Chapter four

Weyland-Yutani Facility
Somewhere in the Nevada Desert
Off Hwy 375
November 31st, 2008

Elaina wasn't sure how long it had been, since she had been moved to her latest cell. However, it had to be the second time they had moved her to a new location since she had been originally kidnapped. The first time they had tried to transport her, it hadn't been long after her initial kidnapping. She had originally woken up in a cell, and for days had been left to her own devices to entertain herself, before they finally visited her to give her the low down on their evil plot to take over the world. It had been as cheesy as that woman Yutani's pantsuit and heels getup like she was in a cheap James Bond film.

It was then Elaina had found out it was her own company- well, her father's company that had been holding her against her will. She was informed that Gunnison was gone, and everyone was led to believe the power plant had exploded, cratering the whole town and the surrounding area, killing everyone but three survivors. Even Elaina's own mother had been informed of her daughter's death, leaving the world to believe that the Weyland legacy was gone. There had been a funeral and everything. She should be relieved Yutani, and the military had let Dallas, Kelly and her daughter Molly live freely, knowing what they knew. However, its not like anyone would believe them, if they went around saying it was aliens that had wiped out the town.

The Doctor, who had introduced himself as Dr. Merrick, would oversee her wellbeing from then on, and that she would be relocated to a new facility in the morning. Yutani, the woman who had taken over her father's company was sure to inform her, that she was their property now, and for the foreseeable future.

That first transport from one facility to the next, she had prepped herself to escape at the first opportunity she got. She had nearly succeeded too, when they had been boarding the plane, but she hadn't been able to get far, not realizing they had injected her with a tracker without her knowledge. After that, the second time she had been transported to her current cell, they had made sure to drug her, before moving her.

Though accommodations so far, hadn't been the best, she could imagine they could have been a lot worse. She wasn't allowed any privacy in her cell still, but so long as she behaved herself, she could shower. She hadn't seen Yutani since that first visit, something she was thankful for. Elaina knew that if Yutani was here running things in person, they would have carved her open to see what made her so special in the Yautja's eyes. Regardless to the woman's threats that first day, Elaina's days consisted mostly of spending time in her cell. Occasionally she was brought to a room where they tested her endurance, and another room where they took her blood and ran a few routine tests. They took samples of her blood regularly, something she didn't understand at all. What could they possibly be doing with all that blood?

At the moment, Elaina was seated on her bed, considering her choices. She had been held against her will, for far too long, and she was tired of biding her time, waiting for an opening to escape. She still hadn't figured out a way to get the tracker out of her body, yet. She had found the place it had been inserted though, since they had used one of the cuts, she had sustained trying to survive Gunnison, as an entry point. She hadn't thought anything about the bandage they had used to cover the area, or that the incision was bigger than she remembered sustaining. She had no idea they had tagged her, until they followed her to her exact location about three miles from the private hanger.

Drumming her fingers against her knee, she waited, wondering what today would bring. She wanted to conserve as much energy as possible in case she needed it to run. She hadn't seen any kind of pattern to these people's shifts. She only saw a collect few though, Dr. Merrick took her blood himself, as well as ran the other scans and tests they did. He had two assistants that had the personality of a brick wall, they usually tested her endurance, and then there were the few guards who escorted her back and forth. The guards were always armed, ready for any wrong move on her part. If she didn't know any better, she would think these people were robots for what little emotion they expressed towards her situation. It was like they didn't even see her as human.

The door to her cell opened with no indicator outside that there had been anyone approaching, and she jerked in surprise, though she really should have expected it. Soundproofing made preparing for a visit impossible and with no way to keep track of time in her cell, she couldn't set up a plan to escape without making it more on the fly. She just had to be ready for any opening they gave her, regardless of how small it was.

Elaina stood from the bed, waiting as the guard walked in first and indicated for her to move forward. She took the two traditional steps towards him, and he secured her out reached wrists in shackles. The guard then grunted a simple command to move, and she walked from the room out to the narrow hallway. With each step, she counted them, making sure her counts matched each day she was allowed out of her cell. They turned right at the fork in the hallway, and she knew they were going to draw more blood today and probably run more tests.

