Chapter Three: Please Adjust Course

The tram rumbled to a stop at the Flight Deck tram station, the buzzer announcing his arrival at the destination. Isaac checked his gear quickly before the doors opened. This time he brought up the Pulse Rifle, carefully aiming it and the light around as the doors opened. Yes, it might not kill the Xenomorphs, but it did seem to slow them down, which would be a help. Isaac peeked his head out, glanced around. It was clear. He slung the rifle and headed for the door. He took the elevator back up to the Flight Lounge, again more than happy to not see anything. All the while, his mind was burning with questions.

An alien ship? The CEC and Ishimura had just answered perhaps humanity's most burning question: Are we alone in the universe? He had only seen a glimpse of it in that still image, but it was unlike anything he could have possibly imagined. Isaac was brought out of his reverie as the elevator doors opened. He brought up the rifle, careful, ready, but nothing happened, or showed itself.

As Isaac entered the Flight Lounge, the Ishimura computer spoke up.

"Security recording retrieved," it announced. A hologram flickered to life, showing the fight once more, Chen being grabbed his the head and neck and pulled up into the vent, while the other alien pounced on Johnston, only to then be burned alive by the acid blood. Isaac shook his head as he headed back into the security check-in and then back to the hanger. Isaac surveyed the remains of the Kellion. He walked out to the middle of the hanger, feeling exposed.

"Hammond? I'm in the hanger," said Isaac as he tapped his radio."

"Good. This report says there's a damaged cargo lift just beyond the hangar doors. I'll open them now," said Hammond. Lights flashed as the doors began to open.

"Artificial gravity disengaged. Please use caution," the computer droned. Isaac disengaged his mag-boots and floated up with his jets.

"Okay, I'm heading there right now," said Isaac as he boosted out through the atmospheric forcefield and into vacuum.

Outside, Isaac truly felt small, on the upper hull of the Ishimura. The only sound in space was that of his own breathing and his heartbeat. While he was used to it, there was a certain eeriness to space that humans had never quite shaken. Now, knowing what horrors lurked between the stars, it made it even worse. Isaac looked and saw lights indicating his destination, and for anyone who was outside. There were numerous oxygen stations along the side, for anyone doing space-walks. It was hard enough to see in space, so their locations were always bright, easy to see from any distance. The door to the cargo lift was open. Isaac easily floated in and down, past debris and even a few floating bodies. He could see a few scattered acid holes. So, there had been fighting even here. He floated down, under, over and through. It was quite disorienting, but he managed to get to the door with plenty of oxygen to spare. Isaac noticed another body as he drifted inside, the chest viciously torn open. He shook his head. These things were brutal. The airlock cycled and gravity was restored. Isaac gave a soft sigh of relief as he walked inside. He noticed a side storage room, and glanced around. He carefully checked inside. The body of a miner in a Mining RIG greeted him. The man had scrawled something on the wall:

Creatures of the night.

The dark is calling.

Isaac stood for a moment, looking at the message. He noticed the man had a spare canister for the ion torch on his belt, as well as more plasma cartridges. He pocketed them all, had a look around for anything else, finding a spare Pulse Rifle magazine in a locker, then hurried out again. He turned the corner, and found another holopad. He stooped and picked it up to read. Anything someone had written would likely be helpful.

Engineering Log

Danvers. C

Subject: Something strange in Engineering

We've found something strange in Engineering. I know, as of late, 'strange' is a relative term, but this is something else. Miles and Dyson found some kind of weird substance in Engineering. I honestly don't know how to describe it. It's almost black, some is sticky and gooey, other parts hard and almost like damn cement. We sent a sample to Medical to see if they know what the hell it is. Now, that wouldn't be so bad, but the stuff seems to be growing. Yeah, you read that right. When they first found it, it was some bits here and there. But when they went back and checked again, it had grown. Even worse, is the shapes the damn stuff is growing into. Weirdest shit I've ever seen, and that's saying something.

In the meantime, I'm heading to the Mining Deck. They have some spare PFM-100s for ice mining in storage and spare fuel. We'll see if we can burn this stuff away. Don't wanna risk it getting into the engines or something else.

Isaac looked at a grainy picture from a RIG of . . . something he couldn't even begin to describe, what what he could see in the dim light. Twisting, flowing shapes that almost looked like . . . ribs. A shiver ran through Isaac. He knew with every fiber of his being this was not good. Isaac put the pad down and opened the nearby elevator and took it down. As he did, the ship shook again.

"Warning. Orbital position compromised. Correct course immediately," the computer warned.

"Hammond, got any timeline on orbital decay?" Isaac asked.

"About three hours max," Hammond replied. Isaac tried not to wince. He hoped it would be a quick fix. The elevator stopped and opened. Isaac peered out, looked around, carefully walked out, then headed into the Engineering deck. As luck would have it, he was right in front of the main control console. Isaac walked up, and saw bloodstains, and evidence someone had been dragged away while struggling to hold on. One of the screens was pulled off. He ignored it for now and loaded the diagnostic report. A RIGLINK video hissed to life, showing Hammond's face. "See you in the control room. Anything new on the engines?" Hammond asked. Isaac read the report.

