Chapter 5
Ok, first of all I want to say a very BIG thank you to everyone whom has reveiwed and commented on this story ^^ it means a lot to me to know people are enjoying it ^^ So THANK YOU! to you all and enjoy this latest chapter.
The whole base was tense, all eyes on Martha Mary and the multiple computers she was sat before, typing rapidly on the keyboard as she searched for something, anything inside the salvaged chips and memory cards Mark had found from Sanderson's body and head.
I'ka was watching in awe as Martha Mary's fingers danced rapidly and the screens flashed and flooded with coding and data, all the while Martha Mary muttered and mumbled to herself.
"Anything?" Mark asked.
"Give me two more minutes..." Martha Mary said as an image opened up. "Reformat the image to digital 2.0... Clean up the graphics to format 4.6... Rotate image 120... increase sound and..." the screen brightened and cleared to show a bright laboratory and many humans walking around, in tanks and cells were Xenomorphs of all sizes and kinds, and then an old man came into view. "Is that...?"
"Karl Bishop Weyland the II." Ben said. "Son of a Bitch, he's still alive." He snarled.
"Easy Ben." Jessica said then answered the unasked Question from Nagara and the other Yautja. "Ben's family business was taken over by Weyland Industries, because of that, Ben's mother and father had to come out of retirement to support their Son, Daniel." She explained.
"I've been waiting for the day I get to beat that asshole to a pulp." Ben growled.
["You're task is easy enough, Sanderson, you just have to get inside the base and then get out again, the Xenomorphs will do the rest."]
["But sir, the Hunters are still wary of us, I can't just waltz in there."]
["You can drive and believe me, I know this plan will work. I've spoken with the men and they all understand their job. Now get going, before I reassign you to cleaning crew!"]
["Yes Mr. Weyland."]
"The son of a bitch knew!" Ben snarled.
Jessica watched Martha typing and then gasped. "Martha stop! Rewind that footage a few seconds..." she said and Martha Mary did what she'd asked. "There, pause it." she added.
"My god..." Mark gasped. "Carlos Kelly...?"
"An Android." Ben said, "They were trying to make a copy of Carlos," he added as the video continued to play.
["An incomplete copy, but a near perfect resemblance... a shame you aren't needed anymore."]
"Those bastards!" Mark snarled.
Shara stayed as still as she could, faking sleep as she listened to the sounds around her, hissings, growls, screams of pain from people as a Chest Buster slammed its way out of their body, snarled as Xenomorphs moved around and there was something else...
A feeling of something familiar close by...
Something that scared yet calmed Shara for some unknown reason, she should be frightened, her arms were restrained and she was stuck against a wall, she could feel the slime of Xenomorph webbing around her torso and legs.
Something brushed her face and Shara forced herself not to tense up, too big to be a Xenomorphs hand and too small to be a Queen or Praetorian's... that left the Predaliens...
/I know you are awake, soft blood. You can't fool me.\
"Go bug someone else." Shara hissed opening her eyes and jerking her face away from the Predalien's hand, she noticed it was the same Predalien that had brought her here.
/No one else is here to talk too.\ it said. /The Queen is busy with other matters for now and someone must keep an eye on you.\
"You have no eyes," Shara said. "How do you even see?"
The Predalien cocked its head and seemed unable to understand her question. /I see through movement and echo. I sense the flow of everything that lives, the flood of blood in your vanes and the images I see are outlines of what is around me, I know you are a female soft blood because you're body is smaller than the Hunters and your blood flow is different in the chest area, here.\ it explained using its tail to poke Shara's breast. /there is no blood here in you, but there is shape,\ it added. /how do you see?\ it asked.
"I see in images, colour and movement. My eyes tell me what is in front and around me and what colour it is." Shara said.
/What do you need eyes to see?\
"Because without sight I would be blind, I wouldn't know what anything looked like or what colours were." Shara said. "I could adapt to live like normal person but I would depend more on my other senses to help me."
/Senses?\
"Smell, Touch, Hearing and Taste," Shara said. "All Humans have five senses including Sight, take one away the other four become better to help us cope." She explained. "Don't you have five senses?"
