Ali hit the pulsing mass and felt the aliens shifting around her. She looked up and saw Call staring at her with horror. She smiled as she was sucked into the black mass. For a moment, there was nothing but crushing darkness, then, Ali fell all the way through and managed to land on her feet. Ripley was nowhere to be seen; she must have already been taken to the Hive. Suddenly, two Warriors came out of the wall and stared at Ali. She could sense them taking in her scent and wondering if she was prey. After awhile, they stepped forward and rubbed their heads against Ali's shoulder.
"Take me to Orla," Ali said.
The Warriors nodded and turned down one of the paths, taking a hurried pace. They seemed to be worried about something and Ali wondered if it had anything to do with Orla's pain. Eventually, the wall color lightened and Ali recognized the Queen's chamber. She was on the opposite side from where she had been first brought in and there were bars dividing her from the Hive. Ali heard the sound of a man speaking, his voice echoing around the room. A long piercing screech filled the air and Ali had to clasp her hands to her ears to try and block out the Queen's torment. Unfortunately, Ali could feel the Queen's pain through their mental link, so blocking the sound wasn't going to do her much good. The Warriors screeched and one turned and ran off. The one that remained at Ali's side had a familiar scent. Ali barely registered that it was the one that had released her from hypersleep.
Orla screeched again and Ali noticed a large object in front of her that rose slightly ever time Orla screeched in pain. Ali caught sight of movement and saw Ripley slowly standing up, staring at the Queen.
"She is giving birth for you, Ripley," A man said and Ali saw that one of the captured humans was still alive, "And now, she is perfect!"
Ali couldn't see what was so perfect in what was happening to Orla. The Queen gave another screech and a head appeared in the object. With each new screech, the creature came out further and further. Finally, after being completely exposed, Ali got to get a good look at it. It was off-white in color, taller than most Warriors, it lacked a tail and had eyes and a nose. Ali turned her gaze away from the ugly creature in disgust.
Ali, look at my baby! Orla said. She was issuing low sounds of pride and happiness as the newborn alien walked up to her.
The Newborn sniffed Orla curiously.
"Orla?" Ali asked. She had no idea how the Queen could love a creature like this; but then again, she had jut giving live birth to it. Humans shared a similar connection to their young with they give live birth.
Look at him. He is wonderful. Orla said.
Suddenly, the Newborn hissed angrily and struck at the Queen, tearing her head apart. Green acidic blood splashed around as Orla's body shook. She was already dead, yet her body continued to jerk and twist. The Newborn turned suddenly and made its way toward Ripley. Ripley was standing now, staring at the Newborn with a mixture of fear and approval. The Newborn reached her and stuck its long, thin tongue out and licked her. Ali shook her head; this was all wrong. Ripley had messed up Ali's plans again.
"Oh, look, it thinks you're its mommy!" the man trapped in the cocoon said. The Newborn turned to the man and walked toward him. Ripley used the opportunity the Newborn was distracted to escape up a ladder. The Newborn turned in fury and attempted to climb up after Ripley. But its body was too bulky to go up the ladder.
Ali backed away slowly, trying to keep silent. But the Newborn turned on her suddenly, as if it felt her move. It roared and charged, taking three steps to get to the opposite side of the Hive where Ali was. Ali backed away quickly as the Newborn reached in through the bars, trying to grab Ali. It's eyes flashed with fury when it was unable to get to her.
"Take me to the Betty. And get me there before Ripley," Ali said, turning her attention back to the Warrior at her side.
The Warrior hissed and ran off in the direction they had arrived. Ali moved alongside it, matching its strides perfectly. She didn't question the Warrior as it led her through a series of air-ducts. Soon, Ali saw a small ship waiting in the docks. Ripley was nowhere to be seen.
"Good job," Ali said.
The Warrior hissed happily at Ali's praise. It tilted its head to the side and fixed Ali with a quizzing gaze. Ali smiled and nodded.
"You're supposed to come with me," Ali said.
The Warrior hissed excitedly and followed Ali as she walked to the open hatch. She walked through the cargo hold and looked around. There were not too many places to hide something as big as the Warrior and Ali began to worry. She wasn't going to leave it back on the ship; that was out of the question. But she had to find somewhere where it could hide. She tilted her head back in exasperation and noticed a small deck near the roof of the ship.
"Up there," Ali said, pointing to the platform.
