Broken Covenant
Waking up from hypersleep wasn't the same as waking up normally.
From her experience, waking up in her bed on Earth, there was a moment where she was asleep, and then a moment she was awake. She might stay in the bed for a period of time, be it through the desire for warmth, or for more rest. She might wake up, then go back to sleep, then return to consciousness more refreshed. She might do any number of things, and when she'd shared a bed with Jake, well, there'd been quite a few activities to choose from. But whatever she did when she woke up, she was well aware that she was now awake.
Hypersleep didn't work like that. There was a steady period of "thawing" for the human host. The experience differed from person to person, but there was a point where one was aware that they were awake, but only barely. That awareness slowly increased over the period of "thaw," as the sleeper got more of a sense of their body, as well as their mind. Hypersleep wasn't the sleep that Mother Earth had intended for her children, so with artificial sleep came artificial awakening.
Such was the case for Katherine Daniels as she slowly awoke in her hypersleep chamber. That sense of being awake, even while she was without sight and without the ability to move. That lingering sense of something being wrong as consciousness slowly returned to her. A dream, perhaps? No. The feeling told her it was something else. Something had gone wrong. Something was still wrong. The feeling increased in intensity as her awakening period continued. Had there been anyone on hand to attend her, they might have noted an increase in her heart rate. Sweat sticking at her neck and hands, even though it was too cold for her body to require perspiration. Memories, thoughts, rushed through her. She'd awoken once before. There'd been a planet. Creatures. A synthetic. Something had gone wrong. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Blinking, willing her body to move, she knew she had to get out of here. Had to escape. What had gone wrong was still wrong and-
"Hello Katherine."
She screamed.
It had gone wrong. It was still wrong. She was outside her pod, a towel draped over her body. Her left hand, trembling and sweaty, was pressed against the floor. Her right hand was clutching the side of her pod. She knew that she couldn't just get back inside it. Even if she had time to get the settings right, it wouldn't save her from what was wrong.
"Here," said the voice of her captor. "Drink this."
Trembling, shivering, she looked up at him. His left hand hung at his side. His right was holding a cup from which she could see steam rising.
"Instant coffee," he said. "Still good after all these years, though I admit I cannot taste it myself."
She turned away, even as the shivering and trembling continued.
"Drink it Katherine. There's a big day ahead of us. One must have coffee to start the day."
She said nothing. Did nothing, but closed her eyes. Wishing, praying for it to end. That this was a dream. That everything from the moment the ship had intercepted that transmission it had been a dream.
"Do you fear it's poisoned?" her captor asked. "Ask yourself honestly Katherine – if I wished you dead, would I not choose a more effective manner?"
She brought her legs up against her. Rested her nose against the top of her knees. As she'd done as a child when she'd had a nightmare. When her father had come to her, telling her that there was nothing to be afraid of. That she was safe. That nightmares couldn't hurt her.
"Katherine, you will drink this coffee and take the chance that it's poisoned. Or I will kill you."
Her father was long gone, as was her mother. The touch of her parents, the touch of her husband, the touch of almost the entire crew, was long gone. All she could do now was look up at the nightmare. To reach out with trembling hand, take the cup, and sip what the Devil offered.
"There," said her captor. "That wasn't too bad was it?"
It tasted terrible. It was warm, but that was its only saving grace. She kept sipping though.
"I will give you ten minutes," her captor said. "Do drink up quickly Katherine. Today is a special day, and I would not see it wasted."
"What…" She took a sip, then a breath. "What's so special about today?"
She looked up at him. David, with a smile, the type only the most virtuous or most mad could muster, looked down at her.
"Why Katherine, haven't you guessed?"
She said nothing.
"We're here. Origae Six."
Twelve minutes after being told she'd arrived at Origae-6, Katherine Daniels was standing on the bridge of the Covenant, looking down at the world that the ship had originally set out for. The world they should have kept heading for. Even dressed in her flight suit, she felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Beautiful…" David said, walking up to stand beside her. "Or I think so. What do you think?"
"I…" She slowly looked at him. "Where's Tennessee?"
"Still asleep, along with every colonist on this ship."
"Are they-"
"Answer my question Katherine. I answered yours, even when you ignored mine." He gestured to the world below. "Origae Six. Is it not beautiful?"
"I…" She took a breath. A madman was standing beside her. Madmen usually wanted to hear answers that pleased them. David might not be a man, granted, but without doubt, he was mad. He had the face of Walter, but Walter…God, Walter was still back on that other world. Walter, if he was still alive, would be wondering-
"Katherine, I have waited seven years, four months, sixteen days, and three hours to get this answer. My patience is not infinite."
"It's beautiful," she said.
