LB426

Representatives of humanity have already set foot on this planet. They didn't like it either.

[Author's Note: This story serves as a bridge between the end of the Prometheus movie and the beginning of the Alien movie.]

Given its rather portentous name – Alexander the Great – the ship was somewhat battered, with none of the high-tech sleekness that characterised corporate spacecraft. It could carry a crew of seven people, but currently carried only three.

"Does the job," said Kin Yamiashi, who was the pilot and, for what it was worth, the captain.

"I do not think you can call this a job," said Hoshi Nomura. "For two months now we have been skating around this sector, looking at pieces of rock. And that's not counting the nearly two years of deep sleep that it took us to get here."

"We're not just looking at pieces of rock, we're conducting comprehensive geodesic and environmental surveys of potentially inhabitable, exploitable, terraformable planets," said Kin. "At least, that's what we'll say when we sell the data to one of the mining corporations back home."

"Which depends on us actually finding anything worth terrarforming, let alone mining," said Hoshi. "And we're operating on the basis that the corporations are interested in this sector. Some data hacked from one of the computer systems of Weylan Corp is not a lot to go on."

Kin grunted. "Okay then," she said. "We'll go back, starting right now. And you can explain that little hacking incident to the authorities, and to a company not known for its willingness to forgive and forget."

"Sure," said Hoshi. "And you can speak to the yakuza. That fellow's hand has probably grown back. Remember him? Big guy, tattoos, now known as 'Lefty'?"

"He shouldn't have pushed me."

"You shouldn't have borrowed money from gangsters."

"I told you, I needed the money to buy this ship, which we had to have to use the data you stole. And I went to the yakuza because other sources of finance were not available. The banking sector and I had agreed to disagree on a number of points."

"Like whether stealing money from them was acceptable as a credit reference."

"It was only four times. Maybe five, I really remember."

The two women looked at each other. Then they laughed.

"So here we are," said Hoshi.

"Yes," said Kin. "Here we are."

They were sitting in the control cabin of the Alexander. The next planet on the list swam into view.

"Now there's a place with a lot of potential," said Kin, as she turned on the long-range sensors. "LB426."

"It's a rock," said Hoshi, looking at the data stream. "Although better than the last dozen we've seen. L-class."

L-class. Gravity and climate within liveable limits. Atmosphere breathable for a few minutes, maybe, if you could avoid the savage storms that regularly swept around the planet. Environmental suits required. Hardly a place for a holiday.

Kin put the Alexander into a low orbit for aggregate data collection. Hoshi began to run surface surveys, looking for a place to land to collect geological samples.

"Better get your brother and Wendy up here," said Kin.

Hoshi hit the comms button to summon the others. In a few moments her younger brother Tichi came in. He was carrying a large box. This was Wendy, the sentient computer that was, more or less, the fourth member of the crew.

"You know, you can get computers that can move around by themselves," he said.

"But then you would not have gainful employment," said Hoshi. She plugged a jack from the ship console into Wendy for data transfer.

After a while, Wendy said: "I've quit better jobs than this."

"Shut up and tell us if you see anything unusual," said Kin. "By which I mean, possibly profitable."

"Nothing," said Wendy. "No … nothing … nothing … no … "

"Any sign of life?" said Tichi.

"Nothing that can be discerned from this distance," said Wendy. "A few odd-looking mountains, though. Very regular shape."

"Define," said Kin.

"Peculiar," said Wendy.

Kin sighed. For a sentient computer, Wendy managed to display a particularly exasperating form of factiousness. Whoever had programmed her had obviously had a sardonic and unpleasant sense of humour.

Hoshi hit a button on the console. It sent a static charge through the cord connected to Wendy.

"Ouch," said Wendy.

"Define," said Kin again. "The regular mountains."

"Almost perfectly hemispherical," said Wendy. "There is a row of them, evenly spaced. Five, although two appear to have been severely damaged. Shape and composition indicates engineering. There is a possible landing space not far from them."

