Chapter 9 - Plato Sector
The passengers of the Judgement came out of deep cryo-sleep, awaking slowly from the affects. The first one up was Hicks. He waited beside Newt's cryo-chamber as the others got up and headed for their lockers.
"How do you feel?" he asked her.
"Like I could sleep for a century."
"Roll over. Let me take a look." When Newt rolled on her side, Hicks lifted her teeshirt and lowered her boxers slightly to inspect the stitches. Everything still looked good. "I think you should stay on the ship when we go down there."
Newt pulled away from him and sat up. "Yeah, right, like that'll be happening." She got out of the cryo-chamber and walked away. The pain was unbearable, but she didn't want him to know that.
Hicks could tell she was in pain. But he knew that arguing with her was going to be pointless. She was going to do what she wanted to do and he wouldn't be able to change her mind.
In the mess hall, sitting at the head of the table, Newt looked at each of her people as she briefed them on the plan. Corporal Packer, Corporal Krall, Private Snow, Private Roth, Private Cole, Private Shale and Private Gibson. Bishop sat at the other end of the table.
"I don't get it," Snow spoke up. "If there's nothing else on the planet except bugs, then why can't we just shoot a couple of nukes down there and blow them all to hell?"
"The nukes won't work."
Everyone turned to look at Hicks, who had been sitting at the other table, leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the tabletop. He was casually smoking a cigarette.
"How do you know?" Packer asked him.
"I've been here before," said Hicks nonchalantly. "I tried nuking the place. Didn't work."
Bishop decided to elaborate since Hicks wasn't volunteering any further information. "From what I gathered after I scanned the planet, there's a power source down there that's feeding some sort of electro-magnetic shield that will more than likely prevent nuclear weapons from penetrating the atmosphere."
"They detonate as they skip over the atmosphere," added Hicks.
"Anyway," continued Newt. "With that in mind, we have to go in and take care of business like we do best. When Bishop scanned the planet he was also able to pinpoint the spot with the highest concentration of life forms. Busy little buggers are protecting something. Our goal is to find it and terminate it. Any bugs we kill along the way are added bonuses."
"What're they protecting?" asked Shale, the dropship pilot.
Newt looked toward Hicks and everyone else turned to him as well.
Hicks found himself the center of attention once again. "The king."
There was silence for a moment until Packer put in his two cents. "See? I knew Elvis was still alive. He was abducted by ETs two hundred and fifty years ago."
Some of the others laughed. Hicks rolled his eyes and looked away, shaking his head These morons had no idea what they were up against. It sort of reminded him of when Ripley had been trying to describe the aliens to his squad back when they were headed for LV-426. Everyone had joked about it…and they were now all dead. Except him. And when the last squad he had been in charge of had gone down to the planet they were now orbiting, they were all wiped out as well. Except him. For some unknown reason or circumstance, he always seemed to survive. Always the last of his squad.
Hicks stared at Jorden's people as he dragged on his cigarette. He didn't see how any of them were going to survive down there. If the drones didn't get them first, then the big bastard would bury himself in their puny minds and they'd let themselves be sacrificial sheep. It had almost happened to him and he had almost been forced to do something he didn't want to do. But he had fought it tooth and nail and the fucking monster didn't like it. Hicks wasn't looking forward to dealing with that shit again.
Newt interrupted his thoughts. "Any last words of advice, Hicks?"
"Yeah. Don't let the cocksucker get in your head…or you're fucked."
The dropship flew through yellow tinted clouds. The air contained traces of sulfur, but it wasn't enough to cause any damage to human lungs. But long-term exposure would cause a chronic cough, so the team was equipped with a small portable oxygen tank, along with the rest of their typical apparatus. More things to weigh them down.
The team was securely seated inside an APC. Hicks didn't move his head, but his eyes shifted to take in the full interior of the Armored Personnel Carrier. He hadn't been in one for quite a few years and this one had a few upgrades he was unfamiliar with. But it wasn't important. His thoughts drifted to the mission ahead and what they were about to face.
Newt was seated opposite Hicks. She watched him visually inspect the interior of the APC. Was he assessing the durability of the vehicle? She already knew that he wasn't satisfied with the capability of her team. He hadn't said it directly, but she knew he thought it. His green eyes shifted to look into hers and she shivered involuntarily. Only an hour ago, before they prepared to board the APC and the dropship, they had been going at it like rabbits. She could still taste him on her lips. When he gave her a reserved smile, she felt her cheeks heat up and she turned away, fighting the urge to smile back at him.
Shale's voice came over the comm. "Mega-hive up ahead. I'm not picking up any movement on the motions."
Newt turned to Hicks for a possible explanation.
"He knows we're coming," said Hicks. "They're just silently plotting their method to ambush us."
"Is that what happened when you were down here the last time?" asked Newt.
"Yeah. Good times."
Newt wished he'd stop with the sarcasm. She glanced around at her team, their faces turned in her direction. They were all going to count on her. She had faith in them, even if Hicks didn't. They had been through hell and high water together. They had state of the art fire power. One shot could blow an alien to smithereens. They had plenty of ammo, enough to kill thousands. They were going in and blowing the fuck out of anything that came at them. End of story.