"Yeah, but it doesn't make any sense. The engines are out of fuel and the centrifuge is offline. With the engines offline and all that rock hanging off us. Jeez, what the hell happened here?"

"Can you handle it alone?" Hammond asked. Isaac hummed for a moment.

"I think so. Fix the centrifuge, get the engines refueled, and do a full restart. But you'll have to stabilize our orbit from there." Hammond nodded.

"Standing by. I'll be here waiting. Fast as you can, and stay safe. We need you." With that, Hammond cut the feed. Isaac walked back from the console to go through one of the doors, and found a holopad with an audio log. He played it.

"Acting Chief Engineer Jacob Temple reporting. Fuck, still can't believe the Chief is gone. It's all fallen apart since the Captain died. Since those things showed up. Everybody down here is scared shitless and on their last nerve. We lost twelve people in that last attack. Some of them they killed on the spot, others they dragged into the vents. And now, out of nowhere, the engines are screwed. The primary is laboring, and we're hemorrhaging fuel. Fuck if I know why. I'm taking Danvers to the fuel depot to fix it. Temple out."

Isaac lowered the pad. At least there was some comfort knowing he wasn't the only person who felt out of the loop and wondering what the hell was going on. How could the engines be out of fuel? His mind drifted to the aliens, and if maybe one of them bled on the fuel lines. He hoped that wasn't the case. Replacing an entire fuel line for a ship like the Ishimura could take a full work crew and several hours in a best-case scenario. Isaac headed for the Prep Room, where Engineers prepped their gear and tools and synced their RIGs before starting work. He opened the door and walked into the room. Nothing to note, be there was a spare Pulse Rifle magazine and some plasma cartridges in a locker. Isaac took them and headed into the machine shop. Isaac headed down the ramp, and stopped when he saw a gap that had been burned by acid. At the foot of the ramp was what remained of the body of a man in an Engineer's RIG. What got Isaac's attention was the devastation of the area. Instead of holes made by the acid, it looked like the whole area had been sprayed with it, and, oddly, horizontally. Isaac looked at the tool in the man's hand, and knew why. The man was holding a Ripper, a special saw used for mining.

He likely had used the tough, diamond-coated remote saw blades to cut into one of the creatures, what had sprayed its acid blood everywhere, including on the unfortunate fool who had thought it would save him. Even from where he was, Isaac could see the man's body had been melted in half, what was left of his legs laying separated from his upper body. Isaac groaned in disgust. He backed up and gently leaped across the gap to make his way down to the bottom.

Isaac saw another glowing panel and Security request. He pressed the button, and an audio log began to play.

"This is Danvers! Engineering! We need fucking help, goddammit!" screamed a man. Isaac could see hear weapon fire and the screeches of the Xenomorphs.

"There's more of them! They're coming out of the fucking walls!" someone else screamed, another man.

"Gah! What the fuck are these things?!" Isaac heard Temple yell.

"God damn bugs!" the second man yelled and Isaac heard the sound of a Ripper firing up. He knew what was coming next.

"Henderson, no!" Temple yelled. There was the sound of a Ripper blade whirring, followed by the screech of one of the aliens. There was a wet splash, and Henderson screamed, loud and shrill, followed by the sound of a RIG flatline and the wet sound of two body halves hitting the floor, along with the hissing of acid.

"Oh my god!" Danvers yelled. There was a whooshing sound after that.

"He's dead! Run for it!" Temple yelled and the recording cut off.

Isaac suppressed a shiver. It seemed every few steps, the nightmare got worse and worse. He went through the door to Refueling Control. Isaac had almost been ready to just walk in, but jerked back at the last second. He looked in carefully, and his heart began to race. One of the Xenomorphs was not even twenty feet from the door where he now stood. It was standing on the floor, down the ramp, back turned to him. Worse, it was dragging the body of a person, a man if he had to judge, wearing an Engineer RIG. The long fingers were curled around the neck and shoulders, dragging it along, the limp corpse leaving a trail of blood. Isaac stayed hidden, and weighed his options. While he might be able to fight it, and knew for a fact they could be killed, this close to the engines, though, that much acid could damage something vital. He couldn't risk it. Beyond that, he wasn't even sure if the weapons he had even could kill it. Thankfully, he didn't have to see, as the creature skulked up one of the ramps, leaped up with its prey, and was gone. Isaac gave a soft sigh of relief, moved in and navigated around the twisting hallways.

"Warning. Fuel reserves depleted. Main engines offline," the Ishimura computer warned.

