third person partner. Plus, now that StarLink is functioning, Bishop can piggy-back his signaling using the security and speed of StarLink since the Nemesis and Perses have StarLink capability with the Shakuru.”

“Boy, this could be a huge break for us.” Dwayne added. “I think we should let Ben know about Bishop right away.”

“I agree,” Added Ellen, “so, what are we waiting for? Our time is running out. The BioWave transport should be arriving at any moment and ideally we should complete our mission before they arrive.”

#

Chapter XXXVIII

Setting Charges

Squires’ team was busy setting charges and weapons placement according to Des Schofield’s design. They had previously penetrated the obscuring mist of the DSC egg chamber with optical probes to determine exactly how many alien eggs were in each chamber – and their tactical computer mapped the exact location of the eggs. Schofield had generated a map to direct the security team to place charges and weaponry in exactly the right positions to achieve maximum effect.

Squires agreed with Schofield’s weapons setup and his operational plan which included a new door cut in the DSC’s hull to allow BioWave’s people easy access to the egg chamber. Squires and Schofield ed Ben on board the Shakuru to strongly argue that another opening should be manufactured sooner rather than later. Doing so was the only way that his security team could reasonably protect the science team if the BioWave team arrived. Squires said, “You haven’t been forthright in letting us know what you’re up to and I haven’t asked. But whatever it is seems to be very important. I can live without knowing, but I also want to provide the best protection for the operation as well as my men, so if there is anything I should know, I’d appreciate a review of our current circumstances.”

Ben replied, “I understand, Colonel and I will bring your concerns up.” Ben relayed the request to the earth-side Family who were concerned that cutting a new door in the hull may disturb the eggs in the chamber unduly as it was unknown if such abnormal activity so close to the eggs would cause the creatures to hatch. More importantly, no one wanted to willingly hand over alien specimens to a BioWave group, but Squires had made a compelling enough argument that whatever it was he didn’t know about the scientific aspects of the

mission was probably important enough to be kept secret from outsiders. The Family agreed that obtaining the data safely was the mission priority. If a BioWave team took the eggs while Hermes’ data was being collected, it would be up to their team’s security specialists to keep the scientists safe and hidden, not worrying about the eggs being taken. They’d just have to deal with that situation after the data was secured and the scientists were safe. The Family had to respect the military men; they were basing their request on a lifetime of operational experience gained from situations in some ways similar to what they now faced. In many ways, of course, the current situation was far from what any of them had ever encountered.

In the end, it was agreed to let the experienced officers do what they thought was necessary to protect the science team. That meant that is was only right to fill Squires and Schofield in on what the scientists were doing so that if something happened to the scientists, any data gathered would be returned to the Family by the security team. Ben activated the StarLink system on the APC so that Squires and Schofield could communicate directly with the Family back on earth in their digitally altered form. The military men were grateful when the Family disclosed the details of the scientific importance of collecting the data and the Family was grateful that the professional soldiers acknowledged the data collection’s importance.

The Family did not want BioWave personnel to suspect there was a competitive operation on the planet. This issue instigated a discussion about BioWave personnel arriving and recognizing a newly cut opening. Des Schofield had anticipated this question and the Family’s fears were assuaged after he assured them that the opening could be convincingly camouflaged. Schofield also stressed that using the “DL” (High Power Distance Laser) system to cut the opening would cause minimum sonic trauma to disturb the eggs. He told them that after the hole was laser cut they would detonate some small charges around the periphery of the clean, laser-cut hole to irregularly roughen the edges. Setting the charges on the outside of the hull would minimize any tremors to the inside the ship and should not overly disturb the eggs in the chamber. Furthermore, setting the charges on the outside of the hull would bend the hull from the outside in, making it appear as if the hole was caused by crash damage. With the

addition of liberal dust from the planet surface applied to the newly cut, explosives-shaped opening, the military professionals convinced the Family they could complete their ruse effectively.

“Do it,” was the Family’s reply, with one proviso; Ripley said, “but make sure that your people are prepared for the possibility that the disturbance will cause the eggs to prematurely hatch.”

Squires replied, “We will optically probe the mist and monitor egg activity during cutting and charge detonation. We will also have our defensive posture organized so that if we detect any untoward activity from the eggs, we will be ready.”

After everyone had agreed, Squires’ stabbed the disconnect button, cutting the transmission and the security team moved to execute their plan to fabricate an additional hull opening, designated “SIM Door,” an acronym for Simulated Door.

#

Chapter XXXIX

New Teammate

After Squires and Schofield signed off, Ripley asked Ben to stay on line. Ripley informed Ben, now with Rhys by his side, of the “Bishop Helmet”.

Since Ripley had been painstaking in documenting her exploits in two previous alien interactions, the two knew about the contributions Bishop had made to the last mission. Ben and Rhys were surprised by the news they were hearing about Bishop’s existence, but Michael’s technical skills to fabricate a Bishop rebuild, as well as his capacity for dramatic forethought was no surprise to Ben at all.

“Let me have Michael explain what he has in mind,” Ripley intoned.

Michael explained his reasoning for introducing the Bishop and Bishop II helmets. It made a lot of sense to use a holographic sensing and projection system to shorten the development cycle of the synaptic interface. “Of course we’ll need to have someone in the DSC scanning the console’s socket as well as someone on the Shakuru using the facilities there to fabricate the actual final product.”

Rhys offered that she was the best candidate to go back down to the surface with Bishop while Ben stayed on the Shakuru to manage the fabrication with the II version of the helmet. “Since both helmets are on board the Shakuru,” Rhys offered, “It makes sense that I go back with Bishop since we have to have a

helmet at either end anyway, plus using Bishop at the DSC may allow a secondary benefit if something happens there. After all, he’s the only one here who has been on the planet previously and if we have any alien interaction, I would personally like to have a learned adviser at my side.”

Michael told the couple where the Bishop helmets were located and Rhys went to get them. When she returned Michael provided an overview of the helmet’s capabilities. The helmets had a limited point to point communication range, but Ben would tie each helmet into Michael’s new communication system to overcome the range issue. By doing so the Family on earth could also monitor what was going on over Michael’s improved StarLink system.

Rhys then reed pilot Woody Stevens with the Bishop helmet and an agreement that Michael would orient both her and Ben further during the time it took for Rhys to get back on-site at the DSC. Stevens had already done a preflight check so when Rhys arrived at the hanger bay, Woody was flying the moment Rhys buckled in.

Stevens radioed Squires that he was returning with a new element added to their mission and that he would be flying directly to the DSC with Rhys. Squires took the opportunity to tell everyone that he planned to use the APC to map the most likely route the BioWave people would take from the mining site to the DSC so that they could create the new SIM Door in the most advantageous spot on the hull. They didn’t want the SIM Door to be too perfectly positioned on the hull, but they did want the door to be perceived as fortuitous to the expected visitors when they arrived. In the mean time, Squires would queue up BJ and Poot for the APC recon while he and Schofield stayed behind to prepare the HPDL for the hull cutting and gather the smaller shaping charges. Ben now sat in the lab aboard the Shakuru waiting for Rhys’ data feed from the planet surface. During Rhys’ journey, both scientists received Michael’s first lesson in using the helmets by introducing Bishop, the famous artificial person, to them both.

#

Chapter XL

Mining Site Arrival

The BioWave transport ship approached orbit around LV-426 and engineers were preparing the replacement atmosphere processor equipment for transport to the planet surface. The crew of the BioWave interplanetary transport vehicle included several last minute ‘specialists’ whom the regular BioWave employees hadn’t known until the day of their departure. At that time, Derwent Maxwell explained that the new personnel were part of a government agency advisory team overseeing the installation of the new equipment they were delivering.

The fact was that the specialists were part of a government agency in title only. Well before the equipment replacement contract was assigned to BioWave, the Mentor had ed one of his highly placed government sources. The Mentor convinced his operative that it would be a good career move for him to ensure that government representatives (of the Mentor’s choosing) were aboard the delivery vehicle to make certain the mining site on LV-426 was operating within the parameters of their licensing charter.

The government official eagerly agreed with the plausible idea of government representatives being sent to the planet. The additional money that would electronically appear in his secret bank by his compliance to the Mentor’s wishes would insure that the government official’s young mistress would be highly attentive to all his needs for the foreseeable future. With the additional funds he would be receiving for his agreement to the Mentor’s wishes, maybe he would acquire a second, even younger woman if one with the right skills could be found.

The Mentor hated dealing with his government associate. The man was a Troglodyte who in any other setting would have been long ago overlooked as important. But because the official was in such an advantageous government position, he had proven himself useful. The man obviously was no dummy as he had successfully learned to hide behind layers of bureaucracy which eventually afforded him a successful career path. Distasteful as the man was, the Mentor had conditioned himself early in his own career to use such people for his own benefit. People of this man’s ilk were somehow amazingly useful if properly managed – they were always eager to please when money motivated their actions.

The only stipulation that the Mentor placed on his government associate was that the selection of the specialists chosen for the mission would be left to the Mentor himself. The specialists were specifically trained to carry out the Mentor’s alternate plan. They also carried official government credentials which superseded the mining site’s management authority.

The Mentor had made sure that his government associate’s office timed the announcement of the surprise on-site arrival of government advisory team to coincide just prior to their actual arrival on the BioWave transport ship. In that way, the mining site operators on the planet would get word from their earthly corporate headquarters that they were to extend every courtesy to the government officials on board the delivery ship and cooperate with them in every way.

There was little room for error as the timing of the specialist’s arrival on board the BioWave transport ship was critical if the Mentor’s alternate mission were to go as planned.

#

Chapter XLI

Interface Development

Woody again brought the Nemesis expertly in for a landing right outside the portal leading to Hermes’ console. Schofield and Squires were prepping the DL to cut the SIM Door on the other side of the DSC. After the men returned from scouting the expected route to the DSC, they would move the DL to the final position to cut the SIM Door opening. The security team hoped they didn’t have to rely on the fabricated door as an escape route. Although if they did, they would certainly be happy they’d created it.

Poot and BJ waited for the doors of the Nemesis to open. They greeted Rhys before entering the drop ship to unload the latest weapons stores Woody had brought from the Shakuru. Rhys first went to the APC to make sure the helmet was synchronized with the settings for Michaels’s new StarLink system. She established communications with Ben on the Shakuru and Ben reported the signal from Rhys’ Bishop helmet was great, Rhys returned to the DSC and set up a portable antenna to relay Bishop’s signal from Hermes’ console back to the APC, now unloaded from the Nemesis, just outside the original portal for uplink to Ben.

Rhys, now wearing the helmet, asked Bishop to perform a holographic scan of the irregularly shaped port on Hermes’ console hoping to produce a detailed, multi-dimensional image and relay it back to Bishop II that Ben was now wearing on the Shakuru. Ben had Bishop II interfaced to the lab computers now so that the processes necessary to map the port, analyze its surface differences, develop the biochemical synaptic resins, apply the resins and then manufacture the final product could all be fast-tracked by having all the resources available at the same time and all talking to each other.

The Bishop holographic images were highly detailed and the fabricating computers quickly began deg a plug to fit the exact dimensions of Hermes’ port. Meanwhile, Ben was monitoring the biochemical synaptic adhesive process the computer was formulating based on the recommendations of Michael’s associate. The biggest problem Ben anticipated at this point – assuming the synaptic medium matched the Hermes’ port requirements - was to make sure the synaptic data could communicate properly with the electrically-based signaling required by the recording equipment he’d brought. If the synaptic interface provided data that could not be electronically interpreted, Ben and Rhys’ mission would be dead in the water. If there was a data interface problem, Ben would have to adapt to whatever conditions were presented to him - if and when it ever happened. He’d just have to take his best shot at getting it right as quickly as possible.

Woody, BJ and Poot had finished unpacking the Nemesis of the additional weaponry Stevens had lifted from the Shakuru. They resupplied the APC and removed the additional scientific equipment and delivered it to Hermes’ work area. It was a balancing act to make sure that the equipment they brought into the egg chamber could be hidden, camouflaged or quickly removed so if BioWave personnel inspected that area, the Family team’s presence wouldn’t be compromised.

After the security team was satisfied that the new equipment was correctly positioned, Poot and BJ were sent off in the APC to reconnoiter the best assumed route from the mining site to the DSC to the final position of the SIM Door. Stevens in the mean time returned to the controls of the Nemesis and flew back to the secure stand-off area while being careful to fly as low as possible to avoid mining site scanners as well as detection from an orbiting BioWave craft that could by now have arrived.

Squires and Schofield continued prepping the Distance Laser readying it for SIM Door cutting. After Poot and BJ returned with their report, the DL was set up for

cutting and Squires ordered BJ and Poot to ready the smaller shaping charges once they were done with the laser cutting. Squires also prepared, as he’d promised, for the possibility that their activity might disturb the eggs in the chamber enough to make them hatch so he reminded Poot and BJ to retrieve the new APR-26 rifles from the APC for all of them - including enough ammunition for a war.

When the DL was nearly set up in the correct position, Squires took Poot and BJ on a recon to do a final sweep for intruders before the charges were set off. Schofield stayed busy calibrating the DL while the recon team was away. The three member recon team swept an area two kilometers from the DSC along the most direct route that interlopers would likely travel from the mining site and covered the obvious tracks that the APC had made during the recent scout. When satisfied that the area was secure, Squires told Poot to stay behind to guard the route until they were ready to detonate the charges as they knew that a BioWave group could arrive at any time and they didn’t want any intruders sneaking up on them while they were completing their task.

Schofield used the High Power Distance Laser to cut the irregularly shaped hole to begin the ruse of creating the crash-damaged SIM Door. The material of the DSC’s hull was, after all, more foreign than anything he’d ever encountered, but he was pleasantly surprised when the DL cut through the DSC hull more easily than expected. If the hull were so easily cut it may bode well for using fewer of the smaller charges than originally planned. Schofield figured if he could use fewer charges to achieve the desired end results, it would minimize the possibility that the alien eggs in the chamber just beyond the opening would be unduly disturbed. They could always add additional explosives afterwards should the hull need more shaping to achieve the realistic look of crash damage they were attempting to achieve.

After cutting the opening, Schofield drew on his years of military training to place the shaping charges in a pattern that would damage the edges of the precise laser cut to give the impression that the opening was caused by impact with the

planet’s surface. Schofield was confident that his final product would be good enough to merit his usual professional swagger.

Just as Schofield set the final charge, he radioed Squires that he was ready and Squires in turned replied that he and BJ were about five hundred meters away returning from their security sweep. Squires wanted the entire DSC team together when the charges were set off so if any of the eggs hatched, the team could all retreat together. So Schofield took the short break to walk back and check in with Rhys working with the Bishop helmet at Hermes’ console. Rhys was just finishing up with her initial scan analysis and she notified Ben that she was packing up her gear to return with Schofield to DL.

Schofield and Rhys arrived at the DL just as Squires got off the radio with Poot telling him to hightail it back to the DSC for explosives detonation. In the ten or so minutes it would take Poot to run back to the ship, Schofield explained to Squires, BJ and Rhys the reasoning he’d used to position the charges and he showed them his handiwork.

The four of them then collected the unused charges as well as the HPDL and secured the equipment aboard the APC still positioned near the original portal opening. If the shit hit the fan after the charges went off, Squires wanted as many options as possible. The APC provided the primary option for an escape. He also had Woody back in the Nemesis cued-up for a lightning evac should it be necessary. Squires’ final escape alternative was the old fashioned run like hell option.

When Poot arrived he stayed on station, out two hundred meters away continuing his lookout for intruders. The rest of the team didn’t waste time and after moving outside the small explosive’s blast radius, Schofield set off the charges. Even in the slightly rarefied atmosphere of LV-426, the blast was louder than expected and everyone winced from the concussion. Before the dust could settle, Squires had BJ check the video feed from the chamber probes to check for

alien egg activity. The mist had been disturbed by the concussion of the blast, but like a rock being dropped in the water of a pond, the mist was returning in reflected concentric waves back to a more uniform state without any egg activity from below.

Schofield approached the new opening inspecting the edges of the newly created hull breach. The charges had given the edges of the opening the desired ragged inward shaping. Maybe he could have used one more charge, but Des thought the blast results provided the desired believability.

Squires stood in a protective stance over BJ at the edge of the egg chamber for an eyes-on final appraisal for possible egg activity. BJ gingerly approached the chamber and the eggs appeared as they had before – undisturbed and unopened – so he continued to scrutinize the chamber to make sure there were no delayed surprises. When satisfied, he pulled the probes and returned with Squires to the remaining team outside the new opening.

Now all they had to do was rub enough planetary dust around the surface and edges of the new opening to camouflage the newly formed surfaces. They’d hoped to scrub away any blast residue from the charges completing their deception by giving the opening an aged look sufficient to appear to be original crash damage. After throwing a few final handfuls of dust around the edges, the team decided their work was as good as it needed to be. They called Poot in, packed up their equipment, covered the tracks of their activities and retreated to the original portal opening.

Rhys re-established the Bishop-APC transmission to Ben on the Shakuru to check the progress of the interface fabrication. Ben said, “I think we have a final product. I just hope it is suitable.”

