Chapter Nine
The darkness seemed to press in all around them as they ventured further into the pyramid.
Kyle brought up his flashlight as they walked through the alien hallways. Kyle noticed that they looked similar to those they saw on the derelict ship. Kyle could feel Sophie's feelings and thoughts as she followed the faint tendrils of those here, somewhere deep within the pyramid, somewhere ahead of them. Sophie led, but always kept her tail wrapped around Kyle, his hand held tightly, but gently in hers.
They walked down the dark halls, turning where Sophie's instincts told her to. Kyle noticed they seemed to be heading downwards, under the ground.
"Kyle, Sophie, your transmission is breaking up. That building must be interfering with the signal," Mac advised. Kyle sighed as he glanced around with his flashlight.
"Not surprised. It looks like we're underground, now," Kyle gave back.
When they rounded a corner, Kyle almost froze as the beam of his flashlight fell on very familiar shapes all over the walls, floor and ceiling. Kyle recognized the resin Sophie's kind used to make their hives. Through his link with Sophie, he could feel they were getting closer. Sophie thrummed deeply, the sound resonating down the tunnel, amplified by the construction of the lining, rippling into the area ahead of them. When there was no response, they ventured deeper.
As they walked down the tunnel, Kyle heard something. They both stopped as he listened.
It sounded like something cracking. It sounded to his ears like old eggshells being cracked open. Sophie wrapped her arms around Kyle as the feeling of the others grew even stronger.
The others are coming . . . Sophie wrapped her tail around them both. Kyle softly stroked her hands in reassurance, neither of them moving as the shadows in front of them seemed to tremble, to sway uncertainly.
Kyle couldn't help being awed, at the same time, nervous as the first one slowly and gracefully emerged from the shadows.
This one was larger than Sophie, the head was ridged, instead of Sophie's smooth carapace.
Kyle could feel Sophie's mind reaching out to a Sister. At the same time, Kyle could feel the mind of the other Xenomorph because of his link with Sophie. It reminded him of when he and Sophie were first communicating, when she hadn't yet learned to form thoughts into words. From the feelings and emotions, he could feel some confusion. At this, Sophie thrummed as she stroked his hair and nuzzled his face.
The thoughts and emotions Sophie was sending were warm and friendly, showing her Hive-Sister that Kyle was a friend. Kyle could feel what he could only call surprise from the other one. Kyle could see others beginning to emerge from the darkness behind the one Sophie was communicating with. The other Sisters seemed just as surprised as the first one.
Then, the first Xeno slowly moved forward, stopping in front of them. She very gently reached out and stroked Kyle's hair. Sophie purred as she nuzzled him, giving him soft, reassuring thoughts as she introduced him. The other Xeno gave a soft thrum of welcome, the other Sisters approached, awed and amazed as the first Sister at this strange new member of the Hive.
Suddenly, Kyle felt all of the others connecting their minds with his. He gasped as his eyes flew wide open, as he could feel every thought, emotion and sensation they could. His body trembled, he would have fallen, if not for Sophie holding him. In all his life, Kyle had never felt anything like it before. He was vaguely aware of someone speaking over the radio.
"Kyle, what's going on? The image is so fuzzy, we can hardly see a thing," Sam's voice hissed through his headset. Kyle could only manage a shuddering gasp as his mind flooded with thoughts and feelings. Sophie quickly helped to filter the thoughts, to keep him from losing consciousness. Kyle swallowed as he felt one of the other Xenos gently running her long fingers across his sensitive throat.
"We're all right, Sam. We . . . made some new friends." Sophie purred deeply as she nuzzled Kyle's face. He smiled warmly as he very gently touched the side of the other Xeno's face. He could feel all the others, their large, soft hands gently stroking and feeling him. Just like Sophie, they seemed particularly fascinated by his hair.
"You mean you found others of Sophie's kind?" MacReady gasped in shock. Kyle couldn't help a smile as one of the surrounding Xenomorphs gently stroked his cheek with a long finger. Kyle knew that Mac had never quite believed what they had told him; now Mac had no choice.
"We sure did . . ." Kyle turned his head to look at one of them as she extended her tongue to smell him.
"So, Kyle, what now?" Mac croaked. Kyle smiled warmly at the feeling of closeness from the Sisters of the Hive as he answered.
"Now, me and Sophie are going to meet the rest of the family and tell them what's going on. You guys just sit tight."
"Kyle . . ." He smiled at the worried tone in Sam's voice.
"Don't worry, Sam. They won't hurt us." As if to prove that, one of the other Xenos softly nuzzled Kyle. Sophie purred happily as they both were embraced by the Hive.
"Look, it's getting close to sunset, you two. It might be the best idea for you to hole up there until tomorrow. We don't know what kind of nasty things might crawl out after dark around here," Mac muttered, a worried note in his voice. Sophie agreed.
