"Are we going to sleep? All the way home?"
"All the way home."
"Can I dream?"
"Yes honey, I think we both can."
"Sleep tight."
"Affirmative."
And so the weary survivors safely tucked themselves away in their pods, hyper-sleep putting them into a long dreaming embrace.
They had survived the maw of Hell itself, and now only had the future to look forward to.
XXX
Orbit Station Hypnos hovered around the Earth in dead silence. It was one of many stations, primarily for research and observation. It held an assortment of habitats, all to support its rather generous staff. One man looked out the solitary window of the room, staring at the blue orb of the planet itself.
Dr. Eisner breathed a steady sigh.
Two weeks, it had been two weeks since the team was sent in to investigate Hadley's Hope. He wasn't there for the staff meeting regarding it. No, he was busy with other matters. Though the colony had gone silent, as well as the marines who had been dispatched there, he wasn't surprised in the least. After all, Ellen Ripley's story held some truth to it. Though the board had been skeptical of her story, there were some in the company who knew the truth of the matter. Fifty-seven years may have been a long time, but files remained intact. Enough for him to go over. Besides, there were more than Ripley's notes to go over.
The day the android, David, had sent over the files had been recorded. Every note, every biological point, every bit of information he could list was detailed thoroughly. Dr. Eisner recalled reading those notes over and over until the information soaked in like a sponge with water.
A sudden beep stirred him from his thoughts. Pressing the button on his desk he spoke, "Yes?"
"Dr. Eisner? They've arrived," Came the voice.
Smiling to himself, Eisner said, "I'll be right there."
XXX
The ship hummed as it landed within the hanger. It opened up, like a chicken breaking free of its egg. This ship was no freighter, but it indeed held a special cargo. Dr. Eisner strode into the hangar, heading towards the lone ship as its sole occupant exited. The doctor's eyes did not focus upon the occupant himself, but rather what he was bringing: a single metal barrel.
The occupant looked up, never smiling or forming any form of emotion, "Dr. Eisner," He droned.
Looking over, Eisner formed a hesitant smile, "Do you have it?" He asked.
"Yes," The pilot said.
Leaning down, Eisner's smile formed fully, and he licked his lips slightly in anticipation, "Why send a man when you can send a synthetic?" He metaphorically asked, "Excellent work Richard," He said to the one identified as a synthetic.
"You're welcome doctor, but I do admit it was as some would say, "a bitch to find". Excuse my language," Richard said.
Eisner could only give a little laugh, "Well I think you've earned a little foul language wouldn't you say? Bring this to the lab, I want testing done straight away."
The synthetic had no choice but to obey. He was made to take orders. It was not hard to figure out why he was chosen for this task. As an android, he lacked the biological weaknesses that hindered the beings he was modeled after.
It wouldn't be the first order he was given, and it wouldn't be the last.
XXX
One year later…
Being Dr. Eisner's assistant was a full-time job. Throughout the project, the doctor had supervised every step of the way, and frankly, his desires were often a micromanaged mess. Of course, he couldn't blame him. This was after all a goldmine of sorts for the company itself.
He heard footsteps behind him.
"If it ready?" Dr. Eisner's voice cut through.
"Yes," The assistant answered.
Within the glass, chamber lay their prize, the fruits of a year of hard work had produced: a single solitary egg. The shell itself was not hard, but rather an organic wrapping of the fleshy membrane. A hum rang out as machinery went to work. A metal casing covered the egg, sinking into the window then reemerging on the outside covered in a pod. The pod itself held several lights, complete with an onboard computer.
Dr. Eisner smiled. It would seem David's notes were correct. And this was the result. They had plenty of trial and error, but overall they had managed a quality specimen.
"It's perfect. Truly perfect!" Eisner mused.
"We're ready for testing Doctor, as soon as we find a host for it, it should be ready," The assistant answered.
Eisner spied the glass chamber, and without straying away from it, said, "Ideal, but I'm afraid there will no host."
"No host?" The assistant said confused.
That was perplexing. From the notes they had read, these creatures required a host to be born. Come to think of it, Dr. Eisner didn't seem to prepare any form of testing. No plans, no preparations, all resources were put into creating a specimen.
"At least not here. I've arranged for a little field test. We're sending the egg down to Earth in a probe," Dr. Eisner explained.
