Three figures stepped out onto the deck of the cargo ship to gaze in wonder at the city of icebergs that floated silently in the Antarctic waters. Beautiful hues of pink and blue cast a gentle reflection in the almost still waters as their cameras flashed incessantly in order to capture the majestic sight. The icebergs only stretched along the frozen coast and had to be kept at a safe distance in the danger of not knowing what lay beneath the surface of the chiller ocean.

It was always something that tingled at the back of every passenger's mind. Thoughts of the infamous Titanic plagued them as they made their way through the resplendent minefield. After taken a few happy snaps of each other, the three figures returned to below deck. The dim lit sun followed them as it too sank below the horizon.

Back in their shared cabin, one flicked the switch on a kettle as the others began to remove their ample layers of jackets, jumpers and thermo gear.

They braced themselves as a slight lurch to the left steered the ship in a new direction. Navigating through these waters was difficult, but under the careful hand of the Captain, the three biologist interns remained hesitantly unworried.

Of the three, the eldest was the most reserved and had retreated to his laptop where he began to work on a statistics table. The youngest was the complete opposite and very outgoing. He had spread out on a couch with a bowl of cashews to munch on. The incessant crunch crunch crunch was worse than a leaky tap though.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Lighten up Vern. Below deck is way too dull, we need to get moving otherwise I'll go nuts."

"Oh I beg to differ," Vern said indignantly, "you see, Derek, in situations of built up tension and increased boredom, my studies have led me to the conclusion that a strict set of stages will occur before you quite literally loose your mind."

"I'm a marine biologist, not a linguistics expert," Derek interrupted.

"I beg your-linguistics is a completely different topic in it's entirety, though not half as fascinating." His expression had turned into the same expression where he was readying himself for a long and punishing explanation.

Derek groaned in frustration at Vern's jabbering and rolled over on his side as he chatted away. This had already been a long trip and he didn't have the patience to listen to him any more.

"Tessa…shut him up." Vern looked at Derek gobsmacked at the fact that he had been brushed aside so casually.

"Guys, c'mon. There's not even three days left before we reach base and you've done well so far, don't start up again now." Tessa had been the mediator in the countless arguments between the boys. It was all harmless enough, but she was too excited to check out the area around the American Base. Besides, this only one small boat trip. She didn't want to imagine what these two would be like over the next six months.

Derek got up from his couch and sauntered over to where Tessa had sat down with her coffee. She had a photo album that her mom had sent her from the Base and she was flicking through an old diary that she found in the back.

"Where's mine?" He purred in her ear.

She ignored him and continued to read through an entry titled November 29. He hadn't even noticed until he was clutching at his nose that she had whacked him in the face with her magazine and he leapt backwards with a little howl.

"You can get your own," she answered finally and he trumped over to a cabinet to retrieve a mug for himself.

"Want one Vern? Seeing as Tess couldn't be bothered." Derek made melodramatic mock expressions of a poor unfortunate soul. When Vern accepted with an overkill of an answer, Derek reached up to grab another mug but a rocking tremor made him drop the mug and it shattered to the floor. Vern had also lost his laptop in the unexpected impact and was fretting over it on the floor while Tessa had been thrown from her chair to the floor next to him.

Derek dropped to the floor to pick up the bits of smashed mug and when he looked up to see where Tessa was, he nearly dropped them again because she had disappeared. He mentioned to Vern that he was going to find out what happened but Vern was too busy worrying about his laptop.

In the corridor, a few of the other passengers, mostly the maintenance team that was needed at the Base, were blundering around also wondering what had happened. Derek knew that the Titanic panic was not far from setting in and he dodged between the bodies that were rapidly filling the hallway.

A stairwell led to the bridge where he knew he could find Tessa, she was always where the event was happening like a premonitious reporter. Sure enough, she was there asking her questions without getting any answers as well as managing to worm her way straight to the Captain. He seemed to be a tired old man at most times but when the moment called for him he was the man that everyone wanted.

"Tessa! What are you doing?" Derek called to her. She ignored him again and continued to rattle off her questions to the Captain. Derek strode up to her and grabbed her by the arm. "Tessa! We're not allowed up here, you know that."

"Why won't you let me take a look at the black iceberg?" Tessa seemed intent on making some kind of point but the Captain's face was stern and his annoyance was becoming very clear to Derek.

