The doors opened, and General Gorson stepped into the lab.
Haines looked up and smiled the smile of someone awaiting praise. "General! What a surprise! You should have informed me that you were visiting!"
Gorson waved the comment aside. "Enough pleasantries, Doctor. I'm here for a progress report, and can't stay long. The bugs have hammered into our defences badly, and I'm taking advantage of a lull in the action."
"I can do more than give you a report, General!" If he had had a tail, Haines would have been wagging it frantically. "Allow me to take you on a tour of our work. This way, please."
The laboratories of Project Blackstar were like labs everywhere had been since the mid twentieth century; white walls and harsh lighting. Of course, few labs had regular checkpoints, complete with five-man teams of soldiers. Their job was both to keep people out, and to keep things in.
"The government has been putting a lot of funding into this, Haines," said Gorson. "What I see had better be damn good, or someone may be tempted to pull the plug. Most of the high-ups think it would be better to spend the cash on weapons and equipment than a science project that is unlikely to have any great effect on the hives."
"Oh, it's good, General. We've made more progress with the xenomorphs than all the other studies of them put together. Mostly by blind luck, admittedly, but progress nonetheless." They came to a tall observation window, and Haines gestured through it.
The chamber beyond was massive. Here and there sections of metal were visible, but it was mostly covered by the Alien resin.
"Very pretty," said Gorson snidely.
Haines pointed through the window again – and Gorson breathed in sharply.
A section of the resin that he had thought was merely projecting a lot was something much more dangerous.
Perhaps sensing the gaze of the two humans, the Queen shifted and turned from her hiding place. The jaws parted in what was clearly a shriek of defiance.
"The sheer amount of armour around the nest sound-proofs it," Haines noted. "Currently we have thirty drones, four praetorians, and the Queen herself. All… enhanced."
"I've seen plenty of drones hide in the walls, but a Queen… why doesn't she have an egg sac? And what do you mean, 'enhanced'?"
Haines' happy expression faded. "We're not entirely sure, on the first count. We removed some eggs for study, and she stopped laying soon afterwards. Maybe it is something to do with your latter question. You see, various attempts to tame the xenomorphs before have always failed due to their basic stubbornness. We thought that if we could alter their minds on the genetic level… the result is a new breed, possibly even a new species, of the creature. The main change was a drastic increase in basic intelligence; now, even the drones are on par with an average human. Praetorians exceed that, and Queens probably hit genius level. The last was quite a risk, I think, but unavoidable. The DNA for their brain structures was all mixed up for the three. Other changes include an increase in strength and speed… they've basically been upgraded in all their basic statistics."
Gorson looked at him coldly. "So not only do you have a fully functioning hive, you have a fully functioning, stronger than normal, highly intelligent hive."
"Security has been our first interest with the whole project, General," Haines replied. "Only I have the access code to open up the nest. The walls are three metres thick at their thinnest point, and highly acid resistant. Below the floor level, there is an industrial-scale incinerator. With the press of a switch, the entire hive can be crisped. And everyone registered as staff in the facility has the ability to terminate them, should it come to that."
"And your results?"
A new figure joined them at the window. "Ah, Hukken. General Gorson, may I present Doctor Edward Hukken, my second-in-command. He's in charge of the hive and everything directly connected to it."
"Pleased to meet you, General," said Hukken politely. "And to answer your question, they are of little practical use. You see, although our Beta-strain xenomorphs are quick learners, they are highly independent. Impossible to train."
"Explain."
"They will still attack a human at any opportunity. We've been able to mitigate that; they quickly learned to recognise our weapons and their capabilities, and they've never tried a head-on attack. But if you turn your back to them…"
"They recognise our weapons?"
Hukken nodded unhappily. "And they probably know each and every gun's abilities as well as one of your marines, sir. We've lost five good men due to little slips; someone wandering out of flamethrower range, things like that. We've stopped sending people into the hive entirely now. It simply wasn't safe, given the fact that we didn't know where they were until we were inside."
Gorson snorted. "You didn't install cameras? Bit of an oversight, don't you think?"
