This story is primarily written for entertainment purposes. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Note that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have written an error-free text. Nevertheless, over the years I have written a lot of fiction in English. So I hope to be always improving my skills.

Chapter 1: The encounter

"Spilman?" an older man's impatient voice asked from beyond a thin wall. "Spilman, what rock are you hiding under this time?"

"Right here." a most bored and indifferent man's voice replied.

The first man pressed a button on the door controls. This promptly caused the door to slide open and disappear into one of the walls. Next, the man found himself inside a small, poorly lit room. He could not see the back wall, for it was obscured by an abnormally thick cloud of what appeared to be blue smoke.

"Goddamn, son." he said, sounding mostly annoyed, but also with a hint of pity in his voice. "Are you testing the sprinkler system, or what?" He waved his hands several times in an attempt to clear the smoke away.

"The sprinklers are fine. I just turned them off in this room. There's no need for them while I'm here." the same indifferent voice from before explained.

The thick blue curtain of smoke was dissipating somewhat, now that the door was open. Spilman's face slowly came into view, as did the overfull ashtray near him. He was sitting at the large table in the center of the room. The pile of ash in the tray still seemed to be smoldering.

Spilman was in his early forties, but had more wrinkles than average. He had unkempt black hair almost reaching his shoulders. The bald topside of his head was mostly obscured by the cap he wore, with the company logo prominently visible. A cigarette was in the corner of his mouth. His brown eyes and bushy eyebrows complemented the rugged appearance.

Spilman could now confirm that it was indeed Jacobs who had entered. His red face, short white hair, and stocky figure were unmistakable. However, he had already recognized the voice the moment the man had begun speaking.

Jacobs folded his arms. "Is that so, huh? Well you can switch them back on now. I'm here to tell you you're expected in the Lab within the hour."

"So what, those science bozos have you running errands now? Does the facility admin really have nothing better to do?" Spilman wondered out loud, with an overdone hand gesture.

Jacobs slowly shook his head and then shrugged. "I'm here because I am trying to help you. No-one wants anything to do with you. That should be obvious by now. If you don't show up, they'll have one more excuse to kick your ass off this planet. There is only so much I can do."

"I don't recall having signed up for therapy." Spilman said, pretending to miss the point of Jacobs' little speech.

"Just check your damn messages. If I knew you did, I wouldn't have come here." Jacobs reacted gruffly, before turning around and walking out. He didn't even close the door behind him.

"Asshole." Spilman mumbled to himself, as he stood up. He put a lid on the ashtray and proceeded to a wall console to turn the air conditioning back on. As he was gathering his tools, the smoke cleared from the room. Just before he left, he turned the sprinkler sensors back on. "Safety first." he cynically said to no-one in particular.

Down the corridor, Spilman met up with his colleague, Isaacs. The latter appeared to have finished preparing the hardware cart, since he was already driving it out of their workshop.

Isaacs was short of height, but broad-shouldered with a trained physique. He had a bald head, a nondescript face with grey eyes and a gold earring in his left ear. He was a synthetic, but this fact wasn't immediately obvious to most.

"So you got the memo after all? I didn't think you would ever start reading your messages." Isaacs said with a smile, after stopping the cart it front of Spilman.

"Drop it." Spilman responded, not being in the mood for his poor attempt at humor. "Jacobs informed me. Any idea why they shifted the schedule?"

"Who knows? Who cares? We have work, isn't that enough?" Isaacs noted brightly. Spilman figured he might have a point with his philosophy. After all, there wasn't much else to look forward to on this planet.

He liked his job, and Isaacs was content with being his assistant. Really, what more could a man ask for? Spilman snickered to himself, but deep down he didn't really think there was anything funny about the situation.

For the first time since their arrival here, their work assignment would take them to the far side of the outpost. They had never gone there, because they normally had no business there. Also, it was a restricted area. Apparently, there was some low-key research going on there.

As to why Weyland-Yutani was funding research here, Spilman and Isaacs could only guess. The primary function of this outpost was to relay interstellar communications between Thedus, in the Epsilon Reticuli system, to a group of relatively isolated Outer Rim systems that were nearer to the galactic core. It didn't seem like anybody could do a whole lot of research in this small and insignificant outpost.

Spilman had put his toolkit onto the cart, and was now walking beside it as Isaacs slowly drove towards their destination. The cart was long, narrow, and electrically propelled. They were able to maneuver it through the outpost without much effort. Most doors and junctions were wide enough to accommodate it, and Jacobs ran a strict policy of keeping the corridors freely passable.

Of course, Jacobs hadn't arranged this for them specifically. The supply logistics guys also had a cart, as did the cleanup guys. Their carts were not as fancy, though. In a curious case of creativity, Isaacs had once spray-painted their cart in a kind of tiger stripe pattern. They had also upgraded the battery and the wheels, giving it a far higher top speed than what was allowed in these corridors. Now was not the time to demonstrate that speed, however.

