CHAPTER 2

Call said nothing. She was too stunned to speak.

Ripley, however, tried to justify her choice. 'Who better than me, Call? I made a hobby out of killing its kind, why stop now?'

She didn't want to do this. It took time for her to accept the concept of going back in time – as absurd as it sounded, but actually meeting figures from the past, people she knew, or did not know rather...her head swooned and she caught armrest of the couch to steady herself.

'This is not the time to have an information overload, Call. You have work to do. Look, it's eleven already. What time does the operation team leave?'

'Uh...f-five in the morning.' she stammered.

'Then you have six hours to get going.'

'Come with me, Ripley,' she pleaded, 'if not all the way, at least come with me while I find out about their mission objective.'

'That would compromise my situation, don't you think? Since we landed here on earth, I've been spending most of my time blending into the shadows. If they found out about me-'

'I'll protect you.'

She laughed out loud. 'It's not me I'm worried about. I'd just have to kill anyone who found out. And I know you wouldn't approve.'

'Fine. I'll do this myself.'

Before Ripley could retort, Call was out of her apartment and into the hall. She walked grimly towards the elevator and got in. As the doors were closing, a hand shot in, and stopped them from doing so. It was Ripley.

'If anyone gets in my way...' she warned, looking down at Call. Call said nothing and smiled.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

0300 HRS

The cold wind stung their faces, while the snow swirled about them angrily. It was still dark as the two companions trudged their way in deep snow towards a large compound.

'We find a way to travel back in time, but we still can't control nature. And I wish nobody had decided to design me to react to temperatures the way people do...' said Call as she shivered and pulled her parka close around her.

'I like it.' spoke Ripley.

'You would.' said Call sarcastically. 'I was surprised they let you in. You'd better hold on tight to that visitor's pass. It's the only way they'll let you out.'

'Well, I'm with General Call. Who would suspect anything?' She looked intently at the compound in front of her. 'It's small. And less guarded than I expected it to be.'

'Oh there'll be plenty of guards and security systems once we get it. And in case you're wondering, Pandora's box is deep underground. This is just the gift wrapping.'

As they neared the entrance, they could see six guards at their post. Ripley and Call walked past them to the heavy door. A small speakerphone beeped and an automated voice could be heard against the shrill wind about them. 'Authorization please.' it said.

Call placed her palm on a bare grey panel next to the door. A light beside it went from red to green. 'Welcome, General Call.'

Ripley followed behind her as the door slid open. The hallway was actually a tunnel, with more guards inside. Ripley squinted her sharp eyes, but couldn't make out where the tunnel ended. She kept on walking behind Call until they came to another heavyset door on the left.

'Where are we going?' whispered Ripley.

'Into the control room. It's not too far now. And don't whisper, it might draw attention to us.'

'I don't like this place much. How much longer till we're there?'

Call ignored her and looked around as she walked. It was obvious that this mission had been eagerly anticipated by everyone here. Military personnel walked briskly by the two of them with solemn faces, but their eyes betrayed their excitement. But as Ripley and Call went deeper underground, into the control room, they encountered fewer personnel and more guards. Security was tight. Call was glad that she didn't have to resort to breaking in.

Finally they entered a large room framed with unbreakable glass. 'We're there.' she told Ripley as she sat down at a console. 'All I have to do now is plug in...and make a few changes.'

Ripley glanced around her nervously. It was not like her to be this anxious, usually she didn't care. But a life of moving around from place to place, while at the same time avoiding people made her feel uneasy every time she was among them. She thought that ironic since she was technically, part human. But the truth was, she never felt as if she fit in. They were too complex a species, but the complexity was their fault. All the destruction and the suffering of their world – they had brought on themselves. Just like they were planning to do again.

'I have it.' said Call, pulling a wire out of her arm.

'That was fast.' said Ripley.

'Technology is a wonderful thing.'

'Huh.' grunted Ripley in reply.

'They're going about three hundred and fifty-eight years back. The arrival site's going to be a small entry and lodging station just above the earth's atmosphere called Terron-'

'Terron...' murmured Ripley.

Call's eyebrows shot up. 'You know it?' she asked.

'The station is jointly owned by Weyland Yutani and some other company.'

'You remember then.'

'Just pieces...go on.'

