Hudson laughed bitterly. 'Yeah, no sweat. Just stay alive Dietrich and Crowe are alive too.'
'We're here, we've got some armaments, and we know what's coming. So you'd better just start dealing with it. Just deal with it, Hudson. Because we need you and I'm tired of your comments.' He gaped at her, but she wasn't through.
'Now get on that central terminal and call up some kind of floor-plan file. Construction blueprints, maintenance schematics, anything that shows the layout of this place. I want to see air ducts, electrical access tunnels, subbasements, water pipes: every possible way into this wing of the colony. I want to see the guts of this building, Hudson. If they can't reach us, they can't hurt us. They haven't ripped through these walls yet, so maybe that means they can't. This is colony Operations. We're in the most solid structure on the planet, excepting maybe the big atmosphere-processing stations. We're up off the ground, and they haven't shown any signs of being able to climb a sheer wall.'
Hudson hesitated, then straightened slightly, relieved to have something to concentrate on. Hicks nodded his approval to Ripley.
'Aye-firmative,' the comtech told her, a little of his cockiness restored. With it came a dram of confidence. 'I'm on it. You want to know where every plug is in this dump, I'll find it.' He headed for the vacant computer console. Hicks turned to the synthetic.
'You want a job or have you already got something in mind?'
Bishop looked uncertain. This was part of his socia programming. An android could never be actually uncertain 'If you require me for something specific. ' Hicks shook his head. 'In that case I'll be in Medical. I'd like to continue my research. Perhaps I may stumble across something that will prove useful to us.'
'Fine,' Ripley told him. 'You do that.' She was watching him closely. If Bishop was conscious of this excessive scrutiny, he gave no sign of it as he turned and headed for the lab.
X
Once Hudson had something to work on, he moved fast Before long, Ripley, Hicks, and Burke were clustered around the comtech, peering past him at the large flat video display. It illuminated a complex series of charts and mechanical drawings. Newt hopped from one foot to the other, trying to see around the adults' bulk.
Ripley tapped the screen. 'This service tunnel has to be what they're using to move back and forth.'
Hudson studied the readout. 'Yeah, right. It runs from the processing station right into the colony maintenance sublevel here.' He traced the route with a fingertip. 'That's how they slipped in and surprised the colonists. That's the way I'd come too.'
'All right. There's a fire door at this end. This first thing we do is put one of the remote sentries in the tunnel and seal that door.'
'That won't stop them.' Hicks's gaze roved over the plans 'Once they've been stopped in the service tunnel, they'll find another way in. We gotta figure on them getting into the complex eventually.'
'That's right. So we put up welded barricades at these intersections'—she pointed to the schematic as she spoke—'and seal these ducts here, and here. Then they can only come at us from these two corridors, and we create a free field of fire for the other two sentry units, here.' She tapped the location, her nail clicking on the hard surface of the illuminated screen. 'Of course, they can always tear the roof off, but I think that'd take them a while. By then our relief should arrive, and we'll be out of here.'
'We'd better be,' Hicks muttered. He studied the layout of Operations intently. 'Otherwise this looks outstanding. Seal the fire door in the tunnel, weld the corridors shut, then all we need is a deck of cards to pass the time.' He straightened and eyed his companions. 'All right, let's move like we got a purpose.'
Hudson half snapped to attention. 'Aye-firmative.'
Next to him Newt copied the gesture and the inflection 'Aye-firmative.' The comtech looked down at her and smiled before he caught himself. Hopefully no one noticed the transient grin. It would ruin his reputation as an incorrigible hardcase.
Hudson grunted as he set the second heavy sentry gun onto its recoil-absorbing tripod. The weapon was squat, ugly unencumbered by sights or triggers. Vasquez locked the weapon in place, then snapped on the connectors that led from the firing mechanism to the attached motion sensor. When she was certain the comtech was out of the way, she nudged a single switch marked ACTIVATE. A small green light came to life atop the gun. On the small diagnostic readout set flush in the side, READY flashed yellow, then red.
Both troopers stepped clear. Vasquez picked up a battered wastebasket that had rolled into the corridor and shouted toward the weapon's aural pickup. 'Testing!' Then she threw the empty metal container out into the middle of the corridor.
Both guns swiveled and let loose before the basket hit the floor, reducing the container to dime-size shrapnel. Hudson whooped with delight.
'Take that, suckers!' He lowered his voice as he turned to Vasquez, his eyes rolling. 'Oh, give me a home, where the firepower roams, and the deer and the antelope get shot to hamburger.'
'You always were the sensitive type,' Vasquez told him.
'I know. It shows in my face.' Turning, he put a shoulder against the fire door. 'Give me a hand with this.'
Vasquez helped him roll the heavy steel barrier into place Then she unpacked the high-intensity portable welding torch she'd brought with her and snapped it alight. Blue flame roared from the muzzle. She turned a dial on the handle refining the acetylene finger.
'Give me some room, man, or I'm liable to seal your foot to your boot.' Hudson complied, stepping back to watch her. He began to pace, staring down the empty service way and listening. He fingered the controls of his headset nervously.
'Hudson here.'
Hicks responded instantly. 'How're you two doing? We're working on the big air duct you located in the plans.'
'A and B sentries are in place and activated. Looks good Nothing comes up this tunnel they can't pick out.' Vasquez's torch hissed nearby. 'We're sealing the fire door right now.'
'Roger. When you're through, get yourselves back up here.'
'Hey, you think I want a ticket for loitering?'
Hicks smiled to himself. That sounded more like the old Hudson. He nudged the tiny mike away from his lips and adjusted the thick metal plate he was carrying so that it covered the duct opening. Ripley nodded at him and shoved her plate in place. He unlimbered a duplicate of Vasquez's welder and began sealing the plate to the floor.
Behind him, Burke and Newt worked busily, stacking containers of medicine and food in a corner. The aliens hadn't touched the colony's food supplies. More importantly the water-distillation system was still functioning. Since it was self-pressurized, no power was needed to draw it from the taps They wouldn't starve or go thirsty.
When he'd sealed down two-thirds of the plate, Hicks set the welder aside and extracted a small bracelet from a belt pouch He flicked a tiny switch set flush with the metal, and a minuscule LED came to life as he handed the circlet to Ripley.
'What is it?'
'Emergency beeper. Military version of the PDTs the colonists had surgically implanted. Doesn't have the range they do, and you wear it outside instead of inside your body, but the idea's the same. With that on I can locate you anywhere near the complex on this.' He tapped the miniature tracker that was built into his battle harness.
She studied it curiously. 'I don't need this.'
'Hey, it's just a precaution. You know.'
She regarded him quizzically for a moment, then shrugged and slipped the bracelet over her wrist. 'Thanks. You wearing one?'
He smiled and looked away. 'Only got one tracker.' He tapped his harness. 'I know where I am. What's next?'
She forgot all about the bracelet as she consulted the hard-copy printout of Hudson's schematic.