The dropship touched down fifteen kilometers away from the target area. The plan had been to keep the dropship safe and out of the way because it was their only means back to the Judgement. Shale, the dropship pilot, joined the others in the APC. The dropship ramp came down and Bishop drove the APC out. Behind them the ramp lifted back up and the dropship was empty and secure. The APC made its way through the rough terrain on the planet known only as Q-2008.
Hicks was lost in his thoughts again. There were no colonies on this planet. The terraformers had yet to even reach this section of space. Only a small number of USCM teams had ever made it out this far and the presence of the aliens prevented them from landing on Q-2008. The only team to ever set foot on the planet was his team and that was only because of a distress signal on a freighter that had crashed. The freighter had been carrying an undisclosed amount of gold that had been mined from a nearby planet. Hicks and his team had seen it. And they had had every intention of taking it because the crew onboard the freighter had disappeared. Not a sole in sight, as if they had disappeared into thin air. Then Jones was picking up movement, the signal was coming from a nearby rocky hill. They went in to investigate, hoping to come across the survivors of the crashed freighter. But they were ambushed by a horde of aliens.
FLASHBACK – On Q-2008
Hicks woke up to the sounds of screaming. When he was able to focus, he saw that he was encased in alien resin and he was unable to move. He saw others of his team in the same predicament. To his repulsion, some of them had facehuggers wrapped around their heads. They were being impregnated. The eggs in the center of the small chamber opened and he saw more facehuggers crawl out in search of hosts. He wanted to scream, but the slightest sound would alert one of the things and it would attach itself on his face and he wasn't going to be able to do anything about it.
He closed his eyes to the horror before him, unable to witness the suffering of his squad. He tried to control his panic by slowing his breathing. Every time he heard a scream, he cringed, trying not to focus on who it was that had screamed. But he couldn't take it anymore. He was about to lose his mind…The sound of heavy footfalls drew his attention and he slowly opened his eyes.
A queen was slowly walking around the chamber, inspecting her eggs, inspecting the impregnated hosts. Facehuggers scrambled to get out of her way as she moved about. Her attention was drawn to the only host that had yet to be impregnated and her children were deliberately avoiding him. She cocked her head in wonder and listened for her instructions. The Divine One wanted him untouched. 'BRING HIM TO ME.' Those were her new instructions.
Hicks felt the panic start to rise as the queen turned in his direction. "Shit…" She was walking toward him. He tried to move his arms, his shoulders, his legs, anything. Nothing but his head moved. He felt like he was encased in cement. He'd clock her hard in the forehead just for a moment of self-satisfaction that he'd cause her some measure of pain before she got the chance to rip his face off.
And then she was in front of him, bending her massive head at an even level to his. Hicks clenched his teeth, smelling the queen's foul breath as it breathed heavily in his face. Gobs of clear spittle dripped from her teeth and chin. She hissed menacingly and Hicks closed his eyes as she moved even closer to him, sniffing him. His courage evaporated and he fought back the tears that threatened. This was it. He was dead. He turned his face away and prayed.
The queen parted her massive jaws and struck with her inner jaws. It wasn't a lethal blow, but enough to render the being incapable of functioning temporarily.
Hicks felt the blow to the side of his head and he imagined his brains being scrambled inside his shattered skull. He felt light-headed and dizzy, just about ready to pass out…or maybe die…he felt something hot dripping down the side of his face and turned his head to see blood on his shoulder. Yup…he was definitely dying…
But why was he still seeing the nightmare around him? He had momentarily blacked out and when consciousness came back, he was no longer encased in the resin. The queen had him by the throat and was dragging him facing up on the ground like a rag doll. His eyes widened as facehuggers scrambled over his body and scurried around the queen's moving legs. They weren't attacking him. For some reason, the facehuggers were leaving him alone.
The right side of his head was pounding and he closed his eyes to the severe pain. He thought the blow to his head would have killed him. Or maybe he was dead and this was what Hell was like…His own personal Hell. He'd be spending all eternity being shredded by aliens, attacked and impregnated by facehuggers, chestbursters breaking through his ribcage, queens slamming their inner jaws at his face…good times ahead, he thought sarcastically.
The queen dragged Hicks into another room. It was dark, except for a light coming from a hole in the ceiling somewhere. Hicks heard multiple hisses around him. Although he couldn't see them, he knew there were more queens in the immediate area. He was fucked…he was totally fucked…he could still feel the facehuggers crawling over him and he was repulsed. Then the queen unceremoniously dropped him on his back and walked away.
Hicks called up whatever strength he had left and slowly managed to sit up. He reached up to the right side of his head, felt the broken skin and he knew the bitch had cracked his skull. But it hadn't been a lethal blow. Why didn't she kill him? Why weren't the facehuggers impregnating him? Then he remembered his flashlight. He ripped the device from his shoulder shield and activated it.
As Hicks panned the light around the room, all he could see were wall to wall queens, drones and facehuggers. They were all surrounding him, in a huge circle, maintaining a distance of about ten yards from him. All of them were facing him, even though he couldn't exactly tell if they were looking at him because they had no eyes.
