Alien - 3

XI

The survivors gathered in the assembly hall, reduced in number but expanded in spirit. Dillon stood before them, waiting to make sure all were present. Only then did he begin.

‘Rejoice, brothers! Even for those who have fallen this is a time of rejoicing. Even as we mourn their passing we salute their courage. Because of their sacrifice, we live, and who is to say which of us, the living or the dead, has the better deal’

‘Of one thing we are certain: they have their reward. They are in a far better place because there can be no worse one.

They will live forever. Rejoice. Those who are dead but go on, freed of their restraints, free from the excoriations of a thoughtless society. It abandoned them, and now they have abandoned it. They have moved up. They have moved higher.

Rejoice and give thanks!’

The men bowed their heads and began to murmur softly to themselves.

Ripley and Aaron watched from the gallery above.

Eventually the assistant superintendent glanced over at his companion. Both had spent time in the showers. They were far from refreshed, but at least they were clean. Ripley had delighted in the hot, pounding spray, knowing that this time she could enjoy it without having to keep a wary eye on the sealtight or the vents.

‘What do you think of this?’ He indicated the ragged, makeshift assemblage below.

She’d been listening with only half a mind, the rest of her thoughts elsewhere. ‘Not much. I guess if they take pleasure in it. .’

‘You got it right there. Fuckers are crazy. But it keeps ‘em quiet. The super and I were in agreement on that. Andrews always said it was a good thing Dillon and his meatballs were hung up on this holy roller crap. Makes ‘em more docile.’

She glanced back at him. ‘You’re not the religious type.’

‘Me? Shit, no. I got a job.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘I figure rescue team gets here in four, five days. Six, tops. They open the door, go in there with smart guns, and kill the bastard. Right?’

‘Have you heard anything from them?’ Her tone was noncommittal.

‘Naw.’ He was feeling pretty good about the situation. And about himself. Out of this mess there was sure to come some good things.

‘We only got a “message received.” No details. Later we got something that said you were top priority. Again, no explanation. They don’t cut us in on much. We’re the ass-end of the totem pole out here.’

‘Look,’ she began guardedly, ‘if the Company wants to take the thing back—’

‘Take it back? Are you kiddin’? They aren’t lunatics, you know. They’ll kill it right away.’ He frowned at her, then shrugged mentally. Sometimes he thought he understood this unusual woman perfectly, and then she’d throw him a complete curve.

Well, it wasn’t his business to understand her; only to keep her alive. That was what Weyland-Yutani wanted. With Andrews gone and the alien safely contained, he was beginning to see some possibilities in the situation. Not only was he now the one in charge, it would be up to him to greet and explain things to the Company representative. He could render himself, as well as recent events, memorable in the eyes of his superiors. There might be a bonus in it for him or, even better, early retirement from Fiorina. It was not too much to hope for.

Besides, after years of toadying to Andrews and after what he’d been through the past couple of days, he’d earned whatever came his way.

‘Hey, you’re really concerned about this, aren’t you? Why?

What’s there to be worried about? The damn thing’s locked up where it can’t get at us.’

‘It’s not the alien. It’s the Company. I’ve gone around with them on this twice before.’ She turned to him. ‘They’ve coveted one of these things ever since my original crewmates discovered them. For bioweapons research. They don’t understand what they’re dealing with, and I don’t care how much data they’ve accumulated on it. I’m concerned that they might want to try and take this one back.’

He gaped at her, and she found his honest disbelief reassuring. For the moment, at least, she was not without allies.

‘Take it back? You mean alive? To Earth?’

She nodded.

‘You’ve got to be kidding.’

‘Look into my eyes, Aaron. This isn’t a real humourous subject with me.’

‘Shit, you mean it. That’s insane. They gotta kill it.’

Ripley smiled tightly. ‘Right. So I take it that we’re agreed on this point?’

‘You’re damn right,’ he said fervently.

He was with her, then, she mused. For now. The Company had a way of swaying people, inducing them to reassess their positions. Not to mention their values.

The infirmary was quiet. Peace had returned to the installation, if not to some of its inhabitants. Concerned that in Clemens’s absence certain of the prisoners whose presence on Fiorina stemmed at least in part from their personal misapplication of certain proscribed Pharmaceuticals might attempt to liberate them or their chemical cousins from their designated repository, Aaron sent Morse to keep an eye on them, as well as on the infirmary’s sole occupant.

Morse sat on one of the cots, perusing a viewer. He was not one of those despondent over the dearth of entertainment material available on Fiorina, since he’d never been much of one for casual diversions. He was a man of action, or had been in his younger, more active days. Now he was a spieler, dealing in reminiscences.

Despite the fact that they’d known each other and had worked side by side for years, Golic had offered no greeting at his arrival, nor a single word since. Now the hulking prisoner finally turned his face away from the wall, his arms still buried inside the archaic restraining jacket.

‘Hey, Morse.’

The older man looked up from his viewer. ‘So you can still talk. Big deal. You never had nothin’ to say anyhow.’

‘C’mon, brother. Let me out of this thing.’

Morse grinned unpleasantly. ‘Oh, so now that you’re all wrapped up like a holiday roast suddenly I’m a “brother”?

Don’t give me any shit.’

‘C’mon, man, it hurts.’

‘Sorry.’ Morse turned back to his viewer. ‘Aaron says to let you go, I’ll let you go. Until then you stay tied up. I don’t wanna get in no trouble. Not with a Company ship coming.’

