The planet Ryushi had been chosen by the Yautja
Leader dachinde for the hunt against the xenomorph creatures - the Hard Meat, as they called
them - for the blooding of his young students. Since last visiting, Ryushi had seen the development
by the Chigusa Corporation of the colony Prosperity Wells, overseen by one Machiko Noguchi. The colony's harvest was at its end, and Chigusa
had assigned pilots Scott Conover and Tom Stranberg to pick up the payload via the company's
transport vessel, The Lector. Conover and Stranberg had flown together before,
this was one of many assignments where the two had been paired. Often times, in long flights to their destinations,
conversations would range from trivial to intensely philosophical. Their mission en route to Ryushi was no exception. "I don't understand what your problem is,
Tom." "It's not just MY problem, Scott. It's everyone's problem. We can't just go along the way we are. What makes us think we can strip-mine planets
to their cores? Or harvest whole species to extinction? Or transform entire ecosystems to our whims?" "Be realistic, Tom...everyone knew Earth's
resources wouldn't last forever. What are we supposed to do, ignore the other
resources available to us because a million years from now they MIGHT be of some use to
an emerging lifeform? Do we just tell everone, hey, show's over. everything we need is on this other planet
over here..but we can't use any of it because it rightfully belongs to the single-cell organisms
that live there?" "You're taking this argument to a ridiculous
extreme, scott." "No, I'm not. I'm just pointing out how irrational it is
to compartmentalize your ethics, tom. It's wrong to harvest dolphins because they're
intelligent creatures - but it's okay to eat chickens because they only have a brain the
size of a pea? ultimately, every distinction is subjective,
and any line you draw is artificial." "Who's to say what potential lies within a
chicken...or even its egg?" "That's exactly my point, Scott." "Except youre forgetting one thing, Tom. We're all living creatures, and all life is
a struggle...no matter where you or anyone else may WISH to draw the line, it still ends
up as DArwin's survival of the fittest." "Darwin never said Survival of the fittest,
scott. That was an oversimplification that was used
to sell his theory to the public. What you're talking about is MANIFEST DESTINY." "You can call it whatever you want, Tom. The fact remains that if the human races needs
to do something to survive...and the lower orders don't have the power to stop us....we'll
prevail. It's not right or wrong, it's just the way
things are." "You've got to stop projecting human motives
and emotions onto other organisms. Everything is merely what it is. A mongooze that tries to steal a cobra's egg
isn't evil -- it's just trying to survive. But the cobra is trying to survive, too. And if it catches the mongooze in its nest,
there's going to be a fight. Fortunately for the mongoose, it has faster
reflexes and a more efficient metabolism. Whether that's 'fair' or not isn't even part
of the equation - it's simply the way things are." "Yeah? Try telling that to the cobra. But for the sake of argument, we'll ignore
the question of ethics. Still, all you're saying, Scott, is that it's
all right to do whatever we want...to exploit any ecosystem of any species, as long as we
don't run into anything big enough to kick our butts." "If you want to phrase it that way, yeah. That's the way nature works." "Sure, on tutoring disks...but not in the
real world. Every part of an ecosystem is dependant on
every other part. It's that interdependency that makes interfering
with existing systems so chancy. Even the smallest components are vitally important. Who would have guess that millions of killer
vees could spring from handful of escaped african bees? Or that a few brazillian fire ants could make
the southeastern portion of the U.S. virtually uninhabitable in just over seventy years? And what about the oil-eating bacterium the
gene-splicers at the petroleum companies developed to clean up their spills? REmember how they thought they had it completely
in their control?" "Come on, Tom. The oil would've dried up sooner anyway. And I hear the new Repro-inhibitors they're
using are making a substantial dent in the fireant populations...Sure, we suffer setbacks,
but we'll always find ways around the problems that nature throws at us." "Will we, Scott? I'm not so sure, mankind never seems to learn. We get out hands slapped on a regular basis,
but we still can't seem to keep them to ourselves. The tighter the grip we try to get on nature,
the more nature pushes through the cracks in our technology. And with some of the things we're encountering
in the settlements, we have no idea of what kind of trouble we may be letting ourselves
in for by messing around." "Well, so far far we've done okay. On all of the life-supporting planets we've
come across, the worst thing we've ever encountered has been the "blood-willies" of Epsilon Indi
Two. And I hear they've got a vaccine for that
now. If I were you, I'd put my faith in science
and stop worrying about the boogeyman. And I'd watch what I said around corporate
types, Tom--anll any of them care about is their jobs, and you'll make them nervous with
talk about problems that don't exist yet." "I don't care, this is my last long haul. I'm getting out while the getting's good. All of the monkeying around the corporations
are doing out in the settlements may not bother you, Scott, but it does me. We've had a long run of good fortune...longer
than we've deserved. There's a major league turd coming down the
pike, mark my words. And I don't want to be around when it hits
the fan. I'm telling you, we shouldn't be messing with
mother nature. She's a real bitch. We have to learn to work WITH nature, this
reliance on technology is getting to be too much for me, Scott. It's no longer a means to an end-- it's become
an end unto itself. We use it like a wall between ourselves and
our surroundings. Between ourselves-- and who we really are. We've come a long way in the past three thousand
years...but I can't help feeling that we've lost as much as we've gained." "So, what's your solution, Tom? Give up modern conveniences and go back to
stone knives and squatting in caves?" "You're reaching for extremes again, scott,
but-- that just might what puts us back on the right track. And I'm not talking about austerity or deprivation. I'm talking about the challenge of putting
away the crutches of our technology and going back to relying on our own strength and cunning. These days we're so insulated that we make
heroes out of anyone who dares to face up to a challenge. But it wasn't always like that. Life or Death challenges used to be an an
every day thing. And REAL men didn't wait for adventures to
come to them. They rushed out to meet it...not like the
generals and corporate heads these days who send out the little guys to do their dirty
work. It used to be that a man's standing as a leader
was determined by how he handled himself in the face of danger." "Yeah, yeah -- very nostalgic, tom. Very macho. But it's not every practical in this day and
age. Can you see a bunch of corporate VPs duking
it out for the right to be CEO? Or maybe you and me going at each other with
knives to see who gets a better pilot's rating?" "Hey, every culture observes its own rituals
for establishing status. Look at the infighting and backstabbing that
goes on at every level of our society. And we're still fighting for the same things...prosperity,
leadership...territorial rights. The only difference is our methods have become
more subtle, less direct. Somehow the old ways seem more honest." ""You're an idealist, Tom. What happens when the wrong guy wins? Then you've got the neighborgood bully calling
the shots--you're back to pack mentality." "There are checks and balances in every system,
scott. " "Yeah, but your way leaves them all up to
individual initiative! Without some kind of sanctioned avenue for
dissent -- a guy would have to be a real hero- or a real fool to butt heads with the chief." "So? are things really so different for us? You're the one that's always telling me to
watch what I say around the desk jockeys...where's my "sanctioned avenue for dissent?" At least if I bust a guy in the chops, he
clearly understands that I don't like what he;s doing." "There you go with your idealism again. You're trying to romanticize this into two
tigers brawling to determine dominance...or rights to a favorite hunting area." "In the same situation humans would just kill
each other. We've outgrown the instinct for species preservation
that prevents in the lower orders - but we haven't truly grown into the morality that
you're so fond of citing, tom. The society we've built isn't perfect, granted. But it works...probably more becausse of our
level of than in spite of it. How many guys wouldn't want to trade their
boing, earthside job for yours...a job made possible by technology. But if you want to get back to nature...there
are ways to do it. Go on one of those wilderness safaries to
Alpha C. I hear the genesplicers now have something that almost looks like an elephant. Or, if you want a REAL adventure, sign on
for a itch as a ranch hand at our next stop-- plenty of fresh air, hard work, and not much
else. Maybe that's your idea of fufilment...though
I can't imagine anyone envying you the job. Me, I can get enough adventure from the vids. God bless modern technology!" Scott and Tom's musings had happened to be
put to a very explicit test after landing...three species now struggled for dominance over the
planet, with uncertain fates awaiting each. The pilots found themselves bound in a hive
contructed by the xenomorph creatures. The Yautja leader was in a coma, captured
by the humans. And Machiko Noguchi was forced to take action
in protecting the humans of prosperity wells, none, at this point, fully aware of the looming
threat. I called a town meeting to fill everyone in
on what was happening. It spunded unbelievable, even to me. But, after we were unable to reach them by
radio, I had Ikeda do a fly-by of the Sheldon ranch. The house was in flames, and the family's
breeding stock had all been slaughtered. Noguchi and Hiroki walked into a room filled
with low, nervous chatter and grim faces. The gathered ranchers and Chigusa staff fell
silent and looked at them, their expressions fearful and expectant. The rec center was packed, but suddenly a
hundred-plus people didn't seem like so many. "I'm not sure what you've heard, but I'll
tell you what we know," she said. She consciously kept her voice low and firm;
panic in the crowd would help no one. "Approximately two hours ago Bobby Sheldon
came into town on a flier, alone. He said that his parents had been killed by
a group of XT life forms. Just before he arrived, Spanner and Ikeda
found an injured . . . being in Iwa Gorge that is currently unconscious in the med center. Bobby Sheldon identified this being as similar
to the life forms that killed his parents." Noguchi took another deep breath. "When we were unable to reach Mr. and Mrs.
