Alan Dean Foster Alien 01 Alien

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men went quiet, their attention on the busy, crackling speaker.
?There she is.?Dallas had enough strength left to gesture with his head.
Several dim, treelike shapes loomed up out of the almost night. They
supported a larger amorphous shape: the hull of the Nostromo.
They had almost reached the ship when Ash
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reached the inner lock door. He stopped there, made sure the hatch was
ready to be opened, and touched the stud of the nearest 'com.
?Ripley ... I'm by the inner hatch.?He left the channel open, moved to
stand next to a small port nearby. ?No sign of them yet. It's nearly
full night outside, but when they reach the lift I ought to be able to
make out their suit lights.?
?Okay.?She was thinking furiously, and some of her current thoughts
would have surprised the waiting science officer. They were surprising
to herself.
?Which way??Dallas squinted into the dust, trying to make out shipmarks
by the light from the floods.
Lambert gestured to their left. ?Over that way, I think. By that first
strut. Lift should be just beyond.?They continued on in that direction
until they almost tripped over the rim of the lift, firmly placed on
hard ground. Despite their fatigue, they wrestled Kane's motionless form
off the travois and onto the elevator, keeping the exec supported
between them.
?Think you can keep him up? Be easier if we don't have to lift him again.?
She took a breath. ?Yeah, I think so. So long as someone will help us
once we get outside the lock?
?Ripley, are you there??
?Right here, Dallas.?
?We're coming up.?He glanced over at Lambert. ?Ready??She nodded.
He pressed a stud. There was a jerk, then the lift rose smoothly upward,
stopped even with the lock egress. Dallas leaned slightly, hit a switch.
The outer hatch slid aside and they entered the lock.
?Pressurize??Lambert asked him.
?Never mind. We can spare a lockful of air. We'll
105 be inside in a minute and then we can get out of these damn
suits.?They closed the outer hatch, waited for the inner door to open.
?What happened to Kane??Ripley again. Dallas was too tired to take
notice of something in her voice besides the usual concern. He shifted
Kane a little higher on his shoulder, not worrying so much about the
creature now. It hadn't moved a centimeter on the trek back to the ship
and he didn't expect it would suddenly move itself now.
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?Some kind of organism,?he told her, the faint echo of his own voice
reassuring in the confines of the helmet. ?We don't know how it happened
or where it came from. It's attached itself to him. Never saw anything
like it. It's not moving now, hasn't altered its position at all on the
way back. We've got to get him into the infirmary.?
?I need a clear definition,?she told them quietly.
?Clear definition, hell!?Dallas tried to sound as rational as possible,
keep the frustrated fury he was feeling out of his words. ?Look, Ripley,
we didn't see what happened. He was down a shaft of some kind, below us.
We didn't know anything was wrong until we hauled him out. Is that a
clear enough definition??There was silence from the other end of the
channel.
?Look, just open the hatch.?
?Wait a minute.?She chose her words carefully. ?If we let it in, the
entire ship could be infected.?
?Damnit, this isn't a germ! It's bigger than my hand, and plenty
solid-looking.?
?You know quarantine procedure.?Her voice exhibited a determination she
didn't feel. ?Twenty four hours for decontamination. You've both got
more than enough suit air remaining to handle that, and we can feed you
extra tanks as necessary. Twenty-
106 four hours won't prove conclusively that the thing's no longer
dangerous either, but that's not my responsibility. I just have to
enforce the rules. You know them as well as I do.?
?I know of exceptions, too. And I'm the one holding up what's left of a
good friend, not you. In twenty-four hours he could be dead, if he isn't
already. Open the hatch.?
?Listen to me,?she implored him. ?If I break quarantine we may all die.?
?Open the goddamn hatch!?Lambert screamed. ?To hell with Company rules.
We have to get him into the infirmary where the autodoc can work on him.?
?I cant. If you were in my position, with the same responsibility, you'd
do the same.?
?Ripley,?Dallas said slowly, ?do you hear me?? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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