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Chapter 4

There were no nightmares that night, nor dreams of any kind. Just soft and pleasant darkness. It was the first full night's sleep that George had gotten in a week. The stress of his upcoming first deployment and the disaster that it had turned into had deprived him of any real relaxation or peace of mind. Not that night though. That night he slept fully and calmly.

George was unwillingly roused from this delightfully tranquil repose by a basic bodily function: He needed to piss.

'Oh, god damn it.' The marine reached up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes so he could see the clock.

Nine in the morning. There were still five hours to go.

It was nice and warm under the blanket, but that didn't change the fact that he really needed to go relieve himself. Sighing softly, he tried to get up, only to realize that one of the xeno's arms was still wrapped around him, holding him close like a precious stuffed animal. He squirmed a bit to wake up his companion.

The xenomorph was sleeping soundly, cute little snores emanating from the back of his throat. The human's increasingly desperate wiggling failed to disturb him.

Getting impatient, George elbowed the alien in the belly as hard as he could.

The xeno let out a choked squeak and immediately released him. Sitting bolt upright, Erebus coughed and spluttered in surprise. "What was that for?!"

"I have to go pee, and you were holding me down." George explained, climbing to his feet. The air outside the blanket was cold, but it was better than yesterday. At least now they weren't out in the open.

"And you couldn't hold it for a bit?" Erebus demanded irritably, rubbing his stomach.

"Nope. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take care of my business."

George walked out of the room and across the hall to the toilet. When he returned, Erebus said "My turn." and got up.

"Your turn to do what?"

"Use the bathroom, silly. What did, you think xenomorphs don't have a sense of hygiene? Figuring out how to use the plumbing was one of the first things we did after we escaped. Clean water and waste disposal on command is very useful." The alien slipped out the door without giving George a chance to ask any more questions.

The human stared after him for a few moments, then shrugged and began packing up the blanket. There would be a better time to make inquires. He made sure everything was packed up, then put on his combat gear and checked his pistol.

Erebus still wasn't back yet, so George jogged down the hall to the security room and turned to the camera in the room that his comrades were in. They were preparing just like him, packing their packs and checking their weapons.

This time it was Meyers who noticed that the camera was on. He looked up into the lens and said "George, is that you again?"

George nodded the camera.

"Excellent. Did you find a way out?"

Another nod.

"Superb. We'll make it out of this yet. Hop to it and get moving."

Meyers ended the exchange there and George switched the camera off again.

As he was getting up from his seat, he heard the xenomorph leave the bathroom, go running down the corridor, open the hatch, and splash into the water below.

Concerned, George ran after him to see what had happened.

The alien was sitting in water that was about chest deep, scrubbing himself off and splashing loudly.

"What's the matter?" The marine asked from up on the catwalk.

Erebus looked up at him blankly. "I'm cleaning myself. It's a morning ritual. Do you not have those?"

"Oh, sorry. I heard you running and thought something had happened."

"No. Just having some fun and getting clean." He finished scrubbing and stood up. Apparently not wanting to get his feet dirty by walking through the mud to the ladder, Erebus splashed over to the wall under the catwalk and pressed a hand against it, testing to see if he could climb up. His hand stuck, so he put another one up over the first and quickly scampered up the wall to join his companion on the catwalk.

"Ready to go?" The human asked. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. A small part of him wanted to stay here forever, away from all the stress and chaos of the outside, with a loyal and intelligent friend to talk to. And he had no idea what reaction he would get from his comrades if he presented a xenomorph to them and said it was friendly. He suspected that it wouldn't be good.

"Yeah."

"Give me a sec, I gotta go get my backpack." George jogged back to retrieve his gear, then rejoined his companion in front of the door to the freezer, the last place he had been expecting to go. "That's the way out?" He asked as the xeno tugged the door open. "There's nothing in there but guts and melted ice."

"And" Erebus slipped inside and pointed to a destroyed ventilation hatch in the far wall "an entrance to the air ducts." He walked over to it and motioned for George to join him. "Here, let me help you up."

The xeno kneeled down on one knee and cupped his hands so George could put a foot up, the marine's fingers curling around the edges of the vent. On the count of three they both heaved, Erebus showing surprising strength even with his injury. He nigh on threw the human into the shaft, causing him to slide forward several meters.

"You ok back there?" George asked, looking over his shoulder as best he could, what with the cramped space and his unwieldy bag of gear.

