'Alright people, you heard the General. I want all you comp technicians to be at your tactical consoles in thirty minutes, tops.' Lieutenant Mills grinned. 'If I don't see your pretty butts at those consoles, I'll take it personally.'
Some of the marines grimaced at the thought. Lieutenant Mills was not noted for his brash voice. He wasn't noted for his lengthy and loud diatribes. What he was noted for, when an order was disobeyed, were three little words: "Come with me." And then your life would swiftly flash before your eyes, as you would wonder what sort of punishment – which were all original and innovative – the Lieutenant would concoct now.
In the two minutes following his warning, the room was cleared out, with only the smoked out stubs of cigarettes left burning on the floor.
* * *
Private Sebastian Velko slammed his locker shut with his elbow. In his hands, he carried several computer diskettes. He dropped them onto a bench near the lockers and pulled out a wad of licorice-flavored chewing gum from his pocket. Hearing a noise behind him, he whirled around instinctively to face an amused looking Private Bohr.
'Really Sebastian, just who d'you think you're gonna fool with those disks? Sooner or later boy, the General's gonna smell something foul and the stench will lead right to you.'
Velko frowned. For one thing, he didn't like being addressed as Sebastian. It made him feel like a household cat. Secondly, he was a pro – he rarely got found out. All computer technicians in the squad were supposed to have four disks, but he had ten. He used to it to keep an eye on the goings on at the top of game – they contained specially designed programs which enabled him to hack into higher user levels and to decode encrypted information. After all, he never trusted anyone, not even the Lieutenants and Generals in whose hands he was supposed to place his trust in. He had often discovered little tidbits of information these higher ranking officials had kept hidden, and the information had always placed Private Velko at an advantage. As long as he never got found out.
'They're letters to my mother.' He said, snatching back a disk which Bohr had picked up.
'It's gotta be one helluva long letter...' retorted Bohr, grinning.
'Yeah, well. What can I say? I'm a mama's boy.' He smirked at Bohr, and walked out of the locker room to his console.
He ran a hand over his shaved head and grunted. He could swear that Private Bohr had a thing for him. Recently the woman had been following him around like his own shadow, always looking for an occasion to initiate small talk. She didn't act too desperate though – contrary to what he previously had thought – and at times a spark of intelligence showed through. What confused him the most was the fact that she never played up to him. Most of their conversations consisted of her disagreeing with him on one point or another. It was almost as if she used him as an instrument to release some of her anger upon. This little paradox boggled him. What did that mean? He shook his head and decided to leave it to the fact that no matter how quickly the mysteries of the universe were revealed, one would never be able to decipher the complexities of women.
Once at his console, Velko sat down and looked around. Around him, there were many similar structures; each built of slightly transparent metal that enclosed the computer technician operator (commonly referred to as "tech ops") in their own little world of information and gadgetry. Private Velko adored gadgets. Ever since he was a boy, curiosity overcame him to take apart small household appliances to get a feel of their working mechanisms, and then he would put them back together in a different way so that they performed wholly different functions. His parents, proud of his inquiring mind, decided that his skills would be put to better use at London's Technological Institute – one of the best in the world. There, he displayed a natural aptitude of decoding complex sets of data, impressing most of his peers and professors. It wasn't long before graduation when renowned companies tried to entice him to come work for them. His parents were ecstatic. They had hopes that he would one day become a programming director of one of these firms, and had tried to nudge him in that direction. But a streak of adolescent rebellion remained strong in him, and he opted to join the military instead. He gave his parents the lame excuse that he wanted to serve his country, and three months following his graduation, Sebastian Velko was a Private for the UA Marine Corps. And despite his impulsive decision, he liked it there.
He slyly stuck five of his disks into his personal drawer at the console and inserted four others into the main unit in front of him. He pocketed the remaining one. Velko logged on using his authorization code and when the screen flickered to life in front of him, his fingers blazed across the control panel. One by one, three windows popped up on the large screen before him. Each window represented the other computer technicians on the squad, and enabled each of them to keep in contact with one another. Velko snapped his fingers. He'd almost forgotten. A few seconds later, the room vibrated with the sound of jazz music, fused with a touch of rock.
He could hear groans coming from the other consoles.
Velko chuckled. 'Aw c'mon ladies, I'm just trying to make this place a little more livable, you get what I mean?'