She followed the familiar path to the larger room near the end of the next hallway. This room was like a mad scientist's wet dream. They had all sorts of tools and toys scattered about. Beakers filled with fluids, charts set up on the walls, and the white board with equations written down. The center of the room was an examination table that would frighten any lab rat. Elaina's first visit to this room had been truly terrifying. She had tried hard to keep a brave front, half expecting that since they couldn't get any information out of her that they were going to torture her for it, now.

She hesitated in the doorway, much like she did each time visiting the room. She always tried to gauge the room, figuring out the threats first, before entering it.

Something is different.

She looked around then, her eyes flitting about trying not to draw attention that she was looking for something in particular. It wasn't the fact that there was no one else in the room. Occasionally the Doctor was running a little behind, so today was nothing new. And then finally, her eyes snagged on what was different from two days ago. There, across the room near where Tweddle Dee, the blonde quirky assistant usually keyed in their findings into the computer, was a rack of vials. Bright green liquid filled several of them. Elaina swallowed thickly at the sight. She only knew of one species that bleed neon green blood.

They had a Yautja.

"Have a seat," the guard instructed and pushed her forward. She stumbled a step, turning on her heels to glare at him, but he was already shutting the door. Well, that's new. They always cuffed her to the examination table before leaving her alone.

Immediately her eyes sought out any cameras and spied one that looked directly at the door to watch who came and went in the room. She probably didn't have much time at all, before Dr. Merrick joined her. Elaina bolted across the room, not bothering to go for the door. She knew the guard would be there until it was time for her to leave. She held her secured hands to her chest to avoid making any noise at all from the cuffs, as she made her way to the computer.

She dropped into the chair and reached with both hands for the mouse to wake up the dark screen. Her eyes stared at the vials of blood, mounting worry pushing her to move faster. She had minutes, if that, to find out what the needed to know.

The screen lit up, showing the files Tweddle Dee must have been keying in earlier. Elaina's eyes flicked back and forth, glossing over the information typed up by the assistant. Her finger used the scroll on the mouse to push the text up as she quickly looked it over. There!

Her eyes stuttered on one word. Predator. They had pages and pages on them. There is no way, she thought to herself. How could they possibly have caught one, alive? It was then that she saw there were several that had been in their custody, in a facility in Washington, for the past four years. Tears filled her eyes as she read how one by one, the Yautjas perished from the trauma of the experiments conducted on them, and how each were autopsied on afterwards. As of that moment, they only had one specimen left alive, but Tweddle Dee had notated that it appeared It, would not survive the night. They were planning to autopsy It, in the morning.

Her stomach clenched and her face pinched with nausea, as she struggled not to heave what little food, she had eaten earlier that day. She knew her time was up, and that she needed to move, before she was caught at the computer. But it was like her body was weighed down, and that everything was moving so slowly. There was a roaring in her ears, a deafening noise that blocked everything else out. How was she going to save him, and herself? She was barely left alone, and with the tracker, she wouldn't get far. It was impossible for her to get to Washington; she wasn't even sure where she was being held.

It was as the screen flicked off, going dark from inactivity, that her mind processed the words she had been staring at. Her brows furrowed and the roaring in her ears lessoned. Two new specimens had been moved to a facility in Nevada.

When the door opened, Elaina was sitting on the examination table, her cuffed hands settled in her lap. She lifted her head from where it had been ducked in thought, to see Dr. Merrick blinking at her in surprise.

He clucked his tongue when he noticed her lack of restraints, before looking around the room. Seeing nothing out of place, he stepped into the room to join her. "Good morning, Miss Weyland how are you doing today?" he inquired, though he seemed a little on edge as he inched towards her. His eyes searched her over, as if looking for a hidden weapon.

"Fine," she muttered, and her shoulders drooped as if defeated. He must have seen what he was looking for in the movement, as he seemed to relax visibly, before her.

"Good-Good." He responded offhandedly, even though her wellbeing, meant very little to him.

He set his papers, that he had been carrying close to his chest down on the counter near the door, before he approached her further. He pulled the stool out from where it had been tucked away under the counter, out into the room. He then reached into his lab coat and produce the keycard she had been keeping tabs on any time she was in his presence. He used it to unlock one of the cabinets that were fastened to the wall. Inside were syringes, gauze, and tubing for a tourniquet. Everything one needed to draw blood.