Rhys replied with enthusiasm, “That’s great Ben, when can you bring it down? I am feeling a bit anxious that our time is growing slim. I don’t want the BioWave people interrupting our mission before it’s really started.”

“I should be able to have the interface completed by the time Woody can return to the Shakuru. Please inform Squires to have Woody return,” Ben stated. Squires, who was listening to the exchange, was on the radio to Stevens before Rhys finished saying goodbye, but before she did she added, “Ben, I love you and I am really excited to be working together on such a professionally challenging mission.”

Ben replied, “I love you too and I was thinking the same thing while the interface was being developed. You just beat me to saying as much to you. I’m looking forward to being by your side when our new creation is put to the test.”

Ben arrived with the new interface coupling and to communicate with each as efficiently as possible, he and Rhys continued wearing the two Bishop helmets. The plug physically matched the Hermes’ socket perfectly! However, Rhys was taken aback by the rough look of the backside of the interface Ben had delivered. Except for the plug that mated beautifully with the socket, the back side of the interface Ben created was a the mass of cabling that looked as though it was some kind of high school robotics project gone terribly wrong. Ben assured her that she needn’t worry about the cosmetics; he’d tested the connections himself and everything worked fine. Rhys knew that Ben meant well, but his comment didn’t leave her feeling much better about the look of the contraption he’d devised.

Ben hooked up the wire entrails emanating from the back of the plug to his mass data storage systems while Rhys readied her own equipment in anticipation that her job could actually start. Rhys was nearly giddy with expectation that there would be usable data from the DSC’s systems and, if so, the team was on the cusp of a great find.

Squires had his team return to the egg chamber to double check that there was no additional activity there as well as keep a lookout for visitors. BJ again dropped the video probe below the mist this time using additional lighting so his view penetrated deeper into the closest chamber. As the security team all gathered around the small monitor showing the probe output, each was amazed at the number of eggs in just that section of the chamber. A quick estimate was reckoned to be four thousand visible eggs in the combined sections of the entire chamber, but that was only an estimate based on the areas they could actually see. The tactical computer had the actual number of eggs already calculated.

After Squires was satisfied that there was no movement within the chamber when BJ returned he said, “OK guys I think we need to have a little talk about how we are going to reset our defenses based on our new SIM Door. I want you all to think about two things; first, our number one mission parameter is still to protect the science team. The SIM Door could provide us with escape options as well as provide a rational direct access to the egg chamber from the mining site. Logically, the SIM’s location should keep visitors away from the portal and Door Two. However, by creating the SIM Door, we have just complicated our number one mission parameter from a tactical standpoint. We can be attacked from an additional direction. Therefore we must reconfigure our defensive posture to best protect Wonder Boy and Girl while they are at Hermes’ console.”

Squires continued, “Second, I want you to also consider what will be required for an effective offensive contingency plan for a stand up fight with a BioWave adversary. So I want all of us to resurvey the site, taking into landscape access routes as well as exterior and interior DSC features, I’m talking about on top of this ship as well. I want your ideas about a revised security setup based on our new situation as well your comments on an offensive plan in one hour.” The security team split up, this time Squires took Poot in one direction, while Des Schofield took BJ off in another.

#

Chapter XLII

Findings

Rhys could see nothing but static-like interference on her Bishop eyepiece. Ben expected as much so he was trying a variety of adjustments to the interface medium to encourage a connection. He was not familiar with modulating a synaptic interface, but he knew that the process should be straight forward. By slightly shifting the chemistry of the medium of his plug, he should be able to coax the interface to pair with the socket of Hermes’ console. Rhys suddenly saw a blip on her monitor and Bishop said, “That may have been an anomaly, but let’s note that for future reference.” Ben continued his linear adjustment until he’d achieved what was the upper limit of the expected chemical spectrum necessary to achieve signaling.

“Well, that’s it,” Ben wheezed, his voice showing his disappointment. “We didn’t get any obvious results on our first spectrum run through so let’s go back to the conditions that presented that anomaly.”

Rhys encouraged, “I’m feeling lucky today guys, so let’s stay focused. I have a feeling…” Rhys didn’t finish her sentence as the blip reappeared for a moment and then dissolved. She continued, “Oh, go back Ben, there it was again.”

Ben said, “I’m on it, I just have to…” Again, the conversation was interrupted by the blip appearing, but now it was more of a flash with an accompanying audible whoosh sound. Ben reversed his procedure again, slowly making adjustments to the interface medium until he received a sustained visual and audible signal. “OK,” Ben almost whispered, “I think that’s as good as we’re

going to get.”

Bishop added, “Good, I’ll punch that in for reference. Can we amplify the signal we’re getting at all?”

Ben replied, “Getting to this point required such minute changes, I have a feeling…” Again Ben trailed off in thought, but not in action. He actually began lowering the intensity of the new composite mixture in thinking that they may be overwhelming the connectivity junction between the plug/socket interfaces. As he lowered the concentration, the first indication of any change was an audible signal shift to an almost soothing mellow drone. Shortly thereafter the static they had been viewing began diminishing as Ben continued to lower the levels.

Suddenly an image coalesced before their eyes. Bishop said, “It seems to be some kind of symbol.”

“Yes,” Rhys offered as the monitors continued to sharpen the view they were receiving, “but it’s not just a symbol, it looks like a series of glyphs. These appear to be graphemes.” Rhys blurted, “My God, I think we’ve done it!”

Ben said, “Bishop, are you recording this?”

“Indeed I am,” Bishop responded.

Ben said in his most professional voice, “Good, I’ve got a good signal to my data recorders and I’m starting the now.” He knew that what they were

likely viewing had to be a simple introduction “page” to whatever program was stored on the DSC’s systems. There was likely some kind of intrusion security to keep unauthorized visitors from probing further, but if they were extremely lucky, part of or even the entire database could be ed from here and even if the system was protected, they may be able to at least copy Hermes’ encrypted data so Michael and his people back home could assist with code breaking and Rhys could start her interpretation after they departed.

Rhys was fascinated by the image her viewer was providing. She had never seen such, what… extraterrestrial characters? She knew that it was unlikely that an obvious Rosetta Stone-like key would be forthcoming which would allow wholesale translation of the unknown characters. Even using the best cryptography breaking programs available would likely give little clue to the meaning of the symbology she was seeing. However she knew if they could peel back the layers of the information she now viewed, there may be maps, star charts, diagrams, images, and audio with corresponding imagery that would help begin the interpretation process.

#

Chapter XLIII

Deviation

The Mentor had been brought into the inner circle of people who knew about the alien creatures on the planet by his own tutor in the Company many years ago. The Mentor had seen the data transmitted by the first mission android before he became a director of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation then later, after reading the transcript of Ellen Ripley’s of the alien creatures on LV-426; he had been almost obsessed with obtaining a specimen of the creatures. He had manipulated the official conclusions of Ripley’s investigative committee who first ridiculed the story of her encounter with the creatures and then vilified her by stripping her of her rank. Ripley’s story had been quietly silenced, until communications with the terraform operation on the planet ceased. If that hadn’t happened, it should have been easy to obtain a specimen of the creatures without government oversight and interference since no one would have ever looked farther into Ripley’s of what happened to her crew. Too much time had lapsed between the actual event and Ripley’s return for the story to continue to be newsworthy. Unfortunately, the Mentor had to modify his original plans when creatures had gone out-of-control after Russ and Ann Jorden, the inept wildcatters he’d contracted, unwittingly brought an alien hatchling back to the terraform colony followed later by the bungling of Carter Burke.

The Mentor had waited many years to correct those mistakes. He was not used to losing. Not being able to obtain an alien specimen on that mission was one of the very few important benchmarks he had not achieved in his life. Now that he had reached the age where many of his contemporaries had succumbed to a visit from the Grim Reaper, he wondered if he would suffer the same fate before he could accomplish what very well could be the greatest triumph of his life by possessing such a magnificent specimen. The creature would surely be one of mankind’s greatest scientific finds. The Mentor knew that the legacy of being the

person responsible for obtaining it would immortalize him. His own place in mankind’s history would be assured. It was immaterial that the creatures may very well devastate the entire human race.

Now the meticulous planning the Mentor had been developing for years was coming to fruition. He too had surmised that the alien egg chamber on LV-426 could still contain living alien specimens after the nuclear blast. He had gone over the records of the original transmission sent to the Nostromo that directed Ripley’s crew to investigate the “distress signal” from LV-426. He studied the recordings from both androids sent by the Company on both previous missions. He extracted the exact coordinates of the derelict spacecraft from the records of the Jorden family’s surface rover after they had returned from the craft with their deadly cargo. The recent cover story of replacing the atmosphere processing equipment on the planet provided the fortuitous opportunity the Mentor had been waiting for to initiate his own plans to return to LV-426 and collect his prize.

The Mentor had identified three men at the mining site who might possibly be interested in making extra money on the side a week prior to the arrival of the BioWave spacecraft carrying his hand-picked specialists. The men had agreed among themselves that the money they would earn for a day’s work was too generous to up even if the location they were being sent to was in the forbidden area of the planet. They could easily slip away from the mining site to travel to and return from the designated location on their day off.

Unfortunately, the men’s journey was ill timed; the arrival of the BioWave ship would be too late to alter the events about to occur on the planet.

#

Chapter XLIV

First Visitation

The security team had just broken up after giving their updated security assessment to Squires. BJ was standing guard inside Door Two hull crack when the three contractors from the mining site arrived at the SIM Door. Squires had been discussing the updated security layout with Schofield in the dome near Hermes’ console where Rhys and Ben were conducting their interface trials when BJ radioed that they had visitors.

BJ was told to stand by and observe unless the three intruders tried expanding their investigation perimeter beyond the area of the SIM Door. Meanwhile, Squires had Poot climb on top of the DSC to observe the visitors from above and Poot radioed that the three were the only new arrivals in the party. Schofield was instructed to go on foot around the DSC past BJ’s position inside Door Two and observe the threesome’s activities from the ground outside the SIM Door. All were to keep a similar radio channel open, but use it only sparingly or in case of emergency.

The three visitors approached the opening to the egg chamber and one of them assisted the two others into harnesses. Apparently, they hadn’t gotten the memo! BJ watched in amazement as the two were being prepped to actually go into the egg chamber! After about a minute the single guy on the surface started yelling to the two in the chamber as the harness lines started flailing wildly. The surface guy must have started reeling the two chamber guys in because they eventually surfaced above the mist layer, each with a crab-like face hugger attached to their faces. The two were initially still writhing from the attack, but before the surface guy could reel the two completely in, both men’s bodies had gone limp.

The surface guy kept yelling at the two now still men while holding his head in both hands. He then slumped to his knees at the sight of his two coworkers and then grabbed his stomach as he wretched. Finally, he dragged the stricken men, one-by-one, out the SIM Door and disappeared. Schofield watched from outside as the man dragged the bodies of his two companions to the waiting vehicle one at a time. The man drove the vehicle away through the leading to the SIM Door and disappeared. BJ and Schofield reported what they had seen to Squires.

Squires had his men begin the task of redeploying their defenses according to the new SIM Door plan they’d devised and the two scientists resumed their duties.

#

Chapter XLV

Authority

The crew of the BioWave spacecraft walked into a firestorm when they arrived at the mining site. Two days ago, three mining site workers had wandered off and two of them returned with some kind of parasite attached to their faces. The mining site managers of course immediately ed their head office on earth and were told by the government representatives now in charge there that the BioWave personnel would arrive shortly to take care of the situation. An hour before the arrival of the BioWave spacecraft, the two stricken workers had died when creatures exploded from their chests and had escaped from the mining site’s medical facility.

The Mentor’s specialists using, their fictitious government advisory titles, wasted no time in exerting their authority over the mining site’s senior staff in taking command of the situation. They immediately ordered a news blackout regarding the event – no transmissions were allowed with earth.

The next orders the specialists gave the mining staff were to have mining site crews suspend mining operations to look for the escaped creatures. Their medical staff was ordered to review all records of the past few days to find some way of dealing with the initial parasitic alien form as well as their newly escaped progeny. Orders for the mining site security staff were to protect each search party by splitting up into three-man teams with appropriate arms. The replacement atmosphere processor equipment was ordered to be unloaded as quickly as possible by the BioWave installation crew .

The orders from the Mentor had been specific; his specialists were employed to collect specimens of the creatures after their victims had been impregnated by the alien’s parasitic form. The alien embryos must be implanted and allowed to grow inside of each victim. Immediately after the initial parasitic impregnating creature had released its prey and had fallen off, the unfortunate victim with the creature’s implant inside him would be frozen for the return to the Mentor’s secret facility.

The Mentor’s specialists had quickly realized that the initial idea of having two alien specimens waiting for them upon their arrival had not gone according to plan so they moved to expand their contingency plan. Having the mining staff and the BioWave employees busy now would allow an excellent diversion for the specialists to implement the modified plan to obtain what they came for as well as carry out the rest of their instructions.

#

Chapter XLVI

Derelict Journey

The Mentor’s specialists selected one of the larger rovers to carry the extra engers, Derwent Maxwell and two additional mining site volunteers, for their journey to the derelict spacecraft. The dedicated equipment the specialists carried filled the reinforced storage compartment at the rear of the rover and the now eight member crew took up all available seating in the main compartment of the rover.

Poot was back on the top of the DSC when he observed the mining rover come through the hilly they had expected them to use as the approach route. He radioed Squires. Squires said into his microphone, “OK ladies and gentlemen, it’s game time - we have new visitors approaching. Everyone but Poot, grab your equipment and get back to the APC on the double.” Although they had planned well for this moment, there was always the extra heart-pounding excitement of the actual encounter that made the entire team focus even more. Within three minutes, the door to the APC was closing with BJ left behind to cover the tracks of the vehicle while Poot remained on the top of the DSC to spot for the rest of their team. The APC need only travel to a suitable position about one quarter of a mile away, just behind one of the many hills surrounding the DSC crash site. Schofield stopped the APC and the now three man security squad disembarked to return to the DSC while Ben and Rhys stayed on board. They would be notified when it was safe to re the rest of the security team at the DSC.

As the rover drew near the DSC, Poot saw it slow as it neared its objective. They were obviously awed by the sight of the crashed vehicle and were now estimating how they would approach. The rover stopped at the SIM Door with the opening in front of them. Their leader commanded everyone out of the rover

and two of their team went to the back of the rover with the two volunteers to unload the equipment from the rover’s storage compartment.

Poot radioed the activities of the visitors to Squires, his team now reapproaching the DSC on foot. Poot reported that the visitors were all congregating at the SIM Door opening that had been created for them and their leader had just entered it.

Squires ordered Poot to go radio silent, not wanting any unnecessary RF chatter. He knew his team of professionals would know that maintaining radio silence in this situation was critical and, unless absolutely necessary, none would speak until Squires’ next command unless a real emergency came up. Each of them knew that any information they individually gathered would be discussed during the post-mission debrief.

The equipment the BioWave team had brought was removed from the rover and positioned initially outside the SIM Door. Their specialist leader motioned several of the others to the hull breach and they gingerly went inside for their first look at the interior - oblivious to the fact that the man-made opening had been created for them.

Squires moved into position through Door Two to monitor the BioWave team from inside the egg chamber. Schofield had chosen the location of the SIM Door well as the hull crack opening couldn’t be seen directly from the SIM Door, but Squires made sure that he could bug out from this hidden position at any time.

As was feared, it was apparent that the visitors were looking for the eggs as they seemed to be entirely focused on the egg chamber in front of them and what it contained. It was obvious that they had prior intelligence to know exactly where they needed to look. Now the mission Squires’ team had been hired for had

indeed taken the turn that none of his men wanted, but his team was prepared for this eventuality.

Squires could tell that his adversaries were being commanded by one individual who was giving orders. Their commander sent two of his team in opposite directions to check out the chamber as Squires had done with his men previously. Squires could tell that his adversary was a professional and knew what he was doing. All the better Squires thought. He’d trained all his life to go up against the best and besides he’d expected professionals to be running the BioWave show anyway.

The commanding officer left his two men inside while he tended to matters outside the DSC. He returned with four more people just as the two perimeter walkers were returning to their original starting point. The commander was gesticulating as he gave instructions to the assembled group and shortly several of his team exited through the opening, reappearing in a few minutes carrying equipment cases. Squires could see from their actions, they too had probe equipment to penetrate the mist layer covering the eggs. The commander had his team set the probes up while others opened more of the equipment cases they’d brought.

After the specialists had all gone inside carrying equipment, Poot saw BJ sneaking behind several large boulders a short distance from the DSC. Poot knew that BJ was attempting to get to a better tactical position and also gain a better sight line of the rover and the activities outside the SIM Door. What Poot couldn’t see was that Schofield was also moving to a superior position not quite below him along the outside hull of the DSC where he was hidden by the ridge of crash debris that surrounding much of the spacecraft.

The specialist team inside the DSC extracted two cylinders from each of the two equipment cases. Each cylinder was approximately two feet in diameter by three feet in height. When Squires saw the configuration of the cylinders as they were

opened, he was sure that the men had been given previous intelligence as the equipment they were using appeared purpose-built. Someone else must have had copies of the two previous android recordings.

