Small edit for this one: I only just discovered that doesn't keep ' ' and '>' when you upload documents. Hopefully Alien speech will be a bit less irritating now.

Hector slowly walked onto the bridge, closely followed by Mara, Hukken, Jake and Holly. The escape from Earth, from the Aliens, had not been permanent as he had hoped. As they had all hoped.

"What are our options?" asked Jake. He, like all of them, looked as though he had aged ten years.

"We've got a few weapons…" Hector paused. "Simple hunting stuff, mostly. A few lasers and pellet-throwers. The trouble is that the bugs' armour is too thick for most of our weapons to do any damage. Even if we could, we've got the acid to remember. Charon isn't a warship; if the acid spills on the floor and eats its way through the hull, we'll probably blow up from explosive decompression. Or at the very least we'll die of asphyxiation."

Silence.

"So we're dead?" asked Mara, with a humourless laugh. "Well, I for one don't intend to give those things the privilege of ripping us apart without a fight. If we blow the hull, so what? You said it yourself – we don't have enough power to get to a habitable planet."

"Wait," said Holly. "Who says we have to spill their blood to kill them? They told us in the military that the best way of killing a xenomorph in a ship-board situation is to blow it out of an airlock. We'd need a bit of luck, but it has been done."

Unfortunately, that premise relies on there only being one or two… xenomorphs.> The voice echoed through their minds without going via their ears, almost as though they themselves were thinking the words. But there was a distinct, alien quality to the thoughts, which put paid to any such idea.

A large, black shape unfolded from the ceiling and dropped silently to the floor. It was clearly an Alien drone, but even larger than normal, at nearly four metres long. It hissed, and more shapes dropped to the floor, for a total of five drones. All were massive specimens.

The humans crowded together as the creatures advanced, stopping a metre or so away. The first one moved forward slightly, and the voice came again.

As you can see, you are out of your depth. A clever idea, Holly Chance, but as I said, impractical. Especially now that the entire hive knows to avoid the airlocks.>

"That's impossible," muttered Jake. "Aliens can't talk!"

And I see that you survived our last encounter, Dr. Edward Hukken.>

Hukken sighed softly. "I should have known it was you. Only you would have the audacity to hide an entire hive inside a stasis chamber."

Hector spun to look at the man. "You knew there was an entire hive of these monstrosities on my ship?" he said icily.

"And you know this Alien?" added Jake.

"I didn't know for sure! I hoped that… that…" Hukken trailed off. "And yes, I do. I know this entire hive. After all…" He sighed again. "I helped bring them into existence."

Which is a story for another time,> said the drone, cutting him off. There are more urgent matters to attend to. The Queen is… not happy. You were never meant to know we were even here. But my sabotage of the nav-computer was not entirely successful. She feels that the only way that the hive can escape intact is if we cut the power drain dramatically. No hypersleep, no life support… and no humans. She has ordered that the crew be killed, but I persuaded her to hold off so that I could encourage you to surrender.>

Hector laughed harshly. "Why should we do that? So that you don't lose any of your precious hive? No thanks, bug. You want us, you have to take us."

One of the other drones hissed and started to advance, but retreated at a look from the leader. No. If you do surrender, we can work together to get us all out of this mess. Please understand that I am the only thing stopping you from all being slaughtered. The drone stepped forwards and looked at them intently. I… wouldn't like that.>

"He's telling the truth," said Hukken quietly. "He always was honest."

Hector looked between the two, and then nodded. "If you can guarantee that none of us will be harmed, I'll persuade the crew to surrender."

I can make no guarantees. I have some influence with Her, but not that much. I can only give you hope.>

Hector looked at the Alien. It had no eyes to connect with. There was no way of knowing if it was telling the truth.

Hector shook his head. "This is a decision no man should have to make." He paused. "But I'll trust you. I'll try to get the crew to surrender. But if you've betrayed us…"

The drone merely seemed to grin.

"To all of the crew and colonists of the Charon, I bring you grave news." The words echoed through the ship, transmitted by the intercom. "As you may have heard, we have some bugs on the ship. But we have just found out that we're not dealing with just one or two." Hector paused.

"An entire hive has occupied the ship. They have communicated with me, and given us all a simple ultimatum: Surrender and live; or fight and die. I have been assured that if we surrender, we will not be harmed. The Aliens wish to take control of the ship with as little bloodshed as possible. If we work together, we may find a way for both of us to survive."

"I beg you to consider their offer. I and several others have already surrendered to the Aliens, and have no wish to see any of you die. Please… trust me. I will find us a way to survive."

Hector looked at the intercom panel, and snapped it off. "I've kept my word. I'm waiting for you to keep yours."

I have looked through the ship's computer. And I believe that I have found a way for us to reach a habitable planet… but not without some risk. Patience. I must report to the Queen, then I will return.> The drone looked at its companions, and then leapt for the ceiling. The Aliens swarmed through the air vent, and were gone.

Jake turned to Hukken. "You," he said, poking the other in the chest, "have some explaining to do. Like how you know a bunch of talking bugs."

Hukken smiled grimly. "It's a long story."

"We don't have anything else to do," returned Holly.

"All right. It all started nine months ago…"