Aliens vs Predator Omnibus

by Steve Perry

  Dachande turned and walked through the corridor toward the front of the ship. As Leader, he would be the first to set foot on the Hunting grounds, a pleasure that rumbled deep in his gut.

  This would be a good Hunt, oomans notwithstanding.

  * * *

  Noguchi took her second shower of the day in the early evening, as twilight fell over Prosperity Wells. It had been a hard day but a good one; all of the herds had been penned except for one of Cho’s and that one was on its way.

  She stood in front of the holomirror in the green linen suit she had worn on her first day in Ryushi and smiled at her wind-burned complexion. After only a few days outside, her face had begun to take on the look of a rancher’s. She liked it; it was the appearance of a person who didn’t mind hard work, even though she had to innoculate herself against skin cancers and had run a small fever from the vaccine for most of a day.

  The Chigusa staff had been setting up tables and portable roasting pits near the shield wall when she had gone to shower and change, but she was surprised at the crowd that had gathered in her short absence. She stepped out of her building and was nearly run over by a group of giggling children. Not many of those here, children, but some.

  The scent of grilled rhynth steaks carried to her along with the sounds of people talking and laughing. Ranchers and their spouses walked past, hand in hand, all headed toward the landing pad. Noguchi joined them.

  Hiroki was easy to spot amid the ranchers in his dark dress suit; he stood near the loading ramp, drink in hand. He returned her wave and wove his way through the crowd to meet her.

  “You look lovely, Machiko-san.”

  “Thank you. You look very nice yourself.” She gazed wonderingly at the mass of people all around. “Is every person on the planet here?”

  “Just about. A few of the staff are watching screens in ops, but other than that…”

  Noguchi smiled. “A hundred people in one place is now a mob to me. Funny, how perspectives change.”

  Hiroki nodded. “It is. And I’m glad to see them enjoying themselves. This is their first roundup, everything they’ve worked for, for three years.”

  Noguchi looked around at the ranchers, relaxed and mingling in the open compound. It was impossible not to pick up on the mood of excitement and accomplishment. Someone had even fed music over the public address system; couples danced in the deepening dusk while their children ran and played through the streets.

  “Come on, let’s go greet the ship,” said Hiroki. “It’s due any minute.”

  She followed him through the dancing crowd toward the antenna tower. “The home office called,” she said mildly. “They’ve approved the price hike for the ranchers.”

  Hiroki raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. “Good work, boss.”

  “Where are we headed, anyway? Wouldn’t the best place be—”

  “The tower is the only place to watch a landing.” Hiroki stopped in front of the ranged ladder that ran up one side of the transmitting structure and rested one hand on the lowest step.

  “Can that thing support both of us?” Noguchi looked at the ladder doubtfully.

  “Let’s find out, shall we?”

  They scaled one story and hit the first landing, then slowly climbed the stairs to the top, five floors up. There was a moderate, warm breeze blowing, and Noguchi looked down to see the miniature people milling about in the night air.

  It was easy to forget the pressures of work on such an occasion. Pleasant memories from long ago ran through her head, Nakama festivals with her parents, walks through bonsai forests that made her feel like a giant.

  A low rumbling began, somewhere in the sky. The people below watched the clouds for movement.

  Noguchi looked up to see the ship, and even so far away, she could tell it was big. Huge. It was hard for her mind to grasp such a gigantic object in the air. She had seen craft like it before, of course—but this one was bigger than the entire rec center and op building combined. It had pusher vents easily twenty meters long and half as wide on either side; there were three loading docks in front, each big enough to admit four rhynth side by side; giant air-pushers swept a benign wind over the crowd as the ship rumbled toward the landing pad.

  With a roar that drowned out all other sound, The Lector settled gently. It was quite a trick to land such a tub in atmosphere; the aerodynamics were hardly conducive to such things. The shield wall protected the complex from most of the engine wash, but the sudden gale that hit all of them was enough to whip up dresses and hair and a considerable haze of dust. As the thunder dwindled slowly, Noguchi heard a chorus of laughter and hand clapping.

