CHAPTER 2 – Easter Eggs
"Okay, refresh my memory again. We're looking for what exactly?" asked Johann through the intercom of his suit to Andrew. Their suits were less bulky than the ones they used to shovel snow but had more equipment and protective covering designed for their kind of task.
Andrew grunted, tired of Johann's absentmindedness. "Easter eggs, Johann…we're looking for Happy Easter Eggs – Aliens, man! What else would we be here for? Didn't you hear boss-lady's orders?"
"Orders? You mean those snarling growls were an actual language?"
The snowy hill on the side of the embankment was actually an abandoned military outpost from when the sampling expeditions first started. Over the years it had simply become another part of the snowy scenery. The men parked their snowmobiles alongside the northern wall so the sun would keep at least a degree or so of warmth as they inspected the nearby area.
Johann surveyed ahead of Andrew. As said by Dora (or what he deciphered from her) an Alien drone had gone missing from the morning count and, according to the perimeter of the safeguards along each outpost, it was somewhere along this section; their job was to recover the Xenomorph with minimal damage and return it to the Nest. The snow was falling harder in this zone of the valley and made vision more than 10 feet away difficult. He found no tracts on the ground; the snow was falling too fast with too much abundance for any clear marks to be left. Even his own footprints were disappearing quickly.
He heard Andrew call out and ran to the outpost where he found him standing by the entrance. The roof of the entrance had kept most of the falling snow away protecting the unmistakable tracts of a Xenomorph drone.
They quickly went to get the larger weapons out of their snowmobile's trunk and returned ready to face the menace inside but before Andrew took a step in Johann grabbed his arm.
"Whoa, where are you going? Shouldn't we wait for the Oasis guys to get here? I mean, they wait for us and protocol says that both bases should collaborate on these kind of things."
Andrew thought about it. "I guess, alright. But they better hurry up, the more we linger the longer that thing has time to go into hiding. Then it'll be hell to track it down."
The Oasis base was located just on the other side of where the Odyssey base stood with the Alien Nest in between them. Both had the same assignment by the directors and were also in charge of Xenomorph recovery and relocation. The teams had agreed to send two members at a time to minimize surprise attacks. Yet twelve minutes passed and still no sign of the Oasis recovery team. Johann agreed that waiting would do no good so they decided to go ahead without them.
Andrew readied his weapon.
"Time to earn our non-existing pay," he said with a sneer.
Both men entered the dark interior. It was cold inside the inert base, ridiculously colder than the outside but fitting for its dead atmosphere. Even with their special suits they could still feel the uncomfortable bite of the frost on their skin. The only light came from their helmets and at the end of their large weapons creating eerie shadows wherever the light missed. Supposedly, within the confines of the dancing shadows was a creature more than willing to gut their insides like a fish.
With the first room cleared, they entered the next chamber. The control room. No ice decorated its equipment; the air was too dry for that to occur.
A dry, rasping noise caught their attention and quickly aimed their weapons at the source of it: behind a derelict control panel weathered by time.
"Remember, we aren't allowed to kill those things…" started Johann, his anxiety evident in the soft quivering of his voice. Out of the two men, Johann was the least experienced in this type of profession. Before he was admitted as a member of the Odyssey Johann served in the military and was accustomed to blindly killing the creatures. The thought of an unconscious – an alive – Xenomorph at his feet was his idea of a time bomb waiting to explode.
"I know, I know. Knock it out, return it to the Nest, and run the hell back. But if it starts to fuck around I'm putting an explosive bullet in its ugly head."
Johann nodded. "I got my Fat Lady ready, cover me."
Andrew nodded back. "Gotcha. Fat Lady ready here. Go ahead."
Fat Ladies were the names given to their assigned matrix guns. Unlike normal weapons, which carried ammunition, Fat Ladies needed a large battery pack to create an air matrix. Crudely explained, when triggered the Fat Lady created a small explosion of compressed air that shot out in the form of a matrix air bubble, when said bubble exploded the force knocked out anything in its path. It was fast and very effective but due to their large size it was clumsy and loud.