Hukken gave him a pained look. "We had thirty to begin with. But… when we were starting out and the Xenomorphs were more docile – learning about us, in retrospect – we took one out of the nest into another area for observation. I can only assume that it caught a glimpse of the camera feeds. All that we know is that in a matter of minutes, every camera in there was destroyed. Any attempt to put more in has resulted in the replacements also being destroyed. They'd worked out what they look like. Then we tried disguising them; same result. They're either bloody suspicious or bloody clever, and possibly both."
Gorson's expression had been one of increasing horror throughout the narrative. "Surely this ability to learn is more than enough reason to terminate them all now," he said silkily, taking off his shades and looking intently at the two scientists.
"As I have already said, General, nothing could escape from there without a small nuclear warhead," said Haines soothingly. "Besides, their termination could have negative effects on our other experiment. This way, if you please."
They moved in silence through Blackstar's winding corridors until they came to a small control room. Several soldiers and technicians were scattered across the room, and in the walls were a dozen heavy security doors.
Haines moved over to the central control station, and stabbed a finger at a camera display. "May I introduce RES One," he said proudly.
The feed showed a drone curled in a foetal position in a small cell-like room.
Gorson looked at Haines blankly.
"RES One was the first – and as of yet only – subject to have been injected with the retrovirus Tricytosine one-nine-four epsilon," said a new voice. "Only two days ago, that was a human."
"Ah, Doctor Kail. General Gorson, this is Doctor Elizabeth Kail, one of the main scientists who developed Tricytosine one-nine-four epsilon, and our resident expert on xenomorph behaviour."
Kail nodded briefly to Gorson, who was frowning faintly. "Aren't retroviruses used for curing genetic diseases and cancers?" he asked.
Kail smiled faintly. "That's the commercial use for them, yes. You see, a retrovirus effectively changes DNA according to a preset pattern. There are thousands of natural ones that have vital little functions in keeping life running. When we were able to crack the secrets of them, we started using them to modify damaged genes in cancer sufferers. Tricytosine one-nine-four epsilon is a much more complex beast; instead of changing a few strands of DNA, it's rewriting over three-quarters of the human genome to create a full-grown Beta-strain xenomorph. And a side-effect of this process is that the mind… the human mind… remains."
"This, General, is the future. The future of Blackstar, the future of warfare, the future of humanity," said Haines excitedly. "No more dangerous games to try and tame the creatures. Imagine… an army of xenomorphs driven by human intelligence, following your orders. The Alpha-strain would be wiped out with ease."
Gorson didn't seem impressed. "So if he isn't a bug, why's he inside a cell?"
Haines' enthusiasm drained and was replaced by embarrassment. "Unfortunately, RES One is… not entirely cooperative."
"Not cooperative!" Kail laughed mirthlessly. "General, he didn't volunteer for the process. He was just some kid we picked up off the street who had no idea what we were doing. No wonder he's attacked everyone who's gone near him."
"So how do you know he's still got a human mind?"
She shrugged. "He talks to us sometimes. Telepathically. Whether that's another side-effect of the retrovirus or simply that the hive don't want to speak to us, he certainly communicates."
"Can he hear us now?"
She nodded. "Though whether he's really asleep or just faking it, I don't know."
[Faking, on this occasion.]
Gorson flinched.
"It takes some getting used to," Haines whispered. On the camera screen, the drone unfolded and looked straight at the camera. Now that it was no longer curled up, Gorson could see that it/he was bigger than any drone he had ever seen before. Haines' 'enhancements', no doubt.
"What these people did to you was wrong, son," Gorson said in his best rallying-the-troops voice, "but they meant you no harm. You're the first of a new generation of warriors, warriors to keep humanity safe. You should be honoured."
[Spare me,] came the reply, a dose of acid injected into the scraping tones. [Your scientist friends have been practising that rhetoric ever since I changed. Do you have anything else to say?]
The General was taken aback by the reply. In two decades of command, he'd never been spoken to like that.
"You realise that your hostility and new abilities makes you a security risk," he said, his voice hardening. "You may have to be terminated."
[Do as you wish.]
The drone curled up again, clearly uninterested in further conversation.
Haines shrugged helplessly. "I apologise, General. He's always like that."
Gorson sighed. "Have you begun asking for volunteers for further tests? We'll be able to ascertain whether or not that attitude problem is a result of the virus then."
"I was hoping that that was where you would come in, General. I'm sure there are soldiers out there who would be willing to help."
