It was a calm, humid day on Hestia Prime. The sun shined high in the sky, above even the high reaching mountain ranges which surrounded the main Weyland-Yutani settlement on most sides. Towards the northern edge of the settlement a few vehicles were parked in a semi circle, mining equipment covered the ground as scattered workers milled around it. A group exited from a rail-cart to the east, a high speed railway system allowing fast travel to this part of the colony and back. A cave had been dug into the bottom of one of the mountains, workers moved in and out of it, some lugging equipment while others chatted amongst themselves. Some operated machinery inside of the cavern as they continued to dig into it in search of precious metals. Towards the very back of it an elevator had recently been constructed, the Weyland-Yutani logo painted in the center of the double doors.

Ivan Navarro wiped the sweat from his brow with a weathered handkerchief which he tucked into the pocket of his jeans. He then let out a deep breath and strapped his hardhat on top of his head, checking once to insure the flashlight embedded on the front of it was functioning. He thought briefly of his wife Alicia, her beautiful black hair, those piercing green eyes which seemed to illuminate every room she stepped foot in. He wondered what she was up to, probably back at their apartment in the main settlement, readying their daughter Olivia for her first day of school. Ivan was glad Olivia ended up like her mother rather than him in the looks department, very glad of it. He smirked for a brief moment then walked into the cavern, his heavy work boots scrapping against the rock floor with each step.

His foreman, Luke Anderson stared at him for a moment, nodding at Ivan before he went back more important matters, planning the next move for the miners working in this part of the colony. He respected Luke, the man seemed to be all business and getting the job done, but he wasn't a total dick about it. He'd seen the older man pickup a pickaxe and do some mining himself, that raised a few eyebrows amongst the miners. Most of them were used to just getting yelled at by the foreman, ordered around like slaves. Ivan was getting paid very well for this job, Weyland-Yutani gave him full benefits and even paid for his daughter's schooling. He approached the elevator in the back of the cavern, where a small group of a dozen other miners had assembled. Many carried handheld tools, one lugged a jackhammer in his arms while another clenched a portable mining laser, a high tech, expensive tool, but one that did the job damn well.

"Nice to see you again Ivan. How's the wife and kid?" Another miner, George asked as he gently fist bumped Ivan, a smile on his face.

"They're doing great. Olivia's first day of school is today, it's a small class but she's very excited." Ivan replied as he returned the fist bump, then the group slowly filled into the elevator.

Ivan beside George as the closest miner to the door shut it and began their slow descent. They were going down two levels, they had been hard at work mining the first sub-level, today they would begin the second. Weyland=Yutani spared no expense when it came to anything on the world, there were two other sites they had been hard at work mining. On each one they provided the most expensive equipment, and ferried each worker on their fancy railways which spanned the entire colonized part of the world.

"Ah that's awesome to hear. I imagine it isn't a very big class right now, though we're getting new people everyday so I'm sure it will be filled up by the end of the semester." George replied with another smile as the elevator reached the second sublevel.

The dual doors came open and the mid sized cavern was in front of them, a few lights had already been set up. The group of miners piled out of the elevator, George and Ivan towards the back of the group. The workers all spread out, Ivan standing near the wall opposite of the elevator. He placed a hand on it, then tapped it lightly with his fist. The sound it made was strange to the experienced miner, almost like the wall was weaker for some reason. He motioned for George to come towards him, the instructed the man to tap on it like he did.

"That's odd." George muttered, as Ivan nodded.

Some of the other miners noticed the two men's strange expressions, one with a pickaxe tapped it lightly with the sharp end of the tool. Having made sure that his next action would not cause a total collapse, he then instructed the others to step back as he took a large swing at the wall. The axe stuck it hard, making a sizeable hole in the wall, large enough for a hand to fit through. George peeked into it but could see nothing but total darkness.

"Let's just bring it down, expand the cavern." Ivan stated as he was picked up another pickaxe, then swung at the wall alongside the other miner.

They both alternated as they chipped away, breaking off chunks of it with each hit. Dust started to gather, by the time they had taken down most of the weak wall it dissipated and they were able to step through to the other side. Ivan was the first one through, still holding the pickaxe in his hand, with his other one he flicked on the flashlight on his hardhat, a beam of light illuminating what now laid in front of him as he took several steps forward

"What the fuck?" Were the only words mumbled the miner as his light shined upon the strange in front of him.

An oval object, roughly two feet in height and colored a leathery shade of brown. Ivan blinked before he stared at it, the other miners following further into the cavern behind him. More lights were turned on, and illuminated the entire cavern room. There were rows of the 'things', but only them, the rest of the cave was walled off with no openings. There must have been at least two dozen of them, each alongside each other like they had been perfectly placed there by something.

"These don't look like normal rocks, I don't have any idea what the hell they are." Another miner added as he stepped forward, I tinge of nervousness and total uncertainty surging through his veins. The others felt similar emotions, all of them confused and unsure of what they had just discovered.

"They almost seem like, eggs." George stated, as several of the miners moved closer to them.

"No bird or lizard I ever seen lay an egg like this." Another miner chipped in.

Ivan moved the closest to the eggs amongst the dumbfounded miners. He was curious, and unfortunately that curiousness had taken over his other thoughts. He stood over the nearest egg to him, then reached his free hand towards it and gently caressed the side. It did not feel like a rock, it was rough, he couldn't describe the exact feeling other than it made him feel all kinds of wrong to even be this close to it. Like all of his senses were screaming at him to backup and get out of here. Then the top of the egg split open in four directions, slowly. Ivan couldn't help but stare at it. Alongside him his fellow workers had moved closer to the other eggs and each of them came open. A pink membrane sat inside, the stench hung in his nostrils, an ancient disgusting scent that repulsed him.

Then something moved inside, squirmed and shook the soft interior of the egg.

Then an inhuman, terrifying monstrosity burst from the opening, screaming a bloodcurdling noise that compared more to a horrific shriek than a yelp. The sound rang in Ivan's ear as the creature's tentacles snapped onto the sides of his face and enveloped his head. He let out his own scream of terror as the sheer force of the creature clenching onto him sent him to the floor. His vision blinded, his breathing labored. Around him he could only hear more screams as the other eggs shot open, and more facehuggers launched out to assault his fellow miners. Their panicked breaths and terrified yells filled his ears.

Some tried to run, sprint towards the elevator, dropping their equipment as they ran. None escaped, each of the miners were turned to victims by the parasites. They laid strewn around the cavern, each of their faces covered. Ivan's hands rocketed up to grasp at the horror enveloping his face, but as soon as his fingertips brushed against the freakish skin of the facehugger he felt its tail tighten around his throat. It seemed the creature would choke him a slow and painful death if he resisted and tried to pull it off him. All Ivan could do was allow it to do whatever it intended to do. Suddenly he felt his breathing become easier, then a disgusting, repulsive object wiggled slowly down his esophagus. Ivan's thoughts were of his family as he was impregnated with a horrific embryo.

---

The synthetic man ran a comb through his black hair, a small amount of gel having been applied to it so that he could properly style it. Benedict then delicately ran his fingertips through it, as his eyes stared at his reflection in the mirror. A stylish quiff was in his hair as he smirked at the result of his labor. He bore resemblance to a golden age film star in hairstyle at least. That was his goal, he had taken a fascination with old Hollywood films in his spare time. Even machines enjoyed entertainment.

Then Benedict walked out of the bathroom in his apartment, provided to him by his creators and now employers, Weyland-Yutani. He did not need to sleep or even rest, it was just given to him so he had somewhere to relax during his downtime. He couldn't spend all twenty hours of the day in the science laboratories, or in any other Weyland-Yutani facility. The synthetic being slipped on his clothing, a grey Weyland-Yutani jumpsuit which he slid into over a plain white t shirt. Benedict then tied his grey sneakers, looping bunny ears for the laces. He did not really carry anything for supplies, the only thing he took with him was his ID card which he slipped into the breast pocket of his jumpsuit, right below the well known logo of his creators.

He locked his apartment door behind him, then strolled down the hallway which led to a brief staircase. He passed another business suit wearing middle aged man, who did not even acknowledge Benedict's presence even as they walked by each other. He did not like to assume that was rudeness, perhaps the fellow was simply in a hurry. Either way the android did not pay much mind to it as moved down the stairs, then out the front door of the apartment complex. The sun shined harshly in his face before his automated senses adjusted in a millisecond. He took in his familiar surroundings, a friendly smile on his face. Cars moved along down the street, while denizens of Hestia Prime walked into the railway station.

Benedict did the same, blinking, breathing and looking utterly human with each step. He blended in perfectly with the real humans, just as his makers intended. Of course his true existence was known to many on the colony, those who made him and those who he worked with. Anyone else wouldn't suspect for a second that he was entirely human. He piled onto the monorail into a half filled cart of people. The android took a seat in the center of the cart, folding his hands on his lap as his gaze shifted towards the open window which showed the sun over the horizon, the mountains below it.

As the doors closed and the monorail moved, Benedict smiled once more, bound for the center of the settlement as his day began just like everyone else on Hestia Prime.

---

Anna Atkinson let out a sigh, smoke whisping out of her lips as she did so, then she took a long sip of her decaf coffee. She dropped the now depleted cigarette in her other hand then crumbled it against the dirt floor with her boot. She'd kick the nasty habit eventually, but not today. It was too damn good on a hot ass day like today. Lord knows her niece harped on her enough about it, bless her little heart she already had the right thought process about the subject in her brain.

Anna then finished off the disposable coffee cup, dropping it into a garbage bin to her left. A thank you for not littering was printed on the front of it, she'd done her part to help the environment. As she walked her hands went to the back of her head and tied her shoulder length red hair into a ponytail, nudging the cap on her head with each movement of her fingers.

