The woman's face was drawn by fear. Crawford had detached himself from the crowd standing at the airlock, and, accompanied by Cabe, moved towards them.

"What's wrong?" he asked

Akkan hissed, making him flinch.

"We have a problem…" Paul said.

"What is it?"

He drew himself together, but before he could speak, Weyland intervened, bluntly. "She's impregnated."

The Woman's eyes grew large, and her mouth formed a soundless O.

Crawford looked at them with an incredulous expression "That's bullshit."

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Crawford."

"How do you know?"

"Xenos can sense their offspring." He mentioned at Akkan "It's what just happened."

"That's BULLSHIT!" Crawford roared. Cabe put a restraining hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off. His face was contorted with anger.

"Please, Mr. Crawford, don't make this harder for us than it already is."

"Eve is coming with us, and we'll freeze her, and operate her. I'm not going to leave her behind!"

"Cabe! The airlock!" Weyland snapped, and the soldier closed the airlock door, leaving the survivors on board the ship unable to see what was going on.

"I will not risk an uncontrolled xenomorph outbreak on my ship."

The woman, Eve, had started sobbing softly. Crawford stepped up to her, and comforted her.

"I'm not going to go without her."

Weyland looked at Paul. "Will he do it?"

"I'll ask him"

Akkan…

Yes love?

Oh god, I hate this…

Akkan hissed sympathetically. I do feel your discomfort.

Weyland wants me to ask-

Yes, yes, I know. He rubbed his chin. He wants to know if I can just kill her, so he won't get his hands dirty. Akkan sounded uncomfortable as well.

I don't want you to kill her. But I've seen how the… Birth will look, and, frankly, I don't think anyone deserves that.

I don't want to kill her either. I'm not human, I'm a xeno. I shouldn't be doing this.

Paul looked terrible. His eyes were moist, and he was trying his hardest to hold back the tears. This situation was terrible.

Eve was sitting on the floor, Crawford beside her, patting her shoulder.

Paul looked at Weyland, and shook his head.

"God, he's a killer alien, what use is he?" and then, with one fluid movement, he reached for one of his handguns, and shot Eve in the head.

Akkan flinched, and looked away. Paul felt tears pricking at the inside of his eyelids. Dimly, he heard Crawford roar at Weyland, and then he felt strong arms around him, picking him up and cradling him against a well-known chest.

I love you, Akkan.

I Love you too, Paul.

Paul wiped his eyes, and opened them, watching Crawford struggle with Weyland. After a few seconds, Cabe had restrained the man. Weyland was brushing down his coat.

"Cabe, get him into the ship, and then leave! Get down to the planet! We'll evac with the Shipstern Bluff."

"Sir, Why-"

"I'm not done here, Cabe."

"All right, sir. We'll come back."

"Understood."

Cabe opened the airlock door, and practically shoved Crawford inside, closing the ship's hatch and the Airlock door. After a few seconds, they heard a hiss of air escaping, and then the ship was gone.

Weyland breathed out. "Phew. That was annoying. You all right, Paul?"

Akkan hissed at Weyland so hard and so loud that spittle flew into his face.

"Look, I'm sorry it had to-"

"Never mind, Fred. We need to find Blood Moon."

"Yes, we do." He reached for his communicator "This is Weyland, calling Aki, any luck yet?"

After a short while, the reply came "Sort of. Where are you?"

"On the second level of the medical spire, you?"

"We are on level eight."

"All right, stay where you are, we are moving down to your location. Rendezvous at the elevator?"

"Yes."

Eran was leaning against the wall, chewing on something he had found in the ruins of one of the crew quarters. Aki thought it looked suspiciously like a bone, but he refrained on looking closer. Sometimes ignorance was a blessing.

The Elevator doors hissed open, and Weyland, Akkan and Paul walked out.

"Were you successful?" Aki asked

"Yeah" Weyland nodded "How about you?"

Eran detached himself from the wall, dropped the bone, yes, it was a bone, to the floor, and moved over to them. Speaking in his strange English, he filled them in. "It is here. In this spire. It moves along the vents. So far we have not made contact."

"How can he sense it?" Weyland asked.

"Presumably the connection between them. They are fruits of a similar tree, Eran and Blood Moon." Paul said.

Aki nodded.

"So what's the plan?" Weyland asked.

"We lure it into the open. Into the corridors. Whilst it is in the vents we are at a disadvantage, but as soon as it is in the corridors, it will be more vulnerable."

"And how do we get it to do so?"

"We bait it." Aki said.

"And how? What do we use for bait?"

Aki fell silent, and looked at Paul.

Akkan shook his head, moving protectively close to Paul, hissing, but Paul pushed him away. "I'll do it. How?"

Akkan shook his head again, but Aki continued "The four of us will hide in the mortuary. It is on this level. The smells of the bodies will mask our scents.-"

"Akkan says he will not hide with you. He will hide close to me. He's overprotective like that." Paul shrugged, and Akkan patted his shoulder.

"Then he must make sure not to be seen."

"He can do that."

"You will wait in one of the corridors to the left. There's just one ventilation shaft entry point between there and the mortuary. If Blood Moon wants you, it will have to enter this section, where the only way out is through the mortuary. Once it is in, you just run away screaming, towards us, and we will kill it."

Paul gulped, but nodded. "All right. I think I understand that."

