Hicks woke with a start, grabbing at the hand that was touching his bare chest.
Opening his good eye, he stared in shock at the person before him. With a sharp inhale, his grasp on the hand tightened.
"It's ok Dwayne. It's ok," the person before him said reassuringly resting her free hand on his shoulder.
"You're alive," Hicks gasped, as he released his grasped on the hand before he struggled to sit up. "Newt?" Is she…"
A soft touch on his leg drew his attention away from Ripley and towards the child standing next to her.
"Newt," he breathed in relief at the sight of the dirty but unharmed child. Turning back to Ripley, he said, "Bishop?"
Ripley nodded to Hick's blind side. Turning, Hicks saw Bishop's torso on a cart on the far side of the room.
"We had an unexpected passenger on the dropship. The Queen. She climbed onto the landing strut while Bishop was picking us up. Once we were back on the Sulaco… she ripped him in half," Ripley explained. "He said he was going to place himself in safe mode."
"And the Queen?" Hicks said with dread in his voice.
A vicious grin appears on Ripley's face. "I blew her out the damn airlock."
Hicks eased himself back down on the bed. "Good. Good," he said; his words displaying his weariness.
"Hicks?" Ripley's concern was evident in her voice as she gently touched his face.
Hicks exhaled roughly. "Bishop gave me something for the pain. Knocked me out. Bad dreams."
"Pretty sure we're all have bad dreams," Ripley replied in a reassuring tone.
Hicks nodded his head in agreement before he suddenly reached out and grasped her hand. "I need you to scan me. Make sure I'm not…"
Ripley's brow furrow before she glanced over towards Bishop.
"Hey," Hicks said drawing her attention back to him. "I don't… I don't think he did anything… but… I need to make sure. In my dream, he was…"
"Like Ash," Ripley said softly.
Hicks nodded his head. "Like Ash."
Ripley nodded her head in agreement. Guiding Newt away from the bed and towards some monitors off to the side. After a few minutes of searching for the right command, the medical scanner hummed to life and began the process of scanning Hicks' body; looking for a foreign body, for a growing chestbuster.
Aside of the hum of the machinery, Medical was silent as Ripley slowly looked over the report from the scanner.
"Nothing," she finally said with a breath of relief. "You're clean."
Hicks exhaled shakily. "Just a nightmare then."
"I know how those are," Ripley replied as a haunted look passed over her face as she unconsciously touched her breastbone.
Hicks nodded his head before struggling to sit up.
"You need to lay down," Ripley ordered.
"Not now," Hicks countered as he slid his legs off the bed. He wobbled a bit as he stood up. Grasping the side of the bed, he said, "But I think I need a bit of help."
Ripley appeared at his side, steadying him. "What's so important?" she demanded.
"I… we need to get to the bridge," Hicks replied as he started towards the exit of medical.
"Why?" she asked as she supported Hicks' unsteady gait. Newt appeared on the other side of Hicks as if to give moral support.
"I hate pain killers," Hicks commented as he leaned on Ripley for support.
"Hicks," Ripley asked in a firm tone of voice. "Why are we heading to the bridge?"
"I need to check something," Hicks replied as he purposely glanced over at Newt.
Ripley catching on to what Hicks hadn't said, didn't press the issue. "So, you don't like pain killers?"
"Apone… Apone would say I was a newborn foal when I was on them. All legs and no clue what I was doing with them," Hicks explained. "The squad use to bet how many steps I would take to cross a 10-foot section."
Ripley chuckled. "Who would win?"
"Typical Frost or Crowe," Hicks admitted. "Hudson would pick some outrageous numbers every time. He only won once when they tried a new pain killer on me. I was able to taste colors on that one. The color orange didn't taste like an orange, more like a raspberry."
Ripley let out a snort of amusement. "I take it they never tried to give you that one again."
Hicks shook his head. "You don't know Marines."
When they arrived at the bridge, Hicks directed the trio to the nearest keyboard.
Sitting down in the chair, Hicks immediately started to type in commands. A klaxon sounded across the Sulaco as air tight doors began to close.
"Hicks?" Ripley said as she looked at the closing door behind them. Newt came closer to the older woman, seeking comfort and reassurance.
"I ordered the Sulaco to seal all compartments. Nothing can move from room to room. Even the vents are closed," Hicks explained as he continued to type.
"I get that but why?" Ripley demanded as she stroked Newt's hair.
Hicks pause briefly in his typing before continuing again. "My nightmare," he admitted.
Ripley nodded her head. "Later, you'll have to tell me about this nightmare."
"I will. Just not now," Hicks agreed. A minute later, he harshly hit the enter key. "And now we wait."
"Wait for what?" Ripley said as she sat down in a neighboring chair, pulling the girl onto her lap.
"I've ordered the Sulaco to do a complete scan of the ship…" Hicks glanced over at Newt, "Looking for anything that shouldn't be here."
"You mean one of them," Newt said softly.
Hicks nodded his head before the trio descended into silence as they waited for the result.
Minutes ticked by before Hicks breathe softly "Damn," as the report on the docking bay came back.
"What is it," Ripley said as she stood up, putting Newt in her place.
"Got a lifeform on the dropship," Hicks replied, the betrayal he felt was evident in his words.
"Can you pin point where exactly?" Ripley said as she rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The Queen might have left something behind."