Gathering his supplies, he wheeled himself over on the stool till he was seated by her side. The whole time, Elaina stared at the key card as it teased her from the open pocket of his coat. Dr. Merrick looked up over at her then, not quite meeting her gaze, something he seemed to avoid, as if that helped him disassociate himself from her.

"So, Doc, tell me, what is with all the bloodwork?" she asked, as he prepped her for another blood draw. Thankfully she was an easy stick, the business was done and over within record time.

"Hmm," he said, as he set the separate vials aside on the tray next to him. He bandaged the site the needle had gone in, before answering with his own question. "What did you do with all that alien technology you had on you when you escaped Gunnison?"

The same old song and dance.

When she didn't answer, but instead looked away to focus on something else across the room, he added, "We know you had it. One of the survivors told us that you left with it."

Elaina shrugged her shoulders, her eyes staring at what looked like a star chart of a galaxy she didn't recognize. At least it didn't look like their milky way. The planets were all wrong. These were the kinds of questions they had asked her in the last facility she had been held in. Question after question, wanting to know how she made it out alive. Twice. How did she get that unique scar on her face?

She had learned a lot about them though with these questions, more than they learned of her, that was for sure. Yutani wanted the Yautja's technology to further their own weapon technology, and they wanted the aliens for a whole different kind of nightmare. They thought they could use the aliens, the ones that were the reason Gunnison was wiped off the map, for some kind of biological weapon.

Over her dead body.

Elaina watched the doctor from the corner of her eye, as he moved away to take her blood samples and add them to the rack that held the Yautja blood. He turned to look at her then, his expression curious, like he wanted to know how she felt about the blood. Sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, she busied herself with chewing on it, anything to keep her from looking his way. She didn't think she could keep a straight face if she had to stare at that blood knowing where it came from.

"No other tests Doc," she asked him, going for nonchalant.

She saw his features purse into a scowl, anger getting the best of him.

"For now," he said at last. "However, consider this Miss Weyland, the less you are willing to share with us, your worth in this lab drops. I've been holding off the tests Ms. Yutani wanted to run for as long as I could, in hopes you would be more forth coming." He let his words sink in, his head tilting to the side, and studying her like a rate caught in a trap. "Next week, I feel we will have to push forward to our next phase in testing."

Before she could ask what that would entail, the door opened, and Tweddle Dum walked in with Tweddle Dee right behind him. The two assistants were identical twins, a male and female set, that both had the blonde hair and blue eyes any teen would be envious of. Maybe even a few adults too. Their lack of empathy however, made them Elaina's worse nightmare since she had been relocated to this facility. They enjoyed poking and prodding her a little too much, in her opinion.

"Good morning, Dr. Merrick," Tweddle Dee said with a bright smile, her pearly white teeth looking a little sharp today, when she turned that grin Elaina's way. "And you as well HTS11." That was the name the two assistances were determined to call her, refusing to even acknowledge she had name.

Elaina wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that Dr. Merrick could condone the way she was being held captive and call her by her name, or the way the twins could objectify her as just a lab rat.

"Ah Becky, good morning!" Dr. Merrick said with a smile of his own. "And Ben, how was the commute this morning?"

Elaina knew that the twins lived outside the facility, where though, she wasn't sure since they refused to talk about personal stuff when she was in the room. The doctor however, never mentioned going home, so she assumed he lived in the facility.

"Not bad at all," Ben answered. He went straight for the rack of vials with blood in them. He lifted one up to inspect it better in the light. "We should get more samples from the new specimens Doc." He held the vial up further, twisting and turning it, as if looking for something. "A fresher sample from our own specimens could help with Becky's hypothesis."

Their specimens? That meant she was being held in Nevada. Right?

Dr. Merrick looked over at Elaina sharply, again, as if gauging her reaction to the blood. However, Elaina was distracted by Tweddle Dee, as the female assistant made her way to the sleeping computer. Before the doctor had joined her in the room, Elaina hadn't taken the chance to fix the files to be where they had been before she had snooped around. Her heart pounded against her chest, and she swallowed thickly, as her throat constricted. What would they do if they found out she was snooping? Could she take the three out, before the guard came in and gunned her down?