/We see in our own way, our bodies don't need to tease what we eat, we feel with our hands was we move but we don't smell anything.\ the Predalien said then paused and listened as a loud echoing roar filled the room. /The Queen's sisters are here.\
"Sisters...?" Shara asked in fear.
/Yes. Sisters and soon, you will join them.\ the Predalien said. /You are part of our family, the blood in you reeks of our kin. And once the Queen Mother arrives, you will be reborn through one of her children.\ And with that said the Predalien left and Shara couldn't tell if she felt sick with fear or sick with the idea of being sisters with the creatures that were trying to kill her friends.
"Anything?" Mark asked over the radio as he, Dart, Ben, Big Guns and Striker searched for anything that would lead them to Shara.
~"Nothing."~ Ben growled as something slammed into a wall, ~"But I do know that something was here,"~ He added.
~"I found a vehicle."~ Dart said, ~"Looks like the Humans were taken by the Xenomorphs,"~ He added.
"Big Guns? Striker?" Mark asked.
~"Nothing."~ Big Guns sighed.
~"She was here."~ Striker said, ~"I just found her mask,"~ He clicked and growled. ~"The Xenomorphs have her."~
Mark sighed the answered an incoming radio call. "Mark, what's up?"
~"Is Kujhade with you?"~ The General asked, ~"No one can find him here."~
"He isn't with us." He said.
He knew where they were going, he'd seen it all before. The kiande amedha were gathering hosts for their eggs, but what was odd was how many large tracks he was finding.
Rare but then again, it meant more trophies.
Clicking slightly he continued to track the kiande amedha, counting the number of ways he would like to kill off the larger ones.
/Why do you continue to struggle? You know you will not break those restraints.\
Shara looked up to find she had a small audience, two Runner Xenomorphs and the Predalien from before, "Force of habbit and natural instinct."
/Natural?\ the Predalien asked as the Runners started to move closer to her, likely to check the stability of the wall she was trying to escape from.
"No one will just sit still and wait for death unless they have given up; they'll struggle and fight until they are either knocked out or dead," Shara said wincing as the two Runners started to pull and grab the webbing around her, testing it and strengthening it as they saw fit.
The Predalien watched then cocked his head as he saw something around her neck, he moved closer and attempted to reach out to inspect the thing only to have Shara growl at him and tuck her neck down. /What is that around your neck?\
"A necklace; my dad gave it to me before he died," Shara said.
/Why do you ware it?\
"Because it was the last gift he gave me and it has his and my mother wedding rings on it, I wear it so I always have something of theirs with me," Shara stated.
The Predalien cocked his head again then seemed to listen and growled. /We shall return later to begin the preparations for your rebirth,\ it said before it took off with the Runners.
Shara started to struggle again, she had to get away before that Predalien came back, she did not want to die here.
She heard the sounds of fighting and a definitive discharge of a Plasma Caster, which meant a Yautja was here, but whom? She knew it wasn't any of the members of Jackal's crew and it couldn't be an Elder, they wouldn't have come alone...
That left only one Shara could think of and she didn't like the idea of being alone with this one. Feeling the webbing start to give, Shara smirked and used her body weight to break the still drying webbing and free her arms, using them to tear away the webbing at her feet.
Once she was free, she began to search for a way out of the hive, climbing up into a web-free vent she pulled herself along and into an room that seemed to have been left un touched by the Xenomorphs, thankfully there was a long pole of some kind in there along with a rusty old knife blade.
Shara nodded and set to work, the pole was light enough for her to carry, but just strong enough to cause damage if she struck anything with it and the knife blade could be attached to one end as to make a spear, all she needed was something to attach the two together with.
After a bit of searching she found some fishing wire and used it tie the knife end on to the pole as she heard a loud screech through the vents.
/You cannot escape this place!\ the Predalien's voice said into her mind.
"Yea? Says you." Shara said ripping apart of her shirt off and tied it around her face, covering her mouth.
/Pray I find you before the youngest Queen does.\ the Predalien said. /she will not give you chance to run.\
Shara was suddenly very aware of just how little her make shift spear would help her if she ran into the Tunnel Queen. "Any time now Striker..." Shara sighed. "Any time now."
