Fic: Under Water, No One Can Hear You Scream 5B/5 Due South/Aliens
Title: Under Water, No One Can Hear You Scream!
By: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Alien or Due South.
Summary: Ray witnessed the destruction of the Nostromo, yet no one believes him. With the help of Fraser, his former lover, he finds proof that he was telling the truth. Proof that they take to Chicago. However, before any reunions can be planned, all hell breaks loose, and conspiracy members start playing point the finger.
Warnings: Violence, Alien hosting, language, character death, and Het.
Category: Slash.
Words: 51,000
Rated: Adult
Time line: Takes place five years after COTW. Canada's recent gay marriage laws are considered as a full legal marriage and all that it entails in this story.
Author's Note: Do not read this if you hated the movies Alien and Aliens. Part 14 You've been through this before, swore this time you'd think with your head
One Hour Later.
Vecchio rubbed at the painful bump on his head where he had been hit after climbing out of the truck weapon drawn. Apparently these people didn't take to kindly to being threatened with a weapon. They had taken it from him and herded the whole lot of them towards the camp's leaders. It was like something out of a military film. There were large green tents erected across the remains of farm fields that had been trampled down to make room.
Military trucks and humvees moved about the camps loaded down with American armed forces personnel. That was where the normal shit ended as far as Vecchio was concerned. Over head flew dozens of large transports that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Vaguely plane shaped, they swooped down and took off at eight points around the camp loading and unloading troops and supplies.
As he watched one take off then shoot back the way they had come at speeds he dreamed of often, he felt himself grow excited. "I want one of those."
"Keep it in your pants, Baldie." Vasquez laughed at the man's reaction. She had been watching him for some time and noted how much attention he paid their transports. "If you're good in the sack, I may consider teaching you how to fly one."
"Now who's the one with slut on the brain?" Avoiding her punch, Hudson ducked to the left. He quickly rounded and gave her a shot with his fingers. "One of these days, you're going to get a guy who takes you up on those offers."
"He'd never know what hit him, I'd be more woman than he could handle." Grabbing herself through the front of her black uniform, she smirked at Hudson.
"Would you two cut it out." Ripley gave them an unamused expression that shut them up. Their armed escort made her uneasy despite the fact it was protocol. Something about this entire thing made her skin crawl. Rubbing a black finger nail over her arm, she scratched at the subdermal implant that identified her as an operative. It would be necessary in the upcoming meeting.
Too soon for her taste, they were at the largest of the tents and the flaps were being thrown back. She was the first to enter and the first to be restrained. Six guards had to hold her back as she fought to get at them. "Ray, god damn you! I'll kill you!"
Ray inclined his head in amusement. Smiling, he turned to Renfield. "Apparently she hasn't heard the good news."
"You loco son of a bitch, what kind of creature are you?" Vasquez stood off to the side with Hudson, both being held in place by guards with guns. Her hands itched to grab the gun and take out her former friend.
Bishop stepped forward, hands folded behind himself. "Our Northern Allies have stepped in to aid us in this. With the loss of Chicago to the Queen, we no longer have the capacity or the technology for ending this without using drastic means."
Coming to stand beside Bishop, Renfield gestured at the bound Ray Kowalski. "We captured him during the evacuation of the Consulate. He was carrying Operative Hicks over his shoulder."
"Where is he, you son of a bitch? What have you done to him?" Ripley surged in the arms of the men holding her back. Kicking at them, she tried to free herself. She worked her hands free and lunged at him again only to be stopped at his bound feet.
Ray smiled, twirling his chair from side to side. His hands were locked behind him, chains binding him to the chair wrapped all the way up around his neck. Meeting her eyes, he winked. "How good to see you again, Lieutenant."
"Silence it," Bishop growled.
Two guards came to either side of Ray and stuck shock sticks in his sides. After a five second burn, the pulled back then stuck him again. After repeating this three times, they stepped back.
Ray's head lulled forward, his chest heaving from the strain. Coughing a little, he began to chuckle. "That...." He coughed again. "That was fun."
"As you can see, the pain threshold for those infected is higher than your average Human by seventy percent." Coming forward, Bishop folded his arms over his chest. He stopped by Ripley and glared at Ray. "So far nothing short of killing them has been able to make them talk."
"Them?" Vecchio spoke for the first time since coming in to the Command Tent. The shock of seeing his former rival in such a position finally wore off. "How many of these things have you caught?"
"Twelve. They are trying to infiltrate the camps, we have begun screening all those we come across. If their blood is acidic, we kill them." At the looks the four team members were giving him, Renfield sighed. Folding his hands behind his back, he stood up straight. "We discovered almost by accident when we captured Ray that he was not under his own control. The parasite within him had us fooled until he was kicked in the nose by his struggling burden. His blood burned his uniform and we deduced that the aliens had infected humans. Since then we have been systematically testing everyone."
"Well, damn, that just makes all our hard work worthless. Thanks a lot, Stanley!" Flipping off Ray, Vecchio placed his hands on his hips. "What are we gonna do about this whole alien bug problem? Isn't there some form of exterminator you guys can call for this?"