Sheldon by radio, we sent Ashley Ikeda on a flyby. I am sad to report that she just called in
with the news that the Sheldon house is in flames, and their breeding stock has been
slaughtered. "We must assume that an attack is imminent." There was a slight murmur through the crowd. A few people coughed, a few children started
to cry softly. A young boy raised his hand. "Yes?" "Is Bobby okay?" The boy was no more than twelve; his voice
was high and shaky, obviously upset by the situation. His father placed a hand on the child's shoulder. She nodded and attempted to smile. "He has a sprained ankle and is in shock,
but he'll be all right. Squires has agreed to watch him for a while." She scanned the room, watched the fearful
crowd with a calm eye. This is bad, but we will handle it. She felt in control; for once, the people
of Ryushi looked to her to tell them what to do. She wouldn't let them down. "If we could hold other questions for a few
moments, I'll tell you what we propose. Mr. Shimura is in charge of security. All able bodied personnel will be expected
to take a shift on watch, and anyone not on duty will remain within the main complex. First, we'll do what we can to barricade the
town with the cargo crates from the move here-" She nodded at Mason. "Mason here will head up that maneuver. Anyone trained on lift equipment will report
to him after the meeting. There is a thirty-three-hour curfew in effect
as of now; no one will go anywhere alone unless they've cleared it with me or Hiroki, and
it will have to be a good reason. Those of you with weapons, please list them
with Spanner ASAP Ben Davidson and Jess Jonson have volunteered to show our younger members
holovid graphics at the school this afternoon, so meet with them afterward for specific times." People nodded; she could almost feel the fear
in the room become less tangible. It was a good thing to remember that most
crises just needed some organization and clear thinking to be handled efficiently. Hiroki read from a list the first watch team
and then suggested another meeting later, at dusk or when the work was finished, whichever
came first. As the gathering drew to its close, Noguchi
was pleased to see that order and confidence had been restored quickly after Gaunt's outburst. Except only a few people had heard what Bobby
Sheldon had said. Or seen what the thing in the lab looked like
. . . Few of the ranchers had weapons of their own,
and the corporate armory consisted of fifteen scatter-guns - primarily for use against fire-crawlers
and briar-wolves - and ten pistols ear-marked for a police force the town had never needed. Prosperity Wells was never intended to be
a fortress, but the ranchers, under Hiroki's direction, set up an admirable line of defense. The house-sized moving crates had been lined
up around the perimeter of the compound quickly; with the willing aid of both the ranchers
and the staff, the work had been neatly done. By twilight the work was finished. We didn't know yet that the work was in vain. noguchi sat in the ops center hunched over
a cup of black coffee that was barely tepid. Her body ached from all of the work; Hiroki
had insisted that she take five, and she was only too glad to comply. Hiroki was going to take a team to walk the
compound and secure any place they had missed. Around her, four staffers watched screens. Noguchi was exhausted, and there was still
too much to do, too many variables to consider. Like The Lector. Noguchi straightened. The crew outside was just finishing up, and
another meeting was coming up within the hour-but had she seen anyone from the ship? That obnoxious Conover-? "Weaver, have you seen Collins anywhere?" The tall, dark-haired staff woman looked up
from her console. "Uh, we can't find Collins. No one has seen him since this afternoon when
you sent him out to the Lector..." Noguchi shook her head. "Do I have to do everything around here myself? All right - I'm going out there! She almost collided with Hiroki in the doorway. "Hold it! Going out where?" Hiroki looked like she felt. Dark smears of dust painted his face, and
his eyes looked weary and old. "To the Lector. Collins still hasn't come back from the ship;
I'm going to find out what's going on with them. But first, I'm going to see if I can talk
some sense into Dr. Revna." Hiroki frowned. "It's not safe, Machiko." His tone was gentle. She felt oddly touched by his concern, but
she was also tired of not knowing what the hell that ship was up to. "Someone has to go; may as well be me." Hiroki looked at her seriously for a beat
and then unhooked his holster strap. He handed the revolver to her, butt first. "I see you've made up your mind-but take this. It's a 12.5 mm Smith. It belonged to my grandfather. It is loaded with jacketed bullets, for hunting
big game." She stared at the weapon. He pushed it into her hands. "If you have to shoot something, make sure
it has a thick wall behind it these bullets will go right through a rhynth. I'll call the sentries and let them know you're
on your way." "Right. Have Weaver set up the sat-link as soon as
the suns set, and ask them to cut a deal for Marine support." She smiled tiredly. "And thanks, Hiroki. Be careful." He smiled in return. "You're doing a good job, Machiko." She walked into the late-afternoon heat and
headed for the med center, her thoughts jumbled with exhaustion. There was still a crew of a dozen or so outside,
setting the final walls into place. A day earlier, the spectacle of Ryushi's double
sunset had struck me as beautiful. Now the suns winked mockingly from the horizon--
gloating that the passage of a single day could transform Prosperity Wells from a place
of celebration to an armed camp. Miriam watched the stats on the screen with
something like awe; she was glad to have something to do besides worry over Kesar, and the alien
was distracting, to say the least, now that Bobby was gone. Her stomach tightened at the thought of her
husband; she had always thought that she would know if he was gone-that deep knowing that
two people shared if enough years had passed. But there was nothing; she just missed him;
she kept thinking of what he would say about the incredible reads that flashed across the
console . . . "Doctor . . ." Revna turned in her chair, heart pounding. "Ms. Noguchi?" The attractive Japanese woman smiled gently. "I'm sorry, we haven't heard anything-" The doctor took a deep breath. "Then you've come to check on our patient." She tilted her head toward the prone form
on the exam table nearby. "He's still not awake, but he's making remarkable
progress; his respiration has deepened, and I believe that two of his ribs have begun
to heal." The gentle smile never left Noguchi's face. The obvious sympathy there made Revna want
to cry, so she turned back to the screen. "I'll let you know if he regains consciousness,"
she said. "Doctor, I'd like to move you and our `visitor'
to the main complex; the security is better there, and-" "Thank you, no," said Revna. "I prefer to remain here. I have everything I need to look after my
patient..." She hoped she sounded collected and normal,
but she heard her voice crack slightly on the truth. "Besides, this is where Kesar will come when
he returns." She didn't turn around, but she sensed the
Noguchi woman's hesitation. "Very well, Doctor," she said. "I'll check back on you later." "Thank you, Ms. Noguchi. Machiko." Dr. Revna was fooling herself. No one doubted that the do had met the same
fate as the Sheldons. Maybe we were all fooling ourselves. We had no way of guessing the enemy's strength
or intentions - no clue as to its tactics or strategies. In a sense, the invaders -- if that's what
they were - had already won. The mere fact of their existence had distrubted
our lives and put us on the defensive. It wasn't likely to accomplish much, but the
trip out to the Lector was at least a positive action...it made me feel as if we hadn't lost
all of the initiative. . . Mason rolled his head and yawned; he and Riley
had run out of things to say about twenty minutes ago. The initial adrenaline of the situation was
long gone, and their nervous small talk had disintegrated into a watchful silence. At least it wouldn't get any hotter today;
the suns were headed down. And in another hour or so, he and Riley would
be inside drinking beer and shooting the shit; he pitied the next watch; being out here after
dark would be a bitch. "Hi, Riley. Hi, Mason." The boss lady walked toward them smoothly,
a smile of greeting on her lips. Speak of the devil. Riley nodded back and Mason stepped forward. "Ms. Noguchi," he said politely. "Mr. Shimura said you were coming. I'm to escort you to The Lector." "Let me guess, Mason-Hiroki ordered you to
follow me even if I declined your escort?" "Yes, ma'am." She nodded and sighed. "Well, come on then." She stepped ahead of him and headed toward
the ship. Mason glanced over his shoulder to see Riley
grinning at him and shot him the finger; smarmy bastard. He jogged to catch up to Noguchi and walked
in front of her. This would be a prime opportunity to tell
the management what he had been thinking. "You know, I think we're worrying too much. I mean, look at the size of the complex. You'd need an army to attack, right?" He looked back at Noguchi and stopped at the
base of the ramp for her to catch up. She didn't answer, didn't even look at him,
really. He might as well be talking to a block of
plastecrete. "I think those XTs are gonna take one look
at Prosperity Wells and go back home," he continued. Fuck her, anyway. He stepped into the open door at the top of
the ramp and pointed his scatter gun at nothing in particular; it was dark in there. He took another step inside and then turned
his head to call back to the ice queen. "Just give me a second to get the lights." He edged to the left and groped blindly with
one hand. Something wet dripped on his hand. He got the impression of sudden movement overhead-and
then there was only pain. Noguchi stood at the top of the ramp and listened
to Mason babble mindlessly. Mason was something of a jerk, that was certain. He stepped into the dark and fumbled for the
lights, still chattering away. She turned to look at him -just in time to see him lifted straight up
into the darkness. There was a strangled, wet cry -and the darkness rushed forward to greet
her, a dozen arms and a thousand teeth, all screaming, all hungry. The Dream I'd been unable to remember earlier
came back to me with sudden, horrifying clarity. Only it was'nt a dream -- it was a nightmare. And it was real. Noguchi grabbed for the revolver in slow motion. The single patch of darkness separated into
many forms; she fell backward as the dozen or so nightmares came at her. She fired four times and stumbled down the
ramp without looking. The deafening shots echoed from the walls
and in her head and two of the things dropped. She backed up against the shield wall, revolver
extended toward the huge bugs, Jesus, they were half again her size! They came, but slower, their short, twisted
limbs reached for her. They hissed and cried out like demented banshees. Double rows of teeth snapped and dripped a
clear, slimy mucus. Noguchi didn't take her gaze off them, even
as she heard more of the things come down the ramp. She was going to die- She panted shallowly and backed farther up
the incline, revolver heavy in her trembling hands. Another of the bugs rushed forward with a
scream. She jerked the trigger again and again. The thing howled in fury and pain and fell-She
fired again, only-the shots were quiet, dull clicks. The gun was empty. Was there more ammunition on the belt? Did she have time to reload? Yes. No. The nightmares advanced; she backed up, her
last moment of life. Nothing flashed before her eyes save the horror
coming for her; no memories, fond or otherwise, came to haunt or comfort her. She was in the moment and in this moment,
the leading bug cried out and jumped- -and a hollow thump sounded behind her, as
if something had imploded. A rush of heat stirred her hair, and the creature
closest flew backward in a rain of hissing liquid, its head gone. The horde screamed in unison but stayed at
the bottom of the wall, their dark limbs clattering on the ground in-anger? Noguchi risked a glance behind her. The dragon-? It was the monster, masked and armored. It held the spear with the broken shaft-except
it was whole now, the long pole mended; the heavy dark weapon it held was slightly different-It
wasn't the creature from the med lab. It was one of the others, the killers. It aimed the weapon at her and fired. Noguchi felt a cry escape her throat- -and another of the bugs exploded behind her. She looked back down at the advancing army