There was a loud bang above her and Shara knew she had to start moving if she wanted to live and have any chance of surviving this hell of a place.
Kujhade growled and clicked as he slammed his fist into a Predalien's jaw and then ripping a Xenomorph's tail off, spine attached as he fired his Plasma Caster into the chest of another.
He had to admit he was having fun.
Even if he had been caught on the way in rather than getting straight to the bigger trophies these smaller ones would be good practise for when he did face the larger ones.
"Got him." Tracker yelled out from where he was crouched. "He's heading towards London and it looks like he isn't the only one." He added as Mark pulled up in the Tanker with everyone but I'ka and the High Priestess inside.
"Are those... Queen tracks?" Ben asked.
"No these are bigger," Tracker said. "A King."
"That doesn't sound good." Mark said as Martha all but broke her key board trying so fast to keep a good lock on where they were going.
"We need to get inside the nest, if Kujhade is doing what I think he's doing, then even Shara isn't safe." Nagara said.
"Everyone hang on, It gonna be a bumpy ride." Mark said revving the engine.
"How do we get inside?" Jessica asked as Tracker pulled himself into the Tanker.
"Easy," Mark said. "We crash through the walls."
Shara stopped as she heard Kujhade roar close by and ducked into another alcove as the webbing around her shook with the force of an impact. "What is going on in here?"
/Your hunting friend has caused a stir in the hive.\ The Predalien stated. /he will die soon enough.\
"If you think that's gonna happen you are a fool," She said searching around for a way out, freezing in place as the while area she was in flooded with an all powerful scream.
/The King has arrived.\
"A King...?" Shara shuddered, she remembered what Jackal had told her of this kind of Xenomorph... brutal, uncaring for smaller Xenomorphs, understanding of only three things, how to kill, how to hunt and how to mate.
If a Queen was fertilized by a King, the Xenomorphs would be stronger, more intelligent and the older the Queen he mated with the more likely that the first two stages of the Xenomorph life would be missed and instead the Queen would birth living Xenomorphs, much like how some snakes on earth gave birth to live young, where as others laid eggs.
/You would be wise and safer to surrender.\
"I'd rather die." Shara said as loud roars and snarls were heard nearby, far too close to be Kujhade.
She felt her insides tighten as she felt heat start to fill the area and realized to her own horror, she hadn't been heading out from the hive, she'd been heading in to it...
Right towards the Queens and now the King.
"Oh shit."
"Kujhade hasn't faced a King before... is he trying to get himself killed?!" Nagara growled as she listened to what Tracker had found. "Idiot!"
"Calm yourself Nagara," Rha-n said, "We can't stop him going off on his own." He added as Striker checked his weapons or the ninth time.
He wasn't the only one, Ben, Jessica, Dart, Bull Dog, Big Guns, Tracker and even Ghost and Guan-thwei were checking and rechecking their weapons while waiting for the Tanker to stop.
"The Egg field been emptied." Mark called back, "Looks like they knew we were coming." He added.
"How do you know they haven't just up and left?" Nagara asked.
"Look outside." Mark said. "See that mess of webbing to the right? That's where Shara's father died."
"How do you know?" Rha-n asked.
"She tied a white sheet around the pole to mark it." Mark explained. "The only thing she could do before Jackal brought her back."
Rha-n, R'ka and Nagara looked at sure enough, there was a white sheet tied on a pole.
"BRACE!" Jessica yelled as the Tanker rammed into something hard and broke through it.
Shara fell against the wall as she felt the whole hive shudder and rattle as if an earth quake were happening, before she could get up again however, something grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth.
"Shh!" A voice hissed and Shara froze as a pair of Xenomorphs raced past the shadowy alcove she'd been pulled into.
Once the hand had left her face she looked back and saw a female Yautja stood behind her, a combi stick in one hand as she looked at Shara with her head cocked to one side.
"What are you doing here? You haven't been impregnated." The Yautja asked.
"Long story..." Shara said. "Who are you? One of Rha-n and R'ka's warriors?" she asked.
The female shook her head. "My name is Lil'th, I came here with Srit'ore to earn my mark." She said indicating to her mask. "And you?" she asked. "You have Cuh'tor's mark on your hand."