"I'm sorry sir, we'll just be going back-what iceberg?"

"There is nothing for you to look at, it's just ice. Now get off the bridge before I need to have you escorted," the Captain stated bluntly.

Derek looked between Tessa and the Captain, a little confused. She gave him an exasperated look and then pulled him over to the windscreen to show him why she was up here. His heart nearly skipped into his mouth when he saw the massive ice boulder that had managed to land itself on the front deck.

"The icebergs in these parts have been on dangerously fast courses that I believe are affected by deep sea currents and we've collided with one. There was nothing we could do about it." The Captain seemed relatively calm, but that didn't stop Derek's mind from wandering into Titanic sized fears.

"We should be fine though. All it's given us is a bit of a scratch and a nice ice-block for later," he chuckled, "nothing that can't be fixed when we reach base."

Derek and Tessa left the bridge as the Captain started giving orders to some of the crew through the ships Telecom system and returned to the cabin. There they found Vern already napping on his bunk with his laptop safely clutched in his arms.

"Derek, there was something in that iceberg, I know it." She seemed unsettled and a little excited.

"Think we should check it out?" Derek's eyes seemed alive with curiosity and his itch to begin work in Antarctic seas. As marine biologists they were trained to work in the field and any field work was better than statistic tables.

The mischievous expression she gave him was all that he needed.

They slipped out of their cabin without notice and made their way back through a labyrinth of passageways and metal doors. Some were locked and they had to circumnavigate around or backtrack which usually took up at least fifteen minutes.

They had been searching for a while as Derek was about to throw open the next door, expecting yet again nothing. Before he could though, Tessa grabbed the back of his sweater and pressed her finger to her lips for silence.

She leaned in to put her ear on the door, Derek doing the same, and listened to the muffled shouts from the crew and the distinct sounds of machinery. Slowly, Tessa pulled down on the door handle and pushed it open slightly, revealing a cavernous warehouse of a room with a flood light in the centre. Below it, a forklift was shifting a huge chunk of iceberg from the elevator platform to a concrete stand surrounded by the crewmen. Derek urged her to go in and they stole into the room with cat-lie tread, falling back into the darkness to watch from above.

Only snippets of conversation between the Captain and first mate could be heard from where they crouched. Tessa peered over the railing so that the iceberg piece was in view. Like she had said before, the ice was black. Not like frozen oil, but like there was something frozen inside the ice. Derek could see this too now and his heartbeat quickened with the thrill of perhaps a perfectly preserved prehistoric specimen.

"I want a posted guard here at all times. No one else gets in but me, you and the crew," the Captain commanded. "Let me know when the ice is melted." He left through a doorway far below on the opposite side of the massive room.

Derek stood up, ready to get a closer look. "Not yet," whispered Tessa. He turned to her with another mock expression of sadness. "Later," was all she said before she slipped back into the corridor with him close behind.

There wasn't anything either of them could do about it, because now the crew was guarding the iceberg. They could return later to watch what was going on, but that still meant that they wouldn't even get close enough to find out what was sealed inside the ice.

When they reached the cabin, Vern was snoring on his bunk, still in the same position clutching his laptop and Derek tsked in annoyance, "he never leaves that thing alone."

"Wake up, Vern." Vern spluttered awake after he smacked his face a couple of times. A small dark spot where his mouth had been revealed that he'd been drooling again.

"Where have you two been?" Vern was completely alert as though he had never been asleep in the first place.

"What are you talking about, you were asleep the whole time!" Derek said with a confused expression.

"So what's your point exactly?" He asked.

"Boys! Not again, please. Do you two ever take a break?" Tessa rolled her eyes and sat down at the table. "Vern we've got news."

"Is it the reason for the sudden impact we experienced earlier? Because of course anyone could have figured out that we collided with an iceberg. A chunk of it probably broke off onto the deck." Derek looked at him with a confounded face and a dumb silence as Tessa simply gave Vern an expression of displeasure. "Judging by the looks you're both giving me, I'll wager that I am correct, again, and that there is something else you want to say."

"There's something in the ice, Vern. But the Captain's locked it away in some kind of dungeon room at the back of the ship. He's posted guards there so I know there's something he's trying to hide." Her eyes were alight with the thrill of a mystery and a challenge.