Hence the name Fat Lady.
As Johann got closer he could hear his heartbeat pounding inside his head. He tried to calm himself down, telling himself that he had already a few encounters under his sleeve, that he was cool and everything would be fine. Yet every experience was new with a very high level of hazard; not to mention they were down two extra personnel. The creatures had been known to gain sadistic pleasure out of ripping limbs in order to try and drag the handicapped victim away within the chaos.
His next step caused the rasping noise to get louder and turned into an angry hiss. He saw the head of the creature draw back into the confines of the panel and the wall.
Johann retreated slowly, keeping his weapon aimed in case the Xenomorph showed unwanted behavior.
"We could lure it out," he suggested to Andrew in a near whisper, "It'd be too risky to try and get it. It's got a nice position, once chomp on our asses and were done."
"Is it that big a drone?"
Johann scoffed. "The old one with the scar."
"Fuck." Andrew hissed. "Grandpa."
Andrew signaled Johann to step back with him a little bit more. When they were behind a cement column near the outlet he spoke again.
"Alright…we've dealt with Grandpa before; it's a tough son of a bitch. It's smart. We've got to bring it down with minimal damage…to both it and us."
"It knows almost all of our tricks though. It didn't fall for the bait procedure – (i.e. one person assumes the role of injured, acting as a lure, while the rest take position around the perimeter) – and I don't think it's going to get tricked by anything less."
"Fine, then we're going to have to be more persuasive and use force. Damn, Dora's going to chop off our balls and stuff them in a pickle jar if she finds so much as a bruise on Grandpa. God knows how long that thing has been her main study subject; she's practically in love with it."
Johann chuckled. "Apple of her eye…"
"Fuck it. We're out here, risking my goddamn life for no money and she's just sitting on her ass all day. Grandpa will be lucky if all it gets is a bruise. Alright, screw the tricks, we'll each go around and try to box it in, if that doesn't work don't give it a chance to attack, just shoot."
"You put tactical officers to shame man," Johann said with a low laugh.
"Shut up."
Each man took a corner on either side of the room, and with their backs hugging the wall, slowly paced towards their target. The Alien hissed louder with each advancing step they took, warning the humans of a foolish act. Andrew stopped for a second when he saw Grandpa's ridged tail swivel elegantly in the shadows. He knew that meant the Xenomorph was readying for some sort of action; the same kind of coiling movement rattlesnakes do before striking. As he continued with his advance he prayed for no surprises from the old Alien.
Andrew sidestepped and soon had the Alien within sight. It was definitely Grandpa with its signature scar running down its face. All of a sudden it spun around and snarled angrily when Johann got too close. It was then Andrew saw something odd on the Alien's body; small, organic, bulb-like structures layering its thick skin. There were four of them – all about the size of a large human head – attached to its back like part of its normal physiology.
Grandpa swiveled its large head back and forth keeping an eye on both humans.
"C'mon Grandpa…" Johann persuaded, getting a bit closer, "C'mon old ugly…"
He brought his weapon higher to get a better aim but as soon as the old Xenomorph heard the telltale powering up of the large weapon it shrieked and soared over the panel, its whipping tail missing Andrew's face by mere inches.
"Fuck!" they yelled.
Andrew shot at it – the loud explosion banging back in thundering echoes, shaking the snow collected on the ceiling – but the creature had vanished from sight into the previous room.
"Not until you have a clear shot!" Johann yelled.
"I know!" he spat back.
They shook their heads in failure; Andrew would have beated himself up for shooting aimlessly because he was taken by surprise.
"Fuck this shit," Johann hissed. After a good kick on the frozen panel to relieve his frustration he turned to Andrew. "Can't believe the fucker got away, we had it right there. Right there… and those things…did you see those things on its back? Man, I knew Grandpa looked weirder than usual."
