"Hey, Klia, we just got a huge return; looks like a mother lode. The boss needs somebody to do a survey."
"And I'm somebody?"
"Yeah."
"Works for me. Where should I deploy?"
"Quad 32, about forty klicks out. Make sure you bring your poncho; I hear there's a storm on the way."
"Roger that; I'm on my way."
***
The canyon walls were massive on either side of the crawler. Above, the clouds were a deep sea green, and thunder in the distance was a prelude to rain.
"All right,
Alex, you can come outside, but stay near the crawler. I'll be just around the corner, taking some
readings."
"Okay, mom."
"Now, what do you do if you see a fuhrl?"
"Use the flare stick and shout at it!"
"Right. I'll be back soon! Love you."
***
It couldn't have been more than an hour before she heard the scream.
Racing down the slope and around the corner, she was confronted by a scene that made her stomach twist.
Two fuhrls, a mated pair by the looks of them, and all the more aggressive for that, were facing one of the cliff walls and snarling viciously, their backs to Klia. Half-expecting to see Alex slumped in front of them, Klia started to run forward. But what she saw made her freeze in her tracks.
Inside the semicircle stood a full-sized alien drone. Its pose was low and menacing, and its lips were pulled back to reveal fangs, metallic and sharp and predatory, set in demon jaws. The heavy tail with its wicked barb was arched high over the drone's smoothly-curving skull, and its arms were splayed wide in open challenge.
What the hell? What's a drone doing here? We're twelve klicks from the nearest bug zone, at least! Even as she wondered, however, Klia noticed something else, something that drove the breath from her lungs in a gasp.
Behind the drone, peering over its leg with eyes that were wide with terror, was Alex.
Klia stood unmoving as the drone suddenly hissed and charged at the fuhrl that was farthest from it. Klia knew what was coming, knew that the other fuhrl would spring for Alex as soon as the drone's attention was diverted, but her throat wouldn't let her scream.
Even as the fuhrl towards which the drone was sprinting lowered its horned head, the drone tensed hidden muscles wound like steel cables, and leapt up and over its target. Catching itself against the canyon wall, it gathered strength and pounced once more. The drone's massive skull was a crunching hammer-stroke against the other fuhrl's flank. The creature bellowed and collapsed, rolling down the slope in a cascade of loose gravel and dust. Then the drone stood and turned to face the fuhrl towards which it had first charged. The burly quadruped glanced quickly from side to side, and, finding no support, brayed a challenge and galloped towards the drone. Seconds before collision, the drone ducked and twisted around the threatening horns. Teeth glinted in the vague light, and the fuhrl went down with a bleeding hole in its skull.
There was silence for long moments before the alien whirled to regard Klia, stooping low as it turned. The drone had no eyes, but it was obvious to Klia that she was the under observation. Adrenaline made Klia's body scream at her to stand and fight or run away; it also made her hand quake as she drew the pistol from her belt. Idiot! That pistol won't even slow it down, and you can be damn sure the drone knows it! As though it could read her thoughts, the drone pulled its lips back slightly in a grin; while not accompanied by any other signs of an impending attack, the effect was nonetheless horrifying. Klia glanced at Alex again, and an even grimmer thought entered her mind. Even if the slugs could get through the exoskeleton, the thing's blood would take Alex.
Gritting her teeth, she tried to keep the pistol on the drone. Strangely, the creature hadn't moved; its limbs were held loose, and its teeth were mostly covered by its lips. Alone and unprotected against the most feared creature in the galaxy, Klia and her child were somehow still alive.
"It's okay, mom," called Alex from behind the drone.
"Be quiet! Let me think!"
The drone lowered its head slightly, drool sliding down its chin, and Klia's hands shook all the more. Her index finger jerked, and the pistol went off. The bullet missed the drone completely, rebounding off a cliff far away; the drone's head jerked towards the impact, and she saw the creature go tense. Then the blind skull slowly turned to focus once again on Klia.
The drone took a step towards her.
Klia backed away on legs that were made of rubber, until her shoulders brushed against a column of stone. Icy fear replaced the heat of adrenaline, and clammy sweat made her skin grow cold.