"I suppose I'll have to see this chunk of iceberg for myself," Vern stated sarcastically.

"Wait for tomorrow. We heard the Captain mention that the crew will be melting the ice. If we wait until the Captain disappears tomorrow, then we'll know when something is happening and we can all go and investigate whatever is frozen in the ice."

"Alright then," Derek smiled, "let's watch a DVD. We'll fall asleep halfway through it and besides, I've made popcorn!" He grabbed Vern's laptop and closed all the windows, keeping the raging Vern at arms length so that he could insert the DVD. Then as the starting credits appeared, he jumped back onto the couch with a huge bowl of hot popcorn.

Tessa woke with a start. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and she knew it wasn't the popcorn from last night. She sat up quickly when she noticed that she had fallen asleep in Derek's arms and scowled in disgust. He was way to sure of himself and finding her in his arms would swell his ego even more. Derek mumbled something incoherent before dozing off again.

There was a little light coming in from behind the curtain on the tiny window and she opened it up to look outside. It was like a white wonderland out there. Some kind of strange planet where the ground was made of one great big sapphire and the sky was the most stunning azure. Everywhere there were floating capsules of ice but from here she knew the sight was second-hand to what could be seen from above deck.

Tessa threw on her biggest coat and stepped out of the cabin and into the silent hallway where she guessed that no one else was awake. Either that or they just didn't want to get out of bed. It was a habit now, because that's what two weeks on a boat can do to people. The unlucky ones were those who could do nothing but walk around the deck and make the beds squeak. As for some, like Vern, they had good old technology to keep themselves occupied.

She didn't have either.

Then again, Derek was there with her and she knew that he'd jump for the chance to get cosy, but she couldn't go there. Not with him.

When she reached the door, she noticed there was a thick layer of ice frozen along the edges. The lever, she noticed at last, was level with her shoulder. It took all her strength to even pull down the lever and even though she had accomplished that, her efforts to barge open the door were in vain. After the third try, she gave up and sagged against the corridor wall panting.

"Need a hand?"

Derek was standing above her with his arms crossed in nothing but his pants. He held his hand out to help her up but she ignored it and hoisted herself to her feet. She was determined not get involved with him, but there he stood like some kind of bare-chested hero and she couldn't help but stare.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Nope."

"Go and put a sweater on before you scare the fish away."

He smiled, trying to throw every bit of charm he had into it as placed his hand on the lever, blocking her way. She looked so uncomfortable and it made him chuckle a little before he pushed his weight on the door. It didn't budge for a moment and then it swung open freely. Frost-chilled air sucked into the corridor and sent goose bumps over his skin.

"Cold yet?" She asked indignantly.

"Nope," he lied, putting on his best tough guy act. The truth was that he felt like he'd been thrown overboard into the icy depths, never to surface again. It was as though someone had come along with a frozen cheese grater and ripped his skin from his flesh a dozen times over.

Tessa flicked her hair out of her face and then proceeded out into the morning air. There was no way he was going to follow her so he mentioned something about grabbing them both some coffee and he ducked back to the cabin.

He'd never been so cold before. He was afraid that if he shrank anymore there'd be nothing left, and that was something he never wanted to happen.

"Why on Earth are the both of you up so early? And might I ask why you aren't wearing a shirt in the unbearably cold Southern Ocean weather? It's very impractical. Or were you and Tessa enjoying the pleasures of sexual intercourse?"

"Vern, I'm not even going to bother," Derek said blatantly as he flicked the switch on the kettle.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room then, Vern sitting at the table occasionally twitching as a knew thought raced through his mind or another conundrum of the universe solved. Derek had retrieved a thick woollen sweater and was leaning against the cupboard with the kettle. Pretty soon steam was drifting upwards and once he made the coffees, Derek left the cabin without a word.

In real life, Derek would have pushed Vern around a little. He was just annoying. But on this voyage, that wasn't an option.

On the deck, he found Tessa standing at the bow of the ship, watching the iceberg formations and a cheeky skua that had fallen into line with the ships path. It glided past giant waves frozen in motion and amazing mushroom-like shapes where the salt water had eroded against the ice.

