Despite the rough ride through the harsh winds of Acheron, Hicks had managed to put the EEV down smoothly and well beyond the safe distance limit from the derelict that Bishop had radioed them that they needed to avoid damage from the shockwave of the upcoming explosion when the Hercules would come down. But the Emergency Escape Vehicle that had liberated them from the deathtrap of the Hercules had now become a new confinement. The radioactivity from the nuclear detonation of the atmosphere processing station three years earlier prevented them to go outside. If they tried to exit the EEV without protective suits, they would be irradiated and soon succumb to radiation sickness. But they were not going outside – at least Newt wasn't.
The corporal was busy shutting down all non-essential systems – they would not be needed. He was going to direct all available power to one cryogenic coffin which he was preparing – the only other equipment that was going to remain activated besides that was the emergency transmitter which was even now sending out a distress call. There were no words exchanged between the two for the moment. Except for the steady beeping of the distress transmitter and the howling winds that raged outside, the only sound that could be heard was the little girl sobbing in her seat. This time she wasn't crying because of an after-effect of the attack by the crazed alien or because of the pain she felt in her chest. She was crying because she knew that the time had come to say goodbye.
One of the worst things she had experienced in life was loneliness, the burden of a sole survivor. She had been alone for a long time after her people had died along with her parents and her brother. Ripley came and rescued her from that and had filled her with hope of having found a new mother in the adult - but then Ripley had died too and left the girl feeling all alone once again. Then the aliens had killed Fixer and Bishop was already as good as gone. And now Hicks, the one whom she had started to regard as a father was also going to disappear from her life - and all because he was carrying a monster within his chest which he was going to make sure would not be born, but that action will cost him his life. Newt cried because of her predicament; she was about to be orphaned – again! She wasn't sure she would be able to handle that yet another time.
Hicks came over and sat down in the seat beside her. He looked composed, but on the inside he was as sad as she was. "I won't tell you not to cry," he spoke to her softly as he wiped off the tears running down her face. "You have every right to." He picked her up and carried her over to the waiting hypersleep capsule in which he carefully laid her down into. Newt felt apprehension course through her, a reluctance to be inside there.
"Don't worry, it'll be all right," Hicks tried to calm her. "This pod works perfectly; you will sleep safe and sound."
"That's not what happened the last time!" she objected.
"I know," he said, thinking what had happened when they had crash-landed on Fiorina 161. "But that was a different case. You will remain on this spot until a rescue comes for you and there's no water around here that will flood the craft. That incident won't happen again." But Newt still seemed to hesitate. "Hey, try not to think about it, honey. It's not like you remember it anyway. Fortunately you were sleeping when it happened."
"That's just it. I… I don't think I was."
Hicks was shocked. "You were awake?"
"I… thought at first that I might have been dreaming – but then Bishop said that water really had come in. I think I was…" The girl couldn't continue, and Hicks had no intention on pressing her to do so. It was no wonder why she looked so afraid.
"Newt… I can only repeat what I said: there's no water here. And even if something were to happen, I guarantee you that this time you won't notice it, because this time you won't even dream." She looked at him, waiting for him to explain.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Newt… although the distress beacon is activated, I have absolutely no idea when a rescue is going to come to pick you up. It might never happen since no one knows that the Hercules has ventured here, and I doubt anyone will have any reason to pass by this planet because of the radiation. This rock has become a forbidden planet. That's why I have set the controls for a long-term hibernation – you'll fall asleep normally, but after that the pod will put you in such a deep freeze that all of your sensations will stop. You will be alive, but you will be in a complete suspended animation. You won't be aware of anything, even if something bad should happen. That's all I can do for you."
"But what about you?" she asked. "Can't you be frozen too?"
Hicks shook his head. "That's a risk I don't dare to take. Not with a queen. My last gift to you will be the total annihilation of these creatures so that they will not come after you again." Hicks tapped his chest. "This thing will not see the light of day – ever! I'll see to that."
"But you'll die," She said, breaking down once more. "I'll never see you again!"
Hicks caressed her small shoulder. "But you will remember me, won't you?" Newt responded with throwing her arms around his neck, getting into a last tight hug.
"I want you to promise me something, little one."
"Anything," she choked into his ear.
"I want you to live. When you get rescued, try to put all of this behind you and live. Grow up and make a life for yourself. You're very strong… don't let the memories of the monsters take control of you."