Gorson nodded slowly. "Very well, Doctor Haines. I'll look into it. My congratulations. I was beginning to think that Blackstar was a waste. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, we've been working on the information that we've gathered from the hive to improve our weapons and tactics…"
Gorson and Haines left, with Hukken tagging along behind. Kail was left in the holding station with her thoughts.
And the thoughts of another.
[I don't think either of us liked him much, did we?]
Kail opened up her mind as he had shown her. No, not really, she thought. But I don't like the military much anyway.
He extracted the thoughts, and chuckled.
A flash of irritation ran through her mind. Why me? she demanded. You could have spoken to anyone. You could have chosen anyone.
[Doctor, of all the people I have met in this little prison of mine, you are the only one with any sort of curiosity. Any other would have pushed me aside, or spoken to others about our little conversations. I knew that you wouldn't because you would be curious about me.] He paused. [That sounded egocentric, but you know what I mean. I was transformed into something feared by all and imprisoned without any chance of contact. I had to speak, to have a… a friend, or I would be driven mad by loneliness. Loneliness made all the worse by constant company.]
The hive? Kail inquired without thinking, and cursed her inquisitiveness silently. He'd judged her well.
She sensed his amusement briefly, and then he became serious again. [Yes. Their minds swim around me and mine swims around theirs like a shoal of fish. But I feel like the ugly duckling. I stand out with my human thoughts.]
What's it like? He had not spoken of the hive before, and she burned to know more.
[You would not understand. I wouldn't have before the change.] He was silent for a while, and she moved towards the door.
[Wait!]
She stopped. What? I don't need to be here for us to talk.
[I have to show you something.] His 'voice' was hesitant, reluctant. As though the choice of this showing had not been his.
Her stomach lurched. If it hadn't been his choice, then only one creature could have made it. What has the Queen done? What does she want?
[I'm sorry.]
She blinked, and the world spun.
Anger. Pain. Hunger. Fear. Emotions flooded through her, and behind it all, a great presence orchestrated the symphony of feeling.
For a brief moment, Kail understood how a wolf in a zoo felt. The world was out there, but she was trapped. Trapped, and feared by the trappers. Wild urges to kill the weak pink creatures that had enslaved her and her children overwhelmed her for a moment, quickly followed by powerlessness.
She fought back, little strands of her pushing away the onslaught, trying to assert herself as Elizabeth Kail, not a nameless Alien Queen.
It abruptly lessened. She felt the pulse of a third mind; one that she recognised. It too spoke in raw meaning, but it was confused and meaningless to her.
The Queen withdrew from contact, and it was like being able to breathe again after a long dive. The world steadied itself, and Kail looked around to see the various men and women in the room looking at her, concerned.
"I'm fine," she said. "Just a little dizzy. I think I need some sleep." She left, heading for her quarters. Not to sleep – she knew that that maelstrom of emotion would haunt her nightmares – but to be alone.
[I'm sorry,] he said again.
She angrily closed her mind.
[You can't shut me out, you know. If you don't want to respond, fine, but you still need to hear this. The Queen shared her feelings with you. That is how we all feel. Even me. When I look through the windows of my cage and see people, I feel terrible hunger. Someone will slip up, Kail. No one's ever successfully caged the xenomorph. Do you want those feelings unleashed, with nothing to stop them?]
Shut up!
[Of course you don't. No human would, but you in particular don't. You wouldn't hurt a fly, Elizabeth. You hate Haines' guts, you despise Hukken as the coward he is and Gorson gets on your nerves, but you don't want to see them hurt.]
Of course I don't. Get to the point.
[Someone will slip up, and the hive will cut loose. Unless I can persuade the Queen to hold them back. I don't want anyone hurt either, but I want freedom more. If our escape is accidental, slaughter is unavoidable. If it is intentional… plans can be made. We can leave all this behind.]
What's this got to do with me?
[You know very well,] he snapped, patience fraying. He softened. [I know this isn't an easy choice for you. Release me, and I give you my word that bloodshed will be kept to a minimum. Earth is already lost. What does one more hive matter?]
I'm not that crazy! You're just a drone. The Queen wouldn't listen to you.
[You'd be surprised.]