"Down to Earth?" The assistant repeated.
"Are you having trouble understanding me?" Eisner bluntly asked.
"Well...no, but I don't know why-"
"Let me explain, once it lands, the probe will open once it senses organic life. And therefore we have our host," Dr. Eisner explained.
The assistant looked at Eisner as if he were crazy, "Are you serious?"
Eisner looked at him, face never showing any sign of hesitation or reluctance in his speech, "As a heart attack."
"Sir, based on the reports we've received, that's a very bad idea. I-I-I don't mean to question you but-"
"Your fears are understandable, but I've taken precautions. We're not sending it to a densely populated area. Least a human one that is," Eisner could still see his assistant was confused, "There's a remote part of Africa, one where humans rarely tread. Why I'm certain ninety percent of the animal population has never even seen a human."
"The company couldn't possibly have condoned this?" The assistant asked.
"The company has given me full support."
"But animal rights groups? If word gets out-"
"As I said, humans rarely come to this part of Africa. There's supposedly a local superstition about some strange "magic" controlling the area," Locking eyes with his assistant, Eisner added, "Frankly I think this is too good to pass up."
"Yes but-"
"I can sense your hesitation. Let me ask you, did you have a pet as a child?" Dr. Eisner asked.
The assistant thought back to his childhood, and for a moment he smiled, "Yes...I had a dog. Her name was Honey."
Eisner chuckled, "Honey...cute. I'm certain you and your little Honey had a very close-knit bond. You would have died for her, and she would have died for you no?"
The assistant said nothing but instead focused on his memories of Honey. For a moment his smile faded, reversing into a frown.
"Close as you were she was just dumb insignificant animal. When a human is killed oh it breaks so many laws of morality, but when an animal dies? It's just nature? After all, what are animals but masses of cattle? We hill them for their meat, milk them, satiate ourselves on their eggs, or use their skins, hides, wool, what have you, to clothe ourselves," Eisner's smile shrank, then lapsing back into a brief outline of a laugh, "They are merely tools for our advancement and pleasure."
Thinking on this, the assistant couldn't help but find some kind of logic to his boss's words. Using a human host would raise a whole level of morality, but an animal would barely be a blip on the radar.
"Besides, those Green Peace-loving tree-huggers will silence themselves once we line their pockets. It's human nature after all," Eisner sardonically retorted.
The assistant found some form of truth in his superior's words. Not to say he was okay with it, but knew he didn't have much sway in the situation.
"Prep it," Eisner ordered.
And the assistant had no choice but to obey.
XXX
The Outlands lay silent tonight. Its denizens lay asleep (save those of a nocturnal persuasion), a long-lasting peace since the war ended. The Battle for the Pride Lands lay within everyone's minds. The period where Scar's spirit returned, gathering all the bad animals of the Outlands under his banner. The battle was long hard-fought, but in the end, Scar had been banished back to the hell he came from. The Outland animals gathered under a new leader: Jasiri. The young hyena had proven a capable leader, fostering long-standing peace between the Outlands and the Pridelands.
Currently, the Outlands Queen (or Prime Minister), lay sleeping alongside her right-hand man: Janja. Like much of the animals from Scar's Army, Janja had long reformed. It was somewhat of an adjustment, considering Janja and his all-male clan had spent a great period of terrorizing the Pride Lands, even willing to harm children. But those days were long gone.
The peaceful night lay uninterrupted, least until the star in the sky began to grow steadily closer. The closer it got, the brighter it did, and then suddenly…
A great rocking of the earth jolted the two hyenas awake.
Janja was the first to awake, looking around anxiously for the source of the sound, "What the heck was that!?" He exclaimed.
Jasiri was the second to awaken. The young leader was more gentle than her companion, but found herself questioning the same, "I don't know. It sounds like an earthquake."
Yet the ground itself remained intact. Not even a tremor.
XXX
The pod steamed in the crater it had made. Weyland-Yutani had made certain these pods were built to withstand a great force. Suddenly, a series of jets began to blow around the metal casing. The heat from the planet's atmosphere soon subsided and a repositioning system moved it upright. Several lights blinked upon the casing itself and soon stopped blinking entirely.
Now it awaited, holding Weyland-Yutani's constructed monster inside.