Then Alex, laughing merrily, dashed forwards and leapt, catching hold of one of the four pipe-like spokes that protruded from the alien's skeletal back.
Frozen in horror, Klia could only watch as the alien reached slowly behind its head, grasping Alex by the collar of his shirt. It brought him around and held him in front of its face, not even a foot away from the same jaws that had, just moments ago, ripped a hole in a fuhrl's nearly-bulletproof skull. Alex only smiled as the creature seemed to examine him.
Then, just as Klia's heart was about to burst, the creature set Alex down and gave him a gentle push towards Klia. Giggling, Alex ran to his mother and threw his arms around her leg. Klia lowered the gun in disbelief and glanced down at Alex to see if he was truly unharmed. He didn't even have a scratch. Astonished, Klia glanced up again.
The drone was gone.
Shaking violently once more, Klia sank back against the rock as Alex excitedly described the whole encounter. She barely heard him. After a few moments, she hurriedly climbed into the crawler and began the long drive back to the compound.
***
Xenologist's Report #3645-23746-2589
Date: 02/05/'89
Subject: Klia and Alexander Elson
Klia's description of her run-in with a xenomorph drone, far outside the typical foraging range of the nearest hive, casts doubt on everything we think we know about the creatures. I wouldn't have believed her myself, save for the fact that her shoulder cam recorded the entire event. The fact that she and her son survived such an encounter raises fascinating questions, particularly when one considers the number of similar incidents that have historically resulted in human casualties. The fact that the two survived without some sort of protection is quite simply astonishing.
It's fairly obvious that behavior of drone in question defies the norm. Assuming that the drone was a scout, sent out to look for potential hosts, it would most likely have paralyzed the two humans and returned to the hive with them, or it would have avoided the situation entirely if the subjects had been engaged by the fuhrls at the time of the drone's arrival. The fact that the drone seemed to be protecting Alexander is utterly unprecedented.
We frankly don't know enough about the aliens to make anything more than hypotheses at this point. We know the queen controls the drones, either by pheromones or gestures or by some method for which we have no reference. So, one asks: was a queen controlling this drone? In all probability, this drone was under matriarchal control, as isolated drones tend to follow a series of well-documented and relatively-predictable behavior patterns. Lone drones will vigorously attempt to return to their hive-of-origin, or, that failing, any nearby hive. If they are incapable of doing so, then they will usually hide and put themselves into stasis. Drones can survive in this condition almost indefinitely until help arrives. If a drone is completely isolated from any hive, and if the area in which it is isolated is populated by potential hosts (e.g. a Nostromo-type situation), the drone will usually attempt to secure a small number of hosts and propagate the species. However, despite the fact that this particular drone did not appear to be displaying any typical signs of isolation, it is entirely possible that drones posses an array of previously-undiscovered procedures that are employed only under very specific states of isolation. If so, then this particular situation might have been one such case. As such, we have no way of knowing whether or not said drone was under the control of a queen at the time of the incident.
However, if the drone was under the queen's control, why did she direct it to protect possible hosts if she did not intend to capture them? Or, if the battle was already taking place when the drone arrived on-site, why did she direct the drone to interfere? We know the queens are highly intelligent (see specimen report #2397-34465-41979), but we have no idea what their motives are. We also know that the queens display emotion, but the only emotion we have been able to observe thus far is rage, typically as the result of the destruction of alien eggs.
It is possible that the drones are capable of individual thought, even while under the queen's control. If so, was this drone acting on its own whims or following the directives of its queen?
Whatever the reason for the drone's odd behavior, this single anomalous situation suggests that these creatures are infinitely more complex than they appear to be. Rather than mere ants or bees directed by a highly intelligent matriarch, is it possible that the aliens are actually subject to a whole array of stimuli, of which we are almost completely unaware? Could it be possible that their violent reactions to humans occur because they are controlled by variables we are only beginning to understand? Or perhaps this is merely standard operating procedure for encounters with a lone mother and child? We may never know.