'Livable? This crap's loud enough to wake the dead! Turn the damn thing off before Lieutenant Mills gets in here!' shouted back a voice. It was Private Roche.
'Mills likes this shit. Ain't none of you seen him grooving in the shower? I never saw a Lieutenant get down like that before!' laughed Velko.
Suddenly a calm voice spoke from behind him. 'Your compliments are appreciated. Now, you have five seconds to turn that music off, Private. Five seconds to contemplate the consequences if you disobey my orders.'
Mills! How'd the bastard sneak up on him like that? It must be the super bass in the music, it drowned out all other external noises. Three seconds later, there was complete silence. Velko tried to act nonchalant about the whole thing.
'You're lucky I don't lock you up in confinement for a week! If I hear one more peep out of you or your entertainment system there, I don't care what the General says, I'm using this time travel crap to send you back to 1125 where you can mingle with the livestock and play the court jester! Am I clear, Private?' hissed Lieutenant Mills.
'Crystal.' replied Velko.
'Now you glue your butt to that seat and log on to the external networks and gather their data readouts. And if, by chance, our ancestors out there,' Mills pointed vaguely, referring to the living populace outside the ship, 'latch onto us and discover that we're here, I won't waste my time finding out who slipped up and gave away our position. I will come straight to you.'
With that, the Lieutenant stormed off, leaving Velko to wallow in his embarrassment.
'Nice going, slick. At this rate, you and Lieutenant Mills are gonna be bosom buddies!' piped up Roche.
Velko placed his tongue in his cheek and gave Roche a sarcastic smile. He turned around to face his console. It was time to get busy.
* * *
Half an hour into his work, Velko leaned back into his seat with his hands clasped together behind his head. He'd managed to discreetly intercept masses of information flowing between different networks outside the ship. He'd sorted them into categories based on importance. Data transfers from civilian units were considered unimportant. Company data transfers came secondary and military ones were top priority. He'd opened three separate windows on his screen, in order to keep an eye on anything out of the ordinary. Anything that involved the mention of the word xenomorph.
He was growing restless. The three other tech ops were sifting through the readouts he had gathered, and there was nothing else he could do at the moment except supervise. Theoretically, of course, thought Velko as a grin spread over his face. It was time to see what he could see.
He whisked out the disk in his pocket, and pushed it into the unit in front of him. It was a program he had written that enabled him to enter most levels that were off limits to someone of his rank. Immediately, he gained access to all user levels linked to this mission. He then set to work on setting up a secure private connection to Private Roche.
'Hey buddy, I'm surveying new worlds here. Mind keeping an eye out for any bugs?' Velko knew the connection was secure as it could possibly be. But he never took anything for granted, so he would often try to speak in code. He wanted Roche to play lookout.
'Sorry Velko, I didn't copy that.' From the other cubicle, Roche grinned to himself. He knew exactly what Velko was getting at, but he often took pleasure from antagonizing the kid.
'Shut up, man. You know what I mean.'
Roche chuckled again. 'Yeah, yeah. I'll watch your ass. Don't I always?'
Velko turned to his screen, and logged onto Lieutenant Mill's private console. Nothing out of the ordinary, he thought, as he scrolled down Mills' records. He finally saw something that made him smile. Mills had stored a file of letters and dialogue between his wife and himself. Velko's eyes danced with amusement. He'd have to save this and put it away for later use. He searched more files, but it was all useless. There was nothing there that he didn't know already.
He sighed and decided to move up to better things. It was time to take a peek at General Call's recent activities. Velko thought back to Call's orders earlier in the day. She had instructed them to gather data readouts from external networks, whilst she would pursue other avenues of interest. She didn't specify and Lieutenant Mills didn't ask. But Velko was as curious as hell. As a rule, he didn't trust people much, and he had less faith in androids themselves. Sure, they were designed to protect the human race. But there was no telling when self-preservation would become their primary interest.
He logged onto her level, and immediately a warning light flashed at the corner of the screen. His entrance had been detected. He had fifty seconds and counting to do something before the main computer narrowed down to the source – which was his console. But Velko never came unprepared. He opened the drawer below him and fumbled about, eventually pulling out yet another disk. He quickly jammed it into the unit and the warning light stopped flashing. This had never happened before. He'd have to update his program on the first disk because they'd stepped up their security.