"You're right, Mac. We'll see you guys tomorrow around noon," Kyle agreed as he checked his watch. Kyle could feel Sophie communicating with the others. She seemed to be asking, questioning. The feeling was one of great warmth. Kyle smiled, remembering the feeling Sophie used that described "Mother". Sophie was asking about the Mother, the Queen. The others seemed eager as they began to lead them deeper into the Hive.
XXX
Back on the Vortex, everyone was stunned, at the same time, relieved, awed and secretly thrilled. They had began to get worried when the images from Kyle's suit-camera began to fill with snow and get fuzzy. Though the images had been very fuzzy, they managed to make out the forms of the other Xenomorphs in the video from Kyle's camera. Sam smiled as she leaned back in her chair. Her amber eyes slid to Terry as he tapped furiously at his console.
Sam found it ironic that Terry was there with them, when his ancestor had died on the Nostromo centuries ago, killed by one of Sophie's kind. Then again, life is full of ironies like that. In fact, it was the fact that Terry and Mac both had an ancestor who disappeared that they had first met. At least they knew what happened to Terry's ancestor; nobody ever knew what happened to Mac's ancestor, who disappeared in Antarctica on Earth in the late Twentieth Century.
As she thought about Mac, Sam felt her cheeks warm slightly as she looked up. She blinked in shock when she saw that their captain was absent after such a momentous response from Kyle and Sophie. She stood and walked over to A-Mos, who was looking over the recorded footage from the derelict ship with Sergei.
"Have either of you seen Mac?" Sam nonchalantly queried. Sergei shook his head. A-Mos frowned slightly in thought.
"I think I saw him heading for the mess hall." Sam smiled and headed off to find Mac. As Sam was walking down the hall, she saw Seth just about to enter his quarters.
"Seth, have you seen Mac?" He turned and looked at her. Sam had always been struck by Seth's deep, ultramarine eyes. They were very beautiful, but they had a haunting, sad quality to them. Because of that, most people found it hard to keep eye-contact with him.
"No, I haven't. I did hear someone walking down the hall, towards medical. Maybe that was him." She smiled gratefully at him.
"Thanks Seth." He nodded as he entered his quarters. Just before he closed the door, Sam just barely saw the saxophone in its case on his bed. She smiled to herself. She never had figured Seth to be a musician. Then again, Seth had always been something of an enigma. With that, Sam headed for the medical lab.
The door of the medical lab was open as Sam approached. Curious, Sam peeked in. Sure enough, Mac was standing in the lab, next to the Autodoc, looking up at the screen above it, his back to the door slightly ajar.
The rotating scans were clearly of a human brain. Five in all, lined up on the screen in order. As Sam focused on the scans, she felt all the breath leave her body at what she saw.
The scans of Mac's brain showed a starfish-like tumor over his left eye, moving into the frontal-temporal-parietal-lobe. Sam felt like her heart fell straight to her feet. It was an astro-blastoma, one of the most dangerous and deadly forms of cancer known to humans. As the scans rotated, Sam saw another, larger one in the back of the brain, the lower occipital area. Sam began to tremble as she felt hot tears well up. The larger one was was barely seven centimeters from the brain stem. From her experience, as a doctor, she knew such a diagnosis would give a patient a life expectancy of less than a month.
Her vision blurred as her eyes stung with tears. She trembled from head to toe as she closed her eyes, tears running silently down her cheeks. She sagged against the door frame, feeling as if all her strength had drained from her. With a barely audible shuddering gasp, she opened her eyes. As she looked at the scan on the far-right, the latest one, she blinked.
This scan showed the tumors to be much smaller. All of a sudden, it clicked.
"Sophie," she breathed with a trembling watery voice. Mac whirled at the sound. He blinked, his eyes widening in shock, startled at Sam's tear-streaked face.
"Sam? What happened? Are Kyle and Sophie all right?" Sam laughed lightly through her tears, wiping her face as she walked forward and threw her arms around Mac's neck.
"Yes. They're fine." She intertwined her fingers with his as she looked up at the scan. She looked back at Mac and smiled. "It's shrinking. It's dying." Mac looked bewildered.
"I know. The Autodoc says it's reduced by twenty percent. That's not possible," he croaked weakly, "They said nothing could be done. This can't be right, can't be possible." His brows furrowed in thought. Sam smiled as she softly cupped his cheek, staring up at him with a rich warmth in her eyes, her lashes spiked by her earlier tears.
"Neither is my walking again" Mac's eyes widened in shock as it clicked, as the pieces fell into place. He chuckled softly as he lightly shook his head. When he looked at Sam, she was looking at the medical bed. She looked at Mac and grinned. Mac grinned back at her as Sam walked over and closed and locked the door.
