Aliens

'I'm telling you, Ripley, this is an opportunity few people are given. We can't blow it on an emotional spur-of-the-moment decision. I didn't think you were the type to throw away the chance of a lifetime for something as abstract as a little revenge.'

'It doesn't have anything to do with revenge,' she told him evenly. 'It has to do with survival. Ours.'

'You're still not hearing me.' He dropped his voice to a whisper. 'See, since you're the representative of the company that discovered this species, your percentage of the eventua profits to be derived from the study and concomitant exploitation of them will naturally be some serious money. The fact that the Company once prosecuted you and then had the decision of the prosecuting board overturned doesn't enter into it. Everybody knows that you're the sole survivor of the crew that first encountered these creatures. The law requires that you receive an appropriate royalty. You're going to be richer than you dreamed possible, Ripley.'

She stared silently at him for a long time, as though she were observing an entirely new species of alien just encountered. A particularly loathsome variety at that.

'You son of a. '

He backed off, his expression hardening. The false sense o camaraderie he'd tried to promote was sloughed off like a mask. 'I'm sorry you feel that way. Don't make me pull rank Ripley.'

'What rank? We've been through all this before.' She nodded down the aisle. 'I believe Corporal Hicks has authority here.'

Burke started to laugh at her. Then he saw that she was serious. 'You're kidding. What is this, a joke? Corporal Hicks? Since when was a corporal in charge of anything except his own boots?'

'This operation is under military jurisdiction,' she reminded him quietly. 'That's the way the Sulaco's dispatch orders read Maybe you didn't bother to read them. I did. That's the way Colonial Administration worded it. You and I, Burke, we're just observers. We're just along for the ride. Apone's dead and Gorman might as well be. Hicks is next in the chain of command.' She peered past the stunned company rep. 'Right?'

Hicks's reply was matter-of-fact. 'Looks that way.'

Burke's careful corporate self-control was beginning to slip 'Look, this is a multimillion credit operation. He can't make that kind of decision. Corporals don't authorize nukes. He's just a grunt.' Second thoughts and a hasty glance in the soldier's direction prompted Burke to add a polite, 'No offence.'

'None taken.' Hicks's response was cool and correct.

He spoke to his headset pickup. 'Ferro, you been copying all of this?'

'Standing by' came the dropship pilot's reply over their speakers.

'Prepare for dust-off. We're gonna need an immediate evac.'

'Figured as much from what we heard over here. Tough.'

'You don't know the half of it.' Hicks's expression was unchanged as he regarded the tight-lipped Burke. 'You're right about one thing. You can't make a decision like this on the spur of the moment.'

Burke relaxed slightly. 'That's more like it. So what are we going to do?'

'Think it over, like you said we should.' The corporal closed his eyes for about five seconds. 'Okay, I've thought it over What I think is that we'll take off and nuke the site from orbit It's the only way to be sure.'

He winked. The colour drained from the Company rep's face He took an angry step in Hicks's direction before realizing that what he was thinking of doing bore no relation to reality Instead he had to settle for expressing his outrage verbally.

'This is absurd! You seriously can't be thinking of dropping a nuclear device on the colony site.'

'Just a little one,' Hicks assured him calmly, 'but big enough. He put his hands together, smiled and pushed them apart 'Whoosh.'

'I'm telling you for the last time that you don't have the authority to do something like—'

His tirade was interrupted by a loud clack: the sound of a pulse-rifle being activated. Vasquez cradled the powerful weapon beneath her right arm. It wasn't pointed in Burke's direction, but then it wasn't exactly aimed away from him either. Her expression was blank. He knew it wouldn't change if she decided to put a pulse-shell through his chest, either End of discussion. He sat down heavily in one of the empty seats that lined the wall.

'You're all crazy,' he muttered. 'You know that.'

'Man,' Vasquez told him softly, 'why else would anyone join the Colonial Marines?' She glanced over at the corporal. 'Tell me something, Hicks: Does that mean I can plead insanity for shooting this mierda? If I can, I might as well shoot that sorry excuse for a lieutenant while I'm at it. Don't want to waste a good defence.'

'Nobody's shooting anybody,' the corporal informed her firmly. 'We're getting out of here.'

Ripley met his eyes, nodded once, then turned and sat down She put a reassuring arm around the only conscious nonparticipant in the discussion. Newt leaned against her shoulder.

'We're going home, honey,' she told the girl.

Now that their course of action had been determined, Hicks took a moment to check out the interior of the APC. Between the fire damage and the holes eaten by alien acid, it was clearly a write-off.

'Let's get together what we can carry. Hudson, give me a hand with the lieutenant.'

The comtech eyed the paralyzed form of his commanding officer with undisguised distaste. 'How about we just sit him up in Operations and strap him to the chair? He'll feel right at home.'

'No sell. He's still alive, and we've got to get him out of here.'

'Yeah, I know, I know. Just don't keep reminding me.'

'Ripley, you keep an eye on the child. She's sort of taken to you, anyway.'

'The feeling's mutual.' She clasped Newt tightly to her.

'Vasquez, can you cover us until the dropship touches down?'

She smiled at him, showing perfect teeth. 'Can pigs fly?' She tapped the stock of the pulse-rifle.

The corporal turned to face the landing team's last human member. 'You coming?'

'Don't be funny,' Burke grumbled.

'I won't. Not here. This isn't a funny place.' He switched on his headset pickup. 'Bishop, you found anything out?'

The synthetic's voice filled the passenger bay. 'Not much The equipment here is colonial-style basic. I've gone about as far as I can go with the tools available.'

'It doesn't matter. We're getting out. Pack it up and meet us on the tarmac. Can you make it okay? I don't want to abandon the APC until the dropship's on final approach.'

'No problem. It's been quiet back here.'

'Okay. Don't take anything you can't carry easily. Move it.'

The dropship rose from its place on the concrete pad fighting the wind as it lifted. Under Ferro's steady hand it hovered, pivoted in midair, and began to move over the colony toward the stalled APC.

'Got you on visual. Wind's let up a little. I'll set her down as close as I can,' Ferro informed them.

'Roger.' Hicks turned to his companions. 'Ready?' Everyone nodded except Burke, who looked sour but said nothing 'Then let's get out of here.' He cycled the door.

Wind and rain poured in as the ramp extended. They filed rapidly out of the vehicle. The dropship was already in plain sight, edging toward them. Searchlights blazed from its flanks and belly. One illuminated a single human shape striding through the mist toward them.

'Bishop!' Vasquez waved. 'Long time no see.'

He called across to her. 'Didn't work out so good, huh?'

'It stank.' She spat downwind. 'Tell you all about it sometime.'

'Later. After hypersleep. After we've put this place far behind us.'