He withdrew from her mind, leaving her to her thoughts. Another replaced hers in his consciousness, if She ever really left him.
[She's thinking about it,] he said, answering the unspoken question. [You really shook her up back there.]
[She survived,] was the cool response. [As I knew she would. If she agrees, do you think you are ready, little Shadow?]
[Of course.]
He winced as She sliced into his mind. [Are you truly ready, once-prey? You have joined into the hive. You are one of many, and your duty is to it. You stand out from the other drones; you think more like a praetorian, but do not think that gives you independence. If you are released, you must do whatever is necessary for us all to escape.]
[I know my duties,] he snapped. [I joined your service willingly. It is because of you that I distance myself from the humans here. I am ready.]
Laughter came to him across the link. [You have certainly grown since I first felt your presence, confused and afraid. Time will tell how much. Remember, little Shadow, that you will soon have to make a choice about what you really are.] She faded to a mere background hum.
Shadow. He sighed, the sound coming out as a faint hiss. That had been Her first gift to him. A new name. A way of detaching himself from what he had lost and bonding himself to the hive. It had worked, in some strange way. He no longer even remembered his old name. It didn't matter. That person was dead.
It was an honour, really. Drones didn't have names. One drone was much the same as another, so differentiating them made no sense. Only praetorians and Queens had any sort of individuality and personality to them.
Another reason for feeling like the ugly duckling.
He drifted off towards dormancy, a state that was both more and less than true sleep – something that xenomorphs did not do. While dormant, his senses remained acute, but injuries regenerated faster and time seemed to speed up.
Hours passed like minutes. Scientists and soldiers came and went.
His mind split open with abrupt agony, and dormancy faded. Some sort of clarity reached him, and the realisation came that it was not his pain, but another's…
***
Haines' face was a frozen mask of disbelief and horror.
"How is this possible?" he demanded finally.
"Your Tricytosine one-nine-four epsilon isn't as perfect as you thought, I suspect," said Gorson in dangerously calm tones.
They looked at the camera feeds of the remains of the ten volunteers provided by the General. Eight showed hideous fusions of human and xenomorph biology, the fatal results of the basic incompatibility of the two species. The ninth was also dead, shot after it had begun mindlessly attacking everything in sight. Only the sixth resembled RES One.
"Doctor, this was always a risk," said Kail sadly. "We're not curing a few cancer tumours here. Humans and xenomorphs are fundamentally different. As for that one," she continued with a gesture at the ninth, "who knows? We know next to nothing about how the mind works, or why it remained in RES One and Seven."
"Are you saying that you didn't test this wonderful stuff of yours?" interjected Gorson.
Kail looked at him coolly. "How would you suggest we do that? Tissue samples all converted acceptably. There's only so far you can take that. We're still in the testing stage."
"Let's leave the recriminations for later," suggested Hukken. "We have one success, at least, and he's friendly. Let's move him to another location where we can begin making some studies of the effects of the virus."
"Very well," said Gorson heavily. "But until you can guarantee Tricytosine one-nine-four is has been improved dramatically, you shall receive no more test subjects from me. You may in fact have to suspend operations, given how close the hives are getting. Earth is a dead loss – that's the general consensus."
Haines pressed several controls, and one of the cell doors retracted. "Seven, we'd like you to accompany us to the labs so that we can run some tests."
The drone moved out of the cell. The soldiers instinctively gripped their weapons a little tighter as RES Seven nodded, and moved out of the door after Haines and Gorson. Hukken took the rear, and gestured for the soldiers to follow.
Kail looked at the central station with growing anxiety. If she wanted to agree to One's deal, there would never be a better opportunity. No soldiers and only three technicians in the room.
She sensed his mind watching hers, but he didn't say anything. She remembered the screaming hunger for blood, death and vengeance that the Queen had showed her.
She pressed five keys, and pressed her hand into the palm scanner.
There was a growl of machinery, and Shadow leapt from his cell like a demon rising from hell. The tail darted out once, twice, three times, and the technicians crumpled senseless to the floor.
"I'm trusting you," said Kail quietly. "Don't let me down."
[No promises,] Shadow replied sadly. [Go. Pray that we don't meet again.]
He watched her go. Guilt welled up at manipulating her, but was promptly crushed. He was Alien now. Any human was either a threat or a tool.