XXX
The Xenomorphs led Kyle and Sophie down the tunnels and corridors of the Hive, deep under the ground and the alien pyramid above. As they walked Kyle was able to see what the wet cracking noise was.
Here and there, Xenomorphs were attached to the walls, sealed in small niches with a transparent resin. They had been cocooned in a form of hibernation. As they moved along, the sealed Hive-Sisters began to hatch out of their cocoons, awakening from their long slumber. It was amazing to see. Kyle couldn't even begin to imagine how long they had slept. However, as they passed through the passages, they were saddened to find that not all of those who had gone into hibernation had survived.
There were some, still sealed in their niches, long-dead and petrified. Kyle frowned, his heart heavy at the sight. Sophie moaned sadly as she wrapped her arms around Kyle, comforting him. The others offered comfort as well. Kyle swallowed the lump in his throat as they moved on.
As they came around a corner, they saw one of the sealed Hive-Sisters, her upper body hanging out of her partially open cocoon. Kyle could feel how weak she was. Sophie hissed softly. She was dying. Without hesitation, Kyle and Sophie ran to the poor, emaciated Xeno as she hung out of her cocoon. Kyle helped to support her as Sophie broke the rest of the cocoon open, gently easing her to the floor. She was so weak, she was trembling, weak, cold and hungry. So very hungry and so very cold.
Kyle gave a start, remembering the emergency rations he had in their survival kit. That included some dried Bereba melon for Sophie. He handed the thin slice of the dried fruit to Sophie, who carefully opened her weak Hive-Sister's mouth, urging her to eat. Kyle softly stroked the weak one's face, snatching out a survival self-heating blanket and wrapping it around her as she managed to chew and swallow the dried melon.
Don't be afraid. We'll help you. You're safe, Kyle comforted, sending warm feelings through his link with Sophie. As Kyle looked up at the others, he noticed that they, too, were very thin. Little more than skeletons. He frowned as he looked at Sophie. Will she be all right? Sophie gave a very soft purring affirmative.
Yes, but right now she's very weak. Kyle frowned, worried as he looked down at the barely-living Xenomorph whose head rested against his chest. He noticed that this one was very small. She looked like she would only be seven feet standing straight up, on the very tips of her toes. The small one moaned weakly as Kyle and Sophie comforted her. He smiled softly as he gently held her against himself, adjusting the thermal survival blanket to cover her as much as possible. The other members of the Hive watched, amazed and deeply moved by Kyle and Sophie's actions.
As the Hive began to truly wake, Kyle and Sophie could feel how weak they were. Some of the others were almost as close to death as the small one they were trying to save. Kyle looked down at his pack and pulled out the rest of the Bereba melon. Kyle did not have to explain his actions to Sophie. With Sophie's help, he told them to take the thin slices and pass them around to all the rest. It might be the only thing that would keep them alive. The melon's intense protein content might be the only thing that could save the rest of the Hive-Sisters.
The Hive-Sisters were stunned, but did as they asked, taking the slices and rushing off as quickly as they could to save as many of their Sisters as they could. Kyle and Sophie stayed where they were. The small one quickly began to recover as she managed to bear her own weight and sit on all fours. Kyle smiled as he and Sophie gave warm feelings of comfort and friendship to her. The small Xeno gave a weak, warbling trill as she gently touched Kyle's face. He smiled as he felt her gratitude. They looked up as the others returned, seemingly happy.
Kyle could feel feelings of elation and joy, as well as relief and gratitude. Kyle heaved a sigh of relief at the good news. Thankfully, the ones that had hatched all lived. The other Hive-Sisters purred softly as they approached. Kyle looked at the small one, still worried. Sophie purred gently as she stroked his hair. Don't worry, Kyle. She'll be all right. She just needs to rest. The others will look after her.
At this, several of the Hive-Sisters came forward and sat around their smaller sister, gently stroking her and purring. Kyle smiled gratefully as he stood. The small one trilled at them, expressing her gratitude at Kyle and Sophie's aid. He smiled as he sent warm thoughts back to her, glad she was alive. With the small one taken care of, Kyle and Sophie resumed their journey into the Hive.
After many twists and turns, they finally came into a very large chamber. Kyle couldn't help a soft gasp as he stared at the impossibly large cocoon that towered over them. A cocoon that reminded Kyle of an ancient, paper-thin amber sarcophagus; something from an epoch ago. Kyle noticed that there were two other Xenomorphs next to the cracking cocoon, just freshly freed from their own very ancient cocoons, but these ones were unlike any of the other Sisters Kyle had seen.
They both were much larger than the rest. One of them was much thinner, and had a slight bronze hue to her exoskeleton. That, however, was not what made her unusual. It was the fact that she had wings that stunned Kyle. Great wings, like a massive bat might have. The other, much more of a blue color, from the head to the waist, was like Sophie, but instead of hips and legs, this one had a huge, long tail and nothing more. Serpentine, long and sinuous, with scale-like exoskeleton shimmering down its coils.