"I was his apprentice... My name is Shara." Shara sighed sadly. "How did you find me?"
"I didn't, you found me." Lil'th said. "I've been in this place almost since I landed, been trying to find a way out ever since." She explained as the Hive erupted with gun fire. "Friends of yours?" She asked.
/I see you.\
Shara gasped as she and Lil'th were grabbed and yanked forwards by the Predalien, however before the Predalien could even draw a breath to hiss at the two, Lil'th swung her combi-stick to the right and cut into a pipe line then she repeatedly struck the pipe to create sparks, one of which caused the gas in the pipe to ignite and burn the Predalien's leg and side, forcing it to let them go.
"This way!" Lil'th said catching Shara's arm.
The Predalien roared in fury as it gave chase.
Shara followed Lil'th though the Hive, she knew this place better then Shara did and had a better chance of getting them through this twisted maze.
A loud horn blared to life as another wall was smashed and this time, Shara couldn't help but smile as the Old Tanker come through the walls and opened fire, cutting through the webbing around them and causing several walls and tunnels to become exposed as Xenomorphs scrambled to find a place to attack from while face huggers and young Xenomorphs were rushing into the deeper reaches of the hive.
"Striker!"
The Yautja turned at his name and saw Shara and another Yautja running through the exposed tunnelling.
"Cover fire!" Mark yelled over the noise as wave of Xenomorphs charged after Shara and her friend.
The Tanker doors were ripped open and everyone inside opened fire, Lil'th and Shara jumped down and ran under the fire that was being laid down to cut through the Xenomorphs.
"Are you alright?" Mark asked. "Who's the new girl?"
"Lil'th." Shara said. "And we're fine, how did you find us?" she asked.
"Tracker did the searching, we followed." Jessica said. "And these are yours." She added handing Shara her 45's, her spear and her mask
An ear splitting screech was heard along with a powerful booming roar as the hive fell silent.
"Time to go." Rha-n said.
"Kujhade!" Nagara gasped as all eyes fell onto the slime covered Yautja, covered in his own blood of missing some armour, seeing Shara he aimed and fired his Plasma Caster at her, only to have R'ka pull her into the safety of the tanker. "What are you doing?!"
"She's one of them," Kujhade snarled. "She's nothing but an abomination and I plan on having her head on my wall!" he added.
"Not so long as I breathe." Ghost snarled as everyone got into the Tanker. "Come near her again and I will personally see that you are banished."
"You can't do that." Kujhade snapped.
"No... But my sister can." Ghost reminded as he climbed into the Tanker, "You are on your own from here on, Kujhade."
Kujhade growled and roared as the Tanker pulled out of the hive at full speed.
/FIND HER?!\ the youngest Queen snarled. /She has slaughtered my children from the start! You expect me to accept her as a part of the hive? A part of our line?!\
/You will do what our Mother says, or be killed.\ Another said as she hung from the ceiling, her sack slowly pulsating as her crest curved back to for the characteristic three spikes of a Queen's crown. /If this soft blood is indeed infused with our blood, our heritage, then she is by rights our sister and has a place in our Hive.\
/Besides.\ A third said, her sack much larger than the others and her crest fanned out with six sharp spikes, she was older than the other two. /if this new sister is to become one of us, she must be reborn through us... Mother will lay an egg and from that Egg will come a child and that child will impregnate the girl and she will be reborn as our new sister. You won't even know they are one and the same.\
/I don't want her as a sister, I want her DEAD!\ the youngest snapped her tail violently lashing around behind her.
/Oh do stop complaining, you're giving us a head ache.\ a Predalien called down as four of them looked down at their sisters. /Mother will decide what fate awaits that girl, if you don't like it, take it up with her. Until then, go find yourself a nice warm nest and sulk.\
The youngest Queen hissed at the Predaliens before storming off into the darkness. Coming to stop in a large webbed room that felt warm and was dark save a dim flickering light from somewhere under the webbing.
She wanted that soft blooded flesh creature dead! Not to share the hive rule with her! She wanted revenge for the many children she had lost to that child... she wanted blood...
So what if the new Queen would have no resemblance to the flesh bag, she would be born of one who had killed her children and her body would be the first meal of that Queen.