‘I didn’t do nothing. I mean, I understand I was a little crazy for a while. Shit, who wouldn’t be after what I saw? But I’m okay now. The doc fixed me. Just ask him.?

‘Can’t do that. The doc bought it. You heard.’

‘Oh, yeah. That’s right. I remember now. Too bad. He was a good guy, even if he did slap me in this.’

‘Don’t talk to me.’ Morse made a disgusted face.

Golic continued to plead. ‘What’d I do? Just tell me, what’d I do?’

Morse sighed and set the viewer aside, eying his fellow prisoner. ‘I dunno, but I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m gonna guard your ass just like I was ordered.’

Golic sniffed derisively. ‘You afraid of that pissant Aaron?’

‘No, I ain’t, even if he is the unofficial superintendent now. I just don’t want no trouble with Dillon, and if you’re smart, which I doubt, neither do you.’

The bigger man sniffed glumly. ‘All I did was tell about the dragon. About what it did to Boggs and Rains. Nobody believed me, but I wasn’t lying. I should be the last one to be tied up. It ain’t fair. You know what I’m sayin’ is true. You saw it.’

Morse remembered. ‘Fuckin’ A I saw it! It was big. And fast.

Man, it was fast. And ugly.’ He shuddered slightly. ‘There’s cleaner ways to die.’

‘Hey, that’s right.’ Golic struggled futilely against his restraints. ‘Let me loose, man. You got to let me loose. What if it gets in here? I couldn’t even run. I’d be dead meat.’

‘You’d be dead meat anyway. I saw enough to know that. But it doesn’t matter because it ain’t gonna get in here.’ He smiled proudly. ‘We got it trapped. Me and the others. Locked up tight. I’ll bet it’s good and mad. The Company’ll deal with it when the ship gets here.’

‘That’s right,’ Golic agreed readily. ‘And the way I hear it, they’ll be here soon. So what’s the big deal? Why should I have to hang around like this? By the time the ship shows orbit my arms’ll be dead. I’ll need surgery, and all for nothin’. Come on, man. You know they ain’t gonna take me offworld for no surgery, and we may not get a new medic for months. I’ll have to suffer all that time, and it’ll all be your fault.’

‘Hey, lay off. I didn’t put you in that.’

‘No, but you’re keepin’ me in it, and the guy that gave the order’s dead now. Aaron doesn’t give a shit. He’s too busy trying to make that lady lieutenant. Has he even asked about me?’

‘Well, no,’ Morse admitted guardedly.

‘See?’ Golic’s face was full of pathetic eagerness. ‘I won’t cause you no trouble, Morse. I’ll lay low until the ship gets here. Aaron won’t even know I’m around. Come on, lemme loose. I’m hungry. What’s the big deal? Didn’t I always give you free ciggies before anybody else?’

‘Well. . yeah.’

‘You’re my friend. I love you.’

‘Yeah, I love you too.’ Morse hesitated, then cursed softly.

‘Fuck it, why not? Nobody deserves to be tied up like an animal all day. Not even a big dumb schmuck like you. But you’re gonna behave yourself. No fuckin’ around or I’ll get nothin’

but shit.’

‘Sure, Morse. Anything you say.’ He turned to present his back and Morse began undoing the seals on the straps. ‘No problem. Trust me, buddy. I’d do it for you.’

‘Yeah, but I ain’t crazy enough to get myself in a sack like this. They know I’m sane,’ the other man said.

‘C’mon, don’t make fun of me. Do I sound like I’m crazy?

Course not. It’s just that everybody likes to make fun of me because I like to eat all the time.’

‘It’s not that you like to eat, it’s your table manners, man.’

Morse guffawed at his own humour as he undid the strap.

‘That’s got it.’

‘Gimme a hand, willya? My arms are so numb I can’t move ‘em.’

‘Shit. Bad enough they ask me to keep an eye on you, now I gotta play nursemaid too.’ He reached up and pulled the jacket off Golic. The bigger man helped as best he could.

‘Where they got it?’

‘Up in the nearest waste tank on Level Five. Man, did we get that sucker nailed down! I mean tight.’ He fairly preened.

‘Fuckin’ marines couldn’t do it, but we did.’

Golic was swinging his arms. Back and forth across his expansive chest, then up and around in ever-widening circles, getting the circulation back.

‘But it’s still alive?’

‘Yeah. Too bad. You oughta see the dents it put in the door.

Ceramocarbide door, man!’ He shook his head wonderingly.

‘One tough-ass organism. But we got it.’

‘I gotta see it again.’ The big man’s gaze was focused on a point beyond Morse, on something visible only to Golic. His expression was impassive, unwavering. ‘Got to see it again. He’s my friend.’

Morse took a sudden, wary step backward. ‘What the fuck you talkin’ about?’ His gaze whipped to the infirmary entrance.

Golic calmly ripped a small fire extinguisher off the nearby wall and the other man’s eyes widened. He made a leap for the door. . too slow. The extinguisher came down once, a second time, and Morse crumpled like a misplaced intention.

Golic looked down at him thoughtfully, his face full of idiot sadness, his tone apologetic. ‘Sorry, brother, but I had a feeling you wouldn’t understand. No more ciggies for you, mate.’

Silently he stepped over the unconscious form and exited the room.