Disclaimer: Blah blah blah BLAH

I know! I'm a bad bad girl! But I've been very sick and very busy this year and I can't formulate any ideas! I hope this chapter will make up for my irresponsibility and complete lack of devotion to my fanfiction! I'm so happy all of you have stuck with me even though I am so neglectful! I just tie myself up with too many things nowadays!

Something also tells me that Salvation isn't going to work…I don't know if it's just me but…it just seems too hard to do!

Anyway! Please read this chapter! I wanted t make it extra long for you but I decided to give what I had and keep going!

I'm so sorry to all of you! Please be patient, I'm doing this as well as I can!

Kate and Kradak were cuddled together in a large officer's bed, sleeping, Inaria was sitting at one end of the hall after relieving Andrea, silent, James was working on a computer for some mysterious reason, Billy, David, Spencer and Jegoret were sprawled in some sort of lounge, snoring as boys want to do, Notak sat in another room, cleaning his blades, Andrea was working out in a gym and Naomi and Shane were sleeping in another room, in separate beds, but Hope was trying to correct that.

"Just pick them up and put them in the same bed."

No.

"Oh come on don't be such a wimp."

If you knew the life I lived you wouldn't be calling me that.

Hope gave him a flat look.

The two were in some sort of lounge; Mercarian crouched in the entrance, Hope leaning against the wall, flicking through a book she found.

Why is it so important for them to sleep together?

"They care about each other."

So?

Hope sighed, "They're being stubborn, and if they're left to their own devices I know they'll never hit it off."

Perhaps if they don't have the courage to speak of it themselves, then how will they have the condemnation they will obviously experience from others with their union?

Hope blinked a few times, "Wow."

She looked up to see Mercarian looking at her with one mercury-filled eye. He was a well of unexpected knowledge and intelligence. He kept his silence and Hope had assumed that he had nothing to say. Now she wondered if he wanted people to think thus.

Slowly his head turned and nudged her cheek. Her hand rose to press against his snout and her lips caressed his.

What was that?

"A kiss."

You kissed me?

"It would appear so."

Mercarian ran his hands over her hair, But I am not human.

"Perhaps you haven't been keeping pace, because neither am I."

You were once.

"Not anymore."

Mercarian shifted away and a gusty sigh escaped his mouth. Hope scrounged around until she found some sort of health bar and ate it.

"How old are you, Merc?" she asked suddenly, drawing his attention back to her.

She felt him going through her mind and she knew he was looking for her version of years.

Six hundred and twenty-nine he said finally.

Hope whistled.

Do humans not live that long?

"We live to be about 90 ish. But James says that we should live to a loooooooooot longer now, because of your DNA, how old can Xeno live for?"

Mercarian shrugged, a new gesture for him, There has been no known Xeno to die of old age, we are all slain in one form or another. And if there was, we can't exactly keep contact long-distance.

Hope blinked, "Someone told me Kings were rare, like, there were always one Queen for a hive, but drones and things can change to become a queen, but few people have seen a king, and fewer have lived."

Merc shifted so he was curled around Hope and she stroked his elongated head, Kings can change shape and molt and we are …psychic is the word I think. Kings are rare, it takes one mating with a King for her to be fertile for the rest of her life, and she can also pass her fertility to other young queens. But for new queens that are alone, for instance, if they changed and there was no other older queen to pass on her fertility, the Queen would send out a telepathic mating call, I suppose, and the closes Kings would send a call back. The Queen then would decide who she wanted, based on distance and experience, depending on her situation. The King can then reduce his size and stow away on a ship, or regress back to facehugger and stow away within a person until he reaches her. At which point he will emerge, feed, grow and mate with her, then leave.

Hope looked disgruntled and stroked her face with a finger, That is a necessity, some instinct we are born with, Hope, I will not leave you, nor mate with another, I see in your mind what your perception of a mate is, rarely does a King and Queen remain together in a hive, but it has happened, and those hives are so old and powerful, consuming entire planets before the Queen and King move on. The mating pair are extremely difficult to defeat, which is why many Queens attempt to ensnare the King that comes to mate with them. I am old, older than most, and you, my dear, have ensnared me far better than any cage of resin could.

"Awwww," Hope nuzzled his face, "you're so sweet."

He purred, And I like what I see in your mind.

Hope instantly turned bright red.