and felt a rush of air again behind her. The monster warrior leapt over her and landed
on the pack of seething black bugs. Noguchi could do nothing but stare. We'd done our best, with limited personnel
and resources to fortify prosperity wells against the "invaders". we could have saved ourselves the trouble--
we weren't the targets of the 'invasion'. we were merely bystanders, caught between
two opposes forces: hulking humanoid warriors, like our "patient" in the medcenter, and the
silent, eyeless monsters that haunted my dreams. Perhaps it was this connection to my nightmates-
as well as the fact that the monsters had killed mason - that predisposed me against
them. On the other hand, the "warrior" had saved
my life-- and it was more human than its...his...adversaries. Maybe it was just his resemblance to my mental
pictures of the samurai and warrior monks who peopled the stories from my childhood...or
it could have been that it's simply human nature to cheer for the underdog. Whatever the reason, I caught my breath as
the "warior" leapt, heorically, it seemed - into battle. His movements wer so swift I could scarcely
follow them. The savage spear sliced and cut another bug
in pieces. Another shot from the strange weapon and dismembered
limbs clattered to the ground. So powerful...so assured. So deadly...yet ultimately futile More of the bugs came down the ramp, scrabbled
wildly to get at the warrior. Noguchi, still unable to move, looked on at
the storm of death and battle. Gkyaun had been sent in to scout, but the
Hunting he had found was too good to walk away from. Here was a sickly, pale ooman---with no defense! He had watched as the cowering ooman's small
burner died, then as the kainde amedha swarm approached the ooman. It did not seem able to defend itself. Where was its spear? Its wrist knives? This terrified creature was the monster of
which he had been frightened as a suckling? It was a joke. The ooman was thei-de without him; he would
save the ugly creature for later. First, the Hard Meat He fired again, and was again rewarded with
a shower of acidic thwei. The Hard Meat screamed in loss. Gkyaun howled the war cry and jumped. He landed amid the hissing drones and moved
among them like the setg-in, deadly and quick. So easy! He spun and slashed, burned and cut at the
same time. Two bugs fell with one slice of his spear. A drone from behind lost its head; he gutted
yet another. More came at him, a relentless flow of fury
and sound. He pivoted, Hunted, his every movement was
an arc of doom and pain. Noguchi gulped air and pushed herself backward,
toward the top of the shield wall. The warrior was a dervish of wild energy and
prowess-the nightmare creatures fell all around him. But more monsters flooded toward him. And despite the fighter's speed and strength,
he fought poorly; he hadn't allowed for any outcome other than victory. It was as if he were a karateka who had mastered
kata, but had never faced an opponent in actual combat . . . The clamoring dark animals surrounded him,
pulled him down. The warrior struggled, but to no avail; one
of the giant bugs ripped off his mask with one spidery clawed arm and plunged its razor
teeth forward-Noguchi scrambled backward and to her feet, atop the wall. She ran back toward the complex and didn't
look back. The cries of hunger and triumph followed her,
told her the warrior was no more. There's a big difference between heroism and
stupidity. In the end, the "warrior" gained nothing but
a glorious-- and pointless- death. I didn't look back. I had learned a long time ago: never align
yourself with a loser. The noise came from a million klicks to his
right. It was a familiar sound, one he had known
for a very long time, back on Earth, from before he knew what it meant. He felt his consciousness as it rose upward,
swam to the surface of a depthless abyss-the knowing part of him, the tomes of understanding. He fought to keep it from happening, but was
helpless to stop it. There was something that he didn't want to
know, was terrified of knowing . . . Scott opened his swollen eyes to blackness
and took a deep breath. He almost choked on the cloying, wet air. "Scott, are you awake? Can you hear me?" He coughed, the minor movement sparking a
thousand pains. "Yeah." He swallowed gummy spittle and turned his
head toward the voice. "Tom?" "I think I can get my arm free," the other
pilot said. Scott couldn't see him, but his friend was
only a few meters away from the sounds of hurried struggle. The rest of the nightmare clicked in to place. "Where did they go?" Scott strained to see in the dark room, memories
of hissing motion and giant teeth adding sharp panic to his dull and clouded mind. "Tom, did you see them? Where did they all go?" "Shh! I'm almost out-" A grunt of exertion and Tom's
welcome face appeared in front of him, grimy, fearful, pale. "Hurry! Jesus, where did they go? Get me out of this, hurry, please!" "Be quiet!" Tom spoke in a harsh whisper and reached for
Scott's immobilized hands. The ropes of resinous dark material holding
him in place snapped and crumbled to the floor. Tom glanced over his shoulder every other
second, eyes wide. As soon as one of his arms was free, Scott
tore at the weird matter at his midriff and leg-and tumbled to the floor. He had been suspended a half meter in the
air. Tom slipped an arm around his waist and helped
him up, speaking quickly and quietly. "They were all around us, and something happened
outside, I guess; they swarmed out of here like mad bees, and I didn't know if you were
here-" Tom seemed to realize he was babbling and cut himself off. "It's okay, man. Let's just get the hell out of here, okay?" Leaning on each other heavily, they stumbled
toward the emergency hatch. It was hard to see anything, but Scott could
make out areas of the dock where the shadows were denser, more solid. A raspy breath came from one of the darker
corners of the room. Scott stopped and turned toward the noise. At first he couldn't see what was the cause-and
then he was unable to believe what he saw. It was one of the creatures. It was bigger than the others. Its huge, flattened skull was curved downward,
its limbs drawn up in front of its dripping jaws. The thing was curled up, a horrible caricature
of the human fetal position. "I think it's asleep," Tom said softly. "It hasn't moved since before all the other
ones left." Scott couldn't pull his gaze away from the
dormant monster, the slow rise and fall of the thing's furled body with each slow breath. It was the most frightening thing he had ever
seen, like a giant spider-lizard with knives for teeth, deadly, insectile. Strings of sticky goo fell from its jaws,
the dim light from the partly opened dock door reflected in the glistening slime. "Let's go before she wakes up," Tom whispered
urgently. "She-?" Scott shook his head and looked at the pilot,
but Tom was already pulling him toward the hatch. "Yeah," Scott whispered back. He wanted nothing more than to get the fuck
out of there. Get help, get weapons; just see another human
face. But as they hurried to their escape, Scott
glanced over his shoulder to look at the thing once again. Where had they come from? What were they capable of? There was something strangely familiar about
them . . . He did a double take. His heart pounded. The angle of the creature's head seemed to
have changed slightly . . . "Come on!" Tom pulled at his arm. Scott nodded mutely and followed. There would be time to think about why later,
not now, not fucking now . . . Noguchi ran through the deserted streets of
Prosperity Wells. There was distant thunder, harsh and unreal Thunder? She grabbed for the comset around her neck,
feeling like an idiot for not having thought of it before; everything had happened so fast. "Hiroki, this is Machiko! Do you read?" , A hiss of static, and then thunder assaulted
her ears. She twisted the volume switch in a panic. Not thunder. Gunfire. "Hiroki! Come in, please!" "Machiko?" The reception was bad, but it was him. The sound of his voice was music. "I read you, Machiko. Where are you?" "I'm approaching the south lock. Listen -- we're in real trouble. You're not going to believe what we're up
against. "At this point, I'd believe anything," Hiroki
said. His usual calm was gone, replaced by tension
and worry. The sounds of weapon-fire clattered loudly
through the coin, blocking out whatever he said next. "Hiroki? Where are you?" Her thoughts buzzed and clamored loudly as
she stopped in the street and listened. Nothing. "Hiroki? Are you there?" Her voice cracked in tension. Noguchi slapped the receiver, hard. "I can't hear you!" His next words came through clearly. "Machiko...I never thought we'd be friends. But...uh...take care of yourself, alright?," "Hiroki...what are you?.." "We're welding the inner doors of the west
lock shut. We'll hold them off as long as possible...though
I wish we could SEE what we're shooting at. We'll give you a chance to get everyone to
the Lector..." "Hiroki! No!" She breathed And the com fuzzed out. He was gone. There had to be another way! The Lector wasn't an option anymore, there
was nowhere to go. Noguchi ran toward the main well, where Riley
and Mason had been only a few moments before. Riley would still have his weapon, they could
Riley lay facedown in the dust, the late sun shining on the pool of red that had formed
around him. His rifle lay nearby. She ran to the fallen form and crouched next
to it. She pressed numb fingers to Riley's throat
and gagged on the thick, metallic scent of fresh blood. No pulse. "Shit," she whispered. She looked around, eyes wide. The warriors, like the one that had saved
her life She reached for Riley's rifle quickly, stood. And heard a sound right behind her, nothing
so much like a sharp intake of breath. It wasn't Riley, that was certain. She turned in slow motion- -and saw nothing. She let out a sigh of relief. There was a lot to be worried about, but no
immediate threat, at least. That was when the earth rose up, the dust
wavering in the dimming light, to knock her to the ground. She swung the heavy rifle up. Too slow. Time expanded, flowed like thick oil. It took a millennium to thrust the weapon
against her shoulder and aim-Darkness sprang and covered the dragon. Invisibility. That's how the warriors had gotten past our
defenses. But invisibility has little meaning to creatures
with no eyes. From the main well structure behind the creature,
the metallic black bugs shrieked and swarmed and fell on him, their talons fast and sharp. Noguchi had not seen them there, hadn't heard
them come. It didn't matter. She jumped to her feet and stumbled backward,
watched as the warrior hit the ground and screamed horribly. The nightmare insects cried and tore at their
prey. A pale green fluid, the dragon's blood, sprayed
the dark animals. They threw back their obscenely long heads
and screamed. Fuck this! Noguchi turned and ran. Her heart thudded dully in her chest as she
ran the dozen meters or so. Reuben Hein, one of the geotechs, was on watch
at the ops panel near the south lock . His face was pressed closely to the loophole in
the wall. He held up one of his dark hands for silence
as the seconds ticked by. "Get ready! Something's coming!" Roth took a position toward the front of the
group and trained her weapon on the reinforced plexi door, arms steady. The tension around her was heavy; they didn't
know enough about the aliens, what they were after or what they could do. Maybe they wouldn't be so easy to kill . . . "It's okay, don't shoot!" Hein called. "It's Noguchi!" Roth hadn't realized how nervous she had been
until his words flooded her with cool relief. She and the others lowered their weapons and
stepped back from the door. Noguchi had obviously been in a fight; her
clothes were rumpled and dusty, her normally sleek hair was plastered to her head in strings,
her face flushed. She walked in quickly and surveyed the situation. "Did you see them? What the hell are they? How many were there?" "Too many," said Noguchi. She turned to the assembled group of ranchers
and company people and spoke clearly, her voice one of authority. "Fall back to the inner doors and get someone
with a welding torch over here. Seal all of the doors-upper level, too except
the east lock. And no one goes in or out without my authorization." She looked at Hein. "Are we organized enough to get this done
without tripping over each other?" He nodded. "I'll make sure of it." "Are the children here?" Loren Gaunt spoke up. "Yeah, they're eating back in the conference
room with Davidson and Jonson. Noguchi exhaled slightly, and some of the
tension left her shoulders. She picked out Spanner in the crowd and walked
