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necessary, no matter how unpleasant they found it. Eloquent glances
passed from Parker to Lambert, Lambert to Ash, and around the little
circle. Outside, the universe, vast and threatening, pressed tight
around the Nostromo, while the thick, ripe smell of death filled the
corridors leading into the crowded mess. ...
Parker and Brett descended the companionway leading from the service
deck above, joined the rest of a tired, discouraged group of hunters.
?Any signs??Dallas asked the assemblage. ?Any
175 strange smells, blood,?he hesitated momentarily, finished, ?pieces
of Kane??
?Nothing,?Lambert told him.
?Nothing,?echoed Ash, with obvious disappointment.
Parker brushed dust from his arms. ?Didn't see a goddamn thing. It knows
how to hide.?
?Didn't see anything,?Brett confirmed. ?Can't imagine where it's got to.
Though there's parts of the ship it could reach that we can't. I
wouldn't think anything could survive in some of those heated ducts,
though.?
?Don't forget the kind of environment its, uh ... ,?Dallas looked at
Ash, ?what would you call its first stage??
?Prelarval. Just giving it a name. I can't imagine its stages of
development.?
?Yeah. Well, let's not forget what it was living in through its first
incarnation. We know it's plenty tough, and adaptable as hell. Wouldn't
surprise me if we found it nesting on top of the reaction chambers.?
?If that's where it's got to, we won't be able to get near it,?Parker
pointed out.
?Then let's hope it's traveled in a different direction. Somewhere we
can go after it.?
?We've got to find it.?Ripley's expression reflected a universal concern.
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?Why not just go into hypersleep??Brett suggested. ?Pump the air back
into the tanks and suffocate it??
?In the first place, we don't know how long this form can survive
without air,?the warrant officer argued heatedly. ?It may not even need
air. We only saw a mouth, not nostrils.?
?Nothing can exist without some kind of
176
atmosphere.?Brett still sounded positive, though less so.
She cocked an eye at him. ?Want to bet your life on it??He didn't
respond. ?Besides, it only has to live without air for a little while.
Maybe it can take up whatever gases it requires from its ... food. We'd
be sitting ... no, we'd be sleeping ducks in the freezers. Remember how
easily the first form melted through the faceplate of Kane's helmet?
Who's to promise that this version can't do the same to our freezers??
She shook her head resignedly. ?No way I'm going under until we've found
the thing and killed it.?
?But we can't kill it.?Lambert kicked at the deck in frustration. ?As
far as its internal composition, it's probably identical to the first
version. If it is and we try to laser it, it's liable to spill or squirt
acidic body fluids all over the place. It's a lot bigger than that hand'
was. If it leaks the same stuff, it might eat a hole larger than we
could patch. You all know how critical hull integrity is during
faster-than-light, not to mention how delicate the circuitry running
through the primary hull is.?
?Son-of-a-bitch,?muttered Brett. ?If we can't kill it, what do we do
with it when we find it??
?Somehow,?Ripley said, ?we have to track it down, catch it, and eject it
from the ship.?She looked to Dallas for confirmation of the proposal.
He thought a moment. ?I don't see anything else but to try it.?
?Much more talking and not searching and it won't matter what we decide
to do,?Ash informed them. ?Our supplies are based on us spending a
limited amount of time out of hypersleep. Strictly limited. I strongly
suggest we get started immediately on some kind of organized search.?
177 ?Right,?agreed Ripley quickly. ?The first thing we have to do is
find it.?
?No,?said Dallas in a funny kind of voice. They all looked at him.
?First we've got something else to do.?He looked back down the corridor,
to where the body of Kane remained just visible through the mess doorway.
Miscellaneous supplies yielded just enough material to make a crude
shroud, which Parker laser-sealed in the absence of thread. It was
amateurishly rough and the informality of it as they walked away from
the main lock bothered everyone. But they had the consolation of knowing
they were doing as much as they could.
They could have frozen the body for more substantial burial back on
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