Isaac then came to a massive chamber that seemed to vanish into mists below, like an endless abyss of nothingness. Isaac walked along the catwalk, and saw a stalled gondola in the middle of the track. He looked around, and used his Kinesis module to pull it over to him. He wasn't too surprised when he saw the inside slick with blood. He looked around, knew there was a refueling station here, and across the way, but he decided to take the far one, first. If he got chased, much better idea to hit the far one first, head back and hit the other as he ran, rather than have to double back. He got onto the gondola and activated it. A buzzer sounded as the guards closed and it began to move across the gap. The orange light on top of the gondola rotated, and he hoped it wouldn't attract the attention of any Xenomorphs in the area. Could they jump this far out? He didn't want to find out. He glanced up at the track the gondola hung from. Then again, they might not need to. He glanced down at the floor, and noticed, to his alarm, the blood was still wet. His head snapped up as he gasped. Isaac hunkered down, trying to make himself as small as possible. Isaac thought he heard noises echo, and tried not to jump and flinch at every sound. In the dim light, with that black things lurking around, it was nothing short of a horror movie in real life.

Isaac made it to the other side without incident, but he still was nervous. Isaac carefully made his way off the gondola and up the ramp. He shivered when he saw more bloodstains, and these looked fresh. He remembered what happened to Todd in Medical. He had not forgotten that strange tongue the aliens had. Isaac pushed the thought aside and walked towards the door to Fuel Management, only to find it locked. It required a keycard. Isaac sighed.

"Great," Isaac groaned. He noticed a holopad with an audio log. He glanced around, picked it up and played it.

"Last valve's done, Chief!" Danvers called.

"Progress report, Jacob Temple. The engine problems aren't a malfunction. Someone shut off the fuel lines to the primary engine and fucked the valves up in the process. We just spent an hour fixing the damn things. Now we need to restart the south refueling station, but some fuckwad turned off the power and locked up the circuit breaker," said temple, clearly frustrated and angry.

"No engines . . . we'll hit planetfall soon. What now, Chief?" Danvers asked.

"Gotta be someone around here who had a spare access card. Danvers, go find- wait. You hear that?" There was a pause. Isaac heard a soft hiss. "Fuck! Danvers, run!" The log cut off there. Isaac looked around. It was worth a shot to look around. Isaac kept his Pulse Rifle at the ready, just in case. He walked up the ramp, carefully looked around the corner. There was a side room off to the side. Isaac carefully checked the corners, scampered from cover to cover. He made it to the side room without seeing anything or being seen himself. He carefully walked in, trying to make as little noise as possible. Even footsteps on grates could echo for miles in a place like this, and he still had no idea how these things sensed prey. Isaac checked around, and, much to his relief, he found a keycard. This was tempered, though, by the fact it was still clutched in a hand that was missing the person it had formerly been attached to. Isaac groaned and winced as he picked the card up and pried it out of the dead grip.

"Jesus Christ," Isaac muttered. He yelped when a RIGLINK video hissed to life, and a face he had not seen in a long while appeared.

"Kendra? You're alive!" Isaac exclaimed as loud as he dared. She shushed him and nodded.

"Yeah. Hammond?"

"Right here. Thank god. After the bridge, we thought . . ." Hammond trailed off.

"Glad to disappoint. I barricaded myself in the computer core. I think I can hear them, but I don't think they know I'm in here."

"Good to hear. Boy, do we have some shit to tell you," said Isaac.

"I tracked your RIG. You're in Engineering, right? I'll give myself admin privileges. Maybe I can help you out," she said and cut off the feed. Isaac sighed with relief to know Kendra was alive. Isaac looked at the keycard. Isaac hefted it, and left the side room to return and unlock Fuel Management.

Isaac had just rounded a corner and was walking down the hall, when he heard something behind him. He whirled, and his eyes widened when he saw one of the Xenomorphs crawling out of the vent behind him. This one, though, was different. First of all, it didn't stand up on two legs like a human. This one was on all fours. It also lacked the four tubes on the back. He also noticed it was bigger. The head swiveled around, and Isaac felt like he was going to have a heart attack right then and there. Isaac turned and ran as the alien bared its teeth and charged after him. Isaac dashed down the ramp, almost bouncing off the wall and to the door of Fuel Management.

"Come on! Come on!" Isaac yelled. The door beeped as it sensed the keycard and unlocked and opened. Isaac dashed in, turned and closed the door less than a second before the Xenomorph smashed into the door with a thud. Isaac was shocked when the door dented, stumbling back. There was another thud, the door denting further. "Fuck!" Isaac yelled as he hunkered down, bringing up the rifle. He looked around, horrified as he realized there were windows all around. He was about as safe there as he would be in a submarine with screen doors. Isaac's eyes flicked all around, searching for any hint of movement.

The glass behind Isaac suddenly shattered, a long, black hand coming close to grabbing him. Isaac screamed as he ducked, whirled and fired the Pulse Rifle. He only saw that grinning face for an instant before it vanished. He panted as his heart hammered in his chest. He glanced to the side at the breaker box. His mind raced what to do. As it was, he was trapped. Now he knew how an animal felt trapped in its burrow with a hungry predator trying to dig it out. Isaac heard glass shatter, screamed as he dropped to the floor. He saw that black tail with its sharp blade retract through the hole in the glass. Isaac knew he had to do something, and fast. This thing was likely going to tear the whole wall apart to get him. He jumped when his RIG chirped.