  It was a magnificent spectacle, The Lector come to roost. Well, part of the ship anyway. The rest was still in orbit.

  A hand landed on her shoulder. Hiroki. He grinned at her.

  “Down to the final klick, eh? Let’s go introduce ourselves to the crew.”

  They started toward the stairs, Hiroki leading. Noguchi cast one last look at the ship and thought about what he had said, the final kilometer. In spite of the mood of the evening, she had felt a chill at his words. Odd.

  She brushed the ominous speculation aside and went to join the party.

  * * *

  Scott and Tom stepped off the ramp together into Prosperity Wells. For some reason, the mass of people assembled to greet them was a relief to Scott, although he wasn’t sure why. Other crew members filed out past them to shake hands and chat with the ranchers and their families.

  “Hey, we’re celebrities, man, check it out,” Tom mumbled.

  Scott smirked. It was true; the locals had gathered around each of The Lector’s crew with smiles and backslaps.

  “Guess they don’t get out much,” Scott whispered.

  A tall, husky man, about forty TS, with a red beard and a grin stepped toward them. He held out two cups of beer to the pilots. “Ackland’s the name,” he said, extending his large hand. Tom shook it, then Scott. “I’m head of the local ranchers association. How was your trip, Captains—?”

  “Strandberg,” said Tom. “But just call me Tom. This is my copilot, Scott Conover. The trip was fine.”

  “Nice to meet you, sirs. Hope you and your crew are ready to party; we got some nice steaks on the grill—” Ackland leaned closer and lowered his voice. “And we got some fine young ladies looking for dance partners, I’ll bet. That is, if you’re inclined that way—”

  Scott grinned. “You bet. Tom here was starting to look pretty good near the last leg of the trip, if you know what I mean.”

  Ackland chuckled, a forced and overly jovial sound, and clapped Scott on the back. “I thought so,” he started. “You know, I was—”

  “Can I have your attention, please?” A short Japanese woman in a green suit stood on a chair a few meters away, a dinner tray in hand. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”

  She was pretty, that one. Scott looked her up and down. Nice legs, nice butt. A little shy in the breast department, but Scott had seen worse.

  “Who’s the babe?” he said quietly to Ackland. Tom elbowed him in the gut. Damn feminist.

  “You mean bitch,” Ackland replied. “Nitrogen queen. That’s the boss.”

  “I know you’re all anxious for the festivities to begin, but first I have an important announcement.” The crowd calmed as everyone turned to look at her.

  “Loading will proceed as follows—Ackland, you’re first on deck. Harrison’s next, followed by Luccini and Marianetti. The rest of the assignments will be handed out tomorrow at dusk.” She paused, then smiled.

  “One more thing. The company gave their answer on the price adjustment—you’ll be getting the increase you requested. Enjoy the party, everyone.”

  She stepped off the chair to the sounds of scattered clapping and hoots of excitement.

  “Go figure,” said Ackland. “Maybe she’s good for something after all.”

  Scott took a long gulp of beer and then laughed. “I could thin
k of a few other things she might be good at.”

  Tom rolled his eyes, and Ackland shook his head. “I wouldn’t try it. Noguchi probably doesn’t uncross her legs to take a shit, you know?”

  “Too bad,” mumbled Tom. He wandered off.

  Scott took another slug and belched softly. “Takes all kinds, right?” he said, and looked into his cup. Not bad for a local brew. He picked out the Japanese woman again and studied her smile as she talked to some rancher woman. Ackland was babbling something about the weather, but Scott watched Noguchi.

  Dust ball it was, but the place wasn’t a lost cause. He swigged more beer and turned his attention back to Ackland. Anything could happen in three days, no matter what the rancher said. Hell, nitrogen was his specialty…

  * * *

  Noguchi walked toward the ops center, the party in full swing behind her. It was definitely a success, in more ways than one. A few of the ranchers had warmed toward her after the announcement, and she had kept up a steady patter of innocuous conversation for at least two hours. Nice people. And she had been doing a good job of nodding and smiling—

  Although one day doesn’t undo six months of stupidity, Machiko.