It should be hers!
She hissed angrily as something larger then her approached, a strange scent filling her senses as she backed up a step, this wasn't another Queen...
Before the Queen could react, the larger beast was atop her, powerful clack arms keeping her from fighting back as her tail was trapped by a foot against the floor, her crest butted and bitted by a powerful set of jaws and her once foul mood rapidly changing, all thoughts of slaughtering the soft blood gone and replaced with heated desire and lust.
Xenomorph mating had never been gentle, but then again a Queen could easily kill a King if he wasn't careful.
Shara felt very unsure of herself. After telling the others what had happened and what had been said to her by the Predalien, Rha-n and R'ka had asked if they could use a scanner to verify what the Predalien had said.
She hadn't thought it would mean she had to strip off to her underpants and a tee-shirt...
"Try and relax, it'll be over soon." Rha-n said as a beam passed over Shara's body.
"Easier said than done... I'm not a fan of the medical field." Shara admitted.
"You dislike the healing facilities your people have?" R'ka asked.
"No... My mother was terminally ill, they used a scanner to make checkups and a similar device to try and make her better but it wasn't working... if it had maybe my mother would have lived a more comfortable life then she did." Shara explained. "Since then I've never really trusted the Cancer treatments or the devices they use to administer them."
"Cancer?" Nagara asked as she came in with Jessica and Martha Mary, the latter carrying some clean clothes for Shara while Nagara gave Lil'th some clean ropes and her armour.
"An illness on Earth that to this day, no one has found a cure for, it's known medically as a 'Malignant Neoplasm' basically a broad group of various diseases all involving unregulated cell growth in the body," Martha Mary said. "From what I remember, in Cancer patients, cells divided and grew uncontrollably for the body to stop and that formed malignant tumours and invaded the nearby parts of the body, like the Lungs, Skin, Breast, etc. Cancer could also spread to more distant parts of the body through the bloodstream, for example if there was a tumour on the brain that was cancerous, then the Cancer cells could travel through the blood into Heart and cause Heart Cancer as well as Brain Cancer."
"What strand did you mother suffer from?" R'ka asked as Martha Mary left to start cooking.
"She had lung Cancer, by the time they found it, it was too late." Shara said now dressed. "Maybe one day there will be a cure, but with the world ever changing, the chances are we might not find it for years."
"Are there other illnesses you don't yet have cures for?" Nagara asked.
"The Common Cold." Jessica said. "No one to this day can find a cure because the Virus itself is ever changing."
"We do have some ways of making it easier to cope with though." Shara chuckled, "Bed rest, hot meals, plenty of fluids, staying warm. Eventually our own immunity systems fight the virus off until another strand comes along."
"I see." R'ka said then winced as something heavy hit his foot, looking down he found I'ka looking up at him while chewing on a tool she'd found. "Shouldn't you be with Srit'ore?"
I'ka blew a raspberry at him.
"She won't stay still or go to sleep." Striker said from the door. "So she's exploring." He added as I'ka clicked and started to crawl towards a low stool.
Nagara smiled then turned to Rah-n as he looked over the results on the screen before him. "Rah-n?" she asked.
"It would seem that there was some truth to what the Predalien said." He sighed. "You have some of their DNA inside you, but not enough to class you as a kiande amedha. You are more Human and Yautja." He explained. "However some would still seek you as a trophy..."
"Unless I prove myself," Shara sighed. "Oh joy." She said.
"I believe you Oomans have a saying for such moments." R'ka said.
"Life is a bitch." Jessica started.
"And to get through it you need to be a bigger bitch." Shara ended.
"Something they are very good at." Ben called from down the hall before a well aimed frying pan bounced off his head. "OW!"
Lil'th sighed softly as she waited for her elders to punish her, only to cock her head in surprise as I'ka came into the room and instantly tried to pull herself up and sit in Lil'th lap.
Striker smiled as he came in. "You aren't being punished."
"I'm not?"
"No, you saved Shara, what reason do they have to punish you?" Striker asked, "Come, dinner will soon be served." He added offering his hand as I'ka clung to Lil'th's chest armour. "You don't mind carrying her do you?"