Another day of work.

She enjoyed her job, well the benefits of it at least. The colony was a pretty laid back place, for someone working in security like herself there was not much crime. Part of her was thankful for that, while another less open part was a little saddened by it. In her occupation it was often better to be bored, but damn if she wouldn't kill for some excitement once in awhile. Hestia Prime was a safe world, she could count all the murders committed on it in her five months on the world. Three in fact. That was a good thing, a very good thing.

The last arrest she had made was days ago, some scumbag who beat his wife to a bloody pulp. She hated those kind of people, they did in front of their kid too. That was even worse. Before that it was some small time drug dealer trying to sell crack cocaine, there was apparently an illegal drug trade on the world, nothing massive but security had logged several arrests ranging from possession of narcotics to trying to deal the substances.

She'd grown up in Brooklyn, she knew drugs too well, always avoided them herself but had seen friends fall too far into it. The last thing she wanted was to see more people ended up addicted like they were. Anna stepped into the security office, a few citizens sat seated near the front desk where a secretary was hard at work. There were three of these stations scattered around the settlement, including the main station in the center of the colony. Anna worked in the most northern of the stations.

She walked through a backdoor to the right of the front desk, passing by a few other security officers chatting amongst themselves. Others were at their desks, filling paperwork or other business. They were essentially the police on this colony, all but in what they were called. Hell, if someone dialed 911 they'd be connected to someone in the security offices. The only difference between them and regular cops were jurisdictions and that they ultimately served Weyland-Yutani over the public. That didn't faze her too much, in all her years working security it had been good working for Weyland-Yutani.

Anna took a seat at her desk, pulling her chair forward as her hands went through papers on the top of the desk. A picture of her niece sat there, a smile on the cute kid's cheeks. Anna smiled at the picture as she paused going through paperwork. It was a reminder of what she got to home to at night. Hopefully Lisa was enjoying her first day of school.

The sun was high and hot this day, with almost no clouds in the sky to obstruct the scorching veil. A gust of wind would only bring heated air as well as a plume of dust. All of this and it was still early morning. In the distance, very far but with a lacking of clouds it looked near, was a gathering storm. If it were not for the coming storm then it would surely be a hot day. But this was the usual for this part of the world, sweat filled, long, days. What animals were out and about were making their way from one shaded spot to another. There were surely others nearby, but they were concealed by a thick layer of waist high brush and clumps of trees. A recent drought had come to an end, one could see it in the faces of the animals and the look of the vegetation. A new green hue covered the landscape and the look of optimism could almost be mistaken on the faces of the indigenous species'. Storms had been frequent, almost one every week if not bi-weekly. It was as if they were on some sort of schedule and to be late was not an option. It was a gift for the locals, both human and inhuman, for it was saving them.

As the storm neared, a cooler breeze crept forth. Grass, bushes, and smaller vegetation leaned with the breeze. Leaves did as well but the tree trunks stood tall, unwavering. The air had picked up dust, carrying it to the sand of the parked Land Rover. The vehicle was originally white but rust and wear were beginning to show. Blotched stains of mud were above the wheels and painted the bumper and fender. The driver side window was opened slightly, maybe only an inch. A thin, quiet, trail of white smoke flowed like a creek from the inside. The source of the smoke was soon flicked from within the vehicle, a cigarette butt. Another flick, but this time on a lighter. Click. Inhale. Smoke trail.

"He will not come" a deep, African, voice produced this first sentence, breaking the silence.

"He will. I know he will." an American this time.

"De lion does what he wants, you Americans..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, Americans this, Americans that. Have some faith Sepou. I know he will be here. Another male intruding on the territory of his pride, and with cubs. We may be lucky enough to see the lionesses, fuck, lucky enough to see his cubs." the taste of optimism dripped on every word. "I am not usually wrong, my friend".

"Mr. Lancaster, you are funny", the sentence was followed by a brief chuckle.

The Land Rover sat idle, still in the serene African bush. Jamie, the driver, had been near this site many times before. Though his actual task was observing the habits and environmental interaction of African buffalo, Jamie wanted to learn more about how they reacted to predators. At first he started by following the herd, he called them the Lexington Herd, named after the street he grew up on. This yielded very little results. Predators often came near, near being a few hundred meters, but they did not often engage. So he shifted his gaze from the herd to a nearby pride of lions. The pride consisted of a male, Charles was his name, and four females with some a pair of cubs in the mix. This pride was of real interest to Jamie. Not long ago, when he first came across them, Charles was actually in a coalition with another male lion. Unfortunately the other male had made a go at the cubs which resulted in Charles removing him by force. Though this was a spectacle to see, it also saddened Jamie as he would have liked to observe male lion coalitions more, but it is nature.

No more than twenty meters from the Land Rover, the brush split and out came a magnificent golden beast. It was Charles, as Jamie had predicted. And as Jamie predicted, the king of this pride immediately sought out the intruder. Excitement burst from Jamie as he turned the key in the ignition. The rusted Rover roared to life, the lion not even paying any mind as he was completely focused on his adversary. Jamie shifted and the vehicle slowly lurched forward, he kept it at a crawl. As he moved towards the spot where Charles had just crossed, he spotted the other male moving in as well. Not only that, but they were going to meet in an opening in the curtain of vegetation. How lucky, Jamie thought. The two large cats closed distance. Posture changed. Everyone knew what was coming next.

It started with a roar.

Beep, beep, beep, beep

Jamie, now a few years older and more clean cut, slowly opened his eyes. The fog of sleep took an abnormal amount of time to clear from his eye. The alarm was still crying out to him. Though he knew that it was time to rise and meet his day head on, he liked the sounds of lions roaring more than an electronic system designed to drag him out of bed. Reaching over with his left hand, Jamie placed two fingers on a light blue panel on the wall, silencing the alarm. A bit of sweat had formed just below the hairline, nothing compared to what had been produced that day. He brought the hand back from the panel and brushed the sweat from his forehead, then wiped it on the leg of his pants. The morning had just begun and already Jamie was tired, not very enthusiastic about leaving the comfort of his bed. The night before had been one to remember, though he was struggling with portions of it. After a long day of hard work, he and a few members of the team gathered at the bar for some drinks. Though the night should have ended there, it carried on to a colleague's apartment. Oh, the state that that place must be in. Jamie chuckled a little then rose to his feet.

Every morning the routine was the same. Identical to the day before. Jamie would pop a pill to relax the muscles in his knee, though it did not pain him to go without the medication, it was just an inconvenience that was easily remedied. Then he would proceed to shower, take care of all of his hygiene related tasks, get dressed, and head to work. Today Jamie decided that he would going to wear a white t-shirt with his outfit. Not much variation there. A bit of sweat was gathering on various parts of his body, the usual when he rushed to get dressed and leave right after a shower. Resting on a table by the door was his Weyland-Yutani identification badge. Rather quickly he clipped it on, gathered his work materials, and departed for the day ahead.

The walk to work was the same every day, he took the same route. When moving to the colony, from Earth, Jamie had requested an apartment close enough to the labs so that he would not have to venture far and so that he could maximize his time at work. This was really just an excuse to spend more time with animals or working for them, it was his passion and his calling. There was one portion of the walk that Jamie enjoyed most, it was a sky-way between the building his home resided in and the labs. Both sides were paneled with glass windows, Jamie would often spend a few minutes looking out onto the beautifully terraformed world before him. This portion of the colony was exceptionally clean and shiny, the only bits of dirt that Jamie resonated arrived would be from his own boots in the evening or the dried mud in the morning. This was almost certainly true. The sun was shining today, not producing the same heat as Africa, which was a relief. As Jamie crossed from the bridge into the building that housed the labs, he would always take note of the sunlight fading and being replaced by artificial light. He was an outdoorsman at heart.

Very quickly Jamie made his way to the ecological labs. Daily he did his best to be the first one in there, today he did not know if he would on account of the hangover slowing his pace a few steps. Jamie turned down a hallway, at the end of it was a double door with the Weyland-Yutani logo on it, next to it was a scanner for his badge. With a wave of the badge, the doors slid open and Jamie entered. The lab was quite nice, Jamie spent as little time there as he had to. There was a small office located down a hallway that had his name on the door, he made quick work to get there. Once inside he breathed a sigh of relief, sat down onto his chair, and felt as if he was melting into a lazier pose. There were a few folders on the desk, Jamie preferred to take his notes in paper and pen. Each had a different label. The top one being labeled "Phase 1 Prey Introduction", Jamie place his hand atop of it.

"Another day in paradise" he mumbled to himself with a smile.

Even though it was currently well past sunrise, Emilia sat in a quiet, dark corner of her living room space. The setting for her window panel hadn't been taken off "dark" for the day just yet, precisely the way she liked it for the first couple of hours every morning. Emilia had been enduring flu-like symptoms for the past couple of days, and although a quick visit to her doctor pushed aside any real concerns she had, she remained as solitaire as a hermit; much more than before, as a matter of fact. But her peace was short-lived when she received a message which notified her from the bottom-right corner of her computer screen.

One new message

She clicked on the notification, seeing it was sent by Kathryn Pope, the Information Coordinator down at the hospital.

Em,

I hope you're feeling better. Dr. Xavier is asking for the paper on Robyn Stiles. I know the deadline isn't for another day but he's got some work to do and would appreciate it if you could please forward him a copy as soon as you're finished.

Thanks,

Kat

Emilia exited out of the message and clicked on the window which had a draft of the document. She stared at it for a moment, contemplating how to best incorporate a conclusion to finalize the paper. She hated her indecisiveness whenever writer's block kicked in. Always overthinking every aspect of her work and replacing words here and there. One would think that experience over the years would make it easier to write, but for her it was quite the opposite.