"Yes, yes, all in do time. Becky did you manage to find your missing key card?" the doctor inquired after Elaina showed no outwards signs of caring about the vials of blood, and he had turned his focus back to his assistant.

"No," was her long-drawn-out sigh. "I'm pretty sure it must have fallen out when I was at the gym, it's the last time I remember having it. I'm planning to stop by there again tonight, to look one more time, before requesting a new one..." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, something she was always having to do, as the black plastic frames were constantly sliding down.

Tweddle Dee woke the computer up with a shift of the mouse, before taking a seat in the chair, Elaina had vacated earlier. She hummed under her breath, clicking out of the files about the Yautja specimens and opening a new one. She didn't even seem to pause at the image that Elaina had been looking at, before having to scramble to the examination chair to avoid being caught. Elaina shivered with relief, her head turning to look around the room, and doing her best not to look, relieved that she hadn't been found out.

"Alright Miss Weyland, let's get you back to your room then." Dr. Merrick said with a clap of his hands. He moved towards her, only then recalling at the last moment that she hadn't been cuffed to the table and he didn't need to release her from the restraint. "Uh right...Uh off you go then." He indicated with his head towards the door instead and took a generous step back for good measure.

Elaina hopped off the table and made her way to the door without further prodding. Already the group started in on theories, throwing back and forth ideas and forgetting she was even there. She hesitated at the door, her fingers curling around the handle. She was really pushing it, but she was desperate for information, so she lingered just a bit longer trying to overhear their conversation.

"Are we going to run tests on both specimens?" Tweddle Dee asked as she clicked away on the keyboard, typing something into her notes. She pushed her glasses back up her nose again, between key stokes. Interested in the answer, Tweddle Dum looked over at the doctor to gauge his reaction to the question.

"I mean we have more toys than that facility in Washington has. We could probably get way more information out of these two brutes, than they could." Tweddle Dum offered, hoping to lean the doctor's answer in their preferred direction. The trio was oblivious to the fly on the wall, as they continued talking.

Elaina pulled the handle slowly as Dr. Merrick spoke up. "Of course, we will start first thing tomorrow. They both should be healed up from their ordeal and in tip top shape for you both by then," was his excited reply. He almost sounded giddy.

Elaina stepped out next to the guard, who had turned his head to acknowledge her exit from the room. The door shut behind her with a soft click and she started in the direction that would lead her to her room. Elaina was careful as she made her way down the hallway, knowing the route by heart by now, and made sure not to walk too fast or turn too abruptly. The guard used a keycard to unlock her door once they reached it and she stepped inside without a word. She turned around then, facing the guard who stood in her doorway. Like all the ones before him, he stared at her impassively. She held her wrists out for him, and he keyed in the code that unlocked the shackles, and she wasn't surprised to find the code didn't match from the last one used. It was always a different code, sometimes requiring numbers and letters, but not always. She took the required step back to put space between them, after the guard removed her restraints.

The door shut, and Elaina allowed herself a brief moment to exhale out loud and very slowly, her body shuddering with all of the pent-up emotions that had been building since she had seen those vials. Tears burned the backs of her eyes, but she refused to the let them fall. There would be time to cry later, after she was out of here, when her every move wasn't being watched on camera.

Elaina made her way across the room and sat gingerly down on the bed. The twin size mattress with a single blanket was the only comforts she was allowed in the room. Any new clothes were brought to her, when they deemed it necessary for her to change. She was allowed socks, but no shoes. It was like they were careful of any chance she might be able to make on escaping, even if it was by taking her own life.

She faced the direction of the camera and tried her hardest to appear as casual as possible. Then with great care she stretched out across the bed, shifting until she found the familiar groove her body had been making in the mattress. The whole time, she watched the camera out of the corner of her eye, still trying to pretend to be casual, as if this was any other day in her cell.

She almost missed the viewing mirror. At least then, she was able to make out vague shapes beyond the glass. She knew what their limits were for seeing what she was up to. The camera just a dome on the ceiling in the corner, across from the door kept her in the dark on what all they could see in her room. She didn't know if it was only directed at the door, or if it had a view of the whole room. She didn't even know if it was on. For all she knew it was just a fake, to make her think that they were always watching.