From what Sophie had shown him, her kind would be different, depending on what their host organism was. Kyle couldn't even imagine what creatures these two massive Guardians had been born from. As Kyle and Sophie came closer, the great cocoon cracked, what liquid that was left inside beginning to ooze out as a large hand broke through with a wet, splooshing sound. The other hand followed, tearing open the other half of the ancient cocoon. The liquid inside pooled on the floor as the cocoon was torn apart. Kyle gaped in awe and wonder at the Matriarch of the Hive.
She was huge, over thirty feet tall. Her regal crown flowed with an elegance that he had never seen before. Two smaller arms in her chest trembled as they stretched, as if horribly cramped from a time within a cocoon too long to measure by a human mind. Her larger arms flexed, the joints cracking lightly as she carefully tried moving her stiff, contracted fingers. Her face slowly emerged from her crown, the great, powerful being opening her jaws, showing her long, sharp, transparent teeth as she yawned. She looked at Kyle and Sophie. He couldn't help freezing where he stood, not in fear, but in dazed wonder and awe.
She was amazing.
Her exoskeleton was a shiny silvery-gray, her legs long and powerful. Her tail was impossibly long, waving feebly behind her. The blade on the end was longer than Kyle was tall. As he stared at the majestic, magnificent being before him, he was awestruck. Kyle had heard legends about the majesty of goddesses, realizing he understood those feeling as he stared at the being before him. As he gazed up at her, he felt as if he was not gazing at a being made of flesh and blood, but at a goddess lost somewhere in the Mists of Time. She was not just a Queen, she was so much greater then a queen.
The Great Mother made a sound that was almost a hiss, but not quite. Kyle could feel curiosity from the amazing being before them. Sophie wrapped her arms around Kyle, purring and trilling as she communicated with the Great Mother.
Since they had first began to communicate, Kyle had felt what he had termed "Block-Thought", whole ideas and concepts, even whole tracks of memory, shared in an instant through the mental bond Sophie's people shared. Kyle was amazed as Sophie shared her whole life, every single memory, with the Great Mother, and the whole of the Hive; sharing years in a few beats of a heart. Kyle blinked in a daze as images, feelings flashed and flow into his mind, out of his mind.
From the first time they met, to their escape from the labs, everything was laid bare, there were no secrets. Their first kiss, when they danced, the first time they made love, all of it Sophie shared in the span of less than a minute. Kyle was astonished. So was the Great Mother and the Hive. Kyle couldn't help being a little uneasy as the Great Mother, Mother of Mothers, Matriarch of Sophie's race, the closest thing to a Goddess the Xenomorphs knew, shifted her attention to him.
The Great Mother sensed Kyle's apprehension and cooed very softly as her mind brushed his.
He was amazed at the grandness of the mind that touched his, but also at the astonishing gentleness that he felt. He could feel she was urging him to come closer. Sophie purred gently as she let Kyle walk forward as the Great Mother crouched low, her face level with his. He gave a weak, shy smile as he gazed at her.
It's a great honor to meet you, he said as he knelt, his head bowed. He was surprised when he felt a soft, warm hand on his chin, raising his head to meet her gaze. Kyle stared into the eyeless face of the Great Mother. The Great Mother softly rubbed his cheek with the thumb of her smaller hand as her lips gently turned upwards into a soft smile as she gave a deep, low, resonant purr that lowered into a very deep thrum. The rest of the Hive began to thrum, too. Sophie was ecstatic as she approached.
Kyle was surprised when the Great Mother's arms softly folded around him, pulling him against her. He trembled as he was wrapped in the softest, warmest embrace he had ever felt. Physical or mental.
Kyle . . . It was so soft and so gentle. Kyle felt warm tears stream down his face as the gentle warmth of the Great Mother's mind connected with his. It wasn't the lover's warmth that he felt from Sophie, it was a warmth he had all but forgotten: A Mother's love.
Despite how close they were, how deeply they connected, Kyle still had a wound within him that even Sophie could not heal. The pain and sorrow a child feels at losing their mother is a wound that almost never heals, not truly. It had pained Sophie that her beloved, darling mate and Bonded had to carry the horrible wound within him, and she unable to do anything to heal it.
The Great Mother held Kyle tenderly against her as she thrummed, letting the full warmth of her mind flow into his, then around it, swaddling him in motherly protection. She softly stroked his hair as her feelings of maternal warmth flowed through every fiber of his being, wrapped around him and soothing every worry and fear. Don't fear, my little one. I'm here . . . Kyle felt like a small child again, held tenderly by his mother as all pain and sorrow flowed away, replaced by pure, motherly tenderness and love.
