Chapter Sixteen
Amelia and Judy felt their bodies being pulled as the gale buffeted them.
"What the fuck?!" Judy screamed over the din of alarms and rushing air.
"Judy, hold on!" Amelia yelled, holding onto her as she tried to get them both to a nearby doorway where Porter was waving to them.
"Closing emergency bulkhead doors," said the automated voice of the colony. Amelia and Judy made it to the doorway as the air stopped rushing. "Hull breach rectified. Please notify Engineering staff." Amelia and Judy stood up and looked around as the warning lights continued to flash.
"What the everloving fuck was that?" Judy asked. Amelia shook her head. A RIGLINK window hissed to life, Sammers' shocked face appearing.
"Amelia, what the hell just happened?!" he asked. Amelia shook her head.
"I don't know," she replied.
"Uh, I think I do," said Porter, motioning for Amelia and Judy to come over to a window. They looked out, as did Sammers, and they stared in shock and horror at what they saw.
A huge chunk of the western side of the colony had been decimated, blown up. Amelia saw the debris, and noticed a tail fin.
"Oh my god. Sammers, it was a shuttle," Amelia said in a low voice.
"Oh, those fucking idiots. I told them not to do it," Sammers hissed, eyes closed, looking pained. "Can you see how bad it it from there?" he asked. Amelia leaned a little. She she sighed.
"Bad. Looks like it took out the landing bay, but I can't be positive," she replied. Sammers growled and slammed his fist against something. Judy stared blankly out the window.
"That was the only other way off here," said Judy dully. Porter sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"We're not licked yet. It might not have taken out all the other shuttles," Porter offered. Sammers gave a soft grunt and nodded.
"He's right. We're not out, yet. Amelia, you, Judy and the officer get back here, and we'll regroup and go from there."
"Right. On our way," said Amelia as she turned to Judy and patted her arm.
"Come on. We still have people counting on us. And don't forget, Jessica's there, too." Judy brightened up a little bit at this.
"All right. Let's grab what we can," said Judy. Amelia gave one last glance at the devastation outside, before turning back to help Judy and Porter.
After some careful rummaging, they found a few spare Medkits that were stored in emergency lockers and some rations and food. They gathered what they could as quickly and quietly as they could, for fear of bringing the attention of the Aliens to them. They then headed towards Engineering.
The halls were in much worse shape, now. Not surprising. What was surprising, however, was how many bulkheads were closed. In fact, so many, Amelia was now worried for a whole new reason.
"Sammers, can you read me? I think we have a new problem. We might be cut off from Engineering by the bulkheads," said Amelia into her radio. She waited for a few tense moments, before Sammers' face appeared in a vid window.
"Amelia, the survivors just got here. We let them in," he said, and Amelia sighed with some relief.
"Good. Can you fit all of them?" she asked. When he hesitated, she knew something was wrong.
"Amelia . . . only five made it," he replied, and they all froze.
"What? How?" Judy asked.
"They said when the shuttle came down, it was right behind them," Sammers replied in a tired voice. Amelia felt sick.
"Oh my god," Judy breathed. Porter shook his head. Amelia was silent for a few moments, then she looked back at Sammers.
"Are you secure there?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah, for now," he replied. Amelia gathered herself up, glanced at Judy and Porter, and then looked at Sammers.
"All right, we're on our way. Looks like we'll need to go around the damage by going outside," said Amelia. Judy looked at her. Sammers looked like he obviously didn't like the idea, but nodded, wiping sweat from his brow.
"I trust you, Amelia. Just stay safe and be careful." With that, he closed the window. She then looked at Porter.
"Do you know where we can find some EVA suits for you and Judy?" she asked. Porter nodded.
"Yeah. This way. Follow me." They followed him, all staying low and quiet. Amelia desperately tried not to think about what had happened inside P-Sec, or what had just now happened. She couldn't crack, not now. People still needed her.
Along the way, they searched a few more rooms, and Judy was lucky enough to find a pair of tanks of Hydrazine for Amelia's flamethrower, a most welcome find. They kept up a careful, but steady pace.
"Is it really far?" Judy asked as they stayed low.
"No, not really. Just up-" began Porter, when Amelia held up her hand.
"Wait, stop!" she hissed. They ducked down. Amelia saw moving shadows. They hunkered down behind some crates and watched. As the shadows moved, Amelia saw they were too small to belong to the Aliens. Then, two people walked into view from around the corner. Porter sighed with relief as he stood. The two were a tall, bald man and a shorter woman. Porter smiled as he walked out, careful to make sure nothing non-human was around, and called out to them.