What were they all waiting for? Why didn't they kill him? Despite his dooming predicament, he thought to make a joke. "I suppose none of you can speak English."
"I SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE."
Hicks stood up and turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. But all he saw were the queens and the drones, hissing at him, watching him like he were a gazelle about to be attacked by a lion.
"NONE OF MY CHILDREN CAN SPEAK TO YOU."
Hicks spun around again and then had to stop because he was making himself dizzy. "Where are you?"
"YOU WILL SEE ME WHEN THE SUN RISES."
"Who are you?"
"I AM THE DIVINE ONE."
Hicks suddenly realized that the voice was in his head. It was a deep, resonating voice that made chills run up and down his spine.
"YOU WILL BE MY PAWN. YOU WILL TAKE MY CHILDREN TO YOUR HOMEWORLD."
"Get out of my head, you fuck!!"
"YOU WILL SEE TO IT THAT THEY SPREAD THROUGHOUT YOUR GALAXY."
Hicks raised his hands to his head and fought to get the voice out. He felt himself start to lose control of his mind. The voice wanted to control him. He looked around at the grotesque faces of the creatures that surrounded him. Their exo-skeletons gleaming as the sun began to peak over the hole in the ceiling. Hicks looked up at the hot, blinding sun. It started to illuminate the chamber. He turned off his flashlight and jumped backward when several facehuggers crawled passed him, just a few inches away from his feet.
"TURN AND LOOK AT ME."
The voice was back in his head. Hicks turned around slowly, his eyes panning around, not sure what he was expecting to see. And then he saw it. The biggest goddamned alien he had ever laid eyes on. It was perched on a ledge in the mammoth cave. He couldn't tell if it was just sitting there or if it was suspended there because he could see appendages running from the thing's back to various holes in the cave walls. They looked like tubes, but he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure about anything that was happening at the moment or what he was seeing.
The king alien was five times larger than a queen. It had a similar head with the elaborate crown stretching out behind it. But each point ended in a horn, much like a Stegosaurus. It lacked the extra hands the queen had, but the sinewy arms and hands that it did possess were enormous. The thing could probably pick up a human by wrapping its claws around their waist.
Hicks stared up at the creature. It blew out steam from two sets of nostrils, even though he couldn't pinpoint where they were on its ugly face. The king waved one hand and the queens and drones backed away, breaking up the circle. Hicks raised his hand to his forehead and massaged his temples. The throbbing ache ran down to the backs of his eyes. He closed his eyes to ward off the nausea that had suddenly materialized…but it was too late. He pitched forward on his hands and knees and puked repeatedly on the floor. When he finally looked up, he was staring at a facehugger. For a moment he thought the thing was going to attack him, but it was simply being curious before it scrambled away. Hicks puked again and again. He was puking so hard that blood gushed out of his nose.
"YOU WILL OBEY ME. YOU WILL TAKE MY CHILDREN TO YOUR HOMEWORLD."
Hicks felt weak. His mind was slipping away. Yes…his children…take them to Earth…No, get out of my head….You can't fight it…It's taken control of you…You have to obey…
"THERE. YOU SEE? IT IS EASIER TO SUBMIT THAN TO FIGHT."
Hicks stood up, wiping the bile from his mouth and the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. He stared up at the king. Yes…I will obey…Tell me what to do…Even as the negative thought passed through his mind, his hand automatically went down to feel his belt. He counted…one…two…three…He had three M40 Grenades. With as little movement as possible, he pulled them off his belt.
"TAKE MY CHILDREN. THEY WILL FOLLOW YOU."
Yes…take the demon spawn to Earth…they'll spread throughout the planet in a matter of months and then it's Adios humanity…Hicks clenched his teeth and fought to gain control over his actions. Then before any of the surrounding creatures knew what was happening, he had thrown an M40 Grenade in the alien king's direction and then threw the other two, one to his left and the other to his right. Then he spun around and ran. The resulting explosions caused fist-sized stones to rain down from the ceiling of the cave.
The voice continued to speak into his head, telling him to stop and return. No fucking way…The presence of the voice meant only one thing. The big bastard was still alive. Hicks ran and ran until he was in the chamber where he had woken up. He froze in his tracks, seeing what remained of his squad, their chests blown open. The sound of screeching and hissing behind him made him jump to action again. He searched the floor and found two pulse rifles. He had no sooner picked them up when two drones appeared. He raised the rifles and fired both of them. Then Hicks scrambled to get out of the chamber…not knowing exactly where he was headed.
He was running through a corridor, turning on occasion to blow away the aliens coming after him. The voice in his head was furious at him…"Yeah, fuck you…fuck you!!" he shouted back at it. There was a light up ahead…daylight. He ran for it, knowing that he was functioning on pure adrenaline and nothing else.
When Hicks shot out of the cave opening, he looked back to see if he was being followed. Nothing. He ran for the dropship. The ramp was up. The ship still looked secure. He reached for the controls on his belt and fumbled with them, having to drop one of the pulse rifles. He turned back around. Still nothing following him. He pushed the button. The ramp started to come down. Before it was halfway down, Hicks jumped to grab the edge and he hauled himself up, pushing the button again to close it.