"I'm sure Dr. Xavier won't mind..." she said to herself, pulling the cover tighter around her before typing up a quick conclusion which highlighted the main facts of the paper. Cliched, but it would work.

Roughly half an hour later, Emilia was leaving her apartment to head to the hospital. She had on a simple white blouse, black pants, and a black pair of flats. Her badge hung from her shirt collar, and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, wisps of hair framing her face. Emilia had on a little bit of make-up to cover up the dark circles around her eyes as well as her pale lips. No one appreciated looking like a zombie when they were sick, especially not her.

"I'm sorry," she said to a man walking by in a hurry. She had accidentally bumped into him, but they both carried on without a care. Eventually, when Emilia made it to the hospital, she headed straight to Dr. Xavier's office. His door wasn't closed all the way, so she lightly knocked on it and waited for a response.

"Who is it?"

"Dr. Xavier, hi," she peeked her head through the door, then stepped forward once she was waved inside. "I have that report you wanted." Emilia walked across the office over to his desk and placed the small chip beside his computer.

"Ms. Grey, you could have simply sent me an electronic file," he said, grabbing the chip before attaching it to his computer, "you didn't have to come all the way over here for that, especially since you're not feeling all that well."

"It's okay, I still have to pick up some more medication." Emilia headed towards the door. "Please let me know if you'd like me to add anything else and I'll send it to you from home."

"Thank you."

After waving goodbye, she closed the door behind her and walked down the hall to take the elevator towards the first floor. Maybe she'd pick up some food on the way, a little something to take with her medication so she wouldn't feel as nauseated as she would while on an empty stomach.

The previous night – 1935 hours local – Non-standard gym facility constructed by colony citizens from scrap and personal equipment– North central sector – Grid 54A.

An open hand crashed across the back of Deacon’s head, a flash of light snapping across his vision as the blow landed. Deacon shook his head letting out a short intense yell in response. All around him forms moved through a dimly lit space that had been created from scrap transit containers, some of the shapes were gathering around him, closing in on him, shouting, screaming. Iron and steel crashed down around him, sweat poured off him, and abominably violent music blasted through speakers as Deacon stood facing a barbell loaded with 355 kilos. Another blow to the back of the head, a white cloud of powder exploding from around him as he screamed a feral expletive in response just before a third blow struck him. Before a fourth blow could land, Deacon lifted his hand to his face, crushed a capsule of smelling salts, and inhaled the noxious substance, the now pink stained capsule discarded as he approached the bar. The set up took seconds, the other screaming lifters that had gathered to witness a colony record faded from his attention as Deacon’s chalk covered hands wrapped tightly around the barbell, the pyramid shaped knurling biting into heavy callouses. He sat back, eyes forward and locked on a distant point where all the physical pain he felt was driven down and away. Hamstrings loaded and back tight Deacon pulled the slack from the barbell which flexed considerably. Every muscle in his body strained and veins rose against his shirtless torso as the pressure in his body increased, the deep breath he had taken before starting this record setting deadlift was held, pressed down, and compressed in his abdomen to brace his spine and core. Still the weight did not move at first but as Deacon turned an unnatural shade of red… the stack of iron plates on each end of the barbell rose from the floor and Deacon began to stand up. Spots of brilliant white light danced across his vision while the weight ground its way up his shins, the knurling of the bar ripping a jagged bloody trail up his right leg. As the weight rose to knee level the crashing iron and steel in the makeshift gym fell silent or was just overwhelmed by the cheers and shouts of some of the other colonists there.

“Get it! Come on!”

“Lock it out you son of a…!”

“Up!, up!, up! up!”

Deacon’s vision tunneled on that distant point in space and time where he kept his eyes fixed, all else was black and detached. He felt the blood vessels in his nose burst, tasted the trickle of blood running down to his lip as the weight continued to rise. Nearly standing now, his hips shot forward and his back and shoulders locked into the finished and upright position of a deadlift with 355 kilos still in his hands. The cheers drowned out the music and Deacon let the weight crash back to the ground, staying with the barbell the whole time, dropping to a knee as it crashed thunderously onto the makeshift platform cracking a 2X4 support, his hands still wrapped around the bar.

The current day – 0748 hours local – Planetary Sciences Lab Victor II – North central sector – Grid 23C.

Muddy, chalky, a bit grassy. When the thought crossed Deacon’s mind he could have just as easily been describing the qualities of the loam substrata his lab had been observing in order to monitor the growth of the dekland carrion beetle population, a key prey item to newly introduced avian species. Instead he was thinking about how this newest flavor of protein/carb/amino supplement tasted. Gulping down the last ounces of the supplement Deacon crumpled up the biodegradable cup it had come in and tossed the waste into the recycler built into the wall just as one of the lab technicians that worked under him poked her head around the corner of his office door.

“Director Gills just walked in Deke.”

Before the young tech could return to her station after delivering her warning, Director Gills manifested her presence in the entryway to Deacon’s laboratory office. She was tall, freakishly thin, and had a preponderance of raven colored hair that no one, to this date, had seen outside of a tightly knotted bun. When she spoke, it was as if a dull rasp was being drawn against a piece of aluminum, shrill and grating to the ear.

“Doctor Randall, have we not spoken about professionalism in the workplace? You should not allow interns and technicians to refer to you in the familiar like this.” Deacon held back a wince, not at the reprimand but just because it always took a second to become accustomed to Dr. Gills nasally trill. He stood up from behind his desk and approached Dr. Gills but did not acknowledge her, first he addressed his technician, before ushering Dr. Gills in and touching the pad to close the door.

“Amanda, gather the results of the loam samples from data collections, will you? I’d like to review them before heading out to the field today. If the data guys give you any gruff tell them it’s a rush job for me and old’ Deke will owe them a bottle of hooch.” The tech, Amanda Grinspoon, M.S. in environmental engineering and science, beamed at the not so subtle slight directed at Dr. Gills and quickly headed out of the lab to do as Deacon had asked. If Deacon hadn’t been such a socially inept showboat he would have realized months ago that Ms. Grinspoon’s attention was far more than professional. As it stood Deacon was ignorant of such things, knowing Ms. Grinspoon for nothing more than the superb laboratory scientist she was.

“Dr. Randall, your conduct of late has been less than respectful concerning the directorate of scientific affairs here on Hesta Prime but…”

Deacon passed by Dr. Gills, not offering her a seat, and fell back with a sigh of relief into his chair, the slabs of concrete that were the tight muscles in his upper back finding only moderate relief from a sitting position. Before Dr. Gills could finish Deacon interrupted.

“That’s because most of the science directorate are a bunch of self-centered astrophysicists that don’t have any business budgeting and directing the planetary sciences. On top of that, that same majority could give a damn about the good this corporation is doing out here and only care about the corporate bankroll and the next paper or book they can publish on the backs of researchers and technicians who they don’t even bother to get to know.”

Deacon’s fatigue from the record-breaking session the night before had gotten the better of him and he waited for the threats of formal corporate reprimands that Dr. Gills was renowned for; those threats never came this day. Instead she maintained her austere manner, wrinkle-less lab coat resting perfectly on skeletal shoulders, lifeless coal colored eyes staring down her hawkish nose at him.

“Never mind all of that Dr. Randall. What I am here to discuss is next quarter’s roster of inbound scientific personnel. It will be the first wave of new scientific blood we have had in over a year and I need you…” she paused, the next phrase almost paining her to say.

“…as the leading planetary scientist on Hesta Prime, to review and assign the planetary science personnel.”

With that Dr. Gills unceremoniously departed Deacon’s office, leaving a data pad that Deacon tossed onto a growing pile of data pads and files that went largely ignored. Once she left Deacon stood, removed his lab coat, and changed into more familiar garb. A green flight type jump suit with the embroidered Weyland-Yutani patch on one shoulder, the Hesta Prime patch on the other, and a name patch on the left breast. Soiled boots replaced clean lab shoes, a loaded utility belt, drop pouch on his right thigh, web harness with recording gear, and a day pack with two days supplies all went on over the jump suit. Examining the display screen that showed current and forecasted weather conditions led Deacon to unzip the front of the suit and tie the arms around his waist, leaving only the standard issue Weyland-Yutani t-shirt covering his torso under all the gear. As he checked the last of the recording gear and sampling instruments Amanda returned with a data pad.

“Dr. Randall, I have the data you asked for, collections said it was no big deal, one of the lead techs there, Sarah Couth is a friend.”

“That’s great...” Deacon said as he adjusted the last of his gear and collected the data from Amanda. “…I can always count on you, you know that. And if you call me Dr. Randall again, I’ll have you transferred to Gills staff, its Deke, you know better.”

Amanda smiled and as Deacon was headed out, she called after him.

“You know… Sarah and her friend Mike were heading out the cantina tonight, I was thinking about going there too. Want to come with me?”
Deacon, completely missing the obvious, just shrugged and smiled, oblivious to how awkward he was making the situation. “Probably be in the field for the next 20 or 30 hours, plus I wouldn’t want to intrude on you and your friends Amanda. Go, have a good time.”

He walked out of the laboratory door completely unaware of the dumbfounded confusion he left in his wake. Before long he was through the laboratory passageways, and on his way into a clear and not too unpleasantly hot day. Scanners pinged his badge as he exited each doorway and soon he was granted access into the open-air motor pool lot. Deacon logged out one of the six by six, open topped rovers that belonged to the planetary science division and begin doing the pre-op checks for the vehicle using a checklist that the motor pool mechanics forced him to use after previous trips. Deacon set about strapping his gear down in one of the back seats and ensuring all the jerry cans were filled with water and fluids, and that all the systems checked out before climbing into the driver seat and reaching over to the communication screen. He scrolled through the neon green names on the colony directory reaching Lancaster, Jamie, Ecological Sciences Department and pressing the page button. A small antenna on the rovers roll bars pinged to life and somewhere in the colony a communications screen began to flash an incoming message from rover 8, the one Deacon always used.

