Taking a Stand

Ten minutes. Everything I'd been working toward for seven years was being stripped away in ten minutes. I felt like a rug had been pulled out from under me and I was falling, falling . . .

The news cane as a shock to Hassan, too. "We've only been talking for a short time, though. You must work quick," he remarked with a grimace.

"Yes," Barrera sighed. "I'm afraid Weyland Industries has run out of patience, and you really had no choice with the subpoena we had. We can be very efficient when needed."

Ten. Fucking. Minutes.

I had ten minutes to free the predator and kill the xenomorphs. If I couldn't, my only hope was chasing them all the way to California. Who knew how long filling out a transfer request would take.

Or if mine would even be accepted.

Without a word, I turned on my heel and marched toward the elevator. Each footstep was heavy, as if my blood had turned into frozen lead. Icy claws pricked at my body and from somewhere outside the bubble around me, I heard a voice calling.

"Where are you going, Nichole?" It sounded like Hassan.

"Outside." My voice was sharper than I'd meant.

A hand settled on my shoulder with some force, popping my bubble and causing my senses to crash back.

"I know you may be disappointed, but you'll be able to trans—"

I had no more time for the façade. With my forehead pinched and teeth on edge, I rounded on Hassan and slapped his hand off my shoulder. He looked at his hand and then at me with wide eyes.

"Do not. Fucking. Touch me," I hissed.

Everyone in the room fell into an awkward silence and I whipped around, storming out. My eyes burned with frustrated tears, but I refused to let them fall.

In the back of my mind, I hoped my limp didn't diminish the impact of my exit.

There had to be something I could do. I tied my hair up with the band around my wrist, pulling it out of my face. Stray strands were tucked up into the messy bun atop my head.

Devon popped up just as the elevator started to close and he wiggled part way inside, forcing the doors back open. His look of concern was barely masked by his stupid smile and he stepped into the elevator with me.

"Hey sunshine, where you going?" he asked.

"Get. Out."

He hesitated, but when he took a good look at my face, he raised his hands in submission and took a step back.

"Alright, okay. I'll come . . . find you later," he said, subdued.

He stood in the threshold, the elevator doors unable to close until he moved. I dropped my gaze, unable to look at the kicked-puppy expression he was wearing. That little bit of guilt ate away at my outer shell and I slumped.

"I'll be outside. I just need a little bit of air," I lied.

It hurt to chase him away like that. All he ever did was try to help me and lift my spirits. He was looking out for me when I refused to look out for myself . . .

But he couldn't come. He would try to stop me. He'd try to talk me out of it. I didn't know how far he'd go, or how deep his loyalty ran for the FBI and the brass, so I didn't want to risk it. I didn't want to have to hurt him if he stood in my way.

I didn't know if I was even capable of hurting him. If he did stand in my way, would I be able to push through him and do what needed to be done?

Or would I cave?

Chasing him away for now was the best choice I had. The only choice I had. If I could keep him away, none of my misgivings would matter.

All I could do was hope against hope that he didn't hold this against me later. If I was going to leave, Devon was the only person I wanted to remember me fondly. Besides my family, of course, but I already knew they thought the world of me.

If Devon hated me when I left . . . I didn't think I'd be able to handle knowing that.

He finally stepped out of the doors. "I get ya. I'll be here," he assured me.

I took a deep breath, buried all my emotions, and headed to the basement.

All I needed to do was figure out what they were doing, how they were doing it, and how long it was actually taking them. Sedating and boarding all those aliens would be a task and a half.

There was a lot of shit I didn't know, but I couldn't stop and think about it. I just needed to act.

So I was going in blind.

Helplessness threatened to drown me and I punched the side of the elevator as it started to drift downward. Pain shot up my wrist but I ignored it. I rubbed the front of my knuckles with my other hand and glared at the wall, teeth grinding.

All that time and I'd done jack shit with it.

Now it was all ruined. I had failed to re-light the fire under my ass, content to let it simmer into a lukewarm coal.

If I was allowed to transfer, would I be able to do anything at the new facility or would I have to find a way to stop them from leaving?

Whatever. That could wait.

First, I had to check on Jailbreak.

The doors slid apart and I made a beeline for the labs dedicated to the predators. I marched past observation to get to the interrogation room.

There was no guard at the lab door this time. I punched in the code, messed it up, and did it again. It unlocked and I threw the door open.

Empty.

The table was clean, the sterile room was devoid of life. All the tools were gone. I didn't know where they had taken Jailbreak or what floor he was on.

There had to be a way to find out.

