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of the shell a light push and the massive, streamlined form tumbled over
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onto its side. She straightened.
?What is it??Aaron asked her. He prodded the husk with his foot.
?It's shed its skin, molted somehow.?She looked sharply up the tunnel.
?This is a new one. I've never seen this before. Not at this stage of
development.?
?What's it mean??Dillon muttered.
?Can't say. No precedent. One thing we can be sure of, though. It's
bigger now.?
?How much bigger??Aaron joined her in peering up the dark passageway.
?That depends,?Ripley murmured.
?On what??
?On what it's become.?She started forward, holding her light out in
front of her as she pushed her way past him. 145
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Something inside her urged her on, making her increase rather than slow
the pace. She hardly paused long enough to shine her torch down the side
passages that branched off the main tunnel. The discovery of the alien
husk had charged her with the same sort of relentless determination that
had enabled her to survive the devastation of Acheron. Determination,
and a growing anger. She found herself thinking of Jonesy. No one wonder
she and the cat had survived the Nostromo. Curiosity and a talent for
survival were two of the skills they'd shared.
Jonesy was gone now, a victim of the time distortions made necessary by
space travel. No more cat-nightmares for him. Only she was left to deal
with life, and all the memories.
?Slow up.?Aaron had to break into a jog to catch up with her. He held up
the map, then gestured ahead. ?Almost there.?
She looked at him. ?I hope this was worth the climb. What happened to
all the damn lifts in this place??
?You kidding? Deactivated when the installation was closed down. Why
would a bunch of prisoners need to be in this sector anyway??He started
forward, taking the lead.
They walked another hundred meters before the tunnel opened up into a
much larger passageway, one wide and high enough to accommodate vehicles
as well as men. The assistant superintendent stopped next to the far
wall, holding his torch out to illuminate a sign welded to the metal.
TOXIC WASTE STORAGE
THIS CHAMBER HERMETICALLY SECURED
NO ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION
rating B-8 or Higher Required 146
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Alan Dean Foster
?Well, well. What do we have here??For the first time in days Ripley
allowed herself to feel a twinge of hope.
?There's more than a dozen of these scattered around the facility.?Aaron
was bending to study the detailed inscription below the plate. ?This is
the closest one to our living quarters.? He tapped the wall with his
torch and sparks dribbled to the floor.
?They were gonna shove a lot of heavy-duty waste in here. Refining
by-products, that sort of thing. Some of these are full and permanently
sealed, others partially filled. Cheaper, easier, and safer than
stuffing the junk into drums and dumping it out in space.
?This one's never been used. Maybe because it's so close to the habitat
areas. Or maybe they just never got around to it, closed up shop before
they needed the room. I've been inside. It's clean as a whistle in there.?
Ripley studied the wall. ?What's the access like??
?Pretty much what you'd expect for a storage facility carrying this
rating.?He led her around to the front.
The door was scratched and filthy, but still impressive. She noted the
almost invisible seams at the corners. ?This is the only way in or out??
Aaron nodded. ?That's right. I checked the stats before we came down.
Entrance is just big enough for a small loader-transporter with driver
and cargo. Ceiling, walls, and floor are six feet thick, solid
ceramocarbide steel. So's the door. All controls and active components
are external, or embedded in the matrix itself.?
?Let's make sure we've got this right. You get something in there and
close the door, no way it can get out??
Aaron grunted confidently. ?Right. No fuckin' way. That sucker is tight.
According to the specs it'll hold a perfect vacuum. Nothin' bigger than
a neutrino could slip 147
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through. That ceramocarbide stuff even dissipates lasers. You'd need a
controlled nuclear explosion to cut your way in.?
?You sure this thing is still operational??
He indicated a nearby control box. ?Why don't you find out??
She moved forward and broke the thin seal that covered the enclosure.
The lid flipped down, exposing several controls. She studied them for a
moment, then thumbed a large green button.
The immense door didn't so much slide aside as appear to vanish silently
into the wall. She cycled it again, admiring the smooth play of forces
that could shift so much mass with such speed and ease. The prisoners
were similarly impressed. The efficiency of the long-dormant technology
lifted their spirits considerably.
Beyond the open barrier was a slick-walled, empty chamber. An ephemeral
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coating of dust covered the floor. It would accommodate several
full-grown aliens with ease.
?Let me see the map.?Aaron handed her the sheet and her index finger
drew patterns on the plastic. ?We're here??He leaned close and nodded.
?Administration's here, assembly hall up this corridor??
?You got it. Fast, too,?he added admiringly.
?I owe the fact that I'm still alive to an understanding of spatial
relationships.?She tapped the sheet. ?If we can get it to chase us down
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