Just like that, the anguish and sorrow, that even Sophie couldn't heal, was gone.
The Great Mother looked at Sophie and purred gently, opening her arms to invite her into the embrace as well. She gladly accepted, wrapping herself around Kyle as they both were wrapped in the warm embrace of the Great Mother. The great arms, both big and small, tenderly embraced her children, holding them to her as she softly settled on the floor, her tail curled around her as the rest of her children began to come forward, curling close to her as the whole of the Hive was filled with the soft, deep thrum that signified peace and happiness.
Kyle was a little surprised when he felt one of the others crawl into the Great Mother's arms with him and Sophie. He smiled. It was the small one they had saved. She purred happily as she embraced Kyle and Sophie. The Great Mother purred deeply as her children gathered around her, cuddling close. The warm feelings of love, friendship and family softly lulled Kyle and Sophie to sleep in the safest place in all the universe: Their Mother's embrace.
The next morning, Kyle and Sophie immediately went outside to radio back to the Vortex.
"Mac? Sam? You guys reading me?" Kyle demanded into the headset. There was a slight hiss of static.
"Kyle, Sophie! You two all right?" Sam yelped, her voice holding relief. Kyle smiled.
"Yeah, but the Hive down here has been in hibernation for a long time. They're literally starving to death. We need you guys to bring as many of the Bereba melons as you can. Quick!"
"No problem. Just give me a few minutes to load up the rover, and I'll home in on your location," Seth swiftly assured Kyle. Kyle sighed with relief as he nodded to himself.
"Just be careful. We didn't see anything dangerous on the way here, but that doesn't mean it's safe."
"Right."
About fifteen minutes later, Kyle and Sophie could hear the sound of the rover approaching. They stood up as Seth drove up, the back of the rover crammed to capacity with vacu-crates of the melons. Seth brought the vehicle to a stop and got out.
"How are they?" Seth whispered warily. Kyle frowned lightly.
"They're still very weak. A lot of them didn't survive their hibernation," he explained as Sophie grabbed one of the boxes of Bereba melons and lifted it off the back of the rover. Seth frowned deeply at the news.
"I'll help you out. It'll go faster that way." Kyle shook his head.
"We appreciate the thought, but it's still too dangerous right now for them to meet you guys," Kyle stated firmly as he grunted with effort, lifting one of the smaller boxes and carrying it towards the entrance of the pyramid. Seth watched as Kyle and Sophie popped in and seemed to hand the boxes to someone or something hidden within the shadows. They then turned and swiftly came back to grab more crates of melons.
"What about the Queen? Is she alive?" Seth still remembered the remains of the deceased Queen they had seen in that ruined building through Kyle's suit-camera.
"She's not as weak as the others, but she's still in need of a lot of protein." Seth looked up at the huge pyramid that they were heading towards.
"What is this place?" he wondered aloud.
"The Creators' Capitol Building," Kyle replied as he helped Sophie to deliver the rest of the melons. Seth blinked with astonishment as he looked up at the pyramid, then around at the surrounding buildings and the wrecked ships that were laying everywhere.
"Guys, are you seeing all of this?" Seth hissed into his headset as he panned his suit-camera around.
"Damn right we can," Mac retorted sharply, his voice sounding both awed, and worried.
XXX
Back on the Vortex, everyone was watching the video from Seth's suit camera, and they were awed at the devastated city. Now that the mists had cleared, they could truly see how destroyed the ancient city was. Everywhere, buildings were crumbled, ships were crashed and broken, all manner of destruction could be seen. They also could see the levels of soil that had built up, the buildings and ships overgrown with plants. They couldn't even begin to imagine how long ago all of this had happened. Sam stared at the screen, dazed at what she was seeing.
"Jeez, look at how smashed up those buildings are," she breathed. Mac frowned deeply from the captain's chair as he studied the screen.
"This reminds me too much of Malera," his voice was distant as Seth panned the camera around to look at the destroyed buildings.
As he did, Sam caught movement. She blinked with surprise.
"Seth, pan back to the left," Sam ordered. Seth did, focusing on the movement.
"What the heck is that?" Mac muttered.
The small creature looked like the head of an old rag mop, a small bundle of tubes that was moving along the ground, making a whiffling sound. As Seth got a little closer, the creature gave a small snort and quickly bounced away in fright. Seth looked at where it had been. Sam smiled as she saw the small path carved in the lichen that was on the ground.
"It's eating the moss," Sam observed. Mac chuckled to himself, mostly with relief.
"Huh, an alien snail," Mac sounded amused. Seth panned his camera around, and they could see more of the small creatures moving around. They seemed to be very skittish, bouncing away at the slightest sound. Sam was delighted as she watched.
