Lex's head jerked round the same moment Iversson's did, as she too heard the terrible rending crash. To her horror, she saw the Queen finally rip herself free of the tangle of metal, pieces of wreckage clanging down onto the deck around her.

And still … and still the lid of the dome was not closed.

Tingling with fear, she hung on the lever with all her weight, trying to force it down further, hoping stupidly that would somehow speed things up. "I can't let go, if she gets to the shuttle she could tear it apart and kill the boys - kill us all!"

As the Queen lumbered towards her, screaming like the living embodiment of vengeance, she squeezed her eyelids shut, unable to watch.

Suddenly she felt someone grip her wrists and tear her hands away from the switch and opened her eyes to see Scar towering above her. His faceplate was slick with rain as he held the lever down with one hand.

"You crazy bitch!" He bellowed, shoving her towards the Chameleon "Get back onboard! GO!"

At that moment, the hangar shut with a hollow boom, just seconds before the maddened Queen reached it and Lex lunged forward to slap her palm down on the lock button. They stood and listened to the sound of the Queen battering at the cover; a series of muffled impacts as she threw herself frenziedly against it, desperate to get in, but the thick metal canopy seemed to be withstanding the onslaught – for now.

Before she knew what was happening Scar grabbed her by the upper arm and began dragging her back to the ship.

"What the fuck Scar?!" She yelled at him, struggling as he towed her implacably along "What are you doing?"

"Protecting you," He growled "Get yourself back on the shuttle! I will go outside and distract her, draw her away – "

He turned as she finally managed to yank her arm out of his grasp and they faced each other, panting.

"Why are you doing this?" She gasped "We have to protect the boys, you know I can fight – let's fight her together!"

"No," He said flatly "Not like this."

"What do you mean?" She tore off her mask in frustration, staring up into the blank eyes of his visor "What's wrong Scar? Don't you trust me anymore?" Her last words were almost a plea. Whatever disagreements they'd had in the past – over Selim, over Fil – she couldn't believe that he would lose faith in her. Not after everything they had been through.

Stepping up close to her he wrenched off his own mask and now she could see his distress "Lex…" He said in a very different voice "I know we play games with each other, but now is not the time for games… not now that I know!"

"Know what?" She almost screamed at him "What are you talking about?"

"About the foetus you carry – the moment I had you close I knew!" He roared back "I smell it in your sweat how your hormones have changed! Do not pretend to be ignorant of it!"

Her mouth fell open and she stared at him, doing the maths quickly in her head; her brain racing to work out if what he was saying could be true "That time after the argument… just before Selim got ill," She thought "The trip back to Earth… we were only together for about a week before we got captured by Weyland, so maybe he wasn't able to tell by then and I've been so distracted…. I guess it's possible… but why now after so long?"

"You still need my help," She said, trying desperately to convince him "Just like that first time in Antarctica, just like in the desert – you know we can defeat her together!"

"No. One of us must remain to fly the shuttle away from here. Besides…" He put one hand out, brushing his talons across her bloodied lips, uncharacteristically gentle "If you and my unborn are out there, I could not fight. I cannot focus. Just go back to the ship. I will speak to you through the mask intercom when it is safe to open the cover."

"No!" She shook her head stubbornly "This is a Queen, Scar! You can't do this on your own!"

"You must protect our children."

"If she breaks through they will die anyway!"

"And if you step outside you may as well cut my throat yourself!"

She stared up at him unhappily. Like always when they struggled for supremacy she wanted to kill him and she wanted to kiss him, if kissing had been possible.

"Lex… do not make me beg…"

"S'Kia…" Tears sprang into her eyes, began to stream down her face "Do not make me watch you die…"

"You do not cry!" He snarled, gripping her shoulders hard "The mother of my children does not shed tears – "

"You fucking bastard!" Lashing out from the depths of her fear and her pain she hit him in the jaw, knocking his head to one side.

Slowly he raised his hand to where the blow had landed, grinning down at her, eyes glittering "There is the demon who made me the Abomination I am!"

He grabbed her before she could protest; holding her against him.

"Female," He purred in her ear "I am not going to die, because I do two things better than any other. Let me go and do the first of them to the hard meat so that I may return and do the second to you!"

And with that he was gone; swarming up the sheer metal wall with the ease of a lizard.

She stood staring after him, feeling as though her insides had been thrown into chaos. Both hands were pressed against her abdomen while she watched him climb, as if she could somehow feel what was inside.

Then she realised the Queen had fallen ominously quiet. She imagined that eyeless face searching, trying to figure out another way in. Without wasting any more time, she turned and raced back to the Chameleon.

"Can I really be pregnant again?" She thought as she ran "Can Scar really sense it like he says? What if he's wrong… Oh God, what if he's right?"

Scar used his wristblades to scale up the inside of the dome. It should have taken a few moments to readjust to climbing with the heavy grappling gun strapped across his back but somehow not even that weight could pull him down.

Weirdly, at this most desperate moment, he was on top of the world – of the universe! He felt as if every molecule in his body was fizzing "She carries my offspring once more!" He exalted "I made her pregnant again! I am surely favoured by the bitch goddess, as she has granted my desire – it was predestined, as I knew it must be!"

He knew serenity was the state of mind he should be seeking. R'Zuul had always called unregulated emotion dangerous, but once in the grip of strong emotion Scar never found it easy to repress what he felt. Riding his emotions, feeding off them, was what gave him an edge and right now he was wired. Not only that; he had a plan.

