Chapter Eleven: The Ultimate Survivor
First Contact on Earth by Yeshua, would technically be Second Contact; the First Contact having given rise to Homo sapiens' progenitors. 'First Contact', however, is the event humanity would call it for the brief time they had left to do so. The difficult part of the annihilation of a species was always the thorough eradication. There were always stragglers. When a species reached the paradigm of deep space travel, they had to be tracked down. They also had the means to hide deep within their own planet and wait for the predatory life forms to die off. This was the stage where the hunt became much more personal. The cull would become a mostly singular event. They would always take many years.
The life of the biological weapons that would be used, under normal conditions, was finite. When kept in storage conditions on board ship or at weapons depots, they could remain viable for many thousands of years with very little degradation to their physical structure. When subjected to normal atmospheric conditions, they would eventually decompose completely, their final stage of existence as a very effective fertiliser for local vegetation.
Once the hybrids were gone and the weapons with them, the planet would become a Stage 3 planet awaiting federally approved genetic reassignment, endorsed by the senate. Yeshua would take sole responsibility for the acceleration of evolution. Once more, the original seeds of life of Earth, from the original Engineer's sacrifice, would be the only source of life thereon. Once again, it would be pure.
Yeshua would dedicate himself totally to re-establishing the rightful, pure bloodline on the world. 10 billion hybrid humanoids extirpated and with them all other land based, higher life forms snuffed out collaterally.
Yeshua's road would be hard, but necessary.
While Elizabeth stumbled weakly through the tunnel, Yeshua had bounded towards the surface. While the hybrid had not eaten for over twenty-four hours (and that being of scant nutritional value), Yeshua was well-sustained. He was strong, athletic and overwhelmingly driven by the destruction of his crew.
He found the ship sat waiting, its access ramp extended to the ground.
He had to be quick. If the hybrid had managed to gain access to the flight deck, she would ultimately have the means to lock him out and even cut off life support to him.
His years at the Academy were about to pay off. He knew the geography of the ship better than he knew the contours of his own face. He reached his destination less than a minute after boarding.
Elizabeth had indeed beaten him to it. The holographic chart was activated and the head she had been carrying around with her was talking to the ship's computer in Yeshua's own language, attempting to take control.
Yeshua's voice was roared as he bore down on Elizabeth, "Computer: disregard input and scan for recognised DNA source. Lock on to my voice/DNA combination to validate commands. Confirm."
"Voice/DNA recognition synchronised." Reported the computer.
"Scan for authorised DNA match on all further commands." Added Yeshua.
"Command acknowledged." Said the computer.
Without pause, Yeshua, grabbed David and threw him against the wall forcefully.
David closed his eyes to protect his visual receptors on impact. He rolled to a stop on the deck a few steps in front of Yeshua.
"Computer: Close off the flight deck." Yeshua said casually.
The door closed, cutting off any chance Elizabeth had to escape.
Yeshua stood over David, who was resting on his right side, as he watched Elizabeth cower behind a stasis chamber.
David looked up at the colossus who regarded him with disdain.
With one powerful strike, Yeshua stamped down hard, crushing the left hand side of David's head. He picked him up to check he'd made sufficient damage to the android. "Speak to me now, robot." Said Yeshua frigidly.
Yeshua looked at Elizabeth. "Alone now, little girl."
It wasn't long before he had hold of her. She had decided to save what remained of her strength. Yeshua slapped the ruined head of the once majestic David into her arms. "To keep you company." He said.
He reached the door out of the flight deck and told it to open. Once on the outside, he ordered it to close. He continued this all the way to the quarters that would double as a holding room.
He pushed her into the room. "You're going to witness the end of your species. I may even present you to them, so they have a figure to hold responsible. Someone to blame for their apocalyptic demise."
Elizabeth's response was simple, as she didn't understand one word of his promise to her: "Can I have some food, please?" She circled her palm over her stomach in the age old mime for hunger.
Yeshua stared at her and said two words before leaving her in darkness.
Elizabeth said nothing. She gently moved her hand over David's head. It was upsetting to hold. She stood and felt for the central table from which holograms and material facsimiles were produced.
David was silent. He had proven to be far hardier than Elizabeth would ever have believed. She was just incredibly thankful he had come through for her so many times... as futile as that had finally turned out to be.
Yeshua walked directly back to the flight deck. He still needed to load onboard the weapons. It was up to him which destructor he would choose.
It was a simple choice to make.
The cargo bay doors opened and the mechanical loaders scuttled off to the designated silo. The main transporter was a multi-legged, articulating convoy. It looked like a massive centipede. The loaders were smaller, eight-legged, spiderlike machines, with extending claws that were offered forward as it moved away, as though it was seeking out a fond embrace.
Now he had full control of the situation, he decided to check on the other ship and his crew members. Peter was dead: killed by the Polymorph. Asherah and Baal were dead: killed by the biped. Only Odin and Kane remained. "Computer: remote over-ride of Vessel Alpha security protocols and remove lock down orders. Confirm."