"I'm fine. I just strained myself a bit. You humans are really heavy." A black, six fingered hand clutched the side of the vent, and Erebus pulled himself in to join George "I'll guide you from back here."

"Ok." George turned on his helmet light and crawled a few meters down the tunnel, then stopped. "What if I encounter a xenomorph in front of me?"

"Our hive is in a different part of the facility, and we don't come back here very often. But if one does show up, I'll just tell it to leave us alone."

George started forward again, more cautiously this time "Will they listen to you?"

"Why wouldn't they? For all the others know, I'm just taking you pack to the hive for food or to reproduce."

George accepted this and kept crawling. After a few more meters, the tunnel curved sharply to the left, then to the right, and let out into a large room filled with coolant cylinders. There were several vent shafts that led out.

"If we're trying to get to the surface, then we should take this one." Erebus said, walking over to a relatively large opening set low in the wall.

George climbed in and kept going, the xeno following behind. They took a few more turns and made a left at a T-junction before the tunnel abruptly curved upward to a ninety degree slope and led up to a ventilation cover about a meter above. George took off his backpack and shoved it into a corner to give himself some more space, then raised himself up to his knees so that he could fiddle with the slated metal cover above him.

"What's going on?" Erebus asked.

"There's a vent cover in the way. I'm trying to get it open." George's hands slid over the edges of the metal, feeling carefully. "I think it's been welded shut."

"That's weird. There wasn't anything here when I used this tunnel to escape. Let me look at it."

George sat down and pressed himself against the wall as they tried to maneuver around each other in the cramped space.

The xeno crawled over George and arched his back upward so that he could mess with the metal obstruction. This had the unfortunate consequence of leaving his groin level with and just a few centimeters from George's face. The tight confines of the tunnel left no room to move, so he couldn't even turn his head. The powerful glare of the helmet-mounted flashlight lit up the alien's crotch and forced the marine to see it with utter clarity.

The slit between Erebus's legs was plainly visible from here, the camouflage useless at such close range and high illumination. A smell wafted from it into George's nose. It wasn't very strong, probably because of the bath that the xeno had taken just a few minutes before, but it didn't have to be. The scent was virile, and unmistakably masculine. It made the marine's legs quiver a little. He wouldn't admit it to most, but he had always been more of a submissive type during sex, and the xenomorph's clear and overwhelming masculinity induced in him the urge to get in bed with the alien, and not in the platonic fashion of last night either.

The human was losing himself in the scent. He doubted that Erebus was doing this deliberately, but it didn't matter. It was probably just a passive thing, a few pheromones leaking out as the creature's attention was elsewhere. It occurred to him then that Erebus was right; he really did want to have sex with the alien. But what would everyone else think? Perhaps he was fine... -ish with it, but what about the rest of society?

'No one needs to know.' George thought, staring at the slit in front of him. He was struck by the urge to lick it. His dick was tenting his pants. 'Maybe just one little lap...' he thought, beginning to open his mouth.

Above him, Erebus growled "Fuck it." and slammed the grate with his fist, denting it severely and tearing it free from the weld which held it in place.

The sudden and very loud sound startled George out of his stupor, and he snapped his mouth shut immediately. 'What was I thinking?! Now is no time for that!' He blushed bright red, glad that the xeno couldn't see him.

"I got it open!" Erebus said proudly, and climbed up over George into the newly cleared passage.

The pheromones lingered though, and the human couldn't stop himself from looking up at the xenomorph's rear as he clambered over him, catching a brief glimpse of the anal slit under the alien's tail.

Erebus turned around and reached his hand down to George, prompting him to crush down his feelings and shoulder his pack once again. Taking the xeno's hand, he clambered up into the vent after him.

Now the xenomorph took the lead, scampering through the darkened tunnels with remarkable ease. They took a few more twists, turns, and junctions before the xeno said "We should be close now..."

As Erebus put a hand forward, the floor of the duct bowed ominously under it. There was a loud creaking sound.

"Uh-oh." The alien murmured.

"What?" George asked.

The vent collapsed out from under them, and they were sent tumbling into what looked like a chemistry lab.

Erebus did a neat flip and landed on his feet on top of one of the counters.

George didn't do that. He fell flat on his face on the floor, screaming in agony as his foot caught on the edge of the table and twisted sickeningly. White hot pain flooded into the human's brain, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

The remains of the ventilation duct and several ceiling panels rained down around them.

Erebus's attention was immediately on George. Hopping off the counter, the xeno rushed over to him and picked him up.

The marine choked back a sob as his ankle smarted painfully.

