The Queen stalked up and down in front of hangar, investigating the portion of the cover that had slid closed. Scar could hear her frustrated snarls as she prowled, running her long bony hands over it. She had not seen him yet.
He settled the grappling gun into a more stable position on his back. He had been planning to just get her attention and run, to lead her away, but as he watched her a new plan was forming in his brain. He was going to attack; she didn't seem to be aware of him right now and an advantage like that was too good to miss!
Scar breathed deeply as he drew his combi spear, gearing up, pulling it all together. Then he leapt, springing down towards his unsuspecting prey, hurling the ki'cti-pa towards her spine with all his strength. He was hoping for a killing blow, but somehow fortune was not on his side. At the last moment, the very last instant, she moved as if alerted by some sixth sense and he only succeeded in plunging the spear down between her ribs. The Queen gave a squeal of rage, twisting round in agony towards him.
Scar hit the floor, rolled and came up the next instant, to see her lashing her arms, flailing awkwardly at the combi spear now protruding from her body. He growled
"Treacherous slut of a Goddess! Warning your daughter of darkness… "
In the grip of the primeval instinct that needed to lure her away from his offspring at any costs he roared, bellowing a challenge into the teeth of the gale.
She forgot about the spear and swung towards him, focussing the full force of her terrible will on him. Her razor-toothed mouth yawned wide, letting out a hiss like a jet of scalding steam as she moved into attack position; arms splayed, tail poised to strike.
When he was certain he had her full, malevolent attention, he turned and ran.
Scar heard her scream of fury as she charged, thundering after him. He sprinted for his life, feet slithering on the wet floor as he raced towards the huge crane that towered in one corner of the top deck; long chains hung from it, swinging and jangling in the wind.
He reached the structure and leapt, gripped and then began to scramble upwards without even daring to look behind him. Adrenalin flooded through his veins like nitro-glycerine, muscles burning as he climbed, fast as he could. Being fixed in one place for most of her life, the Queen's body wasn't built for agility and the spear through her thorax was slowing her down, but bloodlust gave her speed and strength beyond that which she normally possessed.
He felt the vibration as she reached the tower and began to haul herself up after him. The structure began to shake as she climbed. Scar redoubled his efforts, reaching the point where the arm of the crane jutted out just seconds later. He yanked himself up onto the jib and ran along it, sure-footed as a cat on the narrow walkway while the sea boiled white below.
Grabbing hold of one of the dangling chains he shot a quick glance at the Queen to make sure she was still climbing; then he leapt, stepping off into space, sliding down the dangling chain to the ground. Only the wetness of the metal stopped him from taking the skin off his palms.
The Queen was still only halfway up as he hit the floor, bounced to his feet and unslung the grappling gun from his back. She turned and began to slither back down towards him but not fast enough. Gleefully he raised the weapon to his shoulder, taking aim at the hard meat where she clung to the tower. As he watched her through the sights of his mask, she turned and hissed at him, jaws gaping hungrily.
"Bite on this!" He smiled nastily to himself and fired.
The kickback from the giant gun made him jerk backwards; if he hadn't been prepared the impact would have thrown him to the floor. An explosive charge strong enough to propel the grapple through the void of space launched it out of the barrel and towards the Queen at incredible speed. It hit her arm, pinning her to the tower, the four wickedly sharp hooks designed to penetrate the hull of an enemy spaceship driving themselves easily into the steel girders. She stretched out towards him with her free hand but the distance between them was too great for her to reach him. Then he realised in alarm that the chain on the grapnel was still attached to the gun. She realised a fraction of a second after he did and went to seize the chain but as she did so he fired again, launching the second grapnel, pinning her leg to the tower at the ankle joint. Then the electromagnet in the grapnels activated, clamping down on her.
The Queen squealed in surprise. The grapples didn't pierce her skin but he had no doubt that they clamped her to the tower hard enough to cause pain.
