THE AURELIUS

Helen made her way down to the next level and into the lounge area. She scratched underneath her chin while looking around for any signs of Jarreck. She walked over to the side table and saw what appeared to be a paperback novel laying face down with its pages open. It was the same one Jarreck had been dragging around everywhere he went. Helen lifted the book up to get a look at its cover. "Complex Analysis of Unstable Systems" read the title. Helen grimaced and spoke to herself. 'So this is what he does to relax...Jeez,' She put down the book like it was a piece of unclean underwear and turned to see Jarreck stumble in with an armful of oddly shaped gadgets, each seemingly of different proportions.

He put everything down on a larger table and breathed out while wiping the sweat off his brow. Some of the items rolled off the table and fell with a clatter to the floor.

'I think I've got my annual does of exercise, don't you?' smiled Jarreck acknowledging Helen.

She looked at the items, beginning to conjure up some kind of response to them but then thought better of it. 'Uh...Yuya told me to come get you. They've found something – the others I mean. I think it might be important.'

'Oh yeah?' said Jarreck as he flopped himself down on the couch and started poking through the objects. 'Is it urgent?'

Helen reflected for a moment. 'I don't think so,' she said slowly. 'But it's important.'

'Well, if it's urgent tell him I'll be right up. But if it isn't, I need some time here. I got myself some work to do.'

'What kind of work?' she asked, unable to suppress her curiosity any longer.

'Long story, kid.' he replied looking up.

'Well, I'm not going anyplace.'

'Okay...I just figured,' he scratched behind his ear thoughtfully. 'I figure that in case something bad does happen-' and then on seeing the wide-eyed look on Helen's face he spoke quickly trying to ease her fears. '-not that anything like that's guaranteed to happen! I'm just taking precautions. Every exploration vehicle usually takes on these procedures.' Jarreck bit his lip. He had lied about that. Well, technically it wasn't a lie. Every ship did have standard precautionary measures, but these did not include the use of weapons. He'd just obscured part of the truth. A little voice nagged at him; then, again, technically, didn't that qualify as a lie? He ignored it and continued. 'So, in the rare instance that something like this does happen, we could do with basic weapons of some sort.'

Helen nodded and then looked at him, puzzled. 'But these don't look like weapons...' she pointed out.

'Yeah, I know. Not yet...I need to actually couple a few of 'em together. It's kind of primitive, I know. But it's the best I can do in a short span of time.'

She picked up a sleek piece of metal that tapered off into a point and peered at it. 'Gunpowder-kind-of-primitive?'

He laughed. 'No, not that far back. You're holding a laser generator there. I'm going to use this baby,' he picked up an object strikingly bulky in comparison to the laser, 'to amplify this strength of this laser so that it can burn through about two feet of steel.'

Helen opened her mouth in an O-shape. 'Whoa! Can I help build it?'

'Okay, for the preliminary stages. After that I need to go test it out and I'd prefer it if you could maybe...uh...'

'Get lost?' grinned Helen.

'Not in such harsh terminology – but yeah, that's the gist of it. Don't want you to burn a hole in your arm or anything.'

'Sure, no problem.' she sat herself down next to him. 'When do we start?'

THE CRAFT

'Oh, this is a mistake,' breathed out Reuban as he clutched part of his helmet with his suited hand.

Lexington spoke loudly. 'Regan? You alright down there?'

'Just fine...just fine. Uh...if this is even possible, it's damned dark down here. I can't see very far at all.' came Regan's voice.

'Check your lamp – maybe the battery's dying.' said Lexington.

A beat. 'No, battery level looks fine. It's just extra dark in here, that's all.'

'That doesn't make sense, why should light intensity vary from one area to another?' asked Omitsu.

'Because there were more of us with lamps up here, that's all.' explained Barnaby.

'No...no, I don't think that's it. It seriously does seem darker in here folks.' said Regan.

Reuban shuffled his feet together in nervousness. This talk – be it paranoid or the plain truth – wasn't easing his anxieties in the least. He found this new turn of events, and their decision to let one of their members to go off on his own very risky. If something were to happen what was plan B? The point is, thought Reuban, there is no plan B. We're playing this score by ear – what a time to improvise! How many of them, he thought, would be willing to risk it all and go retrieve Regan if he became injured? Lexington maybe. But he doubted that Barnaby would be able to squeeze out any courageousness out of all that sarcasm he'd soaked up. As for Omitsu, he honestly couldn't read, let alone anticipate what the woman would do. I guess I'd be the next pawn to sacrifice in this chess game in hell.

'Reuban?' said Lexington, turning towards his friend.

'What?'

Lexington placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 'You look a tad queasy... Need to sit down awhile?'

'Where? On that wooden bench near the scenic lake?' quipped Reuban, a little irritated. He sighed, regretting his snappishness and changed his tone. 'No, no. I'm fine. Just nervous.'