He quickly headed for the cockpit and moved into the pilot seat. The last time he had flown a dropship was back at the Academy. He fumbled with switches, remembering how to set the thing in motion. Luckily the Autopilot would do most of the flying and securing to the mother ship. Hicks didn't think he would be able to stay conscious.
The dropship took to the air and was soon being secured in the docking bay of the USCM ship. Hicks had passed out, completely unaware that his ship waited for him, waited for his instructions. There was no one to wake him. His entire squad had died on the planet below the orbiting ship.
END OF FLASHBACK
The sound of Bishop's voice on his headset brought Hicks back to the present.
"We're passing a downed freighter."
Hicks removed the bar holding him into his seat and stood up, having to bend slightly so his head wouldn't hit the ceiling of the APC. When he glanced out the side window, he saw the familiar sight of the freighter that had brought him and his squad down on the planet the last time.
Newt got out of her seat to join Hicks at the window. "Is that it? That's where the gold is?"
Hicks turned to look at her. "That's it."
"How much farther is the hive?"
"Up in that hill over there."
Newt moved away from Hicks and went up front to talk to Bishop. "See that hill over there? Park the APC a hundred yards from the opening. We'll file out and then I want you to seal yourself in here." Newt could feel Hicks coming up behind her and she glanced back at him. "And Bishop, if anything should go wrong, I want you to detonate the nuke we loaded onboard. Is that clear?"
Bishop looked up at her. "My behavior inhibitor won't allow me to…"
"Then turn the goddamned thing off. If I give the order to detonate the nuke, you better fucking do it, Bishop."
Bishop glanced over at Hicks.
Hicks shrugged. "Don't look at me. She's in charge."
Bishop finally nodded. "Okay."
"Good," said Newt with satisfaction. She walked passed Hicks and went in back.
Hicks leaned on the APC dashboard and turned to Bishop. "I need you to do me a favor, Bishop. After we exit the APC, I want you to follow us. Just don't let the others know you're there. We'll be clearing a path as we go so you won't have to worry about any aliens attacking you."
"But Rebecca wants me to stay in the APC."
"I know she does. But I have a theory that I want you to check out. This is what I want you to do…" Hicks went on to give Bishop his instructions.
Newt went to the back of the APC. "Okay, kids, let's rock and roll." She watched as her squad got out of their seats and started arming themselves.
When Hicks joined them, he grabbed two pulse rifles, slinging one on each shoulder. He liked carrying two, he just needed to remember to keep them strapped to his shoulder so if he needed to free up a hand, he wouldn't be forced to drop one. He stuck half a dozen M40 grenades into loops on his utility belt. Then he watched as the others slipped on their heavy armor. The acid blood didn't penetrate the metal. Despite the fact that he had gotten sprayed by acid blood more times than he could remember, he just couldn't move in the heavy armor and opted to wear just the shoulder shields because of the camera attached to the left side.
Newt had no problem with the armor. She slipped her hands into a pair of armored gauntlets and flexed her fingers in them. Then she turned to Hicks who was casually leaning against the APC wall near the back exit. She walked toward him as she adjusted her chest shield.
Hicks watched as she walked up to him. "I don't know what we're going to find in there or what's going to happen, but if I start acting loopy, just shoot me."
"Is that supposed to be a joke?" asked Newt, not in the least bit amused by his statement.
Bishop's voice came on their headsets. "We've arrived."
With his announcement, the APC came to an abrupt halt. Hicks pushed the door open and the team filed out, one by one. Newt was about to jump out, but Hicks grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.
He kissed her fiercely. When he released her, he looked into her blue eyes. "That's just in case one of us doesn't make it back alive."
Then Newt put her hands on his face and gave him a fierce kiss in return, pulling on his lower lip with her teeth. "That one was more of an incentive for both of us to make it back alive." Then she hopped out of the APC.
Hicks followed her out and turned to slide the APC door closed. He jogged behind her and then they both leaned against a boulder as the rest of the team proceeded forward.
They worked like a precision timepiece, each knowing the next move to make. None of them needed direction from their leader. They had done this a thousand times. The cave opening was up ahead. Gibson and Snow had the smartguns and they took the lead this time, instead of Newt. Hicks was behind them. Newt was behind Hicks, followed by Shale, Cole, Krall and Roth. Packer covered the rear. The cave was dark, so they switched on their lamps.
Hicks stared up ahead. He remembered that at the next bend was where his team had gotten ambushed seven years ago. His skin started to crawl at the memory. He raised one of the pulse rifles as they went around the corner and entered a large chamber.
The cave walls were covered in the strange alien architecture. They all knew what it was. They had seen it plenty of times. It was what the aliens used to camouflage themselves. The drones were hiding there. The team positioned themselves in a circle, backs to each other.
Newt stared at the walls. "Torches."
Seconds later, as the team shot their flamethrowers, the walls seemed to come alive. The camouflaged aliens jumped from their hiding places, trying to avoid the flames. But there was nowhere to go. When all movement ceased, the team ceased torching.
Newt spun around, looking up and around, checking for any kind of movement. "Are we clear?"
"Clear," Krall sounded off behind her.