They had just entered the service corridor that would take them to the research complex. This was the only way to get in and out of there, without stepping into the non-breathable atmosphere outside. The corridor looked newer and cleaner than what they were used to. The main complex had been built in 2117, but the research complex had been added much later. This corridor actually looked somewhat modern.

Up ahead, near the halfway point, was a security station. When they reached it someone called out.

"Stop. Do not move beyond the yellow line." one of the security guards barked. There were four of them in total. They were armed, but had their weapons holstered. Spilman had probably seen them in the mess hall multiple times; he didn't really care who they were.

Isaacs silently did what was asked. Spilman noticed that there was indeed a yellow line on the floor, making him snort. They were taking this very seriously indeed.

The lead guard, Bryant, a woman with red hair, proceeded with the inquiry. "Let's see what we have here. Name?"

"G.T. Spilman. Call me Geoffrey." Spilman said, while deliberately squinting, and pinching his cigarette between two fingers.

"Middle name?" she continued, unimpressed and frowning.

"Tyrannosaurus." he said, steel-faced, cigarette in hand. Isaacs started laughing out loud, maybe a little too loud. Spilman quickly looked at him, and formed a wide grin himself. It was quite a ridiculous question after all, since the lead guard probably had all their personal information displayed on the terminal.

Bryant promptly ruined their fun. "That's enough, gentlemen, or I'll have you sent down to the brig." she said quasi-politely. Spilman could see a twisted smile appear on her face that just as quickly disappeared again.

"Here's my ID." Spilman said, as he took his company badge that was hanging from the chest pocket of his blue jumpsuit. Even though she hadn't asked for it yet, Spilman knew that it was probably the next question he was going to get. After a brief inspection, she gave it back to him.

"Where were you born, Spilman?" she continued. Again, Spilman didn't see what the point of the question was. Nevertheless, he had enough patience left to answer it.

"Barnard's Star." he replied neutrally.

"Barnard's Star." Bryant repeated more slowly, seemingly in an attempt to spite him, by making it seem as if what he said wasn't matching up with what she was reading on the terminal.

Spilman didn't care about what would happen next, and decided to give an unsolicited elaboration. "Yeah, I'm from Barnard's Planet alright, born in Barnard's little old country, right there in Barnard's picturesque fishing village. You should go on holiday there sometime. Might help you ease down a bit."

Half expecting to be arrested for insolence by these security baboons, he was surprised that there was hardly any reaction at all from the lead guard.

"Lovely." she stated dryly. "Your business in this section of the facility?"

Finally she reached a subject that interested Spilman enough that he could be serious about it. "Video security system, upgrades and repair wherever needed. Our cart contains our tools, as well as replacements parts. Cameras, wiring, screens, support brackets, you name it. Screens in particular. I've got little four-inchers, nine-inchers, and even a…" he said before he was interrupted.

"Thank you. That will do." Bryant interjected. One of the other guards proceeded to scan Isaacs' badge and wrist. Spilman watched silently. He guessed synthetics didn't need to be interviewed for security reasons.

"He was manufactured at Wolf 359, in case you're interested." Spilman said to them, but no-one responded.

A short while later the cart had been scanned and they had been cleared to proceed past the security station. Here, there were several windows in the service corridor, which showed glimpses of the outside environment.

The sky was purple, with some spots more blue than others. Brown rock formations could be seen all around. Some moss and small plants, genetically modified and originating from Earth, grew nearby. There was no large vegetation such as trees, nor any signs of animal life. Suddenly, someone felt the need to interrupt the silence.

"What is it with you and other people?" Isaacs asked out of the blue. "I have never witnessed you having a positive conversation with anyone, women least of all. It is like you are angry with all of them."

"That's very insightful, coming from someone who hardly knows anything about being human." Spilman said, as he put out the stub of his cigarette in the cart-mounted ashtray. "Why don't you stick to driving and fixing stuff, hmm? And leave the philosophizing to me?" he continued, while he lit a new cigarette.

"Sure, because as a VidTech, you deal with existential questions daily." Isaacs responded. There it was again, another attempt at humor by using sarcasm. Spilman knew his assistant synthetic still needed to work on his inflection. Nevertheless, it appeared Isaacs knew him pretty well.

"More often than you think." Spilman mumbled, whilst staring at the purple sky outside. "You are right, you know."

Isaacs remained silent after the remark, which Spilman didn't mind. Perhaps he understood more about him than he let on.