Gingerly removing the backpack and laying the human down on a table, the xeno checked him over and zeroed in on his ankle.

"I've either sprained it... or broken it." George explained between ragged gasps for air. "Do you remember the pill I put in your mouth before I healed you?"

"The one that made the pain go away?"

'Oh good, it did work.' The marine thought. "Yeah, that one. There's a bottle of them in my pack. Can you get them for me?"

Erebus unzipped the bag and started frantically searching around in it, finding the bottle quickly and handing it to George.

He hurriedly swallowed one of the pills, then handed the bottle back to the xeno. Within a few seconds the scorching pain that emanated from his ankle died down to a dull, if persistent throb.

George sighed in relief and quickly took off his helmet so that he could lay his head down flat on the table. He took several long, deep breaths to calm his pounding heart.

In that brief moment of quiet, they both heard the district sound of something made of glass being knocked over.

The xenomorph hissed dangerously and stood up straight, inhaling deeply. "I smell something."

'Oh do you now?' George thought sardonically, casting a sidelong glance at the creature's groin.

"Look." Erebus whispered, discreetly pointing a finger at one of the cabinets under the counter opposite them.

George looked at it and for a split second saw an eye staring out at them, before the cabinet was pulled fully shut.

"Erebus," George said loudly, "would you be so kind as to go retrieve our guest?"

"With pleasure..." The xenomorph stalked over to the cabinet and promptly tore the door off its hinges, exposing a small, pale man in a lab coat who had curled himself into a ball to try and hide as best he could. He shrieked in terror as the annoyed creature reached down and yanked him out of the little refuge by his collar.

Throwing the screaming and squirming man over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Erebus carried him back to George and unceremoniously dumped him onto the table next to the marine, holding the panicked researcher down by firmly placing a hand on his chest.

"Well hi there." George said cheerily, smiling at the terrified young man.

"What's going on?!" The scientist asked breathlessly, face pale from fear.

"You're being rescued. Yaaaaaaay." The marine cheered flatly, making unenthusiastic jazz-hands.

The researcher cast a frightened glance up at the xenomorph restraining him. "Why hasn't it killed me yet? Why hasn't it killed you yet? Who were you talking to; who's Erebus?"

"I'm Erebus." The alien said bluntly.

The scientist shivered and looked back at George "It speaks?"

"He speaks." The marine corrected.

"It has a gender? How do you know that?!"

"You don't wanna know." George said flatly.

Addressing the marine, Erebus asked "Should we kill him?"

The last vestiges of color drained from the poor researcher's skin. "No!" He tried to sit up, and Erebus responded by grabbing his face with his free hand and forcing his head back down against the table, coving the man's mouth with his palm.

"I can crush his skull right now if you'd like." The xenomorph offered in a cold, clinical tone.

Muffled sobs emanated from behind the alien's hand.

Pity welled inside George's heart. He had been planning on sparing the man anyway, but now he realized just how much he could empathize with him. He'd been in a very similar situation just a few hours previously. "Let him go."

Erebus let go and stepped back away from the table, leaving the researcher a heaving wreck, tears pouring down his cheeks. "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die." He sobbed over and over again.

"Here." George scooted closer to the poor young man and cradled his head against his chest. "It's gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine."

Erebus was standing about a meter away, arms crossed, looking on with disapproval.

George raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"We should kill him." Erebus muttered. "He would have done the same to me."

"We don't know that. Did you ever see him down in the laboratory?"

Erebus looked away. "No."

"Then let's assume he's innocent until proven guilty, ok?"

"Fine." Erebus huffed, arms remaining crossed.

George cradled the scientist until he calmed down, at which point the marine asked what his name was.

"Thomas Wentworth. Junior biochemist for Weyland-Yutani." The young man sniffed.

"Well Thomas," George said, sitting up straighter, "we're going to get you out of here, safe and sound."

"Are you on the rescue team sent by Weyland-Yutani?"

George paused. "The what now?"

"The rescue team. You know, the one we sent for, right before all hell broke loose. That's you, isn't it?" Thomas looked at the shoulder of George's uniform, where the Weyland-Yutani patch would be. Except it wasn't there. "What happened to your shoulder patch?" The scientist asked, not putting the pieces together.

"Tom... I'm not with Weyland-Yutani. If I had been, Erebus probably would have murdered me by now. I'm with the revolutionaries."

"Oh." Thomas took that news with surprising composure. Perhaps it had been his close brush with death at the hands of a xenomorph a few minutes earlier; in comparison with that, anything would seem like a peachy alternative.

