Open Writing

Three hours later, Kirk walked into the small conference room to find the others already there. Seated at the circular table were Spock, Scotty, Chekov, McCoy and Uhura, with Sulu monitoring the meeting from the bridge, where he had the watch. They rose as Kirk entered, and he waved them down and took his seat next to Spock.

“All right, Mr. Spock, you’ve called this meeting. What’ve you got for us?”

The Vulcan inclined his head and folded his hands on the table before him. “Captain, I believe I have some answers to the mystery of the alien species.” He sat forward and swept them all with his calm yet intense gaze.

“In the course of my research, I entered the data regarding the creature into the Enterprise’s computer. I must confess I was somewhat nonplussed to find a Star Fleet security flag attached to the information.”

Kirk stared at him, astonishment competing with outrage on his face. “A security flag? On my ship? I was unaware of any such device attached to anything in the Enterprise’s data banks.”

“Indeed, captain. Nevertheless, it was there.”

Kirk subsided slowly and frowned, then said, “So what did you do?”

Spock replied, “I simply used my authority as a Star Fleet command officer to override the flag, then gained access to the information by a method that I believe none of you, not even Mr. Scott, are sufficiently advanced in computer science to follow, were I to explain it.”

Kirk noted that there was, as usual, no hint of any boasting or superiority in Spock’s tone or manner as he said this, merely a statement of fact. The Vulcan had a level seven computer rating, the highest held by any serving Star Fleet officer, past or present. Only the Vulcans in Star Fleet’s computer sciences division were rated higher, although Kirk had long ago decided that, if a competition could be devised, his money would be on his friend. The others were silent for a moment, then McCoy, a small smile playing across his face, said, “Spock, are you telling us that you hacked a Star Fleet security record?”

Spock nodded, completely unconcerned, although Kirk could almost have sworn that he saw the smallest of twitches at the corner of the Vulcan’s mouth. “Yes, doctor,” Spock replied, “although the technique I used was somewhat beyond what used to be referred to as mere “hacking”. I was aware that time was of the essence, and it seemed the most expedient way to obtain the information. Also,” he continued, “it seemed to be the best course, given the age of the information.”

Uhura spoke up. “Just how far back does it go, Spock?”

The Vulcan turned to the African. “Approximately two hundred and thirty-five years.”

There was a stunned silence at the table, then Kirk asked, “How old was the flag, Spock?”

The Vulcan faced his old friend again. “Interesting that you should ask that, captain. That flag was entered into the computer barely one week before you were originally contacted regarding this mission.”

Kirk frowned, but before he could comment, McCoy’s southern drawl interrupted him.

“I’m beginning to smell a very large rat here.”

Kirk gestured to the Vulcan, and Spock went on. “Perhaps it would be best if I gave you a summary of the information that I have so far uncovered.” The others indicated assent, and Spock, drawing on his total recall, began.
“In the middle of the twenty-first century,” (said Spock), “the earth was ruled largely by business interests, the so-called ‘conglomerates’, which were later dismantled after the first world government was formed. The control of a world by organizations whose overriding motivation is profit might seem a somewhat fanciful idea to us now, but in those times, their power was very real. In fact, it was almost total.

“In 2056, a commercial barge, or towing vessel, the Nostromo, was returning to earth on the return leg of a one-year mission, carrying a large quantity of ore from a mining colony on an asteroid approximately six point five light-years from earth. It carried a crew of seven, all of whom were in cryosleep.” He glanced around the table at their surprised looks. “You must remember, this was before the invention of warp drive, before the people of earth made first contact with my people. The ship had a primitive form of faster-than-light drive and traveled at supra-light speeds, but not at the multiples that warp drive produces. Consequently, a journey such as theirs took approximately six months to complete, each way. To conserve supplies and oxygen, it was simpler for the entire crew to be placed in ‘suspended animation’, as it was then called .The basic functions of the ship were monitored and overseen by the computer and the crew members did not age during this time.

