The Complete Aliens Omnibus, Volume One (Earth Hive, Nightmare Asylum, the Female War)
Page 50
The monster raised Carvey into the air like a child with a toy.
“Falk, Jesus, get it off, get it off me—!”
Carvey’s cries were cut off abruptly as the drone used its other claw and ripped his throat out. The creature tossed the handful of flesh away and pulled one of Carvey’s arms off. Tossed that away, too.
Oh, fuck—!
So goddamned fast!
Dunston and Falk had barely gotten their weapons raised.
“We’re coming!” Ripley yelled into her ’com, but the two men were already slogging quickly backward toward the APC. “Go, Wilks! I’m on the guns!”
Falk blasted at the drone. It dropped Carvey, screamed, and started toward him, hissing, then fell into the water as Dunston’s carbine joined the fire. They might be bigger and faster than normal drones, but they could die.
Wilks jammed the APC into full throttle.
Billie slammed her fist against the console. “Fuck, oh fuck, the other pods!”
* * *
Ripley was bringing the APC’s guns online when she heard Billie.
“Come on!” she shouted to Wilks.
The APC lurched forward—only to hit another stop. The engine whined noisily.
“Dunston!” It was Falk yelling.
Ripley looked up at the viewscreen as an alien leaped over one of the pods and pounced at the teacher. He fell onto his back with a splash, absorbed the shock of the huge drone, and slammed his weapon into its belly—
Falk struggled to get a clear shot as the APC suddenly moved forward again—
“Die!” shouted Dunston.
Nothing happened. His weapon must have jammed. He raised his free arm, used the mechanical clamp to hold the alien’s head away from his own—
It shrieked and opened its gigantic jaws. With a jerk, it shoved its head forward.
The steel armor crumpled like paper as its inner mouth snapped out and speared Dunston’s face. Bright red splashed into the water and the teacher fell limp.
“Motherfucker!” yelled Falk, and opened up on the drone. The crash of gunfire shredded the alien. The area around the fallen creature hissed and bubbled as its blood ate the water. What fell on Dunston didn’t matter.
Falk disappeared from the screen as the APC came to a stop.
“Wilks!” shouted Ripley.
“Don’t make me knock, for Christ’s sake!” said Falk through the ’com.
Adcox stood behind the door, weapon raised. Billie slammed the entry button and Falk fell inside, gasping.
“Close it!” he said.
Ripley caught a glimpse of one of the creatures moving quickly through the muck. She put the gun tracker on it—
Billie slammed the hatch button again. “Come on—!”
The monster loped closer, its limbs splashing the foul water against the front of the APC
Ripley said, “Too close to shoot, it’ll spatter all over the APC—!”
The hatch closed.
* * *
“Emergency dustoff, now!” said Billie. She held her comlink headset in place with shaky fingers.
“We can’t put down at your current position,” said Brewster. His voice was anguished. “We got a force three hurricane wind aloft right there. Get away from the nest, get back closer to the initial drop point!”
“Shit!” Billie said.
“Billie, are you okay? Where’s—”
“No time, Brewster,” said Wilks. “Get moving. We’ll be there ASAP.”
Billie discommed and turned to Wilks. The aliens were so much bigger and stronger than before—
Before she could speak, something hammered against the APC wall, hard enough to dent metal.
Billie scanned the readouts. “Three of them,” she said.
The entire unit was lifted and tipped backward, before it fell forward with a crash. The vid screen went black and mud splashed the kleersteel window. Metal groaned. Something snapped with a bell-like crack.
“Wilks,” Billie said, in barely a whisper. She looked at the readout without blinking, hoped that it was wrong.
“Our internal cooling system just opened—” Even as she watched, the temperature was going up. “It’s going to get hot in here. Crappy warranty on these things.”
Wilks checked the monitor. “Ripley, we got some problems up here.”
There was no answer.