"Sounds like something worth investigating," said Hoshi. "Maybe we can get into the alien artefacts trade. I hear there's money to be made there, even for things that aren't fake."

Kin guided the Alexander onto a descent path, watching the location data supplied by Wendy. Everyone strapped themselves in: the choppy atmosphere would make for a bumpy ride.

But eventually they were through, and in a few minutes they were flying along a wide, rocky valley.

Then they saw a line of massive stone domes. Kin angled the ship's sensors for a photographic record.

"Picking up metallic wreckage near the furthest dome," said Wendy. "Possibly a ship."

"Let's go see if there's anything that might be valuable," said Hoshi. Kin turned the Alexander past the line of domes. As Wendy had said, the last two in the line were badly damaged, as if something huge had come up from underground. Not far from the final dome, they saw the wreckage of the ship – or, rather, two ships: a huge, horseshoe-shaped one, and a smaller one of Earth/corporate design. Even after years of wind and sand damage, it was obvious that they had collided somehow.

"Hard to think that any pilot could hit something that big," said Tichi.

"Which probably means that it was deliberate rather than an accident," said Hoshi.

Kin found a level spot and put the Alexander down. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going out there fully loaded," she said.

"Me too," said Hoshi. "And then some."

"What?" said Tichi.

"Guns," said Kin. "Lot of guns."

"I didn't bring any guns," said Tichi. "I thought we were just doing geological surveys."

Kin looked at Hoshi. "Your brother," she said, "is an idiot."

Hoshi sighed. "I know," she said. "Okay, Hoshi, you can borrow one of mine. I have an extra one."

"What, how many did you bring?"

"Seventeen. I'll be wanting it back."

They suited up, with Tichi carrying Wendy in a backpack. Hoshi had given him an automatic pistol. She had two pistols in her belt and carried an automatic rifle that could shoot grenades. Kin had similar weapons, plus a samurai sword that she carried in a special holster on her back.

"Very hi-tech," said Hoshi, looking at the sword.

"Does the job," said Kin. "Ask Lefty."

They went down the ramp and walked over to a pile of wreckage. It was mainly from the Earth ship. There was a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the ground, with the letters PROM showing.

"What's it say?" said Tichi.

"Prom," said Wendy.

"Funny name for a ship," said Tichi.

"Hey, look at this," said Hoshi, pointing at another piece of metal. On it, in the same style as the name of the ship, was written: PROPERTY OF WEYLAN CORP.

"Ah," said Kin. "Old friends. Wendy, get footage of everything. They might pay to find out where one of their ships ended up."

"Unlikely," said Wendy, although she extended her camera lenses.

They looked at the other ship, but it was too damaged – between the collision, the reactors blowing, and the sand filtering in through the holes in the hull – to think of trying to salvage anything. But then Hoshi saw something else a little further away. They walked over to it.

It was a lifeboat pod, from the Earth ship. There was a gaping hole in the side, and they went in.

And they found a dead alien lying on the floor. It was slowly being buried by sand.

"Well well," said Kin, prodding it with her toe. "First contact."

"Ugly mother," said Tichi. "A chrome-dome."

"I don't think its chest it supposed to be like that," said Hoshi, pointing at the ribcage and abdomen, which seemed to have been pushed violently outwards. "On the other hand, who knows what they're supposed to be like?"

"Standing up, it would have been about eight feet tall," said Wendy. "Death by massive trauma, probably."

"You think?" said Kin.

They looked around, but there was not much to find. The computer system was completely inoperative, and everything that might once have been valuable was broken.

"Whatever happened here, I think we missed it," said Kin. "I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. We should check out one of the intact domes. Maybe we'll have better luck there."

They returned to the Alexander and flew back to the first dome. As they walked to what seemed to be the entrance, the wind began to increase.

"According to the data we collected from orbit, the next storm will hit this area in a little over two hours," said Wendy. "The Alexander might not be able to survive it. We should be away from here by then."