I saw that too.

She laughed, then touched her gritty self, covered in dried blood and soot, rumpled clothing (Her, what seventh set!) and gritty hair.

"I need a shower…"

Shower?

Hope looked up at him, "Water, falling down on you, and you wash yourself beneath it."

Like a waterfall?

"Except the water is warm."

Warm?

"Ok, I have to show you, come on." Hope got up and leading him into the showers and locking the door firmly behind them.

Hope kicked off her boots and stepped into the shower, off to the side, and turned it on, the water cascading from several faucets in the roof, a room made for multiple people to shower at once, and just big enough for an alien king to stoop in.

Hope had her arm stuck under the water and looked back at Mercarian, who crouched at the entrance of the shower block, sniffing the air.

"Come on! Step under!"

You first.

Hope arched a brow, "But I just got these clothes on."

Do you need them?

Hope's other brow joined her first.

Ah yes, I see now, what your clothing represents, a type of modesty and WHAT WAS THAT!

Hope blushed hard but burst out laughing at the scandalized sense she got from Mercarian.

Mercarian stepped further into the room and Hope skittered back, still laughing. He stepped forward again and Hope slipped and slid backwards into the shower.

"Dammit I'm drenched!"

Mercarian laughed and stepped under with her, spreading his wings so he shielded her from the water and lifted his face into the spray.

It is nice.

"Told you so."

Mercarian moved his wing and Hope squealed as water once again poured on her. Then she lay down and laughed.

Mercarian made a strange huffing sound she realized was a laugh and bared his fangs in a Xenomorph smile as he leaned down, nuzzling her body.

Hope laughed, then sat bolt upright as she heard a sound like a snapping and cracking of bone and a crinkling of cellophane. Mercarian had his eyes tightly shut and a look of almost agony on his snout (If she could tell) and his wings were curled closed to his body, hiding almost all of him from view.

"Merc? Merc!"

The wings now hid his entire form and, as Hope reached towards him, they swept aside to reveal a 7 foot tall Mercarian, standing more upright now, his snout bent down to watch Hope, water sliding down his exoskeleton.

"Wow…"

I can change size, and how about this?

Mercarian touched her face and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Hope."

Hope gasped, "You can TALK! I mean, like, normal sound talk!"

Mercarian nodded, "I was able to shape some semblance of vocal chords."

Indeed, his voice was accented with slight hissing and a whispery softness of cloth being dragged over leaves.

Hope liked it.

She lifted her face to the spray of water and twirled around, laughing. Mercarian watched her, a smile curling his lips. She turned to him, blonde hair plastered to her shoulders, a huge grin on her face and then squealed as he picked her up and twirled around with her, hissing softly with glee.

Later Hope towel dried her hair and stared out a window to a holographic picture of a quiet neighborhood street with the perfectly manicured lawn and green BMW and the neighborhood kids throwing a Frisbee to a dog behind a screen of sprinkler water.

"What is wrong?"

Hope turned around and saw Mercarian, still in the form he was in when they shared the shower, standing with his head cocked at the doorway.

"Nothing…"

His slender fingers touched her face, "I know it is not nothing, I feel despair and sorrow from you…"

Hope sighed and nuzzled his hand and he drew her into a hug, "I don't know what I'm going to do, Merc. Everything…it's so different. I remember everything from when I was alive…then there's all of this. It's all so strange. So different. It's like…I don't know what's real and what's not… Remember it all so clearly. I don't know if this isn't a dream. If I won't wake up suddenly. Or…if all of before was just a dream. A beautiful, wonderful dream…"

Mercarian's long fingers stroked Hope's hair and his elongated head rested against her back as he let out a gusty sigh.

"Whatever happens, Hope, I'll be with you. Not because I owe my life…but because for the short time I have known me, you have awoken feelings within me I never knew existed. Feelings I can't put a name to. They're so strange and so strong they…they frighten me but….at the same time…I don't want those feelings to go away."

Hope looked up at Mercarian, staring into his mercury eyes, and then smiled.

She embraced him tightly, and, a moment later, Mercarian was staggered by the feeling of her mind opening and embracing him completely. A tremor wracked her body and her soft cry let him know the same had happened to her. The complete sharing of mind and soul. It felt as if they were bound so completely together. A billion strands of incorporeal and insubstantial thread, as small as spiders silk but as strong as steel binding their beings together so completely, if one was to break away, both would bleed to death.