"Not at all." Lil'th smiled, carefully supporting I'ka's body as they walked down the hall.
"Awww, come on Martha, just a little taste?" Ben asked only to have his hand slapped by a spoon.
"No, no and no." Martha said. "You eat when everyone else is ready, just because you skipped breakfast doesn't mean I'll feed you first." She added as Jessica and Ghost set the table out. "Now go help the sooner the tables out the sooner we can all eat."
"Yes Martha."
"Meer!" Martha looked down and smiled kneeling and offering Pan a small Carrot to nibble. "Meer!"
"Sounds like you have a helper for the left over chopping." Shara said as she came in, looking rather out of breath but rather pleased with herself, the reason why soon followed her in, a very beaten and bruised looking Bull Dog came in, clicking his mandibles as he sat himself in a vacant chair. "Are you sure you don't want ice for that?" Shara asked.
"Yes... I asked for it I'll deal with It." the larger Yautja said.
"What happened?" Nagara asked as she came in with the High Priestess and Big Guns.
"Shara wanted to spar and asked not to be given the light treatment... she beat me." Bull Dog said wincing slightly. "I don't know how she did it, but she did."
"My lord it's a storm out there!" Mark said as he came with Dart, Tracker and The Wonderer, all covered in heavy snow and looking ready to freeze over if they didn't get warm soon.
"I guess that means we need to light the pit fire?" Ben asked.
"We had to dig out way to get back in here," Dart said dusting snow off his shoulders and head, "the pit fire is the start. We'll need o put every heater we have on."
"Already done." The General said as he came in. "After dinner we'll bring the mats in and get the beds set up, this is the safest room to be if the snow doesn't let up soon." He said.
It was rather amusing to see I'ka try and make the snow fall inside the base by throwing it up in the air again.
Bull Dog woke in the night to the feeling of something moving against his shoulder, slowly he looked and smiled as he saw I'ka pulling herself along the many bodies that were lined up sleeping.
She clicked and then crawled over Shara's arm clicking at Striker and Lil'th before curling up on her brother's sleeping bag and hugging his arm as she drifted off.
"Shara, go to sleep." Bull Dog said as Shara shifted.
"Can't..." Shara said. "I have a bad feeling."
"How bad?" Bull Dog asked.
"Very bad." She said sitting up. "Is that Jet finished?" she asked.
"Almost." He said. "Why?"
"I wanna see it." She said, carefully slipping out of her sleeping bag. "I need to think and since I can't go outside, I'll do it in the hanger." She explained.
"Don't be up too long."
"I won't." And after carefully stepping around and over the other sleeping members of her team. Shara slipped out of the main hall and into the cold nipping air of the halls.
Once she reached the Hanger she sighed softly and looked up at the jet. Just looking at it the design reminded her of the ships Cutter had told her so much about, sleek and streamlined to keep the flight smooth but at the same time able to carry heavy loads and move like a dart or a bullet on a seconds notice.
"I wish you were still here, Cutter..." she said looking at her mark.
"He will always be with you," a voice said and Shara tuned to see the Yautja High Priestess stood in the door way watching her. "His scent is faint, but it lingers around you."
"So... he is still here... I just can't see him?" Shara asked and the Priestess nodded.
"My people believe that when a loved one is killed in a hunt or as a bid to save others, their soul is given a choice by the Paya to come to rest or remain until a later time... I believe that Cuh'tor has chosen to stay beside you, even if you can't see him."
"So you know? About us..." Shara asked and again the Priestess nodded.
"I may be old, Shara, but I am far from blind. I have seen the look that falls over your face when you think of Cuh'tor and the sadness you showed when Jha'kle died." She said. "When this war is over, I will ask only once if you wish to stay here or come home with us. Jha'kle would have made teh same offer and it seems only fair I extend the offer in his place."
"It this offer only to me?" she asked.
"Mo, I will ask all of you when this war is over." The High Priestess said. "You have all earned you place in our clan. It is wrong of me not to offer."
Shara nodded in understanding and together the two headed back to the main hall.
She hissed softly as she tended her precious cradle.
Soon it would need a host...
Soon she would have another daughter...
Soon the Earth would belong to her children...