"What will you do with me?" Tom asked resignedly, laying his head on the table and sighing softly.

"Nothing bad, don't worry. You'll just stay in an internment camp until the war is over, then you can go home. By the way, how long ago did you send for help?"

"About five days ago. They should have been here by now. I guess they're too busy fighting you to show up."

"What was your job here on the base?"

"Biochemist, I already told you. Why is this important?"

"What exactly were you working on here?"

"Cancer research. I was working on a way to control cell growth and mutation. Again, why is this important right now?"

"Just a few more questions." George said "Where did the xenomorphs come from?"

Tom stared at him blankly, like he was having trouble understanding the question. "Over the wall, obviously. I can only assume that they were native to this planet, and we attracted their attention by being here."

"So you were not aware that this research base had a section dedicated to storing and studying xenomorphs?"

The expression on Thomas's face morphed into one of the most genuine horror. "No!"

Erebus was looking at the young scientist intently. "He's telling the truth."

George glanced at him skeptically. "How can you tell?"

"When humans lie they almost always sweat a little and smell stressed, plus the heart rate increases. His smell was only of fear and surprise, and his heartrate was high to begin with."

"They were researching xenomorphs on this base?" Thomas asked quietly, more to himself than to the others. His hand twitched, and he slowly curled it into a fist before suddenly slamming it against the table. "Those bastards lied to me! They told me I was working on a treatment for cancer! Motherfuckers!"

George glanced at Erebus again. "Sincere?" He mouthed.

The xenomorph nodded.

"Did any of the head researchers survive?" Thomas demanded, fury swirling behind his eyes.

"At least one: Dr. Harry Calegary. He's with the remains of my squad over on the opposite side of the facility. We're going to rendezvous when the evac shuttle arrives in a few hours."

Tom slammed his fist against the table again. "Motherfucker lied to my face! I'll fucking kill him!"

"Get in line." Erebus snarked.

"We've all got a score to settle then." George said, "I'm pretty pissed that most of my squad is dead and that I almost died a few times, plus I burnt my face and almost killed a sapient creature because Weyland-Yutani has spent decades lying about the xenomorphs. Erebus is pretty pissed that he got strapped to a table and cut open who knows how many times, and you're pretty pissed that you were lied to and manipulated. So let's all team up and get out of here, and when we do we can make the motherfucker pay." He remembered telling Erebus that they couldn't kill prisoners, but at this point he felt pretty justified in inflicting brutal justice on the doctor.

"I'm in." Tom said.

Erebus just grinned evilly.

"Sweet. Now we just need to meet the evac ship when it lands at the pad."

"When will that be?" Thomas asked.

"Oh, about three hours."

"Then let's get moving." Thomas sat up and hopped off the table. Approaching the xeno, he stuck out his hand "Friends?"

Erebus considered. "Friends." He shook the scientist's hand.

"Do you have everything you need?" George asked.

"I have the clothes on my back, and..." Tom walked over to a computer and extracted a floppy disk from it, "I have my research. Might as well get something out of this mess. Let's go."

"It's not quite that simple." The marine said. "I've hurt my ankle. I can't walk. I have a plan though. If you'll carry my backpack, I think Erebus can carry me."

The xenomorph hardly needed the invitation. He scampered over to George and scooped him up in his arms, cradling him lovingly against his tar-colored chest.

"I guess Erebus likes that plan." Thomas joked. He walked over and shouldered the marine's pack, grunting loudly as he did. "God, this thing is heavy!"

It gave George satisfaction to know that despite his inability to put on real muscle, he was still stronger than the average human.

Thomas stumbled over to the door, still adjusting to the heavy load. He pressed his thumb against the finger scanner for a second before the door emitted a metallic clank and slid open. It was thick, and made of reinforced steel; a good thing to hide behind. Of course, the weakness of the venation shafts sort of negated that advantage.

Erebus followed Tom out into the hall, and quietly shadowed him as they slunk through the darkened building.

"So..." The scientist murmured, apparently thinking that now was a good time for small talk, "How did you guys meet?"

"Oh, you know, the normal way a human and a xeno meet: He tried to murder me a few times. He dropped out of a vent, and then I slammed a door in his face, and then he opened the door and I pulled a filing cabinet down on him, and then we went on a slapstick chase through the facility. I tried to shoot him a couple times, then I took a corner too fast and slammed right into a hot steam pipe, and he caught up and got all smug and was like 'I have you now, muhaha', so I shot the pipe and blasted him with steam and ran away again. Then I reached the edge of the reservoir and stopped cuz I was trapped, and he caught up with me again and was so mad that he jumped at me without looking where he was going, and he pushed us both down into the reservoir."