  Right. But it was a start. It had finally hit home that Hiroki would be leaving with The Lector. A vague sadness had come over her, along with a desire to be alone for a little while. He was perhaps her only friend…

  She walked into operations to see only one person manning the screens.

  “Collins, right?” she said hopefully.

  The young man nodded and stood up.

  “Go join the party, okay? Til watch things here for a while.”

  Collins’s eyes widened. “Really? Thanks, Ms. Noguchi.”

  “It’s just Machiko from now on.” She smiled at him and moved by so that he could pass.

  “Uh, okay,” he said. “Machiko.” He sounded uncomfortable with her first name but he smiled back. He started to walk out and then turned.

  “Oh, listen—when Doc Revna gets back, tell him the home office received his report. It’s in the tray with his notes.”

  Noguchi frowned. She had seen Fem Doc at the party, but Revna hadn’t been around, had he?

  “Gets back from where?” she said.

  “Said he was going up to Iwa Gorge to look for something,” he said. “He signed out a hover bike a couple of hours ago.”

  Today? Bad timing,” she said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I said.” Collins shrugged. “But he said it was important. Listen, thanks again.”

  After he had left, Noguchi sat at the console and gazed at the radar, lost in thought. She hadn’t expected much from Hiroki at the beginning, but he had been unfailingly patient with her. His professionalism was top-notch; it would be sad to see him leave…

  She shook her head and glanced around for something to take her mind off of Hiroki. Doc Revna’s report lay in a basket nearby, but she hesitated picking it up. What if it were private information—?

  Then he wouldn’t have let Collins send it, he would’ve done it himself.

  Brilliant. She picked up the stack of hard copy and leaned back in her chair. What the hell was in Iwa Gorge, anyway? She liked the doc, he was a smart man. She leafed through the papers and settled down to read, with a silent wish for Revna to find whatever it was he was looking for…

  * * *

  Kesar trained his binoculars on the sight at the bottom of the gorge and inhaled sharply. His heart hammered in his chest and his hands shook. It was incredible. It was unbelievable.

  A dozen or so humanoids stood surrounding a large craft, the likes of which he had never seen. The ship looked like a cross between a fish and a huge engine tube, it was tinted a strange greenish hue, with a broad ramp set into the ground.

  The humanoids were tall; he couldn’t be sure because of nothing to show relative size, and the scaler in his scope was malfunctioning, but he would guess two and a half meters, maybe a little more. More amazing, they appeared to be carrying… spears.

  Revna had stopped halfway down into the gorge, had parked his bike near some rocks twenty meters behind him or so. The adrenaline in his system was screaming at him to go back to the flyer, now. Big aliens with spears did not seem like the kind of folks you wanted to meet by yourself in the middle of the desert But he couldn’t stop looking at the amazing sight.

  He hit the full magnification button and the creatures zoomed closer. Tall, muscular, definitely armed. Still too far away to get a good view and it was also too bad the scope’s scaler was out of whack, he wanted to get a size on them.

  Whatever they were, they were definitely not human. Now here was a discovery that would get his name in the books. Not just a new species of spider or crab, but sentient aliens!

  He watched for another half minute. What were they doing here? What were they? A hundred questions formed and tried to rise all at once. Incredible.

  He licked his lips and focused on one of the alien faces. Some kind of mask it wore, like the others. Breathing gear?

  He would go back to town, get some of the ranchers, some photo equipment—

  Kesar blinked. One of the creatures turned and looked at him. It threw back its head, its long, odd braids fell back. A long, crazy howl filled the canyon, echoed off of the cliffs, and beat at his ears, joined by others.

  Impossible, he was mostly hidden from view, and he could hardly see them with the scope. They couldn’t see him.

  But they did. He knew for sure in a second.

  When they ran toward him, waving their spears, screaming.