The business of animal translocation was, in the past, not a widely accepted one in the biological fields. In fact, Jamie remembered reading papers and studies and thesis' written back many years when the process was first being trialed. Of course back then the scientists and doctors were only moving a species from one continent, or country, to another. Today, Jamie was being cast in the roll of a scientist moving a species native of Earth, to another planet. Even with the terraforming, this would still prove to be a difficult feat. Insect species and a small number of reptiles had already been successfully introduced to Hestia Prime but it was time for something new, something bigger. This is why Jamie had been brought through space. With the insects and reptiles here, it was time for birds and smaller animals. The avian world was not one Jamie preferred to work in, nor was he the most well-versed. But there were enough scientists and doctors with enough variation in their backgrounds for this to not make much of a difference. What area did interest Jamie was the small prey animals he would be introducing soon enough. Squirrels, rabbits, and he was even lucky enough to get some raccoons. The latter took some smooth-talking but it worked out. Jamie was beyond excited to get working on this project, in a general sense. Today he was just today.

Before Jamie had a chance to open the manila folder on his desk, an intruding knock erupted at his door. Without beckoning the person in, the door opened and they entered. Standing in the doorway was one of the scientists that Jamie knew well, a good friend and colleague. The man was wearing his typical outfit on a workday. This consisted of clean, always clean, blue denim jeans, a white company shirt, and his lab coat. Jamie also could not help but notice that the man was wearing an interestingly sharp pair of dress shoes. The footwear they were supposed to wear daily was not supposed to be that formal.

Jamie brought his index and middle fingers to his forehead and did a very informal salute. The other scientist raised both of his index fingers from his hands which were sitting near his waist. It was Doctor Vang, Derrick Vang. The man was Asian-American, brought in a few months after Jamie. The two both loved American sports and enjoyed a drink, they got along well from the get-go.

"What's up Derrick." the normal greeting between the friends, "you look to be in a lot better shape than me this morning. Hope you are because I've got a fuck ton of data from the field for you to go through while I go collect more". Normally this was not how Jamie would speak to another in his department, but the two were close friends and often spoke this way. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe you'd feel better if you hadn't taken those two extra shots last night. Man you were already slapped. I guess we aren't as good of drinkers as we were in our college days, if yours were anything like mine", he paused and they both chuckled for a minute. "That women who does corporate advertising was all over you too, what was her name? Alice or something right? I bet you didn't go home alo..." Jamie raised his hand and stopped him there. "Unfortunately I did, today is not a Saturday and yesterday was not Friday. Anyway, what do you need?"

"Obviously you didn't check your messaging this morning. Weyland-Yutani sent us a huge report on the status of our animals. Basically, to skip all the boring analytical stuff, it won't be long before you've got your critters running about" Derrick raised an eyebrow to gauge Jamie's reaction. "Are they serious? I told them I would need at least another two weeks personally for my data. It's like they expect me to cut corners. Well they're the bosses. Thanks for the heads up D", the other scientist nodded and left the room. Jamie would now grab the manila folder. All of the data he collected was stored in two formats. The first was in the department's data servers, which was the normal way. It gave everyone else access to read and see what he had learned and collected in the field. The second was handwritten and stored in notebooks or folders, this was where Jamie kept his personal notes and scribbles.

Each week Jamie had a large list of tasks that needed to be completed. Not all of them were time sensitive, so typically he would be able to space them out to his discretion. Today was a typical day. The task that he would be completing would be monitoring the development among the populations of the snakes that he had helped to introduce not too long ago. Originally Jamie was not a huge fan of this type of animal being introduced, but he did some research and was also convinced by others that it was best for the developing of an ecosystem. Jamie just thought they would slow down the population growth once the prey species' were located to the planet. At any rate, he had come to develop an attachment and love for the snakes. They were fun to find and very entertaining to watch. At the moment they did not have much variety in their own prey, which was not the best. But again, Weyland-Yutani had shipped them to the planet a bit early and that had not given a lot of time to the ecological department. Field mice were the top prey animal for the snakes at the moment, he had personally had a large number shipped to the planet. The snake to mice ration took some time to fine tune, but once it was, mother nature handled herself pretty well. The population of mice was not overwhelming and they were far enough from the colony that they were not often seen unless one or two stowed away in a rover, the same went for the snakes except the field staff were more cautious of bringing them back.

Another interruption stopped Jamie whilst he was reading his own notes on the snakes. This time it was a page, it was coming from Rover 8. Undoubtedly this would be Doctor Randall. The two of them had worked together a few times in the field and being colleagues in the office allowed Jamie and Doc Randall to have some familiarity. There were two options available. A video call with Rover 8, or voice call. Today Jamie did not feel like having his hungover face plastered on the camera for Randall, they would probably see each other later in the day so it would be easy to hide his state for now. Jamie pressed the voice call accept button.

"What can I do for you Doctor Randall?"

_{A collab between The Spectre and Heat}

Captain Nobusuke walked towards the office of Dexter Vaughn, the CEO of Weyland-Yutani of the Hestia Prime division. He didn't truly known why Dexter need to talk to Nobusuke other than the usual check-up. One of the trains had arrived at the nearby train station as people flooded the main lobby of the facility. He looked towards the elevator, entered it, and pressed the button to the top level of the building. After a few seconds, the elevator stopped and the doors opened up as it revealed a small waiting area. It wasn't nothing too special for the other waiting areas in a Weyland-Yutani facility.

Then, he waited for a few minutes until Dexter's office assistant called out Nobusuke's name and told him that he was waiting. The captain stood up and entered the office, where he saw his boss looking at the mountains.

Mr. Vaughn stared into the breathtaking mountains of Hestia Prime, taller than any mountains on Earth they were truly a sight to behold. He was not much of a hiker, you would never find him climbing them, but they sure were pretty to stare at. Of course some settlers did wish to climb the mountains, and they were allowed to for a price. Weyland-Yutani would ferry them out there, even provide equipment for them. The people would climb them, most of the time not even reach the peak then come back to the main settlement. All the way paying hundreds of dollars to do it.

Every penny counted on the colony. It was a highly successful venture for the company, far more positives than negatives. He couldn't even think of a negative until the 'incident' earlier. Of course the public didn't know of that little event. Weyland-Yutani officials made sure to push that it was a gas leak, the miners had struck some sort of natural gas which was toxic. It was a solid cover story, no one asked questions about it. Everyone was focued on mourning the unlucky thirteen that 'perished' in the incident. Dexter's thoughts were momentarily disturbed by the sound of his doors coming open, and in stepped the head of security on the colony, Captain Nobusuke. A man that Dexter had an important part in selecting for the job.

"Quite the view isn't it, Captain?" The CEO asked as he did not turn away from his gazing out the window for a brief second, before swiviling his gaze towards the man, a slight smile on his face. "Do you know why I requested you come speak with me? I feel you might know why."

"You want to talk about what really happened at the mines." he answered the CEO's question.

"Exactly. I'm certain you'd like to know more." Dexter stated plainly, then walked towards the door as he locked it from the inside.

He didn't need the actual word getting out, only him and Nobusuke needed to know the truth. Even if he didn't really want to even tell him, it would be wrong to keep the information from the captain of security. As he strolled back towards his desk in the center of the room, he motioned for Nobusuke to take a seat in the comfortable chair in front of the desk, as Dexter himself sat behind the desk. His office was a plain room, reasonably sized, aside from the desk in the center, and the wall panning window to the side there wasn't much else. A few plants in pots and pictures on the wall, a sofa and a coffee table on the opposite side fo the window. He didn't need much for his personal office.

"Now I trust that what I am about to reveal to you will be kept as a relative secret. I'm one of the handful of people on the whole planet that knows what actually went on down in that cavern." He didn't need to remind the man of NDAs and the like.

"Of course, sir. Nothing will leave this room." Nobusuke ensured his boss as he sat down on the chair in front of the desk, waiting to hear what really happened to the miners.

"Good. Well to start, it was not a natural toxic gas leak. The miners stumbled upon something much more sinister, even frightening. We believe they happened upon some ancient nest full of eggs of an unknown alien lifeform. We're not sure the exact events that went down in there, but a couple hours after the men went down and did not report back a few other miners investigated. They found all thirteen of the men on the cave floor with bizarre parasites on each of their faces." Vaughn said, speaking slowly and clearly. He wouldn't have believed the report if he had not seen an actual picture one of the miners took.

"This to be precise," As he clicked a button on his desk, and a holographic image of one of miners unconscious on the cave floor with the monstrosity enveloping his face. In the background other miners could be seen in the same position. "Horrfying isn't it? As soon as the miner took that photo he hightailed it out of the cave. They tried to keep their distance, and none of the other eggs opened."

The image was terrifying to look upon and realized that was how the miners actually died. He listened as Dexter kept on talking about the other eggs, where left the captain wondering. "Are there unhatched eggs still down in the mines?" he asked his boss.

"Yes. I am not sure how many but there are. Right now we know very little other than this image and the account of the man that took it. Even he was shaken by it. Forwarded him his Christmas bonus a bit early as a sign of gratitude, and so that he would keep his mouth shut," Dexter said calmly as he stared at the picture, then glanced back at the captain of security. "I'm not sure what our next move should be. As soon as I heard of what happened I had the mine sealed off and all miners in the area sent home. I'd like to somehow retrieve at least some of the bodies for research, but I'm not sure how without putting more people in danger."