A voice spoke up. 'Hate to interrupt any party talk, but I think I'm going to walk down a little further here. I think my eyes have adjusted themselves enough to detect a faint light further on...'

Omitsu quickly hustled herself to Lexington's side. 'Wait, you'll need someone to come with you. Lower me down, Lexington.'

Reuban looked at Omitsu in surprise. A minute ago, she appeared to be rather hesitant in anyone proceeding down that opening. And now she was all game for it.

As if she read his mind, Omitsu turned to Reuban moments before Lexington and Barnaby lowered her down. 'Precautionary, of course. Two heads are better than one...'

Reuban felt as if he couldn't believe her. But he nodded anyway.

THE AURELIUS

'Spanner please,' said Jarreck holding two pieces of equipment together, 'I think I placed the damned screw in the wrong joint...'

Helen handed it to him. 'Where'd you learn all this stuff? Do they teach you this while you qualify to become a pilot?'

He paused, as if deciding how to answer the question. 'Not really...'

'Don't tell me you used to build weapons as a child,' she said, suppressing a laugh.

Jarreck chuckled. 'Remember that long story I failed to tell? Has something to do with that.'

'Oh.'

He put down what he was working on and sighed. 'Long stories are long because they don't exactly warrant enthusiasm on behalf of the storyteller.'

'I won't tell anyone.' said Helen.

'Oh that's not the issue...that's not the issue here at all. Your uncle knows. As do Lexington and Yuya. Matter of fact, it was your uncle who bailed me out of the mess I was in. And what a mess it was...' he said, breathing out slowly.

'Something to do with your family?'

'No. Before this job – before I became a pilot, I was a physicist, Helen. I went on this run to test out this new craft I helped built. And stuff went wrong. Lost my friends, my job, my reputation...'

'I see,' she said quietly. Getting him to go into detail didn't seem a good idea – it actually looked as if it physically pained him to do so. 'You don't have say anything more about it if you don't want to. Shit happens, huh?'

Jarreck picked up the objects and began working on them again. 'Boy, does it ever.'

Helen placed her hands on her lap and looked at her watch. 'Shoot. I forgot to tell Yuya that I found you... Should probably go back up there and let him know.' She rose from her seat and looked at him before exiting the room. 'I'm sorry. About what happened to you. But in my opinion, it looks like whatever happened wasn't your fault. Doesn't seem as if you'd do something that bad deliberately...you shouldn't blame yourself...I know that sounds awfully trite, but it's true.'

Jarreck looked at the heap of objects that were now beginning to roughly resemble working weapons. 'Thanks.' he said. He watched the girl walk out of the room and spoke to himself. 'Can't exactly lift the blame when you yourself aren't sure of what happened, can you?'

THE CRAFT

Omitsu squinted in the darkness despite the presence of the two lamps. Looks like Regan might be correct after all, she thought. She felt cramped and restrained and wondered why. She stretched out her hands and felt something solid. Omitsu walked a few paces towards Regan and spoke. 'A corridor? Why didn't you notice this earlier?' she asked him.

'I didn't think it was important,' he began.

'That's probably why it's so goddamn dark in here.' she sounded irritated.

'Shall we press on?' said Regan ignoring her. 'Lexington? Hang on to that rope, huh? If Gretel and I get lost here, we'll need something to help us find our way back.'

'Will do.' answered Lexington.

'You're right about that light though...' spoke Omitsu softly, pointing ahead of her. 'Not to bright to assume that it's some kind of lamp. The corridor probably widens out into a larger area. It doesn't even seem too far ahead...'

Three minutes later they both found out that her words rung true. This new area seemed even larger than the one they first entered. There was a solid walkway that almost seemed like a crude impression of a catwalk, with sloping edges on either side. Omitsu looked around her, and on first glace, her lamp illuminated something that looked like uneven lumps. She steadied herself and looked closer. Omitsu quickly clutched Regan in excitement.

'Look, look...' she breathed.

'Oh my God, oh my God...'

'What is it?' came Lexington's voice.

'Eggs. Hundreds and thousands of eggs.' said Regan softly.

'I've got to take a look,' said Omitsu as she climbed down before Regan could stop her.

She slid down the small embankment and landed with a thud on the floor. She quickly struggled to get up and made her way to the nearest egg. Omitsu tentatively touched the outer skin and found that pieces of it flaked off onto her suited palm.

'It's so dry... I think whatever's in here is dead. It must have been dehydrated or something – they need liquid to survive! I wonder if they utilize water as a solvent for their metabolic reactions...' she said, mainly to herself.

'Are you completely sure it's dead?' came another voice. Omitsu thought it was Reuban.

'I'm ninety percent sure.' She pressed her hand with more weight against the side of the egg, and watched a chunk of it fall to the floor. 'Oh yeah, whatever was in here passed on to the next life a while ago.' Omitsu quickly turned to Regan. 'Hey, do me a favor and go get one of the larger sample cases from Lexington.'