Panicking, I jogged back down the hall to observation. It, too, was empty except for the recording instruments. I tried to play back the tape to see if the security camera had clues, but the treasure was gone.

A string of curses flew from my mouth and I slammed my palms against the glass several times. He was gone. My leads were gone . . . unless someone else knew the answers to my question.

I whirled around to exit the room and go find someone. The door hit the wall when I opened it and I was running blindly through the halls before I made it to the elevator.

Dixon had just unloaded from the cart. He stared at me for a moment, then gave me a smug look. Both of his hands were in his pockets and I wanted nothing more than to smack the shit-eating grin off his face.

"Ah, Shain. I thought I might find you down here," he greeted, walking toward me.

Swallowing, I pointed behind me and said, "Weyland came. They took the predator and everything. They're here for the xenos, too. I thought we had time."

"I'm well aware of all that, Shain. They sure do work fast, don't they?" he murmured.

I tracked his progress as he sauntered toward me. When he was too close for comfort I stepped back and narrowed my eyes at him.

"We should stop them," I said, testing the waters.

Dixon shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, they brought all the legal precedence they needed. We're shit out of luck I'm afraid, Shain."

Suspicion spiked. I narrowed my eyes. He wasn't acting like this was a surprise at all. Had he even been trying to warn me back when we spoke? Back when he had told me not to be disappointed.

"Did you know Weyland was coming for him today?" I spat the words like venom.

He nodded and rubbed his neck with a shrug. "I suppose I did."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

He scoffed. "I suppose since we're both charlatans I'll just tell you Weyland has me on the payroll. I keep them up to date on the aliens we have in custody and they pay me."

His words were a kick in the teeth.

"You've been pocketing extra cash so Weyland can get their greedy paws on specimens and tech?"

Dixon nodded. "They pay pretty well. If you want to continue working with these species, you'll have to switch to their side, too. Which you will, won't you?"

"What?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Shain. You think because one predator helped you out of pity they've all got a spark of good in them, right?" Dixon's smug demeanor was gone, replaced with anger.

"I don't—"

"You sympathize with these murderers, don't you? You know full well that they come here to kill en masse like they're on safari but you don't care," Dixon continued, cornering me against a wall.

"I know that!" I insisted, looking for an exit strategy.

"You snuck into that thing's cell when I left, didn't you? I'm not an idiot. You turned all the equipment off so I don't have proof, but I know you did," Dixon accused, jabbing a finger at me. "What did you do? What were you planning?"

I remained silent, glaring at him in defiance.

He searched my expression for an answer and took a guess. "You were going to help it escape, weren't you?"

My face burned. I'd fucked it all up. I'd fucked everything up badly. My mouth bobbed up and down as if I wanted to deny it all, but I couldn't. There wasn't anything I could say that would explain or excuse my actions.

"You were!" he said. "Don't preach to me about Weyland undoing the department when you yourself were going to unleash that monster on all of us!"

My jaw set and I said nothing.

What could I say?

He scoffed and shoved his hands back in his pocket. "Whatever the case, he's their problem now and I get a paycheck while you get nothing."

"I'll tell everyone," I couldn't help but say.

Dixon just laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. "If you tell anyone I'll tell them about who you really are. We're at an impasse, Shain."

"So what do you want?" I demanded.

"Nothing, I guess," he said with a shrug. "I could fire you, I suppose. You do good work, though, so I might just keep you around. Maybe in a few years, if you're a good girl, I'll let you transfer to California but there's no way I'd approve it now,"

That was the final straw. My rage had reached a fever pitch. Anger at myself, anger at Dixon, anger at Weyland—all of it boiled over and I snapped.

Dixon must have seen it in my face, but it was too late.

A strangled cry left my lips and I charged him, catching him off-guard and he wound up taking my fist to his face. I felt something crunch and he crumpled to the ground, clutching his nose.

Blood from his nose spattered the hallway floor in little droplets.

Just for good measure, I gave him a swift kick to the side. I stopped myself there, chest heaving, and stared down at my former director. His body rolled with every cough, his groans acute to my adrenaline-fueled hearing.

I shook the ache from my wrist and rubbed my knuckles, then swallowed hard.

"I'm through with you assholes," I muttered, stepping over his fetal form. I slammed the door shut behind me just as he started picking himself up off the floor.

Jailbreak was gone. The very idea of it was regrettable and I wished I had done things differently, but I had to work on the next thing.

The xenomorphs.

They were just down the hall and possibly within reach. They were second priority. If I could catch them while they were transferring the drones, I could figure out where they had taken the predator and bust him out.