"If I have to be honest with you, sir, I don't even know what our next move is. We cannot get more people involved without the actual story leaking. Plus, it's only possible to grab one of the bodies at the moment based on the report. Then, the body should be sent to this facility to be studied behind closed doors while I keep an eye on the whole thing." Nobuskue said his thoughts to his boss.

"Hmm. I do agree that we should try to get at least one of the bodies and bring it back for research. The issue with this entire situation is there are so many questions. We don't know what exactly went on down there. If whatever laid those eggs is long gone or still somewhere on the world, if they reacted when the miners got close to them. I'm assuming in that case if one of our people go within that range another egg would open and we'd add one more body to this problem." Dexter said as he listened to the captain's words as they came out of the man's mouth. His mind was abuzz with thoughts and ideas, then he found one that might work.

"I think I have an idea." Vaughn said as he clicked a switch one his computer. A few moments later footsteps could be heard outside the door as Dexter got up from his desk and walked back towards the door. He unlocked it and the door came open, revealing the android Benedict there, a friendly expression on his face.

"How can I help sir?" The android asked with a raised eyebrow as he noticed Nobusuke. who he smiled at.

"We use our friendly neighborhood android as bait to capture one of the creatures." he said as soon as Benedict entered the room. "Sounds possible enough to work."

"Bait?" Benedict asked curiously, briefly staring at the head of security, then at the CEO as Dexter closed the door once more. He had already been informed of the situation by his assigned superior. It both intrigued and terrified the android. The thought of alien life brought all sorts of wonder to his mind, while the image of how the unfortunate miners had been taken down concerned him deeply.

"That may not be the right word, but you may have the right idea, Nobusuke," Vaughn replied as he crossed his arms and throught for a second. "Benedict's reflexes and overall fitness is greater than any human's as well. It is possible he could evade the creatures if they do go after him. He will be on the watch for that if we do send him on this mission. He could dart down there, take a quick look around then take one of the bodies with him and leave."

"I'll do it if you'd like me to, sir. While it does seem dangerous, I understand how important it could be. I am also intrigued to possibly examine the lifeform's personally." The synthetic man chirped in with a quick look at both the humans in the room.

"Sounds good then. I suggest that we use one of the lab and set it up so the lifeform doesn't escape and harm other people in this building." the captain said as he took a quick glance at Benedict before looking back at Dexter again.

"A wise suggestion. Have a few top scientists take a look at the lifeform, assess what exactly it is. We could set up guards near the doors in the room as well, in a worst case scenario those men could exterimate the creature." Vaughn replied as he walked back to his desk, then sat down in the seat.

"It sounds like we have a plan then. We can do it later today. I could send Benedict by himself in a vehicle with a comm device on him so he can radio back to us, or send him along with one of two security personal. What do you think, captain?" The CEO added.

"We should also capture it on video, so we could get a better understanding of the creatures. Other than that, it sounds look a good idea." Nobusuke agreed with his plan.

"Agreed, I think that about does it. We'll talk later Captain." Dexter said with a nod as the plan was set in motion. Benedict stood with his hands folded behind his back, a smile on his face. His mind was swirling about the mission, he felt no fear, androids did not, but he still was thinking deeply about it.

Caoimhe sat on the stubby stool next to her cryo pod. She was ushered into the small closet of a room that contained the pod and a locker with her luggage, by a pleasantly looking preflight attendant. She was instructed to wait for her cryo technician. So she was waiting. She wasn't in a hurry. Not to be put to sleep anyway. She didn't have anything against cryo sleep. No. She also didn't have the usual phobia's that were associated with cryo sleep. She didn't mind waiting because she didn't mind the solitude. Ever since she was little she was selectively social. Being alone didn't bother her. She would simply begin meditating and the world around her would fade away. And that is precisely why she was currently sitting on a stubby stool awayting her cryo technician to put her to sleep and awake her prior to landing on Hestia Prime.

After the brutal death of her parents she felt in a sense empty. No, not empty. More like disconnected. She had retreated inwards and had removed herself from the world around her. Well, not completely. She still functioned within her small social circle. But even that was mostly mechanical. As if her body was performing on autopilot, while her mind was somewhere else entirely. A place where she didn't have to think about her utter failure in bringing security to her own parents. Her, the big bad security specialist. With degrees and certificates and experience under her belt.

You were off world! Her friends would defend her. But she wasn't swayed. She should have foreseen such and any contingency and had a plan drawn for her parents to follow. But you did! Her friends would assure her. It's the only reason they managed to find them at all. All the other victims' bodies couldn't even be recovered for identification. No, if she'd done her job right, they'd still be alive right now and she wouldn't have to move to another planet just to escape her failure. Stop saying that! You didn't fail them! One of her friends had finally exclaimed angrily. It had managed to snap her out of her self-loathing. Yes, deep, deep, deep down inside she knew there was nothing she could have done. But it was easier, even if more painful, to blame herself, rather than to have no one to blame.

The perp was behind bars and it wasn't like she could blame him. He was a sick man. What he'd done was disease induced. Not an act of a man in his right mind and of his own free will. No, she'd received no satisfaction from aiding in his capture and subsequent incarceration.

So to escape this poisonous dilemma of shouldering the pain of having no one to blame for her parents' death or induring the pain of unjustly blaming herself for their death, she'd decided to relocate. To start anew.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a slight young man, squeezing into the tight closet-room. He smiled at her reassuringly. "Hello." He greeted her. "My name is Jonathan. I will be your cryo technician for the duration of this flight." He hesitated. "And I'll be completely honest. I'm supposed to address the passengers by their first names. It's supposed to put you at ease. To create a rappor between the two of us." He continued in a friendly manner. "But I took one look at the form and knew I would butcher your given name. And possibly offend you." He finished and looked at her hopefully.

"It's Qweeva." She supplied for the man in the same friendly manner. "And don't worry. No one hardly ever knows how to pronounce it. So people usually just call me Kee, or Q or by my family name." She elaborated. "You can pick whichever." She smiled. Although it was a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She still carried the sadness of her parents' death.

"Qweeva." Jonathan tried her given name out. "It is a very beautiful name. If you don't mind I'll use it."

She simply shrugged.

"Very well then." Jonathan said jovially. "Let me explain the procedure." He crouched next to his passenger and started his presleep vitals checkup. Pulse, blood pressure, stress levels. The woman was as calm as a lake on a lazy sunny day. Jonathan couldn't help but wonder how she did it. Even the most calm of passengers were a bit jumpy before cryo sleep. But with this one, nothing. "Okay." He announced to cover up how flustered he felt. "Your vitals are in order. Now this is what is going to happen." He stood up. Placed his data pad on top of the locker. Opened it and withdrew from it a bag. "This..." He indicated by raising the bag in his hand. "Is your cryo sleep packet. It contains all the medication I'm going to use pre and postsleep. First is this." He took out a syringe from the bag. "This is a mild sedative. It's to help you relax once you enter the pod. In case of any anxiety or bouts of claustrophobia."

Kee nodded. She didn't bother telling him it was unnecessary. She didn't suffer from claustrophobia and she was too well attuned with her body to be able to control any bouts of anxiety. The only thing she didn't have any control over was the paralyzing, completely irrational fear of heights, or more precisely standing near ledges with a visible precipice. But it appeared the young man took great pride in his obligations as a cryo technician and she didn't want to impede with that. And he was a pleasant young man. There was nothing fake in his demeanor as one could often find in other people working in any capacity on similar ships. The glossy veneer of false niceties. No. Jonathan was a genuinely nice person. And she liked that. She liked that he was genuine.

"Alright." She said when she noticed he was waiting for her permission. She offered her arm. As per the preflight instructions she was in standard issue white tank top and knee length shorts. He gave her the shot and extended his hand in invitation. Kee accepted it and allowed the young man to help her into the pod.

"Okay. After the sedative has taken effect..." He continued his explanation. "I'll close the pod. From there it will take over and put your body in cryostasis." He smiled at her and took her place on the stubby stool. He took her wrist, placed his index and middle fingers on her pulse and waited. "It will pull you out of cryo sleep one day prior to planet-fall. I will be here then to administer these..." He indicated the two remaining syringes in her cryo sleep packet. "These will allow your body to sleep off the cryo sleep so you won't have to feel any unpleasant aftereffects." He put the two syringes back in the bag. "When you wake up you should feel rested and should suffer no lingering post cryo effects. You're belongings are in the locker. So feel free to dress and join the rest of the passengers in the lounge when you wake up." He punched some buttons on the console of the cryo pod.



The pod's mechanical voice announced.

Jonathan turned to look at his passenger. He could see the sedative starting to take effect. "Now count back from ten to zero out loud for me, please."

"Ten..." Kee started to count. She could already feel the shot taking effect. "Nine..." Her heart rate was slowing down. Her breathing evening out. Her eyelids getting heavier. "Eight..." Her mind started to wonder as it usually did right before she fell asleep. "Seven..." The word came out sluggish. "Six." Her eyes war closed now. "Five..." Her voice was barely audible. "Fou..." She didn't finish. She was out like a light.

Jonathan stood, punched in the combination for activation. The pod closed automatically.



Jonathan stared at the cryo pod enviously. Apparently someone had thought to input Qweeva's pronunciation into it's voice output. Too bad no one told me how to pronounce it. He commiserated, but remembered how nice the woman had been about it. He stole another look at her through the little window for the face. She wasn't just nice. She was a beautiful woman. And modest with it too.



Announced the pod pulling him out of his reverie. His job here was done. She was the last passenger to be put into cryo sleep. Now it was time for the crew. He took his data pad and exited the room.

---

Kee slowly opened her eyes. Someone... Or rather, something was speaking to her.