over to him, her revolver extended butt first. "Please load this for me. And get me some extra rounds for it. More of the armor-piercing hunting rounds
like it had before." He took the weapon carefully. "How much extra ammo you think you'll need? Will three extra clips be enough?" "Make it five. No, Ten.. And seal those doors!" She walked back toward the ops panel, not
noticing the effect her words had on the group. A low murmur rippled through the room. The Japanese woman stopped near the board
and spoke calmly to one of the staffers. "Downey, do you have that sat-link hooked
up yet?" "Little Cygni's still interfering-but it'll
be below the horizon in the next hour." Noguchi nodded at that and turned to Weaver. "What do you have on the cameras? Can you get me a fix on Hiroki and his team?" Weaver looked up at Noguchi slowly and said
nothing; her brimming eyes said enough. Noguchi threw her comset on the panel and
took the one that Weaver held out. She stood behind Weaver's chair and looked
at the scant visual. "Hiroki! This is Machiko, do you read?" Her voice held an edge of panic. "Ma . . . iko?" The reception was terrible, but Machiko felt
her spirits lift slightly; he wasn't dead . .. bzzt. "-you in the tower? johnson, get down!" More static. Noguchi grasped the com tightly, as if doing
so would help somehow. She spoke in a rush; it was maybe the first
time Roth had seen her with her cool exterior completely blown. The nitrogen queen was terrified. "Listen, Hiroki! Tell your team to stand by, we're going to
open the doors and pull you in, do you read me? Tell your team to stand by!" Hiroki had backed up so that part of his profile
was visible in the screen. He held a rifle aimed offscreen and pulled
the trigger uselessly. "No time," he spoke in a half shout. Onscreen, Hiroki held the rifle up by its
barrel, like a club. Static. "No team left - just Johnson and me. I don't think we hit any of them. Ammo's gone...us, too, I guess." He said something else, but his words were
drowned out by the sound of breaking plexi. Hiroki held his empty rifle higher. Someone, johnson, shouted offscreen. "... here they come!" "Stay safe, Machi . . ." Static. She watched as huge, dark shapes, the alien
warriors, swarmed onto the screen. Hiroki brought the rifle down, hard, to no
effect. The attacker he had tried to fend off knocked
him to the floor easily, as if he were a child. Mercifully, he fell out of the camera's range. But the pool of red that flowed sluggishly
into view must have come from Hiroki. Noguchi made a strangled sound deep in her
throat and looked away. The mighty yautja burst through the shoddy
ooman defenses with no further losses. There were only two of the Soft Meat still
upright, and they fell in the span of a breath. Tichinde himself took out the smaller of the
two. The ooman tried to stop him with a dead burner,
like a staff-there was no contest. Noguchi sat on her bed and stared at the floor,
one shaky hand on her forehead. She didn't feel much of anything; at first
there had been a huge sadness, but it had been replaced with a kind of dull acceptance. Hiroki was dead. He and the others had sacrificed themselves
for the rest of the colony, and she had failed to use the time he had bought for them; she
had failed at everything. Part of her mind kept shouting at her: Organize! Get this under control! Get yourself together! It was the same voice that had pushed her
through most of her life, the driver of the strong Machiko who allowed her to hold her
head up. It clamored in her thoughts now, directed
her to get up, get up now! and get going-but she let it run itself in circles. Where was there to go? Noguchi felt as if she had been sitting there
for hours, but she knew it had been only a few minutes. Funny; all she really wanted to do was lie
down and sleep until she woke up at home. On Earth, back in the tiny apartment she'd
left a million years before . . . Would that be so bad? Just to give up and wait there until help
came, until the damn company sent someone to pick them up? They could probably hold out, just do some
heavy reinforcing of the locks and then sit tight. Maybe she could even stay here, in her room. The people downstairs could make do without
her. They would figure out something. Hide away, do nothing, wait. Yes, that felt right "Ms. Noguchi?" A soft voice crackled over her com. Noguchi felt her stomach tighten at the sound. Why did they need her, it wasn't fair! She couldn't run a battle, she was an overseer
for Christ's sake! "Ms. Noguchi, this is Weaver." The hesitant voice called again. Noguchi sighed. "Yes, what is it?" It didn't matter, none of it did. "I'm sorry to interrupt or anything. I thought-I mean, I know you and Mr. Shimura were friends, and I'm sorry to bother-" "What?" She wanted to feel angry, but there was still
nothing. "There's something you should see. I could transfer it to your screen, it's the
feed from the security cam on the southwest side of the tower. It's dark, though I've boosted the gain-I
guess there are a lot of lights out over there-" Noguchi turned wearily and looked at the console
on her wall, already sorry she'd admitted to being there. Fuck these people. They didn't even like her. What did they expect? Why did she have to take care of them? Why her? The screen snapped on. It was a bonfire. At first, Noguchi didn't recognize that it
was a picture from anywhere on Ryushi; she was reminded of old holos she had seen on
Earth, of tribal dancing, ritual stuff. But the dancers were the warriors. The dragons. Well, no, not really dragons, aliens. There were five or six of them, the creatures
who had killed Hiroki and the others. They ran and stumbled and jumped high in the
air all around the fire, which was probably built with debris from the west lock. Sparks flew, flame cracked and rose into the
early evening sky as the aliens danced and circled. And they carried spears . . . There was no audio, but Noguchi could imagine
the howls of victory. For the spears they held high in the air were
decorated with their conquests. As she watched, one of the warriors danced
past the cam with one of the black nightmare-bug skulls jammed onto the point of his spear. And the next warrior- She quickly looked away, then returned her
gaze to the screen. She didn't want to believe what she had seen,
but it was true. Fuzzy and distorted by the heat and bad lighting,
but there. Hiroki's decapitated head on the tip of the
creature's spear, the sharp, bladed end running through his neck and out of his mouth. For just a moment, she thought she might vomit. The alien danced from view, but Noguchi had
seen what she had needed to see. The nausea passed. Something new, some new feeling was filling
her up. It wasn't sorrow or sickness, although she
felt both of those things. No, it was dark and solid and throbbing, like
a huge, black machine had started running deep inside, at the core of her being. It was a physical sensation, this feeling,
a rumble of newness. It was many things, but the easiest to understand
was the anger. She watched the celebrating warriors and felt
the apathy get eaten by the new machine, chewed and burned away, fuel for the thing at her
center. It cleared her mind for what she would need
to do. She was going to kill them. All of them. Not just for Hiroki's death or the lives of
the ranchers or her career-she felt almost selfish about her reasons, but in the end,
it wouldn't matter. They would die because they dared to try her. She was a woman of honor and they stood against
her. Roth and Ackland stood near the table where
Hein sat, Noguchi's gun in front of him. A lot of the others watched also, although
there really wasn't much to see. . He fed the rounds in slowly and the metallic
clicks were loud in the quiet room when he closed the latch knob. It had been pretty silent here since Hiroki's
last transmission. Noguchi had been gone for twenty minutes or
so, which was just as well. "Ten Clips!" Hein announced, to no one in
particular. "She's not thinking of going out there, is
she?" "You guessed it." Noguchi stepped into the room quietly. "Ms. Noguchi--" Ackland looked and sounded
confused. She had pulled her hair back and knotted it
tightly at the base of her neck. She wore a fully padded coverall, the kind
that the rhynth workers wore during gelding time; the suit was designed to dull impact
from stray kicks, and had saved Roth herself from a lot of injuries. She had strapped a carbine to her back and
wore knee and elbow leathers, as well as gloves. A comset hung loosely around her neck, and
her eyes were cold and hard. Noguchi was back-and looked like a woman to
reckon with. "Who owns the fastest hover bike?" she said,
her voice cool. Cool, strong, authoritative. Roth said, "I...I guess I do." Noguchi nodded at her. "Where's it parked?" "East lock. Keycard's in it." Noguchi smiled briefly at her, the expression
calm and yet somehow chilling. The nitrogen queen was back, only this time,
there was something else under the icy facade. Ackland turned to face Noguchi. "That's it? You're taking off? What about the rest of us?" His voice was heavy with anger, his composure
blustery. "I thought you were supposed to be in charge! Where's your sense of responsibility?" Noguchi took a deep breath. And then she punched Ackland in the jaw, hard. The anger rested in her like a dormant but
wild animal, waiting to be awakened and used. Noguchi knew she had bigger things to deal
with than this overblown rancher who stood fuming, his fat finger pointed at her chest. But she had had more than enough from him. She took a breath and jabbed. It was a reaction more than a decision. Ackland folded, gasped, and fell to the floor. She heard the people all around step back;
two or three applauded. "Responsibility?" Her voice sounded strange to her ears, cold
and furious. "Hiroki is dead, and this whole mess is your
fault, Ackland! If we live through this, you're going to find
out what happens to people who are responsible!" Ackland was still on the floor, face red,
trying to catch his breath. The anger suddenly coiled back to a resting
state, left her exhilarated and exhausted all at once. Ackland was an annoyance, but nothing to slow
down for. Like a headache. She raised her gaze and looked around at the
watching crowd. The faces she saw weren't angry, just somber. Maybe Ackland wasn't quite as popular as he
thought. The only important thing now was getting the
job done, the job she was responsible for, hunting down the things that had disturbed
Prosperity Wells. But not simply for vengeance. For honor. Noguchi raised her voice so that everyone
could hear. "Weaver's in charge until I get back. You''ll follow her orders - to the letter. Do I make myself clear?" A few of the ranchers nodded. It would have to do. Several of the ranchers and employees followed
her down the long hall to the east lock, but she didn't have anything else to tell them. She had an idea, but the details weren't quite
worked out yet; she had told Weaver the basics over the com, so help on this end was covered. But judging from how fast Hiroki and his team
had been taken out, time couldn't be wasted on planning; she'd have to play it mostly
by ear. Noguchi reached the lock and peered out of
the loophole window; the bike was only a few meters from the entry. The deepening dusk was deceptively peaceful-looking,
quiet. Hein stepped up behind her, expression set. "The coast is clear...for now," he said softly. "Okay. If you haven't gotten my signal in 20 minutes,
this door gets welded shut and no one comes in or goes out until the marines get here...if
they get here." "What about you?" "If you don't get my signal in 20 minutes,
it'll be because I'm dead. Noguchi jumped on the bike and stabbed at
the key at the same time. Her adrenaline was in overload, her breath
shallow. Everything around her had slowed down, but
she was at light-speed. She jammed the accelerator down and flew toward
The Lector, free from fear. Death wasn't so scary once decided on; Noguchi
didn't want to die, but the odds weren't in her favor. After seeing Hiroki's head on a spear, she
had accepted the futility of the situation. She would probably die-but not without company. It was surprising how easy it was to think
about death. No hesitation...no fear. I knew what I was doing. I was out for blood. The Strange thing was how calm I felt...I'd
always believed revenge to be a hot-blooded action -- and in-the-heat-of-passion feeling....Something
that would overwhelm a person and cloud her judgement. But I was in complete control...I knew exactly
what I was doing. There was an overpass ahead, the second-story
walkway between the sewage treatment plant and the main well. Noguchi floored the pedal; the shadows there
