AlienX: A Gathering Storm, Chapter 10: Converging Fates

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I don't own the Aliens/Predator franchise.

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The bridge of the Vendetta: Ripley found herself once again staring at the viewscreens with showed the passing stars. It would be quite relaxing, if she just didn't know the horror that lurked out there.

But she did. She was intimately acquainted with it.

The floor vibrated and buzzed. {{My captain? Again you cannot sleep?}}

Ripley rubbed her eyes. She'd never been one for wearing makeup, but in her current position, as captain of the United Space Ship Vendetta, which was crewed entirely by alien beings who'd been evacuated from their own homes and worlds—and families—because of the alien xenomorphs. In this circumstance, the concept of putting on makeup was especially laughable. But she wondered: if the crew were human, would she strive to look her best?

Ripley normally didn't use makeup anyway, considering a needless bother. She'd always felt that way, even back in high school….

Now that was strange. She couldn't remember anything about her high school years. Just her intensive training in order to be assigned the position of Warrant Officer on the Norstromo.

But….she should remember something about high school.

Well, maybe not. So much had happened since then.

And of course, even if the crew had been human, she had far greater worries than being voted Ms. Cosmic Queen or something stupid like that.

The crew….something about the crew….

"No, G'Ten, I can't. I keep thinking about this situation. The Vooorm is right; we were getting nowhere assuming the android was in control. But the notion of the xenomorph being in charge raises some more questions. Like, how does it pretend to be me? I guess, if we're assuming it's intelligent, and if it has access to the ship's computer—two very big 'ifs'-, it could use some sort of voice changing program or something—but we don't even know if the things communicate by sound, in the first place. If not, there's no reason to believe it would even understand the concept of voice communication. And, once again, why would it pretend to be me, of all people? I just feel like there's some answers there, answers that would answer a lot of questions, and I don't know 'em.

"And even if it could somehow sound like me, how would it get the knowledge to imitate any human, let alone me?"

{{You were the last living creature the *untranslatable, unpleasant* encountered. Perhaps it imprinted on you, in some way?}}

Again, Ripley rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted, but sleep just wouldn't come. "Possibly. I don't know. G'Ten…" She paused. He waited. The centauroid had been an enormous source of strength to her. She honestly didn't know what she would have done without him.

If he were only human…

Stop that.

"G'Ten…I'm beginning to lose my memories of my old crew mates. I mean, I remember them, but…it's like it happened a long, long time ago, to someone else."

{{You have undergone a great deal of changes, my captain. It is not unheard of for recent memories, especially emotionally charged ones, to replace more distant ones. In this, your people and mine are very similar.}}

"What about you? I've never heard you talk about your past. How did the xenomorphs enter into your life? Or…" She paused. "I mean, it may be something you don't want to talk about….I would understand if it were."

Now it was G'Ten's turn to pause. {{No, my captain, I do not mind telling you. I was a student on my world, studying what I suppose you could call sociology, in particular the sociology of other peoples, other races. I had journeyed to several planets, each of which had its own unique—and frequently delightful—culture. I was….happy.}} Now he paused for a longer time, his centauroid body language indicating sorrow and loss. {{Then, one day, when I was visiting the capitol of one of the worlds I had studied on, we lost contact with an outlying village. An investigation team was sent there. They failed to report back. Then a military team was detailed to go straighten the matter out.}} He looked up at Ripley. {{Understand, Ripley Ellen Ripley, at the time, none of us imagined a threat from beyond the stars. The military team also failed to report. And then…the first reports came in, from the outlying suburbs of the capitol. Monsters that attacked people, implanted their seed within them. At first, no one believed it, it was just too, what is the expression? "Far fetched?" Yes, thank you….but we came to believe. Oh, indeed. We came to believe.

{{My own people sent in ships to both investigate and assist. One by one, they were overcome. It rapidly became clear that evacuation was our only hope.

{{I remember arguing with my best friend about these creatures. They could not exist, I said, they were surely products of the imagination. Nothing could be as terrible, as completely predatory as they were. It was as if someone had taken the worst of all species' nightmares, and removed from them any trace of weakness which could be exploited, to our favor. They had to be the products of someone's imagination, but whose? And why? And, if that were so, who were the real marauders?

{{He believed creatures existed, but thought they could be reasoned with. Surely, they possessed a form of intelligence, even if it were one we were not familiar with. He went off in search of them, to attempt to engage them in negotiations.}}

"Ouch," said Ripley. "I can imagine how well that went."

{{That was the last I heard of him. Then the monsters attacked the outskirts of the capitol…and through the many live camera feeds that ringed the city, we could see for ourselves what we faced.