"Isaac, what's going on?" Kendra asked. He panted as he looked around.

"I'm trapped in Fuel Management. One of those things has found me. It's trying to break in," he said as he whirled and fired. He swore that thing was taunting him!

"Oh, god! Hold on!" he could hear her typing. Suddenly, an alarm sounded somewhere far off. He heard something move, a whoosh of movement. "I think that drew it off. Get out of there!" Isaac hurried over to the breaker and looked. Isaac didn't like the idea of skulking around in the dark with those things, especially that one. An idea then hit him. If he turned off life support, he might be able to suffocate the things. It was worth a shot. He had his RIG and there were oxygen stations around. He switched the power, and the ship computer sounded a warning as Isaac opened the door. It only opened halfway, but it was enough for him to squeeze out. He then hurried for the refueling station nearest to him. He yanked the handle down.

"Refueling sequence initiated. Additional fuel required for engine restart," the ship computer alerted.

"One down," Isaac mused. He turned and headed back to the gondola, stopping to refill his oxygen at the station. He stepped on and reactivated it, the machine whirring to life silently in the vacuum. He felt more than a little relief as he rode it back. That was, until he looked up, and saw two of the aliens, clinging to the top of the engine, far to his upper right. He ducked down and stared in disbelief as he watched them move around as if nothing had changed. "Are you shitting me?" he whispered. He had no idea what they were doing, but they hadn't seemed to see him, so he was thankful for small miracles. As soon as the gondola docked and opened, he carefully moved and refilled his oxygen from the station, and headed for the north refueling station. He just hoped there was no repeat of last time.

Isaac carefully trudged up the ramp, turned and went along the catwalk and down to the north refueling station. He glanced around, grabbed the handle and pulled it down.

"Refueling sequence initiated. Sufficient fuel to fire primary engine," the computer announced. Isaac gave a soft sigh of relief. Isaac's RIG chirped as his radio activated.

"Okay, I've got a fuel reading. Only a quarter full, but it should be enough," said Hammond

"I still need to get the centrifuge restarted. Someone really screwed with these fuel lines."

"Move fast, Isaac. Aegis VII's looking damn close out there," Hammond replied.

"Hammond, one other thing," said Isaac.

"Yeah?"

"These things . . . they can survive without air." There was an alarmed silence.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Hammond replied.

"No. Tell Daniels, too." With that, Isaac cut the link and moved on.

Isaac passed another junction box, and turned the life support back on, as well as power to the door. He opened the now active door which took him back to the main control room. He looked around, and saw the elevator down to the centrifuge. He sighed gently and headed for it. Isaac took the elevator down, and was relieved that nothing tried to attack him, heard no screeches or screams. The doors opened, and while a bit of a mess, it was not a bloodbath like other areas had been. Isaac walked down the hallway cautiously. Thankfully, nothing attacked him. He checked a storage room, and was glad to find an emergency Medkit. He smiled as he pocketed it, just in case. Heading back out, he wound around the other way, and found a text log by the lockers. Isaac made sure the coat was clear, then read it.

Engineering Log.

F. Hallow.

Subject: Missing personnel.

More absences. Not excused, not people sneaking off, or not showing up. People are straight up disappearing. Had four people disappear on shift and not clock out, and have six more never show up. RIGLINK messages haven't been answered. I thought some people were just slacking off, but Security asked me if I had seen any of them. Now I know this is serious. What the hell is going on around here?

Isaac put the holopad down, wishing he had more clues. Isaac headed into to decontaminate before heading into the centrifuge. He walked forward, the door closing behind him, and pressed the screen to start the process. Warning lights flashed and the shutters on the windows closed.

"Decontamination sequence activated. Please stand by," said the computer. Isaac watched as the showers of chemicals switched on and the area began to mist up. Isaac was almost expecting aliens to attack that moment through the vents. Thankfully, nothing happened. The shutters opened and the computer thanked him for his patience. He was then able to leave the decontamination room, and found himself in a large, circular room. It listed control rooms for the centrifuge to the north and south. Isaac looked to his right, chose south. Isaac followed the hall around, down and to the door to the centrifuge. Along the way, he could see some more indications of fighting. Some blasts, acid damage, scattered bullet holes. Isaac ignored it for now, though was wary. He headed to the large circular door that led into the centrifuge. He pressed his hand to the hologram, the door cycled and opened. Isaac entered the lock, cycled the next door, and stepped out into the main area.

"Entering zero gravity. Warning. Centrifuge offline. Please attach generator modules manually," said the computer.

The centrifuge was a huge, cylindrical machine that helped generate gravity and offset the load the Ishimura carried when loaded, thus balancing the vessel. It was suspended above a lower area where the actual centrifuge arm rotated when activated. Two large machines were the modules, which ran on large tracks to and from the central centrifuge itself. Isaac glanced around, saw one, and disengaged his mag boots and flew down. Isaac used Stasis to slow down the front section, then used Kinesis to pull it along the track and into the centrifuge. "Generator module attached," announced the Ishimura computer. Isaac gave a soft sigh huff and smiled. Then, he heard a screech.