"I'll try…" she sobbed. "I promise." Hicks reluctantly detached her arms from his neck – then he kissed her brow before laying her down inside the sleeping capsule.
"Farewell, Newt. God bless you." Hicks hit a button and the transparent lid began to come down to seal the sarcophagus. Hicks made sure to give the child his warmest smile during the whole procedure, because that's how he wanted her to remember him. He waited to oversee the machine going to work with putting the occupant to sleep, to make sure that the drug mixtures were applied correctly. After a short while, Hicks was pleased to see that the child was now in perfect hibernation. The next phase would begin now – the capsule administrated the special compound that would prevent her blood from crystallizing as the temperature would drop way below zero. A substance that had been extracted from fish that lived in the very depths of the ocean on Earth, adapted to fit human physiology so that the cells wouldn't be ruined during the freezing process. Convinced that he could trust the machine to protect her life, Hicks could make the final preparations for his last mission. He opened a secure box to retrieve the third item he had lifted from Decker's office; a grenade.
Going through the storage compartments of the EEV, he found a bottle of liquor among the emergency rations. Hicks had never been one for drinking, but on this just one occasion…
After double checking all the instruments of the distress beacon and of the cryogenic chamber to make sure they showed a green-lit status, he killed all other power and left the EEV in total darkness. Throwing one last glance at the sleeping child, he directed his voice upwards. "If there really is someone up there – you watch over her! Do you hear me?" He turned around, away from the capsule, away from the helm where a compact disc, the last gift from an android lay forgotten on the co-pilot's seat. It had fallen out of the child's pocket sometime during the trip down and none of the two had noticed it. If he didn't leave now, he would lose the last of the resolution he had. A bottle of liquor and a grenade; that was all he was going to bring with him. He opened the airlock and stepped outside into the wasteland of LV-426. A dangerous move under normal circumstances because of the radiation, but since Hicks was going to die anyway that fact didn't bother him. The wind had calmed down quite a bit since the last minutes, so it would at least be a comfortable walk. The weather sure was strange on this rock. He closed the airlock and sealed it tightly – nothing was going to disturb anything inside. Hicks threw a glance up on the roof – the transmission disc was raised and rotating. Perfect. That meant that the distress call was being sent out as it should. He turned his back on the EEV and started to walk away, determined not to look behind. He would never see it again.
For twenty minutes Hicks made sure to cover a relatively safe distance away from the escape vehicle. He soon found a rock formation on top of a cliff where he had a view over the horizon. He decided that this was the spot – it was here he was going to await his final moment. He sat down on the rocks, opened the bottle and took a swig from it. The liquid burned in his throat, but hopefully it should give the soothing effect he sought that was required when he would do his final act in life. It wasn't intended to dull his fear though, because strangely enough he didn't feel any. Although he had reached the end of his life, he was strangely calm about it. He had done what was needed to be done in his life; there was no point in feeling regret about anything. Except perhaps for one thing…
He would've liked the chance to find his son despite the court-order from his ex-wife. Whatever her opinion was, it would have been right for John to know the truth about whom his father really were and allow him to make his own decisions about judgment of character.
But perhaps that wouldn't have been possible now anyway – as far as the family he had previously married himself into were concerned, Hicks was dead since three years back. As he would be in a couple of minutes…
He took another sip of the bottle. He had no fear of his own death, but he couldn't help to wonder if it was worth it. That which he had said to Bishop before they parted: 'A soldier dying for his country. It's supposed to make us feel better.' 'Does it help?' Bishop had asked him, and it was now he was to ask himself that question. Well… it wasn't a country he was dying for. I'm dying to prevent the birth of a monster that would spell doom for millions of people. Yep, it was worth it. He was content with it.
My death in exchange for millions of people. How's that for manhood, Sarah?
In the distance far away, he could just make out the u-shape of the derelict resting on the plateau. And even farther away in the sky, a spot of fire was beginning to show itself. Hicks knew that it was the Hercules on its final approach – soon the derelict would be no more than a memory, along with its terrible cargo.
Hicks saluted the spot in the sky with his bottle. "Cheers, Bishop," he said before he took another swig. This time the liquid didn't go down his throat, because he suddenly felt a great pain within his chest, so intense that he spitted out the alcohol. Something was moving within his body and was causing a massive hurt against his bones.
So… it was time.
