XX
"So how long are we going to spend searching for these things?" Nathan asked after a while, an impatient look on his face. We were just passing Science and Medical when he asked, and he stared longingly through the thick glass window on the door as we walked by.
"You'll have plenty of time to do your research tonight, Smith." Alan replied coolly. "For now, let's just concentrate on eliminating the constant threat of death that looms over us, Ok?" Nathan muttered something under his breath, but it was too quite to be distinguishable. Alan simply ignored him, and the group kept moving without so much as another word. I was curious, though, about Nathan's 'research'. I tapped him on the shoulder as we walked, and asked him about it casually.
"What exactly is your research at the moment, Nathan?" I enquired, eager to learn more.
"Well, when we first got up from hypersleep, I was planning to study the effects of near-light-speed travel on three varieties of flower which I left out when we first left Earth." He explained. "However, taking recent events into consideration, I decided to divert my attention towards studying the Xenomorph species. They're actually pretty fascinating creatures, you know."
"Fascinating's not the word I'd use." Alan said over his shoulder. "Nothing more than emotionless murderers." I tried not to let Alan's words get to me. But seriously: emotionless murderers? How could he, how could any of them for that matter, be such a discriminative, stereotyping idiot? Yes, I understood that Nathan and Alan were only going off information which Ryan had provided them about the Xenomorphs, but was it so hard for them to accept that maybe, just maybe, not all Xenomorphs were like that? This was exactly why I didn't want to say anything to them about Xena.
"Anyway, Nathan," I continued, realising that the conversational thread was still in my hands. "How do you study them?"
"Well, I haven't technically studied them, per se." He told me. "I managed to find traces of Xenomorph DNA on Cara and Brad's bodies. Hopefully I can learn enough from that to be able to warn everyone about them when we get back to Earth."
"If we get back to Earth." Alan said bluntly, stopping for a moment to open the engine bay door.
"Ever the optimist, aren't we, Alan?" I asked sarcastically. But the facial expression with which he replied was not a jolly one.
"I'm just trying to be realistic here, Matthew." He replied through gritted teeth. "I mean, let's face facts: We've already lost two crew members, not to mention my arm. Do you honestly think all four of us'll make it home alive?"
"If we aren't going to make it home alive, then why are we wasting our time trying to kill these things?" Nathan asked, almost shouting by the end. Tensions were clearly high right now, and nobody was really helping the situation.
"Do you have a better idea, Smith?" Alan snapped, in an even louder voice. "You think we should just lie down and die?!"
"I think, Alan, that if we want to survive, we shouldn't have such a depressing outlook on the situation!" Nathan replied, his voice now raised to a full shout. I'd never heard him speak to Alan like this before, and frankly I was shocked. I attempted desperately to calm the two men down, both of them now arguing with each other noisily. Had they forgotten exactly what we were doing right now? I looked over at Ryan for some kind of support, but he was staring silently into the engine bay, seemingly taken aback. I peered over his shoulder to see what he was looking at, although I'm sure you don't need to be told what it was. Creeping towards us along the latticed metal gangway above the engines, silently watching, but ready to pounce as Alan and Nathan continued to shout, was a Xenomorph.
"Shit," I whispered, turning to look at Ryan. He had taken a couple of steps back, although he had readied his weapon to fire at the creature. I did the same, and elbowed Nathan behind me to alert him and Alan to the danger. They also raised their guns, and the four of us now stood silently in the corridor, ready to open fire on the alien. For once, we weren't going to cower away. For once, we weren't going to flee in terror from the approaching threat. We'd lost too much already; too many men, too many women… too many arms. This time we were going to fight. That was, until it started running towards us.
"Can we run now?" Alan whimpered, his energy-burst cannon shaking in his remaining hand.
"No." Ryan said sternly, lifting his own cannon onto his shoulder. "We fire!" He pulled down the trigger, and a bolt of brilliant white light erupted from the barrel. The bolt smashed into the underside of the metal gangway, sending electrical sparks flying.