“Half-way through the return journey, the crew was awakened by the ship’s computer. It had intercepted a signal originating from a nearby single-planet system, an uninhabitable world designated only as LV 426 which orbited a small star. The signal was at first interpreted as a distress call. It was only after the Nostromo had landed on the planet’s surface and sent out a reconnaissance party that the true nature of the signal began to be suspected.

“The landing party discovered an alien ship that appeared to have crashed there. After boarding and exploring its interior, they inadvertently brought back an alien life form on board the Nostromo. After they lifted off from the planet and resumed their journey, they attempted to destroy the alien, but instead it destroyed them, one by one. Only one member of the crew survived, the Third Officer, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley. It was she who determined that the signal was a warning, but by that time, the creature was already on board.” At this point, Spock’s normally neutral voice took on an admiring tone.

“Lieutenant Ripley proved remarkably resourceful. She discovered that ‘The Company’, the conglomerate that employed her and owned the Nostromo already knew of the alien vessel’s existence, and had, unbeknown to the crew, replaced the ship’s science officer with an artificial life-form, an android, with secret orders to bring back anything they found on it for study. The rest of the crew was to be regarded as expendable.” Those seated around the table watched as, incredibly, Spock began to exhibit signs of distress. He quickly composed himself and continued. “Forgive me,” he said. “Such a degree of tampering with an artificial intelligence is abhorrent to me.”

The Vulcan sat, if such a thing were possible, even straighter in his chair and went on.

“Third Officer Ripley managed to destroy the creature and escape alone in the ship’s shuttlecraft, after which she destroyed the Nostromo itself. She then entered the craft’s hypersleep chamber and, since the shuttle was powered only by thrusters, it was some fifty-seven years before she was picked up by a salvage ship.” Again, there were gasps around the table, and Spock waited until they were quiet before continuing.

“Once she was back on earth, Ripley presented her report and was informed that, in the intervening years, LV-426 had been terraformed and colonized. She attempted to warn the authorities, but the Company denied all knowledge of any secret mission, even suggesting that Ripley was inventing the entire scenario to conceal some unspecified wrongdoing, and she was disregarded and dismissed from their employ. Ripley and her warnings continued to be ignored, until the company lost contact with the colony.

“A force of marines, soldiers, was sent out to investigate, and Ripley went with them. They found the colony overrun by the alien creatures, and Ripley managed to set the colony’s fusion power plant to go critical. Again, only Ripley, one colonist, one marine and an android escaped.”

Spock paused, and McCoy said, with an admiring smile. “I think I would have liked to have met this Ripley. She sounds like one hell of a woman.”

Spock nodded. “Indeed, doctor. A most courageous and capable individual. However, her luck, if you will, finally ran out. She thought she had destroyed all of the creatures, but one embryo had managed to get aboard the marines’ vessel. While she and the others were in hypersleep, it caused the ship to crash-land on a penal planet. This time, Ripley was the only survivor.

“While she was awaiting the arrival of a rescue ship, Ripley discovered that the creature had also survived, by a method I will now explain.” He turned to Kirk. “It answers the question you asked earlier, captain, about how they breed.” Spock looked around the table. “You may find this somewhat unpleasant.” The others glanced at each other and shifted in their seats, and Spock went on.

“As I said before, when the crew of the Nostromo first set down on LV-426, they inadvertently brought one of the creatures back on board. During their reconnaissance of the crashed alien vessel, they had found a chamber full of large leathery objects that proved to be eggs. One of the party, the Nostromo’s first officer, Kane, was brought back to the ship with something attached to his face. Efforts to remove it failed; later, it seemed to die and come off by itself. However, it had laid an embryo inside Kane’s body, and had used him as a host. This was the larval stage of the creature.” The faces of those around the table registered shock, growing comprehension and revulsion, and Spock continued his somber narrative.