Hope lifted her pale face and looked up at Mercarian, and he stared back. The sensation was completely alien to both of them and neither could completely comprehend what had happened.

As they stared at each other, the tiny hairs on the back of Hope's neck stood on end and she stiffened. Mercarian, sensing the change, lifted his snout to scent the air.

Whatever it was would have to wait, for something was about to happen…

For good or bad…was yet to be determined.

Naomi rolled onto her back and looked up at the roof, aware of Shane's arm wrapped loosely around her stomach, her back to his chest, his breath warm against her ear as a gentle smile touched her mouth.

She didn't know when they had moved. Neither of them was in their beds anymore, instead they were both on the floor, wrapped in several blankets and each other. A cozy love nest.

Shane nuzzled Naomi's neck, "Hello Sleeping Beauty."

Naomi laughed slightly and sat up, smiling down at him, "Any idea how we got here?"

"None."

"I'm not complaining…"

"Neither am I…"

They looked at each other for a long moment, before Naomi coughed and stood up, grabbing her jacket, "We should probably go check out the-"

She broke off with a gasp as Shane stood, grabbed her, whirled her around and kissed her soundly.

Naomi just stood there as he leaned back and muttered, "I wanted to do that from the first moment we had a civil conversation."

He ran his fingers over her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and running the very tips of his finger over a crease in her face caused by the pillow.

Naomi lifted her face to brush her lips across his, but was interrupted when an inhuman screech rent the air like a blade and an explosion rocked the floor.

Kate sat bolt upright and Kradak rolled away from her and came into a crouch, grasping his weapons.

Kate was past him and out the door, then gasped as she heard Mercarian scream in pure rage and go barreling down the hallway trailing human gore, causing her to dive back into the room, into Kradak's arms, as he slammed the three combat synthetics into the wall and tore them apart in a fury.

He whirled again and his powerful hind legs launched him back the way he came and he ripped into the human soldiers, heedless of their bullets that pierced his tough exoskeleton to the soft flesh underneath. One man fell to the ground, screaming and clutching his face as acid sprayed over him.

The humans and predators stared in amazed horror as the Xenomorph king went insane and snatched up a Corporate and shook him like a terrier with a bone, dropping him. When he found no more living prey, he let out a scream of unadulterated rage and bloodlust, smashing everything around her.

Kate slowly approached him, pushing Kradak's restraining hand off her arm.

"Merc?"

He didn't seem to hear her and ripped a computer console off the wall and his talons tore through the metal like it was the flesh of the corpses that now lay in bloody ribbons all around him.

"Mercarian."

He jerked and looked at her, his mercury eyes seeming to glow with red, his carapace flushed with blood and vivid yellowish in sections.

He roared at her and stepped around, his hind talons gouging rivulets in the floor.

"Kate…"

"Shh," Kate made a placating gesture behind her, not taking her eyes from Mercarian's rage-filled ones.

"Mercarian…what happened?"

He twitched and hissed, baring his fangs as his bloody talons extended.

"Where is Hope?"

That seemed to get through to him and a huge shudder wracked his body and he whirled and slammed his huge head into the wall, making a sizeable dent.

"Mercarian!"

He turned and snarled at Kate, walking forward until he had her pinned up against the wall. He ignored the others' and the laser Kradak pointed at his head and hissed down at her, his lips peeling back from bloody fangs, dripping gore to the ground.

Watch your tone, flesh.

Kate looked up at him, ignoring his fangs, staring into his eyes.

"Where is Hope?"

He roared and stepped back, his arm lashing out, his talons raking furrows in the metal above Kate's head. She gasped and ducked and Kradak stepped forward, but Naomi grabbed him.

"Stop!"

He looked at her, "Release me! He will kill her!"

"No he won't just wait, "

"Who took her?"

The soft question from Kate drew their attention back to her and the huge black creature towering over her petite form.

Mercarian roared again and his tail cleaved through the wall into an officer's quarters.

"Who took her?" Kate repeated with infinite calm.

The humans Mercarian admitted slowly. …They came and…shot her and…there was no blood, sparks though, she convulsed…the Strange Ones, the ones with no aura…they came and…held me back as they dragged Hope away…I couldn't do…anything.