I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

Akkan, it'll be fine.
They had checked the path, and Paul had moved into positon. Akkan had crammed himself into a cupboard close to Paul, in one of the side-rooms of the corridor. He had kissed Paul, and wished him good luck.

Aki, Weyland and Eran had set up the trap in the mortuary. Now it was his job to lure out Blood Moon.

"Are you ready?" he whispered into his communicator.

"Ready as can be."

All right then. Here goes.

Paul grabbed a piece of piping he had found, and slammed it against the wall and the ceiling repeatedly, shouting at the top of his voice. "BLOOD MOON! WHERE ARE YOU?"

He kept shouting and beating, until his arms were starting to feel the strain, and his voice was almost cracking.

This isn't working, right?

Quit being sarcastic.

I wasn't sarcastic

You were

Was not! Akkan sounded indignant.

You... never mind.

Yeah.

Paul lowered the piece of piping, and rubbed the side of his head. This didn't seem to work.

At least not the way they planned it.

Suddenly, the light above the ventilation shaft exit flickered, and went out.

Then the next one.

And the next.

And the next.

Suddenly, Paul was plunged in darkness. He let go of the piping, which fell to the floor with a loud clang, and reached for his gun. Where was his flashlight? He dug around in his pockets, when he suddenly heard a soft thud, and then a slight hiss.

You are strange…

Who is that? Akkan?

Oh, no. I'm not your Akkan. It was a voice, ice-cold, like something dredged from the darkest reaches of space. Something old and terrible, a voice filled with sheer hate, hate for everything.

Paul forced himself to be calm. You are Blood Moon, right?

Blood Moon… oh, yes, I am Blood Moon.

Paul raised his gun to the end of the corridor. He must have lost his flashlight within the last few hours.

Something moved in the darkness, and Paul's eyes, now starting to get accustomed to it, started to recognize shapes and forms in the light of the small status LEDs

At the end of the corridor, below the ventilation shaft, a creature moved, uncoiled. He could not see it clearly, but it resembled a xenomorph.

Think, Paul, he thought to himself. Make it follow you.

I'm not sure if you are Blood Moon. You don't look very Blood Moonish. It was a lame insult, but the only thing he could think of right now.

The creature hissed. Well, then I shall prove it to you. I shall tear you to shreds, and you will, with your dying eyes, see my might.

The creature moved forwards, slowly, leisurely. It was larger than he was, even though it walked slightly bent.

Paul moved slightly backwards.

Afraid, are you?

Now. Now was the time. He should turn and run, but something kept his gaze riveted to the strange creature moving towards him. Still walking backwards, he stumbled, losing his grip, and falling flat on his back, the impact winding him. The Creature hissed softly.

If you want him, you'll have to go through me first. A voice said.

With a loud clang, the hiss of a door, Akkan was standing over Paul.

Now that is a surprise.

Akkan scooped the dazed Paul up in his arms.

Catch us if you can then, silly!

Oh, I can, don't worry. But a chase… yes, that is tantalizing.

Akkan turned, rushing along the dark corridor. He could see in the dark, and Paul was grateful he had been there to save him.

They turned the corner, the sound of Blood Moon's rushing feet behind them, and raced into the mortuary. Akkan skidded to a halt behind one of the body lockers.

Seconds afterwards, Blood Moon burst into the room.

It hissed angrily, not being able to smell them anymore. Paul felt its anger, its hate.

And then, they heard a few strange clicking noise.

A flashlight was switched on, illuminating the room. Blood Moon screeched, but was visible to all.

Paul gasped.

It looked like a xenomorph, yes, but not fully. It was not black, but rather a pinkish white. It did not possess a hard exoskeleton like Akkan and Eran, and its head was strange and featureless, with only a small mouth and sharp teeth. It was spindly and thin, with no dorsal tubes, and a long, slim tail, tipped with a barb.

Its skin was criss-crossed with veins carrying the black substance that was fuelling it.

With a roar, Aki launched himself at it, accompanied by Eran jumping out from behind a locker.

Blood Moon spun around, swiping its tail at Aki, who dodged it, and kicking at Eran, who managed to get hit, and was sent flying through the mortuary, impacting hard on one of the autopsy tables.

Aki launched himself back at Blood Moon, only to be hit by a swipe of its claws in the chest.

Yautjan blood spurted, and Blood Moon hissed angrily

Weyland appeared like a phantom clad in brown robes behind one of the autopsy tables, quickly letting loose three shots in rapid succession.

Blood Moon was upon him in the blink of an eye, piercing his shoulder with its tail.

Weyland howled in pain, and Akkan could not watch any longer.
Letting go of Paul, he vaulted over the locker, attacking Blood Moon with a vicious swipe of his talon, drawing blood. Its attention turned away from Weyland, it let him go, and attacked Akkan, who dodged its angry head-butt.

Eran hissed angrily, raising himself from the ruins of the autopsy table, and launching himself, spear, spittle and all, at blood Moon.

Paul broke his gaze from the fight, and quickly, keeping low, scuttled over to where Weyland had fallen.

The man's face was very white, and he was clutching a large, bleeding wound on his shoulder.

Paul grabbed him by his coat, and pulled him behind one of the intact autopsy tables.

"Fred! Are you okay?"

Grimacing, Weyland kept pressing his hand on his shoulder. "No I'm bloody not. There's… a first… aid... kit in my... trouser pocket…"