"Yeah, it's clear," added Snow.
Newt turned to Packer, who was shaking his head as if trying to clear it. "Packer, are you okay?"
Packer stared blankly at her, his breath coming in gasps. It was as if he was looking through her, focusing on something else.
"Packer?"
"Yeah, yeah…I'm all right," he finally answered.
Hicks glanced over at him. "Hearing voices, Packer?"
"Blow me," responded Packer with malice as he turned away.
Hicks sidled up next to Newt and whispered to her. "The bastard's communicating with him."
"How do you know?" Newt whispered back.
"Look at him. He's flipping out."
"That's the way he always looks."
"I'm not fucking around, Jorden. He's got him."
Just then Packer spun around with a shout and let loose with his pulse rifle, spraying the chamber. Everyone ducked. Hicks threw himself over Newt. Then Packer turned and charged down another passageway with a hysterical cry.
As soon as Hicks rolled off her, Newt jumped up on her feet, feeling the pain in her lower back. "Packer!"
"Shit!" yelled Shale.
Newt turned and moved toward Shale who was crouched beside Gibson.
"He nailed Gibson. He's dead."
Not that she didn't believe the dropship pilot, but Newt reached down to check for a pulse at the side of Gibson's throat. No pulse. He was dead. When Hicks came to crouch down opposite her, Newt looked into his eyes. "Can that thing communicate with more than one at a time?"
"I have no idea."
"Are you hearing voices?" she asked him.
"No. Are you?"
"No." Newt stood up and turned to the rest of the team. "Do any one of you hear voices?"
They all shook their head negative.
"If anyone hears anything in their head, I wanna know immediately. Understood?"
Everyone agreed.
"What do we do about Packer, Lieutenant?" asked Krall.
"If he fires at us again, somebody shoot him in the leg."
Hicks reached down to Gibson and unhooked the harness holding the smartgun. He pulled the harness off and proceeded to hook himself up. It wasn't that he was being unsympathetic, but they needed the weapon more than Gibson did. He slung his pulse rifles on each shoulder again and then he moved in the direction Packer went.
"Hicks, wait!" She started to follow him.
The ceiling above the passageway Hicks ran into suddenly collapsed and Newt was forced to jump back out of the way. When the dust finally settled, everyone stared at the rock mound that had fallen, blocking the passageway.
Newt got on the com. "Hicks, can you hear me? Hicks…"
When the ceiling collapsed, Hicks threw himself to the ground and covered his head. Some of the rocks came down on him and he scrambled to get out of the way. Then he turned to look back. He was trapped. Newt's voice came on the com. "I hear you," he finally responded.
"Are you all right?" asked Newt with concern.
"Yeah, I'm all right. Looks like I'm gonna have to find another way out."
"We'll dig you out."
"You can go ahead and do that but I'm not sticking around."
"In case you haven't noticed, we haven't seen any queens. That means they're all congregating with the king. You can't go up against all of them by yourself."
"There can't be that many queens. I blew up a bunch of them last time I was here and without any hosts, they can't grow any more of them. Maybe they all died of old age."
"This is no time to be making jokes."
"Look, I'm going."
"Shit…" Newt was unhappy with the situation.
Hicks couldn't stand wearing the helmet. He fumbled with the strap and yanked the helmet off, tossing it away. He would have taken the rest of the head gear off, but he kept on the combo infrared lens and headset. "By the way, I sent Bishop on a little fact finding mission."
"You did what?" And now she was furious with the situation.
Hicks collected himself again and started down the passageway, keeping his eyes peeled for Packer and aliens.
Newt kept on talking. "Hicks, I told Bishop to stay in the APC. Things are already going downhill and I want him on that nuke if I give the order."
"Too late to debate it."
"Now what're we supposed to do?"
Hicks was tired of the conversation. "Can't hear you no more…you're breaking up…"
Newt sighed heavily with irritation. Then she turned to her people. "Start moving these rocks."
Hicks kept his flashlight on and panned it back and forth on the path ahead of him. So far he hadn't come across anything living, not even an ant. He knew the chamber with the king was directly ahead. He remembered it as if it was yesterday. Every step he took brought him closer. The last time he had been here, the alien king had been in his head. There was nothing now. No communication. Was it possible that he could only communicate with one human at a time? Were human brains a lot more complex than those of the aliens, or the Centurions, for that matter?
And then the familiar hiss of a queen reached his ears. Time to rock and roll. Only he wasn't ready. He was never ready when it came to alien encounters. He was scared shitless. Hicks lowered the infrared lens over his right eye and turned off the flashlight. Even though it was pitch black in the passageway, anything that moved would register on his lens a lot faster than the small beam of a flashlight would.
The first thing that came at him was a facehugger. Hicks lifted his pulse rifle and blew it away, opting not to waste any of the smartgun ammo on it. Two others scrambled toward him and he fired at them. Then the drones came. Three of them, one of them crawling upside down on the ceiling. Hicks sprayed them with the pulse rifle.
Nothing else came at him. Hicks slowly moved forward, his attention momentarily drawn to the ground as he avoided the pools of acid blood from the dead aliens. The infrared lens showed the pools in bright lime. He couldn't miss them.
