Underground Facility

"Ripley!"
Call's youthful voice cheered Ripley as she was escorted into the mess hall by a soldier. Ripley smiled and hugged her, then walked over to the metal table where Vriess and Johner were sitting. Ripley smiled and patted Vriess on the head, and punched Johner on the shoulder.
"Oof, good to see you too," Johner grunted.
"Did they interrogate you, Ripley?" Vriess asked.
"Not quite," Ripley said. "But I got the doctor to believe me about what happened on the Auriga. I'm sure the Colonel is starting to believe it. Something tells me things are about to get ugly again."
"What do you mean?" Call asked.
Ripley lowered her voice. "Eggs. On the Auriga, there were eggs stored in specially insulated capsules. I noticed them, in the same lab where we found Purvis. If someone goes into what's left of the Auriga and stumbles across those..."
"Shit," Johner growled. "Are you kidding me? We literally blow up a ship to kill these things and they still ain't dead?"
Ripley shook her head. "I'm afraid not."
Johner sighed. "Well, fuck."
"Sorry to interrupt this lovely reunion, but I brought you here to talk to you."
Ripley and the others looked up to see the uniformed woman that Ripley had seen earlier with Col Harris. She had tanned skin and a mane of frizzy hair swept back just enough to meet regulations. Her eyes held a spark of mischief and toughness that reminded Ripley of the lady Marine from her past, Vasquez.
"I'm Captain Avery Slate," the woman said with a nod. "I apologize for any mistreatment you may have experienced; we don't get visitors that often."
"What about pirates?" Ripley said. "The Colonel seems to have handled his fair share."
"Never mind the Colonel," Slate said briskly. "He doesn't seem to have our men's best interest at heart these days."

She cleared her throat uncomfortably..
"I'm going to be honest. I didn't believe your stories at first. But after consulting with Dr. Dawson and reading the reports she gave me, I cannot deny that there must be some truth to what you have said. So I'm going to be frank: do you know how to kill those creatures you talked about, and can people be rescued from them?"
Johner spat to the side.
"Lady, like I was saying a minute ago - we brought down a whole spaceship to kill those fuckers. If that didn't do it, what makes you think they can be killed at all?"
Ripley slapped him across the face.

He swore. "What the hell, Ripley?!"
Ripley ignored him. "What my friend means to say is that it's difficult, but it can be done. In my experience, fire has always been the alien's greatest weakness. If there is a nest, we can find it and burn it. And if we're not too late, it is possible to save people from them."
Slate looked thoughtful. "Good. Then it's settled. We'll leave for the wreckage of the Auriga at 0600."
"Wait a minute, I don't remember signing up for anything," Johner said. "And what about Vriess? What do you expect him to do, fucking crawl?"
Slate's eyes took on a steely look. "You're going to do it because it's your only way out of here. Col. Harris wants to hold you until the USM arrives so he can turn you in. Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass about the USM. But I do know a whole patrol of my men has gone missing, and my nephew was on the detail. So you can either come and help me, or stay here and wait to go to prison."
"Jeez, lady," Johner muttered, "I didn't say no. But I ain't kidding about Vriess. His legs don't work."
"I'll have it seen to," Slate said crisply. "Meanwhile the rest of you can adjourn to your bunks. At 0500, I'll have you brought to the weapons depot. By 0600 I want to be at the motor pool and heading out."

Auriga, island crash site

Wilson had built the fire and the revived patrol gathered around it. They bitched about the jeep and how the spare tire was flat, and the oversight of an incompetent command. But the grumbling boosted their morale. They discussed their options as they tore into MRE's.

"Hey, if nothing else, we can hike back," Doakes said as he wolfed down some reconstituted spaghetti. "It's not like we don't hike ten miles in the tunnels and across base everyday anyway."

"That's true, but I thought you hated the spaghetti, Doakes," Wilson laughed.

"I'm just real hungry, I guess," Doakes mumbled, his mouth full. The others seemed to have the same appetite. Even the more disgusting meals were soon cleaned out.

"Jeez," Wilson kidded, "it's like you're eating for two. You pregnant, mate?"

Doakes and the others laughed until they coughed. Doakes stopped when he started coughing up blood.

"Shit," Wilson said.