Soon, they reached the door that would lead them to the research complex. Once it disappeared into the ceiling, they entered what appeared to be some kind of reception room. It was brightly lit, with a beige interior. There, they met with several scientists. Only one of them spoke: Dr. Morrison.

"Right. The VidTech crew. I trust you have been briefed on the requirements of the upgrades?" Dr. Morrison inquired in a very stately manner. She had black hair and dark skin and was about the same age as Spilman.

"Yup, got all the parts right here. Just tell us where you need 'em." Spilman told her, putting effort into sounding like her polar opposite.

"Follow me. And don't mind the locks on the doors. We always close them behind us when we enter the heart of the facility. It is simply a precaution." she said unnecessarily slowly, as she turned around and walked to a side-door.

"Really… well how about that." Spilman replied, as he squinted again. Morrison's right jacket sleeve was hanging limp. There didn't appear to be an arm inside there.

The three of them went deeper into the facility. Like Morrison had said, each door that closed behind them was immediately locked remotely. Each green light went out, and its red counterpart lighted up.

"In case of an evacuation alarm, please use the code 1516 to open the nearest emergency exit. There are emergency helmets located near the exits. I assume you have been trained on their usage?" Morrison continued in the same slow talking pace.

"Affirmative." Isaacs answered, when Spilman didn't respond quickly enough.

Of course Spilman knew how to use an emergency helmet. Those things could provide a person with breathable air in an unsuitable atmosphere for a small amount of time. He was far more intrigued by the unorthodox protocol of having to use an access code to open the emergency exits.

"Okay. We are almost there. One more thing." Morrison said, as she stopped and turned around to face them. "I hope you guys don't mind being watched while you do your job."

"We don't mind, ma'am." Spilman responded confidently. "But we need to shut down the entire video surveillance system in this sector for the duration of the upgrades. So unless you or anyone else is staying in here, you won't be able to keep an eye on us. I hope you don't mind."

Dr. Morrison smiled briefly, but didn't respond to Spilman's explanation. She simply informed them about the four security points around a central chamber. These four points were currently unoccupied, as security was being handled remotely for the next few hours. The upgrades were to be done at these four locations. After having given this elaboration, she left via the way they had come in, typing in a code to get the door open.

Moving on to the first security point, something dawned on Spilman, and he promptly shared his thoughts with Isaacs. "Wait a sec, she didn't give us the code to get out of here once we're done. I doubt it's the same as the evac code."

"It is not the same. It is 8832. I saw her type it in." Isaacs answered brightly, as if there wasn't anything fishy going on here whatsoever.

"You saw it through her back?" Spilman asked, incredulously.

"Arm movements relative to the keypad."

"Impressive… and thanks… but enough dicking around. Let's get to work."

Spilman and Isaacs entered the first security point. It was a room with black walls and minimal lighting. There were two desks outfitted with built-in terminals and a wall filled with monitors. There were, however, still some blind plates in the monitor bank, so there was room for expansion.

For the first time Spilman could see what had to be the research subject of the facility and the reason for all the security measures. There were three large windows, which provided a view of a dimly lit circular inner chamber. One could look through the chamber and see the other three security points from here.

In the center of the chamber was a pile of rocks with moss on them. It looked like these had been taken from outside. Beside the pile was a black mass lying on the ground. Spilman had to let his eyes adjust for a moment. It was more than just a mass. Sections of it were shiny; the ceiling lights were being reflected. In other places it had a most curious surface pattern, like it was mechanical.

There was something else also. Something black was protruding from the ceiling inside the chamber. It was leaking fluid. Then it disappeared without sound; pulling back into the ceiling vent.

Meanwhile, Isaacs was turned away, and dutifully taking out the necessary tools and parts from the cart's various compartments. Spilman grabbed his shoulder.

"There is something curious going on here. There's something in there." he said to Isaacs as he turned the latter's shoulder to get him to look at the chamber.

"I thought you said we had to get to work?" Isaacs replied with a questioning look.

"Just look at this, man. It's hard to describe." Spilman said, almost sounding hypnotized.

Something long and thin uncurled from another hole in the ceiling. It appeared to have bony ridges all along it. At the tip, there was a kind of pointy blade.

"What is that, a scorpion?" Spilman wondered out loud. He began to subconsciously chew on his cigarette.

The thing pulled itself back into the vent. Next, a black domed thing appeared. Two clawed hands accompanied it. More and more of it slowly became visible. The beast then showed itself fully, crawling completely out the vent. It was the size of a man, but it managed to defy gravity by walking on the ceiling like it was the easiest thing in the world.

The long curly thing appeared to be its tail. It was attached to a sleek body with four limbs. The head was shaped like a cigar; at least that was the first thing that came to Spilman's mind anyway.

It moved itself from the ceiling to the nearest wall, and then onto the floor. It happened in such an elegant and graceful fashion that Spilman was completely mesmerized.