The computer responded after a couple of seconds: "Control of Vessel Alpha established."
Yeshua was puzzled. "Computer: why did that order take so long to carry out?"
"Voice/DNA recognition in place." Answered the computer.
"Computer: remove voice/DNA recognition... and deny exit internally from Quarter 3 on Deck 2." Ordered Yeshua.
"Voice/DNA recognition removed. Internal commands for exit of Quarter 3 Deck 2 disabled." Said the computer.
Yeshua spoke to his original ship: "Vessel Alpha, this is Yeshua. I have taken control of Bravo. Please respond."
He waited for a reply. There was no reason why they couldn't respond immediately. Their ship now had voice recognition back online. If they were alive, they could respond.
Yeshua considered the possibility that they may be unconscious. "Computer: check for life signs on Alpha."
"No life signs detected." The computer said, without emotion.
Yeshua fell to one knee then back into a sitting position and said no more. He placed his hands over his face and tried to keep himself composed. Now was not the time to scream and shout. He would be able to take out his anger on the hybrids of Earth.
Until then, he would wait for the loaders to complete their task, in readiness for the moment he could begin his mission.
It took half an hour for the loaders to load three hundred eggs. Amongst them were the potential for thirty queens. Death would be dealt at an exponential rate, from the mountainous forests of the Yukon to the penguin rich tip of Chile; from the Fjords of Norway to the shark infested waters of South Africa; and from the freezing tundra of Siberia to the venomous bush of Australia.
Then there would be the hunt for those who had ventured into deep space.
And he would do it all alone. The only obstacle he foresaw was loneliness. The mission would not take less than two or three years to complete. The six crew members were basically there to keep each other company. The ship could fly itself. There was no real need for a Stores Officer, or a Logistics Officer, or a Weapons Officer. The titles were, again, part of the tradition of the early space travellers. They represented the courage and vision of those had come before them. The only rank that was necessary was Captain; the one who gives direction to mission. The only two titles that anyone really wanted was Captain, or Weapons.
Yeshua stood to the side of the 'Jockey' seat, the significance of it not lost on him, before climbing up. This was his first command. The first of many, he hoped.
His mouth suddenly felt dry and there was a pang of hunger. He decided he would ignore the need to eat for now. Food would come later after he had left the orbit of the satellite and selected the destination.
He rested back as the flight mask closed around his head, the seat restraints hugging him securely in position.
The head-up-display illuminated inside the mask and he decided to turn off automatic pilot. This was his first take-off on his first mission and he was doing it as acting Captain. He would fly manually for now.
He moved his hands over the attitude controls and gave a voice command: "Computer: Open outer hatch doors and energise auxiliary drive."
The ship rose towards the moon's surface and the thrusters powered up silently.
There was no countdown. The vessel took to the air as soon as it was clear and ascended through the clouds as though it was the first hypersonic hot air balloon, its only visible effect on the sky being vapour trails emanating from its port and starboard fins and the vortex swirls as it passed through the clouds.
He rolled his left hand forward as he left the atmosphere and the nose of the ship dipped. He rolled his right hand left to yaw left and finally rolled his right hand to the right to turn right on the horizontal plane.
The ship's computer confirmed he was on course for Earth.
He licked his lips as the dryness became more distracting. "Energise galaxy-drive, computer."
There were no physical effects on the body as the craft went from take-off velocity at around 2,000 miles per hour, to its interstellar transit speed in the Hyperlight range.
He closed his eyes and relaxed. Thoughts other than those connected to the flight began to flit through his mind. He thought about the events that had transpired in the last hour alone. His crewmates- his new family- were all dead, and now he was on his way.
He coughed and was distracted by a feeling like heartburn inside his chest. It was a fiery tingling like cold feet entering a hot bath. He concluded he needed to eat and he needed to drink. Stress had obviously begun to take its toll on his body. The stasis pod would see to that. An hour of regeneration would be all he needed to restore perfect health.
He checked the course and the speed. It would be three days before he arrived in Earth's orbit.
He grimaced once more inside the mask as he was hit again by the discomfort. But this was no longer just an unpleasant feeling. This was pain. Real pain. Something was wrong. It can't be my heart, he thought, but not without a feeling of growing concern.
"Computer: body scan. There's a pain in my chest." He said worriedly.
A rapid tomographical scan swept down his body from head to feet that lasted just a few seconds.
The computer gave its result: "Xenomorph located in lower thorax."
Yeshua's eyes widened and he felt a cold sweat cover his body. His next words were there in his head. He tried desperately to give the order to the computer- Computer: emergency hypostasis. Send distress beacon to all ships of Xenomorph warning. In his mind he could see himself breaking from the jockey seat and heading for a stasis pod from where his condition could be neutralised.
The only word he produced was: "Computer-"
The Xenomorph thrust against Yeshua's chest from the inside causing his sternum to snap and puncture the surface. Then one more assault against the outer wall and it emerged, shrieking fiercely at the world around it.