were thick and secretive. She was halfway through when the dark exploded
to life. The attack came from her left. A high shriek, then something big and heavy
hit. The bike tipped, veered toward a wall in the
dark, claws ripped, the bike righted- -she hit it, heard the cry of pain and rage. It clutched at the cycle, scrabbled up, loomed
above her. There was a meter-thick beam under the walkway,
barely visible in the dark. Noguchi ducked low and flew straight at it. The bug's howl was cut short and the bike
lifted again. Noguchi circled back and headed again for
the ship, heart pounding. In spite of the physical reaction, she felt
calm. Very awake, but not panicked. She slammed on the brakes suddenly and cried
out, enraged by her own stupidity. "Shit, shit, shit!" Miriam Revna. She had forgotten. After the initial conquest, Tichinde left
the yautja to circle the ooman dwellings and get a feel for where the others might be. There were many in the same structure as the
first group, but he wanted to be certain that there weren't more, perhaps waiting to ambush
them. He walked. And heard the sound of machinery behind him,
coming closer. Tichinde blended with the shadows as they
had all been taught and waited to see what would come. He patted the mesh sack on his belt; there
were already three ooman trophies in it; there would be more. A single ooman drove a small aircraft into
view, landed it, then ran to one of the dwellings, a short burner in its hand. Tichinde pressed the loop control on his shiftsuit,
one that he had salvaged from the wreck, to record the language spoken. The tiny ooman shouted and then entered the
building at the beck of another ooman inside. A short span passed and the flyer ooman came
out and went away. He thought it was the same one-they looked
much alike to him. Tichinde waited a few breaths and then walked
to the same door from which the creature had come. He pushed the loop control on the arm of his
suit and listened to the odd language spill from the copier. The comms had been out for several hours before
Miriam heard the shots echo through the compound. There had been gunfire before, but it hadn't
been so close. Several times, she had heard weird screams,
alien sounds. A hover bike pulled up outside, and Miriam
heard running footsteps. Perhaps it was Kesar--
She knew it wasn't somewhere inside even before she heard Machiko Noguchi's voice. "Dr. Revna! It's me, Machiko!" Miriam went to the door. She punched the entry button and looked outside,
cautiously. It was the overseer. She wore a padded coverall and held a rifle. Her gaze scanned from left to right as she
edged into the lab, facing out. As soon as she was inside, Miriam hit the
control and the door slid shut. "Machiko, I heard shooting! Is everything alright??" The younger woman turned to face her. Miriam was struck by the changes she saw in
Noguchi's cool expression. Something huge had occurred, something that
had made everything different. It was in her eyes, in the set of her mouth. "No. Things are bad, and they're about to get worse." In spite of the circumstances, Machiko Noguchi
sounded calm. "Can you handle a hover bike?" Miriam shook her head. "No. I never learned. I always relied on Kesar..." Machiko cut her off, held up the rifle she
carried. "No good. I don't have time to get you back to to the
tower. Okay, let's see... "Do you know how to use one of these?" " Miriam shook her head again. Machiko handed it to her anyway and spoke
quickly. "It's a semiautomatic, so it does all the
work for you. Just aim it at the belly of whomever you want
to shoot -- and squeeze this trigger." She motioned at the crook of the rifle. "You only have six rounds, so don't waste
any on warning shots." Miriam took the rifle hesitantly and frowned. "Ms. Noguchi, I'm a doctor, not a soldier
. . ." "This isn't war," Noguchi said softly. "This is survival." Miriam felt tears in her eyes, but wasn't
sure why. "W-who might I be-shooting at?" The words were strange in her mouth. "Don't worry-- you'll know when the time comes." Machiko said. She walked over to the patient and the table
of artifacts and picked up the odd shield she and Hiroki had studied before. She held it up toward Miriam. "Tell me, Miriam, The unclassifieds Roth brought
you - Kesar's report said he thought they might transport eggs, or spores, to host bodies. Is it possible that when those spores grew
up, they'd look like this?" She pointed at the strange animal etched into
the surface. "It's impossible to say," Miriam said slowly. She felt horribly confused. "Why do you ask?" "Because I've seen some of these things tonight. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of them
in The Lector. And I think Ackland's rhynth were infected" she paused-"or impregnated by these things. And they've spread it to all of the herds
on the ship. And I think our two unclassifieds are somehow
connected ." Miriam looked at the etching and then over
to the specimen strapped to the table. "Not biologically. They're quite different in chemical makeup." Machiko nodded. "There's no time to worry about it now, anyway"
She looked at the Injured alien. "We ought to shoot that thing," she said. "But maybe we'll need it as a hostage later." She walked toward the door. "What are you going to do?" Noguchi turned. "I have an idea or two. You know rynth temperment, right? I've got three thousand head that have been
crammed into holding pens since last night....WHAT KIND OF MOOD DO YOU THINK THEY'RE IN RIGHT
NOW? "Listen, I want you to stay here, okay? Outside is not safe. Keep the door locked. I'll come back for you as soon as I can, but
if you haven't seen me within the next hour, start thinking about how you can get to ops. Wait until daylight, and take the rifle when
you go. I'll tell the ranchers to watch for you." And she was gone, just like that. Miriam set the heavy weapon on the table and
stood with her eyes closed for a moment. It was all like a dream, surreal and frightening. None of this could be happening. She looked at the alien creature on the exam
table and tried to get her thoughts in order. "I know my Kesar is dead -- and perhaps you
had something to do with it. Maybe you had your reasons....but it just
seems so wasteful. We could learn so much from one another..." There was a sudden scratching sound at the
door, a sliding knock. "Dr. Revna! It's me, Machiko! It's me-- MACHIKO" Why had she come back? Miriam hurried to the door. "Ms. Noguchi, I-- Words escaped. The patient-no, it was a creature like the
one on the table-Miriam turned and ran, even as the armored monster clutched for her. The weapon, table, trigger-! She ran, but the thing screamed behind her,
too close. She was going to die. Tichinde ran forward and screamed for blood. The ooman stumbled back, turned, and ran for
a table. A table with a strange burner on it. Tichinde raised his bladed staff high, ready
for the final cut- -and there was something familiar here, a
scent he knew, but it didn't matter because the ooman must die- -the ooman raised the burner slowly and fired
, the shot far and wide, then another- -and Tichinde brought the blade down, prowess
and certainty in the fatal cut- Noguchi heard a shot, then another. It came from the lab, or somewhere near it. She had stopped at the main control hatch
for the front six buildings of the compound and studied the numbers, not certain of the
proper codes for what she needed to do. She'd punched buttons, pretty sure that she
had gotten it right, and checked her chronograph. The shots made her jump; they were accompanied
by a shrill and primal scream. Noguchi jumped on the bike, turned it back
toward the lab, and hoped she would get there in time. Dachande opened his eyes at the sound of the
yautja death cry and growled softly. Tichinde. And he pursued the creature, the ooman whose
smell had become familiar. The desperate ooman ran to the table in front
of Dachande's resting place and snatched at a burner clumsily. Tichinde towered over it, ready to deliver
the death blow to the panicked ooman. The ooman who had nurtured him through the
dark, what could have been his final moments until dhi'ki-de. Dachande lifted one of his arms. The strap holding it snapped. He thrust his talon forward and caught the
staff right below the blade. Tichinde's head jerked up in surprise. With a quick shove, Dachande rammed the staff
upward and knocked Tichinde backward. Tichinde jumped up and popped his wrist forward,
extended the double blade toward Dachande. The Leader growled in fury. Tichinde would raise a weapon against him? Had he lost his memory? Dachande freed his other arm easily and struggled,
tried to leap. His lower body was still bound And the world exploded into a million flying
pieces. The sounds of battle were unmistakable. So was Miriam Revna's scream. Noguchi stamped the pedal and ducked. Miriam cried out and fell to the floor as
the wall cracked open in a roar of thunder and shattered around her. A chunk of something sharp and heavy gouged
her right calf. The pain was horrible. The terror was worse. The thunder ceased. Miriam pulled herself around a table leg and
turned to see what had happened. Noguchi had come through the wall. The bike was turned on its side and Machiko
was propped on her elbows, pistol aimed behind Miriam. The doctor snapped her head around and saw
that the attacking creature was sprawled facedown on the floor. It didn't move, but she could hear its labored
breathing. The patient was still on the exam table, pinned
there by one remaining bond across its abdomen. He fumbled with the strap frantically. "Lay down flat, Miriam!" Noguchi had her gun pointed at the struggling
patient. Her finger tightened on the trigger. Then she heard a voice coming from the direction
of the injured creature...she was surprised and confused to recognize the voice was her
own. "You only have six rounds...don't waste any
on warning shots." The doctor stood up, right in the line of
fire. "Jesus, get down!" Noguchi's heart pounded. Miriam didn't even look back at her. She held both of her hands up and walked slowly
toward the tethered warrior. Dachande redoubled his futile attempts at
freedom as the ooman came at him. The creature held its odd, clawless hands
open and moved slowly. The other, dressed as a warrior, had a weapon
on him-but the approaching ooman blocked the small warrior's efforts. It could be a trick, a ploy to calm him before
the Soft Meat ripped him open . . . But the slow-moving creature was the one that
had tended to him; the kicti-pa was unmistakable. If it had wanted him dead, wouldn't it have
struck when he was injured and unaware? There was a thick bandage of some kind around
his chest-not the work of a Hunter. A healer, then. Dachande stopped his labors and held still,
but kept his body tensed and ready. He hissed a warning to the ooman. And it leaned toward him, very slowly, and
unlatched the restraint. Miriam unhooked the bond and stepped back,
careful not to move suddenly. The creature had growled at her, a foreboding
gurgling sound, but didn't attack when she was in reach. "What are you doing?!" Miriam kept her eyes on the patient. "I think it's okay," she said softly. The creature studied her for several long
seconds. Miriam held still, not wanting to frighten
it. "Are you insane?" Noguchi was furious. "They killed Hiroki and six other men!!" She didn't move. "They did. He didn't." Miriam was scared, in spite of her intuitive
feeling that the creature wouldn't harm her. Intuition wasn't a lot in the face of death. Dachande inspected the ooman thoughtfully. This was what he had wanted to Hunt all of
his life? It was ugly, but certainly not dangerous-looking. It was stupid, too. Approaching a warrior with no weapon didn't
indicate a particularly high intelligence. Or it was incredibly brave and ready to do
battle. Small as it was, if it wanted to fight, perhaps
it was also mad? The armed one babbled at the ooman next to
him. Dachande got the impression that the defenseless
creature had kept him from being killed. The ooman with the hand-held burner lowered
the weapon slowly. Dachande tilted his head at her. Fascinating! Then it was that Tichinde clattered his mandibles
and slowly got to his feet. Dachande's anger flared. With his mask secure, and the copier functioning,
he spoke to his student - also in Machiko Noguchi's voice. WHAT KIND OF MOOD DO YOU THINK THEY'RE IN
RIGHT NOW? Dachande jumped past the ooman and whacked
Tichinde's skull. The blow knocked the student to the ground. Tichinde said nothing, but scrabbled at the
pouch on his belt. Dachande snatched the sack from the idiot
yautja and held it up. Trophies. Ooman trophies. His rage was blinding. Tichinde had Hunted with no supervision-and