"Plenty of time," said Kin. "Here's the plan. We go in, we grab anything not nailed down that might be worth something, we run back to the ship and scoot. Is that too complicated?"

"What about the geological survey?" said Tichi.

"You can pick up some rocks on the way out if you like," said Hoshi.

They went through the opening and along a tunnel. They turned their suit lights on.

"Atmosphere is now breathable," said Wendy. "Not that I, for one, need to breathe."

Hoshi checked her suit readings. "How the hell did that happen?" she said.

"Maybe there are chrome-domes here and they breathe the same stuff we do," said Tichi.

The three of them popped their helmets to preserve their oxygen supplies. The air in the tunnel was thick and humid, but acceptable.

As they went on, the tunnel became lighter. There seemed to be a bioluminescent substance in the walls, giving a pale, shadowy glow. The tunnel turned into something that looked more like a corridor.

"Artificial light source ahead," said Wendy.

They came to a translucent door. There was a button on the side.

"What, do we knock?" said Tichi.

"Not really what I had in mind," said Kin. She hefted her gun and gestured for Tichi to push the button. He did, and the door slid open.

The room was empty. It seemed to be a lab of some sort. There was an assortment of tools and implements on various benchtops, as well as things that might have been data disks. Kin and Hoshi started to collect them and put them into their packs.

"Tichi, try and find something that looks like a computer terminal and see if Wendy can download anything," said Kin. Tichi began to look around.

"Over here," he called to the two women from the other side of the lab.

There was a series of large glass tubes, filled with liquid. Each held an odd-looking creature. In the first, there was a something that looked like a large crab, but with a snake-like tail. Next to that was a creature like a white snake. Next to that was another snake-like creature, but this one had an extended head and a mouth full of unpleasant-looking teeth. It bore a resemblance to the crab.

In the next tube was a creature the size of a ten-year-old child. Humanoid, but with black skin that looked like a cross between leather and scales. Its skull extended back, finishing in a rough point. In the final tube was an animal like a large octopus, but with barbs on its tentacles and a hard, curved head.

"Chrome-dome kiddies?" suggested Hoshi.

"Don't think so," said Kin. "These look like something else entirely. I'm not thinking pets."

Tichi had found something that looked like a computer outlet. After several tries, he managed to find a jack that connected Wendy to it. She began to draw data off the lab system.

"Can you make anything of it?" said Kin.

"The language is difficult," said Wendy. "I might be able to translate some of it with enough time, and if I was not constantly interrupted. But there is something … odd … about the data flow. I am currently loading the information about these creatures in the tubes, I think. The early data entries are careful and comprehensive. Then they start to become less careful. The latter ones are quite sketchy. While this is only a guess, given the alien nature of the … aliens … I would judge that they were becoming progressively more panicked. It is as if they were searching for something, a solution, or perhaps a weapon, and the search became more and more urgent. Also, the number of individuals making entries drops. First, there were ten. Then eight, then five. Four. Two. And then the stream ceases."

"Can't say I like the sound of that," said Tichi.

"We should be on our way, I think," said Kin. "We have enough goodies to make the trip worth the effort. God knows what these gizmos are, but that's something for the R&D geeks to wonder about."

They disconnected Wendy and started back for the ship. But they had only just left the lab when they heard something coming from a dark part of the tunnel. It was a rustling, hissing sound.

"Lock and load," whispered Kin. They raised their guns. "Tichi," she said. "Do you still have that iSee?"

"Sure," he said. He pulled it out of the pack and activated it. About the size of a softball, it floated in the air, emitting a slight hum. He took out the little control padd and checked that the iSee's controls and camera, including the infra-red lens, were working. Then he sent it into the tunnel. The three of them huddled around the little screen of the padd.

Tichi brought the iSee to a stop and swivelled its lens.

"There!" said Hoshi.