The Warrior hissed and jumped forward, digging its claws into the metal. It scaled the wall in a matter of seconds and was up in the platform, looking down at Ali. Ali looked back at the hallway of the ship and could see a figure in the mist, running toward the Betty. She quickly followed the Warrior up, taking only a few seconds longer to get to the top. Just as she flipped over the rail and landed on the platform, she heard Ripley hitting the floor of the Betty. Ali peeked over the edge and saw Ripley shut the door and walk through the cargo hold.
Suddenly, the door stopped about two feet from closing and sat there, open. A pink, fleshy hand appeared and the Newborn forced itself through the small opening. The Warrior at Ali's side hissed and Ali had to grab it around the middle to keep it from jumping down and attacking the Newborn. The Newborn walked off away from the door just as Call appeared and walked to the door. She attempted to close it with the controls, but eventually had to close it manually.
"Call, hurry up. We need to go," Ripley's voice came over an intercom.
Suddenly, the Newborn appeared behind Call and roared. Call spun around and the Newborn shut the door behind her.
"Hold on to something Call," Ripley's voice came again.
Ali took the advice and gripped the bars of the platform and crouched down. The Warrior crouched over Ali to provide extra protection as the Betty pulled free of the ship and shot out into space. The ride was bumpy and Ali felt the Warrior press down on top of her, holding her down.
She peeked over the side and watched as Call ran away from the Newborn and ducked underneath a piece of equipment. The Newborn screeched and attempted to reach underneath to get to Call. A door banged open and DiStephano stepped in carrying a gun. He started shaking as the Newborn abandoned Call and walked toward him. When the Newborn was within inches of DiStephano, it shrieked in anger and grabbed DiStephano's head, crushing it with ease. Ali's widened with surprise, she would have thought the Newborn would have wanted to play with DiStephano before killing him; that was the whole sport in the hunt. The Newborn had returned to Call just as a horribly familiar scent reached Ali's nose.
Ali turned to the door and saw Ripley appearing in the door way. She had a look of fury on her face as the Newborn reached Call. The Warrior at Ali's side hissed in fury when it sensed Ripley and launched forward again. Ali was just barely able to get her arms around the Warrior as Ripley stepped further into the room.
"Please try to control yourself," Ali said, "We have to remain hidden until we get off the ship."
The Warrior hissed in displeasure but stopped struggling and crouched down. Ali turned her attention back to the Newborn as it walked up to Ripley, issuing low whines of happiness. Ripley reached out for the Newborn and it stepped into her embrace. Ali was confused, the rhythm of Ripley's heartbeats and her movements didn't add up to her action. From what Ali could hear, she wanted to get rid of the Newborn, not love and cuddle it.
Just then, Ripley flicked her hand at a small window. Blood splattered the window and began sizzling through. Ali understood at that moment what Ripley had been planning all along; she had to get the Newborn near her so that it would get sucked out the window into space. There was a loud noise as a small hole appeared in the window and began sucking out into the black space. The Warrior twisted in front of Ali and crouched over her, protecting her from the pull. She couldn't see what was going on, but she heard the Newborn screeching in pain. She squeezed her eyes tightly as a sickening, tearing sound split the air as the Newborn was forced out of the tiny hole made by Ripley's blood. Then, it was silent except for the roaring wind.
About two seconds went by before there was a giant explosion from outside the Betty. The Betty was hit by the thermals of the explosion and jostled around. The Warrior pressed against Ali, but it didn't stop her teeth from chattering. Finally, the Betty entered Earth's atmosphere and the jolting stopped. The Warrior stepped away from Ali and hissed its concern.
"I'm fine," Ali said and she patted the alien on the head, "We made it!" The Warrior hissed and nuzzled Ali's shoulder.
Below them, Ripley and Call seemed to be thinking the same thing. They were standing by the window as the world of earth came into view. Despite the situation, Ali was quite curious to see what Earth looked like; she has never seen it before, having spent her whole live on LV-426. But she didn't want to be seen by Ripley and Call yet.
Once Ripley and Call had left, Ali and the Warrior jumped down. The Warrior was eager to leave and make its presence known, but Ali paused for a moment.
"I know I promised myself I wouldn't name one of you ever again, to prevent myself from getting hurt again, but I can't help myself. Your name will be Emery."
Emery nodded his head in an agreement. He was now eagerly awaiting the chance to reveal himself and Ali didn't want to prolong it anymore either.
"Okay, this is the plan."
A/N: Emery translates roughly to "hard black substance"
~Ali Wenstern