There was a quiet humming sound and the lid of her pod slowly lifted up. Kee blinked one, two, three times. She breathed in deeply. Exhaled. Breathed in. Exhaled. And again. Slowly she raised her arms and placed them on the lid of the pod and pulled herself to a sitting position. Carefully she stood up and exited the pod one leg at a time. She didn't feel sluggish. No. her body felt surprisingly refreshed. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about her mind and sole. Guess I still have ways to go. She thought. She discarded quickly her standard issue pod wear and dressed herself in her usual casual garb. Jeans, boots, a t-shirt. She took her pad from her luggage and exited her closet pod room.

She found herself in a narrow corridor littered with doors on either side. All leading to other pod rooms presumably. At the opposite side of the corridor was a door Kee supposed led to the lounge Jonathan had spoken about. She made her way to it and entered without preamble. It wasn't a large room. But it was still sizable enough to accommodate all the passengers of the Argo. Apparently Kee was the last to wake. A familiar face swam into view.

"Welcome to the lounge." Jonathan greeted her. "I trust there are no lingering effects of the cryo sleep?" He asked with a polite smile. "In the eventuality that there are, I could direct you to our sick bay, where our ship's doctor can take a look at you." He assured her.

"I'm fine, thank you, Jonathan." She answered. "A trip to the doctor is not necessary."

"I'm glad." He smiled at her. "We are currently in orbit around Hestia Prime and are awaiting a landing vector. Planet-fall is estimated in no more that an hour." He announced dutifully and stepped away.

Kee looked around the room. There were fifty or so people in there. Men, women, a couple of families too. There were at least five children. She found an unoccupied table and sat down in one of the chairs. One hour. Maybe she should have stayed in her pod room. No! She admonished immediately. You came here to brake that cycle. No more hiding! No one wants you to be a social butterfly. Just don't isolate yourself. She could do at least that, Kee thought.

"Hi." Someone was standing next to her. It was a short someone. She turned to find one of the kids standing there grinning at her with a mouth wide open, demonstrating a few missing teeth. It was one of the most adorable things she'd ever seen. She couldn't help but smile. Children were innocent. Well... mostly. But this one definitely was.

"Hello there." She returned. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Sully." Only the S sounded more like a TH through the big gap that was one of his missing teeth.

"Hi, Sully, I'm Q." Kids loved it when she used her first initial instead of a full name. Some thought of her as the techy sidekick to James Bond and others started to argue that she couldn't be called just Q. Either way it was adorable to observe. She readied.

The child, it was a sweet little boy, looked at her with fierce concentration. His eyes suddenly lit up. "You can't thay your name too." He lisped his verdict at her. Oh, that is just too cute! She thought. She hadn't expected that reaction.

"But I thought your name was Sully." She stated innocently.

The boy's brow furrowed adorably, but before he could answer someone called him. "Sullivan! Don't bother the other passengers, honey." A tired looking woman approached and put a gentle hand on top of her son's head.

"He's not a bother." Kee assured smiling at the woman. She was plain looking, but had goodness in her eyes that could be seen in her son as well.

"No." The woman countered. "You're just too sweet to say otherwise." She admonished jokingly. "Hello, I'm Rita. This here is Sullivan. I'm, hopefully, going to be a teacher on Hestia Prime." She stuck her hand out.

Kee took it, squeezed gently and smiled. "A brave woman. Delivering yourself to the mercy of the youngins."

Rita laughed. "Oh, don't you know it." She confirmed.

"I'm Caoimhe O'Roarke." Kee introduced herself.

"You can thay your name." Sully lisped in awe next to his mom.

Kee grinned, bent down to a knee so she was eye to eye with Sully. "Yep, little man. I sure can!"

"Wooooow!" He exclaimed reverently.

"C'mon, Sully. Let's leave Ms O'Roarke alone." Rita tugged at her son.

"It's Q for you, little man." Kee called out to him as they were leaving.

"Coooool." The boy enthused, trying to look at her, walking backwards while his mom was tugging him forward.

Kee shook her head and sat back down with a smile on her face. See, you can do it! She encouraged herself. It doesn't count. I've always loved kids and have been good with them. She countered. And it was true. During her time as a Wing Chun instructor she'd always preferred working with the children. There was just something to their purity that spoke to her. That put her at ease. That made her connect with them more easily than with the adults in the class. You spoke with the mother. Her inner debate continued. Well... I suppose. She had to agree. Rita'd seemed like a nice woman. And they did at least share something in common. They were both teachers. Of sorts. Maybe they could grow to be friends. New beginnings. That's why she'd come to Hestia Prime.

"Attention, passengers. We have received our landing vector and will initiate procedures immediately. Please find the designated landing seats in the lounge area and strap down for safety."

Half an hour later Kee was pulling her suitcase behind her, heading toward the designated exit. A hovering buss awaited the passengers glued to the main hatch of the Argo. Jonathan was next to the exit waiving away the passengers.

"Thanks for flying with Argo. We hope you have a good life on Hestia Prime." He nodded and smiled at Kee when she passed by him.

The buss ferried them to the entrance of the well lit main space port of Hestia Prime. The fifty something passengers dispersed in zero amount of time.

"Buy, Q, thee you around." She heard Sully's lisp and looked around for the boy. When she spotted him standing next to his mother, obviously waiting for someone, she raised her hand and waved in answer.

"Buy, little man." Her gaze followed them as they left accompanied by a Weyland-Yutani official. "Well then..." She muttered to herself. "I suppose I too should find my way to my prearranged residence." With that she wheeled her suit case behind her and headed to the monorail stop. The remainder of her possessions would be delivered to her new home by the space port authorities.

"Home, new home." She paraphrased the old saying looking out to the beautiful views of Hestia Prime.

There had been a fair amount of radio static that had interfered with the transmission between Doctor Randall and Jamie. This had stopped communication after Jamie had initially responded to the radio call from Doctor Randall. Static between calls was not a usual problem, in fact, it was quite unusual considering how hi-tech the gear was. That being said, Jamie was not a 'techie' so he did not bother trying to find a solution, rather he just continued on with his work. The task he elected to take on for the better part of the morning, and more than likely the rest of the day, was taking reports from the few Field Posts that were set up to find suitable habitats for the soon to be arriving species, as well as to monitor the status of the ones currently living on site. The first stop was Field Post Alpha. This post was on the out lying range of where the non-venomous snakes were deployed into the wild. Though there were more than just snakes and field mice on the planet now, those were the only two on the list that were still new enough to be monitored regularly.

Dust and sand kicked up beneath the tires of the Weyland-Yutani rover as it neared the Post. The rovers that they used on Hestia Prime were much more advanced than the one he had used in Africa when he was there. They were faster, easier to maintain, and had a sleeker look to them. The rovers in Africa had a nostalgic feel to them though and that was not replicated with these very new ones. The road from the colony to the first Post was the nicest and most developed of all of them. As much as Weyland-Yutani loved to colonize and make nice the landscape, they also knew the importance of a low impact on the environment these critters would be living in. After roughly two kilometers, the road that was paved slowly shifted into a dirt road and then shifted into a tighter fitting path. Trees, fields, and creeks littered the landscape around the Post. A moderately dense forest stood nearby the Post, you had to pass through it to reach it from the colony, and thus the colony was not visible from Alpha.

This first Post was nothing special, it was just like any other and all the rest. A large concrete wall, standing as tall as two men, surrounded four buildings. The first building was the research portion of the Post. This is where the computers, data, and other equipment was stored, and where a good portion of one's time in Alpha was spent. Two of the other buildings were dormitories with three rooms each and a toilet for overnight researchers. The fourth building was a small cafeteria, essentially. It was nothing special, it was simple, but it was what Jamie was used to and he loved being there. The road accessed the Post via a gate on either side, for coming and going. It opened as the rover approached. Field Post Alpha was empty today. There were no researchers there and no field workers hard at work. It was just Jamie now.

The rover came to a halt next to the research building. The sleek driver side door opened, metal glistening in the sun, and Jamie stepped out from it. The smell in the air was natural, it was lovely for Jamie. The weather was not so bad either, a tad warm but with a nice breeze coming through infrequently. Clouds gathered in different sectors of the sky but these were not rain clouds signaling a downpour. The sun was unobstructed. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of the rover door closing and of the electrical systems powering the Post. Jamie was in his natural environment now.

Inside of the research building it was cool, the air conditioning was hard at work. There were a few desks spread out with different computer systems and notes from the scientists working maybe a day or so prior. The floor was a silvery gray shade, metal. The walls were no different. There were a few windows casting light in, but not enough to completely illuminate the room. Jamie switched a light on to remedy this. The lights flickered at first, hesitant to come to life, but then they erupted and filled the room with light. The nearest desk held the weekly report that was Jamie's to read. He casually strolled over to it and retrieved what he had came for. This report was a quick read, which was always a good thing. Only updates on population numbers and expansion of natural ranges. There was no distressing news in this report.

Once the report was read and collected, Jamie made his way back from the building. He switched the lights off again, casting darkness back into a fair amount of the room. The next stop on his list was Field Post Foxtrot, this one was a bit of a drive. Due to the large amount of distance between himself and the colony that was going to be had once he arrived at Foxtrot, Jamie was required to report in to the Security Force. This was a safety precaution as a while back someone had taken a nasty fall and was left alone for a day and a half before being found. Jamie was only required to report his destination and estimated time at Foxtrot. Using his right hand Jamie pressed a few buttons on the panel of his rover, opening the frequency, and made his report.

"This is James Lancaster. I will be departing for Field Post Foxtrot. I shouldn't be more than an hour or so out there. I'll radio in within two to let you know I haven't fallen victim to a sudden tree falling on me or something like that" he joked.

