ACHERON—CHAPTER 2 23

Chapter 2

Richards waited again for a response. None followed. He decided to continue.

"About sixty years ago, Weyland-Yutani was engaged in deep-space salvaging operations across the system. You all remember them. They were bought out by Wal-Mart after the Beta Orion scandal and the loss of life that occurred." He wondered whether any of what he was saying mattered. "That was only one of the Company's many scandals that ultimately led to its breakup. Prior to that, they had an operation in this sector that resulted in a less-serious but equally deadly scandal that resulted in widespread loss of life."

Prescott raised a hand. "What kind of loss of life?"

Richard punched a button on his console. The image of a freighter appeared above them. Like the Costaguana, she looked well-worn and thoroughly aged. "The ship you're looking at the USCSS Nostromo," Richards said. "She was a commercial towing vessel registered to Weyland-Yutani and assigned to long-haul routes across the Outer Rim. Most of her cargo was mineral ore, although she also transported heavy equipment and unrefined uranium. She carried a crew of seven."

He continued. "In 2122, the Nostromo was redirected mid-mission to what was then LV-426. She set down on Weyland-Yutani instructions to identify the source of what was initially described as a distress signal but which was actually a warning beacon."

"Warning from whom?" Perez asked.

"That was what they were sent to find out," Richards said. "Very little is known about what transpired since most records were destroyed prior to the trial and corporate breakup. What is known is that the Nostromo set down and lifted off shortly after and was never seen again."

He adjusted the controls. A woman's face appeared in the holodisplay.

"Fifty-seven years later, a deep-salvage team encountered a lifepod that had somehow drifted through the main sectors without detection. The pod was found to contain this woman and a housecat. Her name was Ellen Ripley. She was a flight officer assigned to the Nostromo. She later claimed that the ship had been infiltrated by a hostile life form and that she had set the ship to self-destruct, thus destroying any evidence to back up her claim.

"Her claim was rejected by ICC because a standard terraforming colony had been established on LV-426 some two decades before." The image shifted to what looked like a makeshift shanty town outpost. An enormous atmospheric transformer tower hovered beyond the image and giving the scene an almost ghost-like appearance.

"After receiving her testimony, records show one Carter J. Burke – " The holodisplay shifted to show a dark-haired man in his mid or late thirties. Carter shifted uneasily in her seat. The guy just looked creepy.

" – who was apparently one of the lead candidates for the bio-weapons division of Weyland-Yutani ordered a prospecting team to investigate the reported location of the alien derelict Ripley claimed was the source of the hostile life form known as the xenomorph."

"I'm sorry, the what?" King broke in. "The who that came from what again?"

"Xenomorph," Richards answered. He fiddled with his tablet. "According to Ripley, the Nostromo crew encountered an alien derelict that somehow infected the crew and later killed everyone else aboard. Burke ordered the prospecting team to investigate to determine whether Ripley's claim had any validity."

"And what happened?" Carter broke in.

"That's what we're here to find out," Richards answered. "According to Weyland-Yutani records, shortly after investigating the location of the supposed derelict, all contact was lost with the Colony. A standard Colonial Marine response team was launched in response to investigate and effect a rescue mission, but that expedition apparently failed."

"What do you mean failed?" Ladnier asked.

"We're not sure," Richards answered. He turned to Krieg. "Lieutenant?"

Krieg stepped forward. "Again, all of this is still classified, but according to Marine records, a standard Level I combat operation was launched to respond. A Conestoga-class transport, the Sulaco, was launched with a requisite expeditionary field team. They reportedly arrived at LV-426 on schedule, and after receiving no further word from the Colony, deployed as ordered. Shortly after, deep-space monitors detected a seismic disturbance in the system commensurate with a Category 5 thermonuclear detonation. The readings were consistent with a fusion-reactor explosion, and the coordinates matched those of the planet below.

"Any word at all from the team?" Ladnier asked.

Krieg shook his head. "Only that they were returning to Earth and apparently sustained multiple casualties. There were no further details, but they were never heard from again."

"So? Big deal." Marshall said. "A bunch of trigger-happy jarheads shot up the cooling system and went thermo. What's that got to do with us?"

Krieg paused. "Dr. Richards?"

Richards hesitated before responding. "Interstellar Commerce has finally authorized an investigation into what happened on LV-426. The system quarantine is still in effect, which is why our mission is classified." He licked his lips. "It will be comprised of two teams, code-named Eagle Wing and Eagle Claw. Eagle Wing will be the scientific end headed by me. Eagle Claw will be under military jurisdiction and be headed by Lieutenant Krieg." He watched as people began to shift uncomfortably in their chairs. Things were beginning to sink in.

"Eagle Wing will deploy to the last recorded location of the alien derelict reported by Ellen Ripley and marked for investigation by Carter Burke. Our mission is to determine whether in fact it exists, and if so, to quarantine it until future robotic examination can be conducted."

Carter raised her hand. "Quarantine it?" she asked.