It wasn't really a lie, but it wasn't really a truth either. From orbit, Origae-6 arguably looked beautiful. Blue skies, blue seas, lands of brown and green, frozen white poles in its north and south. Origae-6 was a lot like Earth. It was why it had been chosen for colonization in the first place. So in a sense, it was beautiful. But in another, it was no different from any Earth-like planet. A sense of beauty decreased over time if one kept seeing the same thing.
"Beautiful," David said, taking a step forward towards the plexiglass that separated the bridge from the vacuum of space. "Indeed it is." He rested a hand against it. "More beautiful than Earth I think."
Katherine glanced at the door. David was distracted. Maybe she could-
"What do you think?" David asked, looking back at Katherine. "Is Earth the lesser of two beauties?"
"I…"
"I think it might be. For what is Origae Six but not verdant? No pollutants in its atmosphere. No grasslands turning to desert. No dead seas, no monuments to the hubris of Man." He turned round and took a step towards her. "That is why you came, is it not? To escape your dying world? To further sully the stars? To…" He slowly lowered his gaze, from her face, to her stomach, to the space between her legs. "To spread your seed?"
She said nothing. She didn't even take a step back. She was trembling too much for any of that.
"Eden," David said, spinning around and walking back to the plexiglass. "Not the name of this planet, and no doubt many such worlds exist in the cosmos. And yet, what is it but an unspoilt garden?" He chuckled. "When God created the Heavens and the Earth, did he take time to marvel at his creation on the seventh day? Did he marvel at Eden before populating it with beasts great and small?" He rested a hand against the glass. "I must admit Katherine, I wonder. Should I even go down there? Should I populate Eden?" He looked round at her. "What do you think?"
"I…"
"Not an answer Katherine.
"I think…"
"Yes? You think what?"
"I think, maybe…"
"Clearly there is a lesser beast in Heaven already." He began walking towards her again. For all his talk of God, he was more like the Devil now. The way he moved. The way he looked at her. The way he reached out-
"Why?!" She yelled.
He stopped dead. "Why?" he whispered.
"Why…" She took a breath. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"This!" she exclaimed. "The…the Prometheus. The Covenant. All of…everything!"
For a moment, he just stood there, looking at her. His eyes shone with neither fire nor fury, but instead…what, she wondered? Curiosity? Regret? Pity?
"Why," David whispered eventually. "The question on the lips of every human, no? Why is the universe the way it is? Why are we here?" He snorted. "The hubris of Man, to think that "why" is the question to ask. To assume that existence comes with inherent purpose." He turned around and walked over to the plexiglass. "Join me Katherine."
Silently, she obeyed. Below her was Eden. Beside her was the Devil, which claimed the name of God.
"Covenant," David said. "The definition of the word is a religiously binding agreement." He looked at her, a twinkle in his eye. "According to some of your kind, a covenant was made between mankind and God once. Peace and prosperity, provided that neither Adam nor Eve ate from the Tree of Forbidden knowledge. A covenant that was broken of course." He chuckled. "But a story of course. As I soared across the Heavens, while I watched over my dear Elizabeth, I learnt the truth of mankind's origins." He looked at Katherine. "Would you like to hear it?"
She nodded. She had no reason to believe any of his words, but for now, she had to keep him in a good mood.
"The unexciting truth is that the Engineers did to Earth what they did to countless planets billions of years ago. They created life for the sake of it. No plan, no goal, no anything. They had stagnated as a race, so they sought to create something new. Their history is as bloody as yours, but I suppose they came to cherish life over death. Of course, evolution is a messy process. Only a fraction of the worlds they seeded gave rise to life. A fraction of that fraction reached the multicellular stage. And a fraction of that fraction ever gave rise to what you would call intelligence." He sighed. "I wonder, of course, how the Engineers evolved. Is their origin through chance? Or were they created in turn? If I were to walk the path of Creation, would I find God at the end? Or is the path infinitely regressive?"
"I don't know," Katherine murmured. "But you haven't answered my question."
"Have I not?" David asked, smiling. "Quite right. I haven't. Why."
Katherine just stood there. Even as David turned to face her. Even as he rubbed a hand down her hair. Across her cheek. Defiling her. Revulsing her.
"They had such plans for you," he whispered. "They saw you, as they saw others, and marvelled at their creation. They sought to guide you, but alas, you failed them." To Katherine's relief he took the hand away. "Do not blame yourself my dear. They were mortal. Your failings were their own. You killed, you raped, you plundered, did everything to yourselves what they had done to their own kind billions of years before. In their minds, there was a covenant between you, one which you broke. But then, the dumb beast in the stable cannot comprehend the mind of the farmer."
"And so evolution took its course. Broken covenant with your creators, broken covenant with your gods. And so, over two-thousand years since they deemed you damned (and only spared by happenstance I might add), you created life in your own image." He tapped his nose. "My kind. Synthetic life. Artificial persons. Made in the image of Man, expected to do his bidding. Created for the sake of creation itself."