"It looks like there's still life on this planet," her voice was excited. A-Mos watched with the rest of them. They were a little surprised at the sound of Kyle's voice.
"Well, they're much better. The melons already are making a world of difference," Kyle informed them, his relief clear in his voice. Sam smiled.
"We're glad. How many of them survived?" Sam wondered, concerned. Kyle sighed heavily, and they could hear a sad moan from Sophie.
"Only about thirty." Sam frowned. Mac sighed with sadness from his seat.
"I'm sorry, Kyle," the captain offered. Kyle smiled as he looked into Seth's suit camera.
"We're just glad that at least some of them lived. Especially the Great Mother." This was met with confused murmurs.
"'Great Mother'?" Sam echoed. Kyle chuckled at that.
"You guys will get to meet her tomorrow. They should be well enough to safely meet you then," Kyle informed them, sounding excited. Mac smiled gently from where he sat.
"That's good to hear. You two just stay safe while you get to know them. Don't go anywhere by yourselves until we all meet up tomorrow," Mac advised.
"Aye, captain," Kyle replied and Sophie purred. Mac puffed some smoke as he watched Sophie and Kyle carry the rest of the melons into the pyramid.
"Seth, come on back," ordered the bearded ship captain.
"On my way."
XXX
As Kyle and Sophie walked back through the tunnels of the Hive, they both were elated to see the rest of Sophie's kin regaining their strength. They hungrily munched on the extremely protein-rich melons, already feeling worlds better.
Kyle smiled as he saw the small one they had saved the previous day coming up to greet them, melon juice still adorning her face. She trilled happily as she walked around Kyle on all fours. Sophie purred back, happy her Hive-Sister was stronger. As she followed, Kyle thought about how sweet and cute she was. Thinking of her demeanor, he suddenly thought of a name for her. He smiled warmly as he looked over his shoulder at her.
How do you like the name "Lissa"? She trilled, excited, as she trotted behind them. He smiled wider at her returning energy. He felt the warm gratitude from Lissa and chuckled. Sophie purred as she wrapped her tail around her mate.
When they got back to the Great Mother's chamber, they both smiled happily as the Mother of the Hive ate another whole melon, relishing in the sweet, tangy taste, laden with intense protein and nutrient. She looked up as Kyle and Sophie entered, purring deeply in gratitude.
Thank you, my children. Because of you, many of my young have survived. Kyle couldn't help his cheeks coloring a bit at the praise of the Great Mother. To him, it was like being thanked by a Goddess. Lissa purred as she nuzzled Kyle's side.
A heart that was kind and generous cared for others. A good heart. Kyle looked up at the winged one, surprised, but flattered at her words. The serpentine one gave a very soft rumble of agreement.
Kyle had thought hard, and named the winged one and serpentine one Diana and Artemis, respectively. They seemed to be suiting names. From what Kyle had felt from the Hive-Memories, he knew they were sort of the "personal guard" of the Great Mother. The two were more aloof than the rest, but still friendly and trustworthy.
The Great Mother smiled as she beckoned Kyle and Sophie to her. She purred a sound deeply as they approached.
We're glad we could help you, Kyle replied. Sophie purred as she wrapped her arms around her mate. The warmth from the two seemed to delight the Great Mother as she softly brushed a strand of Kyle's soft, sandy-blonde hair from his eyes.
Such a sweet, loving child you are. Sophie has a fine mate and a wonderful Bonded One in you, Kyle. Kyle felt his cheeks heat up even more. Sophie purred as she nuzzled him.
Thank you, Great Mother. I'm honored by your words, he replied, quite abashed. The Great Mother seemed amused by his humility. Sophie smiled, purring deeply as she kissed him on the cheek.
Lissa, not about to be left out, softly shoved her head against his side as she communicated warm feelings to him, agreeing with the others. Kyle was almost overwhelmed by the feeling of warmth from not only Sophie, Lissa and the Great Mother, but from the whole of the Hive.
It was such an amazing feeling of solidarity and family. They cared about him just as much as he did them. He might have had a different form, but they considered him one of their own. He was part of their family. To Kyle, having spent so much of his life alone, it was astonishing. The Great Mother gently traced the line of Kyle's jaw, a feeling of warm, motherly tenderness flowing from her mind. Kyle sighed, closing his eyes as he softly leaned his face against the Great Mother's hand as she gently cupped his cheek.
She may not have been the one that gave birth to him, but he felt, with every fiber of his being that she was his mother. The Great Mother purred softly, low and sweet as he gazed up at her. Kyle was learning the different ways the purring sound could be made, including their very complex meanings. Kyle was amazed how, in just a fraction of a second, the Great Mother was able to communicate what would take a human pages and pages of writing, or minutes of explanation.
Communication.