Each of the four cylinders split vertically, and hinged to open. Squires could see that the bottom plates of the cylinders were designed to scythe an egg at its attachment point from the floor of the egg chamber as it closed. Each cylinder had a hinged cover attached to one of the vertical cylinder halves which latched down over the top of the cylinder when the two vertical halves were closed, thus sealing the egg inside, completing its capture.

The open cylinders were placed near the rim of the egg chamber. When Squires saw four winches unpacked from the equipment cases it was apparent that they were going into the chamber. As the commander directed his team to set up the winches in suitable position, two of the specialists slipped into harnesses. Ropes from two of the winches were attached to each harness while the ropes from the other two winches were attached to two of the four cylinders and each was moved to a position just above the mist. The two harnessed specialists were also suspended in their harnesses above the mist layer while the commander directed the operation from the side of the chamber. Squires’ impression was that three of the new visitors were seeing the operation for the first time as they stood by doing nothing, simply watching. All three stared at the activities intently.

Squires noted that the operation significantly slowed at this point. His opposition was taking great care in being precise in their activities; they had apparently practiced this routine as their motions appeared quite choreographed and exact. The two suspended men gently dropped probes through the mist layer apparently to precisely position each cylinder to capture an egg once it was lowered through the mist. Squires didn’t know how the team could pull this off as he recalled the premise that the blue light barrier, if disturbed, would act as an alarm alerting the eggs to open.

The two suspended men were now still and in position above the mist layer to coordinate the positioning of the cylinders with the winch operators. Each operator was responsible for a single cylinder’s positioning. When the cylinders were ready, each was lowered painstakingly slowly through the mist. When in position, each cylinder was closed around an egg and the winch operator reversed the slow process of extracting the egg from the chamber floor. After the first two cylinders were lifted out of the chamber and set aside. The two other top-side men double checked the cylinders to ensure each was closed securely and that their covers were dogged-down tightly.

The choreographed exercise was replicated when the remaining two cylinders were lowered into the egg chamber. Now more practiced and confident, the two harnessed guys directed the egg capture even more efficiently than the first go around. The two winch operators unhooked the third and fourth cylinders fluidly, the restraining system of each cylinder was double checked and the winch operators raised the two suspended men slightly before rotating each to safety.

The mission commander apparently instructed the three open-mouthed observers to load the cylinders back into each of the equipment cases. Although Squires was out of earshot from the conversation between the threesome, he surmised that it had something to do with the cylinders being heavier now than when first dropped into the chamber since it took two of the three to lift each into the equipment cases.

While the specialists removed their harnesses, the winch operators returned their equipment to their respective transport cases readying them for return to the rover. All the equipment was repacked and each member of the group grabbed the closest equipment case and left through the SIM Door with their cargo.

Poot saw the group of men emerge from the SIM Door and the equipment cases they were carrying were deposited at the rear of the rover. After several trips back inside the DSC to gather their equipment, the rear doors of the rover were

opened. All but one of the cases was repacked into the rover’s reinforced rear storage compartment.

#

Chapter XLVII

Technical Issues

While Ben and Rhys waited in the safety of the A they discussed the progress they had made and what their next steps should be to unlock the coded DSC information systems. Both were excited – more from a scientific perspective than any fear for their own safety from the BioWave team that had shown up from the mining colony. Their biggest concern on that point, was that if BioWave did what was expected and took alien samples, their mission would have to be modified to include measures to stop them.

Rhys offered, “Ben, I know stopping the BioWave team is important, but we need to stay focused on our mission, at least for the moment. I’m sure that the information our security team gathers will be solid and they will have some ideas about what to do next.”

Ben replied, “I know dear, but don’t forget that our guys were hired primarily to protect us and destroy the aliens in this spacecraft. I don’t know if they will be too willing to go up against a possible superior force and a bunch of civilians at the mining site.”

“You’re right,” Rhys retorted, “but let’s not get ahead of ourselves on that issue. Squires and his guys are professionals who’ve dealt with a lot of different situations in their collective careers so I’m guessing they’ll be able to come up with a rational plan to deal with whatever situation arises.”

Ben replied, “You’re right, I shouldn’t be too worried at this point, so I guess we should concentrate on staying on track in our job and get what we came for.”

The scientists returned to their discussion about reestablishing connectivity with Hermes’ console and extracting the data as quickly as possible.

#

Chapter XLVIII

Released

Derwent Maxwell was nearly yanked off his feet as he was thrown by the commander through the rear enger door of the rover. He started to protest, but quickly realized that the two mining workers were being overpowered by the four other specialists at the back of the rover. Each employee was handcuffed; one to each of the handles of the double doors of the rover’s rear storage compartment. While the specialists said nothing, the mining workers were spewing verbal venom at their captors until they were silenced by what happened next.

Two of the specialists returned to the rover, one taking the driver’s seat and the other grabbing a backseat next to Maxwell to insure he didn’t try to escape. The commander had taken the shotgun seat next to the driver. The two specialists who remained at the rear of the rover were the biggest and most muscular of the five in the commander’s contingent. They opened the only equipment case not loaded into the rover’s storage compartment. It was one of the cases containing two of the cylinders. The two muscular men lifted the cylinders from the equipment cases and placed each of the cylinders near, but out of reach of the two handcuffed mining employees. The cylinders were placed on their sides and their tops were unlatched exposing the contents to the two prisoners whose eyes went wide. The two muscle-bound specialists quickly retreated to the safety of the rover and slammed the doors behind them.

The prisoners could see the leathery contents of the cylinders and for a moment nothing happened. However, the top of one of the leathery objects opened like the petals of a blooming flower, exposing a pulsing, mucus-covered interior. As the first man squirmed against his handcuffs, suddenly the contents of the object

exploded and a crab-like creature shot out and encapsulated the man’s face. The other man watched in horror as his compatriot writhed in an unsuccessful bid to rip the creature from his face. The other man recoiled in horror away from his coworker whose contortions slowly ceased as he was overcome by the attack.

BJ, Schofield and Poot all silently gasped to themselves, but none broke radio silence. Each of them steadied themselves, quickly controlling their body’s natural fight-or-flight response as adrenaline was pumped into their bloodstreams. Now witnessing the event first-hand, each of them recalled video they’d seen of this happening previously to one of the men of the original excursion team. As professional as each of the of Squires’ team was, none of them believed the sheer violence of the actual alien attack.

Slowly the petals of the second leathery entity opened. The second prisoner stood motionless, his mind obviously racing to find a way to escape. He now realized how it felt to be a tethered animal waiting as bait for a carnivore’s attack. Rather than in a flash of motion, the crab-like creature within the second egg crawled agonizingly slowly from its leathery shelter. The handcuffed man kicked dirt and dust wildly at the creature in an attempt to drive it away. Suddenly through the cloud of dust the creature, now only a few feet away from the man, sprang toward the man’s face. The mining employee had been somewhat ready as he threw a hard punch with his free hand and hit the creature in mid-flight. The creature’s momentum had been stopped in mid air and it tumbled to the man’s feet. The man was quick and he kicked the creature back into the dust cloud and jumped behind the door he was handcuffed to, using it a shield to block the creature’s next attack.

The creature vaulted toward the man behind his door-shield. The shield worked as the creature struck the reinforced window of the door. However, the creature grasped the top of the door and hauled itself up over the top. The man ducked lower, but his handcuffed wrist held firmly and all he could do was drop to the ground. The creature dropped onto the man’s head and wrapped its tail around the man’s neck. The strangling caused the man to reflexively open his mouth to

gasp for air and the creature used the opportunity to clamp its legs around the back of the man’s head while squirming itself into position in front of the man’s face. Before it fully seated itself, Squires’ men could see the creature insert a penis-like tube into its victim’s gaping mouth before dropping itself firmly over the man’s face, his one-armed attempt at protecting himself ineffective. The man quickly succumbed to the second creature’s attack and now both human victims lay motionless at the rear of the rover, their wrists still coupled securely to the rover’s door handles.

The specialist commander waited in the rover’s front seat while his four men exited and went to the back of the vehicle. Two of the men brandished rifles while the other two uncuffed the now motionless mining employees and each was unceremoniously dumped into the rover’s rear storage compartment. The specialists slammed the storage compartment doors leaving the empty unmarked equipment case and cylinders behind and quickly returned to the safety of the interior of the rover. The motor was started and the rover quickly retraced the path from which it had come as the specialist team departed for its return to the mining site leaving the empty egg cylinders and their equipment case behind, laying in the planet’s dust.

Rhys and Ben were reviewing the results of the data they’d earlier collected. They were discussing their ideas and brainstorming when they received the radio message from Squires that his team was returning to the APC.

#

Chapter XLIX

Strategy

Squires and his team entered the APC and it was immediately apparent to Ben and Rhys that all of the security team were excited. Squires had made the decision to debrief the security team, but he wanted input from everyone, including their pilot, Woody Stevens, so rather than have Woody bring the Nemesis to them, they would drive to it.

There was mostly silence between the security team in the APC during their return to the drop ship. Squires had told them that discussion about what they had just witnessed could wait until their arrival at the drop ship so that everyone could hear the individual s of what had just taken place. After what they had just experienced, each of the trained military professionals had to reboot their minds to recover the relatively calm mind-space they had been in prior to the arrival of the BioWave contingent and the revulsion of what they had just witnessed.

Squires radioed Stevens that they were en route to him and that he too should do a proactive security sweep surrounding the drop ship. Even though Stevens had all the molecular biometrics systems operating since landing at the LZ, he dutifully complied, double checking all sensors. When the DSC crew arrived at the drop ship they drove quickly up the receiving ramp which was closed immediately after them. Before the engines of the APC spooled down, the doors opened and Squires led his men to the ready room with Ben and Rhys nearly jogging to keep up.

Squires’ asked for a situational debrief of what had just transpired. Squires wanted everyone to discuss the event they had just witnessed so that each story could augment the memory of another so there would be little chance of missing even the most minor detail.

Each witness to the event took their turn relating what they had seen. Stevens was just as appalled by the stories details as Rhys and Ben – each of them wide eyed as security team told their own versions of what had happened. After all of the security team had finished their stories, Squires asked, “Impressions?” Looking directly at Poot to give his first:

Poot said, “Whoever is behind this is ruthless and has no regard for human life,” casting his gaze to Ramon Johnson.

BJ continued, “Yeah man, it is hard to believe, but now we know our adversaries will do anything to get what they want. Colonel, you said one of the other cases contained eggs. What do you make of them taking the eggs back?”

“Good question, BJ,” Squires encouraged, “that is something we need to find out.” Shifting gears, Squires said, “How about you Des, what’s your take?”

Schofield took his usual measured time to respond to the question, going over his response in his mind before speaking. Eventually he offered, “It is clear that their intention is to ultimately breed the final alien form at some point. In Ripley’s story from the last mission, she discovered that the company planned to impregnate humans and put them into frozen cryosleep before the next metamorphic stage of the creature’s lifecycle could be completed, thus sneaking the creature’s frozen embryo through quarantine inside each victim. That means two things; one, the additional eggs will be used to impregnate two other people and two, because the gestational cycle of the aliens is fairly fast, the BioWave

guys will have to leave the planet soon.”

Squires said, “That tracks. Of course that means that we’ll have to modify our tactical plan and accelerate our entire operation. Are there any comments from you, Woody or our scientists?”

Stevens only said, “Sounds like you may need another body to help you out operationally. I’m getting kind of tired of cooling my heels in this contraption.”

Squires said, “Don’t worry, Woody, I’ve got plans for you. I may even let you use some of the new toys we brought along.” Stevens smiled; clapping his hands together animatedly like a kid seeing presents that Santa had left under a Christmas tree.

Rhys said, “Ben and I have been discussing aggressively cracking the code to the DSC database and we’ve come up with some ideas. We’ll implement them as soon as we return to the DSC.”

Ben nodded his agreement, but added, “Colonel you have my complete confidence to do what is necessary in our new-world-order. It seems we must aggressively move forward. Our adversaries have a numerical advantage over us so my only comment is that I am changing your orders. I want you to be unencumbered in your focus to stop BioWave from leaving the planet with those creatures. Ms. Adams and I can take care of ourselves here since it seems that the alien eggs will remain in stasis unless seriously disturbed. Just leave us some of your ‘toys’ as you call them so we can protect ourselves. Of course, if the eggs hatch having the APC with the engines running would be a nice touch if you could spare it,” Ben added with a wink.

Squires picked up on Ben’s stab at lightening the mood, smiled back and replied, “Thanks Dr. Hicks,” using the academic title as an acknowledgement of his respect for Ben’s authority, “I appreciate that. However, my next move is to complete our mission here as planned before pursuing our adversaries. I think we all will benefit from completing our respective tasks here and then try to stop the BioWave guys from getting the aliens off the planet.

“If that is all, gentlemen,” addressing his security team, “let’s discuss your thoughts on how we’ll get the most bang-for-our-buck in taking out that egg chamber, how we’ll protect ourselves in the event of being discovered and now, planning a field-trip to the mining site.”

Rhys said, “Colonel, we’ll transmit what has happened here to our people back home and keep you informed of any comments from their end.”

Squires had Woody take a seat in the APC for the return trip to the DSC. When they arrived, he led his men from the APC and headed back inside the DSC to complete setting it up for final destruction after the scientists complete their mission. Ben and Rhys stayed inside the vehicle to the rest of the Family.

#

Chapter L

Sharing the News

“Fuck,” Dwayne said after hearing what had happened, “just what we needed – those fucking creatures running around killing people again!” After composing himself a bit, he continued, “I know Squires will do the best possible job in getting on top of this new situation,” trying to show Rhys and Ben his best possible face to their new dilemma, “so what are your plans now?”

Ben responded, “We’ve ed some data into the Shakuru’s computers using the improved StarLink system and it is crunching those numbers now. Hopefully, the results will provide some options to use to crack the entry code to Hermes’ entire database.”

Rhys offered, “I’ve loaded the symbology we have at this point into the computers too and maybe it can come up with a starting point for interpretation or code breaking.” Ellen Ripley kept silent. She was thinking about the horror the two alien victims had gone through and what was to come for them.

Michael Hicks stated, “I think you made the right decision Ben, Squires needs to be free to do his military thing. At the same time, I’m sure he’ll consider the best course of action in protecting you as our primary objective remains obtaining the DSC data.”

“Acknowledged and understood. I too have full confidence in him since

observing him in action here. He’s quite competent.” Ben shifted his thoughts, now using the familiar to address his father, “Dad, I think that it is imperative that we carefully monitor any communications from BioWave, the government and the mining headquarters. It may be possible to pick up something else that will help our cause.”

Michael replied, “I agree, will do,” and they terminated the StarLink conversation. .

#

Chapter LI

New Activities

Michael knew that he would have to be very careful in actively probing the computer databases of the mining company and especially the government systems. He was confident that the backdoor systems he had in place at his own company would have alerted him to any activity at BioWave outside of the norm.

He would start by probing the information regarding government committee who’d approved the BioWave contract. Michael had been suspicious of them when BioWave got the initial contract for the upgraded atmosphere processing equipment, but he didn’t search any deeper than obtaining a list of people on the committee at the time. Michael had been pretty busy up until now assisting the Family with their sense of duty in returning to LV-426. He had also found that he enjoyed resurrecting Bishop and had spent most of his extra waking hours in an effort to make Bishop another asset for the Family’s cause.

Dwayne Hicks and Ellen Ripley had kept away from each other once the new mission commenced so as not to raise any additional suspicions that they were working together again. However, they had confidence in Michael’s new, secure communications system and used it often to each other from a variety of locations outside of their homes. For several months prior to the mission launch the two had established independent routines as excuses to be away from their homes so they could eventually communicate remotely with one another. Both of them now felt the need to discuss the information they’d just received.

“I almost fainted when our people told us what happened to those two men,” Ripley almost gasped, her normally strong voice now wavering.

Dwayne responded, “Yeah, me too. I’d hoped I’d never have to hear about that ever happening to anyone again.”

“Of course now I’m constantly thinking about my great granddaughter and her safety,” Ellen replied now even more agony in her voice and she questioned, “What have we done in sending them into this situation? I know rationally it needed to be done, but now I’m cursing myself for allowing this to happen.”

Hicks responded, “Me too Ellen, but of course it does no good thinking this way now. What’s done is done. We’ve known for years that we’d likely have to face the music to stop anyone from taking those creatures from the planet. As for Rhys’ safety, I’m sure that Squires and his people will get a handle on things – especially keeping her and Ben’s safety first and foremost. My biggest concern is that we have two locations of aliens now and only one nuke. Plus we can’t nuke the mining site with all the people there. If the BioWave guys are lucky, those things won’t take over the mining colony. But from our experience, we have to assume the creatures will go out-of-control and then we’re all up shitcreek. My gut reaction is to pull our people out if Squires finds that the aliens have taken over the mining site and let someone else worry about it. But, of course, we can’t do that because someone else may make the wrong decisions and those things could present an even bigger danger. I can only hope that the intel we gave our people makes a difference in how they manage the situation from here on out.”

“Shit Dwayne, you’re right on all counts – we have to assume the worst and hope we are wrong and it will be up to our people to end this here and now,” Ellen itted. “I hope that Ben and Rhys can break the security encryption and then extract the data quickly so that we won’t have that to worry about. Let’s think about different scenarios and discuss them next time we talk. I don’t want

to leave our people hanging out there without some options. ”

“Me either, so I’ll start thinking about possible scenarios and we’ll talk about it tomorrow, I need to get some sleep soon.” Ellen agreed and they signed off.

