Chapter Fourteen
It's too Quiet
It was a long night, longer than any of them had realized because the sun was beginning to peak up and over the horizon and fill Hanna's house. Empty cups of coffee were scattered around the kitchen and living room and covering the computer desk. There were half eaten snacks on the kitchen table as well as the counter tops. Each of them becoming hungry at some point. Hanna, who was now sitting on a long couch, a blank stare upon her face as she attempted to process all that she had been told. After Luke had translated everything that Astarte had been through, the human woman was almost in shock. This woman named Evelynn who Astarte would like to find, her father who happened to be the xenomorph king, her mother who should be dead but wasn't. Emilia, who everyone thought was the only queen out there, was now just one of who knows how many. In reality, it all sounded crazy, but here they were. A xenomorph looking for her family, and two humans, who have been roped into this crazy situation. It sounded like a bad punch line to a joke.
Astarte sat quietly upon the floor with her tail wrapped around herself as Hanna and Luke processed everything. She was not really sure what else she could do; she had all her cards on the table and was relying on these new friends in order to find her family. It was a gamble, she knew that. But she really had no other choice, she had no good way to cross the country and find her parents. So, she would have patience with these two and let them figure out what they needed to before the next step.
So, they sat in silence, for quite a while.
It was Luke who first broke the stagnant atmosphere when he got up and made his way to the kitchen. He went through the process of pouring another cup of coffee, like he had done so many times that night. This time, once his cup was full, his head came up and looked blankly into the wall in front of him.
"Kimberly." He whispered. "I have to get home; she will be up soon." He said as he turned to the two in the living room. Hanna herself still seemed overwhelmed as Luke looked to her. Astarte was not sure what he was hinting at, so she stayed still. Strangely, Luke did not move either. He stood in the kitchen, just staring at the wall in deep thought. As Astarte looked to the man, she began to realize that he was probably to tired to be thinking rationally. She got up and made her way to the kitchen where she placed a hand on the man's shoulder. He slowly turned his head to look at the clawed hand that was now touching him.
He did not flinch.
He did not react when he saw the non-human hand. He simply looked at the hand of someone who cared. His gazed moved from her hand to her face, or where it should be, and smiled a tired smile. Astarte retracted her hand and signed to him.
"You need to sleep." He let out a quick laugh.
"Yes, yes I do." He signed back. "I need to get home. I need to wake up Kimberly." He explained.
"Yes. We have time." She told him. "The sun is still not up." Luke nodded.
"Hanna," He called to the woman who was still quietly upon the couch. "Where is he?"
"Humm.." She said as she slowly looked for the source of the question. She did finally look at Luke, but her face reviled that she had not really heard the question. So, he asked again.
"Where is Amun." He simply said. Hanna smiled, knowing the answer.
"Kidd mountain, in the Rockey's. It was where his old hive was, and he seemed to be heading that direction the last time anyone saw him. So that is the best bet." She said as she held her cup of warm coffee to her chest. It was clear that she was fading fast as well, her words were slow and elongated.
Astarte made her way to the woman and scooped her up within her arms.
"Ooo!" She said as she was suddenly lifted into the air. At least she did not spill her coffee. Astarte turned and looked to the only other hallway on this level that did not lead to the back door and started to make her way.
"Second door on the left" Luke told her on the way by, a finger outstretched towards the hallway. "G'night Hanna."
"Night, buddy. You… you call tomorrow yeah?" Hanna said as sleep began to overtake her within the xenomorphs arms.
"Mmmm…" Was the only response from the man before he disappeared behind a wall.
As the large alien made her way down the hall, she noticed four doors before her. Two on the left and two on the right. As she passed the first, she peered into the door and saw a simple, little bathroom. The door to the left was closed and she did not want to pry. So, she made her way to the second door on the left. As her body turned into the door frame, she was met with the sight of a rather large bedroom.
A queen-sized bed, simple side tables on each side. Another door was upon the wall to her right but was closed. The opposite wall had a large glass window that took up most of the space. The one thing that Astarte noticed was, again, the plants. Every available space was being taken up by a pot that had some kind of vegetation within it. Astarte did notice that the air within the room was extremely clean, it was pleasant within her vision as the room was taken over by a gentle blue and white swirl of color. There were many subtle smells coming from around the various plants, but it was generally a calm and wonderful environment.