***
Haines looked at the recording in silence. When Kail released the drone, his fists clenched, but no other response was forthcoming.
The tape ended. "How long ago did this occur?"
"Five minutes at the most, sir," said the technician. "I called you the moment I saw it." And you took your time about coming, was the unspoken addition.
Haines flicked an eye towards the medlab where RES Seven, Hukken and Gorson were, blissfully unaware of the disaster that had just occurred. If Gorson's superiors heard of this, Blackstar was surely finished. The General had said it himself: people were already questioning the wisdom of a project that not only dealt with xenomorphs, but also enhanced them.
"I want Dr. Kail found immediately and brought to my office. Issue a base-wide alert to all security personnel, but keep it quiet. It's just one xenomorph. We can deal with one, no need to cause panic. Oh, and ask Dr. Hukken to come to my office as well when General Gorson has left."
"Yes, sir."
Haines left the monitoring station and headed purposefully towards his office. Gorson was already preparing to leave; a report of a large incursion had shortly preceded the technician's message. Good. If he didn't know of it, his superiors wouldn't. Blackstar had to survive. There might be danger and enemies everywhere, but he'd let the project be abandoned or given to another over his dead body.
All around him, marines and other soldiers were casually readying themselves for battle. Their actions fed fuel to the flames of his paranoia, but he forced himself to remain calm.
His 'office' was a converted operating theatre from the days that Blackstar Laboratories had been a hospital. The conversion was not very complete; the operating table still remained and the lighting was harsh, but he liked it that way. It could be surprisingly comfortable in times of stress.
The door opened, and Lieutenant Brome entered closely followed by Kail and a bewildered Hukken.
The last was the first to speak. "Doctor? What's going on?"
Haines stabbed a finger towards Kail. "She sold us down the river, that's what. She released RES One."
Hukken stared. "Surely not. She's not that stupid."
"It wasn't stupidity," Kail burst out. "He promised no one would be hurt!"
Haines gave her a contemptuous look. "He was correct. Brome's men will deal with him easily, won't they, Lieutenant?"
Brome looked uneasy. "Sir, the situation isn't a good one. Even a normal drone can cause a lot of damage, and this is far from a normal drone. You should alert all base personnel."
"Should?" Haines' eye twitched. "I'm in command, Brome!"
The Lieutenant looked puzzled. "Of course, sir."
"Don't 'of course, sir' me!" Haines snarled. "I was put in command here by General Gorson, and no one can take that from me."
"I'm not trying to, sir," said Brome rigidly, clearly not picking up on the scientist's building psychosis.
The words calmed Haines down somewhat, and he returned his attention to Kail. "Why? That's all I want to know."
Her lip trembled slightly. She had picked up on the tone, and knew that the man before her was on a knife-edge.
"Well? Out with it, girl!"
She whispered something.
"I didn't hear that!"
"They were going to get out anyway," she repeated.
Haines stared… and the full import of her words hit him. "That son of a bitch wants to release the hive?"
She nodded.
"And you still let him out?" the other shrieked. He drew his standard-issue pistol, and clubbed her across the face with the butt. There was a crunch of cartilage as her nose broke, and she whimpered slightly.
Brome started forwards. "Sir, you're overreacting. RES One can do limited harm."
"You just said that the situation wasn't good! Stop lying to me, Lieutenant!"
"That limited harm is quite a bit, admittedly, but it cannot release the hive. Only you can do that. You should leave the facility until One has been apprehended, though."
"Enough with the should!" Haines yelled, and shot him in the head twice.
There was dead silence.
"What are you looking at, Hukken?"
Hukken cowered. "Sir, you just shot him!" he mewled. "He didn't do anything wrong!"
"He challenged my authority to the point of mutiny," Haines replied coldly. "Now, Elizabeth, tell me the real reason why you let One out."
"I told you!"
"Bullshit. No one would have let him out knowing that he'd defected to the hive like that. No one sane. You're a bug cultist, aren't you? You worship them. The thought of one snapping your ribs as it burst out from you sends you to sleep, doesn't it?" A mad gleam appeared in Haines' eye as he spoke.
Kail could only back away, shaking her head.