"Oh, no . . .," Isaac breathed as he looked up. Even in zero gravity, he felt his heart plummet into his boots when he saw two of the Xenomorphs crawling on the far wall. His heart then leaped up into his throat when he saw that same one without the back tubes as well. "Aw, fuck me!" Isaac groused as he looked around for the other module. He saw it on the other side, lower, and hit his jets. One of the aliens screeched as it launched at him, but in zero gravity, Isaac actually had an advantage, since his RIG had jets and he thus was able to move in any direction, and stop when he needed. They couldn't. They could only climb along walls and leap in straight lines. Isaac panted as he dodged the first alien, twisting to the side and boosting forward. He stopped, hit the front of the module with Stasis, and used Kinesis to drag it along the track to the centrifuge. He had just attached it when he looked up and the alien that had chased him hissed from where it was perched on top of the centrifuge. Isaac looked around. He had to get to the control console. If he could just make it. Then an idea hit him. He smiled as he looked at them. "Hey, tall, dark and ugly! Over here!" Isaac yelled and waved. The alien hissed higher and seemed to move as he did. He definitely had its attention. He glanced to the side, saw the other two ready to pounce. He waited and then jetted straight up.

The two aliens leaped at him, missing and colliding with a thud. He landed upside down on the ceiling, then launched himself off at the console, just as the third Xenomorph snarled and landed, swiping its talons and tearing into the metal where he had been milliseconds earlier. Isaac landed by the console, and hit the screen. "Happy landings!" he yelled as the bottom of the centrifuge bay opened and the gravity returned. The atmosphere was vented into space, the aliens along with it. Isaac huffed and smiled under his helmet. He did it! He actually killed them!

"Centrifuge activated. Re-establishing balance with tectonic load," the computer announced. Isaac sighed softly as he watched the huge centrifuge arm begin to rotate. His joy was short-lived, though, as he saw a familiar, very angry face clinging to one of the catwalks. Isaac felt the blood drain from his face.

"Oh, fuck!" Isaac yelped as he scrambled for the lift, taking it down to the next level as the Xenomorph came after him. Isaac yelped and dove out of the way as it jumped down the lift shaft and came very close to nabbing him. He just barely avoided the tail as he scrambled out and ran along the path. He knew this was suicide, but so was staying back there. He saw an alcove ahead, and the centrifuge arm. He doubled his effort, dove into the opening, just as the arm swung around. The Xenomorph was caught by the arm and swept away by the huge force. Isaac looked up, and laughed. "Ha! That's what you get!" he yelled. He looked up, and the grin was wiped off his face as the he saw the arm swinging back around, the Xenomorph still clinging to the side of the centrifuge arm, grinning at him with metallic teeth. Who was laughing now? It leaped at him with a silent screech. Isaac hit it with Stasis, his last shot of it, then ran past as the centrifuge arm swung past. He made it to the other lift and took it up as fast as he could, heart pounding in his ears. He made it to the door and almost squeezed through as soon as it was open enough. He then threw himself into the other door and rapidly tapped the hologram as he waited for airlock to cycle. As soon as oxygen returned, he could hear the angry pounding on the door, indicating his pursuer lived on. Isaac panted, hands on his knees. "Ha . . . holy fuck . . ." he breathed. He jumped when his radio chirped.

"Good work, Isaac! Looks like the centrifuge is back online! All that's left is restarting the engines, right? Ready when you are," said Hammond.

"Yeah. Yeah. Just let me . . . get my breath back," Isaac panted.

"Well, some good news. Scans say the north centrifuge control has a shortcut down to the engines," said Hammond. Isaac gave a huff and nodded. The airlock cycled open, and he was able to exit. He circled back and around the other way from where decontamination was. However, Isaac was a bit surprised when he found the door closed and an error message displayed on the sign above the door.

"Uh, Hammond? Hit another snag. Looks like something's wrong with the north room. Door's fucked," said Isaac as he looked, and noticed a holopad, and some tools. Isaac knelt and looked.

"Damn. Okay, you should be able to get there through Fuel Storage. I'll unlock it for you," said Kendra. Isaac, though, was looking at the bag of tools, including some ammo for weapons. He pocketed another pair of magazines for the Pulse Rifle, before picking up the holopad. Isaac was surprised when he found it stuck to the floor. He pulled, and it came up, long trails of thin, clear mucous trailing.

"Ugh," said Isaac, shaking off his glove of the stuff. He read the log.

Ty, Jeong? This is Temple. Did you restart the centrifuge yet? RIGLINK is down, and you haven't responded. We need that centrifuge restarted, ASAP! We got three trillion tons of rock hanging off our ass, and with the engines offline, we don't have any time to spare. Please respond.