As she shrieked Scar loaded a second grapnel coil into the gun. This time he aimed at her free arm and somehow managed to hit it despite the driving rain. Then quickly he took aim and fired again. This time he hit the thigh of her other leg, but as he did so the Xenomorph snaked her long spiny tail under the un-magnetised grapnel pinning her arm down. Using her tail she managed to tear her arm free before the electromagnets in the second set of grapnels could activate but one of the grapples still fastened down on her thigh. The first unattached grapnel plummeted down onto the metal deck where it stuck fast, held in place by the powerful magnet, the chain pulled taught.
The Queen howled in a voice like a thousand souls in torment, thrashing wildly, but the grapnels held her fast.
Scar grinned.
He had her pinioned, almost crucified on the tower. She might have managed to pull herself free of one grapnel but the electromagnets in the remaining three were powerful enough to hold a yautja shuttle securely to another ship – they were strong enough to hold her.
Still grinning he spoke to Lex through the mask intercom "Got her."
"Scar!" Selim's mother gasped "Are you alright?"
"Of course," Came the reply through the ship's speakers "She is trapped!"
Scrunched into the co-pilot's chair next to Selim, Isaac's strained his ears, trying to find out what on Earth was going on. He'd overheard some of what his Mom and Lex had been saying to each other, even though they obviously didn't want him to hear. A lot of it he didn't understand, but one thing had been clear to him; Selim's father was outside fighting that big, horrible creature – a monster even more terrifying then he was – and Selim's mother was frightened for him.
"Lex!" He heard Selim's father growl "Open the dome so we can take off, I will keep her covered."
He watched Selim's mother snatch up her plasma gun and dash out of the hatchway while Iversson sat in the pilot seat, tensely watching the view screen. After a moment he heard a noise like a big animal in pain as the hangar began to slide back up, letting in the night and the rain and wind. Isaac couldn't look away from that growing slit of blackness, he was so scared that any moment the terrible creature was going to come bursting through the gap.
Then he felt Selim stir slightly next to him. Isaac looked down in surprise as his friend's eyelids fluttered open. He blinked groggily a few times as he swam upwards from his drugged stupor. Then his eyes widened as he recognised his surroundings.
"I am home!" He whispered.
"Selim?" Isaac was so excited to hear his friend speak that it was all he could do to keep from shouting out "Selim! You're awake!"
"Isaac?" Selim frowned in perplexity "How did we… get here? I remember shooting the hard meat and then Farrell…" He shook his head "What happened? Did she come to save us?" He glanced towards Iversson, who still sat staring anxiously out of the viewscreen, too fearful to notice Selim waking up.
Isaac was so agitated he couldn't get it all out fast enough "No, it was your Dad – "
Selim's frown deepened "My Dad?"
"I mean S'Kia," Isaac shook his head "I mean… your Father – he killed Farrell, and I thought he was the monster but then – "
"My Father?!" Selim was immediately alert "You mean you found him?"
"No!" Isaac hissed "He found us! He saved us from Farrell and then those things came after us again!"
"The hard meat?"
"Yes! But your parents killed them – "
"But where are my parents?!" Selim asked, looking around desperately.
"Fighting that…that… thing," Isaac blurted "The big monster! S'Kia went out to fight it and now your Mom's gone too!"
"What?!" Selim's face fell ""Where? Let me see!" He struggled upright, craning to look out of the viewscreen.
They could see Selim's mother, hair plastered down with rain now that the metal dome was almost halfway open. Beyond her a tall metal tower jutted up into the night sky and pinioned against it was a huge and terrible shape. Selim guessed from his parents' stories that this must be the hard meat Queen, but even the monsters of his imagination were only dim shadows of the awful reality.
And standing outlined against it he could see another figure facing down the horror, unflinching.
Selim only knew of one person who was that fearless.
"Mei-Savir…" He whispered.
