Author's Note: Tremendous apologies that this is not a new chapter to my other horribly neglected stories. Major writer's block! I'm hoping this little "experiment" helps.

Disclaimer: I do not own the awesomely amazing Predator franchise. I know it. You know it. Let's move on, shall we? Excellent! Please proceed.

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Experiment HY-23C

Prologue: "Building a Better Future"

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Weyland Genome Laboratory: Earth 2010

"Oh, God, it hurts!" The laboring woman clutched her bulging abdomen as another powerful contraction ripped through her body leaving her breathless. Her legs, held fast in the cold, surgical-steel stirrups, trembled uncontrollably against the pain that washed over her. The contractions were coming harder and faster now, as the doctor had told her they would when he had administered the Pitocin into her IV line to help expedite her labor. With the help of the medicinal stimulation, the life she had voluntarily incubated for the last 11 ½ months now seemed very eager to be free of its constrictive confines within her body.

"I know it hurts, Lieutenant," the staff physician reassured the woman as much as he could with a comforting pat on her exposed thigh. "I'm very sorry that I can't give you anything to lessen your discomfort. We can't risk any potential harm to the fetus, you understand."

The woman nodded in answer, "I underst-AHH!"

"Another one? Breathe through it. That's right. Breathe in deep through the nose out through the mouth. Good, Lieutenant. Very good," the doctor coached her until the contraction passed. He nodded to one of the labor and delivery nurses that stood by watching. "It won't be long now. The fetus has moved into position and she's almost fully dilated. Get the neonatal team in here and set up ASAP. Call Commander Knox and let his team know we're about ready to push. We're going to need someone in here to take custody of the specimen if it's deemed viable upon delivery."

"Yes, doctor." The nurse hurried to the wall phone to make the necessary arrangements.

"Please, the pressure is too much. I need to push…aghhhh!" The woman panted as her entire abdomen seized forcefully in an attempt to expel its squirming contents.

"I know, Lieutenant," The doctor focused his attention back onto his patient. "I need you to fight the urge. Hold on just a little while longer."

"Doctor," the nurse reclaimed her position at the doctor's side. "The team is on its way."

"Excellent." The doctor thanked the nurse and gave his patient another calming pat. "Did you hear that, Lieutenant? They'll be here shortly and then you can push. We're going to have a baby very soon."

"No…" the woman shook her head. Her dark blond hair was stuck with sweat to her forehead as another contraction threatened to overwhelm her. "It's not a…not a baby. It's a…ahhh! It's a…they made a monster."

"Lieutenant Seville…" The doctor looked helplessly towards his nurse, unsure of how to respond to the woman's statement. He couldn't exactly refute her claim. Even he was unsure as to what, exactly, the woman before him was in the process of birthing. He was only there to deliver the experiment safely. However, as a staff physician at Weyland Industries' Genome Laboratory, he was more than aware of the highly classified military experiments being conducted in the area of hybridization.

"Doctor Kirchberg." The doctor's thoughts were interrupted by the masked and gowned neonatal team rolling their incubator and containment equipment into the room. "We're ready when you are. Knox and his men are in the observation chamber."

Doctor Kirchberg spared a fleeting glance toward the reflective, two-way mirror that made up one wall of the birthing suite and gave a nod of recognition to the combined Weyland and military research unit he could not see but was assured were there. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the task at hand and settled himself between the laboring woman's legs. "Alright Lieutenant, when you feel the next contracting coming, I want you to take a deep breath and bear down as hard as you can."

The woman nodded her understanding. "I-I feel another one…AHHHH!" Grabbing her knees in a death grip, Lieutenant Seville nearly bent herself double with her efforts to separate that which was inside her from herself.

"That's right. Good job," the doctor encouraged. "Push, push, push! You're doing fantastic!"

"Oh my God…" Seville panted as the urge to push passed. No sooner had she caught her breath, another contraction slammed into her full force. "GAHHHH!"

"Bear down! Bear down! The head is crowning!" Dr. Kirchberg turned to his nurse. "Grab some towels and a bulb syringe.

"Yes, doctor." The nurse reappeared only seconds later with both requested items.

"OK, Lieutenant, another big push."

"Oh, GAWHHHHHHD…" Lieutenant Seville felt the painful stretch as the fetus moved through the birth canal. It felt as though someone had poured gasoline on her most intimate parts and set it on fire. "Please, get it out!"

"It's coming, Lieutenant, it's coming," the doctor encouraged. No sooner had he spoke the words, the head emerged from its tight confines. "I've got the head! Nurse, get me suction. Lieutenant, I need you to keep pushing. We're not done yet."

"Oh…" The nurse made a small sound as she stared in wonder at the small, blood and vernix covered face in wonderment. "It looks so…"

"Nurse!" The doctor snapped at the woman. "Suction! Now!"

"Oh! Yes, doctor!" the nurse quickly handed the man the bulb syringe which he used to quickly clear the infant's nose and mouth of mucus and amniotic fluid.

"One more big push should do it, Lieutenant. You're doing so well," Dr. Kirchberg coached. True to his prediction, another painful push on the Lieutenant's part found his gloved hands full of squealing, newborn life. A relieved smile tugged at his mouth hidden behind his surgical mask. They had done it. They had actually carried a specimen to term and delivered it alive. More out of habit than anything else, he addressed the would-be mother as if she truly had a reason to care about the outcome of her endeavor. "Congratulations, Lieutenant. You did wonderfully. You've done your country an invaluable service. It's a girl, by the way. Visually, she looks healthy as far as I can tell. Good muscle tone and reflexes. She has a strong pulse and a good set of lungs. Towel, please."

The nurse quickly grabbed a towel out of the bedside warmer and gave it to the doctor who wrapped it around the infant. Accepting the swaddled bundle, she cooed soothingly to the gurgling baby while the doctor cut the umbilical cord and prepared to deliver the afterbirth. She smiled at the woman who now lay passively in the hospital bed. "Lieutenant, would you like to hold her for a moment before the research team comes to claim her?"

"No. Just…" Lieutenant Seville closed her eyes and turned her head away. "Just get it out of here. I've done my part. I carried that thing around inside of me for the better part of a year. I don't want anything else to do with it."

The nurse looked from the child to its mother. "You don't even want to see your baby?"

The woman scoffed. "That thing isn't my baby. It's a lab specimen. Send it to the lab where it belongs."

"Shhh…its ok." The nurse cuddled the bundled-up infant tighter when it began to fuss a bit. "You're still her mother…"

"I am NOT its mother!" The woman's eyes snapped open and she sat forward abruptly to glare at the nurse. "That thing may share part of my genetic makeup but it is NOT my child! If you want it to bond with something, why don't you take it down to the subbasement and see if the monster they have locked up down there wants anything to do with its offspring."

"But…" The nurse wanted to argue with the woman but was interrupted by Dr. Kirchberg's reprimand.

"Nurse, she said no. Pass it off to the neonatal team and help me prepare the Lieutenant for transfer to recovery." The doctor looked pointedly at his assistant. "Now."

Hesitantly, the nurse nodded. "Yes, doctor." With a lump in her throat, she watched as the Head Neonatologist placed the infant into a sealed incubator and wheeled it from the room. She would never know what would become of the baby she had cuddled for those brief moments and it would always be something that she wondered about before she fell asleep at night with her own children nestled snugly in their beds right down the hall from where she lay. All she could do was say a little prayer each and every night and hope that someone somewhere was caring for the child as all children deserve to be.

To Be Continued…