After the sun sets...

A truck made its way across the surface of Hestia Prime, kicking up dust behind it as the heavy duty tires rolled over the barren ground. The slowly lowering sun illuminated the surface, a beautiful sight to as its ray danced over the mountains. The vehicle began to slow down, the driver then brought it to a complete stop with his boot on the brake pedal. The tires screeched lightly as the driver blinked. Benedict took an inhale of fresh air as he stepped out of the truck, the cool, calm oxygen surging through his inner workings. The temperature was slowly dropping on the planet as dusk came and nightfall was soon to come. He shut the door behind him and stared at the cavern entrance in front of him. Signs had been placed everywhere, stating that no trespassing was allowed, offenders would be criminally persecuted.

A smile crept onto the android's face as he walked forward, eerily calm for someone that was about to step inside of a very unknown place. Of course synthetics did not feel fear, he was fascinated with his task at hand, had constantly been thinking about it for hours. Benedict gingerly stepped over a line of police tape, once both feet were over it he continued his stroll ahead. Ever since the 'incident', this entire area had been blocked off. There had been a makeshift barrier here which blocked off the entrance to the cavern, but Mr. Vaughn had it removed for the special mission tonight.

As he entered inside he glanced at his surroundings, noting immediately that he was the only one here. It was also dead silent except for the android's footsteps, discarded containers, crates and equipment was placed all around near the entrance. None of that had been touched since the site was evacuated and 'abandoned'. Benedict stopped his calm walk for a moment as he pressed a switch just below his collar, turning on the chest mounted camera and flashlight. A bright beam of light emitted from it as he began recording his mission as ordered by Mr. Vaughn.

"Benedict, can you hear me?" An all too familiar voice asked, the sound emitting from the in ear communicator the android had been instructed to bring with him.

"Loud and clear, sir. I'm inside the cave, making my way towards the elevator. As expected I'm the only one here." The synthetic spoke back as he stepped over a discarded power drill, moving towards the elevator in the back of the cavern.

"Glad to hear that, do be careful out there. You brought a pistol with you right? Just in case?" Vaughn asked. Back in the city the CEO sat in his office, one leg over another as he watched the display transmitting from the camera on Benedict's chest. He could see just what the android was seeing.

"Yes I did, sir. I don't particularly wish to use it, or even touch the weapon, but its here and loaded." The android replied as his hand grazed the semi-automatic firearm tucked into a holster on his hip. Violence was something he despised. Of course he would use the weapon if he absolutely needed to, but he still hoped he wouldn't need to.

"It's just another precaution. If things go south down there, then don't be afraid to get out of there quickly. I'd rather have you come back in one piece and learn there's hostile lifeforms down there, than lose you to them." Vaughn added, he didn't particularly care for Benedict personally, but he was the best worker he had one the planet, did everything without question.

"Noted, sir." Benedict said as he brought his hand up to the elevator control console, opening the doors as he then stepped inside. The elevator lights came on as soon as he walked into it, then he pressed a button, the doors shut once more and it began to descend.

He had been replaying the image in his robotic mind, the mysterious eggs, the disturbing parasites enveloping each of their faces. Benedict was fascinated by every part of it. Were the parasites a natural lifeforms? An species native to this world they had unknowingly stumbled upon? As the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened up, the android stepped cautiously out to the same level the horrific scene had taken place.

"Sir, I'm down on the same level as the miners. I can see them spread around, looks like they haven't been moved." Benedict quietly said into his communications device as he approached the first prone body nearest to the elevator.

As he shined the flashlight over the miner, he noted that the parasitic lifeform was still there, he swore he saw the creature squirm as light shined onto it. But it was still tightly wrapped onto the man's face. Benedict knelt down, staring at the parasite before slowly moved his hand towards it, hovering his fingertips just above it. The creature then shifted its tail, tightening around the miner's throat. It was then Benedict noticed the miner was still breathing, apparently only unconscious.

“They’re still alive even being enveloped by those things,” Vaughn muttered, staring at the screen as he watched Benedict step back and the facehugger released its chokehold on the helpless miner. “Be careful, Benedict. Look for all of the miners down there.”

“I will, sir.” Benedict replied as he stepped further ahead, over another unconscious miner. His light now shined upon the opened eggs, behind them were more that had yet to spring their nasty surprise within. The android blinked as he counted all thirteen of the humans in here, all spread around but counted for. He cautiously moved closer to the rows of eggs, getting them on camera for Mr. Vaughn to see.

“Don’t go any closer. They’re huge. What the hell laid them?” Dexter questioned, unsure of where exactly they had come from. Or if whatever laid them was still alive and on the world. The last thing he needed was for more people to go down, especially not citizens of Hestia Prime. That would make a dent in their finances. The world was prosperous.

“There’s nothing else here. The room the eggs are in is empty otherwise, I can see the other side and it's just another wall.” Benedict stated. It was also disturbingly silent, only his footsteps filled the room sound wise. He took another daring step closer to the already opened eggs, then grazed the side of one with a gloved hand. It distinctly resembled the feel of tough leather, rough and sturdy.

“Would you like me to try to take one of the eggs with me, sir?” Benedict asked as he walked around, staring intently at an unopened one. He was just out of range of the same fate happening to him as the miners. Then he wondered what would happen exactly, he was a machine, outwardly human but entirely a synthetic lifeform otherwise.

“Try to take one of the already opened ones with you. Don’t get near the others, Benedict.” Vaughn ordered. They could learn so much from even just an empty one.

“As you request, sir. How many of these miners would you like me to take back?” The android then asked, as he approached the same opened egg he had previously touched. He peaked over inside of it, not seeing any signs of life. It seemed to be empty. Benedict then knelt down, and with a grunt wrapped his arms around it and lifted it off the ground. It might’ve been heavy for a human, but to a machine such as himself, it was nothing.

“There’s thirteen down there. How many can you fit on the truck along with the egg?”

“Perhaps six at most, it would be a tight fit but I can manage, sir.” Benedict replied with another grunt as he carried the opened egg towards the elevator, then set it down inside. Then the android walked back into the nest of eggs.

“Get me six of them. We could retrieve the rest on a second mission.” Vaughn ordered as he crossed his arms, figuring out the plan for the incapacitated miners once they were brought back here.

“As you wish, sir.” Benedict replied cheerfully, then stepped to the closest body, grasped the man’s legs and dragged him into the elevator. The facehugger did not seem to care it was being moved along with the miner it was attached to. The android did this five more times, grabbing the five closest miners and bringing them into the elevator.

“Very good, now get back here. Pile them all into the truck, come in the back entrance of the facility,” Dexter ordered, taking a sip of coffee from a mug in his office. “I’ll inform some esteemed members of our science team of your arrival along with security and the like.”

“Understood, sir. I do get to examine these creatures and the egg, right?” Benedict asked hopefully as he stood in the elevator with all of the ‘cargo’. He stared at the nest and miners that were going to be left behind, then shut the door and ascended in the elevator.

“Of course. You were the one that retrieved them. Plus your archives of scientific knowledge will come in handy.” Dexter said with a smirk as Benedict meanwhile dragged the bodies and the egg out of the elevator, then the cavern.

“I am delighted to hear that sir, I will not let you down.” Benedict replied cheerfully then went about arranging everything in the bed of truck. He carefully lifted then laid each of the bodies in the back, then the egg. After that he strapped everything down with cables and threw a tarp over the top, strapping that down as well.

“I’m sure you won’t Benedict. Drive safely.” Dexter said with another smile before Benedict shut off the camera and began his drive back into the settlement. Vaughn sent a message to the head of security, then several scientists and essential personnel in the facility.

---

The truck drove through a green light in the settlement, the traffic light in the city for the moment. As more and more new arrivals came to the colony it would slowly fill up. Benedict was happy about that, he enjoyed speaking with new people on the world. He made a turn, then pulled into a road behind the main facility which housed the science laboratories. A garage door came open in the back, as Benedict maneuvered the trick inside. As he entered the garage he noted a few scattered people, those awaiting his arrival. He parked the truck, then stepped outside of it and walked towards the back of the vehicle.

"Take everything into the main lab!" A security guard stated in a gruff tone, as people darted around the unload the truck. The six bodies were loaded onto stretchers, then lugged into another elevator. The egg was handled by two men, as Benedict supervised the scene. A few top scientists stared at the parasites with curiosity, shocked and intrigued by what they were seeing. Vaughn had most of the facility cleared out, other than trusted personnel, himself and guards. Not even he knew the horror that was about to unfold next, none of them.

"Do be careful with all of that." Benedict calmly stated with a smile.

Still wide awake after making planet fall Kee decided to make herself comfortable in her new home. The apartment was a ways off from the central hub of the colony. She'd requested it that way. She was still raw from her parents' death and wasn't ready for major socialization. So the outskirts served her just right. The housing unit was nothing special, but it was efficient and utilitarian. She quickly distributed her possessions, sorted out her clothes in wardrobes and armoires. Her toiletries went into the bathroom. The kitchenette was fully equipped so she didn't need to buy anything except out of personal preference. She took out her data pad, hooked it to the computer system in the office room and downloaded a schematic map of the colony.

Since she wasn't sleepy at all she decided to go exploring. There was, of course the main admin and science building of Weylan-Yutani. It's where the science labs would be, as well as the offices of the scientists and the administration personnel. Then there was the office of the Colonial Marshal Bureau, where she supposed worked the representatives of the Sol Law. Besides those there were all sorts of other miscellaneous buildings. Residential sectors, business sectors, even a shopping district. She studied the map carefully trying to memorize important landmarks. It was an occupational hazard. She mapped out a route for herself, grabbed her jacket, her keys and her pad and went out.