And then he knew he was at the entrance of the large chamber. He leaned against the stone wall, trying to catch his breath. It wasn't as if he had been running. It was just the adrenaline and the fear, pumping his blood. He needed to get a hold of himself, needed to slow down and think clearly, or he was dead meat.
Hicks slowly leaned to look around the corner. He came face to face with the huge jaws of a queen. Her mouth gaped open and she struck out at him with her inner jaws. He dodged the blow at the last second and slammed himself on the opposite wall, letting loose with the smartgun. The queen squealed in anger and collapsed as Hicks continued to fire at her. "Bitch!"
Then out of nowhere, a drone grabbed him from behind. Hicks fought the alien's powerful grip and then it sank its teeth into his left arm. He howled in pain. Bent on getting himself out of the alien's grip, Hicks managed to turn around enough to get the muzzle of his pulse rifle right up against the creature's chest. Hicks pulled the trigger and lucky for him the recoil propelled him backward out of the alien's grip. He felt acid blood spray his legs and, ignoring the pain, he continued to shoot at the drone until it stopped moving.
Without thinking, Hicks ran into the center of the chamber and circled, his infrared lens picking up multiple images of queens and drones…and a solitary human figure among them. Packer…
Krall, Cole and Roth pulled rocks off the pile and tossed them to the side. But each time they thought they were making some headway, a new pile of rocks fell from the ceiling.
Newt kicked angrily at the rocks around her. "Goddammit! Hicks, will you answer me!" She had been trying to call him for the last ten minutes and he wasn't answering her. Either he had turned his com off or he was not answering because he was dead. She didn't want to think or believe in the latter. Then she turned to see Bishop walk in.
Bishop glanced around at the USCM team. "Did I miss anything?"
Newt waltzed up to him. "I thought I told you to stay in the APC!"
"I know, but Mr Hicks gave me instructions to…"
"I don't care what he said! He's not in charge! I am! I give the orders!" Bishop just stared at her. She felt bad for yelling at him, even though she knew he didn't have any feelings to hurt. "Bishop…" she said in a calmer tone. "Packer took off running and Hicks went after him. Then the ceiling collapsed and now we can't get to them."
"I found another way in."
"Another way in? Where?"
"This way."
They all followed Bishop out of the cave.
Hicks looked through the infrared lens, seeing Packer standing among the drones. He aimed the smartgun in that direction. "Packer, move away from them or I swear to God, you're going down with them!"
Packer didn't move and Hicks could tell he was looking right at him. He was swaying slightly, almost as if he were drunk. The king was communicating with him. Hicks wondered what the damned thing was telling him.
Then suddenly the lights came on. Hicks pushed the infrared eyepiece away and glanced around the ceiling of the mammoth cave. He could see the light sources and knew that they weren't a natural part of the cave. Someone had wired this cave. He knew it couldn't have been the aliens.
Speaking of aliens, Hicks glanced around the chamber. He counted three queens and some two dozen drones. Facehuggers scrambled in and around the legs of the queens. But none of them made any attempt to move toward him and they moved too fast for him to count them. Were they aware of the arsenal he carried and the damage it could do? Hicks glanced behind him to the spot where he knew the king was perched. And there he was, staring down at him.
"Hello, you fucking freak show…" Hicks raised the smartgun and was about to fire.
"YOU CANNOT KILL ME."
The voice was back in his head. Oh, yes I can, thought Hicks, I can kill you now. I can kill you anytime. Hicks raised the smartgun again.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS."
Hicks found himself dropping both pulse rifles, then the smartgun. No, fight it…fight it, goddammit…He backed away from the weapons now lying on the ground…Shit, he was dead meat…Two drones moved forward to retrieve the weapons on the ground. Hicks watched as they walked to what looked like a pool full of something black and tossed the weapons into the gook. Shit…shit…shit...No weapons. Now what, idiot? His attention went back to Packer, who was staring in his direction, his expression something animalistic, almost inhuman. He still held a pulse rifle, which he now tossed on the ground and slowly started walking toward Hicks.
"YOU WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH. THE SURVIVOR WILL SERVE ME."
Hicks felt his sanity start to slip away. He felt himself going to that dark place in his mind…where he felt like killing everything…and everyone…He wanted to kill Packer and he was going to kill him. Yes, kill him…kill him and serve the Divine One.
The two men circled each other, removing their shielding, their headsets, anything that would obstruct their ability to fight. The queens and the drones looked on, jaws grinning in anticipation of the bloodshed. The one who didn't survive would be food for them. It was the Divine One's will.
Bishop pushed some bushes aside to reveal an old rusted iron door.
"Bishop, was there some kind of installation on this planet at one time?" asked Newt.
"Not that I know of." Bishop yanked on the door and it opened with a grind, iron against stone.
The interior on the other side of the door was dark. The team turned on their flashlights as they filed in one at a time, with Bishop in the lead. The small room was full of machinery.
Newt walked around, looking at the machines, shining her light on them. Then the lights came on. She glanced over and saw that Bishop had found the light switch. Then she turned back to what looked like a computer console. But the symbols on the keyboard were strange. "Bishop, take a look at this." She waited for him to come up beside her. "What are these symbols?"