"You saw those too?"
"Yeah, they looked like cancerous growth, or tumors, or something… You think that's why boss-lady was freaking out so badly? I mean, if anything bad were to happen to Grandpa she'd have a heart attack. No offense."
"None taken. I know what you mean though, and we'd end up with the blame anyways. She'd find a way to blame us then bitch about this and bitch about that 'till the end of time. We'd never hear the end of it. Shit…"
Johann took a moment to gather his thoughts then readied his weapon again.
"Ready for take two?" he said.
Andrew nodded. "My Fat Lady needs to recharge but let's go ahead, by the time we find Grandpa again she'll be ready."
Carefully, they entered the room, ready for any surprises, and quickly surveyed the area. Johann thoroughly checked the various nooks and crannies of the ceiling, both big and small, anyplace that a creature could hide in; Aliens had amazing versatility and could be found in the most unlikely of corners and Grandpa had already established a reputation for sneak attacks from above. Yet the task was proving more difficult than expected due to the odd extensions and overlapping structures that blocked his view. Andrew took a few more steps forward until he was in the center of the room, he rotated his gun around a few times checking and rechecking for anyplace that an Alien could hide but the room yielded nothing.
Johann came next to Andrew, his weapon down, relaxed. "Man, it ain't here."
"Yes it is!" hissed Andrew, still looking around. "It's gotta be, it didn't go back that's for sure. Look harder."
Suddenly, loud metallic banging came from the outside, the noise dulled by the thickness of the outpost's walls. A loud bellow drowned the metallic rasping.
"Oh fuck!" Andrew yelled running through the room and out into the outside afraid of what he might find.
At first glance all was calm, the snow continued in heavy amounts and all seemed deadly peaceful but the loud noise was all he heard. He didn't understand where it was coming from; even Johann seemed confused at the mixture of metal and roars. They spun around nervously trying to figure out their surroundings but only when a large chunk of metal landed in their direction did they have a suspicion of where the Alien might be.
Running, they turned to the northern corner of the outpost to find Grandpa unreservedly clawing and ripping at their snowmobiles. Different fragments of their vehicles scattered on the ground and dark oil splattered on the white snow like blood. The Xenomorph, ignoring the humans' presence, continued with its inexplicable desire to mutilate the snowmobiles. It seemed to have grown a special hatred towards Johann's vehicle and set all its assault on it.
Johann lunged himself at the creature when he could no longer take the sight of his snowmobile being reduced to scraps.
"Son of a bitch!"
He ran towards the Alien, yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs maybe thinking it would scare the Xenomorph away but Grandpa smacked its tail across his chest with a sickening thud, all the force of the impact concentrated in one second, leaving his weapon behind as he flew.
The human's attack caught the Xenomorph's attention and with another bellow of aggression it leaped in the direction of the fallen man. Andrew bounded onto the creature's back as it ran by, trying to wrap his thick arms around its neck but Grandpa just dropped to its side, rolling on its back to get the human off, then leaped back to its feet leaving the disturbed human on the floor.
Johann didn't even have a chance to recover before Grandpa grabbed him by the hem of his suit with its teeth, jerking its head forward, sending him flying another ten yards only to grab him again seconds after he fell to repeat the deed. Then it proceeded to viciously claw the human, slapping him around the snow like a cat with an injured mouse, just playing around before the inevitable.
With the human disoriented enough the Xenomorph could take its time gnawing the tough suit at the shoulder to expose the human's flesh without his retaliation. Johann's brain was so stupefied that it didn't register the pain as Grandpa sunk its mouth into his shoulder, viciously shaking its head to damage the joint further, the creature's teeth ripping ligaments and tendons as he laid on the ground like a rag doll. It then grabbed his suit again and dragged the limp human a few feet, leaving a thick trail of blood on the snow, before letting him drop from its mouth and raised its head in the direction of an approaching sound.