Kate knew this moment was important. Her reaction could send him into a rage, or give a positive response. She reached out and touched his arm and he looked down at her.

"We'll get her back," said Kate. "But we need to form…"

She jerked her head around and stared at the end of the hall, and it was then the others noticed the other three Genesis Zero were alert as well.

Mercarian hissed, That is how Hope looked before…

Once again he was cut off as the door at the end of the hall slid open.

Lasers and weapons were trained on the open doorway.

"Naomi," hissed Shane. "You guys get behind us."

"What! Why?"

"Just do it!" snapped Spencer.

Reluctantly Naomi, David, Billy and Kate moved behind Mercarian who stood, now aware of his many wounds, though superficial, were painful.

Though, a moment later, he remembered what had happened with Hope and turned with a roar as several combat synthetics stepped out from the hole he had made when going through the wall in his rage and shoot the remaining four Genesis Zero easily.

The convulsed as the electrical charge that accompanied the specially formulated sedative had them comatose instantly. As their bodies slumped to the ground, the others turned to fire at the Combat Synthetics and they retreated under cover.

Mercarian let out a roar and charged down the hall again, disappearing through the hole.

"Does he ever learn?" asked James.

Andrea, James and Inaria agreed to stand with the unconscious teens as the others followed Mercarian through the hole.

Andrea removed the darts from their necks and she and James checked them over. They heard a strange whooshing sound from Inaria and they looked up to see her tapping her wristpad, watching the unconscious forms at her feet.

She looked at them and realized that she had no means with which to communicate with them, now that Mercarian was gone and their translators were incapacitation.

"They…are…well," she growled out in their language finally, feeling the pain those difficult sounds caused to her throat and mandibles.

James nodded and stood slowly, looking down as Inaria and Andrea trained their weapons the direction the males had vanished to.

James scowled as the hairs on his arms stood up. He thought he heard something…

Glancing down at David, Kate, Naomi and Billy, he saw they looked peaceful other than the puncture wounds and vivid red splotches on their necks.

Slowly, James turned around to check behind him, and the butt of a pulse rifle smashed across his face, and he joined the others on the floor.

Alerted, Andrea and Inaria turned, but Andrea caught a fist to the stomach and she doubled over, another fist catching her in the face and she slumped down to the floor, dazed.

At the same instant, four of the Corporates tackled Inaria, taking her to the floor. She let out a loud roar, calling the others back to her as she wrestled with the Oomans.

Spitting out expletives, she caved in the skull of one with a backhanded blow and gutted another with her wrist blades.

Her mask was ripped from her face and, momentarily dazed, she shook her head, then caught a fist to her cheekbone.

This barely fazed her as she rolled, taking one of the remaining Coroperates under her and smashing her head forward, her heavy skull, the bone three centimeters thick, easily crushed his.

Inaria then turned to grab the Corporate on her back and, in a primal act, her mandibles spread wide and she clamped her fangs on his throat, snapping her mandibles shut and wrenching to the side with one violent movement. Blood splattered her exposed face as she dropped the gurgling, dying man to the floor, spitting out his disgusting flesh.

She heard the click of a gun and whirled with a roar, bloody mandibles spread wide, but Andrea had recovered, was on her feet and Inaria's plasma fire was accompanied by Andrea's pulse rifle bullets.

The Corporates at the doorway were reduced to bloody ribbons almost instantly.

The others returned to see Inaria, Andrea and James, who was regaining consciousness, looking belagured in the hall.

"WHERE IS KATE!"

"We were attacked…," breathed Inaria, spitting out more blood. "They took them whilst we were fighting."

Kradak strode down the hallway and Inaria stood tall, eyes narrowed.

He looked at each of them, then snarled, "We will follow them and get Kate back."

Shane knew, from the way Kradak looked at Andrea and James, that he blamed them for what had happened. Andrea was fighting to regain her composure and James was fighting to stop his nose from bleeding.

You pathetic creatures!

They all turned to look at Mercarian, standing at the hole.
You lost the others as well! Not just Hope! You cannot be depended on!

"Hey!" shouted Spencer. "YOU lost Hope"

Do not speak to me that way! roared Mercarian. I will not tolerate flesh speaking to me with such disrespect!

"Disrespect! You who devour humans with no thought to who they are, the families they have! My BROTHER was eaten by one of you bugs!"