"We are the exterminators, Mr. Vecchio." It was a grim situation, but Bishop could still find some humor in it. "The fact that the bugs, as you call them, have beaten us, is a testament to their resourcefulness."
"Great, now that we've identified that they can kick your ass, how do we go about getting our city back? I don't particularly care to lose my home to some god damned alien bug." When he was met with silence, Vecchio shook his head. "This is just ridiculous, you are supposed to be the great minds here and I am just the flat foot from Chicago who doesn't know his ass from the business end of an ICBM. What sort of contingency plans do you have for this situation?"
"We have a five hundred megaton nuke. We call it a planet killer. It is too big to be dropped in the city, it has to be brought in by parts and assembled on site." Bishop nodded at the silence that filled the room. He had expected this. It wasn't everyday that one spoke of destroying a large portion of the world they knew.
"How big will the explosion be? Will any of the city survive?" He knew nothing would, but he had to find out.
"Nothing." Smiling at Vecchio, Ray twisted his chair a little. "The size of the explosion will incinerate everything within a five hundred mile radius. Chicago will be nothing but a crater." Laughing, Ray leaned himself back in the chair. "Fallout will send the world in to a Nuclear Winter. They only needed the one bomb, everything else for their survival after that is in play."
"Shut him up!" Bishop signaled for the guards to strike Ray again.
As the guards stepped forward, Ray broke from his bonds. He suddenly stood up, grabbing the shock sticks and jammed them in to the next guard. Turning them on, he let the guards drop to the floor. "That was fun, who's next?"
Renfield stepped up behind Ray and hit him between the shoulder blades. Backing away to avoid the retaliatory swing, he kicked Ray in the gut.
Ray caught his leg and jerked him off his remaining foot. Kicking the falling man away from him, he turned and sprinted to Bishop. "Time to say good night, Gracie!" The alien brought Ray's fist back and slammed it through the Prime Sept's chest. All went still as he pulled back his fist and let the dead man fall off his arm. Smirking at them, Ray waved his bloody hand at them. "Gotta go."
Vecchio could only watch in horror as he slammed his way through the two guards watching the entrance, killing them almost instantly. It was all over in a matter of moments, leaving five bodies on the ground inside the tent and six outside. Another moment passed before he came to his senses and rushed over to help Renfield stand. "What the fuck is goin on here, Turnbull?"
"I believe the alien has just escaped and it knows of our plans." Wincing as he climbed to his feet, Renfield sighed. "Thank you, Detective Vecchio. I now believe its capture was intentional."
"Nah, what gave you that idea?"
Turnbull opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by Vecchio's look.
________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Part 15 Today is a day that will live in infamy.
"What the fuck do we do now?" Vasquez growled in anger as the guards around her continued to stare off in to space. "Perfect little mindless zombies. No wonder you haven't advanced beyond bullet shields."
"Insulting the help won't get anything solved, Vasquez." Tying off the last of her braided locks, Ripley cut the string and dropped it down in the tool bucket. Tilting her head to the sides, she shook them and admired the way they held in place. "Good work. This is the first time I've had Corn Rows, but I like the weave."
"Tis my best. Now get your flat white ass up, we got some company." Vasquez dropped the brushes back in the took kit and locked it up. Replacing it in her pack, she stood behind Ripley to show her support.
Sept Tei-don of Asia entered the tent surrounded by six body guards. Weapon at her side, she was more than ready to kill anyone who so much as looked at her wrong. Her fingers itched to fire the gun. Glancing to Ripley she pointed the gun at her. "Why is Bishop dead?"
Ripley stared her directly in the eyes. "He failed to secure Operative Turnbull properly. His failure in that regard is not my concern. His failure to prevent the enemy from gaining knowledge of our Exit Strategy, however, is. The loss of Chicago is acceptable, I am recommending a full nuclear strike on it and the surrounding area. We will deal with fallout later." When she finished, she held her hand out.
Tei-don's fingers twitched twice on the trigger before she released the strangle hold on her weapon and let it slide in to Ripley's hand. "Welcome to Command, Ripley. Your predecessors have failed, they have paid the price for that failure. What is your recommendation that you do not repeat their mistakes?"
"The time has come to enact system Terra Nova." Putting the gun down the back of her pants, Ripley quickly moved to put her plans in to action. Taking the lead, she headed out of the tent. "We have been building towards this for centuries. Our planned time table has to be accelerated immediately if we are to beat this threat and survive."
"Those two are one in the same."
"No, we can bring our full resources around and beat the queen, but if we are unprepared for the ensuing damage to our environment, we would die in the process."
Nodding in understanding, Tei-don folded her hands behind her back. "We have come to the same conclusion and have already put everything in place. The queen is the ultimate threat to our plans, all others are just a minor annoyance. When the time comes, we are ready" Reaching out, she grabbed Ripley by the shoulder. "There is just one problem with this. Several key blood lines necessary to provide a stable gene pool are missing. Before we can blow this bitch to hell, we need to retrieve our operatives."
