Chapter One
Nostromo
Commercial Towing Vehicle 'The Nostromo'
Crew: Nine
Cargo: Refinery processing 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore
Course: Returning to Earth
It was time for them all to awaken. As the Stasis beds open, each of the nine members of the Nostromo awoke, pulling them from their slumber. The first to awaken was Executive Officer Kane, followed by Engineers Jack, Brett, and Parker. Captain Dallas was next and then Science Officer Ash, Navigator Lambert, and the twin Warrant Officers Ripley and Riley. Eleanor and Anora were actually twins, but Anora went by Riley so the crew had a name to call her when they needed one of the sisters. After showers and clothes, the crew found themselves eating in the kitchen.
Ripley and Riley were identical to the very end with their dark eyes and their curly, black hair. The only thing really different between the sisters was that Ripley was married with a kid, while Riley was not.
Jack Rush, in fact, was Ripley's husband and was sitting beside them while they ate. Their daughter was on earth still, being looked after by her grandmothers. Jack was only a few years older than the twins, with sandy brown hair and blue eyes.
"Brett, you still with us over there?" Parker asked his partner.
The man took a sip of the coffee. "Right."
"I feel dead." Kane sighed.
"Yeah, you look it, too." Jack called to him, taking a drink from his own glass as he leaned back in his chair. His wife gave him a nudge in the side as she chuckled with the others.
"Oh, yeah, right. I forgot something, man," Parker began. "I just forgot something, man. Now before we dock…I think we ought to discuss the bonus situation."
"Oh dear," Riley hung her head as Jack closed his eyes.
"Brett and I think we deserve full shares."
"What about you, Jack?" the Captain, Dallas, looked at the other Engineer of the crew.
"Don't get me involved in this," the man held his hands up. "I have no problem with what I get."
"That's also because you're wife gets paid too." Parker hissed.
"Mr. Parker and I feel the bonus situation has never been on an equitable level." Brett told them.
Dallas sighed. "You'll get what you contracted for, like everybody else."
"Yes," Brett nodded as a buzzer began to go off. "But everybody else gets more than us."
"Dallas," Ash began as the others chuckled. "Mother wants to talk to you."
"Yeah," Dallas sighed. "I saw it. Yellow light's for my eyes only." He stood up and grabbed his jacket. "OK, get dressed, huh? Parker, let's go."
"Can I finish my coffee?" the black man asked. "It's the only thing good on this ship."
Riley sighed and stood up. "Stop complaining about it and let's just get to work."
"Agreed." Ripley stood as well.
After they all got dressed, the group headed towards the front of the ship, getting ready to dock, but Riley felt that something was off. When Lambert asked where Earth was, she knew her feelings were right.
"We're not even back in the Milky Way, are we?"
Ripley frowned, glancing over at her sister's seat. "Why would we be awoken before then?"
"Contact Traffic Control," Kane ordered.
Ripley took it. "This is commercial towing vehicle Nostromo out of the Solomons…registration number 1-8-0-9er 2-4-6-0-9er…calling Antartica Traffic Control. Do you read me? Over?" No answer. She repeated herself but still, "Nothing."
"Keep trying." Kane told her.
"I found it," Lambert announced. "Just short of Zeta ll Reticuli. We haven't reached the outer rim yet."
"That's hard to believe," Kane blinked, staring at the screen.
"What the hell are we doing out here?"
"Did you set the route wrong?" Riley asked.
"No," Lambert shook her head.
"That's not our system." Ripley called forward in a sing-song voice.
"I know that." Lambert sang back, annoyed.
Jack tried his hardest not to roll his eyes as Parker and Brett continued to run their mouths and the three of them moved around the lower sets of the ship. He really didn't want to hear this but he was stuck as long as these two men were his partners.
"You ever notice how they never come down here?" Parker growled. "I mean, this is where the work is, right?"
"The same damn reason we get a half share to their one." Brett sighed. "Our time is their time. That's the way they see it. Same old shit, man."
"I know why they don't come down here. It's because of you. You have no personality."
"Well, one would think that Ripley would come down here, at least. Jack is her husband." Brett teased.
Jack paused for a moment. "And what makes you think that Ripley HASN'T been down here?"
Parker glanced at him. "Has she?"
Jack didn't answer in words, just giving a sadistic grin for the other two to think about.
"So, what's going on with the ship?" Riley asked.
Dallas had gathered them all back into the kitchen, explaining everything that had happened while they had been in Stasis.
"Well, some of you may have figured out we're not home yet." Dallas began. "We're only halfway there."
Parker turned his head as Jack raised a brow. "What?"
"Mother's interrupted the course of our journey." The Captain continued.
"Why?" Kane asked.
"She's programmed to do that, should certain conditions arise. They have."
"Like what?" Ripley wondered.
"Seems she had intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. She got us up to check it out."
"A transmission?" Ripley asked.
"Out here?" Riley finished.
"Yeah."
"What kind of transmission?" Lambert asked.
"Acoustical beacon. It repeats at intervals of twelve seconds."
"Is it an S.O.S?" Jack questioned.