Mercarian stepped closer to Spencer, Speak that way again and I will make you watch as I devour your wagging tongue, flesh.

"Guys stop it!" shouted Andrea. "Enough!"

Shane put a hand on her arm, "Stop."

"No!" shouted Andrea. "Mercarian's gonna kill him!"

"Thanks for your faith, Ree!" snarled Spencer.

"We should leave the Oomans and go search for Kate," said Jegoret.

"We cannot leave them! We made a vow to help each other! On our honor we must stick with it!" argued Inaria.

"We must at least leave the kainde amedha kind behind," snarled Notak. "Can you imagine the Elder's reactions if we brought one into our caste?"

Inaria shook her head, dredlocks flying, mask limp in her hand, forgotten in her distress, "I cannot believe I am hearing this! My ears must be clogged with te'dqi! You are suggesting that we, Yautja Honored Warriors, go back on our word? How can we hold out heads high with honor, go on the hunt, when this tarnishes that which we live for!"

Kradak looked at Inaria for a moment, then said soflty, "Then choose, Inaria. Keep your honor and stay with these pathetic pyode amedha, or come with us. No one will know. It will remain buried with us, and any who reveal it will thei-de, die."

Inaria looked from Kradak, to Jegoret, to Notak, who were all looking at her silently. Her upper mandibles flared in an expression of extreme shock and her eyes widened. She then lowered her head and replaced her mask.

"As you wish…"

The others nodded and turned and headed to the end of the hall.

"What the!"

Andrea grabbed Notak's arm and he whirled with a snarl, pushing her back into James, who caught her at the expense of his nose starting to bleed once more.

"Do not touch me, pauk-de Ooman!" he roared and whirled, following the others at a trot.

They turned on their cloaks and vanished down the hall.

The humans stood stunned and Mercarian hissed.

So, this is how it ends.

He turned his silver eyes on the others and bared his fangs in a smile that held no warmth or kindness.

I will find Hope and the others. Then we will escape. Make your own way, flesh.

He turned and vanished into the ventilation system.

The humans were left, shell-shocked a the sudden dispersal of their group.

Shane said softly, "Since…I'm not human…"

"Don't even think it," snapped Andrea. "We're in this together. We'll find the others and tell them what happened."

"I reckon…" said Spencer slowly. "We should…get out of here…whilst we can."

"What!" shouted the other three.

Spencer shrugged and ducked his head, "The shit's about to hit the fan, you know. A Xeno King and a Predator hunting party loose on this ship? Along with another hellish Genesis One? We should cut our losses and leave now…"

Shane strode forward and grabbed Spencer's scruff, "Don't you ever speak like that again, Marine. Ever. We are going to find the others, we are going to put things right then, and only then, are we getting out of here."

Spencer glared up at him.

"Do you understand?"

"Perfectly….sir…" snarled Spencer.

Shane released him and stepped back, nodding, then whirled and walked away.

"James, we need to find an armory, we need to stock up."

Spencer fell in last, behind Andrea, so none could see the mutiny that burned in his eyes.

Lawson rubbed his hands together, grinning at the security console as he watched them fight and break up.

"This is going much better than expected!" he chuckled.

He heard a pneumatic hiss behind him and saw the rest of the Genesis Zero dragged into the holding bay and shackled beside their beaten 'leader' Hope, who was still comatose.

Lawson bared his teeth in a feral grin and he turned his gaze to the darkened room through the double-paned reinforced bullet-proof glass at two glowing eyes in the depths of the cell beyond.

"Isn't it going well, my darling experiment?"

Claws raked the glass and an inhuman scream pierced the air as it had no effect on the glass.

Lawson's gleeful chuckle echoed through the room.

Down in the holding bay, Hope's eyes flickered open for a moment, then closed, but the corner of her mouth tilted up in a sinister smile.

Oooooo! They've split! Shows how much Genesis Zero kept them together, hmm? Giggles I hope I haven't given tooo much away! Lol, I have the ending typed out already! Let's hope it fits! Dances I'm so happy I got this chapter finished! Your reviews have helped motivate me! Don't stop because I'm a naughty girl!

I know I shouldn't have demanded an amount of reviews but…I'M SORRY! I was being childish at the time soo shrugs

Anyway! Read, enjoy, and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

XXXX Crimson Mistress