Possible scenarios ran through my head. I would have to figure out what to do if they were armed. What to do if they were taking the queen, too.

There were too many things for me to plan to be prepared for everything. I had no strategy. From there on, I was winging it. That was the only option left for me.

I wasn't even halfway down the hall to the xenomorph section when I heard it. Through walls, through doors and a containment field, I heard it.

A piercing cry that grew louder and louder the closer I got. Unbidden, my hands trembled and adrenaline licked my insides.

The queen.

She was still there and she sounded about as angry as I felt. That could only mean that they were stealing her drones from her, or already had. She would want them back—probably at any and all costs.

An angry queen was a dangerous queen.

Why hadn't they sedated her?

Unless they did . . . and she was already out of it . . . which meant the drones were probably . . .

I sprinted the rest of the way down the hall, my heartbeat in my ears. All I could hear was the queen's lament and my frantic breathing as I made my way around.

I likely wouldn't have access to the lab. That wasn't important, though. I didn't need to get into that room.

Though I didn't have a real end-all plan, I had one idea in my head. Destroy everything that was left in the lab.

Flash everything. Burn it all.

I could do that from observation.

This time, I didn't mess up unlocking the door. I took my time and made sure it worked on the first try. The lock turned with a heavy sound and I pushed the door open, looking around for the big red button that would be my—the world's—salvation.

Someone was standing there at the window, staring down into the massive laboratory. She didn't so much as blink when I entered, stopping at the threshold to stare at her.

I had expected to see her, though.

"Mindy, what happened?" I demanded.

She turned to look at me with a startled gaze, her palms pressed flat against the smooth glass of the viewing window. A frown stretched her lips and she had sadness in her eyes.

"Did they take everything already?" I asked, stepping closer.

Mindy looked away and sighed, staring back down into the lab. Her voice was quiet and sympathetic when she said, "Momma's mad that they took her children."

I swore under my breath. "Those idiots! They took all the drones and warriors?"

All she did was nod and say, "And most of the parasitoids."

/The facehuggers,/ I reminded myself.

"Where did they take them?" I asked. "They took the predator, too. I need to find them."

She wasn't paying attention to me, though. Her focus was on the lamenting queen throwing a fit. I took her arm and made her look at me.

"Mindy! Where did they take them? Which loading bay?"

Startled, she pulled her arm from my grip and stumbled backward. Her hands were trembling as she stared at me with wide eyes and said, "I don't know. . . they didn't tell me. Or I wasn't paying attention."

She was red-faced and teary eyed, so I didn't think she was in the state of mind to lie to me.

"Dammit!" I hissed.

The queen, no longer attached to her dormant egg sack, slammed against her confines and screeched. Now she sounded more agitated and less sad.

When I didn't transgress Mindy further, she placed her palms flush to the glass again. She leaned her head in to touch her forehead against the smooth surface.

Where did I go from here?

Kill the queen, obviously.

"Why isn't she sedated?" I asked.

"She was." Mindy continued to check on me from the corner of her eyes.

When it was clear she wasn't going to elaborate, I pressed the matter through clenched teeth. "Then why is she awake right now?"

"Sedatives don't last long on her," she sighed. Not an annoyed sigh, I noticed, but one of longing.

"How did they get the others out of here?" I asked next. The more information she could give me, the better off I'd be in the long run.

Her face twisted like she was about to start crying again. "They gassed them, said they were going on a plane. I hope they come back for Momma. She's so sad without her children."

It took an extra second for me to realize the queen, Momma, had fallen silent. I looked away from Mindy and toward the cage.

The giant beast was so much bigger than the younger queen on the ship. The containment habitat she was in had her hunched all the way over, forcing her onto all her limbs. There was barely enough room for her crest without it scraping the ceiling.

Momma was rubbing her snout against the fogged glass and seemed to have her sightless face trained on us—or maybe just Mindy.

We were so far away and behind glass . . . did she still somehow know we were there?

Whatever. It didn't matter. I had to find the console button and burn her to a crisp.

"Is there anything else in there with her?" I was already edging over to the console.

Mindy stroked the glass with a heavy sigh and moved her head away before saying, "She has a few eggs left in there, and she wants me to let them out to find hosts. She misses her children so much."

Her words were enough to make me stop short. I turned toward Mindy with a horrified, confused look and said, "What do you mean by that?"

At last, she tore her gaze away to look at me. The faintest smile touched her lips.

"She and I are connected. I can hear her and she speaks to me."