'Well, we'll be arriving there. And from there we're going to have to get information about LV426. What we got from the old androids doesn't provide us with enough data about LV426's coordinates or what to expect. All we got from them is that the military's tried several times – all unsuccessful – to capture the alien. And it was a type A1 classification, meaning that the species is considered to be extremely valuable. For both a military and research purpose. Anyway, the only piece of info we could make sense of was when something went wrong up on LV426. Apparently, contact was lost with a team of people doing god-knows-what over there, and that dates back about three hundred and fifty-seven years from now.'

'What about the Queen?' asked Ripley suddenly. 'Do they have any information about her?'

Call's brows furrowed. 'It's possible. I mean, the creature won't be any use to the military if they can't propagate. And they can't do so without the Queen. So they must know about it.'

Ripley sighed. 'Did they have any information on me?'

'Nothing. I guess we got lucky. If they don't know about your "hobbies" back then, they won't bother trying to eliminate you.'

'Not lucky enough. How're you going to find me?'

'By using your memories, Ripley. You said that you remember something about families dying on a planet. And facing your worst fear again. I figure that the families are the people they lose communication with on LV426. And that you must have volunteered to go and retrieve them.'

'That's the only memory I have of fear...' spoke Ripley quietly.

Call stayed silent for a moment. She looked at her friend sadly. To have faced such horrors in the past, to remember nothing else but the impending torment of death, only to have to succumb to it and be brought back again with such memories stirred Call's emotions. Worse yet, Ripley's memories weren't complete; they didn't give her a sense of her past. Not that she would ever want to recall it, thought Call.

'I'm sorry.' said Call, as her artificial tear ducts made her eyes moist.

'Don't be. It's a waste of emotion. Just get the job done and get back here.'

Call swallowed and her eyes grew wide, as if suddenly remembering something. She spoke quickly. 'There's just one more thing. There's a possibility that I may not come back. I mean, a lot of energy is going into getting us there. If there's a systems failure on our journey back here, it's very likely that most of us may not return. But the designers have planned it such that if that event does occur, only two marines and three aliens will be brought back. My plan is to impede their plan. I'll have to find a way to kill it, along with any evidence of it that might be available in the future. I also might have to sabotage their equipment, along with any means of my getting back here.'

Ripley stood stock still. Suddenly she felt an emptiness seeping into her. She tried to cover it up by being practical. 'You haven't really thought through this very well, have you?'

'There isn't time to write the musical score, I'll have to play it by ear.'

'You should get going then. You have less than two hours.'

'Is there anything you'd like me to do? I mean, if I see you...the older you...'

For the first time, Ripley referred to herself in third person. As if acknowledging the fact that she was a different entity from that which she came from. 'I don't think she'd like to end up as me. Could you see to it that she doesn't? For both our sakes?'

'I'll try my best.'

At that moment, three guards entered the room. Ripley froze, and tensed her muscles up for any fight that might ensue. Call got up from her seat calmly and faced them.

The man in front of her spoke. 'General Call? We've been instructed to remove your visitor from the premises immediately. She should only have access to Level 1. Please allow us to escort her out.'

'Sure, as long as you see to it that she doesn't come to any harm. She's quite elderly, you know.' She said it for their benefit. She knew that Ripley was extremely capable of defending herself when the need arose – despite her age.

'Yes General.' And then he turned to Ripley. 'This way please, ma'am.'

Call watched Ripley turn her back and walk out, suddenly realizing that she would probably never see her again. She wanted to stop time, to stop everything as she knew it and wished for better things. Both for her and for her friend. She felt so alone, and it was then that she fully understood Ripley's solitariness. Being in a situation that no one would understand, let alone acknowledge, deepened the bond between them in an instant. Call wanted more time to say goodbye the proper way, not some rushed mockery of a farewell to her only friend. And in that moment, Call wanted to take everything that she had thought and said, back. She didn't want to do this - and instantly decided not to. Why should she? Heck, let some other Good Samaritan save the world for a change and let her go back to her world, her time, and her life. But she wasn't given that chance.
Just then Ripley spun around and faced Call one last time. 'Wait, wait...I remember someone, a little girl. I think she was my daughter. Take care of her, Call. And don't miss me. We'll meet again.'

And then she was gone.