had Hunted ooman! Dachande lifted the yautja by his tresses,
the fury boosting his strength. He could smell his own musk, hot and heavy
with the desire to kill. He raised one fist and smashed Tichinde in
the mouth. Tichinde tried to pull away, responded with
a weak blow to Dachande's gut. Dachande howled in his face, a shriek of pure
disgust and outrage. He struck again. Tichinde was his student, once. He had broken the rules of the Hunt. There was only so much slack Dachande could
give him, even as a Leader. Now the rope must be pulled taut. Now, Tichinde must be destroyed. It was the law. It was a matter of honor. Noguchi watched in amazement as the two huge
warriors fought. The broken-tusked "patient" was the more skillful-and
was winning easily. Noguchi ran forward, pistol ready, and grabbed
the doctor by the arm. "Come on, Miriam! While these two decide who's the most macho,
weve got work to do!" She and Miriam ducked through the shattered
wall and ran across the compound. Noguchi steered them toward the main garage,
to the east. The med center was closer to the holding pens,
but they would need a flyer for what she had in mind and the hover bike was totaled; there
would be other bikes at the garage-Except Miriam can't ,fly one and they won't carry
two people. Noguchi wanted to scream. Fuck, fuck, fuck! And on the heels of the panic, she remembered
the copter. The copter! We'll have to take the copter. They reached the vehicle. She opened the door and hustled Miriam in,
still talking. "Don't worry, we're going to get out of here,
okay? I'll help you fly this thing, just tell me
what to do and we'll be fine." That seemed to cut through the doctor's hysteria. Revna raised her tear-streaked face to Noguchi,
eyes wide. "Kesar always flew. I don't know how." "Yeah, me neither. This should be interesting. She searched the myriad of buttons and switches
on the console and found one that said Eng. She flipped it. The copter's engine hummed to life. She tapped her comset. "This is Noguchi in copter'-she looked over
the board quickly-"copter one. Do you read me, tower?" A hiss of static. And then Weaver's welcome voice. "We read you, Copter-1. We're almost ready...but you should see what's
happening in the southwest quadrant...it looks like an all-out war!" "Sounds even better than I'd hoped for, Weaver! Stand by for my signal!" Noguchi took a deep breath and strapped herself
into the chair. "Hang on, Miriam." The copter rose in a series of sharp jerks
before Noguchi turned it toward the south end of the complex. Miriam still wasn't sure what the plan was,
but she was glad to get off of the ground. "Where are we going?" "The Holding Pens" Scott and Tom had stayed quiet for a long
time. The sounds outside of weapons fire and death
cries were incentive not to move around much. The monsters were out there and maybe if they
stayed under their rock here long enough, they'd eat each other and go away. Scott figured out that they were in the southwest
quadrant of the compound, in one of the two empty holding pens. There were six others, full of bellowing rhynth;
their cries mingled with the alien screams. "I'm starting to think we were better off
in the ship," Tom whispered. "Yeah, right. Stuck in the spider's web waiting around for
dinner. Their dinner." Scott cracked the door slightly to see if
anyone was coming to help. So far, they had seen nothing. Well, no people. Strange humanoid creatures were at war with
the bizarre animals that had taken over the ship. It was too dark to make anything out clearly,
but the situation was obvious; between the screams and the weapons, there was one fuck
of a battle going on out there. They couldn't tell who was doing what to whom
and for what reasons, but it was bad. Scott was exhausted and he felt like shit. They had been stuck there for what felt like
days. He wanted a shower, a steak, a few beers,
and a soft bed. No way he was going out there to get it, but
it helped to take his mind off of the situation at hand. Which looked like Armageddon. It was all so . . .unreal. Tom groaned softly and shifted to sit on the
dirty floor. He was sick, had been coughing and having
cramps for over an hour, but he was trying to keep it to himself; the look on his face
expressed enough. Scott looked at his friend, worried, then
back out at the bloody combat. Something screamed piercingly and then was
silenced. "Hang on, Tommy," Scott whispered. "We're going to be okay." Yeah. Maybe we'll sprout wings and just fly back
to Earth. Dachande didn't want to spend too much time
on Tichinde, much as he felt the idiot deserved to die slowly. He had to find the other yautja, if there
were any. Find out what was going on, how he had come
to this state. It did not feel good, what had happened. Tichinde fell again. His tresses were matted with thwei, two of
his mandibles broken and crushed against his worthless, dying skin. Dachande waited no longer. He snatched Tichinde's bladed staff from the
floor and raised it over his head, aimed it at the base of his student's upper spine. Brought the sharp blade down- Dachande jerked the blade from the body in
a patter of blood. The Leader donned the kwei's armor and took
his weapons; he left the bandage on his chest. There was some pain there, perhaps the dressing
would help. After a second's hesitation, he pulled the
recording loop from Tichinde's chest; there might be a use for it later. Armed and ready, with a fire in his gut that
screamed for justice, Dachande stepped into the dark night to find his other students. Perhaps Tichinde had been alone, but he doubted
it. Hunting alone was not common behavior to the
young. And if they were here, in the ooman camp,
on a Hunt-nothing would stop him from the lessons he would teach them. Dachande ran through the oddly structured
system of ooman buildings toward the sounds of battle. He ached all over and at least two of his
ribs were broken, but he put the pain aside for now. Shattered buildings and other rubble littered
the grounds. Dachande hopped over the torso of a fallen
drone; its life fluid still hissed on the soil. He heard burners and screams in the distance,
to the left. He cursed mentally and ran in that direction. They Hunted oomans, worse, they did so without
proper surveillance. It was bad enough to have broken the law;
to use poor strategy and tactics only compounded the error. The other two Blooded must certainly be dead;
they would not have allowed this. As sketchily trained as these yautja were,
the bugs would be more than just a minor challenge. Armed oomans would be worse. One of the Hard Meat appeared suddenly, leapt
from the dark shadows to scream at him. Dachande pulled his burner. He was in too much of a hurry for prowess
feats. Suddenly the drone screeched, turned, and
ran. Unusual behavior, but they sometimes did that
when there was a queen nearby. It was not fear, for they had none, but instinct
to warn the nest. The threat was not the lone Yautja, but the
beginnings of Machiko Noguchi's plan in motion. I was right about the livestock. Being pent up all day under Beta Cygni's glare
had left the herd restless and irritable. Now, spurred on by the low-flying copter,
they pursued a straight line course for freedom. They saw everything in their path as an obstacle
to be crushed underfoot. Everything. Dachande heard the rumble and immediately
ran for the nearest structure he could climb. He spotted a ladder bolted to a tall structure
and ran for it. He had not found the students yet, but before
he could do so, he needed to avoid being crushed by the stampede. He hoped the students would understand what
the sound meant and seek high ground or protection. He growled in irritation as he climbed the
rungs of the ladder. If they paid attention to his lessons, maybe
they wouldn't die. If they had not listened, then they deserved
to die. That was the way of it. His hope was not all that good. Considering how well they've learned so far
. . . Dachande climbed as the rumble thickened into
an all encompassing roar. The searchlight on the copter illuminated
the scene dimly. Noguchi only glanced at the panicked herds;
she had her hands full piloting. Miriam Revna cried out in delight. "They just ran over about two dozen of the
unclassifieds!" It was hard to hear over the clatter of hooves
and the bellows of the frightened rhynth. Noguchi smiled tightly and pulled up on the
control stick. She wanted to check and see if the ranchers
had gotten out-She veered east. All she needed to see were the lights of the
AVs-Noguchi allowed herself a short rush of relief. The low red and white lights were visible. The ranchers and staff were headed away from
town into open desert. It was working! Her plan was working! She circled the copter back toward The Lector
to make another run on the animals. The colonists were headed to relative safety,
and the rhynth were stomping everything in sight. Maybe she wouldn't have to sacrifice anything
else. Of course, there were still the creatures
on the ship to deal with-and it was probable that a few of the other kind had survived. But to take out the majority . . . As they neared the transmitting tower, Miriam
sat up straighter and pointed. Noguchi shot a sideways glance at what the
doctor motioned at-it was one of the warriors. It had climbed the ladder and was almost to
the top-and there were three or four of the huge black bugs clambering up after him. Miriam saw the broken-tusked warrior nearing
the top of the transmitter and pointed. "Machiko, look!" "What?!" The stampede was deafening. Miriam shouted louder. "It's my patient! We have to save him!" Noguchi whipped her head around. "Are you crazy? Miriam-- those things are the reason we're
in this mess! "She looked back at the controls. Miriam chewed at her lip in frustration. How could she make Noguchi understand? It was important, the most important thing
in the world right now. She could not have said why. "But that one risked his life to save mine!" Noguchi opened her mouth and then closed it. "Look, I don't" "Please! Machiko, he risked his life to save mine!" The doctor looked at her patient, getting
closer to the top now. The dark, segmented creatures were also getting
closer. "Please!" Noguchi didn't say anything. She veered toward the tower. I must be out of my mind, that's it, I finally
went insane Noguchi steered the copter toward the tower in disbelief. What the hell was she thinking? Dr. Revna was a nice lady, ordinarily she
wouldn't mind doing her a favor, but this-? She watched as Broken Tusk kicked at one of
his pursuers and then stabbed the closest one; the bug screamed and fell. He refused to give up fighting, she'd credit
him that much. But she could barely fly! Even a trained pilot would have doubts about
trying to hover next to a tower. And to save an alien that they knew almost
nothing about. Except it had saved Miriam's Life. Right. It would break every rule in her book, to
risk their lives on this. And she had about a second to decide. Below them, the rhynth ran on. Dachande kicked at one of the drones and then
used the spear to take out the gut of another. It fell, still kicking-but there were two
others. He heard a ship over the sound of the running
hosts but he ignored it. He had enough to worry about. On the ground, the bugs were no match. But fighting while hanging one-handed and
almost upside down. The metal he gripped let out a high groan;
he could feel the structure shift under the combined weight of himself and the drones. Again the weak substance creaked-and started
to separate from the building. If he didn't think of something, he would
be on the ground in a few breaths. Fighting the Hard Meat and in the path of
the stampeding hosts. The Black Warrior must wish for Dachande's
immediate company. And the Black Warrior eventually won all battles. Noguchi lowered the copter toward the tower. Which had started to quake dangerously. It was collapsing under all the weight. Miriam fumbled around the console for a second
and then hit a button. Her next words blared incredibly loud. "Grab on! Grab the strut! We'll take you to safety!" Noguchi winced. The doctor had found the PA. She lowered the ship a little more. It was hard, but not as hard as she had expected. On the other hand, a series of red lights
had lit up on the control panel. She was too intent on the task at hand to
figure out what they meant, but she also didn't want to find out the hard way. "Grab on!" Noguchi screamed to be heard. "This is ridiculous, Miriam! I can't hold us here much longer-- and he
doesn't understand a word you're--" The copter dipped, and then pulled up again. He had grabbed on to the strut. Noguchi let out a cry of disbelief. It had worked! Broken Tusk had jumped to the copter! Now what the fuck are we going to do with