{{My people sent evacuation ships. There weren't enough for all the people, who were desperate, by this time. I was one of the lucky few, chosen primarily because I was of the same race as the ones who sent the rescue ships. I…this has troubled me, ever since. I have wondered…if I did not…run.}}

Ripley nodded in understanding. G'Ten was suffering "survivor's guilt," even as she, herself was, to a degree.

How would she have felt, if she'd been able to abandon the Norstromo, only to leave behind her old crewmates? To know they'd suffer a fate worse than death? And that this was the price of her survival? "It's a good thing you did survive, G'Ten." He looked up sharply, startled. "I know, for a fact, that had it not been for your help, your encouragement and support, I probably would've given up long ago. We wouldn't be here, in what is probably the best armed warship in known space, hunting the very beings that caused both of us such pain. And we wouldn't have the chance for some payback." She smiled at him. "So…I need you. I'm glad I met you. And I don't know what I would've done without you."

He was silent for a time. Then, {{I, too, feel gratitude for having known you, Ripley Ellen Ripley. When I first saw you, on board the Displaced ship, I could tell you were determined, but dispirited, so to speak. Unsure which way to go. I wanted to help.}}

"You did, G'Ten. And you do. Don't ever doubt that. And we will get these bastards. I won't stop until we do." Even as she spoke, she realized she'd just spoken her own fate: by all accounts, the xenomorphs had overrun worlds. Did she have what it took to cleanse all these worlds of their horror?

She had what it took to try.

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"On your left!" Houston shouted at Butch. They'd barely landed when the first swarm of monsters had launched themselves at the platoon.

Already, they'd suffered severe casualties. The creatures had attacked from so close that the marines' firepower virtually exploded them—but that showered anyone nearby with a lethal spray of acid blood. Several more had been overcome; John Houston could still hear their screams echoing in his head

Behind him, covering his back, Butch laid down precise fire. Houston had to admit, when the chips were down, Butch was one he was glad to have at his back. He didn't get nervous, or at least, he didn't seem to, and he made every shot count, not even using the autotargeting mode.

One of the black monstrosities launched itself at Houston, an aerial attack. Houston blasted it, dodging the spray of acid, and quickly resumed scanning around him, with his back to Butch. These things apparently thought in three dimensions; they were capable of attacks from the air as well as from the sides.

The surviving marines formed a circle. "We've got to get back to the shuttle!" Houston directed their attention that way. They had to get back, get away and report. And to report, they had to survive. Which, even given all their firepower, was not looking to be an assured option.

Then he noticed the shuttle's ignition system lighting up. "Hey!" He directed his comm to the lieutenant who'd been assigned to bring them down to the surface. "Hold up! Where ya goin'? We're still down here!" But his broadcast went unacknowledged. "Perseus, this is Houston! Who the frig's in charge of the shuttle?"

"Corporal Houston, this is Major Forrester. What do you mean, who's in charge? Lieutenant Gallagher stated you were all dead."

"We will be if that shuttle leaves! What's Gallagher thinking, anyway?"

"Perseus here. Hold on. We're getting a message from Gallagher." There was a pause. "Vid pickups seem to be out, but he's stating he personally witnessed your deaths. Something's not adding up."

A flash of insight came to Houston, even as he targeted and fired on another xenomorph. "Perseus, the shuttle's been compromised! Don't let it dock!"

Another pause. Then, Major Forrester's voice came back online, broadcasting on the common frequency. "Perseus to shuttle. Perseus to shuttle. Either turn your vid pickups on or we will open fire. You won't receive another warning."

The response from the shuttle was immediate. It changed course, heading back down into the lower atmosphere, moving towards the planet's westward side, skipping in and out and through the low-lying areas of the ground, hills and valleys, using it as cover, evading targeting lock-on. It was quickly out of sight.

"Perseus, what happened?"

"Whoever, or whatever, is flying the shuttle just took off for the other side of the planet. Houston, do you see any sign of any intelligent life? Any humans working with the monsters? For that matter, any life at all besides those…those things? Any survivors?"

Again, Houston blasted a black form out of the air. He heard Butch laying down fire behind him, and the other marines doing likewise. "No, sir, I don't. Could one of these…things have stolen the shuttle?"

"If they did, they perfectly mimicked Gallagher's voice. Our readouts read a similarity to twelve dekes. That's better than most machines can do.

"Hold on. We're sending another shuttle down for you."

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The Vendetta: Ripley had come to a decision. "G'Ten, all our information indicates that several worlds have been visited by the Norstromo, several uninhabited worlds. We need to know why, and why those worlds with a human presence appear to have been left alone. Which one's closest to our current position?"

To be continued….