Isaac looked at the tools and gear, and guessed what happened. He glanced up, but saw no vents nearby. Even so, he was pretty sure the aliens got them. He stood up and headed back to the main control room. Now, though Isaac was far more wary and careful. That one was definitely after him. Isaac thankfully managed to make it to the control room without incident, but now he was on almost full alert. Sure enough, the door to Fuel Storage was now open. Isaac went through the double, armored doors and lock and into zero gravity. His RIG chirped as his radio came alive.

"Say, Hammond, I cracked the secure files, and looks to me like CEC was here for more than just a mining claim, huh?" said Kendra.

"What're you talking about?" Hammond replied. Kendra chuckled.

"This all started on the colony. After that found that ship. An alien ship. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"No. Before today, I thought aliens were made up," Hammond shot back.

"But it would explain why Aegis VII is meant to be off limits. Earthgov's orders, remember?"

"I don't know anything about it. I was just as surprised as you, believe me,"

"Hmm, maybe, but you got to admit, it's awfully convenient," she said before cutting the line.

Isaac was surprised. He had been too busy to think about that, but Kendra certainly did have a point.

CEC mining out in an unknown area of space, and just so happens to find an alien spacecraft? Along with life? Did they know about it? It most certainly would be the most important discovery of modern times, if not human history. Isaac shook his head and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. There would be time to figure that out later. Right now, he had to get the engines restarted, before they ended up crashing into the planet.

Isaac came out into a loud room with god only knows what machines hissing and wailing. He wanted to cover his ears on reflex. He headed for the door, eager to be out of the noise. He opened the door, and in the next hall, saw more evidence of fighting, this much more heavy. There were overturned benches and desks, numerous bullet holes and acid burns. He could see what looked like evidence of explosions and other damage. He noticed a body in a corner. They were holding something. He came over and knelt. They were in a damaged Engineer's RIG, their front laid open from belt to neck, ribs looking like they had been totally torn off. Isaac could see where the sharp claws had cut the organs, including the heart, like paper. The man was holding a large torch. Isaac picked it up. It was a PFM-100, an industrial hydrazine torch. It even looked to be full. Isaac looked down at the dead man, his blonde hair messy, gray eyes glassy in death. He saw a name tag on his RIG: Danvers. Isaac silently took the dead man's last gift, and pressed on.

He came into a room with several decks and catwalks. Isaac placed a hand on the railing to look over, and felt something. He pulled his hand up, and long, sticky strings of clear mucus dangled. He shook his hand and wiped it off on the railing. He glanced around, and saw more of it. Some of it was solidifying into some sort of firm, semi-transparent substance. Rather like what had been detailed by Danvers in his report. Isaac frowned softly, his grip tightening on the flamethrower. He had a very bad feeling about this. He also saw more vents, all of them broken open and with obvious claw marks around them. Some looked like people had tried to rivet or weld plates over them. Isaac carefully navigated around the catwalk, around to the lift. He stayed in a low crouch, trying to stay out of sight. He glanced up and around every now and then. He took the lift down to the next level, warily glancing around, including on the ceilings, eyes darting to the far corners. Isaac knew these things were stealthy, and that was part of what made them so damn dangerous. Even when running, they made hardly a sound. He could see how they would have been able to pick off so many people so quickly and without being seen. And eerie chill made him shiver as more and more of what happened there began to fall into place and make sense.

Isaac heard a hiss echo. He froze, glanced around, and saw a storeroom. He made for the door as quickly and quietly as he could. Inside was typical gear one would expect to find. But what caught his eye was a large locker for spare suits. He quickly got in the locker and shut the door, making sure his RIG lights were turned off. Sure enough, not one, but two of the things stalked into view. Isaac swallowed the lump in his throat as they walked into the store room and looked around. This was the closest he had been to living ones, save that incident in the centrifuge. He could see them quite clearly now, but they still seemed kind of vague. The deep black of their bodies made them blend in with the dark and shadows. They were almost elegant, with how they moved, seeming to barely touch the floor. They moved into the room and seemed to look around, tilting their head up, back and to the sides. How the hell did they see without eyes? Isaac noticed the strange tubes on their backs would every now and then twitch and shake. Their long tails coiled and curled in the air, those sharp blades as big as a large knife. Isaac saw one of them reach its hand up, and noticed the long fingers almost looked like two fingers melded together, complete with two, parallel metallic claws tipping them. They even seemed to have two thumbs.

Isaac almost jumped out of his skin when one hissed and tore the door off of a locker. His heart hammered anew. "Fuck!" he thought. They knew he was there! He had to fight down the growing panic. In these close quarters, there was no way he could escape. If they found him, he was as good as dead. He was sweating, even as he felt chilled. His mind raced what to do.

Suddenly, a pipe in the room burst, hissing steam. The aliens screeched and ran from the room. Isaac could hardly believe it. He waited for several moments before he opened the locker warily, feeling like he was going to faint. He took a few moments to steady himself physically and mentally. Isaac hunkered down and ignored the steam as he looked around from a low crouch. The Xenomorphs were gone, for now. He carefully made it was to the next lift, took it down to the bottom floor. He turned, and was surprised at the damage.