A loud shriek escaped its mouth when Andrew came in sight on his damaged snowmobile with both Fat Ladies laid on his lap. He took out a small handgun and began to shoot at the creature. His intention was not to harm the Xenomorph – its acidic blood could hit Johann – but to scare it away.
With a loud bellow it ran off but Andrew remained in pursuit.
"Come back here you fucker!" he yelled as he chased the creature until he was right behind the Alien. Just a few yards separated the human from the swift Xenomorph. He reached for one of the Fat Ladies and carefully took aim; the Alien's dark coloration made it easily stand out against the white surrounding.
The loud explosion of the air matrix caught Grandpa and knocked the Alien off its feet with a howl. It fell to the ground and slid a bit in the snow before it stopped. Down but not out Grandpa tried to get up but a subsequent shot from the second Fat Lady sent it reeling again and this time stayed still where it fell.
With the Xenomorph out for the count Andrew took in some much needed breaths of air. The adrenaline pooled in his blood made him lightheaded yet strangely focused; all that was in his mind was finishing his job and did not gave a second thought to Johann and his injuries. The Xenomorph was his main priority; the human's well-being would have to be pushed aside until he was done.
From one of the snowmobile's side pockets he took out a large roll of sturdy cables and a large synthetic net both artificially created to withstand Xenomorphic might. It wouldn't last long should the creature be up and alert but it was strong enough to safely carry downed ones. The Alien was soon tied up like a calf in a rodeo; its tail was tied to its head and both pairs of limbs behind its back with the knots tied over the protruding spines. He noticed that there were only three of those odd growths left, two were extremely damaged, and figured that they must have been lost during the matrix explosion. Grandpa growled lightly and made soft movements. Andrew would have about an hour before the creature came to and regained its strength.
Andrew took out his handgun again and pressed the barrel over the creature's forehead. "You fucked around badly enough…"
After a few hesitating moments he relieved the pressure and put the gun away. He heaved the rope over his shoulder and dragged the bound Alien over to his snowmobile; but soon he had to take a minute to catch his breath before dragging the heavy being up the last two yards.
He could hear Johann stirring and moaning in pain in the background. Without looking up he yelled, "Put snow on it! Keep the swelling down!" and what he first thought were the rumbling clouds of a nearby snowstorm turned to be the distant motor of two approaching snowmobiles.
Andrew put his hand over his eyes to block the shine of the sun on the reflective snow. The snowmobiles sharply turned and stopped a few feet from where the two men where. They quickly dismounted their vehicles when they saw Johann down in a small pool of his own blood but Andrew brushed them off and returned securing the knots on the Alien.
"Don't bother, I got it. Hey, you over there! Leave him alone! He's fine."
A man jogged towards Andrew with his weapon on his side followed by a large St. Bernard dog. He lifted his visor.
"Are you aware your buddy has a bite wound the size of Kansas on his arm? Do you want us to give him some coagulants or something? Shit, he's just lying there and – "
"Goddamn it, didn't I say he's fine? That's what he gets for trying to tackle an experienced Xenomorph; let him suffer a bit, he's fine, now leave him alone and help me with this bastard, that's what you're here for…late might I add."
The man sighed heavily. "Hey man if you guys got into trouble then that's your own damn fault. You should have waited for us, and it's not like the Odyssey has a perfect attendance record anyways; half the time we get there before you even show up at all."
"That only happened once because at that moment attending to a failing heart was more important than an Alien that had decided to go for a stroll."
The man threw his arms in the air. "Whatever," he said, "Do whatever the fuck you want, let your friend bleed to death for all I care. That would be – what – the second time you had replacements? Third, when you send back this guy… So who was it this time?" His voice lost the casual tone.
Andrew brusquely listed the Xenomorph's head, showing the large scar.
"Ah, Grandpa," the man said. "It's been getting more daring these days. Wonder what's gotten them so uptight? Either way, Eliza and I could have helped you guys and gotten it done with twice the efficiency and half the damage. Even you know what you did was pretty damn stupid, trying to lure it out. Grandpa is just too smart for your games… in the end it was Grandpa who played with you."