* * *
Ripley belted the vest and nearly fell when the APC tipped. She picked up Falk’s gun and checked the ammo read. Wilks shouted something at her as she searched the floor for additional magazines. Everything was rolling; the clips slid under the supply compartment.
“Ripley!” yelled Wilks again.
She walked to the front in the bulky suit. Falk and Adcox leaned against the wall that faced the door, weapons ready.
“Fuck this,” said Falk. “Let’s burn outta here.”
Wilks turned around in his seat. He looked Ripley up and down. “Jesus,” he said. “You’re crazy.”
“Just head for the drop site.”
“Can’t. The manuals are shot, steering just about locked. Our reactor took a knock—we can go straight for about ten minutes and then we’re talking meltdown. Got any ideas?”
“Yeah,” said Ripley. “Use the APC’s guns and hammer those three outside; won’t matter if the acid damages the APC now. Seal the hatch and take off full speed as soon as I’m out. I need a couple minutes to get to her nest.”
“And what are you going to do when you get there? Invite her to fucking tea?” said Wilks.
“I didn’t come this far just to let her slip away,” said Ripley. “If I can’t capture her, I can kill her. I have to try. Listen, it’s been good working with you—”
“You are fucking crazy,” said Billie.
Ripley grinned and walked back to the rear hatch of the APC. Adcox followed, prepared to cover her.
Wilks triggered the APC’s guns. One of them was still operable. The uranium slugs shattered the attacking aliens. “Clear,” he said. “At the moment.”
“Good luck,” Ripley said.
The hatch opened and Ripley jumped out.
17
I’m showing several forms moving at high speed toward the APC,” Billie said. Her mouth was dry. In spite of the heat, she felt cold all over. The blips on the screen wavered and jumped, moved closer.
“I guess that means Ripley’s plan is working,” she said.
Wilks didn’t spare her a glance as he wrestled with the controls. “Reactor halfway to critical, APC’s about to be overcome by superbugs—yeah, I’d say it’s working. Any better and we could blow our brains out now and save those bastards the trouble.”
“Should I call the Kurtz again?”
“Not yet. We give Ripley her five-plus and keep going till this sucker suffers from a complete engine or axle lock.”
“Then?” She turned to look at him. Her vision was blurred from sweat.
“Haven’t gotten that far yet,” he said.
The APC rocked. Billie looked back at the sensor and then screamed.
“Jesus—” said Wilks. A giant, dripping alien grin appeared on the other side of the kleersteel. The creature lifted huge, clawed hands up to the window, and with a muffled shriek plunged its head through the shield. The clear metal shattered inward, sprayed everywhere as the alien reached for Billie—
* * *
Ripley fell into the shallow water, grunted, and jumped up into a crouch. She tried to look in all directions at once, managed one; there was no immediate danger.
She didn’t believe that the drones would have left their queen unprotected, but the only motion around her was the gently swaying ocean.
Doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way…
All of her senses were in overdrive. The putrid odor of the planet, combined with the heat and gravity, made her dizzy. Along with the fading sound of the APC, there was only the slosh of the water against her legs. The fierce winds had suddenly dwindled to almost nothing.
An alien’s cry echoed through the dead air, but it came from the direction of the retreating transport.
She turned and faced the cluster of nests.
“It’s just you and me, now,” she said.
* * *
Wilks grabbed for his weapon.
The creature already had its claws on Billie. It hissed, its decayed breath filling the air as Wilks came up with his carbine. Everything was mired in time, creaking forward in slow motion and thick gravity…
Too late, too late, his brain chanted.
The explosion thundered in his ears. The drone seemed to fly backward with a cry of rage and pain. Acid spattered, bubbled and smoked on the shards of kleersteel.
Adcox stepped forward, weapon extended. The alien was gone.
“Oh, shit,” said Billie.
“Okay?” said Adcox.
Billie looked down at her ripped shirt and then back at the lieutenant. “Yeah.”
Wilks exhaled heavily and checked the motion sensor. “One down,” he said.
