"As he came leaping in, the poodle did not heed it. The matter now seems turned about; The Devil's in the house and can't get out."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust: First Part
November 16th, 2137. Earth Central Time. The Corporate Penthouses at the top of Solomons Habitation Tower, Sevastopol station.
Ben Ransome couldn't look away from the creature inside the tube, the thing was horrendous and certainly dangerous, proof of that was the blood stained shirt now in the laundry bin. Ben wasn't scientist but he was aware that the discovery of a new life-form always could represent financial value if new technologies were developed from it.
Ransome had achieved his rank because his aggressive initiative, taking opportunities when they showed up and forcibly snatching them from others when he could. For this one, he needed help, not Lindgard of course, Waits was always near and the doctor had a strong moral code. Looking through the window, he saw the SciMed tower where the hospital was located and Waits and his men were hunting the creature. Then he looked the other tower, the Lorenz SysTech Spire, with its communications antennae and server farms; and near the base, the Gemini Exoplanet Solutions lab.
He had someone else in mind. Gemini Exoplanet Solutions had a capable staff and had run out of funds, scientists will do anything for a sponsorship, if not; some of them could be extorted. He called Dr. Holly Wong, the chief scientist.
-"Holly, it's Seegson executive Ransome here. I'm sending over some samples for investigation (Attached file: 001794-26B-2137). I want the minimum number of employees on this. Keep it on the down-low and report only to me. If any of this gets out, I'll make sure your career dies with Sevastopol. There are a lot of inconsistencies in Gemini's ledgers. Do right by me and I'll remember you. Whatever you're skimming now will seem like chicken feed. Do the smart thing. I want any finding sent to my apartment, nowhere else."
Ransome sent a Working Joe with the creature inside a sealed box. Sometime later, he received a call from Dr. Holly Wong, the chief scientist.
-"Jesus, Ransome. I haven't heard from you in months and suddenly this land on my desk? You must have broken three colonial quarantine edicts just sending them to the labs! We need to talk. Now, call me at Project KG348."
- o -
Dr. Wong couldn't identify the creature; there was no precedent of a creature like that. Analysis confirmed the results and Dr. Lindgard's opinion from the autopsy. Plus, she had the original parasite.
The creature had a proboscis, presumably used to implant the embryo and spectrographic signature of skin tissue was consistent with the traces found in the victim's esophagus. "So the creature indeed forced the embryo inside the host with this organ." Holly shuddered.
Sub-cutanean analysis shown some oxidized molecular acid, Holly put a sample of the substance in the lab's synthesizer and the machine tried to reconstruct the original acid. She heard a hiss and the machine's container melted, some of the liquid splashed in the floor where it corroded and pierced a hole.
-"Geez!" The lab technician exclaimed.
-"How this creature can have this devil's stuff inside?" asked another.
-"That Tetrafluoroethylene compound must act as protection. It's Amazing!" Dr. Wong answered. "I need to consult the xenobiological database, see if there's something about this."
-"I'll check the Peter Weyland Memorial Library databases." The tech said and typed on the computer.
Welcome to SIR PETER WEYLAND MEMORIAL LIBRARY network
Since it was built in 2065, Weyland Memorial had been the largest library dedicated to Medicine, Technology, Biology, Artificial Intelligence, Chemistry, Arts and Human science in all Colonized space. It was the spiritual successor of the Library of Congress also in Washington, in the former United States, today the United Americas.
How can we help you?
The technician selected search. The library search motor will show everything from journal papers to poems and essays.
Search in all Xenobiology references.
Please enter Search parameters.
First, he typed general parameters.
Xenomorphic life-form
parasitic/parasitoid life-form.
Multicelled life-form
Endoparasites
Searching…
No results found for Xenomorphic life-form
Other results:
Fiorina 161 lice, Pediculus humanus fiorii
Helene parasitoid wasp, Megarhyssa helenii
Rynth tapeworm, Taenia ryushiensis
Nothing matched with the creature in the labs, the three parasites from the database were adaptations to a new environments, the lice was a vicious creature that feed on keratin, the parasitic wasp was a five inches wasp which lived in the yellow Karyta trees of Helene 215; So far these wasp didn't represent any danger but its stinger inject a painful poison.
And finally the tapeworm adapted from human cattle and passed into the native Rynth, mammal-reptiles from Ryushi, a ranching colony in the Japanese arm.
Please enter Search parameters.
Xenomorphic life-form
parasitic/parasitoid life-form.
Multicelled life-form
Endoparasites
No eyes.
Carbon-silicon based.
Traces of Polytetrafluoroethylene.
Oxydized molecular acid/Hydrofluoric acid.
Searching…
No results found.
There was nothing reported before which matched the parameters, that means this was the first recorded encounter with the species. Dr. Wong will write the paper, and then Ransome could have all patents derived from the researching and exploitation of the creature.
- o -
It was time to make the announcement. Marshal Waits sent a message through Sevastolink meant for general population. He hoped the crisis was solved by now but in view of what happened to the woman and the creature, there was no option. San Cristobal must be locked down and he will order a curfew to prevent any inhabitant from entering the hospital and release the creature.
"Due to a contingency in the hospital, San Cristobal medical has been locked down by the Colonial Marshals until further notice. Sevastopol's medical team is setting up field hospitals throughout Sevastopol to deal with the ongoing crisis. Locations to follow:
-Josiah Siegg apartments lobby - Chief practitioner K. Lindgard.
-Solomons Galleria - Radiologist West.
-Spaceflight terminal - Dentist surgeon Fernandez.