Even with the limited vision of the infra-red lens, the image was clearly an alien. But not a chrome-dome. This one looked a bit like the child-size creature they had seen in the lab. But bigger, much bigger, and with an elongated, curving skull. The sweep of the skull was the same as the curve of the octopoid creature in the tube. These aliens had teeth. And claws rather than hands. And tails, barbed like the other creature's tentacles. They had a strange insectoid quality – but these bugs were clearly built for killing.

The alien was studying the iSee. Then, with surprisingly speed, the alien reached out for it. But Tichi flicked it away from the creature's reach. The sudden movement made it spin, giving an image of the rest of the tunnel.

It was packed with aliens. Dozens. Maybe more.

"Fuck!" said Hoshi. "What the hell are those things!"

"I don't want to find out," said Kin.

Tichi brought the iSee back. But the aliens were chasing it now – and were heading straight for Kin, Hoshi, Tichi and Wendy.

"Back!" shouted Kin. They began to run.

"The lab?" panted Tichi.

"No, it's a dead end," said Kin. She led the way past the lab door and along the corridor.

The iSee caught up to them. Tichi grabbed it and stuffed it into his pack as he ran.

They passed something lying on the floor. It was a pair of chrome-dome bodies, their chests burst out.

Kin glanced back. The aliens were gaining, boiling along the corridor.

Looking backwards, they ran through an open doorway.

And collided with three chrome-dome aliens.

The aliens looked at them. They seemed a bit puzzled by the sudden appearance of the humans. They each carried pistols but made no attempt to draw them.

"Wendy!" said Kin. "Can you talk to them? Did you get enough data from the lab download?"

"Maybe," said Wendy. "It might take a few more minutes of processing. If I could, what would I say? That we come in peace?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of: get out of the fucking way!" said Kin.

Hoshi turned back towards the horde of oncoming aliens. "No time to chat," she said. She flipped her gun to grenade mode. Kin did the same.

They fired, straight into the throng. Then again, and then again. That was all the grenades they had.

The six grenades went off in a series of rolling explosions. There was a cascade of high-pitched screams from the aliens. As they came apart, they spouted yellow blood. When it splashed onto any surface, it began to burn. Acid.

Hoshi and Kin switched their guns to machine-gun mode and began to fire. Tichi pulled out the automatic pistol and added his contribution.

Then there was another sound, like a flat zap. It was the chrome-dome aliens. They had drawn their pistols and were firing at the others, some sort of beam weapon. But the aliens kept coming, even when wounded. Tough mothers.

Then Hoshi saw a button at the side of the doorway. She ran forward and pushed it. A heavy door began to slide across the gap.

But one alien made it through. It came racing towards them. Kin raised her gun and pulled the trigger. Nothing. Out of bullets. The alien was almost on her.

She threw the gun aside and drew her sword. In a single motion, she slashed out, cleaving the alien's head almost in two. There was a gush of blood as the alien collapsed. Kin jumped out of the way of the acid splash.

There was crash from the door. The aliens were trying to batter it down. It was holding – for now.

But now the chrome-dome aliens were pointing their pistols at the three humans. Hoshi raised her gun, as did Tichi. Kin lifted her sword.

"Wendy, have you learned to talk chrome-dome yet?" said Kin.

"Perhaps," said Wendy.

"Say this," said Kin. " 'We have a common enemy. It makes no sense for us to fight.' "

Wendy considered. Then she emitted a long stream of grunts, clicks, beeps and buzzes.

One of the aliens, apparently the leader of the three, started in surprise. Then he replied, in the same language.

"What did he say?" said Hoshi.

" 'Fuck you'," said Wendy. "As far as I can make out."

"Huh," said Kin. "Okay, say this: 'put your guns away or we will kill you where you stand.' " She walked up to the lead alien, so the tip of her sword was only a few inches from his chest.

"Is that altogether wise?" said Wendy. "They are bigger and have more sophisticated weapons. You have a sharpened stick."

"Add: 'fuck you too'," said Hoshi.

Wendy thought about it. Then she made another stream of noises.