They stared at one another for a minute. Ripley, finally understanding what Tei-don wanted, nodded. "Fine, I'll do it on one condition. I get my daughter returned immediately after, no terms, no conditions, she is mine."
"Consider it done. After all," Tei-don blinked black on silver eyes at the Operative, "family will be very important in the new world." Dismissing Ripley from her mind, she walked around the taller woman and headed off for her people.
"Who the fuck was that and what the fuck was that about?" Vasquez, who had spent the entire conversation watching the two like they were speaking gibberish, came up to Ripley. "What is this New World bullshit? Is it what I think it is?"
"Exactly what you think it is." Hands down her back pockets, Ripley looked about the large military camp. "We need to get the others together immediately."
"What the fuck is goin on, Lieutenant?" Vasquez pulled out a tooth pick from a pack in her front pocket and started to chew on it. Whenever shit got heavy and she didn't have a cigar, a tooth pick was the next best thing.
Staring down the shorter woman, Ripley felt her lip turn up in disgust. "They're going to Nuke the god damned city, what the fuck do you think is going on? The blast will be so massive it will burn away a large chunk of the continental U.S and take a larger part of the atmosphere with it. The results will be instant nuclear winter, and half the world covered in ice. Those not part of the Organization will freeze to death rather quickly. Now, what we are going to do is get our men back from that bitch so we can repopulate this hateful little rock after our self styled Armageddon. Any questions, Private?"
"Yeah, who the fuck came up with that stupid plan? I ain't poppin out no kid for no body." Running her hands down her wife beater clad torso, Vasquez pumped up her breast. "This body I have killed for, ain't no little screamin runt gonna ruin it."
"Don't worry, they've already got your eggs and an incubator, they don't need you to get pregnant." Clapping Vasquez on the shoulder, Ripley continued on her previous heading towards the command tent. When she got inside, she noticed they had already cleaned up the mess that had been left of Bishop. "Report!"
Pointing at a topical map of the city and outlying suburbs in the center of the command tent, Turnbull fell in to practiced routine. "Our people are in positions around the city suburbs ready to take back Chicago on Sept command."
"Belay those orders. Tell them to begin full evacuation, the city is considered a red zone, the suburbs hostile territory. They are not to engage the enemy, all sightings are to be immediately reported as they are getting the hell out of there." Not waiting for Turnbull to acknowledge her orders, Ripley turned to Hudson. "Get what is left of the team together we have an extraction to make before we blow this city."
"Blow the city, Ma'am?" Pausing in his movements, Renfield faced Ripley. His eye brows went nearly to his Stetson in confusion. "I was under the impression we would be retaking the city."
"A change in orders. Tei-don is in command now that Bishop is dead. Chicago is going to be leveled and so is everything for five hundred miles."
"So it is true. You are going to drop the big one." Vecchio stepped forward, ready to hit Ripley, but stopped when two machine guns were pointed at him. Jaw clenching, he glared at the woman. "You bitch!"
"This is not just a threat to your home, Detective, you can't zone them out or arrest them. It is a fight for our very survival." Nodding towards Hudson to get him moving, she walked over to Ray. "We have been making contingencies for just such an event, we fully intend to survive."
"But how many people will die for your contingencies?" He punched the boundary of the guns, going so far as to shove them away. "How many of us will be there when you claim victory for all humanity?"
"Twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred, sixty-three." Tei-don stood in the entrance of the command tent, her short hair glowed unnaturally black, backlit by the sun. A humorless smile stood out hideous among the scars that crisscrossed her face. "The future is ours, Mr. Vecchio, the Organization assures survival."
"You sound like a drone."
"Lieutenant Ripley, you have a mission. Constable Turnbull, get moving. I want to be clear of the blast radius in five hours. That is how long you have to complete your mission, Ripley." Tei-don walked in to the tent, a slight mechanical sound could be heard with her movements. Coming to stop beside Ray, she gestured to the guards to step aside. "Sept Tei-don Yutani."
Ripley, feeling anger coursing through her at being treated like a common foot soldier, glared at the woman. No matter how much she hated the bitch, she nodded and walked out. "Vasquez, let's go."
Raising her right hand, Tei-don grabbed it with the other hand and twisted it counter clock wise. The hand clicked twice then came off the wrist. Holding up the hand for Ray to see, she wiggled the fingers of the free hand. Her smile grew in size as Vecchio paled visibly. "I am a drone, Mr. Vecchio. Assimilation meant survival after a car bomb ended my career in the Yakuza. Technology is a wonderful thing for some of us."
Swallowing back his bile, Ray shook his head. "Do you even have a heart?"
"Yes, artificial, but yes. But if you are asking do I feel human emotions? No. That is why I will survive, Mr. Vecchio." Without looking at Turnbull, she spoke. "Get moving, Constable, or those men and women will die, then you will die."
"Yes, ma'am." Renfield swallowed and reached over to grab the command phone.
