The light above the doors flashed dimly as the elevator rose. The hallway
was brightly lit as Julian Farrance was watching the small flashing 'up'-arrow
intensely.
Another group to brag to about the complex he was working in. Somehow he
always wanted to back out at this point, just before they would step out
between those doors from the elevator, and start watching everything like they
were at some kind of a zoo. Like morons they would follow him around and
listen to what he told them. He could tell them that after a hard day's work
he always went down to Zoron's and piss captains in their mouths, and they
would nodd to eachother as though they were told the eight world wonder.
There was a dull 'ping' as the elevator stopped. The flashing arrow went dead. The doors opened and out stepped a group of eight.
"Bowman group?", Farrance asked.
Some nodded to him. They all gasped around looking at the flashing lights on
the walls. Two walked over to a small glass box which contained a disected
facehugger, not paying attention to him at all.
"I am your escort and guide on your tour around the Alien Research Centre
here. Please note the safety rules I am about to tell you."
Farrance turned to the ones studying the facehugger.
"Please? Would you...?", he suggested. They went back to the rest of the
group, obviously unwillingly.
"Now, I will explain you the simple rules you must obey to during this tour.
There is no touching or messing about with things other than what I tell you
to. Second..."
One by one he observed the members of the group during his little speech. No
one would give him real trouble, he thought. Three women, five men. No
experts in this group. No tough questions.
"...understand all of this? If you do, raise your hand.", he concluded.
Six of them raised their right hand. Two men looked surprised everyone else
did so.
"Du! Sind Sie Deutsch?", he asked. They nodded.
"Mein Deutsch ist sehr schlecht. Ich kann nur versugen langsam zu sprechen,
ok?"
They smiled at them and nodded approvingly. Farrance turned away from them
and faced the group again.
"Now, you all got your passes?", he asked slowly. "Please hand them over to
me for verification."
He received everyone's pass and started checking them by shoving them into a
passreader after having inserted his own. They all checked out ok. When he
pressed the button to get his pass back, the screen above it flickered on.
"Farrance? Hey, Farrance!"
Farrance looked at the screen and saw the grinning face of Raymond McDowell
appear.
"Yo', McDowell! What's up, man?", Farrance grinned back.
"Notin'. Just saw you used your card and I thought I'd... Hold on."
McDowell turned away and punched some buttons on the left of the screen.
"What-da-fu...", he said and looked astonished. He turned to some other
switches, hissed "Shit!" and punched something on his main controls.
"McDowell! What's-", Farrance started.
All the lights went dead. The monitor glowed in the dark, showing McDowell
running around in the main control centre. He looked scared, while he shouted
in a microphone to some people to get out.
"I have to secure the area! Get out! NOW!"
Somewhere in the background there was the sound of people screaming.
McDowell looked shocked as he saw what Farrance heard: people being ripped
apart. Their deathcry echoed in his mind and McDowell couldn't move for a
second or two. Fatal seconds.
"RAYMOND! Get yourself together! Report!", Farrance cried out into the mike.
McDowell looked at Farrance's monitor, gasping. He looked devastated,
beaten.
"She was in there, Julian... She's gone... It's on the loose. They've broken
free. Too late... It's too late, Julian..."
"What is?", Farrance shouted at him. "IS THE AREA SECURED?"
"Too late..."
McDowell seemed to be on the verge of crying.
"Raymond?"
Farrance watched the monitor intensely. Somewhere in the back, a door slit
open. An alien leaped into the room.
"Raymond! Look out!", Farrance yelled, just as McDowell turned around to
meet the alien. He cried out and reached for his M-16. The alien hit him as he
got hold of it. There was a loud screeching sound of victory from the alien.
McDowell yelled in agony as his stomach was pierced. Farrance saw him turn
the gun behind his back, aiming at his own head.
He pulled the trigger.
The bullets pierced through his head, into the head of the alien. It was a
short burst, but enough. The alien shrieked as it bled acid. McDowell's body
fell to the ground as the alien swayed away from it, convulting, dying. It
made the high shrieking sound again, but this time there was no triumph in it.
It was fear. It tried to stay on it's feet, failed, got up again, fell down
again. It's head was blown away from halfway the neck up to the face. Acidic
blood sprayed all over the control panels.
Farrance watched without being able to help McDowell in any way. It was
mental torture. Shocked, he watched the alien move away from his friend's
body, spurting blood on the panels. Last thing he saw was alien blood blotting
the camera mounted on top of the monitor in the control centre. When it
dripped down, the signal fell away and there was just static.
"Shit!", Farrance whispered, clutching his teeth. He turned the monitor off
and turned around.
Eight pairs of frightened eyes looked at him. They were terrified.
So they do know something about the aliens, Farrance thought. They knew to
be scared of them.
"Allright, I think we have a problem...", Farrance began. One of the women
was trembling all over and started to utter small screams of fright.
"...but we have to stay calm. I will take us all to safety. If you..."
The woman started screaming. She didn't think lightly about the job, she did
her utmost to make as much noise she could. The others looked at her,
scared.
"SHUT UP!", Farrance shouted at her and slapped her across the face. She
didn't stop. He slapped her again, she fell and he jumped her. He closed her
mouth and held his hand over her mouth and nose, making it unable for her to
breath. She fought furiously, but he was stronger.
When she almost fainted, her movement weakened and she collapsed. Farrance
let her go.
"Do that again, and I will leave you. You got that?", he sissed to her. She
faintly nodded. The others were cuddled up against the wall.
Perfect, Farrance thought.
"Stay there!", he told them. He walked over to the elevator and pushed the
'down' button.
Nothing happened.
He pushed it again a few times.
Nothing.
This meant armageddon. Almost every power circuit was blown. Usually you got
at least a small message that the elevator didn't work. This was not good.
He went back to the group.
"We can't use the elevator. The power is cut. All doors should function,
though. Maybe another elevator. We're going to try."
They all looked at him, numb, not being able to think.
"ARE YOU AWAKE?", he shouted in their faces. Suddenly they woke up. Two men
shook their heads to clear it and nodded at him, their eyes getting
fierce.
"ALLRIGHT!", Farrance continued. "Now listen up! These creatures react to
sound and smell. They can even pick up electric current to some extend. Nobody
do ANYTHING unless I tell you to! You stay close to the walls! Stay with the
group at any time! Stay out of my line of fire!"
Farrance showed them his M-16 and slapped the case.
"I will not hesitate to shoot THROUGH you, if necessary, to protect the
group!"
The women looked at the rifle, scared. He ignored it.
"Now, let me check that corridor first. If I don't come back, go the other
way. Back in a few seconds..."
He pulled his pulse rifle close and opened a door closeby, finger on the
trigger.
Nothing...
He stepped in and hit the 'CLOSE' button on the other side of the door...
This was it...
Game time...