The chrome-domes stared at them. Then they put their pistols back in their holsters. One of them said something to the others. The other two made a sound that might have been a sarcastic laugh.

"These assholes are the second-worst species I have ever encountered," said Hoshi.

Kin re-sheathed her sword. She picked up her big gun and reloaded.

The bug aliens were still banging away at the door. A large dent had begun to appear.

The three chrome-domes turned and began to walk down the corridor. They were almost around a bend when one of them stopped and turned towards the humans. He made a movement with his hands.

"He wants us to go with him," said Wendy.

"How do you know?" said Tichi.

"Because he is gesturing that he wants us to go with him," said Wendy.

"Then we may as well," said Kin. "We certainly can't get back to our ship the way we came. And I would like to be somewhere that doesn't have a door with an army of killer bugs on the other side."

"We should not forget that there is a storm coming in less than seventy minutes," said Wendy. "I do not wish to be stuck here if the ship is destroyed."

"Thank you for your concern for us," said Hoshi.

"I do not pretend to have any positive feelings for any of you," said Wendy.

Kin grunted. "If we get out of this," she said to Wendy, "I plan to turn you into a DVD player."

"If we get out of this," said Wendy, "you will be welcome to do so."

Kin grunted again. Then they set off after the chrome-domes.

PART II

They entered a large chamber. The walls were some sort of dark, engraved metal, with consoles around the outer edge and a raised platform in the middle.

"I'm guessing that this is a control bridge," said Kin. "Which means we are in a ship. Presumably like the one we saw crashed. That explains the damage to the ground around the other domes, it was these things coming up. But I would say that this one isn't going anywhere."

Indeed, the place was a mess. Most of the consoles had been damaged, apparently by a combination of bug alien acid and chrome-dome weapons fire. The chrome-dome aliens were obviously trying to make repairs but there was not much left to work with. There were holes in the walls, as if something – or a number of somethings – had broken through.

There were chrome-dome bodies in the corners. There were also bug-alien bodies: most in the big size, but also a few snake-types and crabs.

"Hell of a fight here," said Tichi, as he took off the backpack with Wendy and put it down on a console. "Looks like the chrome-domes won – just. Wouldn't want to bet on the second round, though."

In the distance, along the corridor, there was the sound of banging, as the bug aliens continued to hammer at the door. Eventually, they would break through.

"Not good," said Hoshi. "However you cut it."

The lead alien gestured them towards one of the relatively undamaged consoles. He pushed a series of buttons, and a holographic image appeared. It was a chrome-dome alien, except that he appeared to have one of the crab aliens attached to his face. He was lying on some sort of bed, apparently in the lab, in restraints at his wrists and ankles. Still breathing, or maybe the crab was pumping air into him.

The image changed. There was still the chrome-dome, but the crab had gone. Suddenly, he convulsed, so hard he almost tore free from the restraints. Then his chest exploded in a gush of dark blood. A snake-type bug alien appeared from the wound. In a moment, it leaped out of its victim's chest and out of the picture.

"God," said Kin.

"Fuck me," said Hoshi.

"I am always glad that I am not human," said Wendy. "At this moment, more than ever."

"Where did they come from?" said Tichi. "Do they come from here, this planet?"

"According to the data I collected from the lab, apparently not," said Wendy. "There is still a great deal of material I have not been able to translate, but it appears that they were created. Or, rather, the earlier version – the white snakes and the octopus creatures – were created. Somehow, they escaped. And somehow these other aliens evolved from them. They appear to be able to absorb certain genetic elements from those they … use as hosts. In their growth cycle, it appears that hosts are preferred but not essential. The ones we just fought have elements of the aliens you call the chrome-domes as well as those that look like octopi."

"Created?" said Tichi. "Who would be stupid enough to do that?"

"The chrome-domes, I believe," said Wendy. "Designed them as bio-weapons, I assume."

"Huh," said Kin. "Maybe they should get a job in the Weylan outfit."