_________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Part 16 Never forget, never forgive.
Decked out in armor and weapons, the extraction team rocked with the transport as it was buffeted in the Autumn winds coming off the lake. Ripley, sitting at the back of the transport, held on tight to her machine multi-round grenade launcher. She glanced about the familiar faces, people she had worked with during her long career as a soldier. It was hard for her to accept that this might very well be their last mission, that their war was coming to an end.
It was equally hard for her team. Hudson kept glancing back and forth between Vasquez and Ripley. After martially up enough nerve, he cleared his throat. "Rip, what exactly is going to happen now?"
"What do you mean? We are going on a simple extraction mission. We have the targets located with their implants, all that's left is to get them and get out. You've done this a hundred times already." She was thrown forward against the restraints as the transport rocked. "Damn it, keep that thing steady or we won't make it to the landing point!"
"Sorry, ma'am, we're experiencing a lotta turbulence from the lake. A storm is blowing in. It is gonna take us a few more minutes to get down without crashing in this weather." Private Lugos flipped her radar on and began scanning for any air craft.
"I'm seriously, Ripley, what's gonna happen?" Twisting in his seat as far as the restraints would let him, Hudson glared at the older woman. "You've been a part of this team a long time, you've told us shit we weren't supposed to know but that saved our asses. Now, we gotta right to know what is gonna happen when we complete this mission. Are they gonna terminate us?"
"What?" Her head twisting in shock, Ripley banged her forehead on the head rest. "No! No. That isn't going to happen. The Organization means survival, failure means death."
"Then what's the deal?" Sitting across from Ripley, Vasquez was the only one who had an inkling of what was going to happen. "What exactly is system Terra Nova?"
"Our ultimate survival plan." Making sure to meet the eyes of her team, she tried to convey her feelings. "Look, we don't have time for this. We are going to be landing any moment now..."
"Actually, Lieutenant, we just lost the window. The weather took a sudden dive and we have to circle for a few until we get another chance." Lugos knew this could spell the end of her career, but she wanted to find out what was so damned important.
Upon confirming their resolve, Ripley changed from being reasonable to angry instantly. "Fine. You want the truth, then listen up and don't let it get yourself killed. This is most likely the final mission, the final battle we will ever have to fight. For nearly five hundred years it has been the hope and dream of the Organization to find a place where we would be free. With the threat of the rest of mankind spreading to every corner of the Earth, that dream was almost lost and new alternatives thought up.
"On the outskirts of Chicago, a five hundred megaton nuclear device is being assembled. The plan was simple, but the execution was harder than imagined. For sixty-five years we have been creating technology to survive a nuclear holocaust. We were going to build a bomb unlike any other ever created. This one would be designed not only to wipe out the enemy, but to create the very thing most scientists feared, instant Nuclear Winter."
In the silence that filled the cargo hold after her words, Ripley felt a thrill of fear run through her. "There is a base in Antarctica. It is large enough to house the full resources of the Organization plus the island of Owahu. For fifty years we have been hording supplies and materials." Looking down at her machine gun, she smiled faintly at it. "In two days, most of the world will be covered in ice while we start our new lives in a nice cozy bunker on the ass of the world."
"Sounds like a load of bullshit!" Hudson glared at Ripley from his seat. When he tried to adjust his position to get a better look at her, the ship rocked again, slamming his head back. "God damn it, Lugos, keep this bird steady!"
"Fuck off, Hudson. The god damned tail wind just picked up and I have to take us down." Adjusting the altitude controls, Lugos gripped the controls tightly. "Brace yourselves, ladies, hot landing, order up!" Clenching her teeth, she fired the breaking thrusters.
The transport rocked violently coming down. Heading for the landing point on the deserted street below, the engines groaned. Finally with a rolling thump, the transport came to a halt and the crew were thrown against their restraints.
Adjusting his helmet, Hudson growled. "Nice landing, Lugos. Remind me never to get in the car with you at the wheel."
"Like I'd ever play chauffeur to your pimply ass." Lugos adjusted the weapons control and fired the blaster jets. Sixteen foot flames shot out from all sides of the ship to burn away any unwanted debris and attackers. Releasing it, she slapped the door controls. "All ashore, assholes, get the fuck out!"
"Nice!" Vasquez unbuttoned her restraints and stepped up. Adjusting her weapons, she was the first one down the exit ramp. She primed the firing mechanism on the shoulder mounted machine gun and activated her infrared scanners. "The view is clear, move out!"
"Aye aye, captain." Saluting her, Hudson smirked. He lowered his own shoulder mounted machine gun and activated the infrared.
"Baleddi, Riku, motion sensors take point." Ripley was the next off the transport, her grunade launcher primed and ready to fire on anything that moved. Helmet in place, she activated her radio. "Let's move it people, we haven't got the time to get our nails and hair done."
"Funny, boss." Riku stepped off the transport followed by Baleddi, Johnson, and Marshall. His black hair held tight in a weave, he smirked at Ripley. "Finally came to your senses about a sensible hair cut?"