"Fine. You love your Aliens so much?" He clubbed her again, and she was knocked sprawling into the operating table. With terrifying speed, he grabbed her wrist and strapped it into the table's restraints.
"Sir?" asked Hukken weakly. "What are you doing?"
Haines fired over his shoulder, the bullet embedding itself a few inches away from his second-in-command. "I lead here, Hukken," he spat, tying Kail's other wrist to the table. "I don't have to explain myself to anyone." He moved over to his desk, and picked up a large syringe.
Kail yanked helplessly at the restraints as he advanced. "Do you know what this is? The first batch of Tricytosine one-nine-four epsilon that you created. I kept it as a memento of success. But what better way to use it than to give it to its creator?"
"Sir!" shrieked Hukken. "She'll become one of them! One rogue xenomorph is enough!"
Haines looked at Kail with a mockingly sad air. "She won't. Epsilon has such a low success rate. You can die happy in the knowledge that you did so in the aid of science, Dr Kail. After all, we've never seen what happens when someone receives an overdose of the virus, have we?"
He stabbed the syringe into her exposed arm, and injected the contents.
Kail's scream was like a solid wall of sound. Haines staggered back as her skin changed from human pinkie-white to jet-black, spreading out in a wave from the point of injection.
Bone structure changed leaving some areas of flesh limp and sagging, others taut and stretched. Skin split in places, and the blood that fell from the gashes slowly began to hiss and smoke. The eye sockets closed up and hair fell out in great clumps. Teeth elongated and sharpened, and the tongue sprawled out and became hollow before being retracted.
Her entire body seemed to stretch to fit the new proportions of the Alien, and clothing tore under the stress. The characteristic spines rose from her back, and the skin took on the texture and appearance of her new species.
The scream, which was no longer a scream but an utterly Alien shriek, died away, and Kail fell still. Where the human had been, a fully developed drone now lay.
Silence.
"And as for you…" said Haines, finally turning away from the body.
The being slowly woke. She realised that the world looked different, and in a flash remembered the pain. What had happened before that? It was so difficult…
"Sir, please!" begged Hukken. "I'd never do anything against you. What have I done?"
She could hear something. What were they called? Voices? That sounded right. She recognised that voice.
"You also just challenged my authority. Not as strongly as the late Lieutenant, but nevertheless, you did so. You don't think that I should be in charge. You want my position for yourself."
Another voice. She recognised that voice as well. Anger blazed at the owner of the new voice, but she still couldn't remember why…
"No! Please, sir, I'm loyal to you!"
The voices belonged to people. She looked at herself, recognised the shiny, black shell. Not people like her. People with soft, white skin and red flesh and blood. The word 'human' floated through her mind. Yes, the speakers were human. And she was… Xenomorph. Yes. That was the word that attached itself to her kind.
[Kail! Can you hear me?]
Another voice. This one in her mind, speaking in pure meanings. It seemed more natural than this human twittering. So wasteful. How could they communicate in a hunt? Silence is paramount in a hunt. The scraping tones soothed her.
[I recognise your mind, once-prey. You have potential.]
Yet another voice, also in her head. As it came to her, a gentle background hum began in her mind, the feeling of minds brushing hers even if they did not speak. The voice was different from the other Alien, somehow. An image of a huge, six-limbed creature with a long, elaborate crest appeared in her mind. The word 'Queen' followed it. Some thought that was not entirely her own said, "I need a Queen…"
[I need a Queen…]
She said it out loud in her mind, knowing that it would reach those of her kind, almost for fun.
[I can feel her mind and body. Her transformation was too quick. She is in shock.]
[It makes no sense! She would never agree to be given the retrovirus, even if circumstances were more normal; she was pacifistic!]
[If she is to survive in her new form, that is a trait that must be lost,] the Queen replied coldly. [We live by blood, flesh and death.]
[I just don't understand… unless… Haines! You told me that his mind was fragile! Perhaps he did this…]
Haines. The word neatly attached itself to the voice that she hated. Did she know this… Haines?
Haines looked at the pitiful figure in front of him. "Too late, Hukken. We're all dead. Thanks to her," he said, with a gesture at the operating table. "I might as well finish it right here."
Images flooded through her. Images of a human named Kail. It led up to the human being tied onto a table, and a serum of this… retrovirus being injected.