With Hanna beginning to nuzzle into her arms, Astarte quickly moved to the bed side where she placed the woman down on the soft surface. She quickly took the cup of coffee from her hands before it spilt and placed it on the side table that was beside the bed. The xenomorph watched as the woman grabbed a pillow and pulled it in close to her body, a smile upon her face. Astarte noticed the blanket that was folded at the foot of the bed. She took the one edge of it and pulled it over the woman as her breathing began a rhythmatic pattern.
She was fast asleep.
Astarte's mind flooded with joy and happiness as she looked to the woman who seemed at such peace. She loved knowing that she could see someone so happy. It was something she wished for herself with every fiber of her being. And something she was willing to fight tooth and nail for. She let out a sigh of happiness as she looked to the tranquil woman before she turned and made her way out of the bedroom, gently closing the door behind her. The small doorknob proved to be a slight problem within her large hand. No matter.
She made her way down the hallway in silence and turned the corner towards the kitchen, hoping to see Luke ready to leave. What she was met with was the sight of the man sleeping in a chair. His chest lifted and fell slowly.
"O dear, I guess it was a long night." Astarte thought to herself.
No matter.
She went over to the man and lifted him to his feet; she felt the man take his own weight as he slightly woke to the movement. Instead of lifting him, Astarte turned and wrapped her tail around the man, then around herself. She pulled him in tight and secured him to her back, using her tail as a belt around them both, to keep him in place.
Thankfully Astarte had memorized the route to Hanna's house as Luke drove, so she knew how to get back on foot. The vehicle would have to just be picked up later because they would need it to get across the city in a timely manner. With Luke cuddled in between her back spikes, and firmly in place, she made her way out the back door. Closing it gently behind her. It was still cool out which was a good sigh that the sun was still not up yet, darkness would still help her on the way home.
It was rather uneventful on her walk as the xenomorph stuck to the shadows, she had to duck in between houses every now and then to avoid being seen by a car on the road, but that was easy enough. Astarte was also enjoying the silence, the peace and the outdoors, it was the first time she was able to actually enjoy herself. Every so often she would stop and look at the strange and new vegetation in someone's yard or sneak a peek through an open window to see what she could find.
To her disappointment, most houses were the same design each time she took a look. Kitchens with items lining the counters, living rooms with large television screens upon the wall and rooms that look like offices. There was not much variety, especially on the aesthetics of the outsides of the homes. She noticed that there was a repeating pattern for them as she went down the streets. Entrance here with large window there. Garage here with another window above it. Astarte wondered why that was. Was it something that people could not be bothered with most of the time? Or was it the most optimal design they had come up with?
She remembered when she had built her room with her resin, how she had tried to make it visually pleasing, as well as functional. She had taken her time, redoing each wall many times until she had it just right. Perhaps it is not a priority for humans. She did not dwell on it too long, she had to get back to the house before much longer.
And it did not take much longer before she turned the last corner and looked upon Luke's home. From her hidden spot between houses, she took a moment and scanned the area before moving. All seemed quiet and safe, but she moved swiftly just in case. She darted from corner to corner, staying out of the open as she moved down the line of houses. She was only fifty or so feet from the front door of the house when something caught her eye, a car turning onto the street. But something seemed off, it was moving much too slowly for it to be normal.
They were looking for something.
Astarte did not risk it, she lowered herself and darted to her left, towards an open alley between houses. Scanning the area quickly, she noticed that there was not much for cover. However, a large steel box was her best option. She sprinted towards it, hiding behind its larger frame and hugged the ground as much as she could. There, in silence and fear, she waited. Praying that they had not seen her black figure move through the night. She sat incredibly still with not a sound but Luke's breathing coming from her back. That was until she heard the sounds of the vehicle approaching the entrance of the alleyway. The nose of it appeared from around the corner, still moving slow, but not moving to come down the dark driveway. More and more of the car revealed itself as they continued down the road.