"No, decided I'd give the dumb ass look a try. By the way, nice corn rows." Side stepping his confused expression, she signaled them to move out. "Get clear of the transport unless you want to end up flambe."
Quickly the moved out of range of the engines.
When they had cleared the blast radius, Ripley activated her mic. "Lugos, all clear, get her in the air. Rendezvous in two hours, no later."
"Affirmative, one hour." Firing the take off thrusters, Lugos braced herself for the gravitational pull and shot off in to the atmosphere.
Watching the transport leave, Hudson shook his head. "We're never gonna get out in time."
"Shut up, stupid, do I have to cut your tongue off along with your balls?" Vasquez hit him upside the head and shook hers. "We're all clear, I got a lock on the implants."
"Good, plot a course and get us going."
________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Part 17 Trouble's on the wind.
"Are you sure this is the building?" Double checking the monitor despite positive readings on her own GPS scanner, Ripley glanced to Vasquez. So far all they had come across was abandoned shopping carts, piles of rags and a dead body of a homeless man who had been rotting for over a week.
"I've told you three times already, si, oui, da, yes, aye! Don't fuck with me, Ripley, I'm in no mood. This place has got the loca vibe." Her fingers twitched in the trigger as a the uniform rode uncomfortably tight on her skin. The only light in the six story former office building was provided from their spot lights and helmet visors. "Things are too quiet for a place like this, there should at least be some of them nasty roaches!"
"The alien, I believe, kills all things not its own. It has shown a remarkable ability to scare even those things which don't experience fear naturally. Tei-don for example." Ripley's words were met with snickers.
Hudson glared at Ripley's back. "Not that it matters how badly the roaches and other bugs are scared, they won't live long thanks to the Ice Queen anyways."
"Hey, better them than me. I just want to retrieve the blond assholes and get the hell out of here." Vasquez came to an intersection of the office and raised her hand to stop. "The next right leads to an elevator shaft, to the left leads the stairs."
"Johnson, Marshall, flame throwers, twelve second burst." Ripley lowered her weapon at the elevator shaft hall and pulled the trigger. The round shot from her gun down the hall. When it impacted the far wall, the explosion rang out collapsing the ceiling down upon it. "We're taking the stairs."
"Aye, sir." Johnson and Marshall saluted at the same time heading towards the left. Their flames already lit, they pushed open the stair well and fired. Twin jets of flame shot up and down. When the burst was over, they stepped back for Riku and Baleddi to enter.
Riku and Baleddi aimed their trackers in stairwell. Both scanners came up empty. "Nothing."
"Ditto."
"We're going up to the top floor." Ripley fired six more shots in to the columns behind them sealing off the exit. "From now on, up is our only goal."
"You gonna have the UAV meet us on the roof? What if there is no roof access?" Hudson was silenced by the cocking of Ripley's grunade launcher. "Right."
"Vasquez, you've got point again. Riku, guard our six. Get moving." One by one they filtered through the stair doors on to the landing and began climbing the first flight. Ripley continued to scan for life signs and the sub-dermal implants that marked Ray and Hicks as Operatives. "They aren't moving. We may be coming across a hive or possible a grave yard. Either way, be prepared."
Moving up the flight, they came to the second floor landing without incident. They were starting up the third floor flight when a low humming began.
Ripley quickly ran an energy scan. "There is a generator on the third floor. It is powering motion censors connected to something. I believe the stairs might be booby trapped. Back down to the second floor and head for the cross hall intersection. There is another stair well there."
"What if it is booby trapped too?"
"Then we blast a hole in the ceiling and start climbing." Moving down the stairs, Ripley kept an eye on the upper stairs for movement. For a minute she thought she saw something, but it disappeared too quickly. "Movement on the upper deck, Vasquez."
"Got it, there is something up there." Vasquez aimed her shoulder rig on the upper stairs. "Want me to put a few new holes in it?"
"Better not risk it. They have acidic blood, I don't want to die from acid rain. Riku, double time it down the stairs now!" Ripley moved down with her men towards the second floor landing. When she saw Riku reach the door and it wouldn't budge, she cocked the next round in the chamber. "Move!"
Riku dived away just in time to avoid the blast as the grunade impacted and blasted the door and wall inwards. He quickly threw his hands over his head to avoid flying debris.
"Get your ass up!" Passing by the downed man, she readied to fire another round. Checking her ammo count on the monitor, she growled. She had three rounds left in this clip, two more clips left. "I'm wasting ammo and we haven't even reached the third floor. Time to stop playing around."
"This is playing?" Stepping through the remains of the doorway, Marshall glanced down at the rock and dust. He was caught off guard as another grunade exploded bringing down part of the ceiling with it. "What the fuck?"
"I told you I was gonna blast us a way to the sixth floor. Start climbing." Hand on helmet, Ripley started up the rock pile that had been a support column and ceiling. It reached halfway to the next floor and then she had to release the gun to start scaling the rest. Beside her was Hudson. Glancing over her shoulder, she was glad to see Vasquez covering their climb.