him? And then everything happened at once. A dark shape lunged at them. Noguchi just had time to register that it
was one of the bugs before it landed on top of one of the compressors, on the same side
as Broken Tusk. It scrabbled to hold on, screamed. The copter tilted alarmingly and Noguchi jerked
the controls instinctively upward- -there was a rending screech of metal as the
tower collapsed- -and everything turned the wrong way as- -the copter went down. The pilots down below were witness to the
crash. Tom shook his head and pointed. At first, Scott wasn't sure what he was looking
for. Tom was motioning at a transmitting tower,
two structures away. Tom finally pointed straight up, and then
back at the tower. Scott looked at the top and felt his heart
jump. He looked back at the copter just in time
to see it spin down toward the ground, toward them. Something had gone very wrong; one of the
creatures had jumped on the roof of the copter and the pilot had panicked. They watched as the flyer spun out of control
to crash, a few dozen meters past them to the left. The explosion was loud enough to be audible
above the stampede; it was getting quieter, the majority of the animals already gone. By silent assent, he and Tom opened the door
and ran toward the crash, the stench of burning fuel and cooked dirt heavy in the air. The hot night had just gotten hotter. Noguchi opened her eyes as the thunder fell
to the sound and heat of a bonfire. Above her, the Ryushi night sparkled with
stars. She had a sunburn and there was something
wrong, she couldn't move "Miriam?" Her voice was barely audible. A face appeared over hers, familiar, bearded. "Conover." "I should've guessed it'd be you!" The pilot had to shout to be heard over the
final remnants of the stampede. "You're lucky to be alive, lady!" Noguchi remembered all of it at once as Conover
unbelted her and half lifted her out of the wreckage. Broken Tusk, the rhynth are stampeding and
the people went to the desert and Miriam-- "Jesus, Who the hell taught you to fly?" Behind Conover stood the other one, Strandberg. He looked sick. "No one...yet..." Noguchi said. She sounded weak, hated that she did. All around them were bits of burning wreckage;
the main part of the copter was behind them, still on fire. The flames crackled and danced. She leaned heavily on the pilot as they stumbled
away from the smashed cockpit. "Where's Miriam?" she said. The doctor hadn't been next to her when she
had come to. It was an effort to look around; her neck
didn't seem to want to hold her head up. Strandberg stepped forward and grabbed her
other arm. "Listen, we gotta get out of here! The bugs will be back soon!" On closer inspection, she could see that Strandberg
was sick. He looked like she felt; shaky, pale, nauseous. The last of the rhynth had gone. Besides a fading rumble, the only noise was
the hiss of fire-and somewhere close by, the piercing trill of a nightmare creature. "Miriam," she said again. "Broken Tusk, Miriam had to save him-" The pilots ignored her and started pulling
her toward one of the holding pens. Noguchi pushed them away and turned back to
the remains of the copter. "Dr. Revna, the woman who was in the copter
with me! I'm not leaving without her!" Conover's voice was both apologetic and irritated
at once. "I didn't see anyone else," he began. And then stopped. "Oh, Jesus-" Noguchi glanced at both of the pilots, who
stood with looks of awe and terror on their faces. She spun back around and felt her heart sink. It was Broken Tusk, surrounded by flames. He carried Miriam Revna in his arms. He carried the ooman to the others. There were three. One he recognized as the armed ooman from
before. The other two were bigger, but unarmed. They held very still as he approached. The small warrior held no weapon against him
now; it ran toward him, the hold of its body frantic. Dachande could see that it was not an attack. The warrior reached him and then gently stroked
the face of the dead one that he carried, its composure one of sorrow. It repeated something over and over as it
touched the dead face. Dachande suddenly remembered the animal loop
on his forearm, and tapped it quickly. The ooman's language babbled back at it. The warrior looked up at him and then motioned
for him to set the corpse down. Dachande did it gently; the ooman had shown
him respect. He would do no less for it in its death. Noguchi stared in shock as she heard Miriam's
voice spill out from behind the creature's mask. "Grab the strut...we'll pull you to safety.." She pointed to the ground and then back to
Miriam's body. Broken Tusk carefully set the doctor's body
down and then stepped back. Noguchi knelt over Miriam, could already see
that it was too late. That's okay, Machiko. Someone-else you cared about, someone who
depended on you, dead. No big deal. Just because it's your fault. She allowed herself one second of pure grief. Her head dropped into her hands, and she let
out a soft moan of despair and sorrow. The pain was sharp and cruel, the guilt tremendous
and stabbing. And she didn't have time for it. "It's time to put an end to this," she said
quietly. Broken Tusk stepped toward her and put one
clawed hand on her shoulder. Noguchi did her best to return the gesture,
although she couldn't quite reach. It looked like she had an ally, at least for
a while. Scott and Tom followed the Noguchi woman through
a deserted alley in the dark town. Scott wasn't sure where they were headed,
but Noguchi moved with certainty. He glanced over his shoulder from time to
time, wary of the huge alien that brought up the rear. They had left the dead woman behind, soaked
her corpse with fuel, and set it ablaze. Conover and Stranberg were the last two people
in PRosperity Wells I'd have wished to be stranded with. But now that Miriam was dead, they were the
last two people. Somehow, they'd missed the events of the past
twenty-eight hours. I brought them up to date. I told them what I knew of our companion and
his kind - how they had arrived equipped for a safari. I explained my theory about the bugs...as
they called them - and the warriors being somehow connected. "Are you saying that they"-he tilted his head
back at the giant "let those bugs loose on a populated planet so they could hunt them?" He kept his voice low. Noguchi nodded. "Just a theory, but it fits. Except I don't believe his kind knew there
were humans on Ryushi. And from his actions, they weren't supposed
to be shooting at us. We haven't been here long -- I doubt we were
here the last time they dropped in." Her voice was edged with dry sarcasm when
next she spoke: "I imagine we would have remembered if they'd visited recently." Tom stumbled behind them. Scott stopped and started to turn back, but
the giant stepped forward and set the pilot back on his feet as if he weighed nothing. Tom nodded at the creature, waved a hand,
and moved to join Scott and Nogushi. She continued talking. ". . . and I imagine our presence probably
screwed up their plans." Scott raised his eyebrows. "Screwed up their plans. Oh, that's great. I feel so much better knowing that this whole
mess was an accident." Noguchi shrugged. "Hey, at least he's on our side." "Yeah? Until he gets hungry," Scott mumbled under
his breath. Noguchi stopped at the end of the alley and
waited for the giant to catch up to them. She kept her revolver barrel pointed up. "Okay. The stampede started just around the corner
here; we're going to walk through its path and see if there's anything left alive that
shouldn't be." Swell. Scott looked around for some kind of weapon. Besides a few small rocks, they were out of
luck. They'd have to stick close to the woman. The stretch of open ground was littered with
dozens of bodies, rhynth, bug, and giant alien. Large patches of soil were eaten away to reveal
charred black splatter-like stains, as if the blood from the corpses was toxic. The rhynth were cut or blown open, chests
shattered, throats slit. The black bugs were mostly crushed, so also
the giants. The only light was from a sole street lamp
that hadn't been broken or shot out. The resulting mix of dark and death and shadows
was forbidding, ominous. Ugly. "When you kill something, you don't fool around,"
said Scott. Noguchi wasn't listening. Her gaze darted from side to side, her revolver
still up. The giant's head was cocked to one side, his
stance ready. The two of them moved forward slowly. The pilots stayed close. The four of them made their way cautiously
down the ravaged street, stepped over torn bodies and corpses smashed down deep into
the cracked earth. Apparently this was where the fight had ended. After a moment of tense silence, Tom whispered
loudly to Scott as they followed their armed escorts. "Do you think the stampede got them all?" Scott started to reply, but stopped short. He had heard something behind them-the cry
of a bird, perhaps, a chittering sound Behind one of the storage buildings, sudden movement. Scott felt his mouth go dry. He had heard it before "Run," he said, hardly able to get the word
out. "Run. " Dachande heard the Hard Meat and spun around. He sprinted past the two ooman strangers toward
the threat, staff forward. He was dimly aware that the small warrior
was right behind. It shouted something at the other two. They came in a single-file stream, flowed
from around a structure, ten, maybe twelve. Dachande leapt to greet them. Two arrived first, angled in from the sides. Dachande spun, swung completely around, cut
them both through their midsections in one strike. He didn't watch them hit the ground; there
was no need-they were dead and all he need do was avoid the throes. He extended his spear and slashed through
the throat of the next drone nearest, to his right. The drone's death cry was garbled through
its own thwei. A split second later, he jabbed the staff
point through the jaws of another, twisted the sharp blade and dug a hole through the
top of the skull. The weapon's metal was proof against the Hard
Meat's thwei, but there was no time to hesitate and enjoy the kill-when you fought the ten
thousand, you did so one at a time, but you also had to do so quickly. Dachande jumped forward, stabbed the throat
of yet another, and then spun to meet the next. Death fell all around his feet as he and the
Hard Meat danced. Here was no inexperienced novice; every step
was measured, every strike timed and sure. Within the space of a few seconds, most of
the bugs were down, dead or dying. She had enough training to recognize a Master
when she saw one. This one's skill had been gained in battle,
against deadly enemies. Broken Tusk whirled and jabbed, crouched and
slashed with precision and confidence. Never a misstep, never a hesitation. He was no dojo tiger, covered in padding and
fighting for points. Wherever he had come from, they had a martial
arts more complex and dangerous than any she'd ever seen. It was like a choreographed dance-Except we
don't have all day. Noguchi aimed and fired several shots, then
aimed and fired again. The last two shrieked and stumbled. Broken Tusk hesitated, confused perhaps, then
finished them both with slashes to the gut. "Sorry." Noguchi ejected the spent rounds and slapped
in a loader. "But we've got to go." Broken Tusk stared at her for a second, then
raised one claw-in understanding or camaraderie, she couldn't know. She returned the move, then started toward
the east lock. The warrior caught up to her easily, then
slowed and strode at her side as they rounded the front of the ops building toward the lock. He made thick growling noises, strange, but
somehow not threatening. Ahead, the lock was open. Conover stood by the control panel inside,
face pale. Noguchi heard now familiar chirping noises
behind them, not far. "Hurry!" Conover shouted. Noguchi and Broken Tusk ran through the entry
together. The door slammed down. A second later there were several thundering
crashes. The metal door shook as the nightmare creatures
threw themselves at it, but it wouldn't give. Noguchi collapsed against the frame and closed
her eyes. They were safe, at least for the moment. Safe-and fucked. They hadn't gotten them all. "Okay, we're in. So what's the plan?" "Well, the colonists made it out safely - that's
the main thing. We've got power here...water, and food. I guess we';; kist seal ourselves in and wait
for the marines." Tom had scanned over the memorandum from Chigusa
corp, angrily passing it to Noguchi at the revelation of its contents. "Wrong. The marines aren't coming. Seems your boss wants the bugs alive." Noguchi read over the company response aloud. MOST IMMEDIATE. REQUEST FOR MARINE INTERVENTION DENIED. TAKE STEPS TO PRESERVE ALL SPECIMENS OF SPECIES