Hot, noxious air washed over them. Billie had a small cut on her left arm from the kleersteel, but that was it. That they hadn’t been drenched with the bug’s acid was amazing…
Time to think about it later, Wilks told himself. He glanced at the APC readout to see the core temperature still rising.
“Keep your eye on that thing,” he said.
If there is a later, he thought.
* * *
Ripley slowly splashed toward the orbs. She heard shots in the distance.
“Bet we got one of your babies,” she said. Her muscles were sore from the gravity; it felt like a hundred kilos had been strapped to each limb. Even breathing was an effort. But she could feel the queen, the powerful aura of the bitch—
Water splashed behind her. Ripley spun, raised her weapon—
The drone was still twenty meters away. It screamed, opened its jaws—
Ripley pulled the trigger, fired a quick burst at the massive target’s chest. The running creature stopped dead, its abdomen peeled outward by the explosive force of the rounds. It fell into the water, hissing like a punctured air tank. The wave motion rocked Ripley’s legs and she fought to maintain balance. The noise of the shots hurt her ears. Should have worn plugs—
Another shriek to her left. She turned again. This one was closer and moved at incredible speed, even in the heavy gravity.
She fired twice.
The giant alien fell backward, its taloned feet in the air for a second before it rolled over. The thing’s jointed tail flailed up and then lashed into the water before it lay still. Speckles of liquid splashed Ripley’s face.
She crouched for a minute and listened: only the sizzle of alien blood as it dispersed into the water.
She faced the nest.
“Is that the best you can do?” she said, breathing hard. “Those are your chosen protectors?”
Silence.
“Why don’t you show yourself?” Ripley whacked the arm of her mechanical suit against one of the connecting cords. It rippled and swayed slightly. She felt a bitter anger rise up…
“What the fuck is this? Why don’t you come out here and tell me?”
She hit the cord again and moved closer to the center orb.
“Explain the crew of the Nostromo. The Sulaco. Explain Earth! Explain my daughter, you bitch!”
Ripley waited, breathing hard.
Suddenly, the huge sphere jerked. The translucent goo quivered. A long crack appeared at the top of the thing, pulsing slightly. It started opening.
Ripley tapped her ’com, never taking her eyes off of the nest. “Kurtz, this is Ripley,” she said quickly. “Zero my position and get your asses here.”
Brewster’s fuzzy voice spoke into her ear. “I told Wilks, the wind—”
“The wind has died down. Get that ship over my coordinates, now.”
As she spoke, a blackness started to move up from the orb. A glossy, elongated shape, a skull easily two meters in length, raised up. Three clawed digits wrapped over the lip of the crack, and then another three. The queen slowly pulled herself up. She hissed at Ripley, drool falling from her jaws as she unfurled herself from her home.
The queen. The mama of all mamas. Come to receive her visitor.
She was at least eight meters long, her whipping, bony tail making her eight more. Her comb was sleek and wet. Several of her vertebrae arched outward like spines, ran down her back like a row of fingers. She had four arms. She was the biggest living creature Ripley had ever seen, taller than the elephant she’d seen in the zoo as a kid. Jesus.
The queen ducked her head forward and down, craned her obscene skull to get a better look at what had disturbed her.
“That’s right,” said Ripley. She backed away from the advancing creature. “Come on out and have a look.”
* * *
“Core temperature’s going up. Meltdown in—seven minutes,” said Billie. Her body was still shaking, but she had managed to control the worst of it.
“We’re talking more than meltdown,” said Wilks. “When that core burns through to the liquid fuel chamber, we’re looking at an explosion.”
“Gee, and everything’s been going great so far,” Char said.
Wilks pushed at the controls and then sighed. ‘Well, the engine and the wheels still work,” he said. “That means this thing probably keeps rolling until it blows. Time to leave this party; we’ll have to make the drop site on foot.”
“That’s fucked,” Char said.