Elaina feigned a stretch, her arms reaching above her head and yawned loudly. She absently scratched a pretend itch at the small of her back, where the waistband of her pants fit snug around her waist. Her fingers curled around the tool she collected in the short time she had been left alone in the lab, sliding it free from the incision she had made with the sharp end to keep it safe from falling out while she was moving about. It had fit perfectly along the elastic of her pants, and neither the doctor, nor the guard had been able to tell she had it, with her t-shirt's length falling loose to obscure the odd shape.

Today she had gotten lucky. If she was patient enough, she knew, she would eventually get another free moment again, rare as those days ever occurred. Now, however, her time was up. She couldn't wait any longer, not when two Yautja's lives depended on it. Elaina rolled over onto her side, turning her back to the camera. She slid her hand with the tool to the edge of the bed and slipped it off to the side to tuck it between the frame and mattress. Like she did every night before she attempted to sleep, she felt for the keycard she had picked off Tweddle Dee the other day. It was only a matter of time before the keycard was deactivated. The first keycard she lifted off the assistant had taken a week, before Tweddle Dee had finally been forced to admit she lost it and needed another. Elaina had then made sure to leave the card, where it could be found and watched at Tweddle Dee's frustration at having deactivate her card just before she found it.

Elaina figured she had bought herself a few more days with that stunt. Not that she really needed it now. No- now she needed to act. Closing her eyes, Elaina started reciting the information she tried to commit to memory. They were being held one level below her. She wasn't sure which room, but she had a vague idea. If it was like the layout of the floor she was on, she had a feeling they might even be directly below her. She felt confident enough to find it. So many ifs. If they were in the same facility. If her room was only one floor above theirs. If there would be enough time to save them.

Unbidden, the image that had been left on the screen, the one she had been staring at last, took over her thoughts. The Yautja splayed open, the organs removed. It was like they had played with it, the body cut into, missing patches of skin.

For a moment, just one, she was glad Ci'tde, and the others were dead. She would rather they be gone, dying with honor, then endure what that hunting party had gone through at the hands of humans. Opening her eyes, tears slipped free, soaking the bedding beneath her head. She was considering trying to get some sleep before making a definitive plan to escape, when her room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

She startled, her breath hitching at the jarring change. Jerking up into a seated position, she came out armed, holding the slim screwdriver in her hand as she looked around. It was too early for lights out, and even if that much time had passed, there was always the glow of the dim floor lights, to keep her out of complete darkness. Wildly, her eyes searched for an attacker, nothing good came from complete darkness.

Only the sound of her panicked breathing greeted her. Licking her lips, Elaina rolled over and reached for the keycard, before scrambling out the bed. Whatever was happening, she was going to use it to her advantage. She swiped the card through the reader, and nothing happened.

"Fuck," she cursed, her fingers tapping around on the reader trying to find the light indicator. It was dark too. "God dammit!" Her one chance to escape, and the card reader was useless. She glared at the door for a moment, trying to gather her bearing and figure out her next plan of action.

She hemmed and hawed for few more seconds, before muttering, "Fuck it." She reached for the handle and turned it. The click and the sound of the release stole her breath, and she felt the door give under a gentle push. For the first time since her capture, there wasn't a single guard outside her door. She inched her way out, wondering briefly if they even bothered standing outside it, when she was locked inside.

She licked her lips nervously and made sure to hold her screwdriver in front of her, ready to attack in case she ran into trouble. However, the only trouble she found was how dark it was in the hallway without any light. Elaina made sure to close the room on her cell, just for pretense, in case there was a patrol in the hallway.

She knew what was to the left of her. Left took her to the labs and to the gym. She needed to find an elevator or stairs. There had to be a way to get downstairs even with out power. Turning right, Elaina started off as a quiet pace, not wanting to alert anyone to her whereabouts. There was a turn ahead of her, the hallway branching off right and left, much like it did in the other direction making the hallway look like a large I. She would need to pick a direction and hope it would take her where she needed to go.

"Kelly?!" Elaina said with a start, her heart leaping to her throat when the woman rounded the corner and into her hallway and found the barrel of a semi-automatic pointed at her chest.