"Are we ho-" The sudden words from Luke cut through the dark. Astarte quickly covered his mouth with her tail. Fear spiked through her body as she kept her gaze towards the moving car. It kept moving. They were lucky. Astarte felt Luke begin to shift his body, so she tightened her grip around him with her tail, making sure to keep his mouth covered. He protested and attempted to remove her tail from his face, but she was a lot stronger than the man. She could hear some muffled words being uttered in her direction, but she could not let him go just yet. Just a second or two more and the car would be gone. She watched as only the rear end of it remained in sight.
A sudden loud bang from beside her spiked her adrenalin, it seems Luke had moved enough that his leg had kicked the fence that was beside the two. She quickly moved to a crouch position so that she could use her hands to further secure the man, reaching around to hold his legs in place. This only made him struggle more, but it had to be done. She watched with her long head and the car kept moving away, it seemed that they still had a bit of luck left. Once it was fully out of view, the xenomorph emerged from her hiding spot and stood to her full height.
The struggling of the man upon her back told her that he was not too enthusiastic about being held in place. She relaxed her tail and unwrapped it from around their bodies. She could feel the man slide to the ground and to his own two feet. She turned to face him, knowing that his gaze was drilling into her.
"What the heck was that?!" He asked in full volume. She quickly responded.
"Quiet. There was a car. It was searching for something, so I had to hide." She noticed that he was struggling to see her sign language in the darkness of the ally. So, she gestured for him to follow her to the main street where the streetlights would help.
She went first, wanting to peek around the corner and see where the vehicle was. Slowly, her smooth head moved to reveal more and more of the street. The trees, shrubs, parked cars, everything in the night came into view. It was the stopped car in the middle of the road that made her freeze.
It had stopped.
Her heart raced. Had they heard Luke? Had something changed? She stayed extremally still, now wanting to give away her position. The doors of the vehicle opened; her body tensed. Four humans stepped out; her breathing began to quicken.
They had rifles in their hands and turned towards Astarte.
She did not waste another second; she knew they had found her. She turned back towards the ally, heading towards Luke who was still approaching her. His body jittered as the xenomorph turned and bolted directly towards him. She scooped him up in her arms without losing stride and began to take off into the darkness. She kicked up the gravel as her clawed feet dug into the ground, causing noise that she knew would not help. She turned to her right and leapt over the fence that was bordering the backyard of a home.
"Astarte, what the hell?" Luke asked as they flew through the air. She landed hard on the ground and took of once more.
She could not stop to explain to the man what they were running from, she would just have to apologize later. Running towards the gap between the houses, she was glad to see an open walkway towards the street. She was even happier to see there was no one on the street as she sprinted across it and between the houses on the opposite side.
She needed to get some distance between them and the armed humans, but not too far from Luke's home. They needed to get Kimberly.
"Astarte?" Luke asked again, she did not stop her run. Just a little further.
Cutting between the houses and into yet another backyard, she leapt over the fence and into the alley. She turned to her right, heading towards where Kimberly was. She came to a sliding halt as she realized that she could not lead the enemy right to the home. She had to do this without being seen. She quickly went through her options and found the best one. She once again hopped the fence to her left and made her way to the front of the house. She stopped on the sidewalk and put Luke down.
"Astarte wha-" She cut him off as she started to sign.
"Four armed men. They know we are here. You need to hide. I will get Kim." The streetlights allowed the man to see what she was saying. He looked from her hands to where her face should be and nodded.
"Get my daughter. I'll hide around here somewhere. Go." He waved her off with a hand, trusting her to do what needed to be done. She did not waste time and ran back towards the houses she had just emerged from, leaping upon the outer wall of the one on her left. She climbed its surface to the roof and quickly began to make her way along the rooftops. Leaping from one to the next as she made her way towards her destination. As she went, she turned her head towards the direction the armed men should be. She saw no movement but it did not mean that she had lost them. She took a bit more caution and hid herself on the far side of the roof as she crawled. If they had followed her in any way, they would be hard pressed to see her now.
One, two, five houses down and she stopped, moving to the top edge of the roof to glance over. She looked past the ally and to the home of Luke which was now across from her. She recognized the deck that she had hidden under and the sliding glass doors.
She paused.
Nothing moved within the grayscale of her vision, no strange pheromones could be seen. It looked as if they did not know about Luke or his house. She wanted to be sure, so she waited a few more seconds, praying that all stayed quiet. She got her answer, but not in the way she wanted. She watched as someone walked past the glass door in the living room of Luke's home, they had a rifle up and were searching. She had been too slow, they were in the house.