Two large, automatic doors were almost totally melted by acid. There were acid holes and so many bloodstains, it looked like the whole floor had been painted red. Evidence of heavy fighting was everywhere. Judging by the bullet holes, plasma burns and other damage, it looked like whoever had been fighting had been surrounded. Isaac swallowed and carefully scampered behind a pillar, glanced around, and skirted around to the wall, sidled along and to the damaged doors. Isaac warily peeked down the narrow corridor, and made sure the coast was clear. Save for pipes lining the walls and ceiling, it was clear. Isaac ventured in, glancing back as he walked. His hesitation saved his life.

A black hand shot out from where it had been concealed in the wall. He yelped as he stumbled back, horrified as an alien unfolded from where it had been coiled in the wall, perfectly blending in with the pipes and machinery. He stumbled back and fell. He scrambled back as the tall, black nightmare hissed and bared its teeth. Isaac brought up the flamethrower and loosed a gout of flame. The Xenomorph screeched, holding up its arms in a defensive posture. To his surprise, it turned and fled, its tail quite literally on fire. Isaac scrambled back as he saw it dash down the hall, leap up a vent and disappear. "Jesus fuckin' Christ," Isaac panted. He looked at the flamethrower, then back down the hall. They were afraid of fire. He finally had something to more effectively fight back with. Isaac got to his feet. He kept the flamethrower raised, now even more wary than before. He hadn't even seen it in the wall. That smooth head looked like one of the pipes. Isaac aimed the flamethrower and light around at the walls, ready to roast anything that moved. He slowly and warily made his was up the ramps and towards the engine room. Just as he reached the landing at the top, the ship rocked again.

"Warning. Planetfall imminent. Correct course immediately," the Ishimura computer alerted. Isaac turned to his left, the large door into the primary engine room right there. He quickly checked to make sure there were no surprises, hefted up the flamethrower, and opened the door. He was surprised when the doors slowly opened with a sticky, wet sound, long strings of mucus stretching between the opening doors. Isaac stepped in, and stared.

"What the hell?" he breathed.

Large parts of the room were encrusted in a strange substance, the same that Danvers had reported. Now, though, Isaac had a much better look. It formed strange shapes, like tendrils. Some parts reminded him almost of spinal columns, some sections were almost like ribs. Most of it was along the ceiling and wall to his right, but there was a good amount that seemed to be sticking to the engine. Even worse, some seemed to blend into it, as if the pipes were merging with the tendrils, making it hard to tell where human machine ended and alien substance began. It looked wet, dripping long strings of that clear fluid. Now Isaac understood why nobody had been able to restart the engines. He hunkered down low and scampered to his left to hide behind some machines and see what was going on before making a move. He glanced up and around. Thankfully, there were no aliens nearby, so he felt safe for the time being.

"Warning. Engine power failure. Please replace power cell to begin ignition sequence," said the Ishimura computer. Isaac glanced around, and saw movement, high up. He looked and focused, and saw two of the Xenomorphs, crawling up on the substance. He silently swore, as he realized they blended right into the stuff.

Clever bugs, he mused to himself. Indeed, it was an effective form of camouflage. His eyes flicked around. He needed a plan. He couldn't just run in blazing and expect to live to tell the tale. Well, first, he needed to find a power cell and the socket, and do so without being seen. Isaac stayed low and as out of sight as he could, crawling behind machines and pipes, trying to make sure he was out of line of sight. Even if these things didn't have eyes, that didn't seem to hinder them in any way. Isaac found the socket for the power cell first, thankfully on the far side of the room away from the alien encrustation. Now, to find a power cell. His gaze drifted over to the other side, where the alien substance coated nearly everything. Even the ramps were covered with it, the railings now almost resembling ribs and organic things. He thought he could see a soft glow, reflected in the shiny resin substance on the landing one level up. He glanced up, saw the aliens crawling along the stuff, and noticed they were heading the other way. He took a deep breath, steadied his nerves, and carefully moved from cover to cover, heading for the alien structures.

Isaac winced as he boots stuck to the substance now and thing, long strings of mucus following him. He tried to be as quiet as he could and stay low and out of sight, using the strange formations as cover. Isaac almost tripped over something. He looked and tried not to jerk or yelp in shock. It was what had once been another Engineer, his RIG torn to shreds. He was almost fully encased in the alien substance. The man was clearly dead, and likely had been for some time. His jaw was missing, as was most of his front. In his hand, Isaac found not only another canister of hydrazine for his flamethrower, but the power cell he needed! Isaac's eyes flocked around, tilting his head to make sure the coast was clear. He picked up the hydrazine first and clipped it to his belt, then used Kinesis to lift the power cell. Long strings of mucus dangled from the bottom, a wet sound as he tore it from the stuff. He scampered back down and around as quietly as he could, staying as low as he could, even crawling where needed. He managed to make it back to the socket without being spotted, much to his relief. Isaac gently slid the power cell through the side of the alcove and down to the floor, sliding in after it. Safely in the power substation, he lifted the power cell and plugged it into the socket. The light turned from red to green.

