I do not own the Aliens Franchise.
I do own a digital copy of the movie.
Alien Evolution
Garrett Stevens
It's over. They've made it.
The loading dock.
Ellen Ripley steps through the gateway, pushes the button that closes the blast door.
In two minutes, the detonation she set will blow the bridge, disconnecting the WayStar from this loading dock, the spacecraft she's going to use to take them home.
Five minutes after that, James' self-destruct will blow the remains of the station, the morphed-scientists, soldiers, and everything else to dust.
Including the body of Senior Corporal Dwayne Jonathan Hicks.
But she can't think about that right now.
She's got to get herself and her daughter on the ship, got to get them out of here.
The only thing standing in her way is . . .
"Hello, Lieutenant Ripley. Good to see you made it back. I heard there were problems."
. . . him.
Not Miller.
The colonel's down.
Permanently.
There's a bullet hole between his eyes.
And a pistol in the left hand of . . .
"What happened to him? Where's everyone else?"
. . . Garrett Stevens.
Who glances dismissively at the crumpled body feet away from him.
Then back to her.
"Some people just ask too many questions. Like you."
Ellen's put Newt down, pushed her behind her.
"I see you have our stowaway. All safe and sound, I assume."
Not because she thinks her body will protect her from a bullet.
"You bastard, why did you bring her here? She's just a helpless little girl."
But because that what a mother does. Protects her daughter.
Stevens remains, as always, impassive.
Near imperceptible shrug of the shoulders, shake of the head.
"Insurance."
As if it's all completely reasonable.
"Against any second thoughts."
Just good business.
There's really nowhere for her to run.
Her pulse rifle's gone . . .
"You can just put that down real nice and slow there. Wouldn't want it accidently going off and hurting somebody."
. . . and his pistol's already pointed right at her.
There's a muffled thump from a transport pod set near the entrance to the ship she's betting on escaping in.
One thump.
And another and another.
And Ellen Ripley notices how Stevens doesn't look around or acknowledge the disturbance at all.
"Is that someone who asked too many questions too?"
Stevens' mustache twitches, as if he's enjoying this little game of cat and mouse he's contrived.
"No. That's our fine doctor Schnorr. He . . . isn't feeling very well."
She doesn't bother to ask how. She doesn't bother to ask why.
Part of it doesn't matter and part of it . . .
"The Company has directed he be brought back to Earth base. Weyland-Yutani prides itself on providing top of the line medical care for its employees."
. . . she can figure enough of.
"You're going to let those things lose on Earth?"
Stevens almost manages an innocent expression.
"Now why would we do a thing like that?"
As they've been talking, Ellen's steadily been moving away from the blast door, keeping to the outer perimeter of the room, Newt keeping station behind her, inch for inch.
Garrett Stevens hasn't mentioned this but he is tracking her movements with the hand with the pistol in it.
And Ellen Ripley's looking straight down the barrel.
"I don't know."
But she does know.
"I don't know why The Company has done any of this."
She really does know.
Fucking percentage.
She's just trying to buy time, precious seconds until the bridge blows, hopefully rattles this place enough to give her an edge.
Stevens' mustache twitches.
"You know as well as I do, Lieutenant Ripley."
His finger on the trigger doesn't.
"'Building Better Worlds'."
So she keeps going.
"You don't really believe that bullshit, do you?"
Another shrug.
Of the shoulder not attached to the arm to the hand holding the gun.
"It doesn't matter what I believe. What matters is-"
He's probably about to say something predictable like 'following orders' or 'doing what you're told'.
But right then the bridge blows and it does shake the loading dock, Stevens looks around, Ellen crouches, one arm reached around, keeping a hand on her daughter.
She can't make it to her pulse rifle, she can't make it to any sort of escape.
But maybe . . .
"Go, baby!"
. . . her daughter can.
"Run!"
Ellen Ripley pulls on the little white sleeve, in the way she wants her to go.
The little girl obeys, dashing for shelter behind a wall of stacked supplies.
Stevens readjusts aim, fires quicker than a grown man should so easily fire a weapon at a helpless child-
"No!"
-but she is very small and quick, she's good at getting away, she proved that when she successfully stayed hidden from the Xenomorphs on her own for so long.
"Newt!"
And almost evaded Ripley and the soldiers as well-
"You bastard!"
-and the shot misses her-
"RAAAAHHH!"
-but Ellen Ripley's swing of rebar-
"oooff-"
-doesn't.
Stevens' damaged hand drops the gun, his shout is full of pain-
"Leave her alone, you son of a bitch!"
-Ellen Ripley's is full of rage.
Stevens kicks, takes out her ankle-
"-ley!"
-and Ellen goes down on one knee-
"-god-"
- and he's launching himself at her, rebar now in his hand, winging off the side of her helmet, her brain is rattled, and he's swinging again and her nose takes a hit against the helmet and blood is seeping into her mouth-
-fuck-
-and there's a sound she can't process, there's just the grey tile floor, the blinding ceiling lights-
"-ley!"
-and Garrett Stevens' fist punching her in the face.
"-done what you were told to do, Lieutenant Ripley, then we-"
And suddenly, his face goes shock and his words stop and there's a black talon slicing through the center of his chest-
"-g . . . uhhh-"
-and Ellen Ripley's scuttling backward on her hands and feet like a crab-
-contact with the skin-
- and a small, slightly disproportionate Xenomorph with scraps of clothing hanging from its black shiny carapace, lifts Stevens off his feet-
"-ugh-"
-and hurls him with neck-breaking strength into the wall beyond-
"Oh god-"
-and hisses dangerously-
Dr Schnorr-
-at her.
I was struggling writing this chapter, action scenes are often a challenge for me.
My husband said, just skip it and show the aftermath. I said, no, babe, people want to see Garrett Stevens die, trust me.
;)
Anyway, thanks for RedHood001 for reviewing the previous chapter!
Two more chapters (I think) to go! See you there!