The woman holding the gun, lowered it an inch, peering at her in what looked like night-vision goggles. Elaina had only been able to tell it was her, because of how close they stood. The barrel was just an inch from her skin, and if the other woman had been trigger-happy, would have killed her instantly in one shot.

"Elaina!" The woman asked, sounding relieved at having run into her. She looked her over, before lifting the goggles up to the top of her head.

"Were you being held here too? How'd you get a gun? I haven't seen a single guard since leaving my room," Elaina barraged the woman with questions. Even as she asked them, she knew that couldn't be the case. Her eyes took in the familiar grey jumpsuit she was wearing. Why is she wearing a guard's uniform?

Kelly shook her head. "No, I'm here to rescue you actually," she admitted. She turned just slightly then, looking behind her, as if a sound had caught her attention, to make sure they were still alone in the hallway. "Man, I'm glad dropping the power unlocked the doors too, we were worried they would be on a separate grid, like the security cameras had been."

"We?" Elaina asked looking behind the woman as well but found her to be alone. "Your daughter isn't here is she?"

"No," Kelly answered with a shake of her head. "She's with her grandmother. Actually, Lex-"

"Lex is here?! Where is she? Is she alright? You didn't leave her by herself, did you?" Elaina fired off more questions, her anxiety getting the best of her.

Kelly scowled at the barrage of questions and her look quickly silenced the other woman so that she could finally answer. "Of course not. Calm down. Lex is with Dallas, and they're searching the other side of the facility for you. We couldn't get any information on which side you were being held, so we had to split up. Come-on let's head back, I can radio them that I found you and we can get out of here." Kelly made a move to grab for Elaina's hand to lead her to the exit, but Elaina stumbled back from her grasp.

The woman frowned, her brows furrowing with annoyance. "We don't have time for one of your disappearing acts. We have a limited time before they get the power back on," Kelly informed her. She made a grab for the redhead once more, but Elaina pulled away again.

"No, we can't leave yet! They have two of the Yautja's on the next level, we have to help them get out too," she argued.

"Yoo-ta- what?" Kelly asked, her gun lowering further so that it pointed at the ground. She was worried she might just shoot the girl in her frustration before she could save her. "No, absolutely not, we are not helping one of those aliens after what they did to Gunnison. What they did to my husband!"

Elaina shook her head in the negative, her frustration getting the best of her. They were wasting too much time arguing. "No- not one of the bug ones, the big guys," Elaina tried to reason with her rescuer. She moved around Kelly then, getting impatient, and started for the elevator; she had a feeling it was down this way then, if Kelly had come from this direction. "They have two locked up on a level below us, we have to help them get out."

"One of the big..." Kelly repeated the other woman's words, trying to understand what she was referring too. Her eyes widened with realizations. "Elaina no! They will kill us! Those things are murderers!"

Kelly charged after Elaina, grabbing the other woman's arm just as she reached the stairs that would lead her either up and out or down to where more danger most likely lurked. "Elaina please listen-"

"No!" Elaina shouted, only realizing then just how loud she was being, and pressed her lips together to keep herself from making anymore racket. She pulled free from Kelly once more and stepped back out of reach.

The other woman then trained her gun on her, as if to hold her at gunpoint to convince her to listen to reason. She would use force if the had to.

"You don't understand Kelly, they're butchering them. They're dissecting them while they're still alive. The two, they didn't do anything to deserve that fate. We can't leave them to that. Please!"

Kelly stared at her for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "Lex didn't say anything about rescuing aliens," she tried to hold strong onto her mission. Her grip on the gun hadn't loosened, and she still held it trained on Elaina in warning.

However, her brows quivered with emotion, her resolve slightly wavering as the other woman's words sunk in.

AN: Look its a miracle! XD

Amazing to see me update so quickly eh? Can't help it, sure I wont hear any complaints though, considering how unreliable I've been in the past. However, I've been hit in the face by my muse and she told me to write NOW, before she disappears on me again.

So we learned a little more on Elaina's fate, and the tragedy of Nev'ka's hunting party from the Taboo Story. And look Kelly and Dallas are here too! Now the real question is... who are these two new specimens Yutani has found o.o? Unfortunately, we wont know until the next chapter!

Did you like, love, hate it?

Evil Inky Out!