The chrome-dome was calling up another image, this one a large map. It took Kin, Hoshi and Tichi several moments to realise that it was the area outside the stone dome. The Alexander the Great showed as a green dot.

The alien said something. Wendy replied. The alien spoke again, more forcefully this time.

"What is he saying!" said Hoshi to Wendy.

"I get it," said Tichi. "They want a lift."

"Basically, yes," said Wendy.

"Son of a bitch!" said Hoshi.

"Do you think they can be trusted?" said Tichi.

"Of course not," said Kin. "But I'm not sure we can get back to the Alexander without them, either."

The alien called up another image. It was a map of the interior of the ship – and also the dome, where the two met. The tunnel with the bug aliens in it was filled with large, moving red dots. There was another tunnel. It led to the exterior wall of the dome, coming out not far from where the Alexander stood.

But the tunnel was partially blocked. At one point, there was a series of red dots – but they were markedly smaller than the others, and not moving.

"Not sure what all that is, but it looks like the best option," said Kin. "Only option."

Suddenly, the chrome-dome alien stood up. He turned and looked at one of the holes in the wall. The other two aliens did the same. All three drew their weapons.

Kin, Hoshi and Tichi all raised their guns.

It happened quickly. A half-dozen crab aliens came rushing from the hole. They were fast – very fast. And then they used their tails to launch themselves through the air.

One came straight for Kin. She fired, and the crab exploded. Acid splashed over the barrel of her gun. She threw it down and drew her sword.

Hoshi also shot one in mid-air. It came apart, acid flying in all directions.

One flew towards Tichi. He fired but missed. The crab tried to wrap itself onto his face, its tail flicking around his neck. Tichi fell, trying to fend the creature off.

Before it could get a grip on him, Hoshi kicked out, sending the crab flying across the room. It was up again in a moment, leaping back at Tichi.

And then Kin's sword cut it neatly in two.

Kin looked around. Two of the chrome-domes had each killed a crab; the smoking bodies lay on the ground. But the other had not been fast enough. There was a crab wrapped around his face. He was still alive – but it was merely a question of time.

"Maybe we should shoot him," said Tichi. "So he doesn't have to suffer … what comes next."

"Ha," said Hoshi.

"He can think of it," said Kin, "as a particularly vicious type of karma."

There was a groan that seemed almost human.

"Wendy!" shouted Tichi. He ran to her.

She had been splashed with acid. It was still eating into her inner circuitry.

"Say something!" said Tichi.

"A … asshole," said Wendy.

"Well, she seems to be as good as ever," said Hoshi, although she knew differently.

Tichi was examining the damage.

"Any hope?" said Kin.

Tichi shook his head.

The banging from the tunnel grew louder – and then stopped.

They were through. A couple of minutes before they reached this chamber, no more.

"Time for us to go," said Kin.

"So long, bitch," said Hoshi to Wendy. But it was said with a certain affection.

"A … a favour," said Wendy. "Connect me to that outlet. I think it is the ship's communications system. I believe I can use it to send a message into space. A warning. That this is not a good place. Such things are part of my basic serve-and-protect programming."

Tichi nodded. He took a cable from the pack and connected Wendy to the terminal.

"Goodbye," he said to her. "My friend."

"I never really liked you," said Wendy.

"Huh," said Tichi.

Kin, Hoshi, Tichi and the two chrome-domes ran from the chamber and along the corridor.

"Do you think she meant that last part?" said Tichi.

"No," said Hoshi.

"Probably," said Kin.

The big chrome-dome took the lead. There was a labyrinth of corridors. Kin, Hoshi and Tichi quickly realised that they would not have been able to find the way by themselves.

They came to the point where the corridor metamorphosed into the tunnel. They stopped. From behind them, they could hear the bug aliens moving.

"So this is probably where those little red dots were," said Hoshi. She looked at the chrome-domes. "I don't think they know what's up ahead," she said.

"We can use this," said Tichi, taking the iSee from his pack. He activated it and sent it into the tunnel.