Astarte moved to the other side of the roof and curled her legs beneath her, taking a second to adjust her aim. It was a hell of a leap in front of her, but she did not care. She had to get to Kimberly, and soon. She would aim for the roof, and if she missed, at least she would be within the backyard.
A moment later, she was in the air, flying across the open alley and towards the structure in front of her. There was a strange silence in the night as she flew, as if everything had held their breath and was now watching in anticipation.
Thankfully, her body had enough power behind it to propel her to where she had wanted, and her clawed hands shot forward to wait for the impact with the roof. It was not graceful, and it was not quiet. The xenomorph landed with a thud upon the sloped roof, her body hitting hard on the textured surface. She knew that someone would hear that, be it the people in the house or anyone nearby. She had to move quickly. She crawled towards the edge of the back of the house, knowing that Kimberly's room was just under her. Her head curled around the slanted roof and slowly emerged to look through the large glass windows of the bedroom. She could not see any pheromones, so she had to rely on motion as she scanned the room.
She was relieved to see that Kimberly was still sleeping silently under the blanket of her bed. Astarte could see the rise and fall of her tiny, little chest. They had not made it to the top floor yet, good. She moved down onto the wall of the house and used her hand to slide the window open. Thankfully, it had not been locked and was a large enough that a full sized xeno could move through without trouble. She crawled inside and quickly moved beside the bed as quietly as she could. She did not want to give away what room she had gotten into. She pulled the blanket away from the sleeping child and scooped her up within her arms. Kimberly shifted a small amount, then cuddled into her hard exoskeleton.
A motion from her right grabbed her attention and spiked her adrenalin. Time seemed to slow as she watched the barrel of a gun emerge first, then the arm of whoever was holding it. She had no time to leap out the window with Kim, she had to do something. As the human paused, not thinking he would come to look at an alien within the room, it gave Astarte the moment she needed to whip her tail towards the man. She would knock him out with her poison tip. As the blade of her tail moved through the air, the man's hand began to rise into the air with his fingers balled into a fist: the gesture used to stop Astarte in her tracks. She knew she could not let him finish the motion; she knew she would not be able to resist the command. Astarte redirected her tail from the man's chest to his arm and let the momentum do its work.
The human had almost locked in the hand command as her tail blade bit into the flesh of his bicep, cutting and tearing it apart. The man's arm fell away from his body as blood began to flow from the now missing limb. The man screamed in agony. Astarte did not move. Her brain had seen the partial hand command and had started to lock her out of control. She could feel her muscles tensing, her heat racing. She slowly turned towards the window, fighting against her own body and the partial command that it had received. It was then that she heard the small voice from within her arms.
"Mmmm. Daddy?" Kimberly asked as she squirmed and shifted. She opened her eyes but could not see much in the dark. "Daddy?" She asked again and Astarte did not have time to sign to her. She had to get out, she had to save Kim.
Within her mind, she remembered the words of Luke when they had first entered Hanna's house. How they had been soft and kind, how they had brought her out of her commanded state. The memory calmed her mind and body abd she could feel herself gaining control once more. She was still a bit sluggish, but by the time she made it to the window, she was back in control. And just in time.
She did not turn to look but overtop of the screams of the man on the floor, she could hear more humans entering the hallway behind her. She held onto Kimberly tightly and leapt through the window and into the cold night air. There were a few loud snaps from behind her as the humans opened fire. She had not had the time to aim for much, so she was now falling towards the grass of the back yard, Kimberly still safe within her arms. She landed a bit hard but was able to take off in an instant, crossing the yard in less than a second. Over the back fence she went and across the alley. She could hear Kimberly crying within her arms and silently apologized for having to do this, but it had to be done. She sprinted to the other side of the alley, leapt over the fence and ran for the gap between the houses. Emerging into the front yard, something caught her eye. There was a car coming down the road at speed, way to fast from it to be someone normal. She sprinted across the street, not wanting to give any advantage to the people in the car. So, once again darting between houses, she turned left within the back yard and began leaping fence after fence. She knew that Luke should be somewhere in this direction. She had to find him and get out of here, fast.