"Hey, over here!" he said as loud as he dared. They turned and looked as Amelia and Judy stood up from behind cover. As the man and woman approached, Amelia thought something was off about their body language. Porter smiled as he walked towards them. "Hey, we're getting people together. Come on with us," he said as he raised his hand. The man and woman were smiling, but something about it unsettled Amelia. They were shocked when, still smiling, the blonde woman raised her plasma cutter, aimed at Porter, who stopped in shock. She fired, and the officer's head fell from his neck.
"Fuck!" Judy swore as she and Amelia dove back behind the crates for cover, another blast from the plasma cutter missing their feet by inches. "Are you fucking crazy?!" Judy yelled.
"We're human! Hold your fire!" Amelia yelled. They were shocked when they heard the two attackers giggle.
"We know," said the woman. Judy's eyes grew huge. They heard their footsteps on the grating.
"We're helping the Heralds. We're helping Convergence," said the man, and Amelia's eyes widened at that. That was when they heard a distinctive sound, a loud whining. Judy knew what it was.
"Contact beam!" They broke from cover as the crates they had been hiding behind exploded. The woman fired at them, but Judy fired her force gun, knocking them back, much to their shock. Amelia and Judy ran, no longer caring if they drew the attention of the Aliens. "Jeeze, where're those fucking things when you need 'em?!" Judy panted as they darted down halls and into an open door. Amelia was panting, short of breath, chest tight. She sagged and Judy grabbed her arm. "Come on!"
Amelia tried to draw more breath, slowed. Her ears rang. Judy looked at over their shoulders, and Amelia whirled just as the grinning blonde woman jumped into the door frame, both hands gripping the plasma cutter.
"Got you!" she cheered, just before Amelia aimed and pulled the trigger of her flamethrower. The woman gave a short, but earsplitting scream as she was engulfed in flames like a soldier in some ancient war video. The woman briefly flailed before she fell.
"Mara! You heretics will pay for that!" the man yelled from the hallway. Amelia checked her flamethrower. The indicator was red. It was empty. Judy saw as Amelia backed up, Judy fumbling with the force gun and bag she held the canisters in. One clattered to the grates and rolled away. Before she or Amelia could get it, they saw the man in the doorway. Judy shoved Amelia behind a crate and dove to the side as the floor behind her exploded. Judy screamed in pain.
"Judy!" Amelia yelled from behind cover. The man chuckled as he walked in, casual as anything.
"You're gonna pay for what you did to Mara, heretic," he hissed. Amelia saw Judy, laying on the floor, face down, bloody. She felt tears sting her eyes. She glanced at the canister of fuel that was a few feet away. With how slow the weapon was, she might just make it and reload before he could fire. That was when she heard the high-energy weapon whine to life again. "Go ahead, try for it. I dare ya, heathen!" he chuckled. Amelia tensed, ready, then she ran. He expected it, and aimed. That was when Judy grabbed his arm, and the contact beam, and forced it down to aim at the Hydrazine fuel tank she held.
"Dare this, fucker," she said just as the tool discharged.
"No!" Amelia screamed as the tank, contact beam, and the two people exploded. Amelia shielded herself, her RIG protecting her as she was blown back. After a few moments, Amelia sat up, and looked. The room was mostly destroyed. Her RIG was dirty and blackened, but she was unharmed. She rolled over, and felt the canister of fuel under her thigh. She looked, and her heart sank. Of the two human beings who had just moments ago been standing there, the only signs were burnt body parts too charred to recognize what anything had been, let alone who it had belonged to. Amelia wanted to throw up, but didn't retract her helmet. She didn't want to smell the scent of burnt flesh. She was shaking as she got to her knees, then to her feet. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the charred, blackened room, parts of which were still on fire.
"Rest in peace, Judith Ramirez," Amelia said in a quivering voice. Amelia wanted to curl into a ball and cry, but she couldn't. She knew there were still people counting on her. She stooped and grabbed up the remaining fuel tank, ejected the spent one and screwed in the fresh one, the flamethrower giving a small chime to note it was now full. Amelia gave a shuddering breath, steadied herself as best she could, and headed out. Now that she no longer needed to look for EVA suits for others, she could simply head to the nearest airlock. As she walked out into the halls, she felt like a weight of lead was in her chest. She stopped to take a few, deep breaths, then continued on. She looked at the digital signs, followed them towards the North airlock. As she did, she noticed the colony was once more eerily silent. Part of her wondered if there was even anyone left to save, and even if there was, what was the point? She stamped that line of thought down. She had never been a quitter. She almost growled and tried to gather up her energy, which was in short supply.