Andrew got up, keeping eye level with the man. "You want to help John?" He gave the Alien a swift quick on its side. Grandpa hissed and moved around a bit. "Here, take it back to the Nest. As you can see…" – he pointed to the scraps of metal from Johann's snowmobile – "we're having some technical difficulties at the moment."
The large dog sniffed the Alien's head and started barking insanely at it, nipping and clawing its thick skin. Andrew tried to kick the dog but the animal balked out of the way of his foot.
"Get away you mutt!" he spat.
"Homeboy!" John called out to the St Bernard. "C'mon Homeboy, go to Eliza. Go to Eliza. Good boy."
The dog trotted back to the second person that petted the animal, rewarding his obedience, then grabbed the collar ensuring that it wouldn't go away. Andrew hated when they brought over that dog. It wasn't bad enough that it would bark whenever it saw a Xenomorph but that it would be another living thing to look after during the missions.
John looked the Alien over and with the butt of his Fat Lady he pointed at the protrusions. "What the hell are those?"
"Don't know, don't care. Slowed it down a bit though…" He patted John's shoulder and handed the lead rope of the net. "You got half an hour," he said, heading towards Johann. With great care he lifted the injured man and slowly made their way to Andrew's snowmobile.
Joe shook his head at the sight of the damage their snowmobiles had endured. Both vehicles were in the base's garage. Johann's (or what's left of it) hung by wires a few feet of the ground to get a better view of underneath and see if anything could be salvaged but the Xenomorph had damaged everything beyond repair. Andrew's was on the ground adjacent to it, its frame had been removed and it seemed to have received the least damage of the two vehicles.
"Damn, when you guys said you were going to be late because of light engine trouble I expected at most a stalled motor, not this metallic massacre."
He gave a long a whistle as he ran his fingers over the claw marks on the frame. "Grandpa sure gave these things a run for their money; it's going to be cheaper to get a new one than repair that one, definitely, that one's ending up in the junkyard", he said about Johann's snowmobile. "Headquarters is going to have something to talk about when I tell them about this."
"I just want to know if they'll run again," said Andrew leaning on a large metal crate next to a large tool shed.
Joe sighed. "Yours probably, yeah, a good chance it will run, but Johann's is nothing more than material for a junkyard artist. I'll tell ya you shouldn't have bothered trying to drag it here; with the extra weight of Johann, the scrap, and two Fat Ladies, it strained you engine a bit. Nothing that can't be fixed when I pour some time into it but I might suggest a new frame."
Andrew walked over and looked over his snowmobile's frame. Grandpa had made a clean incision from the left fore light to the middle of the carriage and one that reached halfway of that length on the other side. There was the odd dent and scratch but those two claw marks were the primary damage.
"I don't know…" he said, "It doesn't seem to have suffered that much damage and those claw marks do look kind of cool…"
Joe smiled, knowing exactly was Andrew was suggesting. "Gotcha. Claw marks stay."
He grabbed the frame and put it over next to empty cargo boxes. With a few ropes he tied the frame to a low pipe so it wouldn't fall or get in the way; then he lowered the cables until Johann's heap of metal hit the floor with light clinking. He knew he would have to get rid of it but he wasn't sure whether to call for an emergency craft to take it now or wait until the next supply shipment and just pester the pilot until he took it with him.
Joe hesitated a bit before asking, "So…uh, how's Johann? Doing well? Gotta admit, I freaked out a bit when he came in all screaming in pain and shit with blood all over. Reminded me of the nightmares on Xenomorph wipeout missions, know what I mean?" He turned to some knobs on the climate control panel.