The sun was gently setting beyond the horizon and night was slowly overtaking the peaceful looking colony. Bathed by the artificial lighting it was difficult for Q to really feel as if she was on an alien planet. She made her way towards the official buildings first. The Colonial Marshal Bureau appeared to be closed, its windows dark. She went past it, continuing her stroll, approaching the administration building and science labs. There were still lit windows here and there, but she wasn't surprised. The scientists were probably just burning the midnight oil. There were probably security guards, as well, doing sweeps. She continued ahead to her next target. The shopping district. She didn't know if the actual shops would be opened so late, but there would probably be entertainment locals that should be still open. A bar, a night club, a restaurant. Something. She wasn't wrong. True, most of the stores were closed for the day, but there was a bar opened. And even a 24/7 restaurant that boasted international and interplanetary cuisine. The aromas carried on the wind from the inside of the building tickled Kee's nostrils tantalizingly. She was a bit of a foodie and a sort of culinary adventurer. Plus, she was a wee bit hungry.

"In we go, then." She decided.

A ruddy looking middle-aged woman approached her quickly with a warm disposition and a welcoming smile on her face.

"Evening, luv, what can I do you for?" She handed Kee a couple of menu pads. One read 'International human cuisine', another 'Interplanetary cuisine', yet another 'Human beverages', and the last one 'Interplanetary beverages'. "Whenever you're ready tap the order icon on any of the menus..." She indicated the appropriate icon. "And I'll be here in a jiff." She winked at Caoimhe and strode off towards the inner sections of the restaurant.

Kee was smiling while perusing the menus. The atmosphere of the restaurant was pleasant and welcoming. It had the feel of an old Earth family restaurant. The furnishing was yet again simple, efficient and utilitarian. Hestia Prime was a relatively young colony and everything carried the feel of necessary efficiency without too much fluff. That would come, she supposed, later on. Still, there were personal touches here and there, embellishments, quirky objects and whatnot. Anything to remove the sterile feel of the interior.

She began browsing through the menu pads and quickly found they had some functionalities, which were quite agreeable. There would, of course, be a detailed description of each interplanetary dish and beverage. But you could also call out parallels to more familiar dishes for reference. Also each dish would come with recommendations for certain beverages.

Kee took her time exploring the menus. As a foodie she often lost herself perusing the menus. Especially if the selection was as wide-ranged as it was in this restaurant. 'The Hestia Delights' it was called. Finally, reluctantly, she settled on an Ethiopian dish, which presumably went well with a certain interplanetary non-alcoholic beverage dubbed 'Fire Chaser'. She tapped the 'order' icon on her menu pad and the ruddy looking woman reappeared in a flash.

"What'll it be, luv?" She asked smiling.

"I'll have the doro wat and the Fire Chaser." Kee answered liking how the woman called her 'luv'. It drew her in and made her feel as if she wasn't eating out, but at the house of friends.

"Excellent choice!" The woman exclaimed. "We mix our very own brand of berbere, would you like a taste test?"

"Yes, please." Kee agreed.

"I'll be right back." She disappeared and quickly returned with a minuscule looking cup containing a quarter teaspoonful of berbere. She handed it to Kee. "There you go."

Caoimhe, a fan of the Ethiopian cuisine first sniffed carefully the spice. Ethiopian berbere was extremely spicy. She then proceeded to lick a finger and dip it into the spice and promptly transferring the power onto her tongue. The appendage immediately exploded in a shock of fiery pain and pleasure. She blinked a couple of times to chase the watery mist that had covered her eyes. "Excellent!" She exclaimed.

The ruddy woman nodded in pleasure. "Would you like us to prepare the doro wat with the full dose or..." She trailed off not finishing the question.

"Let's start off a bit conservative." Q grinned in answer.

"Seventy percent than?" The woman quickly suggested.

"Yes, that would be perfect, thank you."

"I will be back with your meal shortly." She assured and walked away.

And just as promised the woman returned shortly with Kee's order. A steaming hot doro wat and her Fire Chaser. After her first few mouthfuls she quickly understood how aptly named this Fire Chaser was. Even at only 70% her mouth quickly exploded in that sweet mix of pain and pleasure that all spicy foods produced. Her eyes and nose watered in nanoseconds. She ate and drank with gusto. When she finished she was red in the face, there were tears in her eyes and her nose was runny. She couldn't have been happier in that particular moment.

She called her bill and the ruddy woman reappeared out of nowhere. "Was that to your liking than?" She asked politely, the wink still present.

"It was magnificent!" Kee enthused. "You've won me as a client for life."

"We'll do our best to keep you then." The woman beamed.

Her bill settled, Kee exited the restaurant and opted for a leisure stroll back to her place to provide her stomach with ample time to begin digesting the doro wat and the Fire Chaser.

She pretty much retraced her route back to her home. Passing by closed shops, business buildings, the admin building and science labs with the sporadically lit windows, the still dark Colonial Marshal Bureau and finally her own place. She entered, made sure to lock and secure her windows, performed her evening hygiene rituals and went straight to bed thinking It's peaceful here if nothing else.

New exciting opportunity coming up. Talk soon.

Dr. X

Emilia was intrigued, but the vagueness of the message wasn't enough to warrant a response from her and she would simply go talk to Dr. Xavier the next morning. Instead of drafting a quick reply, she gently tossed her laptop to the side and leaned back on the couch, contemplating whether she should go out for some dinner with a colleague from work. Just then, her phone rang.

"Hey Jenny."

"Emilia, hi. Listen, we're having a little get together in just over a half hour. Bruce and I were wondering whether you wanted to come over and enjoy some food and drinks. Nothing fancy, just an intimate gathering."

"Yeah, sure. I'll get ready and be on my way. Is that okay?"

"Of course. See you soon!"

"Okay, 'til then."

Emilia hung up the phone as she sat up to get off the couch.

What are you doing? Nathaniel's voice went off in her head, making Emilia stop dead in her tracks. He usually didn't bother her unless she found herself in a highly-stressful situation. But that wasn't the case here as she was just going to a friend's house.

Nothing, simply meeting a few people, she replied.

I see. Well, how about you stay in for the evening instead? You barely know those people and they're all probably halfway drunk out of their minds by now.

No. You're being ridiculous, now leave me alone. Emilia then stormed off to her bedroom, deciding to ignore whatever else Nate said to her. It wasn't the first time the guy bothered her with unnecessary requests or suggestions, and unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last. Nate, stop—

Without warning, Emilia had to fight him to prevent him from taking over. The struggle lasted a few moments, but in the end Emilia became trapped, enslaved in her body as Nate forced her to lose any and all physical control which rightfully belonged to her. From that moment on, she only had the option to witness whatever occurred around her.

Nathaniel James, get the hell out—

No, I don't think so. And since you're being such an inconsiderate person right now, I believe I have to enforce a stricter curfew. Good night, Emilia.

Those last few words were the last thing Emilia remembered before she blacked out, any and all recollection beyond that point nothing but a distant dream.

Images flickered across the screen in front of him, and while his eyes followed the movements automatically, James Cornelius Windsor - typically just called Jamie - wasn’t really paying any attention. He was roughly halfway through a seventy-two hour rotation, and the nagging heaviness of his eyelids was telling him it was time to call it a night. Like many emergency responders everywhere, those in Hestia Prime spent several days straight where they lived, slept, and ate in the department’s station house. They were on call for the entirety of their rotation, and by staying in the station itself they could quickly get to their gear and respond to any emergency that came up.

Jamie sighed and groped for the remote control where he had dropped it on the floor earlier when he stretched out on the couch. At the moment he was the only one in the station’s media room. The others were either asleep, eating, or in the gym depending on whether they were day or night watch. Finally his sluggishly questing fingers found the remote and clicked off the screen. With a yawn he swung his legs out and levered himself into a sitting position. Idly he scratched at his shoulder through the thin gray undershirt he was wearing and looked down at his bare feet blankly.

“Hey, Windsor.”

Jamie turned his head to see who had spoken, blinking to clear away the fog from his hazel eyes. His first thought on catching sight of Mika Yozumi was that she looked really good in the doorway, backlit just so from the light behind her. Dark hair, dark eyes, super in-shape, and absolutely gorgeous. His second thought was that after his almost-nap on the couch he must look like an absolute mess in his rumpled clothes and almost certainly messy hair.

“Mika… um... hi.”

Smooth, Jamie, real smooth…

Mika jerked a thumb in the direction of the bunk rooms with a smirk. “Time to clear out. We’re taking over the room for some old school monster flicks while you day watch guys snooze. You pass out in here you’ll end up getting used for a seat.”

Jamie pushed to his feet, smiling back. He was more awake now than he had been previously. Mika being in the room seemed to have that effect on him more often than not. “Promises, promises, Yozumi.” Stifling a yawn, Jamie gathered up his jacket, socks, and shoes and bundled them into his arms. Shuffling, he made his way across the room.

He paused at the hallway that led to the bunk rooms and turned to look back. Mika had already begun changing the settings on the screen as she dropped onto into the spot so recently vacated by Jamie’s head. “Hey, Mika…” She looked over at him expectantly, her eyebrows raising questioningly.

Just say it stupid. Worst she can do is say no, right? Come on you damned coward…

“Uh… never mind. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Mika’s expectant look turned to one of confusion briefly - perhaps mixed with a hint of disappointment? - before she smiled one of those bright beaming smiles at him. “Sure thing. Sleep well, Jamie.”

Without another word Jamie shuffled off down the hallway, clutching his clothes to his chest and gritting his teeth. In minutes he was changed into shorts and a t-shirt and was crawling into an empty bunk. The last thought that flickered through his brain before sleep took hold was not a particularly generous one.

You, James Windsor, are a god damned coward…