It was then when Amelia had this odd feeling, like an odd prickling sensation in the back of her neck and head. She turned, and felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw two of the Aliens at the end of the hall behind her, sitting at the corner, eyeless faces aimed in her direction. Amelia snapped on the igniter of her flamethrower and broke into a sprint. She glanced back, but was surprised to see they stayed where they were, sitting on the floor, tails slowly weaving behind them. Regardless, she ran as fast as she was able, dashing for the airlock and slamming her first on the button. As soon as the doors slid open, she darted inside and closed them. She hit the button to open the outer doors, and the alarm sounded as the airlock began to cycle. She half expected the face of an Alien to appear in the glass window of the airlock, but nothing moved. The airlock cycled and opened out into the darkness of Aerodyne.
Planet Aerodyne IV, AKA Wanat-947, was barren rock devoid of anything remarkable. It had enough of a raw, semi-primordial atmosphere they could partially Terraform it, so it was not as bad as a hard vacuum, but was far from breathable. So far out from the star, the little ball of rock got very little light, so was in a sort of perpetual twilight, with a few scant hours brighter than others. The horizon was an orange from the local dust and haze, with a tiny hint of blue mixed in above that, giving the world an eerie warm and cold mix of tones. Amelia warily trudged out, the sand and rock almost felt foreign against her boots. She glanced at the reading for her oxygen in her HUD. She had two minutes worth, and there were plenty of external oxygen supply stations for those outside. She walked out from the airlock, leaving behind footprints in the bluish-gray sand. She glanced out at the rocky, desolate landscape. Nothing but broken rock as far as the eye could see. Blue-gray in the low light, orange on the highlights where the light of Wanat-9 hit. She looked at the colony, and could see lights here and there, external lights to help craft land and find the colony. Some could strobe for when storms hit and rendered visibility lower than was normal. She sighed and headed west, along the edge of the colony blocks.
Before long, she came to a service ladder, and climbed up onto the top. Now, she could survey the whole colony. She could see the devastation of the crash. The landing area was pretty much totally decimated. The dome that covered the landing pad was destroyed, as was a good portion of the western side of the colony. In the dim light, Amelia thought she could make out a few bodies, but wasn't sure. Her throat felt tight. She tried not to think about it. However, as she walked, something caught her eye. She moved over to look.
It was a print, left in the sand. Her eyes narrowed as she saw it was not a human footprint. She felt a chill go through her as she realized what it meant. "So, they really can breathe without oxygen," she mused aloud. She followed the way to the western side of the colony. In particular, she headed for the maintenance airlock of the primary Communications Array. It was past the damage that cut her off from Engineering, but also would allow her to try and send a better signal and message. Maybe, just maybe, if she could get an SOS out, they might still have a chance. Amelia stopped and filled her oxygen from a station before continuing. She made it at last to the base of the spire, the hologram flashing green as it recognized her RIG number and clearance. She pressed the button and entered the airlock, letting it cycle. She almost sagged, feeling drained and weak. She also had a headache, and felt a tiny bit dizzy and nauseous. Not too surprising, given she had been so strained for days straight. How long had it been, anyway? How long since the attack happened? Hours? Days? She wasn't sure. It all seemed to blur and blend together. The inner lock at last opened, and Amelia stepped inside.