"When I was young, my little sister and I would lie on the grass for hours trying to see animals and magical creatures within the cloud formations. You know, rabbits, horses, monkeys and dragons." She spoke softly, reminiscing as she looked out over the water.

"Well," Derek said as he handed her a mug, "I'd say that iceberg over there looks like a dog playing dead." She smiled because she saw it too.

"We might be able to see what was in that chunk of ice below deck today. What do you think was in there?" He tried to strike up some kind of conversation without resorting to the weather.

"It could be a lot of things I suppose. For all we know it could be a bit of garbage or machinery." She sipped at her coffee. "But the Captain was trying to hide that iceberg, so there must be something inside that's important to him."

They both fell quiet and the lack of noise was so loud and unbearable that the frigid air was even heavier. Derek looked about, wondering what to say as he drank his coffee and Tessa stared out into the ocean where her thoughts and worries seemed insignificant. He felt like a fool and as he sought something to speak about, it hit him.

"Where are the crew?"

"Hmmm?" She wasn't entirely sure what he actually said.

"The crew, anyone. Where are they?" He repeated.

"I guess either asleep or on the bridge." She really couldn't care right now. She hadn't even finished her coffee.

"Or in that dungeon room?"

Tessa shot him a quick glance and they both left the bow to return to the cabins below deck. They put their mugs on the table and grabbed Vern as he protested before following the same path they took through the corridors to the colossal room.

"Here it is," Tessa nudged open the door and stuck her head through, waving to the boys that the coast was clear as she opened it up further. Vern stepped in after her, eager to see the iceberg, followed by Derek who closed the door behind them. It shut with a small boom and the three spying interns dropped to the steel grate that served as a platform and ran down a set of steps to the rooms floor.

The flood light remained in the centre of the warehouse like room, but when they all stole a glance over the edge to where the guarded chunk of ice was stationed, Tessa let out a gasp. Below them, the iceberg had disappeared. Replaced by a shallow pool of water and lying face up in the water, we the limp bodies of the crew that had been standing guard over the iceberg.

Tessa hurried down the steps before Derek could stop her and ran to the nearest body, checking for a pulse and the rise and fall of the man's chest.

"He's alive!" She called out to the guys who were descending the steps as well, splashing through the water to get to her.

"Vern, let's check the others." Derek seemed focused and set minded. When there was something that had to be done, he was the man to do it. He was a born leader in anxious and stressful situations.

Though they were all knocked out cold, each was breathing and each had a steady pulse. With the help of Derek's strength, the three managed to drag the crew to a nearby wall where they could be propped up. Vern was halfway from where he had attempted to haul a body by himself and was going relatively well until he screamed out in surprised fear, dropping the man in the process.

"What's the problem now, Vern?" Derek huffed in annoyance.

"Well I'm not entirely sure if magnified intestinal activity in this man's body is indicative of an unhealthy lifestyle just bad gas, but this one had a real problem." His eyes were wide and the whites gave the effect that he had seen a ghost.

"Vern, you're just overreacting," Tessa said, "I'll give you a hand."

"Tessa, you know much more about biology than I. I suggest you check it out yourself. If this man has severe indigestion, I definitely do not want to be around when his bowl muscles relax." Vern's expression didn't change.

"Fine."

Tessa moved over to where Vern was standing and patted him on the back. Why don't you grab the legs and I'll grab the arms?"

"Not until you examine that man."

"Fine."

She knelt down beside him, opened his coat and lifted his sweater. She placed her open palm on his stomach and began to slide it all over his abdomen, gently pressing every now and again. When she circled back and pressed down near his chest and pulled away quickly when she felt it bump back.

"Do you see? I told you there was something there."

Derek had come over to where the other two were and noticed that Tessa's face was every bit the same as Vern's was just a moment ago.

"Tess, are you-"

All of a sudden, one of the crew members began to scream out in terrible pain, like he was being torn apart. They all spun around to see him squirming in the seated position he was in, still screaming like some kind of demonic creature. With horrified eyes, Derek, Tessa and Vern watched as others from the crew also took up the horrible fit of nightmarish screams.

All of them were like this now and then one shrieking scream rose above the rest. It was the first man and in his final guttural cry, his chest burst open, spraying blood everywhere.

There before them, with an elongated, black lustre head was a creature not of this planet. Derek could see that that creature, that thing was alien. It was an Alien.