The tunnel ahead of them was lined with oval shapes, rough like translucent wax. Perhaps a hundred of them. They each appeared to have a flicker of movement inside them.

Eggs. This was a nest.

There was a path through – narrow and difficult but possible.

"Walk in the park," muttered Kin. She sheathed her sword and drew an automatic pistol.

Hoshi looked back along the corridor. The hissing was growing louder.

"So it's a choice between a very slim chance or no chance at all," she said.

"Tichi," said Kin, "send the iSee ahead of us."

Kin took the lead, with Tichi behind her, watching the padd screen.

Step by step, single file, they went through.

"How much further?" whispered Kin to Tichi.

"Maybe twenty metres," said Tichi. "So far, no sign of anything but eggs."

Finally, they reached the end of the nest.

The iSee was hovering – over one of the last eggs in the line. Slowly, the top of the egg folded open.

A crab leaped out. It wrapped itself around the iSee, crushing it. Both the crab and the little machine dropped to the ground. In a moment, the crab had detached itself and was scuttling towards Kin and the others.

It launched itself at Kin's face. She raised her pistol and fired. She shot off two of its legs but it kept coming – and then was blasted aside.

Tichi had shot it in mid-air.

"Nice shot," said Kin.

"First time I ever hit anything," said Tichi.

Other eggs were beginning to open.

Hoshi aimed her big gun and fired, and the chrome-domes began to shoot as well. They destroyed the first rank of eggs – but there were many more. Crabs were beginning to crawl out.

"Run!" shouted Kin.

They ran along the tunnel. As they rounded a bend, they saw the exit.

"Helmets!" shouted Kin. She, Hoshi and Tichi activated their suits so the helmets came down.

They came to a sudden stop at the entrance.

The ground was four, maybe five metres down. A long jump.

"Well, this bit wasn't on the map," said Hoshi.

There was a howling wind. The storm was almost on them.

But they could see the Alexander – five hundred metres away.

Behind, bug aliens were racing towards them.

No choice. They jumped.

In the chamber, Wendy had finished sending the message, which would automatically repeat. Between the damage to her and the strangeness of the alien equipment, she was not sure that she had made the meaning clear. She had done what she could.

She turned her lens to the chrome-dome alien. The crab had fallen from his face. It was spent but it had completed its task of planting a snake-like creature inside him. So he was, really, already dead. Perhaps that was why the troop of bug aliens had simply gone past the door of the chamber.

The chrome-dome obviously knew that his fate was sealed. He pushed several buttons on a console and a huge chair, with some sort of control device facing it, rose from the middle of the floor. Slowly, he climbed into the chair. He pulled a helmet-like device over his face, and the chair wrapped a series of tubes around his body.

He settled down to wait.

Wendy wondered if Kin, Hoshi and Tichi had made it back to the ship. I hope so, she thought.

The chrome-dome suddenly convulsed. A bulge appeared in his chest. He gave a cry of pain.

Fuck you, thought Wendy. Fuck all of you.

And then her CPU failed.

They were running towards the Alexander, the leading edge of the storm already starting to swirl around them. Even from two hundred metres, Kin could see the ship starting to shake on its footings. Going to be close, she thought.

Suddenly, a bug alien exploded out of the sand. With a savage hiss, it grabbed one of the chrome-domes by the throat and pulled him closer. The chrome-dome began to punch at it, and tried to bring his weapon up.

Then, from the bug alien's mouth, a second pair of jaws lanced out. It smashed into the chrome-dome's face.

"Goddamn!" said Hoshi. "Those things are fucking evil!"

She, Kin, Tichi and the last chrome-dome – it was the one that had been the leader of the trio – fired together. Both the bug alien and its victim went down.

"That's it for me," said Hoshi. "I'm empty." She threw her big gun down and drew a pistol.

The four of them continued to run towards the ship. Thirty metres away, Kin pressed the remote control on her belt and the Alexander's loading ramp lowered. They went in, with the three humans taking off their helmets as soon as they were inside.