Andrew bobbed his head slowly, licking his lips in tension as he remembered the day's events. "Yeah, it was pretty hard shit. He's just an ass, tackling Grandpa, who the fuck does that to Grandpa? Or any Xenomorph for that matter? It's just stupid." There was some buildup in his lungs and coughed hoarsely. "Shit, I better not get a cold or anything. I actually jumped on that fucker's back trying to choke it."
Joe chuckled at the thought. "Heh, ride 'em cowboy."
"No kidding," he said with a smile, "It was wild, I can't even remember doing it, happened so fast. I just saw it run by and jumped on it. And you know what the fucker did? It didn't even stop to buck me off or anything – would have been more fitting though – it just let it legs fall out from beneath it and landed on its back with me underneath."
"Damn, and you still standing? You must have some crazy dumb luck."
"Not luck, luck would have been it snapping its neck as it plummeted to the ground. Besides, all those protruding spines and shit kept most of the weight off me, I hit my head hard though, and all that tossing and turning, snow and Alien flying everywhere. I didn't even know where I was when it came back up again, I just laid there with my brain scrambled up like eggs in a frying pan."
He rubbed his bandaged wounds on his left arm; when Grandpa fell on him one of the protrusions cut through his suit and into his flesh, Winnie had done a good job on patching him up all over but he knew after all that bumping and crashing he would be extremely sore in the morning. Strangely though, he enjoyed his job immensely and took great pride every time a Xenomorph was returned; he understood that Dora and he shared the same odd fascination for these creatures it was just that each took a different approach to admire them. He knew Joe's bias came from bad experience with the Xenomorphs and who could blame him; the creatures were notorious killers and took no prisoners except to pregnate them. Yet even the proud Joe recognized their strength and respected it but it would not change his negative attitude towards them. Andrew hoped that Johann didn't grow to hate Grandpa for what it did to his arm; the Xenomorph just did what came naturally with "for the good of the Hive" mentality. Then again, Andrew still had both of his arms.
"Johann still with Winnie?" Andrew asked.
Joe nodded. "I think so. That arm was in pretty bad shape; I hope you did equal damage to that old bastard, he's toyed with us long enough. Next time, don't even bother trying to knock it out, just blow its brains out and claim self defense."
"Almost did," said Andrew, remembering his handgun on the Xenomorph's head.
"Shame on you, I wouldn't have hesitated; you turning soft for them then?"
Andrew didn't take that too lightly. "Fuck no; it was already knocked out. Didn't have a reason to, sure it fucked back enough but not until Grandpa kills someone will…"
"So you're going to wait until it does kill? Heh, you know damn well they won't kill, they need us alive; even if there's no Queen their instinct to hoard vessels will overcome any other thought in their minds. I've heard of some starving to death just waiting around. And what about Johann's arm? That's not reason there? Maybe if the roles were reversed and you found yourself with your arm being ripped from its socket you wouldn't think twice about using your gun, I can tell you right there."
"Me? Remember the time you shot drone #3? Its blood splattered all over our second guy's face! We had to call an emergency ship from the outpost!"
Joe shrugged. "It's not my fault he was at the wrong place when the drone freaked out! If I didn't shoot then it would have attacked!"
Andrew scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. "Oh yeah, and being splattered with acidic blood is so much better! Joe, his skin was melting off his skull!"
"I did what I had to do and whatever happened happens."
Andrew shook his head, not sure what to say next. Joe was right; the drone was overpowering them and would have killed hadn't Joe pulled out his gun but it was unfair for the guy who had gotten in the way. No matter how many corrective surgeries that guy went through his face would never be the same. Yet volunteering for this mission meant that whatever happened to you was your own fault, you took responsibility to any injuries and your possible death.
He turned around and went out the door, feeling he had to check on Johann. As he turned the corner that lead to the main base he heard Joe yell, "You should have shot it!"
The infirmary was originally located on the lower floor but it was awfully inconvenient for Winnie to run up and down to get a flask of antibiotics or drag someone with an injured leg down the stairs to reach it so it was soon taken apart and relocated on the middle floor for easier access. That way Winnie could attend to their injuries quicker without making that long of a trip.