#

Chapter LII

Takeover

The rover came to a stop outside the doors of the mining site’s medical facility. The commander didn’t wait for the medical staff in the lab to protest the breach of security when the two newly stricken victims were brought in. The staff had seen this before, but all they could do was weakly repeat that they’d seen this happen to two men after a previous off-site excursion. Those victims soon died when their chests exploded, releasing juvenile alien creatures who had escaped.

The commander said, “So now if you’ve seen this before and had a chance to think about it while we’ve been gone, what do you suggest?” The medical people were mute, none had additional suggestions. The commander said, “From your silence I take it you won’t be of much use to us. My staff will take over from here. I want you all out of the lab. Continue your analysis elsewhere and let me know if you have any ideas, but for now I want you all to assist your security people in finding those two escaped juveniles.”

The medical staff left. Even though they were medically better skilled than any of his people, the commander wanted them out of the way for what he had planned next. He was going to let the alien creatures attached to the latest victims take their next metamorphic step undisturbed. He would have his team prepared when the face-hugging creatures now holding the two men captive fell away. When they did, his team would immediately place the victims into cryosleep in preparation for transportation back to the Mentor’s base. The commander’s only concern was making sure at least one of the two additional eggs they had brought back from the derelict spacecraft found a host.

As night began to fall, the two largest BioWave specialists continued to unload their specialized equipment from the returned rover. The BioWave party had left two unmarked and empty egg cylinders as well as the equipment case originally containing them back at the derelict spacecraft in order to make room in the rear of the rover for the two new victims now in the medical lab with the crab-like creatures still firmly attached to their faces. The other equipment case containing the two remaining egg cylinders had just been delivered to the medical lab, ing the two human victims already on two gurneys there.

The large BioWave specialists made their final return to the rover to recover the last of their equipment. The two security men complained to each other about their shit duty and the shit food that likely awaited them when they were finished. They hefted the last piece of gear from the back of the rover and slammed the rover’s doors shut behind them. As they turned to enter the refuge of the medical lab, they didn’t hear the stealthy approach of the two escaped, now fully-grown adult alien creatures.

Only a day before, the two adult aliens had been in their original crab-like form, attached to the faces of the men the Mentor had sent to the derelict spacecraft prior to the planetary arrival the BioWave team. After the creatures morphed into their juvenile form, thereby killing their hosts when they hatched, they escaped from the medical lab and hid from mining site search parties by finding refuge in the undercarriage of the very rover the BioWave team used for their eggcollection journey to the derelict spacecraft. The juveniles were intelligent and they noted the route to the derelict spacecraft’s location - where more of their sibling’s eggs waited.

In the time it took for the creatures to make their escape from the medical lab combined with the duration of the rover’s trip to the derelict spacecraft and back – less than 24 hours - the aliens had grown to adulthood while clinging to the undercarriage of the rover. They had stayed patient until their biologic clocks prodded them into action – which was now.

The two adult creatures attacked the commander’s two largest men savagely and without warning. The human’s death was quick, but not without intense pain and horror. The victims’ bodies were dragged to a more secluded location where the aliens fed. After finishing, they continued to hunt while their bodies continued the adaptation that made their species so formidable.

#

Chapter LIII

Hermes’ House

Squires had taken the input from his team and then he and Schofield ran the simulation through the tactical computer. They changed the parameters of the data slightly and got the expected modified results. Squires didn’t want to show his hand in revealing his team presence to any more intruders if he didn’t have to. The data entered needed to address two main issues: one; maximum destruction of the contents of the egg chamber and two; AM-61 mine placement in the least observable places in case the BioWave personnel returned before they could complete the from Hermes’ systems. It was best that his adversaries, either human or alien, were kept clueless until he could dictate the of his team’s presence. Never would be his first choice.

Between the results of the two computer simulations, they selected the one they agreed provided best positioning of the AM-61 attachment mines. Many would be placed around the periphery of the egg chamber. The others would be strategically targeted using the mine launchers to propel additional mines to predetermined locations within the chamber itself. Finally they would coordinate the detonation of the explosives for maximum effect.

The security team gently placed the chamber mines just at the highest level of the mist barrier in a pattern assuring that the concussion of one would work in conjunction with the other explosives to produce a massive pressure wave which, together with the coordinated explosions of the interior launched mines, would compress any living matter within the chamber into fluids. They would also set charges around Hermes’ console to insure the data it contained would also be destroyed.

Using the AM-61s was the second best scenario to take out the egg chamber and assure Hermes’ data would never be found by others. Their first choice would be to simply detonate the nuke they carried to guarantee total destruction of the alien life as well as Hermes’ console and the data it contained. They all hoped that this option could remain a possibility. However now that the aliens were literally out of the bag – at two discrete locations – they didn’t want to limit the option of using the nuke in a future situation if necessary. So the security team continued their mission to maximize destruction within the chamber using conventional weapons.

Squires, Schofield and now Stevens were loading the APC with the excess AM61 mines that they would keep in reserve for future use if needed. Although the Nemesis had more stores of the AM-61s on board, Squires wanted to be as frugal as possible with what equipment he had immediately available. He was feeling relieved that the computer simulations they’d run indicated the entire DSC would be annihilated without having to use his entire complement of explosives. Poot was bringing up the rear just nearing Hermes’ console where the two scientists were working when the entire team heard BJ in their earphone receivers say, “EVERYONE FREEZE!”

#

Chapter LIV

Second Visitation

BJ had been setting the last of the mines in the egg chamber. Squires didn’t want to expose his team unnecessarily so his thinking was that if the team from BioWave returned they would use the SIM Door entry as they had previously. Therefore, BJ was placing the last AM-61 as close to the entry point of the SIM Door as possible without being too close to the area where the visitors had originally set up their equipment.

BJ was just about to lower himself with his rappel line after circuit testing the last of the highest charges on the wall of the DSC when he detected movement out of the corner of his eye. Thinking it was Poot having forgotten something he started to speak when he froze. It wasn’t Poot. It was a large, black creature he knew to be a fully grown, adult alien that seemingly appeared out of nowhere standing among the eggs no more than twenty meters from him. BJ never took his eyes off the creature while his mind raced and he had to fight his initial reaction to speed-line down and bolt out of the chamber. He quickly realized that the alien had not detected him. It must have been his good fortune that he had been working where he was, but it was clear that the alien was only worried about the eggs it was standing among.

BJ realized why he hadn’t immediately seen the creature enter the chamber – it appeared that it had wings, it must have flown in! BJ pressed his body against wall of the DSC in an attempt to disappear into it. He needed to alert the rest of the team to hold their positions, so using his helmet mounted microphone, as quietly as possible, he whispered, “Guys, we’ve got company. Eyes on my position…”

Schofield was ordered to cover the scientists while Squires took Poot and Stevens to the Door Two entrance and quietly entered. They all looked toward the SIM Door opening and saw the large alien standing among the eggs in the chamber. They couldn’t see BJ, but none of them could believe what they saw next - a second adult alien had just entered through the SIM Door – in flight! The winged creature flew directly to the egg chamber and hovered over the mist barrier for a second before gently descending through the barrier ing the other adult creature.

Although neither creature made any sound that BJ could hear they were certainly communicating with each other in some fashion. The creatures seemed to move in a coordinated way as though they were executing a predetermined ritual. The rest of the security team stayed still and watched the spectacle before them. All were concerned about BJ’s safety as well as what would happen next.

They watched as the winged adult aliens moved among the eggs - separated from each other by about ten meters when they both stopped, turned and while facing each other, extended their… what, arms? Both of the adult aliens opened their arms wide as if making an imaginary circle between them. They held that pose for a moment until BJ heard both of them begin to hiss at each other. But when the eggs within the imaginary circle created by the adult’s extended arms all started opening to reveal their slimy contents, BJ knew that the hissing of the adult creatures was not to each other, but was actually a signal for the eggs to awaken.

As the adults continued their hissing, the crab-like creatures within the eggs inside the imaginary circle emerged and began crawling slowly as if in a trance toward each of the adults. When each of the adults was surrounded by about ten of their newly hatched relatives, the hissing stopped and the adults slowly dropped their arms. The crab-creatures then climbed up and onto the adults wrapping their tails around whatever they could find to secure a firm hold. When the climbing ceased and the hatchlings were in place, the adults extended their

wings and, in a low drone of sound, they both rose through the mist until BJ lost sight of them as they flew out the SIM Door.

Squires’ team also saw the two flying creatures ascend through the haze of the egg chamber. The two adult aliens moved in tandem toward the SIM Door they had entered and then disappeared through it. Stevens rushed out of the DSC through the hull crack to watch the creatures depart and saw them head in the direction of the mining site. He returned after watching the aliens fly over the horizon and said, “Man I wish I was airborne now and following them, but I’d bet my next paycheck that they’re headed to the mining site.”

Squires radioed BJ to get the hell out of the chamber and get back to Hermes’ console. At the same time he ordered Poot and Des to cover for BJ. BJ didn’t need Squires’ orders to move as he was emerging from the chamber before Squires was done giving his orders to the others. As BJ ran to the rest of the team’s position the entire team could hear him say, “They took their kids, they took their kids.”

After returning to Hermes’ control area to give the scientists the news, Squires debriefed BJ and the others on what they’d all seen from their respective positions. Rhys listened to each story and then said, “The alien behavior you have witnessed is similar to how a nest of ants work on earth. When the nest needs to be moved, males adapt by growing wings to enable them to move the nest to a new location. I think what you’ve seen is similar to that activity. I’m guessing that those two creatures we saw were males and they are moving the nest to a better location – one with a food supply and more hosts to procreate. And the only place I know of with a food source is the mining operation.”

“OK,” said Ben, “that follows and if we take your thinking to the next step, it also means that the aliens will be producing another queen to spawn the next generation of aliens at the mining site. Man, this is getting worse all the time.”

“Yes,” said Rhys, “and we have to do something about that. This situation is deteriorating quickly. Ben, you and I need to crack Hermes’ database now. Plus, I’d suggest that we get word back to the rest of the Family about what is going on here. Maybe Michael has picked up on some chatter back home that will help us here.”

Ben replied, “OK, I’ll get you set up with Hermes again and then I’ll go back to the APC to the Family. Let’s switch Bishop helmets as you may need Bishop I’s processor to assist you at Hermes’ console. Having Bishop’s help loading the code algorithms is the fastest way to crack Hermes’ encrypted security. I’ll keep Bishop II fired up in case you need me.”

Whether similar to ant behavior or not, it was clear that the adult creatures were bringing the hatchlings back to the mining site. Since the Family team already knew that the BioWave party had taken eggs and infected two mining workers, they also knew the mining site had to be aware that the aliens had been unleashed there; consequently there was no point in trying to send the mining site a warning. They could now only hope the humans at the site were ready.

#

Chapter LV

Delivery

The adult aliens entered one of the dormitories of the mining site through an exterior air duct. They quickly overpowered and killed the security guard who let his attention slip only momentarily. The adults then smashed through the doors of each of the sleeping quarters and loosed the immature hatchlings on the unsuspecting human occupants. Each found a host and those humans who were spared the hatchling’s attachment were overpowered by the two larger adult aliens. It was all over in about seven minutes.

Back in the medical lab, the specialist commander had summoned Derwent Maxwell to a late meeting. Both of them had been unaware that the previously escaped juveniles had accompanied them on their egg gathering expedition. Nor were either of them aware that the creatures were now fully grown and had retrieved more of their species from the derelict spacecraft.

As Maxwell entered the lab, he saw the two mining employees with the creatures still attached to their faces and strapped down on two of the three examination tables in the lab. The commander was asking his two other specialists where the other two muscle-heads of the team were. Neither of his charges said they knew. Both suspected they were in the cafeteria for chow after their mission. The commander stated that he couldn’t wait for them and he’d deal with them later.

Turning to Maxwell the commander said, “You are aware that our mission has taken a bit of a dramatic turn,” stating the obvious. He continued, “The Mentor has also asked me to deliver a special message to you.” As the commander

spoke, his two men moved to either side of Maxwell. Suddenly, each grabbed one of Maxwell’s arms and as the men lifted his body and, with his legs flailing in the air, together they slammed him onto the open examination table. While his men strapped Maxwell to the table, the commander continued to speak. “The Mentor has a much broader plan than you’ve been led to believe. He wants you to be part of the next phase his plan in a very personal way.”

Maxwell was protesting the entire time, but the commander didn’t pay any attention to what he was saying and continued, “The Mentor is weary of your incompetence. That little stunt you tried to pull in bribing the government informant was the last straw. Unfortunately you are, as of this moment, relieved of your position at BioWave. However, since you have been a loyal associate for so many years, the Mentor wanted to reward you for your service by including you in his next project.”

With that, the commander reached over and unscrewed the retaining screws that secured the top of one of the remaining egg cylinders brought back from the derelict spacecraft. Before he removed the top of the cylinder, his two men moved it next to Maxwell’s examination table. Spit flew from Maxwell’s mouth as he protested what he now realized was happening. The commander continued by removing the latch on the top of the cylinder. As he and his men left the room he said, “The Mentor sincerely hopes that you appreciate your promotion to his new project.” The door closed behind the departing men and Maxwell heard the lock fall into place just as top of the cylinder popped open and the petals of the alien egg unfurled.

#

Chapter LVI

Booby-trap

Squires had his men unload the distance laser from the APC and he attached the molecular biometrics module to it, saying, “I’m not going to stand by and let those two winged fuckers return and take more of their young back to the mining site. They’ve already skewed the field to their advantage enough. If those sons-abitches return, I’m going to take their asses out. I only hope the rest of the new toys we brought work as d.”

Squires had his men set up the HPDL with the MB module attached across the expanse of the egg chamber directly in line with the SIM Door. He placed the weapon so that it would have the most direct field of fire in the door’s direction, allowing maximum exposure of any returning aliens before they dropped among the eggs. They could program the weapons system to wait to kill the creatures until after they were laden with their young when they were possibly more vulnerable while carrying the extra load. However, in the end, the military professionals all agreed that taking the creatures out before they collected the hatchlings was a better idea, believing that even if they killed the adults as they rose from the chamber, the attached hatchlings may escape and cause more problems if they were freed inside the DSC.

Ben let Michael know what was happening on the planet from the APC and Michael had some news from his end. Michael had discovered that the government had planted an operative on the atmosphere processing contract committee who had died somewhat suspiciously just before he delivered a glowing report that BioWave had played fairly in securing the equipment contract. Michael knew that Maxwell had underbid the contract so he dug a little deeper and his embedded double agent found traces of alterations in the

company records that normally wouldn’t have been noticed. But Michael’s program had recorded the changes made to BioWave’s ledgers showing that Maxwell authorized probable bribe money being taken and then replaced later.

Michael told Ben what he’d found and said, “I’m convinced that someone from the outside is manipulating the BioWave mission. Maxwell’s strings are being pulled and I’m going to find out who it is.”

“OK, sounds good, thanks for the info now I need to get back, Rhys will hopefully have Hermes’ system cracked soon because we need to haul-ass out of here.”

Michael replied, “I agree Ben, out.”

#

Chapter LVII

A New Twist

Ripley requested a conference of the Family on earth. “I need to show you all something,” Ellen began after all four Family were on line. “I’ve been going over the secret recordings from the two androids and I think there is something important in them that we may have overlooked.”

Dwayne had known Ellen a long time and he could tell there was some urgency to Ripley’s statement so he quizzed her about what it may be saying, “I guess whatever it is must be something pretty important!”

“Well let me show it to you because I want your opinion,” and with that Ripley began a transmitting the recordings of the first excursion team’s approach to the derelict spacecraft. The three recordings Ripley played were relatively short, all showing approximately the same information although the voice overlays were from each individual carrying their recording equipment. Each recording was remarkably clear and to Dwayne, nothing he’d not seen before. Ellen let all three recordings play up until the moment the excursion team entered the DSC stopping each recording at that point. Ellen asked, “What did you see?”

“I dunno,” Dwayne said, “three recordings of basically the same thing. Each person’s recordings as they approached the DSC. I guess the only different thing that struck me was that they chose to enter the spacecraft through the left-most of the three portals.” Newt and Michael concurred.

“Yes, that is correct and also part of my conclusions,” Ellen encouraged, “anything else?”

“Well…,” Newt was thinking hard and then blurted out, “I guess I wonder what’s behind the other two portal doors next to the one we’ve been using.”

“Good, I’ve had the same thought, I’ve wondered if either of the other two portals leads to different areas of the ship. Then I got to thinking, ‘What could the portals possibly lead to?’ and then I started rerunning the recordings and realized that the DSC is a really gigantic spacecraft. If you look at the size of it and note that the Hermes’ pilot area is just a small area in comparison to the rest of the spacecraft, then the question is: what makes up the size of the rest of the spacecraft?”

“You are right, the DSC is huge,” now Michael talking, “but so is the egg chamber below the pilot dome so couldn’t that make up for the rest of the ship’s size?”