“Take all the ammunition you can carry and move out. Unless you want to cook here.”
“New readings at the outer perimeter,” Billie said.
She squinted at the motion sensor and then tapped the side of it, hard. “There’s a wall of them, Wilks!”
Even as she spoke, a dozen or so lights flashed on the screen.
“What—?” Char said. “They’re running past us!”
“Mama is calling her children,” Wilks said.
Billie could barely fathom the number of moving creatures it would take to give that reading.
“There must be thousands,” she said. Her stomach knotted tighter. “Ripley.”
“She’ll do what she has to,” said Wilks. He stood and walked to the back.
Billie and Char both looked through the open shield for a few seconds, the choking air fetid against their faces. The army of drones moved toward them like a sheet of rain, closer and closer. Dozens ran past the APC, headed back to the queen. Billie could hear their shrieks over the rising whine of the transport.
“It’s almost certain suicide to get out,” Char said. “And what happened to the nice breeze we had?”
“We know it’s suicide to stay,” Billie said. “Maybe the bastards are on autopilot or something and they won’t even notice us.”
Without another word, they walked back to Falk and Wilks. The two men handed them loaded weapons and extra clips. They all moved to the rear hatch.
“Conserve ammo,” said Wilks, “and fire only at targets coming at us. Stay close.”
Billie searched for something to say, some last words, but there was nothing. Wilks hit the button and jumped, slipped, landed on his shoulder with a splash.
A chorus of howls went up all around the APC as Billie took a breath and leaped.
* * *
Ripley continued to back away from the hissing queen. It seemed like a long fucking time before she heard a noise that drowned the bitch out.
The sound of the Kurtz moving in overhead was sweet music.
“We’ll bring her in as low as we can,” crackled Brewster through her ’com, “and then—holy shit.”
“Quite the prize,” said Ripley. “Open the containment chamber and get close to me.”
“Yeah,” said Brewster. “But if that wind picks up again…”
The queen refocused her attention on the thundering ship. She backed away from Ripley a step and let out a high-pitched, mewling noise.
The queen didn’t offer a reply.
“Closer, Brewster, come on.”
The queen took another step backward, wagged her huge head, looked at Ripley, then the ship.
The Kurtz’s cargo bay was directly over her, the hatch open. Keeping her weapon pointed at the queen, Ripley held her other arm up. The clamp on the suit opened and then closed on metal.
She pulled herself up. It took a tremendous effort. Her arm felt like it was going to jerk out of its socket, even with the suit’s augmentation.
The alien watched but didn’t try to follow her.
As big as the ship was, Ripley couldn’t believe the monster was afraid. Curious, perhaps, but the goddamned things never seemed to be afraid of anything.
Ripley sidled into the dock on her elbows, scrabbled forward on her knees.
She stood and looked down at the queen.
The creature hissed at her. All of her metallic teeth glinted wetly in the dim light.
Ripley smiled. “Perfect, Brewster. Hold here for a minute.”
She retrained her weapon at the closest orb and fired.
The queen screamed as pieces of her nest flew. Ripley kept the trigger depressed, sent a steady stream of bullets into the orb. Bits of the weird, fleshy material dropped into the water and sank.
She released the trigger. The queen turned from the remains of her broken home and howled in anger. She looked at Ripley.
She knows I’m doing it, Ripley thought. Knows what a gun is even though she’s never seen one before.
Watch this.
Ripley aimed at the next orb and opened fire. With a shriek, the queen leaped at her.
Ripley stumbled backward as the queen extended her huge claws toward the slick alloy. The alien grasped at the edge of the door’s frame and caught hold.
“Up, now, up!” Ripley screamed into the ’com.
The Kurtz lifted.
The queen pulled herself into the dock as Ripley ran toward the inner door.
“Seal the outer hatch!”
The queen screamed a sound of absolute fury as she started toward Ripley.
Ripley spun back to look at the queen and the nearly closed hatch. She had to be sure—