He reached the vent, grabbing the heavy metal cover and pulling it open, taking care it didn't pull free and go crashing to the floor.

He was not wearing his cloaking device – they never worked on the hard meat anyway – but he knew he had to be stealthy. He didn't want the Queen to see how he exited the dome in case she tried to use it as a way in. The tunnel didn't look large enough for her to fit through, but he couldn't risk it.

He purposefully chose the vent farthest away from where he could hear the pounding on the metal… though he noticed now the noise of her bombardment had ceased. That was not good.

Scar crawled down to the end of the shaft; there was no sign of any living thing.

He pulled himself out of the tunnel into the driving rain, holding on with one hand. Rain was lashing onto the deck and the sky was black as the eyes of the nameless deity… black as the eyes of that infernal female who carried his child inside her fragile body. A grin spread across his face under the mask before he could stop it.

The Queen was not visible but his gaze quickly swept his surroundings and he purred softly as he spotted the other thing he was looking for.

Scar began to move around the dome, trying to move away from the vent quickly and at the same time locate on his enemy "A hard meat Queen cannot be underestimated," He thought, scanning beneath him "Even one born in captivity, the Pyramid taught me that!"

Iversson's head swivelled round as the hatch opened and a moment later Lex burst into the cockpit. Quickly she went to check on Selim; then she ran to the consoleand stood with her back towards them, frantically pressing the controls. Iversson bit her lip. In the brief glimpse she had of her face, Lex looked as if she'd been crying.

"Isaac," She said quietly "Go and sit with Selim, would you? Make sure he's ok for me?" Silently, the boy crept into the huge co-pilot's chair next to his friend.

As Iversson approached the console Lex was still focussed on the controls, different displays flashed across the screen too quickly for the Professor to follow what they showed.

"Alexa," She said "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find some way to see what the hell's happening outside! Goddamn metal dome must be messing with our thermal imaging – "

On the screen a technicolour blur became a twisted mass of wispy green lines "EM impulse too," She spat "Isn't there one setting on this piece of shit that'll let me see what's going on?"

"Where's the exotic?"

"Outside." Lex spoke through gritted teeth "Trying to draw her off. On his own."

She began pressing buttons and a flashing red icon in the corner of the screen.

"S'Kia!" She said sharply, leaning forward to speak into what Iversson assumed must be a microphone. The only answering noise was the ghostly whisper of static.

Iversson managed not to jump as Lex banged her palms on the console in frustration "You sound angry – "

"Of course I'm angry! The stupid son-of-a-bitch thinks he can take her on alone!"

"And you don't agree?"

"Of course not, he's going to get ripped apart! But he thinks he's invincible – just because he believes…"

Iversson waited tensely for her to continue, but she just stood there staring at the view screen. She almost jumped out of her skin as Lex's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist "You've got to help me Iversson!" She said, wild-eyed "I'll bet you had all sorts of tests done on me when I got here, right? Just like in Nevada?"

Iversson blinked "Tests?"

"Blood tests, you must have done those at least?"

"Yes, my staff would have taken blood samples," The Professor said "What is it Alexa; what did the exotic say to you?"

Lex glanced over her shoulder at the two children "He says I'm pregnant," She said quietly, trying not to let Isaac hear her "But your tests would have picked that up, wouldn't they?"

The scientist's mouth dropped open "A second pregnancy? But that's … well if it's true it's… it's incredible – "

"You mean you don't know if it's true?"

"Briggs would have taken bloods, but he never mentioned anything about a pregnancy…. what do you think?"

"I… it's possible, I just don't know!"

Iversson frowned "But how could the exotic possibly know?"

"He says there's a change in my hormones; he's got some senses more heightened than we have, sense of smell especially…" Lex waved a hand in frustration at Iversson's inquiring expression "So… it's not true? He's wrong?"

The Professor stared at her in dismay as she racked her brain, trying to remember if her team had said anything that would prove it either way "I'm sorry Alexa, I can't say for certain," She admitted finally "We were all so focussed on Selim and the exotic, it may be those samples were never even analysed."

As she spoke, Lex groaned and pressed her fingers against her temples.

"Oh God," She said raggedly "I am pregnant, aren't I? I can't believe this is happening again!" She pushed the controls once more and the red icon in the corner of the screen began to glow and pulse.

"S'Kia, answer me!" She said "What's going on out there?"

A crackling hiss came back to her from the shuttle's speakers "He's not answering." She said, visibly choking down her fear.

"Alexa be calm," Iversson soothed "Maybe he just doesn't want to be overheard," She was trying not to show how terrified she was herself. Since everything had spiralled out of control, Alexa and the exotic had seemed to offer the only chance of survival. Both of them were violent and unpredictable but in a world gone to hell, at least they had a plan. She now realised how much she was relying on Alexa to be strong.

A second realisation had also dawned on the Professor; Alexa had been lying about being the exotic's prisoner. In truth, they operated together, behaving as a family unit. Although it surprised her that two beings from totally different species could form such a connection she could see it with her own eyes. The exotic was clearly willing to die for her and their children and, knowing he was risking his life, Alexa was racked with fear. Iversson could see her usual self-control begin to fracture.

"If he dies, how will she take it?" The Professor wondered nervously "This is my fault; it's all my fault! I helped Weyland find them and capture them. If I hadn't given her my knowledge and my expertise they wouldn't be in this danger…"

Iversson closed her eyes and prayed silently "Please let the exotic be as invincible as he believes he is… please please please don't let that little boy lose his father and Isaac lose his life because of me! Please don't let my actions have killed us all!"