“Yes, it might, but I’ve been looking at these recordings since Michael found them and I’m convinced that there is more to the DSC than just the dome and the egg chamber.” Now Ripley was on a roll and without letting the others respond to her comments, she continued, “I believe that there may be more levels to the DSC than we realized. If you look at the three portals on the recordings you will see there is a substantial area above them and the actual pilot dome at the top of the derelict craft. We are sure the egg chamber is the lowest level of the spacecraft and I acknowledge the chamber is a huge cavern. However, even being as large as the egg chamber is, I think there is a possibility at least one other mid-level deck exists between it and the dome. Maybe one of the other portals is an entrance to that deck. We’ve never considered where those other portals lead. There could even be more than a single mid-deck between the two areas we know about. Maybe each of the other two portals is an entrance to other decks.”

The other Family sat back in their chairs, all absorbing what Ripley just told them. In Ellen’s zeal to tell what she thought she’d discovered, she now realized she hadn’t allowed anyone else to make a judgment before she’d blurted out her analysis. She now sat quietly waiting for any response.

“Geez, I guess I never would have come to that conclusion,” said Dwayne, “but now that you mention it, there does appear to be plenty of room for another deck – that is if the volume of the spacecraft isn’t taken up entirely by the area of the egg chamber.”

“That is true, but the only way we can be positive is to make sure Squires has his men investigate and record what is beyond the second and third portals. I think it is critical that we find out before we destroy any data and the aliens.”

Now Michael reenters the conversation, “I agree we need to investigate that possibility. We can’t simply destroy the DSC when the possibility of collecting more valuable information exists.”

“Yes,” Ripley responded, “the more I view this information, the more questions I have so I want to go over them again with you all so that we can bounce any more thoughts off each other.”

All agreed with Ellen’s recommendation so they spent the next twenty minutes reviewing the earliest recordings of the derelict spacecraft approach watching all of the recordings from start to finish. They looked closely at any details in the background of the recordings that may allow more clues to Ripley’s assumption of the existence of mid-decks. Before they concluded their conference, the only concrete possibilities of were the two other

unexplored portals next to the one the on-planet team was using to access Hermes’ command dome.

Michael said, “Well I think that’s all we can do from here. I suggest we call Ben and have him inform Squires that it is imperative that we come away from the planet with a complete recording of the entire DSC – including what is beyond the second and third portals.” The rest of the Family agreed that time was short, so they all approved of making the call immediately.

Michael ed the scientists working at Hermes’ console via Bishop helmets via the link to the APC. He repeated Ripley’s idea of possible multi-levels to the DSC. Michael asked if the security team had been able to complete the recorded documentation of the DSC and was told that they had started, but had only recorded the exterior of the craft and Hermes’ dome area before they were occupied with security issues. They had planned to finish the job, but due to the unfolding events, Squires had been keeping his men busy readying the DSC for destruction.

Ben responded from the planet, “OK, I’ll get Squires’ team cracking on completing the recordings while Rhys and I hopefully finish ing the DSC’s data. I think Squires team will have most of the charges set to blow the DSC completed soon anyway.”

“I know you’re all up to your eyeballs in alligators there now, Ben, but we think that it is crucial that we complete the recording of the entire DSC. It may be nearly as important as extracting the data. If Ripley is right, there could be hugely valuable new information on that ship that could lead to more understanding of both extraterrestrial species and what happened to them. We may even discover something that could assist Rhys’ eventual interpretation of the computer data.”

“OK, Ben replied, “I guess Squires will just have to fit this in with the rest of his duties.”

“Yeah, but , according to Dwayne, Squires is a worthy commander and he has had to deal with many on-the-fly battlefield twists in his career, so just trust him to be able to handle it.”

“Oh, I will. Squires has proven very capable and I’m sure he’ll get the job done. We have a record of the excursion team’s recordings here so Squires can have a look at them again if need be. If there isn’t anything else, let me get back to my job.”

“OK, we’ll be standing by.”

When Ben found Squires he told the soldier, “Something else that has come up.”

#

Chapter LVIII

Curve Ball

Squires waited for Ben to continue; when he did Ben gave him the information about Ripley’s idea of possible additional levels to the DSC. Ben stressed it was imperative that the security team complete the recordings that had already been started. Squires took it all in and told Ben that he’d get his men on it, but unless it took longer than expected for the scientists to complete their assignment, there was not enough time to go back to the APC to review the original recordings. Squires said he trusted the Family’s judgment so he’d just go with the revised program and add the new assignment to his mix of duties.

Ben was pleased that Squires had been chosen to lead the security team. Squires had demonstrated initiative, guile and leadership since they arrived on the planet which allowed the academics to concentrate on their respective duties. As per Ben’s expectation, as he wheeled around to leave, Squires was already two steps away, commenting over his shoulder as he left, “I’ll keep you informed,” as he strode off to reorganize his men.

“Gentlemen, we have a situation.” Squires began after his team was assembled. The group knew immediately that the Colonel was talking about something new, not the shit-storm they’d already experienced. “A new request has come from our employers,” Squires didn’t say ‘orders’ as, although his men all knew who was running the mission, they really only took orders from Squires, “that I’m sure all of you will find interesting even though it will require more work from all of us.

“Latest intelligence indicates that the DSC may have multiple levels that we may have overlooked in concentrating primarily on protection services. As you all know, we were tasked with making a record of the entire spacecraft, both interior and exterior. We started that process and now we have to complete it. Unfortunately, I’ll have to put my hand up and it that I have been slack in insisting that that part of our mission be completed. I know circumstances have required us to be focused on a great many things and although I can see we are near completion of our primary mission, I must ask you all to finalize this additional project before we destroy the ship prior to our departure.

“Des and Poot, you two take one of the recorders and check out the two other portals next to the portal we’ve been using. See where each leads and record everything. Make sure you bring gas-vapor lighting with you because if there are other levels on the ship, you may need extra light to illuminate the interior parts. Record details of everything you can, the shit we discover could be a big hairy deal so be thorough, but quick as I don’t know how much time we have. If you see something interesting, you have my authority to linger to acquire good intel, however you are not on vacation. Keep your radios clear of chatter unless absolutely necessary. Woody, come with me, we’ll record the egg chamber in detail. BJ, please gather any loose gear that our scientists don’t require, I want everything ready to haul ass ASAP. Let’s move people.” The men all understood and they had their orders – they were loosed to use their own discretion, but proceed with purpose.

The men grabbed recording gear from the APC while BJ went to Ben and Rhys. As Des and Poot disappeared through the middle portal, Squires and Stevens headed for Door Two. Secretly Squires was questioning if it was possible to complete the task. Under the best circumstances, they’d need a week – minimum – to conduct a proper recording of the massive spacecraft. Now they possibly had two hours - maybe less as the BioWave team would certainly be leaving the planet soon. If this task were being conducted by a professional archeological team, it might take years to do a proper job. His team of professional military grunts had been asked to pull another rabbit out of their ass. So much for life in the fast lane, it’s a good thing that his team had so much experience working under pressure and in myriad circumstances. His guys were

creative and Squires knew that if any small group could pull this off, these guys could – at least they’d give it one hell of a try!

#

Chapter LIX

Decryption

While the security team did their duty, Rhys and Ben knew the timeline to achieving their main mission objective was retreating rapidly. No longer was this the scientist’s exclusive party. With one swift strike, BioWave had changed the game. Although their mission objectives hadn’t changed – obtaining Hermes’ data and destroying the alien eggs still being primary – it was now clear their duty was to stop BioWave from getting an alien specimen, in any form, off the planet. Mining site personnel safety and how to insure it was also thrust into the picture. And now the added time it could take to fully record the DSC site. To do each task justice would be complicated.

Rhys continued having Bishop try the next of the sixteen possibilities the Shakuru’s computers had spit out. She could see that even if they couldn’t break the entry code the computer had started to decipher Hermes’ graphemes, however it was way too early to begin any kind of meaningful interpretation.

Suddenly a new page appeared on Bishop’s helmet display. The information was formatted on the page sequentially in a series of lines that looked like it could be a menu. Rhys’ excitement built when she selected one of the lines and another page appeared. Rhys scrolled through page after page of symbols and what appeared to be charts. She knew that she was onto something important so she told Bishop to start ing everything to Ben’s portable data recording equipment. She hoped Ben’s system was large enough to all of Hermes’ information just as Ben returned and walked up to her.

Ben watched on his parallel Bishop screen as the data flew by, all being recorded by his systems. He and Rhys looked at each other and then embraced in their triumph, both with ear-to-ear grins now on their faces.

Ben exclaimed in a giddy outburst, “I guess I should have left you two alone together much sooner.” He was referring to Rhys wearing the Bishop I helmet. “See what happens when I did? I should be jealous!”

Rhys replied, equally excited, “It was you who did all the work to get us to this point, but I guess I could get used to a threesome!” Rhys paused, correcting herself saying, “I mean a threesome if we could get this kind result.”

Now looking wryly at Ben’s wide-eyed expression, both she and Ben broke into laughter at the clumsy statement from the usually cool and articulate woman. Neither of them knew how to react to their success and they knew they were just blurting out nonsense.

After they informed Squires of their success he brought the two back to reality by saying, “That’s what we all needed to hear we are almost finished with the recordings of the entire DSC. Let me know immediately when you’ve completed the . We need to get to the mining site to stop the creatures and BioWave ASAP and I want to blow the DSC and Hermes’ station as quickly as possible.” Rhys and Ben became immediately somber at Squires’ statement knowing he was both right and that they had to refocus on the task of completing their part of the mission.

After exactly one hour and fifty-one minutes, Squires and Stevens emerged from the hull crack where they’d started. They secured their recording equipment in the APC and Squires was just about to hail the other team when both Schofield and Poot came running out from the third portal with their gear looking wide-

eyed and excited. Poot said, “You ain’t gonna believe this shit, Colonel!” Squires looked at Des and even the senior officer’s normally subdued demeanor showed his excitement.

“OK gentlemen, let’s all keep our composure ‘cause we don’t have time now. The science geeks seem to have hit the jackpot and are finishing up. Get your gear back to the APC. I have to find out if our scientists are ready to boogie. We can all tell stories around the campfire once we blow this puppy and split.”

Squires had his men reload the APC with all of their gear and after they finished Schofield suggested that they grab any remaining scientific gear from Hermes’ station that wasn’t needed, so Squires sent BJ and Poot on that assignment while he took Schofield and Stevens back into the egg chamber for a final explosives check. The three entered through Door Two just as the HPDL exploded into action!

#

Chapter LX

Takedown

Two aliens had just entered the SIM Door to the egg chamber triggering the molecular biometrics system. The MB system ordered the HPDL to start tracking the aliens, keeping its barrel on an imaginary crosshair painted on the lead alien’s torso while its computers continued to analyze the data it had targeted. In the imperceptible nanoseconds the MB computers took to process what was happening, the system identified two non-human organisms, compared the readings to its database records and identified the targets as alien. It took another nanosecond to relay a signal to the HPDL to open fire.

The two aliens had just flown over the rim of the egg chamber and were about to descend through the mist to recover more hatchlings. The HPDL scythed the first alien neatly, carving a gaping diagonal slash through the alien’s body bisecting it completely as acid exploded from its body in all directions. The second alien immediately dived toward the surface of the mist to avoid the fire from the HPDL, but the computers of the MB system had already identified that the first creature had been terminated and had targeted its second subject.

Just as the winged creature was about to hit the mist layer the HPDL opened fire, its beam focused on the alien’s point of entry at the boundary of mist layer. The humans watched in awe as the laser beam struck the creature’s head and then sliced the alien’s entire body vertically in half as it entered the mist layer as more acid sprayed and vaporized in a sickening yellow cloud. The cloud of vapor slowly dissipated, some seemed to rise as smoke while the rest descended as particulates through the mist barrier.

“Holy shit,” Stevens cried, “I guess the system worked!”

Schofield echoed, “I’d say more like kicked ass!”

Both Bishop helmets beeped signaling that the of Hermes’ data had been completed. Having heard the commotion from the egg chamber, without making eye with Rhys, Ben grabbed the portable data storage unit and as Rhys unhooked the interface plug from Hermes’ console she followed Ben and BJ down the tunnel to the portal opening carrying the last of the scientific equipment. BJ radioed Squires that they reached the APC with the data and the HPDL opened fire again.

#

Chapter LXI

Take That

Squires’ team had started to leave, but all turned in unison when the HPDL erupted again. At first no one could see what had triggered the laser system to fire, but it was Stevens who said, “Look, there are hatchings coming over the rim of the chamber!”

Apparently, the destruction of the adult creatures or possibly the acid from their bodies had prompted the eggs in the chamber to begin hatching. At first the HPDL fired only briefly and in single bursts. At the end of each beam the team could see small puffs as the bodies of the first hatchlings were vaporized which caused them to reflexively pop into the air. Suddenly, the HPDL increased its fire rate as it detected more hatchlings emerging in greater numbers crawling from the mist toward the chamber’s rim.

Squires yelled “OK people, no time to recheck the explosives, we are out of here. We’ve got to blow the chamber now!

His men exited the hull crack on their way out, the team moving as one, running toward the APC. Ben and Rhys had stowed their gear and were watching from the open door of the APC as the three-member security team ran from the DSC toward the vehicle. Squires was the last to exit the DSC and he pushed the button of his hand held detonator activating the AM-61 launchers whose mines began flying along their predetermined flight paths to designated targets.

The HPDL’s molecular biometrics system was still shooting, spitting laser fire in all directions when the AM-61 launchers opened fire. The HPDL was now engaged fully and firing continuously as the alien hatchlings swarmed over the rim of the egg chamber. The air was filled with AM-61 projectiles on their way to their designated targets on the floors of the multiple egg chambers inside the cavern of the DSC. The hand-attached mines around the perimeter of the entire egg chamber exploded at precisely the moment all the launched mines hit their targets on the floors of the chambers and in a deadly ballet of demolition, all the explosives detonated simultaneously.

Even though the explosions were inside the DSC, the concussion from them threw Ben and Rhys back against the interior wall of the APC. Poot and Des were thrown through the APC’s open door while Woody Stevens and BJ were hurled against the outside of the APC. Squires flew through the air and landed in a cloud of dust outside the door of the APC and in seemingly one motion leaped to his feet jumped through the door. BJ recovered first and grabbed Stevens’ web gear and yanked him toward the door as Schofield ran to the driver’s seat and started the APC’s turbine engine. Hermes’ console exploded next and just as BJ flung Stevens through the door and then leaped in. Schofield had the APC moving while the door was still closing behind the last two.

The shape of the egg chamber, as well as its construction, amplified the coordinated blast that annihilated the eggs in the chamber. Once the explosive charges had done their job inside the egg chambers, the remaining concussion from the blast had only one direction to release its remaining energy- up directed by the walls of the individual chambers up and out of the chambers.

As the APC’s door fully closed behind the last security men, the fast moving residual pressure wave from the egg chamber blast hit the roof of the egg chamber. Schofield now had the APC near top speed in retreat from the DSC just as the charges went off in Hermes’ control dome at the top of the spacecraft. The charges blew the top off the dome’s roof out, but due to the relatively small size of the dome in comparison to the bulk of the entire spacecraft, it would have

appeared that only small fireworks had exploded from the top of the relatively small DSC dome had the people in the retreating APC been able to see the explosion.

Then the entire DSC started to bulge from the powerful pressure wave of the explosions inside the ship as an enormous new fire stream shot from beneath the dome area and the whole structure started to collapse inward on itself. Roof debris rained down inside the DSC – much of it falling into the skeletal remains of the walled pits of the egg chambers. The remaining roof material came cascading down beginning at the pressure wave’s impact point at top of the egg chamber and, like dominos; the rest of the roof fell inside the DSC in deafening crashes. Without the complete exoskeleton of the superstructure providing structural integrity, the of walls of the DSC then collapsed inward and the twinspar tail sections of the spacecraft ripped off and pancaked on the planet’s surface; collapsing from their own weight in a final death throe, completing derelict spacecraft’s total destruction.

The escaping team never saw the dramatic death of the DSC, but from the dust cloud that remained on the horizon as they entered the Nemesis drop ship, they all knew that another phase of their mission had been a success. Now they needed to get to the mining site.

#

Chapter LXII

Realization

The commander listened as his two remaining men told him about finding the remains of the two others. They had been searching for the two large specialists after leaving Maxwell strapped to the table next to the two infected mining employees. The report from the two specialists included the story of them stumbling through the damaged door of the dormitory building and seeing the carnage there starting with the dead security officer and then discovering about twenty humans with the same face-hugging creatures attached to them as the two victims in the lab.

The commander had been in the middle of organizing their escape from the mining site now that they had completed securing the three hosts. The commander had what he had come for and he expected massive payment once he delivered his cargo. He was no longer concerned with the dilemma faced by the remaining employees of the mining operation so he found making the decision to leave as soon as possible an easy one.

“We’re going to the drop ship to prep for takeoff and then we’ll come back to the lab to collect what is ours,” the commander stated. Continuing he said, “We’ll take the bodies we have now to the transport in whatever state they are regardless of whether the creatures have fallen off or not.” The three hustled to their own drop ship to begin their task.

Along the way to the drop ship, they ran into a few panicked mining employees. The workers had just been to the dormitory and had viewed the slaughter within.