The inside of the Comms tower was far cleaner and less of a mess than other areas she had been to. She had not seen any damage from outside to any of the Comms needle or array. She headed into the control room. Once again, it was quiet, and not anywhere near as bad as the rest of the colony, but she did see some signs of struggle and indications the Aliens might have been there at some point. She glanced around, moved among the consoles and stood in front of one. She checked, and everything looked okay. She pressed a few buttons as her helmet retracted. "USG Castle, this is Aerodyne colony. If anyone can hear me, please respond!" Amelia waited, and got nothing. She checked the readouts, and according to them, everything was working fine. All transmissions were going out. She looked at the screens, then the console. She gave a soft sigh as she sat down in a chair, and looked at the camera. "Personal message, Dr. Amelia Kyne, Aerodyne colony, Wanat system. To Dr. Terrence Kyne, the most amazing and wonderful man in the universe." She paused to gather herself. "Terry, my love. This message is for you. I don't know if you'll get it, but I hope upon hope you do. You won't believe this, but we answered one of humanity's biggest questions. We're not alone. But, they're not friendly. I'm sending you my research files along with this, so, if this makes it . . . and I don't, you'll know what you're dealing with." She stopped and gave a wry chuckle. "I remember how we'd talked about it, how there was so much empty space, and nothing there." She brushed a strand of hair from her face. "It looks like we were wrong. But, I guess some questions are better left unanswered. It's unbelievable, I never would have thought something like this could exist, but it does." She paused, turning to look at the room, signs of people hurrying to leave. "Humans just dropped to the bottom of the food chain," she mused, glancing sideways at the camera. She sighed gently, taking a deep breath and turned back. "Most of all, I regret I never gave you a son . . . or a daughter. So many things I wish I could have done, or done differently." She gave a weak smile as a a tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't know what waits ahead, Terry. Convergence, Heaven, Land of Eternal Youth. But, no matter what happens, I want you to know I'll be right there. I'll wait for you. If it's a thousand years, ten thousand, a million . . . I'll be waiting for you. I love you," she said as tears flowed freely, making streaks down her dirty face. She kissed her fingers and then pressed them to the camera. She hit the button to send, and then wept, her soft sobs echoing in the empty room.
Her throat hurt, her chest was tight. She felt so alone and helpless. After a few minutes, she wiped her tears, and stood unsteadily. She felt a bit nauseous again, and took a moment to steady herself. She turned and was about to leave, when the screens crackled to life.
"Are you there?!" a voice hissed. Amelia jumped at the sound of a man's voice. She hurried over to the screen as a face began to come into focus through heavy static.
"Yes! Yes, I'm here!" said Amelia, unable to believe that she actually got through. The static cleared more, and the young-looking man put his finger to his lips.
"Keep it down!" he hissed. He looked around, looking like he was in some smaller room on the Castle. "Look, it's bad up here. Real bad!" Amelia groaned.
"Same down here. We were attacked by-"
"Big, black things," he said, cutting her off. He nodded. "Yeah, they're up here, too." Amelia remembered that Jenkins and Sherry were brought aboard the Castle with the spider-hands attached before they knew what they did. "We tried to message you to warn you about Jenkins and the spider-hands, but-"
"That wasn't the worst of it!" he snapped back in a quiet hiss. She stared as he looked around, quivering. "We found some of those pods up here. More people got attacked. Those things tore out of 'em! Oh, god! They were everywhere," he said in almost a whimper. Amelia was stunned.
"Pods? On the Castle?" She didn't know what to think. He nodded his head like a maniac.
"Yes! We didn't know where they came from, but when we tried to call for help, comms wouldn't go through. We tried to head to Earth, but someone sabotaged the engines!" Amelia froze at that. The man looked on the verge of a total panic attack, he was disheveled and dirty. "We tried to launch the escape pods, but somebody got to them, too! And when somebody launched one of the shuttles, they shot it down!" Amelia's eyes got wide.
"Who did?" she asked. His eyes got wild.
"The Company!" he almost shrieked, the screen shaking. She blinked.
"You mean . . . CEC?"
"No! Wey-Yu!" Amelia was stunned silent.
"Those ships, they ain't supply ships! They got guns and stuff on 'em! Shot down a shuttle coming from the planet, too!" Amelia felt like she had been hit in the gut. The missing pieces were all suddenly starting to fall into place.
Why would Weyland-Yutani help their corporate rivals? she thought. With a poisoned apple, she bitterly answered her own question. Corporate terrorism. She may not have known much about Weyland-Yutani, but she did know they also had a wealth of contracts both in the past, and present, among military suppliers. Something like the Aliens could be a very powerful biological weapon. And what better way to test it than on an isolated mining operation owned by a rival? She was brought out of her reverie by the man looking around and panting. "Listen, I don't have much time. I-I-I don't know who's left, but those things, they . . . oh, god, I don't even know how to describe it!" he ranted.
"Listen to me. They don't like fire! Find a blowtorch, a flamethrower, anything like that! Stay quiet and low, and we might be able to-" she stopped as he shook his head.
"No good! They're blocking Comms! I know it! They know! They did all along! They's was all in on it! We're fucked," he hissed, and Amelia felt the cold feeling in her gut once again. She had been about to speak, when she saw something moving behind the man. He clearly heard it, trembled and whimpered. He closed his eyes, and for a brief instant, she saw the sharp, black tip of a tail before the screen turned to static and the connection was lost.
Author's note: Surprise! Happy Halloween, everyone! I have also updated my DeviantArt with more art to go with the story.