DESCRIBED IN REVNA'S REPORT. PROCEED WITH MEASURES TO INSURE SAFETY OF
ALL PERSONELL, BUT TAKE NO ACTION AGAINST LIVING XT SPECIMENS. Attn: Machiko Noguchi, Prosperity Wells/from
BAE-683 Takashi Chigusa, New Osaka. re: possible XT specimens. Take steps to preserve all specimens of species
described in Revna's report; nearest Marine ship will enter area at approx. 5/14. Keep BAR 683 apprised. Await further instructions. YFNT677074/TC It was looking hopeless. Noguchi had never felt so frustrated in her
life, or so angry. There was nothing she could do. "Well, screw that shit!" Conover had started pacing. "I say we scram out of here and join the colonists!" She looked up at the red-faced pilot and shook
her head. "Yeah? And how long before the bugs run out of food
and head into the desert looking for more?" Conover dropped his gaze and said nothing. "Look, I don't know about you two,but I'm
tired of being pushed around. I want to start pushing back. I want to finish this, and I want to finish
it now. " She wasn't sure how, but there had to be a
way-Conover snorted. "Sure, great. What're you gonna burn down the whole complex?" Strandberg coughed loudly. "I don't think that'd work, Scott. Too many of them would get away. It's got to be"-he coughed again" something
fast." Noguchi started running off possibilities
in her head. Maybe they could formulate some kind of bomb,
or gas-Conover jerked his gaze at Broken Tusk. "Why don't we ask the hulk over there? Maybe he's got a death ray or something." Strandberg shook his head. "I'm serious. I think Ms. Noguchi had the right idea with
the stampede, crush them like bugs-" He broke into a fit of coughing. Noguchi looked at Strandberg with sympathy;
he really didn't look well, and he had at least tried to be helpful-The pilot had regained
his wind and raised one hand weakly. "Something big enough to take out the complex
and the ship at once-" Conover interrupted angrily, "You talking
about what I think you are?? Forget it!!" Noguchi stood and faced the asshole pilot. "Don't hold out on me, Conover! If you know something that might stop those
things- you'd better tell me" Strandberg started coughing again. Conover glared at her and jabbed a finger
in her general direction. "Look, I have some shares in this little investment
along with everyone else! There is nothing we can do, okay?" Strandberg tried to stand up, and fell to
the floor. His coughing suddenly turned to hoarse choking
sounds, and he spasmed and convulsed, clutched at his chest. Heart attack or epileptic seizure Noguchi took one step toward him and felt
a hand on her shoulder. Broken Tusk. He hissed and hefted his spear. Conover rushed to his friend's side and then
stepped back at the sight of blood on Strandberg's abdomen. "Tommy-?!" Noguchi gasped. The convulsing pilot screamed again and again. And at the same time, there was the sound
of ripping, shredding, the sound of flesh parting-- A creature the size of Noguchi's forearm burst
through Strandberg's chest in a spray of red. Dripping with blood and slime, the animal
looked surreal, its head dominated by rows of teeth. It coiled its long, flesh-colored body in
the frame of Strandberg's bloody rib cage and screeched at them. And jumped The larger ooman stood in Dachande's way. He pushed it aside and reached the ooman host
just as the kainde amedha lunged forth. Dachande lifted his spear and brought it down,
hard. He could feel the young drone's back snap
beneath the weapon. Hot intestine squirted, blood hissed. Dachande stepped away and looked at the oomans. He waited. Scott couldn't seem to catch his breath. "Oh, God...Tom...Jesus...." Tommy still quivered all over. His fingers clenched and unclenched, and then
nothing. The giant had squashed the alien parasite
quickly and neatly. It was over, that fast. And Tommy lay next to him, the slick innards
of his body exposed, his eyes open. Scott turned away and dry-heaved a few times,
the retching bringing only sour spit. And then he understood. He sat up stiffly and put a hand on his stomach. And coughed. And started to cry: Noguchi grabbed someone's coat off the back
of one of the chairs and draped it over the dead pilot. She shuddered and stepped back. Conover's shoulders shook with grief. Noguchi looked up at Broken Tusk, who watched
mutely, and then back at Conover. Broken Tusk had known. Her theory had panned out. For what that was worth at this point. She crouched down next to the crying pilot
and put a hand across his back. She kept her voice low, but didn't hesitate. "Look...uh...I know standberg was your friend. But you can't go to pieces yet. I need you functioning. Before stranberg..uh, he was about to tell
me something...something that could wipe out the bugs. Conover turned his tear-streaked face up to
look at her. "You don't get it, do you? What happened to Tom..-that thing that was
inside of him. We were together on The Lector. That means I've got one of those things inside
me, too. My life's over. Leave me alone." The pilot's face crumpled in despair. He buried his face in his hands and started
to sob loudly. Noguchi let him cry for a moment, then patted
him gently on the back. She felt like a real bitch for what she was
about to say, but there was no way around it. "You're not dead yet, Conover. And We still need your help. We're all in this together." He continued to rock back and forth. "And if I don't help you?? Think you can threaten me now??" Noguchi stood up. "No. But Maybe I can help you." Conover looked up at her and wiped his eyes
with the back of one hand. "Help me? How? Are you a doctor? You gonna perform surgery and make me all
better?" Noguchi shook her head. "No, I can't do that. But you can have a shot at revenge-" She took
a deep breath. "And I can make it quicker, easier for you." The mixed look of pain and self-pity and gratitude
on the pilot's face made her stomach clench. Conover was an asshole, but he didn't deserve
to die for it. If she had one of those things inside of her
. . . "Okay," he said quietly. "Fuck it. Yeah, okay" Scott sat at the terminal, his eyes gritty
and his hands trembling. He was going to die. He was going to die. The thought was a repeating loop in his mind,
a horrible and constant statement of looming black truth. He was pregnant with a monster, he was going
to die-Scott shook his head and finished the sentence he had typed onto the screen; almost
done. His stomach hurt, and with each second, it
got worse. He coughed into his hand and tapped a few
more keys. "Everything you need is on the disk," he said. His voice sounded dead, too. Noguchi nodded. She sat next to him and watched carefully
as he worked. "Thanks, Conover." "Scott," he said softly. It suddenly seemed very important that she
knew his name. Because he was going to die. "Thanks, Scott." He felt a few more tears trickle down his
face and into his beard. It had been like that for the last twenty
minutes. Knowing you were about to die was bad, very
bad. "It's going to be tough getting in," he said. "Don't worry. We'll find a way." "I don't doubt it," he said. He coughed, the painful spasm filling him
with dread. He took a deep breath and coughed again. It was getting worse. He smiled weakly at Noguchi. "You know, if this works, the company's gonna
be really pissed." She straightened slightly and then laughed. She seemed surprised by the sound. So was Scott. You can still make a pretty woman laugh, Scott. "Fuck the company," she said. "Yeah. I was hoping you'd say that." On a sudden impulse, Scott grabbed at a piece
of paper on the console and a pen. He made a quick sketch, studied the drawing
for a moment, and then added a few more details. He folded the paper in half and handed it
to Noguchi. "Here's a going away present," he said. He coughed and pressed one hand to his stomach. He tried not to think about it-You're going
to die- "It's a map of the Lector," he continued. "I should have thought of it before." She slipped the paper into a chest pocket
and nodded. Behind them, at the door, the shrieks of the
alien bugs had gotten louder. "Sounds like every bug in the place is trying
to get in," he said. "Well. All but one of them. It's already in." "It's all right. We're ready to go." She stood. Scott nodded and coughed again. He was going to die. A kind of calm slipped over him, a sense of
unreality that made him feel far away from all this. It didn't matter, not really. He should be scared, had been scared, but
now, in this moment, he was somehow floating above it, watching himself as if he were someone
else. It was a done deal, end of the line, and while
he had never dreamed it would happen this way, here it was and what choice did he have? At least he had helped. Maybe it would even make some kind of difference-he
wouldn't be around to see, but at least he wouldn't be in pain, and the damn repeating
line would end. The giant alien walked over to meet them when
Noguchi stood. It gestured with its spear at Scott. Noguchi's voice came from the creature: "I
can make it quicker, easier for you." Noguchi held up one hand. "No. I made the promise, I'll do it." The giant seemed to understand. It stepped back. "Weird," said Scott. He coughed-and with it came an odd nauseous
feeling. Like he had swallowed something alive. "Just do it, okay?" Noguchi held her pistol up. "Close your eyes, Scott. Count to three." Scott closed his eyes. He sensed the barrel of the weapon behind
his skull and he clenched his eyes tighter. He was afraid. But he was ready. "I'll remember you," said Noguchi gently. "One. Two- Three -- " "You're being awfully quiet, Tom. What's the matter, you mad at me?" "Huh? No, I was just thinking...Look, I know you
said it as a joke, but maybe I SHOULD go on one of those safaris...or sign on as a ranch
hand. Maybe it'll turn out youre right, and I wouldn't
like it, but I should at least give it a try. A change of scenery might be just wht I need...get
back to the land and living things...get some adventure and uncertainty back into my life. Did I ever tell you that I went hunting once? I had an uncle who was wealthy. He took me Quail hunting when I turned 15...said
it would make man of me. But, all I could think about was how big my
shotgun was, and how small the birds were. I guess I could understand the potential for
excitement in the hunt, but for me the thrill went missing. The contest seem so lopsided. I wondered what it would be like to hunt something
that was capable of hunting ME. The challenge...the danger. To put yourself on equal footing with nature...to
risk everything on your own skill and strength...that's got to be the ultimate thrill. I mean, look at what we do for a living...access
the computer, punch in a few buttons...all the work is done for us. Anybody could do this job, with the right
trainining. I want to do something that;ll get my heart
pounding. I guess that's what I meant by my anti-technology
tirade. It's not that technology is evil in and of
itself...but once in a while we have to put it aside and do something to remind ourselves
that we're alive....prove that we CAN accomplishing something relying solely on ourselds. I can't help but think an experiences like
that would CHANGE a person...maybe not in a way that other people would notice...but
it would be something you'd carry with you for the rest of your life." "Geo-Synchronous orbit in five hours. Check on CHX." "There's some flutter...but we're compensating
-- we can decouple anytime after orbit is achieved. Then it's hello Ryushi! Jesus...what a dustball." "Shit, Tom-- what kind of mouth-breather would
want to move all the way out to this hell hole? Especially when there's land avaible on Nova-Terra?" "I don't know, Scott. But I'll just bet you....Ryushi is somebody's
idea of paradise...." In this series, I'm recounting the trials
of Machiko Noguchi, and her experiences with the Yautja species. For more on this character, please see the
playlist on the endscreen and description below. As always, I'd like to Thank you very much
for watching. I really appreciate it, and If you enjoyed
this video, please make sure to give it a like, and you can also subscribe for all the
latest videos from the channel A very, very special thanks goes out to Weyland
Yutani Executives EmYaruk, Mark Fox, and Lady Anne, part of the Patreon Hive. I'd also like to thank a new queen level patron,
Albert Newell. Welcome to the hive. If you'd like to join the hive and support
the channel, check out my Patreon page for exclusive posts and contests. In the meantime you can catch up with Alien
Theory over social media- follow @Alien_Theory on Twitter, and @AlienTheoryYT on Facebook
and Instagram for more. And until next time, this is Alien Theory,
signing off.