Bishop looked at the symbols on the panel. It was also on some labels marking buttons and switches. "I'm not familiar with this at all."
Shale called out from a door panel that she managed to slide open. "Look what we have down here."
Newt and Bishop walked toward the doorway, followed by Krall, Cole, Roth and Snow. They all went down steps that looked as if they were floating in mid-air, nothing holding them together. The room they entered was huge and to everyone's surprise the machinery along all the walls was functioning. Blue, red and yellow lights indicator lights flickered on the instruments. More of the strange symbols marked the control panels.
What drew Bishop's attention sat at the center of the room. It was a globe about ten meters in diameter. It was slowly spinning. At the top of the globe was a disk where a dozen black cables extended from and disappeared into the ceiling.
Newt came up to stand beside Bishop. "What the hell is this?"
"I can only guess that this might be what's powering the electro-magnetic shield."
Newt spied another door at the other end of the room. "What was Hicks' fact finding mission for you?"
"He had his suspicions that there was a compound in the vicinity."
"How did he know that?"
"He didn't say. He just told me to look for something that didn't look like part of the environment."
"Get to work on trying to figure out what all this is. We're going to look for Packer and Hicks. Keep me posted if you find anything."
Bishop got to work on identifying the machinery while the others followed Newt toward the other door. She glanced at a panel on the side of the door and upon pushing a square panel, the door slid open.
Newt turned to Roth. "Get on the tracker."
Roth stepped in front of her and activated his motion tracker.
Hicks stared at Packer, who stared right back at him. They were circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. He glanced up at the alien king. The lights overhead were giving Hicks the ability to see more of the creature, more detail. He began to notice things about it that made him think that it wasn't a living thing, that it might be a machine. It never moved its head, never moved its jaws, never made a sound.
Then finally Packer made the first move, lunging at Hicks. Hicks had been distracted looking at the king and didn't see Packer coming until the last second. Packer had his hands on Hicks' throat, trying to cut off his air supply. Hicks brought his arms up between Packer's and tried to push them apart to dislodge Packer's hands. He strained, using every ounce of strength he had, while trying to keep himself from blacking out from lack of oxygen. One final push and Packer's hands were off him. Hicks slammed his forehead into Packer's face, bloodying his nose and then he fell backward.
Packer ignored the pain in his nose and picked Hicks up by the shirt. He made a fist and smashed Hicks twice in the face. Hicks collapsed on the ground again. He staggered on all fours. Packer came up and was about to kick him in the gut. Hicks grabbed his foot and twisted it, forcing Packer to the ground. Then he threw himself on Packer, punching him in the face, first with his left and then his right.
Packer reached for a rock and smashed it on the side of Hicks' head. Hicks saw stars as he fell. Packer punched him in the face again and Hicks tasted blood in his mouth. He slammed the heel of his hand into Packer's nose, feeling the crunching of bone. Packer howled in pain and scrambled away. Hicks staggered on all fours, coughing and spitting up blood. He wiped at it with the back of his hand, unknowingly smearing it across his face.
Roth's motion tracker picked up the six aliens long before they reached the team, who prepared for their arrival. Snow sprayed the corridor as the aliens raced toward them. Three fell immediately, while the other three kept coming. As Snow continued to fire, Krall stood beside him and let loose with his flamethrower. The remaining aliens went down. The motion tracker registered no other movement, so Newt moved forward.
Hicks could hear the alien king in his head. He slowly staggered up on his feet.
"KILL HIM NOW. DO IT AND SERVE ME. I CAN GIVE YOU IMMORTALITY."
Packer unsheathed a commando knife out of his boot and turned to face Hicks. Hicks hadn't thought to bring a knife. No problem. He'd just have to take Packer's. Packer was bigger than Hicks, but Hicks had tangled with the biggest Centurions without a problem.
When Packer slashed at him, Hicks jumped backward to avoid the knife. He didn't realize until it was too late that he was backing into the wall of aliens. One of them reached out and grabbed him by the arm, the same arm another alien had nearly taken off with his jaws. Distracted by the groping alien, Hicks didn't see Packer lunge again. The knife sank into his left shoulder. Packer withdrew it and sank it into Hicks' left thigh.
Newt stopped in her tracks at the sound of an extremely loud blood-curdling agonizing cry. She quickened her steps and the team followed behind her. Roth's motion tracker was beeping again. Then the team came upon an opening in the wall of the corridor. They stepped out onto a ledge overlooking a huge chamber.
She stared in horror at the scene below her. Hicks was surrounded by three queens and more than two dozen drones. One of the drones was holding him by the arm while Packer prepared to plunge a knife into Hicks' chest. Newt quickly adjusted her pulse rifle to fire a single shot at a time and she raised it up. She fired one shot, hitting Packer in the leg.
Packer staggered backward. Hicks struggled with the alien holding him and finally he pulled himself away, resulting in the creature's claws raking over his shoulder, where Packer had stabbed him. Packer was writhing on the ground now, holding his leg.