The commander spewed orders at them to take up arms and meet him in the cafeteria where he would return shortly. The commander had no intention of following through on his end of his own orders, but he needed the workers outof-the way when he and his men came back for the three bodies in the lab.

When the three specialists got back to the lab from the drop ship, the two crabcreatures that had been attached to the miners had fallen off; the one holding Maxwell remained attached. The commander said, “OK our timing is about perfect, let’s get them on the ship and get the hell out of here.” With that, they grabbed the nearest gurney and stacked each body on top of one other and wheeled them back toward their drop ship.

As the Nemesis approached the mining operation, Squires reminded everyone that the pulse rifles they were carrying had the iron blood/heat discriminator “auto” setting designed to differentiate between alien and human signatures. He emphasized, “So make sure that you use the appropriate setting for the situation. You don’t want civilians in the line of unrestricted fire, but if our BioWave friends get aggressive, you’ll have to switch the auto setting of your weapons to ‘off’.” Both Ben and Rhys had forgotten about the auto feature of the unique small arms they were holding, but they were thankful for Squires’ reminder.

Rhys had switched helmets with Ben again telling him that he would be better off with the primary Bishop I processor helmet now that she had finished ing Hermes’ data. Rhys had a funny feeling as she handed the helmet to Ben as if she were giving up part of herself, but lost that thought when she became distracted as Stevens brought the Nemesis in for a landing next to the mining site dormitory.

Squires had his team split into two groups with Ben going with one and Rhys the other. Ben grabbed a medical bag and shouted at Rhys, “I’m going in, don’t let the Hermes’ data out of your sight!” So Rhys picked up the heavy backpack containing the precious data as well as her pulse rifle and ran from the Nemesis.

As its doors closed, the iron blood discriminator of her weapon engaged automatically.

The commander and his men had spotted the Nemesis as it flew over the mining complex when lighting from the mining complex reflected off the ship. It had fortunately landed on the other side of the complex without his people being seen. The men were incredulous that a ship had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but the fast-thinking commander barked instructions to his two remaining men to cover their escape route. The two men ran from their drop ship and spotted Rhys, Stevens and Squires all running toward them and ducked behind one of the buildings of the complex before being seen.

As he rounded the corner of the building, Squires was the first to see the BioWave drop ship with its ramp extended and ran as fast as he could toward it. Stevens was next with Rhys carrying the heavy data pack a few meters behind.

Squires was about twenty meters in front of Stevens as he ran past the portal where the two BioWave men were hidden. The two BioWave men opened fire in both directions. Stevens was hit by gunfire almost point blank and was dead before he hit the ground. Squires wheeled around to be met with a hail of bullets, taking him off his feet. Rhys hadn’t been fast enough with the extra weight she carried and tripped on Stevens’ prone body. She fell face-first into the ground and was knocked-out cold.

Squires was wounded severely, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds, but he had the strength to raise his rifle at one of his attackers and just as he squeezed off a round, his head exploded. The commander had just stepped from the ramp of his drop ship and saw the action as it happened. He had his own weapon raised before Squires had recovered to raise his and got the shot off before Squires completed his trigger pull. Even though Squires had gotten his shot off, the bullet entering his brain caused his body to begin going limp, changing the trajectory of his round which hit harmlessly, millimeters from the ear of its

target.

The commander ran to his two men just as they were turning Rhys over. Seeing that she was not dead, the commander said, “I’ll take her to the ship, I want to know what the fuck is going on here. You two go see if there are any others in their party and take them out.” The two men ducked around the corner of the building and the commander roughly dragged Rhys and her backpack to his drop ship.

Ben, Poot, BJ and Schofield entered the dormitory and saw the carnage inside. They checked the pulses of each of the victims. Those with the creatures attached all were still alive while all the rest had been killed by the adult aliens and left for food for the future hatchlings. Ben was at the rear of the facility and didn’t see the grenade hit the floor of the dormitory’s reception area where the three soldiers were still checking bodies. Schofield was trying to raise Squires on his helmet microphone when the grenade bounced past his feet. Poot and BJ had just turned to see the two rifle-carrying specialists standing outside the door and before the one who threw the grenade completed his follow through, the two Family security experts got off simultaneous rounds that entered the chests of the commander’s two specialists as the grenade bounced toward them. The rounds nailed both attackers, their explosive charges killing the commander’s men instantly, but before BJ and Poot could duck for cover, the grenade detonated. Both security men died with the satisfaction that they had inflicted payback on their adversaries.

Ben heard the gunfire and the near concurrent explosion of the grenade. He ran to the reception area where the acrid smoke from the grenade was just starting to dissipate. After a moment that seemed like time was standing still, a new, blood stained scene appeared like an apparition materializing out of thin air. Poot and BJ were only recognizable from what was left of their uniforms. Schofield was nearby, moaning in agony. He hadn’t taken a direct hit like Poot and BJ, but Ben could see he had sustained mortal wounds. Ben knelt over the soldier and pulled out a morphine syringe and istered the pain medication to the dying

soldier. Schofield knew he was gone and he whispered to Ben, “Tell my wife I’m sorry for making her cry. Now destroy those alien bastards.” Schofield’s eyes fluttered as his now pain-free body relaxed and he slipped gently into death.

The commander had tied Rhys up and secured her inside a windowed storage closet adjacent to his drop ship cockpit command center. He wanted to keep his eye on her through the closet window. The commander placed the backpack Rhys had been carrying and helmet she had on in the closet next to her. When he removed the helmet the young woman had strapped to her head, he saw that his captive was quite pretty. Maybe he would have his way with her before releasing the final hatchling from the egg cylinder to keep her company on the long voyage home. The commander needed to find out who she was as well as what she and her people were doing on the planet. He knew the Mentor would likely pay a for another specimen. He was quite sure that the Mentor would pay even more for the information he would extract from the woman.

The commander prepared the cryo-chambers for the three alien victims, eyeing the forth chamber in the event it was needed for the woman. He had to weigh leaving immediately, before he could get his alien hosts into cryo-sleep, possibly risking the creatures’ erupting from the chests of the two victims and exposing himself to the aliens; or play it safe, and get the victims and his prizes frozen first, eliminating his potential exposure to the creatures. With his two men hopefully buying time for him, he chose the latter and was just finishing when he noticed a monitor and saw Ben approaching his ship.

#

Chapter LXIII

Run for It

Ben dived for the nearest cover when the spray of bullets came from the BioWave drop ship. He saw the ramp door closing and he fired off a few ineffective rounds before the door closed firmly. He ran to the front of the vehicle to see if there was any other way of entering the ship and he saw the commander laughing at him through the cockpit window just as the drop ship’s engines spooled up. Ben backed off and started to run for the Nemesis. He had gotten close enough for Bishop to be able to establish communication with his counterpart helmet now on the departing drop ship. Bishop reported that the other helmet was on the ship, but that Rhys was not wearing it. Ben didn’t know for sure, but he could only assume that Rhys had been taken prisoner and was on the departing BioWave ship.

As Ben ran to the Nemesis he was telling Bishop, “When we reach the Nemesis I want you to establish communications with the onboard computers and take off as soon as possible. We need to chase that ship down.” As he got close to the Nemesis he signaled the ramp to open and as he ran into the ship, Ben looked over his shoulder and saw the commander’s drop ship take to the air.

Ben grabbed Bishop and unstrapped him from his head while Bishop was saying, “OK I’ve got the controls now, get seated and strap in.” Ben did as he was told, placing Bishop securely on top of the pilot console of the craft. Ben tugged at the seat’s restraining belts, and Bishop projected a holographic image and stated, “Ben, I think a better idea would be to summon the Shakuru to meet us on our flight path. I believe it prudent to have the resources of the Shakuru available to us as we don’t know what kind of vehicle our adversary has. It could be something more formidable than the Nemesis alone can handle.”

Ben said, “I can’t imagine that, but the Shakuru and bring her in anyway.”

The commander didn’t realize that Ben was in pursuit as his tracking systems were not as sophisticated as those on the high-tech vehicles Newt and Dwayne Hicks had supplied. Ben stayed at maximum distance from the escaping spacecraft as Bishop now piloted two ships.

The commander reached his own transport mother-ship and docked his drop ship. He opened the door of the storage closet and addressed the fully conscious, but confused Rhys. He said in a sinister voice, “I don’t have time for tea and crumpets right now, but after we get under way I’ll be back to ask you a few questions. You’ll find I can be very persuasive.” He placed the cylinder containing the last egg in the closet next to Rhys and asked, “Do you know what this is?” fully expecting her to not know.

He was surprised when Rhys answered in a feisty voice, her eyes glaring at him, “Yes, I know what that is.”

The commander’s eyes grew wide and he moved face-to-face with Rhys until his nose touched hers and she could feel his hot breath as he screamed, “How the fuck do you know what it is?”

Rhys knew she had already said too much and when the commander realized that she would say no more, he regained his composure, backed off and said ominously, “It doesn’t matter, princess. There will be plenty of time for you to answer all my questions later once we get underway. I’m sure it will be my pleasure to get to know you much, much better when I return.” He calmly

backed out of the storage closet and shut the door. He left the cockpit of the drop ship to set the navigation system of the main transport spacecraft with new coordinates. Those coordinates would take the transport directly to the Mentor’s secret base.

Ben watched as Bishop guided the Nemesis and Shakuru to a rendezvous. Ben found it disconcerting that his adversary’s ship was not within eyesight, but Bishop assured him that the Shakuru’s sensors had a handle on things; detecting that the escaped drop ship had docked with another larger vehicle which must be their adversary’s interplanetary transport ship. After Bishop mated the Nemesis with the Shakuru, Ben grabbed the helmet and rushed to the main cockpit, Bishop asking, “So what’s the plan?”

Ben responded, “If we are lucky, our adversaries will not have their ship’s sensors engaged and we can approach them undetected.”

Bishop questioned, “And if they do have their sensors on?”

Ben replied, “Do we have any other choices?”

Bishop replied flatly, “No.”

Ben commanded, “Let’s get ‘em. I’m sure Uncle Dwayne and Newt put together a superior vehicle for us and those bastards won’t get away. I want to be close enough to see if we can establish communications with Bishop II and, hopefully, Rhys.” Bishop brought the Shakuru within a short distance of the commander’s transport, approaching it from the rear and below in an effort to remain undetected.

Rhys was working hard to free her hands from the ropes binding her. She didn’t think it was possible to escape just as the Bishop II helmet on the shelf next to her came alive. The holographic projector created an image of Bishop in his previous corporeal form now whispering for Rhys’ attention. The helmet was upside down on the shelf with the helmet-mounted cameras oriented so that they couldn’t see Rhys. Rhys realized what was happening explained why the helmet couldn’t get a visual of her. She whispered back that she could see and hear Bishop and asked what was going on?

Rhys then heard Ben’s relieved voice asking her if she was OK. Rhys replied, “I’m fine but I’m tied up in a closet in the drop ship and I can’t get my hands free.”

Ben replied that he was going to figure out how to get on board her ship just as the door opened to the drop ship’s cockpit area and Rhys’ kidnapper reappeared. Rhys whispered that the guy was coming so Bishop shut down the holographic projection, but continued to monitor the audio feed. The commander said, “I’ve just ed my employer who is very interested in your story. He suggested that I encourage you to answer some questions without me having to force answers out of you. He made me promise not to harm you unduly if you confess your story without delay. He also told me that if you don’t tell your story freely, I may do whatever is necessary to gain your compliance. Believe me I have a well-earned reputation for being very influential. And I have no compunction about being unpleasantly persuasive.”

Rhys had expected this kind of intimidation, but responded with a question of her own, “Who is your employer?”

The man responded with an enlightening reply, “Normally I would never tell anyone outside his inner circle of associates, but in this case I see no reason not

to tell you. It is not like you are going to the authorities. He is simply known as ‘The Mentor’ to his associates. Now, I have a few things that need attention, but I will be back shortly to have our little discussion.” The kidnapper then left the room again.

Ben sounded desperate when the Bishop’s projector came back to life in the closet. Rhys felt she may be making some progress with her bindings and she now had a ray of hope in eventually escaping them. She told Ben about her progress with the bindings and reminded him that regardless of what happened to her, they couldn’t let this ship containing the alien specimens fall into the Mentor’s hands. Ben couldn’t disagree with her statement.

Ben asked her, “Where is the backpack with the data recorder?”

Rhys replied, “It appears that it is here in the closest with me.

The couple knew that this was another reason to stop their adversary’s spacecraft.

#

Chapter LXIV

Out of Time

Rhys knew she didn’t have much time to act. The ropes cut into her wrists as she feverishly worked to loosen her bonds. Ben talked to her encouragingly to keep her as calm as possible. Rhys appreciated Ben’s encouragement, but did not need it as she was entirely focused on her job. As she worked her bindings, her eye kept being drawn to the cylinder containing the alien egg now only a few inches away from her body. The mental image of the creature inside only inspired her to get free more quickly.

Rhys was glad her small wrists were also quite flexible. The dexterity had come in handy, previously in only doing mundane activities like scratching an itch anywhere on her back with all the fingers of either hand. Now her wrist flexibility permitted her to slip the thumb of her opposite hand out of one of the loops of the rope. After that digit was freed, the others soon followed until, with a shake of both hands, the rope fell to the floor behind her.

Just then her kidnapper entered the room once again and Rhys whispered to Ben through the Bishop helmet sitting next to her, “Quiet, here he is again.” The man walked to the cryo-chambers to check on the three victims. All seemed to be functioning as expected; two of them were cooling their victim’s bodies while the clear cover of the third chamber was still open waiting for the face hugger to release its captive. Rhys’ kidnapper glanced at the window of the closet door and saw Rhys behind it. She did everything she could to look as frightened as possible to give her captor the impression that he was in total control. Unfortunately, the frightened look Rhys cast back through the window at the man wasn’t entirely inaccurate and Rhys had to fight to keep her composure. It seemed to work as he returned his attention to fiddling with some of the cryo

controls.

Rhys knew that there was little time to consider her options. She was hardly a martial arts expert and she had no weapon to use against her larger captor. Or did she? Looking at the cylinder next to her again she slowly grasped the first of the top cover’s retaining wing nuts. The nuts were extremely tight, having been tightened previously by one of the large specialists. Normally it would have been impossible for her to break the nuts free. However, adrenaline release was a wonderful bodily mechanism and the added strength it provided allowed Rhys to overpower the torque the man had used to set each retaining nut.

Rhys had serious trepidation about releasing the last of the wing nuts as she knew that by doing so she would also be unleashing the horror inside. But she could see no alternative. She looked up and saw that her kidnapper had turned to face her. He in turn had seen that she had been looking down at something and he realized she was up to something and he rushed for the closet from across the room.

Rhys reflexively reached for the handle of the door and pushed the door open and as it swung in an arc on its hinges, she released the last retaining screw and kicked the cylinder out the door directly into the path of the oncoming attacker. The door reached the limit of its arc and bounced back off the wall almost as fast as Rhys had pushed it open. The door slammed shut again startling Rhys, but it was actually to her advantage.

The metal cylinder at first skidded toward the onrushing man then, as if in slow motion, like a spinning top nearing the end of its spin, it began to wobble as it skidded and then slowly started falling forward just as the top of the cylinder popped open. The commander lurched headlong toward the closet, but the expression on his face changed from anger to fear when he realized what was happening. He was too late. The top of the cylinder seemed to explode as the creature within vaulted from its confines and wrapped its tail around the

commander’s neck. The man grabbed the creature’s body in a futile attempt to keep it from sealing itself against his face. The two species struggled as they fought with each other. Now as the prey, the man spun wildly smashing into the control console of the cryo-chambers as he went down rolling on the floor attempting to dodge the thrusts of the creature’s probe toward his gasping, open mouth.

Rhys didn’t waste any more time watching the spectacle. She fastened the Bishop helmet on her head and stabbed for the door handle, but this time in her excitement, her hand slipped off the handle before the door opened and she banged her head against the still closed door and recoiled clumsily. She cursed herself for being such a klutz and straightened the skewed helmet on her head and this time firmly grasped the door handle. As the closet door opened and she ran for the exit, she saw the cryo-chambers crack open when each belched a cloud of condensation as the cold air inside hit the warmer air of the cockpit. The last thing Rhys saw as she turned to make her final escape was her kidnapper’s body on the floor convulsing in a final submission to the face hugging creature firmly holding his head in its grasp.

#

Chapter LXV

Retraced Steps

Rhys ran down the corridor while talking to Ben using the II helmet. Being unfamiliar with the transport spacecraft, she had no idea where she was going, but she ran anyway. Ben was telling her to be on the lookout for any other crew that would undoubtedly be adversarial. Rhys of course had already thought about that, but as she continued to run she became more convinced that the kidnapper she’d left behind in the cockpit was a solo operator.

Rhys kept thinking that the kidnapper obviously had his own agenda, but who was this “Mentor” he’d referred to? In her moment of vulnerability and defiance Rhys had itted to her captor that she knew what was in the cylinder when he’d asked. Although it seemed unlikely, the man, seemingly very professional in all his other actions, exhibited his own moment of stupidity, arrogance or possibly overconfidence when he told her that The Mentor was his employer. Rhys was sure that if he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t have mentioned his employer by title, just as she wouldn’t have itted to knowing what was in the cylinder. Of course it made no difference at this point. It was unlikely the man was thinking about his mistake right now, but then again maybe he was.