"I woke up safe and sound, but he had gored himself on some rebar on the way down, so I went over to kill him, but he's a clever son of a bitch, so he mewled really loudly and pathetically, and I found myself pitying him. So I left him there and tried to escape, discovered that I couldn't, and then got lonely and went back and healed him with some medical supplies I found in a lab. Then I discovered that he could talk, so we laid low for a couple days and plotted our escape. Then we found you, and now we're here."

"Interesting." Tom said while peering cautiously around a corner. "How'd you find out Erebus had a gender?"

George paused.

"If you won't tell this story, I will." Erebus whispered cheekily.

"Um... he got an erection at one point." The marine said simply.

"Hm." Tom seemed satisfied by this answer, but the alien wasn't.

"Not good enough." The Erebus whispered. Raising his voice, he said "George thought I was asleep, so he jacked himself off, but I wasn't asleep, and the hormones he released made me really horny, so I got an erection. And then he came over to me and jacked me off too, and even let me play with his parts a bit."

Tom turned around to stare at them, but then just shrugged and said "To each their own. No wonder Erebus cradles you so affectionately."

"Ohnonononono!" George objected, "We're not in a relationship. That was a one-time thing, because he was hurt and also he kinda drugged me with some pheromones. And I was scientifically curious. I mean, what was I gonna do, say no to a xenomorph? Yeah, right. We both know how that ends."

Thomas shrugged again and continued forward, Erebus following closely behind after George finished elbowing him in the ribs.

After a little while more had passed, they reached a set of doors at the end of a long hallway. Thomas pushed them open quietly and they slipped through into a large greenhouse.

"This was Dr. Calegary's pet project." Tom explained, "He liked screwing with flowers and making them bloom in unnatural colors."

The greenhouse was full of blossoms of every variety, even a few weeds, but the ones that caught George's eye were a planter of black chrysanthemums.

Erebus seemed interested in them too. He walked over to them, and George reached down to pluck one up.

"Do you like those?" Tom asked, "He kept packets of seeds on this shelf over here, so we can take some with us if we like. Not like anyone's going to miss them..."

The shelf in question was a round swiveling one, rather like the ones that dispensed postcards in the little knick-knack shops that dotted the outer colonies. The colonists from the core worlds liked those; it gave them some little bauble to remember their "Adventure" with.

Tom swiveled it around a bit and took a few packets of seed.

"Sure, I guess." George mumbled. He had only really had a passing interest in the flowers, but taking some with them couldn't hurt. "How close are we to the landing pad?"

"It's right outside." The scientist pointed through one of the opaque green windows.

"Great. So now I guess we wait here for the ship to show up, and then we book it onboard."

Tom glanced at the xenomorph. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"No. I hadn't forgot. I just get queasy thinking about it." George looked up at Erebus, "I can't guarantee that my team won't kill you. I think you should leave me here with Tom, and you should return to your hive. Go and be happy. I'll do my best to make sure you're left alone."

Erebus looked back over his shoulder at the dark hallway behind them, as if considering the offer. Then he looked back down at the human in his arms and said "But I'm happy with you. You've taught me so much; that the universe is so much bigger than I ever realized, and now that I know how much is out there, I could never just go back to being a hive drone barely clinging to sapience. This might be my only chance to see the rest of the universe. I don't care if I die, I'm coming with you."

"But..." George stammered "What about your life here?"

The xeno snorted "What life? My life consisted of being a prisoner and being tortured until just a few days ago. It's better now, yes, but I'm still just a drone who does the unquestioned bidding of a queen. What sort of life is that? No, I'm going with you, and that's final."

The marine sighed, tilting his head back and staring forlornly at the ceiling.

"Well, I guess we're going to need a plan." Tom said, "It's not like we can just waltz onto a spaceship with a xenomorph in tow."

"How 'bout you run out first when the shuttle arrives and tell the marines not to shoot, and we'll follow behind once you've got there?" George suggested.

"That sounds like it'll work. Good plan."

Their strategy session at an end, George asked Erebus to set him down on the floor, which the xenomorph did. He was trying to rest a little and calm his nerves before the ship arrived. He heard Erebus coo affectionately, and the xenomorph wrapped his arms around the human and pulled him into a gentle cuddle. His skin was silky and soft, and a pleasant warmth radiated from his body.