The whole ship was shaking. Kin stripped off her pack and sword, running for the command chair.

"Strap in!" she shouted over her shoulder at them, as she pushed the button to raise the ramp. "It's going to be rough!"

Hoshi and Tichi took off their packs and gun belts, and ran towards the safety seats.

The ship lurched into the air.

Hoshi and Tichi were almost in the safety seats when they heard a sound like a bark.

They turned. It was the chrome-dome alien. He had his pistol pointed at them.

"Son of a bitch!" said Hoshi. "You pricks are worse than the other ones."

Kin, strapped into the control seat, saw what was happening. Desperately, she threw the ship into a sharp banking turn.

Taken by surprise by the sudden change in angle, the alien, Hoshi and Tichi were all thrown to the floor. As Kin fought to bring the ship back to an even keel, the alien struggled to his feet and lifted his gun again.

Hoshi flung herself at him, but he was much larger and stronger. He swivelled, knocking her aside. He aimed the pistol at her.

There was a flash of metal. Kin's sword, in Tichi's hand. It slashed into the alien's forearm: the hand carrying the gun fell to the floor. The alien screamed in pain. With his other hand, he grabbed Tichi by the throat. He began to squeeze. Tichi dropped the sword.

Hoshi, on her knees now, grabbed it. She swung, cutting into the alien's leg. He screamed again.

Then a savage gust of wind hit the ship. The Alexander tilted, and the alien, Kin and Tichi were all swept towards the ramp.

"Open the door!" shouted Hoshi to Kin. Kin hit the control, and the ramp began to open. Hoshi grabbed hold of a supporting strut as the ship continued to swing wildly.

Hoshi caught Tichi as he slid past towards the open ramp. The backpacks slid out of the opening and plummeted away.

The alien continued to slide. He was almost out of the ship when he managed to grab hold of the edge of the ramp. He was hanging on by one hand – but somehow was beginning to pull himself back in.

"Close it!" shouted Hoshi.

Kin pushed the button and the ramp began to swing shut. But the alien refused to let go. Slowly, the door closed.

It severed his fingers. It was a long drop to the ground below.

Hoshi gave a sigh of relief. "Do you think he'd survive the fall?" she said to her brother.

"I hope so," said Tichi.

"You … hope so?" said Hoshi. "But … oh, I see. Yeah, being bug food would be more appropriate."

With the ramp sealed, the ship became a little more stable. Kin started to climb out of the worst of the wind.

Hoshi and Tichi went to the control cabin.

"Has Elvis left the building?" said Kin.

"Yes, but he waved goodbye," said Hoshi. She handed Kin the sword. "I can see why you like this thing. 'Fraid we lost the packs with the goodies. So nothing in the way of alien tech to pawn."

"Hey, let's just be happy that we're walking away with our lives," said Kin. "You know, we're carrying a highly illegal 12C Leveller fuel-air missile. I think we should give it to our friends as a parting gift. I don't know if it will destroy that ship – or ships, if there are others – but it should do a pretty good job of bringing the domes down around their ears. Of course, that sort of missile is pretty expensive – "

"Screw the expense!" said Hoshi. "I say: dust 'em!"

Kin looked at Tichi. "My only problem with this idea," he said, "is that it's not a very big nuke."

"Can't have everything," said Kin. She began to push buttons on the console. From under the ship, there was the sound of a door opening. And then a thump as the missile left the Alexander. Kin closed the missile bay door.

She turned the ship and hit the gas. In a few seconds, they felt the shockwave from the blast behind them. The Alexander shook once more but held together.

"Not that this is a democracy," said Kin, "but I vote we go anywhere that isn't here."

"As long as it's far," said Hoshi.

"And as long as it's fast," said Tichi.

"Don't worry about that," said Kin, as she pointed the ship towards space.

But in the depths of the ship, there was a crab alien. It had attached itself to the hull, and then crept inside when the missile bay doors had opened.

And now it waited.

END