She was the first to reach the third floor. Hand gun out, she scanned the room around them before pulling herself up all the way. The larger former office was empty but for trash boxes brought in by the poor for a home. "Johnson, there's some debris up here, burn it!"
"Right, ma'am!" Coming up after Hudson, he accepted the hand up. When he was on the third floor, he lowered the flame thrower and began burning everything around them.
"Ripley, there's something coming down the steps!" Vasquez and Johnson were the last two on the second floor. Turning her machine gun on the stair hole, she backed towards the rock pile.
"Vasquez, get your ass up here now!"
"Gotta cover your ass!" She didn't have much time to finish her sentence before something black exploded out of the stair well. "Son of a bitch!" She opened fire on the creature, screaming as it stopped dead in its tracks. "Don't fuck with me!"
Pulling the pin from a fragmentation grunade with her teeth, Ripley tossed it down the hole in the floor towards the stair well. "Get your ass up here now!"
"You crazy cunt!" Letting her gun drop to her side, Vasquez scrambled for the rock pile and began climbing. She wasn't halfway up before she was grabbed they uniform and hauled up to the third floor by Johnson and Riku. A half second later the building rocked from the explosion. An entire section of the floor towards the third floor stair well crashed to the ground cutting them off from the second and third floor stair entrances. As the dust began to settle, Vasquez rolled over and spit away the cement. "Are you trying to bring the entire building down upon us?"
"I told you to get up here." Ignoring the bird Vasquez flipped her, Ripley moved off across the room to find the right place to blast a hole in the ceiling. Using the virtual map on the hand held computer, she found a weak spot that would provide enough debris to climb, but spare enough structure to not bring it down upon them. Taking aim, she grinned maniacally at them. "Fire in the hole!"
"Get down!" Vasquez shrank back against the wall behind a pillar as Ripley fired. The building shook from the explosion, causing debris and dust to flutter down from the ceiling. Smirking at the explosion, she shook her head. "Crazy bitch."
Ripley coughed up the dust that blew in her face and waved it off. "Johnson, flame thrower that hole, ten second burst. Hudson, cover our asses, Vasquez, you're on top."
"Stupid bitch!" Moving for the hole, she waited until Johnson had burned away anything that might have been waiting for them at the hole. Nothing screamed, so she hoped that was a good sign. Climbing, gun in hand, she checked ascended the stone pile and pulled herself up in the hole. Her helmet lights flooded the fourth floor office with light. "There's nothing up here. It looks almost spotless, someone has definitely been here."
"Lay a suppression line through out the room!" Ripley started up next.
"Can do, Lieutenant." Raising her machine gun, Vasquez began to spin slowly in a circle, squeezing the trigger. The bullet spray left a visible trail along the walls. When she reached the stair well entrance, a screech echoed through the building. "Shit! More of them mother fuckers are trying to get in!"
"Not for long!" Johnson turned up the fuel cell on his flame thrower. Lifting the gun, he blew out the pilot light on the end. He glanced over to Vasquez. "Cover me?"
"Any day, pretty boy." She made a kissy face at him while lowering her machine gun. Six short bursts deterred anything on the other side of the stair well door.
Kicking it open, Johnson lubbed the flame thrower pack in to the stair well. He quickly grabbed the door and slammed it shut. "Run for it!" Arms over his head, he ran back for the hole and jumped in.
"Oh shit!" Vasquez grabbed her helmet and jumped in behind him back to the third floor. Rolling down the rubble pile, she tucked her arms and legs close to her body.
Ripley came tumbling down after her. A short second later the entire fourth floor office and stair well were caught up in a hellish blaze. Ripley watched with the others as the third floor door groaned and hissed from the intense heat. The fire passed the door and entered the second floor and down to the first.
For several minutes all they could do was wait as the fire burned itself out. It soon became hard to breath as the oxygen was eaten by the fire. Slowly, it receded back to the stairwell.
Giving the flames another two minutes, Ripley climbed to her feet. She tentatively lead them back up the rock pile to the forth floor. All around them the walls were covered in gray ash. The former linoleum finish cracked under their boots with each step, sending puffs of ash in to the air. Upon reaching the stair well door, Ripley barely touched it and sent it falling to the landing. "Looks like the stairs are now clear."
"Ya think?" Hudson took point as the filed out in to the stairs once more. He made it quickly up the stairs, machine gun ready to take out any thing that might have survived the hellish blaze. "The fifth floor landing is clear, I'm not seeing anything on the monitors."
"Motion sensors are also empty." Riku shook his machine to make sure it was working. "We're the only things on the sensor."
"Okay, keep moving, don't stop until we reach the sixth floor." Ripley turned on her head lamps despite the fact it would blind her computer read outs on the helmet visor. Glancing about the stair case as they climbed passed the fifth floor, she felt something odd about it. Despite her feeling, they made it to the sixth floor landing without incident.