George was surprised at the affection the xeno showed him, but he felt some affection for the alien too. Over the past few days they had become intimate friends, and in a time like this when he was so far from home and the people he knew, he was grateful for the attention. Snuggling deeper into the xeno's embrace, he closed his eyes.

He knew that Thomas must be staring at them, but the marine didn't care. The physical contact felt so right, and he wouldn't leave it until he absolutely had to.

How long they stayed like that George couldn't tell, but they were finally disturbed by the faint whine of repulser engines, which gradually grew to a deafening roar as the craft approached.

"Well, here we go I guess." George said, untangling himself from Erebus. "I'm either about to get promoted or sent to an insane asylum."

"Or shot." The xeno offered unhelpfully.

"Or that." The marine agreed. He looked up at the roof. "Damn that thing is loud! We're gonna have to book it before all the other xenos show up to investigate."

"Here, come this way." Tom beckoned, opening a door in the side of the greenhouse.

Erebus scooped George off the floor and went to join the scientist.

Peeking his head through the opening, the marine found that the sky was much brighter than before and that it had stopped raining. Angry lightning still streaked between the clouds though. A large, black, vaguely rectangular object was descending through the atmosphere towards them, no more than a few kilometers above. It was perhaps 60 meters wide and 200 long. A military transport; it could carry hundreds of people long distances.

"There's our ride."

In front of them was a large field, perhaps a hundred meters wide and several hundred more long, which was rimmed by grass but had a large concrete landing pad taking up most of the free space in the center.

"When the ship lands, sprint to the loading ramp as fast as you can and tell my squad mates to hold their fire, ok?

"Got it." Thomas affirmed.

The noise grew to a fever pitch as the shuttle moved in to land, the repulser engines blowing waves of dust off the pad and flattening the grass around it.

Landing legs emerged from the belly of the craft and unfolded themselves to press gently against the ground. The engines began to fade as it settled down onto the pad.

"Oh shit." George said "They're powering down the engines. Tom! Run over there and tell them to turn them back on; we need to get out of here!"

The scientist took off and sprinted over to the boarding ramp, which was lowering itself from the belly of the ship.

George spotted a door opening in the building opposite them, and his squad-mates emerged along with the doctor.

Erebus saw this too and growled deep in his throat.

"It's ok. They're my friends." The human soothed, patting the xeno's shoulder gently. "Except that guy." He pointed at Calegary. "We'll get even with him after we're safely off the ground."

Tom and the marines met at the base of the ramp. He started explaining something, which neither George nor Erebus could hear due to the distance and the engines, but was cut off by Meyers, who crossed his arms over his chest. In response, Tom just pointed at George and Erebus.

"Well, I guess that's our cue." George said apprehensively. "Moment of truth..."

Erebus stepped out into the open, and even from across the field George could tell that everyone's jaw had dropped. He smiled sheepishly and waved at his team. "Erebus, jog toward them. Don't run, you might make them panic."

The xeno did as instructed and approached the marines in his best imitation of a casual jaunt.

When they were within earshot, Meyers yelled "Private! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"Um... I made a friend, sir!" George shouted back.

"How the fuck did you do that? And why is he carrying you?" The corporal demanded.

"It's a long story. Can we discuss this on the transport, because we're gonna have a lot of company in just-"

Glass shattered, and everyone looked to the far end of the field to see dozens of xenomorphs emerging from one of the buildings, through doors, windows, or just holes in the walls. They began running at the humans, some on all fours and some upright on two legs.

"Civilians on the shuttle now!" Meyers roared "Marines, for a firing line and fire at will!"

"Wait!" George interjected "Let Erebus take care of this!"

"Erebus?" Meyers shot him a questioning look. "Who is...?"

"Later! Erebus, stop them!"

George's xeno didn't need to be told twice. He quickly set George down and positioned himself in front of the group. Opening his mouth, Erebus let out a deafening shriek.

The charging xenomorphs stopped dead a few dozen meters away, and the leading warrior stood up on two legs and hissed at him questioningly.

Erebus and the warrior exchanged a short series of hisses, clicks, and shrieks.

The warrior looked over its shoulder and made a clacking sound at the assembled xenos, who quickly began to disperse. It looked back at Erebus, made a rapid clicking sound, and bowed slightly, before retreating with the rest of the aliens.

"Woah..." Barns said. He looked down at George. "I like your friend. It's helpful."