  9

  Dachande spun, tusks flared, as the cries of his brood vibrated through the gorge. Sounds of challenge, of aggression. His gaze followed the path of the running yautja to a place in the rocks where—

  Ooman!

  Warkha spoke behind him, but the words were swallowed in the frenzy.

  Dachande gave orders without looking.

  Tell Skemte to prepare flight and gather those you can! Ki’cte!”

  He ran, blade in hand. The Hunt would have to be aborted, but the ooman would die first. There was no other way. Dachande cursed mentally and ran faster.

  He was almost to the rocks when the noise of a craft starting hit him.

  Damn! If the ooman got away, it would bring others!

  He saw that at least two of the students had already made it to the place he was headed, Chulonte and another, he couldn’t tell—

  The small flying craft came over the rise and struck Chulonte at chest level.

  A single ooman manned the ship, was balanced clumsily at the controls, hair swept back from an ugly, pale face.

  Chulonte scrabbled at the craft to hold on, but the ooman ran the flyer close to a rock face. Chulonte’s skull cracked against the cliff and he fell suddenly boneless to the ground, the mint gray-green of his brain tissue mixed with the darker phosphor-green of his blood splattered on the stone.

  Cjit! The Hunt had not even begun and already he had lost a student Damn!

  The ooman’s craft was turned by the collision. It roared and swerved past Dachande and headed straight for their ship, the ooman’s intentions unknown.

  The Leader ran back toward the ship. He screamed the death cry to all: kill the ooman!

  It would pay with its life for the death of Chulonte.

  * * *

  Revna ran to his bike, his stomach an empty hole. Stark terror made him fumble the starter. His hands shook uncontrollably.

  “Start, please, oh, please, start, start—” He heard his own voice and for a moment it sounded as if it belonged to someone else.

  The cycle roared to life. Relief rushed through him, cool and welcome. He stepped on the accelerator, hard, thinking only of escape.

  And he flew directly into them. He topped the rock formation, his thoughts clouded with panic; turn, turn, turn, fool—

  One of the creatures leapt up in front of him. He tried to swerve, but it was too late. The impact jarred him from his s
eat; he would have fallen except for the reflexive grab at the handles. The alien was huge; Revna caught a whiff of some musky, bitter oil. Its screech was one of pain and fury. It grabbed for him.

  Without thinking, Revna veered toward a cliff wall. The screaming thing smacked into the rocks, hard, and then was gone. He tried to regain control of the scooter but the impact had thrown him into a turn. And the controls were damaged, he couldn’t turn, the flier responded sluggishly.

  All right, don’t panic, it’s okay. He would have to use speed to get past them, have to go so fast they couldn’t catch him, couldn’t spear him—

  Another of the creatures reached for him, but he passed it. Revna smashed on the accelerator all the way forward as a blast of incredible heat blew by him. He ducked, felt his facial hair singe.

  The craft didn’t want to alter its course. He was going to pass right next to the ship.

  Altitude, he had to get high enough so they couldn’t grab him!

  The repellors still worked, he managed to trim the elevators and start to climb. Five meters, seven, still heading right at the ship but he would clear it—

  Another blast of heat, this one splashed the underside of the flier, cooked plastic and metal. The repellors coughed and the craft dropped a meter, sputtered.

  That was no spear! They’ve got guns! Lasers, plasma rifles, Jesus!

  He raised his watering eyes just in time to see that he was headed for the alien craft at high speed and that he wasn’t going to clear it.

  He was going to hit it dead center—

  Miriam—

  It was his last thought before the world turned to fire.

  * * *

  Dachande saw the ooman fly at the ship and he ran faster. Most of the students were clear, but at that speed, an impact could cause damage, big damage—

  * * *

  The tiny flier smashed into the ship and blew apart in a fireball that shattered both craft. A second later came another blast, bigger than the first. Flame and debris sprayed, scorched rocks, moved boulders, knocked over delicate formations that had stood undisturbed for millions of years. Huge chunks of burning ship flew through the gully as the hunters were blown to the ground by the blast.