Hicks looked up at the ledge that was above the alien king. He saw Jorden and the rest of the USCM team. But it didn't register that they were there to help him. He looked down at Packer and got on top of him, ripping the knife out of his hand. Kill him…serve the Divine One…Hicks plunged the knife into Packer's chest…over and over…"Mother fucker!"
Newt's eyes went wide as she watched Hicks stabbing Packer in the chest repeatedly. He didn't stop, even as she saw that Packer was no doubt already dead.
The aliens spotted the new threat and jumped into action. The meal would have to wait. There were new hosts to deal with.
Newt adjusted her pulse rifle again and fired as the first of the aliens scaled the wall and reached them. "Kill them all," she told her team as she slung her rifle on her shoulder. Then she moved to the edge of the ledge and looked down. There was another ledge below. She could drop down to it and then drop down again to the main floor. She proceeded to lower herself over the side.
Hicks was oblivious to the shooting around him as the team blew away the aliens. He just kept plunging the knife into Packer's chest. Thin ribbons of blood trailed the knife as he raised it and plunged it again. Kill him…serve the Divine One…
Newt dropped down from the upper ledge and came face to face with a set of jaws containing teeth that were almost as tall as she was. The sudden sight of the huge mouth startled her and she instinctly jumped back. Her feet slipped on the edge and she fell backward, landing hard on her back.
Hicks heard Newt cry out in pain and he slowly got off of Packer's bloodied and mutilated body. He felt excruciating pain in his shoulder and in his thigh. As he limped toward Newt, he fell on his knees and puked.
"YOU BELONG TO ME NOW. GET UP AND KILL HER."
Hicks raised his head, looking in Newt's direction. Kill her…
Bishop walked down along a corridor, following the thick black cables that had been attached to the globe. The corridor split up ahead and Bishop followed the path where the cables continued to run along the ceiling.
Newt rolled in agony. Then she finally forced herself up on her feet. She leaned against the wall for support and looked up. Hicks was getting on his feet. He still had the knife in his hand and he was moving toward her. She looked into his eyes and saw something wild in them, something out of control. She slowly lifted her pulse rifle toward him. "Stop right there, Hicks."
Hicks gave her an evil smirk. The Divine One wanted her dead and he was going to kill her. If he had to die trying then that was the Divine One's will. He continued to move toward her. "Go ahead and shoot."
Newt watched him walking toward her. He was covered in blood, Packer's blood and his own. His face was smeared with it. He looked like a crazed psycho on a killing rampage. "I mean it, Hicks. Don't move any closer!" Newt fought with her feelings. She didn't want to shoot him.
Then from somewhere above, a barrage of bullets struck the ground in front of Hicks, making him stop in his tracks. Hicks looked behind him. All the queens and the drones were dead. Several facehuggers were running around, but they were getting blown away one at a time. He was on his own. The Divine One had no children left. It was up to him.
Newt watched as Hicks raised the knife again, blood still dripping from it, from his hand. He took several more steps and more bullets hit the ground at his feet.
"Go ahead and kill me! Do it!" Hicks stared wild-eyed up at the threatening marines.
"No!" yelled Newt. "Hold your fire, goddammit!"
Hicks looked down and met her eyes. She lowered her pulse rifle and raised her hands. All he had to do was take five more steps and he'd be on her, burying the knife right into her heart. Put her out of her misery…No, not her…something about love. Yeah, he was in love with her. Fucking fool…kill her. Don't let her trap you. She'll turn you in. You'll go to prison.
"KILL HER. DO IT NOW."
Newt held her hands up. She knew he was listening to the voice in his head. "Listen to my voice, Hicks. Don't listen to him. Just drop the knife."
Hicks tilted his head and he looked at the knife in his hand, looked at the blood dripping from the blade. He felt the pain in his shoulder and thigh, every bone in his body hurt.
"Dwayne…look at me."
Dwayne? Who was Dwayne? He had heard that name before. He looked up at her.
"I love you…"
Bishop entered the mammoth cave through a doorway. He was on the ledge where the alien king was. But he immediately saw the creature for what it was. A machine. An immobile machine. He looked up at the cables and followed them to where they intercepted with the creature. What would happen if he simply broke the connection, disconnected the creature from the spinning globe?
"I love you, Dwayne. Please drop the knife."
"KILL HER NOW! DO IT! DO IT!"
Hicks felt the knife slip out of his hand. Then suddenly the voice in his head was gone and he had no idea where he was.
Newt watched as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he pitched forward, falling on his knees. Then he fell backward. Despite the pain in her back, she rushed over to him, sliding down on her knees next to him. When she lifted his head up on her lap, he came out of it, looking dazed and confused.
"Where am I?" He winced in pain.
Newt looked up at the mega-monster on the ledge. Then she saw Bishop step out from behind it.
"I think I disabled it," said Bishop. "It was just a machine."
Newt looked back down at Hicks. He was writhing in pain. "Is he still talking to you?"
"Talking to me? Who?" And then everything went black.
Hicks had passed out. Newt gently lowered his head on the ground. Then she got up and looked up at Bishop. "Bishop, get down here. I need you to carry him out of here."
"Are we finished in here?" yelled Krall from above.
"Yes. We'll meet you back at the APC."