"Everyone on the shuttle now! We're shipping out!" Meyers ordered.

Barns moved to pick George up, but Erebus growled at him. The marine froze and looked at George nervously.

George rolled his eyes and motioned for Erebus to pick him up, which the xeno did. "Sorry Barns. He doesn't like strangers."

"I'm not a stranger! You've known me since boot camp!" Barns protested as they walked up the ramp.

"To Erebus you're a stranger."

"It has a name?!"

"He has a name." George corrected, getting de-ja-vu from his earlier conversation with Thomas.

"It has a gender too?!"

"Hey, I was just as surprised as you were." Tom joked.

At the top of the ramp was a large area that looked like some sort of staging ground, probably for taking on and offloading large groups of people all at once. The ramp whirred shut behind them, and the dull roar of the engines sounded through the hull as the craft took flight once again.

A large door at the far side of the room whooshed open and a crewman stepped through, probably an engineer, given his lubricant-stained overalls. "Hey, where-" He stopped dead when he saw Erebus. "What. The. Fuck."

"He's nice." George said simply.

"And he talks." The xeno added.

Everyone's mouth fell open again. Everyone except for Thomas, who was smiling, and Dr. Calegary, who was giving George and Erebus an unreadable look. The engineer just said "Nope", and went right back the way he had come. A red light blinked on next to the door, indicating that it had been locked from the other side.

"Is that what I looked like when I found out?" Thomas asked, letting an amused smiled slip over his face.

"Kinda, but you had an added tone of existential crisis in the mix as well." Deciding that this was a good time to tackle the issue of Calegary, George turned to him, put on a vacant smile, and said "So doctor, it's lovely to finally meet you." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Now you have exactly 60 seconds to give Thomas, Erebus, and I a good reason not to beat your sorry ass into a bloody pulp."

"What the hell are you on about, private?" Meyers demanded.

Calegary's expression remained neutral. "I have no idea what Mr. Canner is talking about."

"So you're trying to tell us that you had no idea about the laboratory? You know, the one with the rather menacing table that was stained green with xenomorph blood, that had instruments specifically designed to be impervious to xenomorph blood? The one that was in that hallway down near the base of the reservoir, the one with the holding cells for xenomorphs just a few doors down, the one right next to the walk in freezer that was full of preserved internal organs from humans and xenomorphs? You're telling me that you, one of the head doctors of the facility, were completely unaware of those things?" George asked, raising his eyebrows. "I find that hard to believe."

Meyers slowly turned to face Calegary. "Is that a fact?" He wasn't really asking.

"No! I had no knowledge of any of that!" Calegary protested.

"You liar!" Thomas yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the doctor. "You were one of the most important people in the base; in charge of the biological division! You are the most likely person to know what was going on in that entire compound!"

"I saw you outside of my holding cell several times, looking in at us through the glass." Erebus added. "You're lying when you deny it, I can smell the deceit and stress coming off of you."

"Surely corporal, you can't believe the word of a private and a low-level researcher over me." Calegary all but pleaded.

"You're Weyland-Yutani. I'd believe a xenomorph before I'd believe you." Meyers stated coldly "And as it so happens, I have a xenomorph right here whose telling me these things."

The doctor pursed his lips but didn't say anything more.

"All in favor of blowing this son of a bitch out of the nearest airlock?" Barns suggested.

Everyone except for Erebus and Meyers raised their hand.

"I was hoping to tear him apart myself." The xenomorph said.

"Neither of those things are going to happen." The corporal stated bluntly. "We're taking him back to Steele, where he can receive a proper trial and sentence in accordance with the law."

"But he tortured me and my kind, and he murdered your kind to create us!" Erebus protested, "And because of him, almost your entire squad is dead!"

"I am well aware of that!" Meyers roared, cowing even the xenomorph into silence. "And he will be made to pay for those things, but it is the role of the judiciary to see to that, not us."

For a brief second there was silence, then the little red light next to the door blinked off.

"Uh-oh." Erebus muttered.

The door slid open and about half a dozen security officers rushed into the room brandishing pistols and shotguns.

"Hey whoa whoa!" George protested as they surrounded him and Erebus.

"Stand down officers, the creature is docile!" Meyers ordered. He quickly cast a questioning glance at George, as if to check that the statement was true, which the private answered with a nod.

"But it's a xenomorph!" One of them protested, a tall, skinny man with a commander's cap.

