they tried nonetheless. They straightened lazily as Gorman and Burke entered, but snapped to when Apone barked at them.
'Tench-hut!' The men and women responded as one, arms vertical at their sides, eyes straight ahead, and focused only on what the sergeant might say to them next.
Gorman's eyes flicked over the line. If possible, the troopers were more motionless standing at attention than they had been when frozen in hypersleep. He held them a moment longer before speaking.
'At ease.' The line flexed as muscles were relaxed. 'I'm sorry we didn't have time to brief you before we left Gateway, but—'
'Sir?' said Hudson.
Annoyed, Gorman glanced toward the speaker. Couldn't let him finish his first sentence before starting with the questions Not that he'd expected anything else. He'd been warned that this bunch might be like that.
'Yes, what is it, Hicks?'
The speaker nodded at the man standing next to him 'Hudson, sir. He's Hicks.'
'What's the question, soldier?'
'Is this going to be a stand-up fight, sir, or another bug-hunt?'
'If you'd wait a moment, you might find some of your questions anticipated, Hudson. I can understand your impatience and curiosity. There's not a great deal to explain All we know is that there's still been no contact with the colony Executive Officer Bishop tried to rise Hadley the instant the Sulaco hove within hailing distance of Acheron. He did not obtain a response. The planetary deepspace satellite relay checks out okay, so that's not the reason for the lack of contact We don't know what it is yet.'
'Any ideas?' Crowe asked.
'There is a possibility, just a possibility at this point, mind that a xenomorph may be involved.'
'A whaat?' said Wierzbowski.
Hicks leaned toward him, whispered softly. 'It's a bug-hunt. Then louder, to the lieutenant, 'So what are these things, if they're there?'
Gorman nodded to Ripley, who stepped forward. Eleven pairs of eyes locked on her like gun sights: alert, intent curious, and speculative. They were sizing her up, still unsure whether to class her with Burke and Gorman or somewhere else. They neither cared for her nor disliked her, because they didn't know her yet.
Fine. Leave it at that. She placed a handful of tiny recorder disks on the table before her.
'I've dictated what I know on these. There are some duplicates. You can read them in your rooms or in your suits.'
'I'm a slow reader.' Apone lightened up enough to smile slightly. 'Tease us a bit.'
'Yeah, let's have some previews.' Spunkmeyer leaned back against enough explosive to blow a small hotel apart, snuggling back among the firing tubes and detonators.
'Okay. First off, it's important to understand the organism's life cycle. It's actually two creatures. The first form hatches from a spore, a sort of large egg, and attaches itself to its victim. Then it injects an embryo, detaches, and dies. It's essentially a walking reproductive organ. Then the—'
'Sounds like you, Hicks.' Hudson grinned over at the older man, who responded with his usual tolerant smile.
Ripley didn't find it funny. She didn't find anything about the alien funny, but then, she'd seen it. The troopers stil weren't convinced she was describing something that existed outside her imagination. She'd have to try to be patient with them. That wasn't going to be easy.
'The embryo, the second form, hosts in the victim's body for several hours. Gestating. Then it'—she had to swallow, fighting a sudden dryness in her throat—'emerges. Moults. Grows rapidly. The adult form advances quickly through a number o intermediate stages until it matures in the form of—'
This time it was Vasquez who interrupted. 'That's all fine but I only need to know one thing.'
'Yes?'
'Where they are.' She pointed her finger at an empty space between Ripley and the door, cocked her thumb, and blew away an imaginary intruder. Hoots and guffaws of approval came from her colleagues.
'Yo Vasquez!' As always, Drake delighted in his counterpart's demure bloodthirstiness. Her nickname was the Gamin Assassin. It was not misplaced.
She nodded brusquely. 'Anytime. Anywhere.'
'Somebody say 'alien'?' Hudson leaned back in his seat, idly fingering a weapon with an especially long and narrow barrel 'She thought they said 'illegal alien' and signed up.'
'Fuck you.' Vasquez threw the comtech a casual finger. He responded by mimicking her tone and attitude as closely as possible.
'Anytime. Anywhere.'
Ripley's tone was as cold as the skin of the Sulaco. 'Am I disturbing your conversation, Mr. Hudson? I know most of you are looking at this as just another typical police action. I can assure you it's more than that. I've seen this creature. I've seen what it can do. If you run into it, I can guarantee that you won't do so laughingly.'
Hudson subsided, smirking. Ripley shifted her attention to Vasquez. 'I hope it'll be as easy as you make it out to be, Private I really do.' Their eyes locked. Neither woman looked away.
Burke broke it up by stepping between them to address the assembled troops. 'That's enough for a preview. I suggest all o you take the time to study the disks Ripley has been kind enough to prepare for you. They contain additional basic information, as well as some highly detailed speculative graphics put together by an advanced imaging computer. I believe you'll find them interesting. I promise they'll hold your attention.' He relinquished the floor to Gorman. The lieutenant was brisk, sounding like a commander even if he didn't quite look like one.
'Thank you Mr. Burke, Ms. Ripley.' His gaze roved over the indifferent faces of his squad. 'Any questions?' A hand waved casually from the back of the group and he sighed resignedly 'Yes, Hudson?'
The comtech was examining his fingernails. 'How do I get out of this outfit?'
Gorman scowled and forbore from offering the first thought that came to mind. He thanked Ripley again, and gratefully she took a seat.
'All right. I want this operation to go smoothly and by the numbers. I want full DCS and tactical data-base assimilation by oh-eight-thirty.' A few groans rose from the group but nothing in the way of a strong protest. It was no less than what they expected.
'Ordnance loading, weapons strip and checkout, and dropship prep will have seven hours. I want everything and everybody ready to go on time. Let's hit it. You've had three weeks rest.'
V
The Sulaco was a giant metallic seashell drifting in a black sea Bluish lights flared soundlessly along the flanks of the unlovely hull as she settled into final orbit. On the bridge, Bishop regarded his instruments and readouts unblinkingly. Occasionally he would touch a switch or tap a flurry of commands into the system. For the most part all he had to do was observe while the ship's computers parked the vessel in the desired orbit. The automation that made interstellar navigation possible had reduced man to the status of a last-recourse backup system. Now synthetics like Bishop had replaced man Exploration of the cosmos had become a chauffeured profession.
When the dials and gauges had lined up to his satisfaction he leaned toward the nearest voice pickup. 'Attention to the bridge. Bishop speaking. This concludes final intraorbital maneuvering operations. Geosynchronous insertion has been completed. I have adjusted artificial gravity to Acheron norm Thank you for your cooperation. You may resume work.'
In contrast to the peace and quiet that reigned throughout most of the ship, the cargo loading bay was swarming with activity. Spunkmeyer sat in the roll cage of a big powerloader, a machine that resembled a skeletal mechanical elephant and was much stronger. The waldo gloves in which his hands and feet were inserted picked up the PFC's movements and transferred them to the metal arms and legs of the machine multiplying his carrying capacity by a factor of several thousand.
He slid the long, reinforced arms into a bulging ordnance rack and lifted out a rack of small tactical missiles.