Yeshua trembled as the life left him and gripped at the flight controls as he did so. He wanted to tell the computer to disable manual flight and audio commands and enable control via his neural cortex for instantaneous input... but the words didn't come. His last input was accidental as he flapped at the controls. The ship's course altered minutely setting on an unknown trajectory.
As the immature alien sped from the site of its birth looking for cover, Yeshua expelled the remaining air from his lungs and the process of brain death began. His life would not be infinite after all.
While all this was taking place, Elizabeth lay quietly on the soft bed in the quarters. She had worked out what Yeshua had said to her; the two words. There was an object on the facsimile table. It had turned out to be a flavourless stick that was soft and dissolved easily in the mouth. There was no enjoyment in the act of eating, but her hunger had abated quickly.
She almost felt comfortable. She had become so inured to the feeling of constant terror, just to be warm and have a full stomach was something positive.
Then all happy thoughts were gone. She heard a scratching sound nearby and for a moment had a vision of rats scampering about.
On an advanced alien ship; on an inhospitable moon? She thought. But these could be a species of super-rodent that had evolved to live here.
But the scratching now seemed to have a pattern and timbre to it. It was a voice... and it was saying her name!
It came as a relief to her that she was finally losing her mind. Hopefully the pain she would suffer would be less for it. It would be someone else suffering in her place. Some mad-woman who-
"Elizabeth? Can you hear me?"
It took far longer than it should for her to work out the sound was coming from David's auditory canal. It was much quieter than when they were in the Seeding Room, but she could hear him nonetheless.
"David- I can't believe it. You're alive." Said Elizabeth excitedly.
"Not technically." Said David.
"I don't care. You're not dead. That's all that matters. Whatever it is you call life: you have it."
"I have to warn you: my power cells have been critically damaged. They will be depleted prematurely. I calculate I have no more than twenty minutes of run time remaining." Said David.
"Oh, David" She said dejectedly. "This is, without a doubt, the very worst holiday I've ever been on. From start to finish."
"You must complain to the travel agents when you get back."
Elizabeth laughed. "Thank you, David." She laughed harder than she thought possible. It was a laugh that hurt her stomach and she curled over onto the floor until it subsided.
There was, what Elizabeth would normally term, a comfortable silence between them and she thought of telling David to switch himself off. "How do I get you back on if you switch off?
"Shake my head. But I would advise against being too rough, taking into consideration my current condition."
She was going to thank him and tell him to power off, but before she did, her mind went back to the corridor with Baal and Asherah. Those words she'd shouted that had so infuriated the big woman. "What did those words mean, David?"
"To which words do you refer?"
"'Hakan Sukar'? The words I shouted at the big woman."
"I believe you mean 'Vakan Kabira'. It means 'giant fungus'. It's a tremendous insult to their people."
Once more, she started to laugh. She couldn't believe just how crazy things had got. It was like being in an alternate reality where the insanely absurd was commonplace.
"Oh, David... I'm gonna be dead soon, aren't I?..." She said almost dreamily and went quiet. She spoke as if resolved to her fate. "I'm gonna get some sleep. Goodnight, David"
"Sweet dreams, Elizabeth." Said David and cut his power feed.
It wasn't long before Elizabeth had drifted off too.
When she awoke, her mind had taken her back home to England and her lovely bedroom. It must still be the middle of the night: the room was pitch black. She rolled over to her left to check the time on her alarm clock.
But there was no alarm clock there.
She was on an alien spaceship.
She was going to die.
"David?"
He was silent.
She wiped dried tears from around her eyes and stared into the darkness of the room. The memory of everything that had happened went through her mind like a procession of the damned. The cave drawings; the approach from Weyland Industries; the Prometheus; the catacombs and the alien head; her final night with Charlie; the journey back into the cave and the discovery of the biologist- she shook her head. It had only been two weeks, but she had already forgotten his name. She felt she should be mad at herself for not remembering. But she was surprised to find she had no emotions at all about him... then she remembered the murder of Charlie by Meredith Vickers... she began to weep once more and pulled her legs up to her chest to try to feel a little less vulnerable and alone.
She squeezed her eyes closed. She didn't want to think about the bad things for a while. Her life had become one steady stream of bad. She decided she would go back to a happier time. A time when-
There was light! The door began to open. Her mind was suddenly on full alert and processing everything causing the moment to last longer than it actually did. There were feet... then legs... then hips- she could tell it was Yeshua already- she tried to prepare herself for whatever punishment he would rain down on her.
As the opening door revealed his torso, she felt as though there was something different. He was thicker, maybe, around the middle, though she dismissed this as error on her behalf.
And there was blood. Lots of blood. Something had happened to him while she'd been asleep.
I'm gonna pay for that, she thought soberly. He's going to take that out on me.
His muscular shoulders appeared, followed by his face.
He took a step inside the doorway and said something in his language. The room illuminated.
The man reached back out to the wall on the other side of the door and she could hear buttons being pressed.
It wasn't Yeshua. It wasn't the man who had considered her his property. This was another man.
This was Kane...
... and he looked really pissed off.