"I don't know," The Captain shook his head.
"Human?" Ripley called out.
Dallas shrugged. "Unknown."
"So what?" Parker sat up.
Kane turned to him. "We're obligated under Section B-two-"
The black man chuckled. "I hate to bring this up, but this is a commercial ship, not a rescue ship." Brett agreed. "It's not in my contract to do this kind of duty. You want to give me some money to do it, I'll be happy to."
"Jesus Christ, Parker," Jack growled at the other two men. "Shut up about the damn money. You know that we're not going to have to go off the ship so stay here, look pretty, and whine when I'm not around, got it?"
Parker glared at the other man as the others gave stifled snorts and laughs.
"Can I say something?" Ash pushed in. "There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated."
"I don't want to hear it," Parker replied. "I want to go home and party."
Riley had to admit that she wanted to go home as well, but she would do what Dallas told her to do. He was her Captain, after all.
"Parker, will you just listen to the man?" Dallas growled.
"On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money." Ash finished.
Parker looked surprised.
"You got that?" Dallas asked. All Parker could do was give a nervous laugh. "All right, we're going in.
They got ready to land on the planet, everyone going through their tasks.
"48 seconds and counting." Ash announced.
"SR-one stable." Riley told them.
"Prepare to disengage from platform." Dallas ordered.
"Twenty seconds." Lambert continued before beginning to countdown. They left the ore behind, getting ready to land on the planet.
Riley gave her sister a sign and Ripley took over, giving her sister a break for a moment. Rubbing her temples, Riley took a deep breath. Her head was starting to kill her with all this crap and worry about what they would find in the planet. Hopefully it would be nothing and just an old beacon that had been there for years now. As the ship began to hit turbulence, the shaking made it hurt worse and she closed her eyes. And then, a long, loud screech went off, jerking her eyes wide open.
"What the hell was that?" Parker demanded.
"Nothing good, that's for sure," Jack growled, glancing at his screens.
"Pressure dropping in deck three." Brett announced. "Must've lost a shield."
"Let's go with it," Dallas told them.
"Dropping off now," Ash announced. "Still dropping. There we are. We've got it."
"Take her down."
The landing was prime, or so they thought. Something happened, jerking them all around as sparks went off towards the front of the ship. The crew all moved to set things safe for the moment.
"What the hell happened?" Dallas demanded as the sirens came to a stop. "Somebody give me a straight answer."
"Is the hull breached?" Kane asked.
"I don't see anything," Ripley replied. "We've still got pressure."
Parker's voice came to them other the intercom. "Secondary load-sharing unit is out. Jack says three of the four cells are gone."
"Is that it?" Ripley asked.
"No, hold on. We can't fix it out here anyway. We need to reroute a couple of these ducts."
"Dry-dock time." Kane replied.
"What else?" Dallas sighed.
"Some fragment's caked up and we've got to clean it all out and repressurize it."
"How long before we're functional?"
"At least twenty-five hours."
"Get started," Ripley told them. "Riley and I'll be right down."
Kane, Lambert, and Dallas suited up, being the only three that were going on the first team. Riley and Ripley had been helping Jack and the others for the last hour or so, but Riley had hurried up to talk to Dallas before he left. He was busy putting his suit on just as she came in the doors.
"You sure it's safe to go out there?" she asked him, watching as he pulled his zipper up.
"No, not really," He answered her. "But then again, whenever is space safe? When you're out here-"
Riley smiled. "No one can hear you scream," She finished his little joke. He gave her his own laugh and smile. "Be careful out there, Dallas. If you need help, let me know. I won't second guess coming out there for you."
Dallas smiled and pushed his forehead against hers. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Anora." He gave her another smile before turning and grabbing his helmet before leaving. Placing a hand on her hip, Riley gave another worried frown, praying to God that nothing bad would happen while they were out there, searching for the beacon.
"Hey, Ripley, I want to ask you a question." Parker called over the noise. "If they find what they're looking for out there, does that mean we get full shares?"
~Jesus~ Jack frowned, pausing in his work with a shake of his head.
"Don't worry, Parker. Yeah. You'll get whatever's coming to you." The woman replied.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Jack smiled at his wife.
"Look," Brett jumped in. "I'm not going to do any more work till we get this straightened out."
"Brett," Ripley sighed. "You're guaranteed by law to get a share."
"What?" Parker called out.
"Why don't you just fuck off?" The woman growled at him, turning to leave.
Jack followed her, holding her against him after turning her around. "Just ignore the two of them. Their morons."
"And your partners." Ripley smiled, reaching forward to give him a kiss. "If you need any help, I'll be on the bridge."
"Aww, why not just stay here with me?" He asked her. "It would be much nicer," His hand trailed down her back. "And funner."
Ripley leaned her head back for a moment, a large smile on her face. "It would be better, wouldn't it," She leaned forward and gave him another kiss. "But I'm afraid that we both have jobs to do, Jack," She pulled away from him. "So get to yours."
"Bossy!" Jack hooted after her. "I like that!"
Ripley gave laughs as she walked down the hall, leaving the three Engineers to their job.