The large doors parted with a hiss as Andrew approached them. He found Dora sitting on a chair in front of a large pane with Winnie on the other side attending to Johann. She had been an hour operating on Johann's limb and he was surprised that she was still at it. There was a large machine that attached to the central computer hovering over him taking scans of his chest cavity; parts of his chest were visibly swollen with darkening skin around the injuries.
Dora took notice of Andrew's presence and nodded at his direction.
"Hey," she greeted, "Glad to see one of you still standing. So how'd the catch and release go?"
He grabbed another chair from nearby and sat next to Dora with his chest on the chair's backside.
"What can I tell you? Grandpa just went all out berserk, didn't even bothered to sneak around or anything which was a little different from the norm."
Dora chuckled nervously. "It's getting too old for these games of hide and seek…"
"Or too smart. It was weird, Grandpa is not the kind to just jump out and attack; it likes messing around with us too much for that. I'll never forget the time it hid under the snow and grabbed Joe's ankles from below, Christ did that scare the crap out of me. Those guys from the Oasis came right after I was done tying it up…"
"They weren't with you? You didn't wait for them?"
"They were taking too long! I just figured we could in and out and get it over with."
She threw her head back in disbelief. "Christ, Andrew! You know better than to disobey protocol! I don't care if they take two years to get there, you wait!"
"Woman! Don't you think I know? Fuck you, I don't see you suiting up and going on the field missions, you don't anything about how those things are close up. All day with a screen in front of you, you won't learn anything that way."
"I know not to go into the 'lion's den' with only one other person unlike some jerkasses that caused their friend their arm!"
Andrew snapped out of his anger and looked at Winnie on the other side. Her medical attire had blood splattered all over the middle section.
"It's an amputation operation," Dora solemnly explained. "Winnie couldn't do anything to save his arm, it was just too damaged."
Andrew dug his face into his hands. "Fuck…"
"Once she's done we'll discuss when to call a craft to get him out of here, then schedule for the next guy to come."
"I don't want to go through that habitation procedure again, it took Johann three months to get used to this place. He's only been here for a year. I thought he could handle it…"
Dora shrugged. "You should have followed protocol then, this whole thing could have been avoided…but that's a big if. Maybe I'm misjudging you and whatever you did was for the best but just looking at Johann tells me there was something you didn't do right. Maybe it was Johann's fault, hot-blooded men can do stupid things. Then again, maybe I shouldn't have sent him; he's inexperienced with Grandpa, he didn't know how to handle it. I just didn't want to send Joe, he's too aggressive with them, he wouldn't think twice about killing them but now that I look back on it maybe I should have."
She sighed and got out of her chair and kneeled in front of Andrew. She could see a slight look of guilt on his face.
"Hey, we're all going to end up doing stupid shit, to ourselves and others. Just remember Johann was very much aware of what he was agreeing to do."
She leaned forward and kissed Andrew's lips. He didn't hesitate to respond to her advances.
"Don't tell your fiancé," she whispered when their mouths parted.
Andrew knew that she always said that even though he knew better than to do so, maybe it was so he wouldn't forget yet it was more of a playful reminder of what he was getting into. He didn't mind the challenge, in fact, juggling two women made it exciting; as long as he kept his mouth shut this would work out for him.
Winnie was finishing up and Dora walked over to the door that separated the operating room from her. The medic went to clean the blood off her hands while the computer printed out a document; she put it in a yellow folder and went to the door where she whispered something into the woman's ear before handing her the folder. They bid goodbye and Winnie was left in the other room with Andrew.
She gave him a sly look.
"She's a man-eater you know."
Andrew smiled back deviously, "You have no idea…" He gave a long, content whistle.
Winnie shook her head with a smile. "Glad to know you make her feel like a teenager again. Just wait though what goes around comes around. How do you know you fiancé is not double-crossing you?"