Waiting at the door to the sixth floor, she signaled Vasquez and Hudson to take aim at the door. She took a deep breath before reaching out to grasp the handle. She turned it slowly then pushed the door open.
The scorched door slowly swung open.
"Holy fuck!" ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Part 18 Eventually the world will start making sense.
Ripley stood there in the middle of the doorway staring at the person staring back at her. Raising her grunade launcher, she cocked a round in to the chamber. "Who are you?"
Smiling at Ripley, the woman cocked her head to the side. "I could ask you the same question."
"Wrong answer, bitch." Ripley fired the grunade launcher in to the woman. The blast threw the woman back in to the sixth floor before she exploded covering everything with guts. Shrugging the bit of woman from her face, Ripley stepped in to the room. She cocked another round in to the chamber and took aim at the gathered people.
Sitting in a circle around a large sphere, the people turned as one to stare at the team as they entered.
"What the fuck is this?" Hudson came up behind Ripley, his hand on gun in nervous anticipation. "Who are these people, Rip?"
Ripley glanced over her shoulder at the remains of her dead double and shrugged. "They're clones." She moved to stand in the center of the circle of people. Pressing her hand to the sphere, she waited as it warmed to her touch. Suddenly it cracked in to eight equal pieces and withdrew in to the base leaving behind a small crystal for Ripley. She picked up the crystal and stuffed it in her pocket.
"What are they doing here? Why do they look like us?" Vasquez kicked her double as she tried stand up, pushing her back in to the seat. She pointed her gun at the clone's head when it glared at her. "Who the fuck made them?"
"It doesn't matter who made them, just that they exist." Wiping the last of her own double from her face, she spit on the perfect tile floor. "I suggest, if you want to live, you kill your double. The Organization only needs one of you."
Vasquez no sooner heard the words then shot her double. "Don't need to be told twice."
Five more shots rang out in the room.
Ripley turned around and grabbed the Hicks clone by the shirt. "Time to go, boys. Hudson, Vasquez, Riku, get Ray and the other five. We're going to the roof." Pressing her call button, Ripley jerked the reluctant Hicks clone with her. "Congratulations, One, the Sept have activated your status, you are no longer just a back up."
"What is going on here? Why did you wake us up?" Hicks tried to fight Ripley, but his barely used muscles were no match for her sheer determination and skill. "Why were we brought out of stasis?"
"System Terra Nova." The moment the words left her mouth, the clones went docile. Ripley smirked as she guided Hicks' clone for the stairs. Behind her, the others each guided their own clone of a dead team mate. It was a somber procession up the stairs towards the roof. Ripley activated her radio as she glanced over her shoulder to see the Ray Clone being led by Vasquez. It wasn't the same, but a part of him would live on.
"Ripley, you've got fourty-five minutes." Lugos' voice came over the radio.
"We need pick up. We're on the roof of the Molred building." Ripley glanced about for the UAV, searching for the transport. Finally she caught sight of it over the city.
"I see you. ETA three minutes."
"Confirmed. Relay to command, target retrieved." Pulling out her personal computer, Ripley entered in a command. The building shuddered twice as the screen flashed 'self destruct activated'. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Part 19 I never promised you a happy ending.
Vasquez watched with the others of her team as the reports flooded over the communications systems through out the entire base. Much to her surprise, Ripley hadn't been lying about any of it. Thousands of people barely filled one of the three habitation sectors. From what Ripley had told her, she had been able to guess that they had all been cloned for a breeding program, just in case. It still freaked her out every time she saw someone she had thought dead being led around like a child.
Thousands of communications signals flooded over the screens as the world panicked from the sudden change in environment. Most of them ceased within minutes of being sent out. There were a few in the former tropical regions that still held out hope of being rescued and kept broadcasting. None of them realized that in the next day or so not even that would make a difference as they too froze to death.
She was horrified by the thought of dying like that, but refused to let it get to her. They were going to die, she was going to live, that was that. Troubled, she turned away from the monitors. Her eyes settled upon Ripley as she caught sight of their team leader walking away.
Deciding to get any information she could from the team leader, she followed her down the long stone corridors. The entire place had been cut from the rock under countless tons of ice. Ironically enough it was probably the only place the sun still shined.
Ripley walked down a corridor that was very familiar to Vasquez. It didn't come to her until she saw Ripley enter a large doorway. They were heading for the landing bays where the UAV's were kept. She was so shocked, she didn't hear the person come up behind her. It wasn't until a hand was on her shoulder and she was nearly having a heart attack she broke from the stupor.
Ren stepped back to avoid her retaliatory strike. "Forgive me, but may I ask what are you doing down this way?"
"Fuck off, Mountie." She was about to dismiss him from thought and continue on when she recognized him. "Wait a minute, your Ray's guy, right?"
"I was, I am recently widowered." Frowning, he hovered close by. "Why do you ask?"