The creature then turned to face the window, and began to stare at them, showing its silvery teeth, and drooling seemingly continuously. Nobody said anything for a time. Spilman slowly moved closer to the window.

"Beautiful. Simply amazing. Where do you suppose it keeps its eyes?" he inquired towards Isaacs.

"It seems to me it doesn't have any." Isaacs replied without any discernable emotion. "Nevertheless, it seems to be able to detect our presence."

"Yeah… and it probably wants to take a chunk out of us." Spilman continued. He showed neither signs of worry, nor a hint of fear when he said this. He was fascinated above all else.

It dawned on him that the black mass lying on the ground was another one of these creatures. Looking at it now, he could discern that it was curled up on the ground, with its knees against its chest, arms around its legs, and tail forming a partial circle around itself.

As if on cue, the creature that had come from the ceiling crawled over to the other one on all fours. Spilman got a good look at the apparent tubes sticking out of its back. Its hind legs appeared to be double jointed.

He wasn't sure what it was doing, but it moved the front of its head close to the face of the other one. Within moments, the second one awakened, albeit slowly. It seemed to be taking all the time in the world to unfurl itself, as if it was lazy and didn't like being disturbed by its counterpart.

Now there were two creatures staring at them. Isaacs also approached the windows. He inspected the barrier from top to bottom. "This central chamber appears to be suspended and structurally separate from the rest of the facility. Everything combined, the windows are at least four layers thick." he noted.

"Not without reason, I suspect. I think that's where Morrison's arm went." Spilman speculated, pinching his cigarette.

"We should not forget that we still have a job to do." Isaacs reminded him. Spilman sighed, but concurred.

Spilman started by shutting down the video surveillance system via one of the desk terminals. When it refused one of the last steps due to another missing code, he took one of the devices that Isaacs had set onto the desk for him.

It was a rectangular device, battery powered, with a small green-screen CRT monitor and some turn knobs. It was heavy enough that it had to be put on a steady surface to operate it. After plugging a cable into the back of the terminal, he turned some knobs on the device. The static on the screen went away, and two columns of green numbers on a black background appeared. Every two seconds or so, a new line of text appeared at the bottom, making the whole number matrix shift up.

Despite being seemingly random numbers, they told Spilman enough. He managed to come up with an override code, even though the exact code wasn't readable on the small screen. It appeared he knew the algorithm and had worked out the code inside his head, using the numbers on the screen as inputs.

The job they had been assigned included replacing faulty monitors, expanding the existing banks, upgrading the signal hubs and replacing the cameras with more advanced types. As Isaacs and Spilman were working, the two creatures followed their moves with great interest.

Spilman was distracted several times by their presence, most notably when replacing one of the cameras. The system was set up as such that the cameras could be serviced from the outside, because they were positioned inside the outer wall. The inner wall had a transparent section where the camera lens would be pointed at, so it couldn't be reached by the creatures.

While replacing the camera, the creature that had come from the ceiling started walking on the wall again. It seemed to be sniffing around right near the spot where the old camera had just disappeared. Spilman didn't know if it was really sniffing or not. He couldn't hear anything through the barrier.

Isaacs wasn't in sight. He was currently in one of the hallways. Spilman saw his chance.

"Look at you move. You're like a cross between a lizard and a wasp. With a bit of scorpion added to the mix." he said to the creature, as he lighted a new cigarette. "Would you help me… to end it all?"

He got very close to the window, pressing his body and his face against it. The creature walked over him, but he couldn't feel any vibrations. First, its clawed hands passed over him, followed by its equally clawed feet. Finally, the sweeping tail slid over the reinforced glass.

Spilman felt strange, like the creature was giving him energy somehow. He had to make it last. But they wouldn't allow him to stay here once the job was done. So he had to arrange something. He already had an idea. Turning back to the wiring hub, he started applying some modifications of his own.

Once the VidTech crew was done, and after the video system had been turned back on, Dr. Morrison appeared again. This time she walked all the way into one of the security points. No doubt had she seen Spilman and Isaacs quietly sitting there on one of her remote monitors.

Spilman heard her enter, so he looked over his shoulder. He was just in time to see her flinch. Looking back around, he saw the two creatures now standing on their hind legs. Both had their jaws opened, showing a most curious set of inner jaws on their tongues. One of them was furiously clawing away at the window, actually managing to inflict some minor damage to it.

"Whoa… they must definitely like you." Spilman joked, somewhat surprised by the creatures' sudden aggressiveness, but not really all that alarmed.

"Not really, Spilman." said Dr. Morrison calmly as she regained her composure. "I see you've met Lizzie and Ripper. I think they like you… most unusual indeed. I'd like to have a word with you. "