Hicks made a noise that could be loosely describe as agreeing before he started to type commands into the keyboard. "Not cockpit. Not medical. Not weapon bay," Hicks grew silence as the scan went over the dropship inch by inch. Finally, he breathed out, "Aft landing strut compartment."
"That's where the Queen was," Ripley said as she looked at the monitor over Hicks' shoulder.
"Right," Hicks said softly as he closed his unbandaged eye and leaned back in the chair.
Ripley squeezed his shoulder. "Nightmares can make us question everything, even those we trust."
"Yeah, but I still feel like an ass," Hicks replied. "I know Bishop… it's just that that nightmare seems so real."
"But it wasn't," Ripley pointed out. "Now what do we do about that?" She nodded to the monitor.
"That is easy," Hicks replied as he once again started to type.
Off to the side, a monitor showed the docking bay. Warning lights came to life as docking grapples snapped in place on the dropship. With mechanical precision, the Sulaco machinery moved the dropship into place.
A message appeared on Hicks' screen. Cargo Bay depressurization in progress.
Once the depressurization was completed, the air lock door open and the drop ship was lowered outside the Sulaco. With a gentle thrust of some motors, the drop ship was pushed free of the massive ship gravity well.
Hicks switched the monitor so it showed an outside view of the Sulaco. The dropship slowly floated into view as it drifted away from the ship.
"A little more," Hicks said to himself.
Newt slide off the chair she was on and stood next to Hicks. "What are we waiting for?" she asked.
Hicks turned and looked at the girl. "How would like to blow up a monster?"
Newt looked at Hicks for a moment before a grin appeared on her face.
"Come here," Hicks said as he picked up the child with his good arm and placed her in his lap. Reaching around her, he typed in a command.
"Ok when I say so, hit this key," Hicks said as the point the Enter key.
Newt nodded her head as she chewed on her bottom lip. Her small fingers hovering above the key Corporal Hicks had indicated.
"A little longer," Hicks replied as he read the readout. "Ok. Hit it."
Newt hit the key.
The Sulaco's railguns fired on the dropship; obliterating it and any trace that it ever existed.
Newt nodded to herself as she took in a deep shaky breath.
Hicks wrapped his good arm around the girl and hugged her towards him. "You did good," he whispered into her hair. "You destroyed the monster."
Newt nodded her head once again as tears started to run down her face. A soft sob escaped her lips.
"You did good, honey," Ripley said as she knelt next to the pair. Newt slid off Hicks' lap and into Ripley's arms, where she cried silently.
Hicks gave Ripley a nod before he started to type again.
Ripley looked over at Hicks as she gentle rocked Newt. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"The derelict," Hicks replied. "I'm making sure that no one ever has to go through what we did. No one else will die from them."
Ripley nodded her head in agreement before turning her full attention to Newt.
Hicks paused in his typing, a thoughtful look on his face. With a nod to himself, he started to type again.
After a few minutes of continuous typing, Hicks leaned back in the chair and just looked at the screen. "Ripley," he said.
Ripley looked up from where she was stroking Newt's hair, who had fallen asleep.
"What?" she said, see Hicks looking at the screen.
Hicks glanced at her then back to the keyboard and monitor. "It's your turn," he said with a nodded towards the keyboard.
Ripley shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "No. It's yours. I got the Queen. It's the Marines turn for some payback."
Hicks turned to look at her again, his uncovered eyes glistened with unshed tears. He nodded his head once before turning back the to the keyboard and pressing the Enter key.
The vibration of a rocket being launched was felt through the entire ship. The vibration was the felt again and again for a total of 6 rockets being launching to rain down onto the planet.
"Overkill?" Ripley replied with a raised eyebrow.
"There is no such thing as overkill. Only 'Open fire!' and 'Reloading!'" Hicks replied. "Four for the derelict. One for the colony and the last for the processing station."
"The one that just went nuclear," Ripley commented with disbelief in her voice.
"Too many sub-floors and corridors. Would have like to fire a few more, just to be sure but that's all I got," Hicks replied. "When we get back to Earth…" He trailed off.
"Hicks?"
Hicks shook his head. "Heads are going to fall for this. And I don't mean mine for firing the nukes. I mean the colony, my team. The fact that you told everyone and no one questioned you." Hicks let out a snort. "Probably find out that people were paid to cover up what happened to your ship."
"They'll blame Burke," Ripley stated. "He's the perfect fall guy since he's dead."
Hicks let out a sigh. "Looks that way."
Ripley stood up awkwardly with Newt in her arms. "Come on, let's get you back to medical. We still need to take care of those wounds," she said as she looked down on Hicks.
Hicks smile up at her. "Why don't you go put her back in medical, Ellen. I'm going to need more help getting back there," Hicks admitted.
"Do you want me to bring a stretcher?" Ripley asked.
Hicks paused for a moment before nodded his head. "Yeah. That probably would be best. The pain meds have worn off."
Ripley's face displays her concern. "Do you need another one, Dwayne?"
Hicks paused for a moment. "It would knock me out but I need to know what happened down there and how one of those things got onboard.
Ripley nodded her head. "I'll be back shortly."
Hicks smiled, "Don't be gone long, Ellen," he said echoing the words he said before she went to rescue Newt.
The End