'You're taking a sample back?' asked Regan.

'Better than that – we should take a whole egg back. Without damaging it, of course. The damn thing's so fragile...' Omitsu explained.

'Great.' Regan turned and made to go back when he suddenly slipped down the same side of the embankment. As he fell, they both felt the ground shudder and heard a low vibrating hum resonate around the large area.

'Wha-' Regan managed to say as he clutched the embankment behind him to steady himself and closed his eyes.

'What's going on?' shouted Lexington. 'What the hell's going on?'

Omitsu almost fell over the egg, but forced her eyes to remain open. She saw something faintly blue emanate from the middle of the room. Like some kind of electrical mist – something she likened to the blue haze she saw in dance clubs. The mist slowly began to spread towards all corners of the area but never seemed to rise above the average height of each egg. Omitsu inhaled quickly and for a second thought her oxygen cylinder was damaged. The air had undoubtedly gotten thicker, more humid. The mist, she thought. Mist. Water vapor. That was what was keeping the eggs alive. This is a goddamn hatchery.

'Regan!' she shouted. 'Regan, go get that container! I want a large one!'

'You can't be serious!' he yelled.

'DO IT!'

He struggled to get up amidst the shuddering which seemed to be getting more violent by the minute. She watched as he scrawled up the embankment and then turned her attention to the eggs. She blinked her eyes. Was it just her imagination or was the skin transforming from its dry texture to something more organic, more translucent? She managed to smile nervously amidst her fear, and thought: We'll find out soon though, won't we?

THE AURELIUS

'Copy that, we're making a turn now heading your way. Stay cool, guys. It's going to be alright. Just stay cool.' spoke Yuya into his headphone. He turned his attention momentarily to Helen and spoke with his back to her. 'What the hell is Jarreck doing?'

'I told you – he's making some weapons in case something bad should happen.' She clutched Yuya's seat in panic. 'Are they okay? What happened?'

Yuya ignored her and spoke into the headphone again. 'What's that? Yeah...give me about twenty minutes. I'm charging her up to full speed.' Then suddenly he spun his chair around and faced Helen. 'What did you say?'

Helen's eyes started to tear, how had everything suddenly managed to go so wrong? 'I told you...he's making-'

'-weapons? Oh my God. Oh shit.' Yuya began to unbuckle himself out of his seat as fast as possible thinking with equivalent speed. His mind fled back to the Romulus incident and thought about all those people. All those people who died. They said Jarreck murdered them all, but he wasn't proved guilty. That didn't happen, did it? Jarreck was incapable of being so violent. But hadn't he told Yuya once, that sometimes he wasn't even sure of what happened himself? Yuya raced down the ladders, sliding down them like firemen do, cursing to himself. It wasn't possible, said part of himself. Then the part of him that did make the connection screamed at him like wailing claxons. Something had triggered Jarreck – what, he did not know. And now they were going to have a repeat of what happened two years ago. And they'd even have a new name for it – the Aurelius incident. Yuya was determined to not let it happen. He had to think fast.

He stumbled into the room and saw Jarreck look up at him in surprise. Shit. He didn't want to raise any alarm bells on his counterpart's side. 'We have trouble. I've uh...' he glanced at the weapons that lay before Jarreck and continued, 'you need to get into the locker room. There's some...maintenance manuals I need.'

'What's wrong?' said Jarreck as he stood up.

'I'll explain later.' And then on seeing the other man's anxious expression, 'Please! There's no time,'

'Okay, okay... Which locker room?'

'The one on this level.' said Yuya stepping aside to let Jarreck walk in front of him. 'By the ladders,'

They walked towards the room and Jarreck slammed his hand on the button that opened the door. 'Listen, I need to know what's going on.' He paused in the entrance.

'I'm sorry, man.' With that, Yuya used all his strength to shove Jarreck inside the room. Jarreck stumbled but didn't fall. He paused, not so much because of the shove, but more due to shock. Before he could make it to the door, Yuya shut it and entered a six digit pin that only he and Reuban were aware of to lock the door from the outside. He stepped back as he heard Jarreck pound on the door with his fists, shouting – his voice muffled but not inaudible.

'What the heck is going on?! YUYA!!! What the heck is going on!!!'

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay. Here it is...from now on the chapters are going to take a darker turn. For two reasons. Firstly, all Alien stories take darker turns. Secondly, I'm so angry and upset because not only did my poor Espana get eliminated from the UEFA games but so did England (the ref made a deliberate bad call – disallowing Sol Campbell's goal, favoring the host team, Portugal), Italy, Germany and France. Hell hath no fury like a football fan scorned. Will be rooting for the Czechs to win it from here onwards.

But thanks for all your reviews. And please give me a bit more time to correct the errors I've made previously. The football matches aren't over yet and the next chapter won't be up until the tournament's over. You guys should watch too!