He dropped the bottle and it smashed against the cliff, splattering the remaining liquid over the rocks. He fished out the grenade he had in his pocket and with determination to die by his own hands and not by some monster's, he pulled the pin and a counter on the handle was starting down from ten seconds. Another jolt of pain coursed through his body. The queen was about to be born, but it would not have the privilege of life. Hicks pressed the grenade to his chest, right over the spot where the queen monster would emerge.
He groaned from the pain that had now become quite excruciating, but he still smiled in triumph as he watched the counter on the grenade reach the last numbers. Taking a last breath, he spat at the creature within him.
"Cheers, Bitch!"
The small explosion on the surface was not detected by the sensors of the Hercules. Not only because it was too far away beyond the derelict in the distance, but because those sensors were inoperative. The readouts couldn't be seen anyway as the bridge now was amidst the scattered junk nothing but fire and smoke. And within the smoke, the android Bishop was in futility trying to make the big ship just drop slightly in altitude even though it was too late now.
"Warning! Collision imminent! Impact in twenty seconds." The ships computer announced neutrally.
For naught! All had been for naught! Bishop may be a synthetic, but he was actually feeling the frustration of failure overwhelm him. And the smugness of Colonel Decker was like the ultimate insult to be added to this fact.
"- Do you know what the irony is?" Decker asked him from one of the two still functioning screens. The other showed how the Hercules travelled above the surface of the planet. "- You yourself orchestrated the means to allow me to retain full control of this ship. If you hadn't disabled all the non-essential systems before, I just might have had too much to handle before I could assume total control. You messed up, Robot! You messed up big!"
"Warning! Impact in ten seconds."
On the second screen, Bishop could see in despair how the Hercules passed above the derelict, leaving it behind them.
"Five seconds."
The digital face of Decker glared at Bishop from his screen. "- See you in hell, Robot!"
"Three…"
For the first time in his existence, Bishop allowed his program to simulate one of the few emotions he normally would never allow to be shown amongst human beings. But if there was anybody who deserved to take the full force of that emotion, it was that insult of a faulty model of a synthetic that had gone against all what Bishop believed in. It took only a quarter of a second for the force of the emotion build up within him, and he allowed it to explode in the digital face of the synthetic military officer as an act of a final curse.
"DECKER! GOD DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…"
"One…"
Epilogue.
The sun rose over the hills of the desolated wasteland of the planet designated as LV-426, but also known to its former inhabitants as Acheron. It could not be considered to be a beautiful dawn as it was obscured by the flying dust and particles that was carried around by the almost constant winds that raged around the small world, but there was no one around to complain. As the day went by, the rays from the sun found a momentarily open spot in the clouds so that those could bombard the smooth surface of the alien derelict, making the metal to glimmer. It meant nothing to the dead and abandoned craft, and it meant even less to the last surviving claw-attached eggs that had never been picked up from the dark protective cargo-hold. The parasites within the ovoid shells were totally dormant and completely unaware of anything that went on outside the ship.
During midday the wind increased in force and snuffed out the last fires of the obliterated military vessel that had crashed a few kilometers away from its intended target – the parts of that once proud ship lay scattered all over an area that could match the size of the crater left behind when the atmosphere processing station had exploded. Because it had missed its target, the alien derelict had survived undamaged once more, but a small semi-deserted life-boat had fared a little worse. Since the big ship had crash-landed further away then where it had supposed to, it had impacted to the ground too close to the smaller vessel – and the concussion of the explosion had caused damage to the exterior of its hull.
A few meters away from the EEV lay the wrinkled remains of a transmission disc – it had been blown off by the shockwave. And when it had been knocked off, the tear on the circuits had caused a feedback to the transmitter inside the little ship, causing it to malfunction and in the end cease to operate. The sole young survivor of the lost expedition was blissfully unaware of this as she slept undisturbed in her cryogenic sarcophagus while her body temperature continued to drop below the freezing point. The interior had not sustained any damage, but from the looks of the dead controls at the helm, a rescue did not seem likely to happen any time soon.
As the sun went down below the horizon, the last rays of the day shined through the viewport and temporarily illuminated the silhouette of the planet's lone inhabitant under the transparent faceplate. That was how the days would look like as they would come and go from this moment on. Within the life-boat, only the wind could be heard smashing against the hull – otherwise it was all quiet. And as the sunrays went away and left the EEV in total darkness, it was evident that for a long time ahead everything would be just quiet…
Continued in: Alien - Nemesis.