Richards nodded. "Yes. In accordance with ICC regulations, a biodome will be deployed to envelop the craft and prevent any life forms from escaping or entering. The existing planetary atmospherics will be maintained to ensure nothing is compromised or corrupted. Following the successful deployment of the biodome, preliminary robotic exploration will be conducted, but under no circumstances are any life forms to enter the ship. This is both a precautionary measure and to ensure that nothing inside the craft is disturbed."

King raised his hand. "What about us?" he intoned. "Where do we come in?"

Krieg stepped forward once more. "Our half of the operation is classified as a need-to-know," he said simply. "All I can say in this environment is that we are to determine what happened to the Sulaco and, barring that, what became of the Colony."

"You just said it was destroyed," Alvarez broke in.

"No, we said a detonation was detected that was consistent with Colony destruction," Richards corrected. "Scans of the planet's surface show radiation levels and cratering consistent with fusion detonation, but we have no official accounting of any kind."

"That's our job," Krieg broke in. "We're to survey the detonated area and ascertain the damage levels, verify any destruction, and report back to headquarters what whatever we find."

"So it's just another swoop and poop?" Marshall asked.

Krieg sighed. "Call it what you want. Orders are orders."

Carter raised her hand again. "What are the caution levels?" she asked.

Richards hesitated. It was now or never. "Well, because of the alleged history, no touchdown will be permitted. All science personnel will observe Level Five containment procedures – "

"Level FIVE?" Perez broke in.

"That's correct," Richards answered. "No planetary touchdown and no extra-vehicular explorations. All site explorations and examinations will be robotic."

"Then why are we here?" Perez shook her head. "Seems to me this whole thing could have been done remotely without us."

Richards shook his head. "Remotely operated explorations are not possible given planetary atmospherics," he said. "When the Colony went dark, all terraforming operations stopped." He listened to the groans erupting from the rest of the science team.

"What's that for?" Marshall asked. "So what? A bunch of wind fans went up? What's the big deal?"
"It means the atmospherics are unstable," Hamden shot back. "Any time you undertake a planetary-scale atmospheric reprocessing, the first rule to follow is that you have to maintain the process without interruption or you risk destabilizing the climate patterns."

Richards nodded. "Correct. And unfortunately, all research to date suggests that is precisely what happened here. Once the transformers went out, the planetary atmospherics became wildly unstable. The air is still breathable, according to what we know. But the incomplete transformation has resulted in widespread electrical storms and in some cases hurricane-level wind disturbances."

"There go the remote robotics," Carter said.

Richards nodded again. "You got it. The atmospherics are too unstable to control anything from orbit. We can signal, but full-functionality is impossible given the electrical disturbances and wind levels."

Carter glanced down at the floor. There's something more, she thought, something they're not telling us.

"What about the Xenomorph?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" Richards asked.

"The – thing," she said. "You said the woman identified some sort of hostile organism. It was obviously hostile enough if she blew up her ship over it and the Colonial squad took casualties. What else do we know?"

Silence fell across the room. Carter found herself unconsciously squeezing her thigh and rubbing her palm across her leg.

Richards looked down at his tablet and scrolled through several pages. "We don't know much," he said. "Her report mentioned only that it was a staged life-cycle organism – "

"A what-of-what?" Marshall broke in.

"Staged life-cycle," Carter responded without thinking. "Like caterpillars into butterflies."

"That's right," Richards said. "But this was no caterpillar. It was more of the wasp."

"What wasp?" Perez interjected.

Richards continued to read from his tablet. "According to the notes, Ripley reported a three-stage life-cycle organism. It originated as an egg that hatches some kind of facial parasite – "

"What kind of parasite?" Carter asked.

"Unknown," Richards answered. "The parasite was a depositor of sorts. It laid some kind of egg or embryo inside the host. After a period of time, it then ate its way out and emerged from the chest before shedding its skin multiple times over a period of hours before assuming its final form."

"Which is?" Perez asked.

Richards adjusted his tablet. "According to the report, the final stage is a tailed bipedal predatory species over two meters in height with multiple-level mandibles and concentrated acid for blood."

Silence.

"Sounds like one fucking ugly wasp to me," Marshall grunted.

Richards looked up from his tablet and scanned the room. He turned to Krieg.

"Okay, listen up," Krieg said sternly. "Same pre-drop procedures as always. Full ordnance loads and weapons strips along with standard data-prep and assimilations. Deployment is in t-minus twelve hours, so all equipment and inventory recording needs to be done before drop along with any med-prep. This is not a combat drop, but we're going to treat it like one."

Richards nodded. "Consistent with ICC requirements, combat teams will have civilian liaisons for operational coordination and vice-versa for military. Harris, Hamden, and Karls will deploy with Eagle Claw. Duke, Marshall, and Ladnier will liaise with Eagle Wing. All ships will monitor traffic and check in every 90 minutes during times of separation. No exceptions." He and Krieg looked around the room. There were no questions.

"Let's move, people," said Krieg.