CHAPTER 2

June 19th, 2179. Hadley's Hope terraforming colony Operation's center, LV-426, Zeta2 Reticuli

-"Simpson; did you called for us?" Russ Jorden said, he was accompanied by his wife, Anne.

-"Yes, I have something for you; some grid reference one asshole on Gateway wants to investigate. It's up to you buddy." Al Simpson passed a folder with the reference grid and orders from the company. Russ Jorden read and then passed them to Anne, who also read them.

-"Illium Range?" Russ asked. "That area is unstable, a lot of seismic activity"

-"Just check the area, probably there's nothing but a pile of quartz or magnetite dust." Al Simpson told him.

-"I'll take me a day to get prepared, maybe two" Russ turned to his wife "What you say? Are you ready for a little adventure?"

-"Of course, I'll get the Seeker ready." Anne responded, and then turned to Simpson "Anything else?"

-"Yes. Mary Coles found Newt hiding on the vents. She said they were playing a game… Again" Simpson said.

-"Geez, and where are they?" Anne rubbed her front and combed her hair with her right hand.

-"They can't stay here, Mary probably took her to Last Exit" Last Exit was the name of Hadley's Hope Bar and grill, the colony's restaurant at the far end of the complex.

-"I'll pick her up there" Anne said and ran to catch up with her husband, already on his way.

June 20th, 2179. Reference Grid Lat: 23°45'33''N Lon: 26°52'44''W, Illium Range.

-"It's useless, there is nothing here, we have searched for a day and a half and there is only volcanic ash everywhere." Russ Jorden cried to Anne through the howl of the wind, still audible through the thick windows of the six-wheeled W-Y surface Seeker tractor's cab.

Although Acheron –the name the colonists have given to LV-426 –atmosphere was breathable thanks to decades of atmospheric processing, weather was another thing. Strong winds, silica dust storms, lightings and constant rain made the terrain difficult to transit, not to mention that it damaged all kinds of sensors.

-"Let's take a last look on that plateau ahead" Anne suggested, tapping the screen where the topographic map of the region displayed.

-"Ok, honey" Russ drove the vehicle over a pile of rock. "A quick look before the storm begins" Winds increased and rain drops start to appear on the windshield.

The heavy vehicle stopped on the flat plain of volcanic rock, Russ peered through the window north of their position and saw a tall conic mountain, a volcano. Consulting the maps and seismic activity during the last years he found the volcano hadn't made eruption in decades.

-"I'll take a closer look." Russ said, he took a thick parka for protection from dust and the cold rain and stepped outside the Seeker's airlock.

On the cabin, Anne Jorden lit the external flood lights and saw her husband walking towards a strange rock formation.

-"What is it, Russ?" Anne called through radio.

-"There's something… covered with dust and sand" he responded. Among the rubble, Russ Jorden saw a metallic shining object. "Seems like a piece of metal"

-"You believe someone has been here? Maybe a probe" Anne said. Before establishing the colony, some of the survey probes had been lost in the strong winds and thick dust layer.

-"I don't think so, is larger than a probe…" Russ dug on the sand, uncovering the strange object. "Looks like a piece of a communication antenna"

-"Bring it inside, Russ. The storm is increasing in intensity, we need to return to Hadley's Hope" Anne replied. Before Russ protested, a lightning bolt hit a nearby rock.

-"Wow, you're right honey. We'll get back tomorrow" the man climbed the ladder, opened the hatch and entered the vehicle.

-"Take a look at this" Russ showed the piece of metal to his wife. Anne Jorden examined the piece of metal picked up on the plain; her husband had right, it looked like part of a communications antenna but she can't identify if it was from a probe or a ship and what was doing there, in the middle of a desolate mountain range.

-"You're right; it looks like a part of a ship. Did you think there's something out here? Maybe one of those lost ships; we're in the middle of the Bermuda triangle of space after all." Anne said.

-"Maybe, if the company wants it, then it would be valuable. We need to get this clear, if we find it, will the Company respect our discovery fee?

-"They better do" Russ concluded.

The wind rose with the arrival of the storm, and particles of dust and sand rose from the floor of the plateau, in the midst of the blizzard, Russ distinguished more scattered metal debris.

- "Hey, look! There is more," he exclaimed. "Do you think a ship crashed near here?"

- "I don't think so, this plain is big enough for a ship to land, it's possible that the silica storm or the volcanic ash has damaged it."

-"Whatever, we'll back tomorrow in the Daihotai tractor" Russ said, and then he started the Seeker's engine.

Two minutes later, the vehicle rattled back to the colony, in the middle of a torrential rain and a muddy surface and a few hours later, the vehicle stopped at the north gate of Hadley's Hope.

June 21st, 2179. Somewhere inside Hadley's Hope ventilation system, Morning.

They were near; Newt can hear them, a few meters behind her. "I'm the last one" the little girl though "They'll never catch me" and she squeezed through a narrow section of the vent. The button of his gardener pants she got stuck in a loose rivet and the girl felt the pull, she fought until the brace broke and Newt continued on her way, Newt felt a throbbing pain in her arm and when she checked, she saw she had a cut and had stained her shirt of blood, in addition to lubricant of a fan in the well above. It didn't matter, the thing was that they wouldn't catch her or everything would end. She kept moving forward, crawling hastily. The intersection was near, behind her, she heard the furious growls of her pursuers, unable to reach her.

The duct continued for ten meters until reached a grate near the south access corridor which leads to the second level stairs, where operations and the medical center were. Passing a junction heard crawling noises to her left; they had found an alternate route and continued their chase. Newt hoped once outside the vent would reach the next airlock into her hiding place where she would be safe.

-"Just a few more seconds, please" she prayed, and put her fingers between the grate to open it. She looked out into the hallway. It was partially dark; just a few lights lit the corridor a few meters beyond.

-"Coast is clear" she said and pulled herself legs first. When she was outside, a shadow cast on her, the girl screamed in surprise as she turned around.

-"There you are." A scowling Anne looked down at her daughter, annoyed at Newt's scruffy appearance, with dirty clothes stained with oil and blood on her arm. "Look at you? Newt, How many times have I told them not to play in the ventilation ducts? Not even a day after Coles caught you in there! He already told you that there are rats there and you could get hurt. Where is your brother?"

Timothy "Timmy" Jorden came out on that moment from the vent five meters away, followed by Aaron and another kid. "Oh no" he exclaimed.

-"Oh yes" Anne replied. "You two, grounded."

Hello Readers, this chapter is a bit of the daily life on the Terraforming colony just before the infestation, as the Jorden's were about to start their search in Illium Range by company orders. In the film it's inferred the derelict is two days travel from the colony, but I think it's closed and that they were looking at least for two days before finding it. Here, Anne and Russ (Newt's parents) reach the coordinates given by Burke; I assume those coordinates are the place where the Nostromo and later the Anesidora landed, a plateau, the only flat place where a ship can land.

Also, a little bonus, Newt playing Monster Maze with the other kids and being caught by Anne, as in the movie, she scolded her children for doing so, this has to have happened just before they found the Derelict ship.