"Now," He shouted, seeing that the shot had missed the Xenomorph, "we run!"
The next few moments were a blur. Everyone pushed past each other as we sprinted down the corridor away from the engine bay. Ryan, still determined not to go down without a fight, turned back and fired off a couple more shots, before catching back up to us as we bundled through the door into the stairwell. We didn't stop to look back then. Instead, the four of us shot up the stairway in a flash, forcing our way through the door at the top. The sound of the Xenomorph's footsteps behind us began to die down as we reached the junction in front of Archie's central hub. Could it be possible? Had we really managed to lose a creature which could outrun even the fastest men in the world? We weren't going to take any chances, that was for sure. Even once the growling and the footsteps behind us had completely ceased, we refused to stop moving, for fear of an ambush.
Eventually, we reached the door to the upper engine bay. By this point, the group had slowed to a brisk walk. Alan once again pressed a button on the control panel next to the door, and it grinded open slowly as we all caught our breath.
"Bollocks!" Alan exclaimed as the door slid aside to reveal the grated iron gangway. The whole structure still fizzed with electricity from the misplaced shot Ryan had fired earlier. If any of us touched it for even a second, we'd regret it. The only way we could go was back towards the stairwell.
"We'll never make it." Nathan said, shaking his head. "That thing can't be far behind us."
"We can't go through the engine bay." Alan replied, gesturing towards the fizzing metal floor. "What choice do we have?" He was right, of course. We couldn't risk crossing the electrified gangway. We just had to hope and pray that the Xenomorph which was chasing us had lost interest and wandered off again.
As we crept back down the corridor towards the front of the ship, we scarcely made a sound. Nobody dared speak for fear of alerting the Xenomorph, which could potentially still be hiding nearby. Ryan led the procession, closely followed by Alan and Nathan. I brought up the rear, as usual, but the solitude gave me time to think. I thought about what I was going to do about Xena. About whether I should break it to the others or not. Every word that came out of their mouths made me even more reluctant to say anything. I was still trying to come to terms with what had happened myself, let alone go telling everyone about it. I mean, it was a pretty big deal, wasn't it? Sharing a kiss with an alien creature. As I continued to dwell on this thought, I noticed the rest of the group come to a halt at the end of the corridor.
"W-" I began in a whispered tone, before Nathan smacked a hand over my mouth to shut me up. He pointed to where the corridor wall disappeared around a corner. Ryan stood there, peering carefully around the edge. He signaled to the rest of us to gather around him, although he still refused to speak a single word. I realised at once what was going on, and approached the corner slowly, the enormous chain gun in my hands cocked and ready to fire. Alan and Nathan also came in close, and before long, we were ready to go. Ryan nodded slowly, peering round the corner once more. Then, he turned back to us, and stuck his thumb up in the air. Showtime.
Without further hesitation, we bundled around the corner to face the alien threat before us. The creature turned it's head in our direction instantly. It growled and hissed, but stood rooted to the spot as we pointed our guns towards it, seemingly reluctant to attack. I noticed that the creature was slightly thinner than it had seemed when it chased us not five minutes ago. It's waist was also slightly wider, and the ribcage protruded slightly from the rest of the torso. My heart raced as I suddenly realised exactly what was going on. The alien that stood before us was not the same alien that had just been chasing us. It was Xena.
The other three men clicked back the catches on their weapons, ready to fire at will. I saw Xena's face fall as she realised she was about to be shot. I had to act now. If I didn't, they'd kill her. I had to do something. I had to…
"NO!" I yelled, diving forwards and pushing the others aside. Someone's gun fired off towards the ceiling, but I couldn't tell who's it was, as the four of us collapsed to the ground in a heap. I looked up just long enough to see Xena bolting away down the corridor, trying to get away as quickly as possible. Then I watched as the others got to their feet. I could tell by the looks in the eyes of each and every one of them that what I had just done had truly pushed them over the edge.