Over the raging storm, Scar could hear the cover sliding back, but he did not take his eyes off the Queen. She snarled with terrible fury and stretched her free arm to reach for him again. The tower moaned in protest under her weight, chains jingling as she struggled. He watched her thoughtfully as he reloaded the grapple gun with the third and final grapnel coil in his arsenal "Just as well to keep her covered." He thought. The hooks had not pierced her skin, or else her acid blood might have weakened them. He could see her striving against the grapnels, almost looking as if she wanted to pull her limbs from their sockets. Her mouth opened towards him, drooling wordless rage.
His grin widened. Letting the grapple gun hang from the strap around his neck - he spread his arms and dipped his head to her in an ironic bow "I am 'sorry' Queen of Death," He said, spitting out the human word "But one of us is due to meet a bigger bitch than you tonight and it shall not be me!"
He felt a slight twinge of regret at not being able to fight her properly, dispatch her properly – her skull would have made an enviable trophy – but he knew this structure was compromised. There was no telling how long it would last. The important thing was to get Lex and their spawn away from here as soon as possible.
"Lex…"
He turned to catch sight of her through the curtain of murk, standing at the switch.
Just like her first pregnancy, when she had been carrying Selim, her found her fascinating – even more so than usual. He was about to take a step towards her when there was a squeal of metal behind him and suddenly every nerve in his body jangled a warning.
Scar whirled around just in time to see the tower start to topple. Pure instinct took over and he ran, sprinting with everything he had to try and get out of the path of the falling crane, seeing its shadow looming on the ground before him.
With a final burst of speed he somehow he managed to get out from underneath that shadow and heard the deafening rumble behind him as the tower struck, smashing into the deck with devastating force. That same instant, the ground under his feet caved as a whole section of the metal deck was destroyed by the falling tower.
The floor beneath him became a slope, slippery with rain and seawater, spilling him down towards the ocean and the Queen. His reflexes kicked in and he pointed the grapple gun skywards and fired; his fingers moving before his conscious mind had time to register what he was doing. The grapnel shot out of the gun; the chain snaking behind in an arc as it flew up and onto the undamaged portion of the deck, dragged backwards by his falling weight until the hooks snagged on a metal grill. They stuck fast as the electromagnet activated and Scar's fall stopped with a jolt, fists tight around the chain.
He was about to start climbing when iron claws closed around his ankle…
Isaac watched as Selim's mouth fell open, his friend's leopard-like markings standing out starkly as he blanched ghost-pale. Following Selim's gaze, he turned just in time to see the monster and the tower hit the deck, heard the crash and felt the impact even from here. Then they saw Selim's father fall.
"Daddy!" Selim shot to his feet, causing Isaac to jump and Iversson to spin in surprise.
"Selim?!" She said incredulously "You're awake?"
But the boy was deaf to what she was saying, deaf and blind to anything except for what was going on outside the spaceship.
Ignoring Iversson, he looked around the cockpit wildly before his eyes lit on something lying on the floor. Selim dived under the console, grabbed what he was looking for and was up and running for the airlock before the Professor could do anything. Too late, she realised what he was going to do and started forward, but she wasn't quick enough to reach him. He evaded her easily, dodging around her and smacking the button that opened the lock.
"Selim, stop!" She yelled, but it was no use, he was already through the outer lock. To her astonishment, she felt Isaac barrel past her too, vanishing through the hatch.
"Isaac no! It's too dangerous!"
Cursing, Iversson hurried after them as fast as her injured ankle would let her. She scrambled out of the hatch and into the freezing night, calling desperately for the two boys. She hobbled down the ramp, skidded in the wet and fell, crying out as her injured ankle folded up under her.
As she struggled to get to her feet something struck her in the shoulder, knocking her to the floor and a low voice behind her turned her spine to ice.
"Have all your new allies deserted you Jeanette?"
The livid white face of Diana Weyland swam into focus in front of Iversson's eyes just for an instant, before something smashed down heavily on her skull.
Author's note: No this isn't the end, just in case you were wondering. I will be continuing the story for better or worse, just thought you might like some extra violence over the festive period.
Big love and Happy New Year to all my readers!