Chapter 14: Spaceship wait
On board the company ship, the tension thickened. They had brought Ripley into the operating room on board, and had everyone else wait outside.
They also brought Bishop in for repair, since it was a miracle he survived the ordeal. He had been set next to Bishop on the ride up, and the android had told him to do something very nasty to himself.
However, here in the waiting room, the mood was rather forboding. Hudson and Vasquez were talking with Newt, trying their best to reassure her. Hicks was just sitting there, looking at the door, as if to see the medics come out to give them some news.
Jake was trying his hardest to distract himself with his music, as if it even helped.
His gaze turned to Hicks, and he couldn't help but wonder what was up.
Pausing his music and removing the headphones, he tapped Hicks' shoulder.
Hicks turned around. "What is it Jake." He asked with an annoyed tone.
"Is everything alright, you've been staring at the door for a good 50 minutes." Jake asked.
Hicks looked at the watch on his wrist "It's been that long?" he replied. "Yeah," Jake answered "and that's rounding down a few seconds. I kept count by how many songs I've had play." Jake paused "There's no hard feelings about the fight right?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, just not used to being beaten by someone." Hicks said "I graduated boot camp top of the company. Beat everyone at close quarters sparing. The next 7 years, I'm used to coming out on top. I get assigned this mission as Apone's second, used to following orders from a superior officer. He dies, and I'm in charge. Then there's you, acting like you are a ken-do grandmaster with that damn sword, and I hear about a match last night, thinking to knock you off your high horse. I get beaten, and it's by a kid half my age."
Hicks paused, letting it sink in on Jake. "You beat me, and managed to prove I'm getting old. I guess I'm not used to that realization." He finished.
"Well" Jake replied "I personally tried to beat you to earn your respect. I got used to being treated like a second class citizen, by everyone. I had a father who was a manager back home, and even he treated me that way. The thing that made it even more amazing was the fact that he didn't let that show to everyone else. He always tried his hardest to make it seem like he cared for me. He invited me to all of his parties with the other manager's. Even Newt's parents, the people who paid me to watch their son and daughter, treated me like that. Apart from Newt and Timmy, the only person who didn't look at me that way, was Roxane. I had tried my hardest to earn your respect, even if it means victory was achieved by tiring you out." Jake explained.
Hicks just looked at him for a moment. "You didn't earn my respect from the victory." He said.
"I didn't?" Jake inquired. "No," Hicks answered "You earned it by slicing my weapon in two. You have some serious skills with that sword. The fact that you can slice that through a two inch diameter piece of pipe with a wall thickness of a quarter inch is what earned it. You should hold onto it, because if what Vasquez told me was true and you fought and held your own against the queen back on the sulaco. Do you have it with you?"
Jake nodded and opened the left side of his Jacket to reveal the katana. Jake detached it, and handed it to Hicks.
Hicks unsheathed it, and looked it over. "It has a nice blade to it." He said, running his fingers along the side of the edge, not touching the cutting part. He then gripped it in his hands by the hilt "Nice weight, a little light for me personally, but guess it's a more suitable weight in your hands?" He said. Jake nodded yes. "I'm told that it molds itself to its owner if you use it long enough. It personally won't change it's settings again until it's owner's been killed. That little spot on the scabbard at the end is a tracker for it, and it's personal data center. The whole sword is a technological miracle."
Hicks sheathed the sword, and handed it back to Jake. "You hold onto that. There's no way that thing should be taken away by the company. I'd gladly sign the papers for you to own that if you were my son." Hicks said.
Jake however, was looking to the door. The Bishop look-alike was standing there, in his surgery uniform.
"It's a success, we have removed the creature from Ripley." He said "She's still under right now, but she'll be up in about twelve hours. I recommend that you all just wait. She'll gladly see you at ship's morning."
The Bishop look-alike walked away. Jake looked at Hicks, then at Newt, Hudson, and Vasquez.
"I don't know about you guys, I'm hungry. I'm going to find the mess hall and see if I can get something to eat." Jake announced, and got up.
He started to walk around, looking for the mess hall. He had been walking for a while, when he ran into Bishop the android.
"Bishop, what's goin' on?" Jake said, he then remembered the very bad thing Bishop told him to do on the way up "You don't really want me to do that thing to myself?"
Bishop paused for a moment, then answered "what, thing…oh, that thing. I was in a lot of simulated pain, and I personally had been dropped into molten lead. I'm sure if that happened to you and you had the capacity to speak, you'd tell me the same thing."
Jake paused to think, and noticed what was new with Bishop. The android's skin had been replaced with one of a more olive complexion. The skin had made him look like he'd had two kinds of different kinds of skin that hadn't been fused. He looked kind of like a soft-serve swirl-cone.
As his reaction, Jake flinched. "You okay there, you look like you just saw a ghost." Bishop asked.
"Yeah," Jake answered "Just noticed what they did to repair you." Jake paused "You know where the mess is?" he asked.
"First left down this hall, passed it on the way here." Bishop answered. "Thanks" Jake said, and continued to walk.
When he reached the mess hall and got something to eat,(a plate of lasagna) he took a seat at a table and started to eat.
"You mind if I eat with you?" a familiar voice said. Jake turned around, and saw Ripley standing over him.