"I have eyes. I can see it too." The corporal said flatly. "If it wanted us dead we would be, and your puny small-caliber weapons wouldn't make a dent in it anyway. It carried one of my men to safety and apparently negotiated our peaceful departure with others of its kind." He roughly pushed Calegary forward. "If you want something dangerous to point your guns at, then may I suggest this man here. He was in charge of the base and creator of the local xenomorph population; guilty of all the crimes that that entails. If you would be so kind as to lock him up someplace, that would be greatly appreciated."

The commander opened his mouth to protest again, but Meyers silenced him with a look that could have turned a man to stone.

"Very well. But I am going to have to ask that that thing remains in this room." The officer acquiesced, lowering his gun but never once taking his eyes off of Erebus. He moved behind Calegary and handcuffed him.

"Fine." Meyers said.

The doctor, for his part, did not resist, nor did he voice a word of protest. He merely stared off into the distance with a most dour expression painted across his face. As the commander took him by the arm and began to escort him from the room, Calegary murmured "You'll pay for this" to no one in particular.

The officers followed their leader out, never taking their eyes or their guns off of Erebus until the door whooshed shut and the red light blinked on once again.

The corporal stared after them for a moment, then went and sat against the wall, exhaling loudly. His shoulders slumped as exhaustion and some less recognizable emotion overtook him. "So," he said wearily, "let's address the elephant in the room."

All eyes turned to Erebus.

"I'm not an elephant." The xeno pointed out, cocking his head to the side.

Barns and the female marine laughed, and even Meyers cracked a smile, but it faded quickly.

"No; you're a xenomorph. And you haven't killed us yet. And you can talk. What's the story?"

Erebus gingerly put George down and then sat cross-legged on the floor next to him. "After George was separated from you, I found him and attacked him. He fended me off and ran away, but eventually I caught up and jumped at him. Except I didn't notice that he was standing on the edge of a big water reservoir and we both fell in."

"You didn't notice a giant hole in the ground?" Barns interjected, also sitting down, with the rest of the group following suit.

"I was angry!" Erebus protested indignantly "George slammed a thick metal door in my face and shot hot steam at me! Anyway, he landed safely in the mud at the bottom, but I gored myself on rebar on the way down. When he woke up, he felt pity for me and healed me. I in turn realized that he wasn't going to hurt me, and decided not to hurt him. As we planned our escape, we became friends. He taught me how big the universe is, and I just had to go and see it for myself. On our way out, he fell out of a vent and hurt his ankle, and then we met Thomas here, then we all escaped together. So here I am."

"And you can talk..." Meyers prompted

"Xenomorphs can mimic sounds and voices. It helps us hunt. I used that ability to communicate with George after we had spent a little time together, but it upset him that I was using dead people's voices as my own, so I created my own voice to talk with."

"I hadn't heard about that ability." The female marine murmured.

"Neither had I." George said.

"So I take it that white splotch across your stomach is where you hurt yourself?" Meyers asked

"Yes." Erebus confirmed "It was very painful. George put some stuff on it to keep the wound closed."

"George tells me you have a biological gender." Barns said "Is that true?"

"Yes. I'm a male." The xeno said, as if it was the most mundane thing in the world.

Barns blinked. "Most xenomorphs don't have a gender. As a matter of fact you're the only one I know of who does."

"Oh." Erebus seemed surprised by this. "Most of the xenomorphs in my hive had a gender. Males and females. There were only a few genderless drones. They were the oldest ones, and they were stupid too."

"Fascinating." Barns murmured.

"And that leaves just one more question." Meyers' attention shifted from Erebus to Thomas. "Just who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Thomas Wentworth." Tom said "I was a junior researcher at the base. I was told I was working on a more efficient cancer treatment; I had no idea about the xenomorphs."

"He's telling the truth." Erebus jumped in to defend him.

"And we found no evidence in his lab to suggest otherwise. He even took his work data with him, so we can look over it on the ship if we want to, and it'll exonerate him." George added.

Meyers had fallen silent, and was staring at the opposite wall. Now that his questions were answered, he seemed to have withdrawn from the world.

George wasn't immediately sure what was the matter, but Erebus figured it out very quickly.

"I'm sorry about what happened to the rest of your squad." The xeno said quietly.

"Don't mention it." The corporal said. It was phrased like a pardon, but pronounced like a command.

Erebus fell silent, taking the hint.

The realization that they really had lost almost their entire team hit the rest of them like a punch to the gut, and no one said anything more.

Through the hull of the ship they could hear the rocket engines roar to life as they finally entered space proper, carrying them on toward the Hermes and an uncertain future.