She slowed down a bit, not wanting to sprint past the man who was most likely close by. She scanned every corner, between every box or piece of lawn furniture she could see. Nothing yet.
"Astarte," Kimberly asked through her tears. "I want daddy." The xenomorph paused for a moment and shifted the child so she could free up one of her hands. With her fist finger and thumb touching, she tapped her chin twice.
"Soon." She told Kimberly. "Soon." Astarte then gently stroked the child's hair in attempts to calm her. She lifted her long head and continued to search for Luke, she had to get them out of here. She moved on and leapt the next fence and landed on the soft grass. Just as she did, she heard a voice. It was not close, but it was calling out into the night.
"Astarte!" It was far, and at least five houses away. But it was Luke. She took off in his direction. Through more backyards, passing a rather confused dog along the way. It barked and chased her as she ran across the yard, she gave it a quick hiss in protest but did not stop.
"Astarte!" It was louder, she was close. But it had moved, it was coming from the street.
"No, no no no. Luke!" She thought to herself as she realized that the people in the car would most likely see him first. She cut towards the main street and took a hard right towards the last cry of the man. Her hope grew as she saw Luke somewhat hiding between two buildings not too far away.
It was then that she heard the roar of an engine from behind her and she knew she had been spotted. She picked up her pace as much as she could, realizing that the vehicle was not far behind. Luke, seeing what was going on, ducked back between the buildings. A moment later, Astarte was rounding the same corner that Luke had and was glad to see the man had moved into the back yard and was now waiting for her. She only slowed enough to not hurt the man as she scooped him up with her tail. Luke went limp to help with the action. Curling around like a snake, she gripped him tight and continued her run. Just as she was about to leap over the fence, she heard the crack of a rifle from behind her. She went into the air, up and over the large, wooden screen. She landed in yet another ally way, gravel under her feet and garbage cans everywhere. She needed as much distance between her and the car full of armed humans, so she leapt the next fence and sprinted away.
As she ran, she heard noises coming from Luke. They did not sound good. She knew something was wrong. So, she ran for a few more moments and quickly found a hitting spot. She turned and put Luke down onto his feet but when he fell to the ground, she could see he was in pain. She kept Kimberly within her arms and watched as Luke placed his hands over a large patch of blood on his leg.
"O no, Luke!" She screamed within her own mind. He must have been hit as they were going over the fence. She crouched low near the man and looked him over for any other wounds. Thankfully it was only his leg. Luke winced in pain as he applied pressure to the bullet wound.
"Hospital. Rrrrr! I need a hospital." He said through the pain. "There is too much blood, it hit something vital."
"No no, what do I do?!" She thought as she looked at the man. That was when Astarte remembered something her mother had taught her. A trick if she ever found herself injured.
Astarte put Kimberly down, who instantly ran to hug her father, and called forth her building resin from deep within her throat. She cupped her hands in front of her mouth and caught the sticky slime. She moved closer to Luke's leg and used her tail to push the man's hands away.
"Astarte, wait!" Blood began to flow quickly from the wound, but she stopped it as she plugged the wound with the resin. She then spread it around his leg, causing it to tighten and stay in place. She then moved his leg in order to wrap the substance around completely, sticking it to itself. She pulled it tight to apply as much pressure as she could. Luke kept his hands away, letting the xeno work. He winced in pain as she tightened the resin around his leg but was glad it was working so well.
Once she was happy with the temporary band aid, she took a step back. Kimberly was wrapped around her father's neck and holding on tightly. Luke, heavily breathing, looked up as the xenomorph.
"I need a hospital, Astarte. That way." He pointed a blood covered hand to his left.
"I'm sorry." She signed to him. He took a few deep breaths.
"It's ok, I'll be ok." He responded as he placed his hand around his daughter.
"I want to go home." Kimberly said through her tears.
"Shhhh, firefly. We can't go home. The bad men are there." He stroked her hair as he calmed his daughter. Astarte noticed that he was struggling to find his words. They had to get going. The xenomorph moved to the side of the two humans and easily scooped them up in her arms.
"Hang on firefly, hold daddy tight, ok?" Luke said just before Astarte took off.
She ran as fast as she could into the night, the fear of losing her friend driving her.
She would not let him die.