Then in a moment of clarity Rhys said to Ben, “I think you should the Family now and inform them of the “Mentor” this guy mentioned. Have Michael do his magic and let’s find out who he is. No matter what happens to me or us right now, whoever he is, he must be our enemy from within – the antagonist who’s been manipulating BioWave’s actions to make their mission appear legitimate. He must be the force behind the attempt to collect alien specimens.”

Ben returned, “I was thinking of ing the Family and I will Michael, but what about you? How are we going to get you off that ship?”

“There must be an escape pod of some kind here and…” Rhys trailed off. She just ed that in her excitement to escape her captor that she had overlooked the most important part of their mission. She had left the data storage backpack in the closet of the drop ship’s cockpit!

After a long pause when Ben thought that he’d lost Rhys’ transmission he asked, “Rhys, we lost you. Are you OK?”

Rhys spat back into the microphone, “Nuts, I effed-up and left the data recorder back in the cockpit closet!” As she turned to retrace her steps back to the cockpit, she said more to herself, “This is typical, as soon as I think I’m pretty smart and capable, I to prove myself I’m really just a dumb-shit.” As she ran back through the way she had just come, she kept repeating to herself rhythmically in time with every other stride she took, “Dumb… dumb… dumb…”

Ben could hardly contain himself with worry about Rhys’ situation, but he composed himself after he realized that he could do nothing at the moment to help her and then focused on her last request. Ben fired up Michael’s StarLink communications system and hailed the Family on earth. In a few minutes Ben and Bishop had told Michael about losing the security team, Rhys’ capture, their pursuit of the ship and Rhys’ current situation. Ben finished with the story of the Mentor that Rhys had extracted and her deduction that he was behind the real reason for BioWave’s involvement on the planet. Michael replied that he understood and he would start investigating her suspicions immediately. Then Michael asked, “What about the mining site? Are there any survivors there or have the aliens overrun it like before?”

Ben replied, “I didn’t see anyone except the men who attacked us that I assume were working for the guy who kidnapped Rhys. There were about twenty people at the mining site with those things attached to their faces and several dead people in the same building. I have to believe that if there are any more live people left at the site, they are in grave danger. Once we get Rhys on board we’ll have to go back.”

Michael reluctantly said, “Although that is a poor option, I agree with you.”

Then Ellen Ripley interjected from her remote location, “But re-establish with us when you return to the mining site. I want an open channel during your operation. You are seriously overmatched and maybe we can add something from here.”

Ben replied, “After we get Rhys off that ship, we will try to the mining site and have them organize themselves into groups that we can collect as quickly as possible. It will have to be fast, as we know that the gestational cycle between the different forms of the alien is swift so we won’t be able to waste any time. Bishop can likely pilot both drop ships to extract the survivors.” Then, after a pause, Ben continued, “I just hope that the mining personnel can stay ahead of the creatures.”

Just then Bishop said, “Ben, I think we have another problem.”

#

Chapter LXVI

Decay

As Rhys reached the corridor leading to the cockpit, Ben said to her rhetorically, “Rhys, we have a new situation here.”

“OK I’m almost to the closet.” Rhys paused and puffed as she was almost out of breath, “Give it to me.”

Ben replied, “The good news is that we ed the Family and Michael is on the Mentor case.”

Rhys recognized Ben candy-coating his introduction to what would come next saying to him, “Come on Ben, I’m a big girl, what ‘situation’ are you talking about?”

“Sorry,” Ben said sheepishly, but then got to the point, “Bishop reports that your transport’s orbit is decaying. Unless you can correct the decay, he estimates that you have about twenty minutes to get off that ship.”

“Man, the hits just keep on coming,” Rhys nervously laughed back into the microphone. Her kidnapper must have altered the orbit of the transport when he fell against the control in his battle with the creature trying to latch onto

his face. “Shit,” Rhys said to herself and she knew that whatever it was that had caused the decay in the ships orbit; she’d have to contend with it. Then she said aloud to Ben, “I’m at the door to the cockpit,” and she went in.

The man was still on the floor where he’d finally fallen after his struggle; the creature still attached to his face. The creature’s body was slowing rising and falling as if breathing. Rhys shuddered at the disgusting sight - those things made her skin crawl. But she knew she had to hurry, so she quickly composed herself and started for the closet to retrieve the data recorder.

There was something odd about the room. What was it? It didn’t immediately although it should have been instantly obvious. As she reached again for the closet door handle, she stopped in her tracks and went cold as uncontrollable shivers shot up her spine. She realized that the cryo-chambers were almost fully open! Two of the clear covers of the three opened chamber lids were splattered with blood! Rhys grabbed the data backpack and put it over her shoulder fighting the will to run. She didn’t want to it to herself what she knew to be true, but she had to see with her own eyes and confirm what had happened.

She gingerly approached the open cryo-chambers. There was a normal looking man in one of the chambers. That chamber had no blood on the inside of its open top. However, there was one of the crab-like face huggers twitching as it lay next to the head of the placidly unconscious man. Two of the other chambers presented a totally different picture, each presenting a horrific scene. The clear covers as well the interior of each chamber were splattered with blood as if a meat grinder had been fed inside each at high speed. Both chambers contained the bodies of men whose chests appeared to have exploded from within. Both men had agonized, death-mask expressions on their stone-cold faces. Rhys had her confirmation; two aliens had reached their final gestational stage and their transformation had killed their victims in a final convulsive escape from their hosts. Rhys almost vomited at the appalling sight and she reeled back as if punched in the gut. She felt her chest tighten and she had to bend over, putting her hands on her knees, in an attempt to restart normal breathing. Her head

reeled as sweat rolled from her brow as she stood up now looking around the room in panic for the two escaped creatures. They were nowhere in sight, but Rhys knew that she had to escape – right now!

She wheeled for the door to the corridor, again running at full speed and even with the added weight of the backpack she almost flew down the hallway in retreat. Her eyes flicked from side to side as she looked for the aliens that she knew would be soon stalking her if they weren’t on her heels already. Rhys had not seen what she was looking for previously, so she took a different turn in her flight to get away. She reached a room that appeared to be a cafeteria and convinced herself she was headed in the right direction. Ben was asking her what was going on through the Bishop II helmet, but she didn’t take the time to reply, her thoughts now totally focused on finding the means to escape from the spacecraft.

She ran past an intersecting corridor and saw a sign with an arrow that said, “Airlock,” and she stumbled as the backpack’s momentum didn’t want to immediately change course with her as she began skidding to make the turn. “It must be near the airlock,” Rhys said to herself as she changed directions and resumed her sprint down the new corridor. And then she found it; the locker containing the spacesuits.

Rhys was not a pilot and even if she were, she knew she may not be able to return the transport to stability before its orbit finally decayed enough to drop through the atmosphere to the planet’s surface. But her situation was compounded now by the two aliens who would eventually find her and, with no weapons to fight them, her potential for survival was nil. Even if she knew how to correct the transport’s orbit, she could be attacked at any time. How long would it take the aliens to reach full maturity?

No. Her only option was to get off the transport.

As she stepped into the spacesuit she couldn’t help but recall that this moment was almost like how her great grandmother dealt with her situation almost one hundred years ago! Only this time it was not aliens that would be blown out of the spacecraft, she would be blowing herself out of the transport. She hoped that Ben and Bishop would be able to maneuver the Shakuru close enough to pluck her from space when she made her exit. If not, maybe she would eventually be found floating through space; her desiccated body ending up in a museum somewhere as some kind of modern mummified space traveler. Would those who viewed her remains know her name or what heroics she tried to perform?

After Rhys forced herself out of her mind’s dreamscape, she told Ben and Bishop of her escape plan and, over their protestations she asked, “So can you come up with a better plan?” When their response was silence, she knew their answer was, “No,” and she stepped from the spacesuit locker. She was ready. This time she hadn’t forgotten the data backpack. She tethered the data pack to one rung on the spacesuit she was wearing and the II helmet to another. She walked to the door of the airlock and pushed the button to open its interior door. It couldn’t open quickly enough as she knew her escape couldn’t be too soon. As the door fully opened she almost leaped into the airlock and as she turned, she looked back down the interior corridor of the transport, and she saw them.

#

Chapter LXVII

Exit

Rhys’ eyes went wide as she saw the creatures rapidly closing in on her. Like something akin to three foot high, snake-like, mini-Tyrannosaurs there were now three creatures in their adolescent adult form one being only slightly smaller than the other two. The creatures’ sharp, gleaming teeth were prominent in their open mouths and even through the helmet of the spacesuit Rhys could hear their earsplitting screeches. Rhys mashed the button of the interior door of the airlock again trying to coax the door to close more quickly, but she knew that the doors would never close in time to stop the oncoming aliens. She lifted the cover of the emergency button that would open the exterior doors of the transport and pushed it just as the creatures all leaped toward her head. Rhys had the presence-of-mind to expect their attack and she dodged their flying bodies and they shot past her and all three hit the opening exterior door s.

The air from the transport started to rush through the opening exterior doors and Rhys could feel herself being sucked toward the exterior opening. The creatures too were fighting against the river of air as it gushed from the spacecraft doors into the vacuum of space, effectively holding them back from attacking her. Rhys’ boots were only inches from the creatures whose toothed mouths were all snapping furiously at her. As the doors opened further, Rhys could feel herself succumbing to the increasing velocity of the torrent of escaping air and she started to slide toward the still opening exterior doors. In moments the creatures would have her. She had to find something to grab to stop her slide, but what?

Rhys saw there was virtually nothing to grab. She looked back toward the open interior airlock doors leading to the corridor. Along the edge of each open door were a series of protrusions that interlocked with corresponding indentations on

the opposite door. The interlock with the opposite door formed a seal when the doors were closed. Maybe one of the now-exposed protrusions could be used as a handle.

Rhys stayed as low as possible to avoid the full wrath of increasing airflow. If she could only reach one of the protrusions of the opened interior doors she may be able to hang on to its edge and pull herself away from the creatures. But, there was no way to stretch that far. She reached back with one hand unbuckled the Bishop II helmet and slid it painstakingly carefully toward one of the door’s protrusions only a few millimeters above the floor. If she did this wrong the helmet could catch the wind racing past her and act like a kite, sending her right into the creatures now fractions from having her. Rhys had one chance and she carefully put the helmet over the protrusion and pulled hard toward it as she could feel the creatures scrape the soles of her boots with their teeth. Rhys kicked at the creatures as the exterior doors opened wider. She felt the airflow increase now stretching her arms to the limit as she felt she was being simultaneously crushed by the rushing air while being air pushed out of the door. The aliens were pressed against the opening doors and just before the doors fully opened, the helmet dislodged from the protrusion and Rhys was expelled from the airlock, tumbling into space along with all three creatures.

Ben and Bishop watched the spectacle from the cockpit of the Shakuru. They could see the stream of condensing air shooting from the opening doors of the stricken spacecraft. Neither spoke as the doors opened further revealing Rhys’ struggle inside the airlock. Bishop was maneuvering the Shakuru nearer to the BioWave transport in anticipation of retrieving Rhys. Bishop noticed that the hull of the BioWave craft was starting to exhibit some ionization that he knew was the first indication of atmospheric reentry. If Rhys didn’t get out of the vehicle soon, he would have to abandon any idea of rescuing her because the BioWave craft would be in freefall back to the planet’s surface shortly. For now he could do nothing to help her and he simply had to watch.

Ben and Bishop then saw Rhys’ body shoot out of the airlock like she’d been

fired from a canon. The three aliens trailed her as she tumbled like a doll being thrown from a tall building. The aliens were in no better control of their movements than Rhys and they wiggled and squirmed like armed snakes without traction.

Fortunately, Rhys had been expelled out into space, in a direction away from the planet’s surface. Being expelled away from the planet would buy them all a little more time to rescue her – but not much. Two of aliens now trailing Rhys were close enough to teach other and together as the third approached the two. Rhys’ tumbling seemed to stabilize somewhat, but the group of aliens seemed to also be traveling faster; the gap between the two species closing. The two ed aliens now seemed to elongate, stretching to their full extent as the third tumbling creature approached them when finally the third creature was grabbed by the two to form a threesome.

Ben knew that Bishop couldn’t pick up Rhys until the aliens were completely separated from her. Trying to pick her up now may give the aliens an opportunity to either attack her or even enter the Shakuru.

The alien threesome seemed to coordinate their movements with each other in readying for an attack on Rhys as they approached her still spinning body. Ben was near panic as he could see the creatures had combined to form a kind of spinning pillar that allowed a better opportunity to capture Rhys as she neared. Just as Rhys’ body was about to tumble into the three-alien pillar, Rhys kicked out and struck the lead alien of the pillar sending the still ed creatures spinning faster. In doing so, Rhys had slowed their approach, but hadn’t stopped it. Ben leaped from his seat at Rhys’ success in distancing the creature’s from her, but by kicking the creatures, Rhys had too starting spinning once again more out of control.

Ben took off the Bishop helmet and placed it again on top of the pilot console and yelled to Bishop, “I’m leaving you here to continue to guide the Shakuru.

Put her on a path to intercept Rhys. I’m going outside and I’m using the front airlock, so position the ship to intercept Rhys’ trajectory as close to the airlock as possible.” And Ben ran to grab one of the spacesuits near the airlock.

Bishop brought the large Shakuru to a position where he calculated that Rhys would end up. The creatures were still close enough to Rhys to be a potential problem, but he’d have to risk it or risk losing her. Ben notified Bishop from the airlock using the spacesuit’s own helmet radio that he was hooked up to the long tether used for extravehicular activities. Ben opened the exterior door of the airlock. Unlike the emergency exit strategy Rhys had used, Ben had properly closed the interior door of the Shakuru and vented the airlock so there was no air in the lock to expel him into space. Ben could see that Rhys was approaching with the spinning alien pillar following along the same path. This was not good.

Ben had to do some fast thinking and he called Bishop saying, “I just ed that Uncle Dwayne and Newt had special weaponry installed on the Shakuru as well as the two drop ships. That weaponry can be controlled by the molecular biometrics system. I want you to initialize the system and make sure that Rhys and my biologic markers are loaded into it,” Bishop was accessing the weapons system before Ben could get the last words out of his mouth.

Rhys was close, but Ben realized he would have to get closer than simply standing at the edge of the airlock and wait for her to fall into his arms. Ben knew there were spacesuits that had built in thrusters, but they were bulky and required some training to use them properly – which he didn’t have. He’d just have to wing it.

Ben said, “Get ready Bishop, is the weapons system tracking Rhys?”

Bishop replied, “It is just acquiring a target now, but I can’t tell yet what it is

targeting.”

Ben couldn’t wait and he leaped into Rhys’ path, ready to activate the tether’s recoil system as soon as he had Rhys in his grasp. Ben’s aim was true and he had timed his jump almost perfectly – almost. He struck Rhys and tried to grab her. Rhys’ closest body part was her leg, but the combined bulk of Rhys’ spacesuit and his own gloves conspired against Rhys’ capture. His actions had made Rhys tumble even more eccentrically. However, Ben was still moving toward her with the tumbling alien pillar still closing on both of them!

Ben couldn’t believe that even in the vacuum of space, these creatures could still be living. Not only that, they seemed just as dangerous and voracious as stories he’d heard from Ellen and the security team at the DSC. Ben got a clear view of how the creatures had ed together to form the pillar. The lead creature had wrapped its tail around the neck of the second and the second creature did the same to the third. This allowed the heads of all three creatures to be free to see and, most importantly, kept their mouths free to do as much damage as possible to a potential victim. Ben could see each of the creatures snapping their teeth; their saliva flying everywhere as it spewed into the vacuum of space looking like the spray from a sweating boxer’s head when hit by a hard punch. The creatures’ legs were thrashing talon-ended fingers and feet toward Rhys each time the pillar rotated.

As Rhys continued to tumble, Ben had another shot at capturing her. This time he would try for the data backpack swinging from a clamp on Rhys’ hip. The backpack was making an arc toward Ben and it would be within his reach in moments. Ben stretched his hand as much as possible and he was able to grab the backpack’s webbing as it rotated past. As he did, Rhys’ spinning momentum jerked her almost to a stop, but the energy of her spinning was transferred to Ben and their new path put them directly into the path of the spinning alien stack. Ben activated the tether recoil system, but couldn’t rely on it to provide immediate help as the slack in the line couldn’t be taken in before they were overtaken by the closing aliens.