Suddenly, the various machines hummed to life loudly.

"Ignition sequence initiated. Please stand by," said the Ishimura computer. Isaac glanced around, and noticed a glow among the alien substance, in one of the particularly large mounds of it. It also happened to be right below where the Xenomorphs were. Isaac frowned as he thought on what to do. He needed to use the console to start the ignition sequence. Isaac looked, thought, and made a plan. That was when he heard a screech. His head snapped up, and lo and behold, a familiar monster was glaring at him from where it was perched on the alien crust, the other aliens following suit.

"Oh, shit!" Isaac swore. Well, there went the plan. Isaac scrambled out of the substation as the large alien ran across the ceiling and dropped down, along with the other two. Isaac tossed the extra hydrazine canister at them and fired his flamethrower. "Hope ya like it hot!" The canister exploded violently in a huge ball of fire. The Xenomorphs screeched and scattered. One leaped up and away, one ran towards the other side, and the one that had been chasing him writhed and screeched, its whole body on fire. Isaac ran for the console as fast as he could, up the ramp, feet squishing in the strange muck. He tapped the screen of the console, and the whole area lit up as the engine rumbled to life overhead.

"Engines firing," the Ishimura computer announced. Isaac ran back down and for the door. He spared a glance back over his shoulder, and saw the big alien had put the fire out, and was now hissing, whole body seeming to quiver with pure rage. Isaac doubled his efforts, running and hitting the door hologram and dashing through as fast as his body could manage. He didn't even wait for the door behind to close as he dashed for the other one across from it like he was running the hundred-meter dash. Isaac pressed the hologram, heart pounding. The door cycled open just as the door behind almost closed, before a pair of black hands tipped with silvery claws forced them back open. Isaac was already gone. The frantic engineer almost bounced off the wall and dashed up the ramps as fast as his legs could, mentally cursing the weigh of his RIG and gear. He could hear smashing and movement behind him, didn't bother to look back. He rounded a corner, skidding as he did, saw a locked door and a fuse ahead. Isaac aimed his plasma cutter as he run, missing a few shots before the fuse was smashed. He hit the door hologram as had as he could, the door sliding open. Isaac dashed through, turned and hit the emergency button, daring to look back as the thing charge. To Isaac's horror, the door only closed part way. He hit the button again, it closed more. He rapidly tabbed the button.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" he screamed. The door slammed closed just in time. The alien collided with it, denting it severely. Isaac hurried and snapped out the ion torch and ran it along the edges to weld it closed. Isaac could hear the screeches on the other side, and they were like something out of a demonic nightmare. Isaac ran as he put the torch back on his belt, finding himself back outside the main control room. Isaac dashed in, closed the door. He took the moment to catch his breath. It was at that moment a RIGLINK video appeared, Hammond's face filling the screen.

"Isaac, you did it. The Ishimura's moving again," Hammond confirmed.

"No thanks to these things, or whoever sabotaged the fuck out of these engines," Isaac panted. Hammond gave an apologetic smile.

"Well, you bought us time to figure it out. The autopilot's taking us back into geostationary orbit," Hammond confirmed, looking relived. The video changed and Kendra's face appeared.

"Wait, you're flying us through the planet crack debris?" Kendra asked.

"That's what the Asteroid Defense System is for," Hammond replied.

"But the ADS is offline! I got the system readouts here," she said, typing. Isaac sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"Aw, fuck. Hammond, the Ishimura's in bad shape as it is. A couple of bad strikes could finish her off. Hammond shared Isaac's feelings and look under his helmet.

"Shit! Daniels, give me all the data you have, and I'll try to adjust course. Isaac, you disable the tram lockdown from Engineering, and I'll open up the Bridge station. Meet me there. We're gonna need to work together on this one." Isaac nodded.

"Right. See you there! Oh, and Hammond, Daniels?"

"Yeah?" Hammond stopped and asked.

"I found out they don't like fire," said Isaac.

"You're kidding me!" said Kendra. Isaac managed a small smile under his helmet.

"This hydrazine torch sent them running. Don't know if it actually hurts them, but it's better than burning acid holes everywhere," said Isaac as he hefted the flamethrower. Hammond gave a soft sigh.

"Good job, Isaac! That's a huge help! Daniels, if you can find anything with fire, do." With that, Hammond and Kendra vanished. Isaac headed to the tram station. Thankfully, he had no further encounters on the way, but he wasted no time in deactivating the local lockdown. The tram arrived and the door opened, the ramp sliding out felt like a red carpet welcome to Isaac. He gave a soft sigh as he walked in, and touched the symbol for the Bridge as his destination. The door closed and the tram departed. Isaac was almost ready to wilt into a seat, just as the tram rocked and something thumped on the roof.