Tim Lebbon - Alien: Out the Shadows

To: Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Science Division

(Ref: code 937)

Date (unspecified)

Transmission (pending)

My search continues.

Chris Hooper dreamed of monsters.

As a youngster theyd fascinated him, as they did all children. But unlike children born generations before him, there were places he could go, destinations he could explore, where he might just find them. No longer restricted to the pages of fairy tales or the digital imagery of imaginative moviemakers, humankinds forays into space had opened up a whole galaxy of possibilities.

So from a young age he looked to the stars, and those dreams persisted.

In his early twenties hed worked for a year on Callisto, one of Jupiters moons. Theyd been hauling ores from several miles below the surface, and in a nearby mine a Chinese team had broken through into a sub-surface sea. There had been crustaceans and shrimp, tiny pilot fish and delicate frond-like creatures a hundred feet long. But no monsters to set his imagination on fire.

When hed left the solar system to work in deep space, traveling as engineer on various haulage, exploration, and mining ships, hed eagerly sought out tales of alien life forms encountered on those distant asteroids, planets, and moons. Though adulthood had diluted his youngsters vivid imagination with more mundane concernsfamily estrangement, income, and well-beinghe still told himself stories. But over the years, none of what hed found had lived up to the fictions hed created.

As time passed hed come to terms with the fact that monsters were only monsters before they were found, and perhaps the universe wasnt quite so remarkable as hed once hoped.

Certainly not here.

Working in one of the Marions four docking bays, he paused to look down at the planet below with a mixture of distaste and boredom. LV178. Such an inhospitable, storm-scoured, sand-blasted hell of a rock that they hadnt even bothered to give it a proper name. Hed spent three long years here, making lots of money he had no opportunity to spend.

Trimonite was the hardest, strongest material known to man, and when a seam as rich as this one was found, it paid to mine it out. One day hed head home, he promised himself at the end of every fifty-day shift. Home to the two boys and wife hed run away from seven years before. One day. But he was beginning to fear that this life had become a habit, and the longer it continued, the harder it might be to break.

Hoop! The voice startled him, and as he spun around Jordan was already chuckling.

He and the captain had been involved briefly, a year before. These confined quarters and stressful work conditions meant that such liaisons were frequent, and inevitably brief. But Hoop liked the fact that they had remained close. Once theyd got the screwing out of the way, theyd become the best of friends.

Lucy, you scared the shit out of me.

Thats Captain Jordan to you. She examined the machinery hed been working on, without even glancing at the viewing window. All good here?

Yeah, heat baffles need replacing, but Ill get Powell and Welford onto that.

The terrible twins, Jordan said, smiling. Powell was close to six foot six, tall, black, and slim as a pole. Welford was more than a foot shorter, white, and twice as heavy. As different as could be, yet the ships engineers were both smartasses.

Still no contact? Hoop asked.

Jordan frowned briefly. It wasnt unusual to lose touch with the surface, but not for two days running.

Storms down there are the worst Ive seen, she said, nodding at the window. From three hundred miles up, the planets surface looked even more inhospitable than usuala smear of burnt oranges and yellows, browns and blood-reds, with the circling eyes of countless sandstorms raging across the equatorial regions. Theyve gotta abate soon. Im not too worried yet, but Ill be happy when we can talk to the dropships again.

Yeah, you and me both. The Marion feels like a derelict when were between shifts.

Jordan nodded. She was obviously concerned, and for an awkward, silent moment Hoop thought he should say something more to comfort her. But she was the captain because she could handle situations like this. That, and because she was a badass.

Lachance is doing spaghetti again tonight, she said.

For a Frenchman, he sure can cook Italian.

Jordan chuckled, but he could feel her tension.

Lucy, its just the storms, Hoop said. He was sure of that. But he was equally sure that just storms could easily cause disaster. Out here in the furthest quadrants of known spacepushing the limits of technology, knowledge, and understanding, and doing their best to deal with the corners cut by the Kelland Mining Companyit didnt take much for things to go wrong.

Hoop had never met a ships engineer better than him, and that was why he was here. Jordan was an experienced flight captain, knowledgeable and wise. Lachance, cynical and gruff, was an excellent pilot who had a healthy respect for space and all it could throw at them. And the rest of their team, though a mixed bunch, were all more than capable at their jobs. The miners themselves were a hardy breed, many of them experienced from stints on Jupiters and Neptunes moons. Mean bastards, with streaks of sick humor, most were as hard as the trimonite they sought.

But no experience, no confidence or hardness or pig-headedness, could dodge fate. They all knew how dangerous it was. Most of them had grown used to living with the danger, and the close proximity of death.

Only seven months ago theyd lost three miners in an accident in Bay One as the dropship Samson came in to dock. No ones fault, really. Just eagerness to be back on board in relative comfort, after fifty days down the mine. The airlock hadnt sealed properly, an indicator had malfunctioned, and the two men and a woman had suffocated.

Hoop knew that Jordan still had sleepless nights over that. For three days after transmitting her condolences to the miners families, she hadnt left her cabin. As far as Hoop was concerned, that was what made her a great captainshe was a badass who cared.

Just the storms, she echoed. She leaned past Hoop and rested against the bulkhead, looking down through the window. Despite the violence, from up here the planet looked almost beautiful, an artists palette of autumnal colors. I fucking hate this place.

Pays the bills.

Ha! Bills She seemed in a maudlin mood, and Hoop didnt like her like this. Perhaps that was a price of their closenesshe got to see a side of her the rest of the crew never would.

Almost finished, he said, nudging some loose ducting with his foot. Meet you in the rec room in an hour. Shoot some pool?

Jordan raised an eyebrow. Another rematch?

Youve got to let me win sometime.

Youve never, ever beaten me at pool.

But I used to let you play with my cue.

As your captain, I could put you in the brig for such comments.

Yeah. Right. You and which army?

Jordan turned her back on Hoop. Stop wasting time and get back to work, chief engineer.

Yes, captain. He watched her walk away along the dusky corridor and through a sliding door, and then he was alone again.

Alone with the atmosphere, the sounds, the smells of the ship

The stench of space-flea piss from the small, annoying mites that managed to multiply, however many times the crew tried to purge them. They were tiny, but a million fleas pissing produced a sharp, rank odor that clung to the air.

The constant background hum of machinery was inaudible unless Hoop really listened for it, because it was so ever-present. There were distant thuds, echoing grinds, the whisper of air movement encouraged by conditioning fans and baffles, the occasional creak of the ships huge bulk settling and shifting. Some of the noises he could identify because he knew them so well, and on occasion he perceived problems simply through hearing or