Ben realized that he only had one chance and hoping that Bishop had gotten the Shakuru’s armament systems sorted, he yelled into his microphone, “Shoot Bishop!” And the MB controlled laser system lit up. The beam was blindingly bright, so close to them Ben thought that he and Rhys had been targeted. Unfortunately the first laser pulse missed its target because the alien pillar was perpendicular, “pointing” toward the Shakuru, when the laser beam shot by it. Like a spinning baton, with only one of the knobs on its end exposed to the laser, the beam had no chance of being so precise and it shot harmlessly past the alien pillar. Ben cried, “Again!” But he didn’t have to because Bishop had the MB fire control system set to auto. This time as the alien pillar continued to spin, the pillar exposed all of the creatures fully. The laser cut the head off the creature at the top of the pillar. Like at the DSC when the HPDL hit the aliens as they climbed from the egg chamber in their crab-like form, the laser simultaneously opened a wound and its heat cauterized it at the same time. The gash spewed acid as the ensuing vapor cloud erupted and the creature’s body convulsively retracted, tugging the entire three-alien stack into a slightly more eccentric rotation. By now, the tether retractor had taken up its slack and suddenly Ben felt it yank him and Rhys toward the open door of the Shakuru’s airlock. The tether’s pull briefly wobbled the pair as it initially engaged before finally stabilizing their movement into a smoother return. The laser fired again and in a cloud of gas and smoke, the alien in the middle of the stack was obliterated. The dead creature immediately released the last alien sibling which then tumbled on a path that would miss the Shakuru’s forward airlock. As Ben and Rhys stepped into the airlock, they turned to see the last living alien floating away. Now, separated from the others and as if in a slow-motion ballet, the creature drifted off into the abyss of space, alone.

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Chapter LXVIII

Finishing Duty

As Rhys and Ben came into the cockpit of the Shakuru, they were at first giddy with excitement and overwhelmed by the final release of tension having gone through a series of hair-raising, deadly events. Rhys especially was exhausted by the physicality of her hours-long ordeal. She was not used to going through such a string of emotional highs and lows and it showed in her fast-talking conversation with Ben. As they neared Bishop sitting on the control near the main pilot’s console their mood changed darkly.

They heard a weak distress call from the mining site on the planet. As per Ellen Ripley’s request, Ben immediately fired up StarLink so that the Family could hear what was going on. The speaker from the planet was using a hand-held radio. After Ben had retrieved Rhys, Bishop had turned his attention to scanning for radio chatter from the planet’s surface and it was just luck that his scanning detected the weak signal. Bishop had just asked the man what the status was at the mining site. The response they received sickened them, “The site has been overrun by vicious creatures. They take control of your body and go through a series of metamorphic change,” the man panted, then continued, “no one seems to know what is going on and their numbers seem to increase by the minute.”

Bishop asked the logical next question, “We are orbiting the planet and we have two drop ships that can retrieve survivors. So what is your own situation?”

The man replied, his voice dripping with fright, “Everyone has been either killed or infected by these creatures. I escaped from them when the only two other

people I’ve seen for hours were killed by the big adult creatures. While the creatures killed our guys, I was able to run away. But,” and this was the worst of the poor man’s story, “I have been infected and one of the creatures is inside me. I know what is going to happen. Soon I will die when the creature changes. When it does, it will explode horribly from my chest. I’m not going to give the creatures the satisfaction of making me suffer. I will kill myself before that happens.”

Then Bishop said, “I wish there was something I could do.”

The fellow responded, his voice now steady, “There isn’t except to say that this is a warning: stay away from this planet and our location. These creatures are relentless. They’ve managed to annihilate over fifty of us in short order.” At this point the three crew of the Shakuru could hear the man scream and the radio transmission ceased when a gunshot was heard.

Ben shook his head and Rhys buried her face in her hands sobbing for the poor soul whose chest was likely to be splayed open by the alien from within. Hopefully, the gunshot they heard was his successful suicide and his agony was over. Bishop asked over the StarLink system, “Did you get that?”

Dwayne Hicks knew that Ellen would be very distraught so he answered before anyone else on earth, “Yes, unfortunately we did. I was hoping to never have to experience that again. I guess it confirms that what we’ve done on the planet to contain those fucking creatures was the right decision.”

Rhys and Ben looked at each other and they both knew what needed to be done. There was no going back to the planet’s surface to mount any kind of rescue mission. The dead man they’d just heard pretty much confirmed that the plight of the humans at the mining site was hopeless. He probably was the last one and

except for those who were now infected, only being kept alive as hosts by the creatures inside them, there was no future at the site except for the alien species. It was probable that, like the biologic changes to the winged males they’d witnessed, there would be the inevitable queen that would replace the eggs destroyed at the DSC with a new generation of potential offspring that would lie in wait for their next victims.

The Family all agreed to the next step, they signed off from the StarLink system and Ben said to Bishop, “Please bring the Shakuru into the best position to launch the package.” Bishop made the necessary orbital modifications that would place them in the ideal position to target the mining site. Ben picked up the other Bishop helmet that Rhys had previously used and said to Bishop, “I’ll take your counterpart here down to the weapons bay. Please me when you have the technical details to assist me in prepping the package for delivery. I’ll do the necessary adjustments myself.”

Rhys extended her arm and with the palm of her open hand on Ben’s chest she stopped him and said, “No Ben, I’ll do it. My great grandmother has been the victim of these creatures and she has experienced far too many deaths and emotional trauma for too long. I need to be the one to avenge her suffering and put an end to this.” She held out her hand and Ben handed her the helmet. Rhys donned it, turned and headed to the weapons bay.

Ben followed and Bishop activated the holographic projector on the second helmet that detailed how to prepare the nuclear device for delivery. They reckoned that an air burst detonating about five hundred meters above the site would do maximum blast damage to the site and assure the total destruction of the aliens there. Rhys completed the setup with Ben’s assistance and then she lowered the missile carrying warhead to its target into the launch platform just below the weapons bay. She closed the inner doors of the weapons bay and opened the exterior doors of the launch platform and released the weapon. The couple watched the missile disappear from a monitor on the wall. Before turning away from the monitor the stricken BioWave vehicle came into view as it re-

entered the atmosphere and like a slow moving meteor, it created a fireball as its hull ignited and gravity pulled the ship to its death.

With Ben by her side, Rhys ed the Family and gave them a synopsis of what she had gone through in the past few hours so that their mission would be archived for detailed discussion when the Shakuru arrived back home.

Although Rhys was anxious to delve into the data recorded from Hermes’ console, she knew that it was most appropriate to let that activity go for now. She knew that the interpretation of the data was so important that it would be impossible to go back to work at a regular job while the wealth of the data lingered in the background of her mind. Rhys chuckled to herself at the absurdity of employment after her return. The data contained on the recording equipment was far too scientifically important to not concentrate on full time – or more. Rhys knew that the opportunity in her future was unique in the history of human existence. Interpretation of the data she was shepherding back to earth would likely be her professional focus for the rest of her life.

The three survivors prepared for their journey home, two did so by readying their hyper sleep chambers. Before they began their hyper sleep, Ben connected the data recording equipment to the Shakuru’s transmitter and using the new StarLink and Michael’s specialized encryption systems, Ben pressed the transmit button to the precious data to Michael’s secure servers on the other end. While the transmission was in progress, Ben and Rhys had their final meal together before retiring. They kept their discussion light and enjoyable not wanting to get into the details of what had happened in the last few days. By keeping their final thoughts on pleasurable topics like what they wanted to do with (and to) each other when they returned to earth, they hoped that the dreams they would have on their journey home would be more pleasant than discussing the terrible events they had experienced on the planet.

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Chapter LXIX

Inquiry

The two survivors were awakened from their months-long hyper sleep by the Shakuru’s automated systems. Bishop too was revived from his digital siesta. They were one day from their destination at the transport hub managed by Newt’s company; coming in as a ed crew and equipment vehicle. The records had been adjusted to show that some personnel had been dropped off and the returning crew consisted of two people.

Ben and Rhys read the many messages they’d received while in hyper sleep, some being automated navigational acknowledgements from the appropriate authorities. Most messages were from the Family via Michael’s secure StarLink system and none of them had been important enough to awaken the sleeping crew from their peaceful slumber.

The most pertinent and interesting of the recorded messages was actually a string of messages regarding the general discovery that the mining site on LV-426 had been destroyed. A week after the Shakuru left orbit to begin its journey back; the mining company corporate office had completely relinquished control of their mining operation to the government after they had not heard from their facility. The government official most responsible for demanding the communications restriction between the mining operation and its corporate headquarters could not stop an ensuing investigation. This same official turned out to be the one who had signed off on a team of “specialists” who accompanied the BioWave replacement equipment operation.

The investigation began after the government requested that the military send their nearest patrol vessel to look in on the recently mute mining operation. Of course they discovered that the mining site had been leveled by a nuclear explosion which was assumed to have been caused by a malfunction of the site’s fusion reactor. The military investigating team couldn’t conduct an extended probe for safety reasons as the nuclear fallout at the freshly destroyed site was too dangerous. It would be some time before the fallout decayed enough for a thorough analysis of the site.

The outcome of the federal investigation was an official rebuke of the government official including his early retirement and loss in pay grade. The Mentor had to pay dearly to keep his name from being part of the investigation should the disgraced official choose to spill his guts to the Exploration Oversight Committee.

A more personal aspect of the federal investigation was the linking of similar circumstances to another BioWave related event on the planet forty-some years previous. The Committee had dredged through old records of that time and in a secret, closed-door hearing, called in the officially deceased Ellen Ripley, Rebecca Jorden and Dwayne Hicks for questioning about any knowledge they may have about the most recent incident.

The government handlers of the trio had to scramble to collect their most recent notes regarding their charges and the federal Committee soon realized from the handler’s testimony that the dust had only recently been blown off the dossiers they’d been given. The three survivors were questioned over the course of two days and it was soon clear to most of the committee that none of the three could have been involved in anything mischievous regarding the most recent incident on the planet. In fact, all three appeared to be model citizens – especially Jorden who was the owner of one of the most reputable government transportation contractors on earth. The Committee realized that even if any of the three had been involved, it would be too difficult to establish the guilt of any of them and, except for the indiscretions of several unauthorized liaisons

between Ripley and Hicks over the years, the three should be returned to their official graves. The trio were exonerated and summarily dismissed to return to their previous anonymity.

One Committee member believed the trio had to have, at minimum, tacit knowledge of what had most recently transpired on the distant planet. That Committee member had argued that there were just too many similarities in the fates of the only two human settlements in the planet’s history. But an argument for a more in-depth probe into the matter couldn’t be too vociferous. As much as that Committee member’s secret sponsor, The Mentor, wanted to connect Ellen Ripley with the recent debacle, neither could risk a deeper probe where the onion layers might be peeled back to find the Mentor himself near its center. So without any solid proof to the contrary, the lone Committee member dropped the argument and acquiesced to the majority’s final judgment.

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Chapter LXX

Endings and Beginnings

Ellen Ripley threw her coat on the sofa in her living room and breathed another sigh of relief that the intertwined saga of the creatures, the planet and the Family was finally over. How is it possible for a person to get so involved in such an unwanted scenario? Wait, she was the one who decided to stay involved, albeit grudgingly. But, to think she almost lost her great granddaughter before she ever got to know her. That thought was almost unbearable for her.

A highlight of her trip to give testimony to the Oversight Committee was seeing Newt and Dwayne Hicks face-to-face again, especially Dwayne. Although all three had been in many times during the past year, seeing each other in an officially sanctioned capacity by giving testimony to the Committee provided the couple a relaxed forum for personal indulgence. The two took almost gleeful advantage of being officially together again and spent every night together and the government couldn’t do squat about it. It was nice to get physically reacquainted with each other. Somehow, in this more relaxed setting, being with each other again was better than it had ever been.

Ellen sighed again as her thoughts returned to the present. It was time to put that thinking aside as Rhys would be arriving with Ben momentarily. The couple had returned from their trip just days before her Oversight Committee testimony and Ellen was sure that both would be anxious to hear her personal story about its outcome.

Ellen was just finishing up making hors d’oeuvers for her guests when the

couple arrived. At the sight of Rhys in person, it was as if the older woman experienced a menopausal return, as a hot-flash rocked her body and she simultaneously felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Ripley embraced her great granddaughter at length until finally Ellen realized that Ben was standing alone sheepishly watching, waiting for the women to finish. Ellen finally acknowledged Ben, giving him a hug too.

Ellen had decided to take the couple out for dinner to a small Italian restaurant that she seldom visited, but knew the food to be good. She didn’t want to take the chance of discussing the events of her testimony or their adventures on the planet in her apartment where someone may be listening. She knew the restaurant specialized in discretion by providing private tables to notorious locals in need of privacy for occasional “business meetings”. She had made her reservation using a pseudonym.

The three spoke at length about the mission and how they all felt terrible about losing the professional security men during it. Ellen assured both of them that over the months of their journey home, she and Dwayne had grieved the military men’s demise. In that time, they both came to grips with emotions of being responsible for the men’s deaths. Dwayne had taken his military brother’s loss especially hard at first. Rhys and Ben had maintained the necessary professional relationship with the security team at first, but over the course of closely working with them they’d also developed a more personal relationship with each of them. Now, after their long hyper sleep, they too could expect to grieve for them.

Ben offered some of his own news that neither Rhys nor Ellen had yet heard. He reported that as per Rhys’ request in the last hours of the mission, Michael had indeed done some additional surveillance of the government and BioWave. Michael had found out that the computer hackers who had broken into WeylandYutani’s systems early in his career had worked for a network security company that disappeared immediately after the primary hacker and his associates were arrested. Michael discovered that the person, who bankrolled the network

security company and then slipped from the authority’s grasp after his company vaporized, had been known to his employees as “The Financier”.

Michael also dug deeper into BioWave’s atmosphere processing equipment bid process. Through old-school, gumshoe detective work, Michael had slipped into Derwent Maxwell’s office one night after business hours. He found Maxwell’s hand-written personal diary and searched it for as much information as possible. He found not much out of the ordinary except an interesting notation referencing but a single entry. Maxwell had done a weak job of scratching out the reference and it didn’t take Michael long to decipher the entry as, “The Mentor”, matching the name Rhys had gotten from her kidnapper.

Michael knew that he would have to research the reference more, now that Maxwell, along with the other BioWave technical personnel, was presumed dead as he had not been heard from since the destruction of the mining site. Michael then discovered Maxwell’s secret bank s. The s showed large, irregular deposits suggesting someone outside BioWave was buying influence with Maxwell. Michael’s evidence continued to mount; much of it pointing to the shadowy Mentor. In due course, Michael had gathered enough circumstantial evidence about the Mentor to connect him with the Financier who had previously vanished. Michael ultimately came to suspect that the two men were the same person.

If indeed the Mentor was bribing Maxwell at BioWave, he was likely also connected to the disgraced government official responsible for approving the “specialists” inserted at the last minute into BioWave’s mission. If that were the case, it was reasonable to assume that the Mentor was the one behind the attempt to obtain alien specimens from the planet. The Mentor, through the government specialists, was then ultimately responsible for the deaths of the Family’s security men, Rhys’ kidnapping and the threat to her life.

Michael had told Ben that he was still chasing down the financial connection of

the deposits to Maxwell, but whoever was depositing the money was very clever in covering their financial tracks. Michael said he was making it his new mission to track down the deposit’s source and he would do the same for the government official exposed for hiring the specialists. Michael was sure that, like Maxwell, he’d find a similar financial connection to the government official and that in both cases his findings would lead him to the Mentor. In the end, Michael’s research had confirmed Rhys’ initial suspicions that indeed the Mentor had been the antagonist behind BioWave’s real reason for returning to LV-426.

The three sat silently for a few moments before Rhys spoke, “I’ve been thinking about something else since we were awakened from our journey.” Both Ben and Ellen thought simultaneously that Rhys would continue by telling them something about her excitement regarding interpreting the data. To their surprise, Rhys continued, cutting off their thinking, “And, no, it is not about how excited I am to begin analyzing the data we brought back. Well, I guess it is, but it is more focused than the overall data interpretation. It has to do with our previous ideas about the nature of the relationship of the aliens to Hermes’ species. To this point, we have surmised the aliens were evil and that Hermes’ kind was a more benevolent species. However, and I’m just posing this as a thought without much basis at this point, what if Hermes’ species were, in fact, more malevolent than we’ve been thinking? What if the evil aliens were somehow working together with Hermes’ kind or even that Hermes’ species was possibly the real threat? We have rightly been focused on the evil aliens, but what if our focus on them has been too narrow?”

Ben asked, “But, what about the pilot? It was apparent that he was attacked and killed by the evil aliens in the same fashion our people were attacked.”

“True,” Rhys came back, “it appeared that way, but we can’t take it for granted that the two species aren’t intertwined in a more sinister way. I re-evaluated the interpretation that your computer made of the message that took you to the DSC in the first place, Gran,” Rhys now referring to her great grandmother using a more familiar contraction, “and I agree that it is a warning. I haven’t finished

with it, but I am sure it contains a deeper underlying message that everyone may have misinterpreted.” Her words punched a hole in the mood of the two other diners at the table. They all recognized Rhys’ suggestion could have even more far-reaching implications than any of them had previously imagined. “Anyway,” Rhys continued, “I’m going to keep that thought in mind when I begin my work and, of course, I will keep all of the Family informed should I come across concrete evidence to this possibility.”

After several hours of discussion, the bill was paid in cash and the three left, returning to Ellen’s two bedroom apartment. On the way back, the two women talked about Ellen’s experiences being a mother and, in turn, Rhys told her great grandmother about her own personal experiences growing up. After arriving at Ellen’s apartment, Ben decided to leave the two relatives to talk further, so he used the excuse of being tired to retire.

The two women indeed had much more to discuss.

The End

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