"Cause I need some back up real quick. Come along, keep your eyes open and don't talk unless you see someone coming that might rat us out." She didn't give him a choice as she grabbed his arm and dragged him behind her towards the docking bays. They slipped in to the UAV docking bay in time to see Ripley walk up the ramp of a UAV. "Come on, tall dark and handsome, lets find out what our resident spook is up to."
Having no choice but to follow, Ren kept his Stetson in place by one hand and allowed himself to be led by the other. Soon they were walking up the same ramp that Ripley had entered. He saw that Ripley was sitting at the controls and activating them. "What are you doing?"
"Didn't I tell you not to speak?" Elbowing Renfield in the gut, she glared at him. Turning to Ripley, Vasquez tried to look about casually. "So, what's going on here, Rip?"
"Get off the UAV and go back to the others, Vasquez." Readying the engines for take off, Ripley adjusted the fuel intake. "I'm not asking."
"What's the rush, can't you sit and talk about it, whoa, hey!" She held up her hands as Ripley pointed a gun at her. Backing away, she headed for the ramp. "What's goin on, Ripley? Talk to me." She glanced about for the Mountie but found him already gone. Figuring him for a coward, she shook her head. "They're gonna make you pay for taking the UAV out without asking, Rip."
"I don't need their permission, I don't plan on returning it." Just as Ripley reached the ramp controls and Vasquez was off the ship, Renfield fell from the overhead compartment on to her. Ripley back handed him across the face sending him reeling back in to the cargo hold. Seeing Vasquez going for her gun, Ripley fired her weapon and closed the landing ramp.
Vasquez jumped aside to avoid being burned by the weapon. Landing on her arm, she winced in pain. She pressed the comm on her head set. "This is Vasquez, Ripley is in a UAV and prepping for take off!"
Ripley ran for the cockpit of the UAV, ignoring the groaning Renfield. Strapping herself in, she activated the door controls for the docking bay. When they began to open, she ignited the engines and lifted the UAV off the ground. Taking off, she headed for the bay doors. Too soon, they started to close. When the door controls refused to respond to her commands, she punched the craft's drive and shot out for them.
Renfield rolled in the back of the cargo hold as the ship shot forward. Grabbing on to a seat strap, he pulled himself in to it and buckled down. The gravity force soon became too much for him to stand and he blacked out.
Vasquez watched the UAV clip the edge of the landing bay doors as it passed between them then disappeared in to the blizzard weather beyond. She knew there was going to be hell raised over this one.
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Part 20 And so it ends.
Renfield awoke to a light tapping on his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ray smiling down on him and reacted in kind. It took him a moment to remember that Ray was under the influence of the alien. Frowning, he tried to sit up only to find himself secured in place. "What is going on, Ray?"
"You were injured in the take off. Don't worry, you are healing nicely." Running a hand down his husband's face, Ray smiled at him. "We are going to take good care of you, Ren."
"What is going on, whoever is in control of my Ray?"
That took the smile from Ray's face. "I am in complete control of myself, I always have been. So has Ripley, Hicks, Fraser, and all the others." Stroking Renfield's hair, he sighed. "We only wanted to protect your world from what happened to our own, Renfield."
"Your own?" Ren blinked in confusion. "What happened?"
"The alien parasite over ran our entire population, the cruiser we came to Earth on was the last surviving piece of our existence. We had to destroy our world and all our colonies to prevent the spread, but in the end not even that saved us."
"But you are the alien, Ray."
"Yes, to you, I am." Ray frowned at that. This wasn't going as he had hoped.
Watching his husband, Renfield frowned. "When did you replace him?"
"April twenty-fifth, nineteen eighty-six. He was on a security detail in a lab where I had been trying to prevent the parasite from escaping. The original Ray Kowalski was shot dead by his target and I took his place, his body." His smile returned at that. "So, you see, it has been me all along."
"I see." Frowning, Renfield let the hope that his Ray was still alive start to grow. "What are you intending to do with me?"
"Take you with us." Ray flicked at Ren's hair in amusement. "You could say you are being abducted by aliens for weird sexual practices. Then again, it isn't something you haven't already done."
"What about the parasite?"
"Dead. The Organization killed it and every last drone." Sitting up, Ray straddled Ren's hips. He slid his hands over his husband's body. "With the help of your race's technology, we were able to get back to our ship and now we are on our way home."
Renfield frowned. "I thought your ship was destroyed."
"Nope. We only stripped it bare, burned out what we couldn't remove, and then repaired the damage. What we destroyed over Siberia were infected crew men trying to get away in one of our transports. We got them before they could land, but the explosion knocked us from the sky." Sighing, Ray, started to knead his way up Ren's body. "Using the UAVs, we were able to repair our ship and restock it with supplies. Now, we are all ready to go."
"Where will you go?" Despite the feelings Ray's movements were causing, Renfield forced himself to focus.
"We will go out there. It's a big universe, there is bound to be something or someone." Frowning, Ray paused his massaging. "Though, we never did find out where the parasite came from. I know more than one of us wants to track it down and kill every last one of them."
"Sounds like a worthy cause."
"It is, and you being a big knight in shining armor, are going to help us."