"She isn't, I have her wrapped around my finger with a few 'I love you' s'. It will break her heart if she broke mine. Besides, it's not like I'm going to break off my engagement anytime soon for Dora. It's a physical thing, she wants hers and I want mine. It's a win-win deal."
"Just don't boast around the rest of the guys, they're already suspicious."
"Like I give a damn about what they think…they're allowed to leave with permission, Joe's been known to frequent the red light district." He stretched his sore arms before asking, "So what's that you gave Dora?"
"Just some data on the bite wound. She needs any and all information on the Xenomorphs including injuries by them and psychological damage that could manifest itself on the victim."
He looked at Johann lying on the operating table; blood still seeped from underneath the covers.
"Think Johann will have any of that 'psychological damage' thing? I mean, he got played around pretty bad…"
Winnie sighed, "A high probability, I'll keep a close eye on him for you. But who knows, there have been cases where some guys will walk away like they just fell from a swing; shaken but not stirred, others will have to be put on medication to control the flashbacks for the rest of their lives. Johann has been out since you brought him here, first due to blood loss then the anesthetic, I don't think he's even aware that his arm is missing. It's going to be quite a shock when he does, probably would do more mental damage than the actual attack. Grandpa sure did a number on him."
"I think it's getting as bored with it as we are. Back and forth, back and forth, catch and release, catch and release… It gets boring after the umpteenth time you know."
"Well I rarely set foot outside, except for when warmer weather comes, so I tend to enjoy you guy's stories from it. It entertains me."
"More like getting a weird kick out of it… Trade ya jobs then."
Winnie laughed with a mocking hand gesture. "Ha, in less than a week we'd both end up dead. I wouldn't survive more than 30 seconds against those things, even with the best arsenal; and I doubt you'll live with all the nagging of every little ailment we'd give you."
"C'mon, we don't complain that much."
"Oh you don't? I'm putting mothers with colic infants to shame here."
Winnie gestured Andrew to follow her out. "C'mon," she said, "I think there's still some coffee left from this morning and meanwhile you can tell what happened over there."
Andrew smiled at the fact of receiving one of Winnie's cups. "Sounds good to me, just a bit uneasy about leaving Johann though. Heh, I'm starting to feel guilty here."
Andrew went into the hall with Winnie's arm around his shoulder. Out of respect (and the fact that he didn't want to look weak) he didn't say anything even though the woman's weight was slightly painful on his sore muscles.
"So when's Johann leaving?" Andrew felt brave enough to ask.
Winnie thought about it for a moment with lost eyes. "I'm not sure; we have to wait until he comes to then a few extra days for him to get used to his new disability. After that, it could go both ways."
As they walked down the hall Andrew was retelling their encounter with the Xenomorph, adding a little bit more flair for the sake of the woman's entertainment. She listened full heartedly with the same wide-eyed enchantment of a child.
A dull scream brusquely interrupted their conversation. It was deaden from the thickness of the walls but loud enough to reach their ears. They stopped, listening attentively for any signs of the origin of the sound but only when Andrew's name was called out did they figured it was Joe from the garage. His voice sounded panicky so he ran as quickly as he could to see what was the cause of his rushed concern, leaving Winnie behind him.
He found Joe madly pacing back and forth, wielding a large crowbar in one hand and looking at Andrew's snowmobile like it was a rabid dog. The nervous man threw his arms in the air screaming, "I knew it! I fucking knew it!"
"What the fuck man?" Andrew yelled back trying to figure our what the commotion was all about.
Joe pointed at the trunk again with the crowbar.
"In there man! Shit!"
He grabbed Andrew's arm, handing him a slim metal pole, and carefully – almost hesitantly – edged closer to the trunk and pointed with the crowbar at the inside.
Andrew slowly peeked his head out to get a better view at the inside and what he saw made him jump back in fright.
"GODDAMN!"
There on the corner of the trunk, snuggled within a thick layer of resin, was a small, leathery Alien egg.