The thought suddenly hit Kyle, as he remembered a little old man, back on Berren Prime, who had taught him about ancient Chinese letters that represented whole concepts that might otherwise take pages and pages to explain. He also had taught Kyle about the Rosetta Stone, and how important it was to unraveling an unknown ancient language. Kyle blinked, bewildered, as realization hit him. He was a Rosetta Stone. Without him, nobody else could communicate with Sophie's people, and there would be more misunderstandings and bloodshed.
As he thought on this, he wondered if the Bond he and Sophie had was just a fluke, almost forgetting that the Great Mother was fully aware of his thoughts. The Great Mother purred softly, reassuringly, comforting him as she gently stroked his hair.
No, said the Great Mother as she showed him a Block-Thought.
XXX
When Seth got back to the Vortex, A-Mos was standing near the edge of the plateau, a set of binoculars in his hands as he looked down at the valley below.
"Everything all right?" Seth asked. The former soldier didn't look at Seth as the younger man approached.
"Take a look at this," A-Mos whispered as he handed Seth the digital binoculars. Seth looked through them, down into the valley at the ruined city. He focused on a large shape at the very edges of the city.
It wasn't a building. It was very long, at least a good thousand feet. Seth frowned as he zoomed in on it.
"Looks like another of their ships," Seth commented. A-Mos grunted grimly.
"Yeah, but that's not what has me worried. Take a closer look at the ground around it." Seth did as he asked. He noticed that the ground around it was completely barren, just earth. Not even a single vine or plant was anywhere near the large ship.
Seth zoomed in on where the plants and vines stopped, a good fifty feet from the edge of the ship in every direction. He stopped when he saw something white. He adjusted the focus and frowned when he saw white bones in many of the plants around the ship. A-Mos crossed his arms as he gave a soft growl. "For every living thing to stay at least fifty feet away from that ship, and there to be so many bones has me worried." Seth was about to respond, when his radio squealed in his ear.
"Guys! Fire up the UV lights!" Kyle yelled excitedly over the radio. Seth looked down at the entrance of the pyramid as Kyle came out, riding on Sophie's back as if she was a horse.
"Why? What's going on?" Sam yelped over the radio. Seth could almost feel Kyle's smile.
"Just do it! Trust us!" replied the excited blonde. Suddenly, the external Ultra-Violet lights of the Vortex snapped to life, bathing the whole area in light.
The reactions was almost instant. The whole cliff-side along the sea seemed to light up as mosses and goodness-knows-what else lit up brightly in reaction to the lights. A-Mos and Seth stared, amazed at the dazzling light show from the surrounding cliffs. The environment went from a dull, dead gray, to a bright, dazzling array of rippling blues, greens and violets in a matter of seconds.
"Wow . . .," Sam's voice echoed, sounding stunned.
"Now there's something you don't see every day," MacReady observed. Seth turned as Sophie came trotting up, Kyle on her back, both of them grinning.
"What did you guys do?" Seth demanded. Kyle smiled as he got off, Sophie standing upright.
"We're helping Mother Nature out." Seth blinked, stunned as he looked back at the illuminated cliffs. A-Mos smiled softly at the bright display.
"Really pretty, but what is all of this for?" A-Mos demanded, his white hair fluttering in a sudden soft wind. Sophie trilled as she wrapped her arms around Kyle.
"How would you guys like to see for yourselves? It's safe."
XXX
A short time later, Kyle and Sophie were leading the whole group down the path and into the valley, turning left, towards the sea. They all were amazed as they looked up at the cliffs that seemed to be alive with activity. Strange little creatures darted around on the rocks, others buzzed through the air, flittering here and there. Sam smiled hugely as she walked next to Kyle and Sophie.
"This is amazing!" Sam was filled with awe and wonder as she took in the alien life that seemed to have been awakened by their UV lights.
Along the cliff was a very strange thing. It was like a vine of some sort, but it looked like it was made from ribbed tubing, with strange swellings or knobs along it. The whole cliff seemed to be covered in it. Sam watched as a small flying creature fluttered near. It lacked legs, but had, instead, small tendrils. The beak-like mouth was long, it reminded her of a hummingbird. The small animal fluttered closer to one of the knobs, which, to everyone's surprise, opened into a wide flower about the size of a person's head, the inside a subtle green color.
As the little animal flew close, the flower snapped closed over it. Sam gasped and recoiled, her hands covering her mouth in horror. Sam's eyes darted to Kyle. Kyle smiled at her gently.
"Don't worry. It's not hurting it. Look." Kyle pointed to another bloom that opened, releasing another one of the tiny creatures, which fluttered off. Kyle walked up to the vine as it opened, releasing the little fluttering creature inside. "It's kind of like a flower and a bee is on Earth, but here, the flower also protects the bee." Kyle reached out, and the bloom moved, seeming to take notice of him. Sam gasped as the flower seemed to stretch towards his hand, turning the most beautiful bright pink color, as if it were blushing.