-Private wards, Lorenz SysTech Spire – Chief Nurse Officer Amelie Hatcher.
Marshal Waits"
Now Waits ordered the lockdown. All access points were blocked by jamming the doors, putting braces or welding airlocks. A few doors were locked by keycards so the police officers and some of the major medical staff could pass and keep hunting the creature.
- o -
November 16th, 2137. Earth Central Time, Weyland-Yutani Science division's building, Porrima colony, Gamma Virginis.
The twin suns bathed the wide valley where the modular buildings of Porrima settlement were located with a bluish light. Modular buildings were the easiest way to start a new colony in planets where the atmosphere didn't suited human requirements; they were brought down by cargo lifters from colony ships in orbit and piled up, connecting them by retractable umbilical.
This was the new Weyland-Yutani's "Shake & Bake colony" model, aimed to colonize planets with atmospheres hostile to Earth's life standards, by installing machines called Atmosphere processors.
Porrima, properly named as the roman goddess of the future, was the first of many; a mile north of the settlement was the fairly new Atmosphere Processor, a gigantic fusion reactor which dissociated atmosphere elements and expelled N2, O2 and H2. The machine was in experimental stage but soon, when the manufacturing plant was opened, it will be sold all over the outer veil worlds.
José Conrado, the Director of W-Y science division arrived at his office located in one of the modular buildings and turned on his computer and immediately, a new message appeared:
To: José Conrado, Director of Science Division
Subject: Possible contact with Xenomorph XX121
Consultation: made to the Weyland Memorial Library network, Search parameters consistent with those of Xenomorph XX121.
Additional remarks: Consultation was made by Gemini Exoplanet Solutions, Sevastopol station, property of Seegson Corp, which in 11/11/2137 reported the find of U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo's Flight recorder.
Proceedings: Sevastopol station is on sale, if contact with Xenomorph XX121 had been made, then purchasing the station and securing the asset must be priority one.
When Ellen Ripley destroyed the Nostromo back in 2122, she had prevented the company from acquiring the creature, dubbed XX121 according to a classification for unknown life-forms. The Science Division had foreseen it was only matter of time before anyone else had contact with the alien, so they uploaded a spy program inside the library network, because what any researcher will do first is to look there.
It seems the ruse had been fruitful after fifteen years. First, five days ago, someone named Lewis had sent a message to Weyland-Yutani reporting the find of the missing ship's flight recorder. The case was assigned to the company legal representative Nina Taylor who by now was aboard the private courier ship Torrens headed to Sevastopol with the intention of retrieve the black box and the data it possessed.
The board was upset about letting Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda go with Taylor, the woman had been around since she had legal age to work. She was an excellent engineer for sure, but she'd been a constant pain in the ass pressing over the fates of Nostromo's crew. It was Christopher Samuels' intervention which had convinced the executives. Personally, Jose was upset that an android, an "artificial person", not only dared to have a surname but had convinced the board, to let some outsider involve just "to have closure".
Conrado called his secretary and told her all his day appointments were cancelled. He met with the board and exposed the matter. There was no deliberation; Weyland-Yutani by means of its Science Division purchased the station the next day, under the ruse of using Gemini laboratories to supply materials for their Atmosphere processor's manufacturing plant on Thedus. Attached to the purchase order and the new directives for APOLLO, the company also sent a special order meant to protect and secure the organism.
SPECIAL ORDER 939
PROTECT SPECIMEN
MAINTAIN QUARANTINE
DISALLOW COMMUNICATIONS
ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS SECONDARY
Following the orders, Conrado sent a message to Nina Taylor on the Torrens.
- o -
November 17th, 2137. Earth Central Time, Private Commercial starship Torrens, in route to Sevastopol Station.
The sleek shape of the Torrens crossed the darkness of space, eclipsing the stars on the background. In transit, navigation was in charge of the computer, a MU-TH-UR interface, a 2.1 terabyte artificial intelligence which guided the ship at faster than light speed through the perils of interstellar space.
All hallways and rooms were empty and the lights were off as a means of preserve power. At the same time the computer guided the vessel, it checked for its five passengers inside their cryotubes like pharaohs resting inside their sarcophagus at the Valley of Kings.
The bridge was silent, all screens were black and the frontal window shutters were down. Suddenly, the comms screen came to life displaying the words INCOMMING TRANSMISSION in white over a red background.
The ship's antenna moved back towards the origin of the signal, Porrima, their point of departure. On the screen, the intersecting W and Y of the Weyland-Yutani corporation logo appeared, followed by text.
WEYLAND-YUTANI BUILDING BETTER WORLDS.
Then, more text followed.
ENCRYPTED MESSAGE. FOR LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE EYES ONLY.
To: Nina Taylor
From: Weyland-Yutani Science Division, Porrima colony, Gamma Virginis.
Subject: Data and flight recorder retrieval mission update.
Miss Taylor, while you were in transit, we have received vital information pertinent to the flight recorder and the fate of the Nostromo; your new orders include interrogate any crewmember of the Anesidora, the ship who had found the black box about the last coordinates they were in after they have found the flight recorder, we suspect they also had found a valuable "asset" for us. We are not allowed to inform you about the nature of the "asset" but if it's there, you will know. We need the asset secure along with the data, and the coordinates. This information is strictly confidential and must not be discussed with any of the members of your team under the penalty of legal action and incarceration.
END OF MESSAGE.
The ship's computer saved the encrypted message in the server and the bridge was silent again as the ship continued towards its destination. In the hypersleep chamber, oblivious to the imminent threat that loomed over them, the five people inside their tubes continued dreaming.
- o -