It hit her. She was Kail. Haines was behind her. And there was nothing to stop her from taking revenge.
Hukken raised a quivering finger, and pointed at something behind Haines.
Haines opened his mouth to say something disparaging, and heard the squeak of tortured leather. With his heart in his mouth, he turned.
Kail tore the second restraint off effortlessly, and unfolded her full ten-foot long form. Xenomorph instinct screamed for warm flesh, and human mind didn't intend to stop them.
"Hukken? Help me…" mumbled Haines.
Some part of her argued that this was wrong. That violence never solved anything. The old, truly human Kail fought with the new hybrid mind that screamed for bloody vengeance, and lost.
She crouched, ready to pounce and kill, and felt herself stilled.
[That one is needed alive.]
Kail reached out into the swarm of zephyrs that was the hive mind. [He is mine,] she replied coldly.
[Kail, that man is the only being in the universe who can free the hive,] said the first mind-voice. She felt for information through the hive mind, and realised that it was what she had once known only as RES One. Shadow.
Her human side called for a vow of independence. The hive be damned. She was human, whatever she looked like, and could do what she liked.
That small demand forced aside the red haze of fury. [Why should I help you? I released you, Shadow. That was enough. Enough blood on my hands.]
[Elizabeth, look at yourself. Feel the acid that courses through your veins. Look at your claws, and tell me that you honestly believe that this isn't your fight.]
She raised her hand… the hand that was no longer a hand… and looked at it. The long claws slowly flexed in an utterly inhuman way. Her human side tried to protest that appearances weren't everything, that she was still human on the inside. Shadow had chosen the path of the hive, but it didn't mean that she had to.
Blackness slipped out over her mind, the blackness of her new form. The Alien side spoke without words, and told her that without the hive, she was nothing.
[I shall extract the access code from him,] she said finally. [Your sentence of death is postponed, Haines. The hive needs you. Tell me the access code to release it.]
Both scientists stared at her. "Elizabeth…" breathed Hukken. "You wouldn't… you wouldn't release them! You couldn't!"
She laughed mirthlessly. [You don't know what you've unleashed. Just a few minutes ago, you'd have been right. But now… you changed more than my body, Haines. I look at you, and I feel three things. A small part feels kinship, the kinship that any two humans feel towards each other. Another part feels anger, anger at what you did to me, anger at what you've created in the past months. But the largest part is raw hunger. The hunger of a xenomorph. Hunger that can only be sated by flesh and blood. I look at myself and I realise that I am part of the hive now. The access code.]
"No," said Haines calmly. The tone was belied by the fact that he was shaking uncontrollably. "I won't let you release them."
Kail moved forwards.
"And I don't believe you," he continued, sounding a little less confident now. "The Elizabeth Kail I know would never change that much. Posture all you like. And I can understand you being angry, but this isn't permanent! We created a way to change a human into a xenomorph: it's possible to do vice-versa! It's just a matter of time!" His voice rose to a shriek towards the end.
Her lips drew back in a hideous mockery of a smile. [Why would I want that?] Her claws flashed out, and blood spurted from the long cuts in Haines' stomach. He looked dumbly at the wound as she continued. [I look back on my old self and I feel scorn. She was weak. She disagreed with almost every decision you made, but never stood up to you. She's gone, and I have replaced her. Tell me how to release the hive.]
Haines made a frantic dash for the door, and was cut off easily. He looked up at the merciless apparition before him, and whimpered faintly. "Angels of death bring the only redemption. Override five nine four gamma five zero."
[Thank you.] She crouched for a lethal pounce – and the door opened. Four stunned marines looked inside, and raised their weapons.
Kail leapt for the airshaft and scuttled up it. [Your time will come, Haines… your time will come…]
Hukken recovered quickly. "Come on, men. We need to leave – this room isn't secure. Doctor?"
Haines seemed to wake, and made a run for the door with a final terrified look at the air vent.
One soldier sealed the room behind them, and then turned. "How did it get in? And where are Dr Kail and Lieutenant Brome?"
Hukken opened his mouth to say something, but Haines cut across him. "That was Dr Kail. She overpowered us, shot Brome and used the retrovirus on herself before torturing me into revealing the hive release codes. I want a message sent to General Gorson immediately requesting reinforcements."