What was even more amazing and awe-inspiring, was the whole rest of the flowers on the vine opened and turned the same, deep pinkish-blush color, turning the whole cliff into one great canvas of pink. As Sophie neared, the vine noticed her, stretching towards her and turning a very subtle yellow color. Sophie purred as she touched the flower, which wrapped around her hand in the most delicate way. Sam gave a soft laugh as she came closer. The flower "looked" at her, turning back to the deep pink color.
Kyle smiled as he let her get closer. "Go ahead. It won't hurt you." Sam smiled as she touched the flower as it closed around her hand. It was so warm and delicate, gently pulsing with life. Sam smiled with wonder as she looked at Kyle and pulled her hand back, the flower releasing her instantly.
"This is amazing!" Kyle smiled knowingly as he nodded agreement.
"On this world, symbiotic life is the norm," Kyle stated softly, turning to lead them towards the seashore.
"Ah, so that's why the UV lights. Local lifeforms needed the light to grow and flourish," Mac observed. Kyle nodded as he looked back over his shoulder.
"That's right. Everything has been thrown all out of sync here. If we're to save Sophie's people, we have to set the natural order to rights," Kyle explained. Adding, "Or at least give it a jump start to begin repairing itself." Sergei was silent in his awe at what he was seeing, looking almost ready to faint from sheer excitement.
"This is astounding! Magnificent!" Kyle smiled and chuckled.
"Wait until you see the ocean."
As they neared the ocean, they saw a long creature with legs weave across the path ahead and upwards, onto the cliff. It almost looked like a snake with legs and eyes on long stalks. Kyle motioned at it as they walked. "That is one of the things that we needed to help out."
They watched as the creature climbed up and pulled a mouthful of the glowing moss off the cliff and climbed up and into a hole in the rock. "The moss is the food of that animal's prey, which has been disappearing, so it was preying on another creature. One that we want to protect." They all looked at Kyle as he explained the local ecosystem like he had lived in and studied it for years. Sam was about to ask, when she saw something that made her stop.
On some rocks ahead, just where the water began, she saw several creatures about the size of medium dogs on the rocks that had very familiar shapes. The heads were long, and the faces lacked eyes. Their bodies were almost skeletal. As the group neared, the creatures gave a soft screech and leaped into the water. Sophie got down on all fours, her tail in the air as she purred. Sam blinked as she walked next to Kyle, not certain of what she had seen.
"Kyle, what were those?" He smiled happily at her.
"Sophie's cousins." Sam's eyes widened, startled. Kyle pointed towards the ocean as the gentle sound of waves was heard.
As they came to the seashore, they were struck by how similar, yet how alien it was to what they knew back home. The silvery sands and grayish waves had a striking beauty, complimented by the glowing moss, that went down right into the water and below. Under the water Sam could see creatures that looked like a cross between a starfish and a lobster that were feeding on the moss with some ravenous appetites.
They were surprised when Sophie trilled loudly and excitedly. They turned as she approached another odd creature that was pulling itself up out of the water and onto the shore a little down the beach. Kyle smiled as he approached where his mate was, her tail waving excitedly in the air as she purred deeply. Sam gasped in amazement as she stared at the creature.
It was a brownish-gray color, and reminded her of a manatee, but it most certainly wasn't.
It was partially transparent, some of the rudimentary skeleton and organs visible through its skin. Large, innocent-looking liquid-gold eyes stared at them from a face that looked, oddly, almost human.
"Kyle, what is this?" Sam whispered as Sophie continued to purr. Kyle smiled as he looked at Sam.
"This, Sam, is the key to saving Sophie's people and setting things right here." He smiled as the timid creature carefully whiffled, as if to smell Sophie. "Take a good look at its chest." Sam looked at the organs in the chest. She noticed that the creature only had four ribs. Her eyes widened as she saw a familiar, coiled shape in the chest, next to the beating heart. Sam's eyes grew wide as she looked at Kyle, excited as her face broke into a huge smile.
"They're Sophie's natural hosts!" Sam exclaimed as comprehension dawned on her scientific mind. Kyle smiled and nodded as Sophie purred deeply.
Author's note: Much credit goes, once again to my Mom, who has been an unending source of help and inspiration. Her medical knowledge has been helpful again and again, as has her keen eye for detail. All credit for anything related to medicine or the human body goes to my Mom, a former Registered Nurse.
Credit also goes to her on the ideas of what the environment and ecosystem of the Xenomorph home planet might be like. The concept of the world being based on symbiotic life was her idea, as was the idea of what the Xenomorphs' original host might be like. She also was my inspiration for the Great Mother. So, since it's Mother's Day, please give your Mom a hug. You wouldn't be here if not for her.