He checked which files Call had accessed in the past twenty-four hours, and was intrigued by one in particular, titled "Ripley_E". He opened it. At first glance, he noticed nothing unusual. But Call had made notes on a company known as Weyland Yutani. He'd heard the name before, but then, no importance was placed on it. The docking station nearby was merely owned by the company, and that's all he knew. But Call had thought it important. Important enough to locate its headquarters and seal access to this information from everyone but herself. He ran through all her activities and saw something that made his pulse quicken. Call had gotten the main shuttle ready, and in less than one hour, she was going to leave the ship to do a little investigating of her own. She'd sent a private message vaguely describing her intentions to Lieutenant Mills, and apparently, he hadn't received it as yet. Not that Mills would do anything about it. The man was infamous for being a faithful lackey to those high up in the chain of command.
His green eyes blazed angrily. What the hell did she think she was doing? She was the one who didn't want to compromise their position and here she was, going outside on a little romp by herself. Velko knew she was a part of some secret agenda. One that even the military wasn't aware of. Boy, he thought. This must go all the way up.
Not if he could help it.
* * *
Minutes later, he was by Roche's side, bending down, whispering excitedly into his ear.
Roche spoke back in a fierce whisper. 'No! Not in this life, you little twerp! Do you realize what you're telling me? This isn't junior high where you can play truant whenever it pleases you!'
Velko spoke soothingly, trying desperately to pacify the excited Roche. 'I know, I know...But sometimes we gotta do what we think is right-'
'The military doesn't pay you to think, Velko.' said Roche glaring at him.
'Since when do I follow procedure? And how long has it been since I've made an incorrect assessment of the situation?'
'Allow me to refresh your memory.' spoke back Roche sarcastically.
'Alright, alright. How long has it been since I've made a large, significant error on my part?'
Roche remained silent. Velko knew he had him converted. 'Look man, as ridiculous as it sounds now, I'm looking out for all of us. I won't come back without an answer.'
'Do you realize I could lose my job for this? And that's not the worst of it...'
'Look, all I need to know is one thing. Are you with me on this or not? I'm going to trail Call with or without your help.'
Roche knew that Velko wouldn't get far without his help. He needed someone to watch his back whilst he snuck off to tail Call. And Velko – as good as he was – couldn't be in two places at the same time. 'Right. But from now on, you'll owe me for life. And I'm not kidding.'
Velko grinned and patted him on the back as he rose. 'Anything, anytime, old buddy.'
* * *
Velko watched from the shadows as Call prepped the shuttle. Nobody had suspected anything or noticed his absence as yet. Roche was doing his job well. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and was about to creep into the shuttle when something grabbed his shoulder, startling him so much that he gasped.
'Taking a trip?' It was Bohr. Dammit! The woman had impeccable timing.
'What's it to you? I'm inspecting the shuttle.' he sputtered.
'Oh. Well then. Mind if I join you?'
'Yes.' hissed Velko.
'Hmm. That's odd, I thought you were supposed to be monitoring the other tech ops back there. Not performing janitorial duties back here.' She grinned. She knew she had him.
'Listen to me,' he was trying to refrain from shoving her aside and bolting towards the shuttle. 'I can't explain everything right now, but I'd be eternally grateful-' he winced before continuing, '-eternally grateful if you would please keep this to yourself. I have something that needs attending to.'
'Like hell. You have two options, Sebastian. One, I come with you, or two, I come with you.'
'What? NO!' he almost yelled. He was surprised by her response. He'd expected her to rat him out, not accompany him.
'Not so loud. She might hear you.' she nodded in the direction of the shuttle. 'Make a decision quick, flyboy. You're running out of options.'
He cursed repeatedly before grabbing her by the cloth of her uniform and dragging her to the rear entrance into the shuttle. Once inside, he looked around to see if they'd been noticed. Luckily, some large crates that were strapped down hid them from view. Velko sealed the rear entrance lock, and they sat down in the spare passenger seats. They buckled themselves in quietly. He glared at Private Bohr and saw her grin sardonically.
'So this is what it feels like to be Private Sebastian Velko.' said Bohr in a lowered voice.
He said nothing and closed his eyes in exasperation. Perhaps this wasn't such a terrific idea after all.