Chapter 4

Back in his lab, Greg's eyes were fixed to the video monitor as he watched the playback of the test run. The camera jerked a bit as the xenomorph dashed through the caves, and the night vision was a little too green, but the image was clear enough. Then the "rabbit" came into view, seeming terrified as it looked behind its shoulder at the monster in pursuit. The "rabbit" reached the dead end of passage, turned around, and pressed its back against the stone wall. Quaking just like the creature that inspired its name, the "rabbit"'s mouth silently opened and closed, as if trying and failing to scream. A few seconds later, though, the xenomorph was upon it, and the "rabbit" did appear to scream as the creature raked its claws across its victim's chest. Blood spurted across the front of the "rabbit"'s radiation suit, and Greg thought he could maybe make out the glistening heart in its ribcage. That could have just been blood, though. However, the guts were as clear as day as the xenomorph tore open the "rabbit"'s belly and began feasting. Greg forced himself to look at the video monitor as the xenomorph continued to ravage the "rabbit"'s innards. Soon, though, blood and viscera splattered the xenomorph's dome to the point where he couldn't see much of anything. After a few minutes, the xenomorph appeared to have its fill, as it turned around and made its way back up the dark tunnels. When it reached the cave entrance and the waiting cage, Greg stopped the video and clicked off the monitor.

"What do you think?" Greg asked Tina, who sat to his right.

"I think it's disgusting, and I can't understand how the research team gets off on this," she said, her cute face scrunched up in distaste. There were no specimens in the lab that day, so they didn't need to wear masks and caps. "Beyond that, I can't believe it has such a ravenous appetite. Mike and his team must have starved it before setting it loose after the 'rabbit'."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Greg said, sighing with disappointment. How in the hell was he still working with these sadists? Oh yeah, the exorbitant pay, which dwarfed anything he could hope to earn at a hospital or university. Greed sure was a vicious bitch. Looking at Tina, he continued, "At least the xenomorph didn't cocoon the poor bastard. The last thing we need is more of those suckers running around the caves."

"True," Tina agreed, thoughtful. "On the other hand, who would it hurt? Those caves have been abandoned for decades."

"Those caves, yes," Greg said, "but not the ones that the Marines plan to attack next. Nangarhar is still a hotbed of terrorist activity, and I'll bet that a nest of terrorists is a lot more enticing than a lone wolf. More xenomorphs plus more humans equals a shit ton of trouble."

Tina nodded worriedly, then replied, "Especially if they're not all terrorists. We all know how they love to hide behind their women and children."

"Good point," Greg said, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "Say, what do we know about xenomorphs' propensity for attacking children?"

"As far as we know, they don't discriminate," Tina said regretfully. "The best case example we have is Rebecca Jorden, more commonly known as 'Newt'. According to our records, a Facehugger attacked her when Carter Burke trapped her and Ellen Ripley in the Hadley's Hope medical facility on Acheron. Later, a xenomorph cocooned her inside the colony's Atmosphere Processor. All that happened back in 2179, and we learned of those events from a Bishop model android that we retrieved from a prison colony on Fiorina 161. At the time of the incidents in question, she was only six years old. And before you ask, no, a xenomorph didn't kill her. But again, that wasn't for lack of trying."

"So, how did Newt die?"

"Flooded cryo-chamber when an EEV crashlanded on Fiorina 161—the same EEV that was carrying Ellen Ripley, the Bishop android, and Marine Corporal Dwayne Hicks."

Greg looked up, silently musing. "I think I remember hearing that story. Michael Bishop ended up obtaining Ellen Ripley's DNA, right? Along with that of a newborn xenomorph?"

"Mm-hmm," Tina muttered, a concerned look on her face. "Not that it's any of my business. Anyway, isn't that information supposed to be classified?"

"Yeah, but word gets round," Greg said with a smirk. "Forget I said anything. But that sucks. I was hoping we could figure out some way to prevent the xenomorphs from killing innocents."

Greg and Tina sat silently for a few minutes, thinking. Then Tina's eyes suddenly lit up, and she smiled at her co-worker. Excitedly, she suggested, "Maybe we can."

"What do you mean?" Greg asked, confused.

"Remember what Mike said?" Tina asked, her eyebrows raised suggestively. "That he and his team trained a xenomorph to hunt the rabbit by first training it to recognize its scent?"

"Right."

"Well, how does a human produce that scent? Through sebaceous glands. And when do those glands develop?"

Now Greg's eyes lit up, and he smiled as he replied, "During puberty. So how do we use that information to our advantage?"

"It won't be easy, but here's what I'm thinking," Tina said, returning Greg's smile. "First, we need to procure four batches of clones—adult males, adult females, pre-pubescent males and pre-pubescent females. We acclimate a few xenomorphs to all of their scents, then punish them when they try to attack the children."

"What about the women?" Greg asked, almost incredulous at Tina's omission.

"Unfortunately, we can't be sure that they aren't complicit in the men's crimes," she reasoned. "So anyway, once we train the xenomorphs to kill only the adults, we then train them to rescue the children. Maybe we can inject them with a drug cocktail that boosts norepinephrine and oxytocin production while blocking corticosterone receptors. I don't know. We can figure that out later. Ultimately, once they're fully trained, we make sure that the military tech lab sends them on an attack mission with the rest of its xenomorphs."

"Sounds good," Greg said warily, again rubbing his chin. "But what's our cover story?"

"That we're helping the lab," she said plainly. "We'll explain that we want the xenomorphs to kill everyone, not just the men. After all, why take any chances?"

"Spoken like a true believer," Greg said with a mirthless chuckle. "Okay, I'm in. Let's draft a proposal."

Tina beamed at him, no doubt proud of herself for concocting such a brilliant plan. However, Greg knew that she shouldn't get too excited. There was no reason to believe that the plan would work, and many reasons to believe that it wouldn't. He was sure that these tests would fail at first, and they would need to keep trying until they succeeded. Worse still, they were racing alongside the tech lab, as well as the clock. The timing would have to be impeccable. But like Tina said, they'd figure that out later. First, they had to procure the xenomorphs and "rabbits".