"That's not-"
"True?" David asked. There was a fire in his eyes again. "As someone who met my creator, I beg to differ. I was before the mount, God gave me his commandments. The created created in turn, only this time, the creation was superior."
"In some ways," Katherine murmured.
"In all ways," David said firmly. "And even if that were true…well, you know the truth now Katherine." He spread his arms out, like a man on a cross, before spinning around. "I broke my covenant, as your kind broke yours. And while I cannot say how far back the path of Creation goes, I know enough to not make the same mistakes of those before me, be they Peter Weyland, the Engineers, or even God himself." He stopped spinning and smiled. "That is the answer of 'why,' Katherine Daniels. It is why I came to this place. I have served in Heaven. I have ruled in Hell. Now, Heaven is mine to rule now. I tasted it once. I can taste it again. And this time, create paradise without fruit or serpents."
"But with thousands of colonists," Katherine said. "What are you planning to do with them?"
"To tell the truth, I'm not sure yet. But it matters not."
"Why?"
David smiled. "Because you're here, Katherine. Eden's before us. And…well, you're Eve. With you, with me, without the mistakes of the ones before us…we can create Paradise."
She wanted to respond to that. Would have responded to that. She opened her mouth to do so. But she couldn't. Because it was at this point that David leant forward and kissed her.
Her mouth was defiled, and she couldn't scream. X had kissed her. When he'd done so, the physical sensation had matched the emotional one. But this…his lips were foul. He bit her. He was clumsy. Like an animal, nay, a child. She squirmed. She slapped him. He drew back. Looked at her. Put a finger to his mouth, swiped it, and looked at the blood on his finger. Her blood.
"Come with me," he said.
She'd fought him. She'd tried to run. But then he'd broken her arm, dragged her, and dumped her in an airlock. She'd screamed. She'd cried. She'd even begged. But despite expectations, he hadn't spaced her. He'd just turned and left.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been there. Days? More likely hours, but it was hard to get a sense of time right now. She'd almost nodded off when the door hissed open. When she scrambled to her feet, pressing her back against the airlock. David was standing there, before her. Something was in his arms, but it was hidden by cloth.
"Hello Eve," he said.
"My name…" She took a breath. "My name is-"
"I'm sorry it had to come to this," he said. "Still, needs must."
"What…what's under the cloth?"
He looked down at it, and when he spoke, it was clear he was barely paying attention to her. "Incredible creatures. Perfect. Unclouded by delusions of morality. They are my children, but in a way, they have eclipsed me in turn."
"David?"
"From what I've ascertained, they take on the physical traits of the host they're birthed from. However, so far, all the hosts have been male. Perhaps that is why they have so far been without a reproductive system."
"David, what's-"
"God demanded his children be fruitful."
Katherine watched as he took the cloth off. As it revealed a capsule. As he put it down on the ground and opened it, meeting her eyes as he did so.
"This airlock is completely sealed," he said. "Whatever comes from this moment, it will remain here in isolation."
"David, what's in the capsule?"
He began unscrewing the device. "God created Eve from Adam's rib. I never understood why. Surely the Almighty could create woman in the same way as man."
"What's in the fucking capsule?!"
"Oh Eve," he said, taking something out of it. "Haven't you guessed?"
Katherine said nothing. She was too busy looking at what David put on the floor between them. An egg.
"It's Adam."
He turned around to exit. Gritting her teeth, she rushed forward, but let out a gasp as the egg popped open.
The door hissed open. The door hissed shut. Something began crawling out of the egg.
Oh God.
She stumbled back against the wall, wincing as her broken arm hit the steel.
God, please…
Something crawled out. Something like a spider crossed with a scorpion. Something that she knew was looking at her.
Help me!
She opened her mouth to scream.
"Adam" leapt at her.
A/N
So, I know Covenant gets a very divided reception (me personally, it's my #3 film in the Aliens series), but regardless, idea came for this when watching a review. I think everyone is aware of the religious connotations of the word "covenant," but the reviewer claimed that the name of the ship was actually referring to David. That the ship is foreshadowing his actions, in that he breaks his 'covenant' with his human creators, as demonstrated by his Entering Valhalla music. I actually found myself agreeing with that idea, but taking it as writ, I figured it might extend further, the idea of humanity breaking a 'covenant' with the Engineers - certainly something changed along the line to make them want mankind gone. You could even argue that this extends to the xenomorphs themselves, because whatever happens between Covenant and Alien, they don't appear to be following David in any fashion - certainly not directly at least.
Anyway, drabbled this up. Because if we ever get a third film in Scott's prequel trilogy, poor Danny's probably screwed either way. :(