“Kane recovered, and seemed none the worse for his experience. However, while the crew was having a last meal, prior to returning to cryosleep for the rest of the journey to earth, the creature inside Kane burst out through his chest and escaped. This method of gestation and…birth does of course cause the death of the host. The alien seemed to possess a remarkable rate of growth, and it was during the subsequent hunt throughout the ship that the other crewmembers were killed. When Ripley found herself the last survivor, she set the Nostromo’s fusion engines to self-destruct and left in the shuttlecraft.

“On the penal planet, after the second mission to LV-426, Ripley learned that one of the original creatures had broken through her cryosleep chamber and, as with Kane, had implanted an embryo inside her while she slept.” The faces around the table this time expressed their horror and sorrow for Ripley, and Spock continued.

“When representatives of the Company arrived, they tried to persuade Ripley to return to earth with them. They claimed they could safely remove the creature from her, and that their intention was to destroy it, not to attempt to use it for their own ends. Ripley, however, did not believe them; she was convinced that they would attempt to utilize the creature as some type of weapon, and she felt that the danger was too great that, once on earth, it would escape. So she committed suicide rather than have the creature fall into their hands.” Spock fell silent, and after a moment, Uhura spoke.

“That poor, brave woman. What she went through, only to have the aliens get her in the end. And that Company! How could so-called civilized beings behave in that way? It’s monstrous!”

Kirk nodded sympathetically. “Yes, it is. But that’s the way things were back then, when profits meant more than people.” He looked at the Vulcan. “So, that was the end of the saga, and of Ripley?”

Spock frowned. “I’m not sure, captain. There seems to be some rumor that she was somehow cloned and returned to earth sometime later. Whether or not it is true, I have no further data.”

They were all silent for a moment, then Kirk said, “Spock, you mentioned that the original crew found an alien spacecraft on the planet. But from what we’ve seen of these creatures, they don’t have the intelligence to create the technology for such a vessel.”

Spock nodded. “I agree, captain. Or, more correctly, they do not appear to have it now. Who knows what they once had, and might have again, given enough time?”

“My point is,” said Kirk, “where did the alien ship come from? Who put the eggs aboard it? And who took it to LV-426?”

Spock replied, “Unknown, captain. However, the report mentions that the original crew found the preserved body of an alien being, almost three meters tall, whose chest had been exploded from the inside.”

McCoy nodded in understanding. “A volunteer. He must have been taking the eggs to the planet when the creatures impregnated him. My God, what a miserable, lonely death.”

All of them contemplated the courage needed to undertake such a mission, and Chekov said, “So who set the signal, the warning beacon?”

Kirk shrugged. “The ship must have made it to the planet before the creature…emerged. Either that, or it was an automatic signal, programmed to begin transmitting in case of a crash. It’s my guess that the giant being was one of the original inhabitants of the planet below us. It looks like they were trying to get rid of the creatures; unfortunately, they seem to have missed some. We have to assume that the aliens have taken over. Fortunately, they are confined to this one world.”

Sulu, on the bridge, spoke up for the first time. “Captain, those creatures may not have had the capability of building and operating spacecraft back then, but that was more than two hundred years ago. As Mr. Spock said, who knows what they might have now?”

McCoy broke in and voiced a thought that was beginning to occur to all of them around the table. “My God, Jim! If those things have somehow learned to pilot a spacecraft, and manage to get out into the greater galaxy…”

The sentence was left unfinished as they contemplated in stunned silence the doctor’s words. Then Scotty spoke up. “There’d be no stoppin’ them,” he said, “if they came in sufficient numbers. And from what Spock says, they breed like rabbits. They’d run right over us, and all of our superior technology wouldnae mean a thing!”

Kirk nodded. “Even if the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans joined forces and thought they’d wiped them out, it would only take one survivor for it to start all over again.”

They sat in silent contemplation of the enormity of the horror of such a thing, then Kirk said, “The threat posed by this species is too great for us to allow that to happen. In other words, we have to make certain that they don’t get out. In order to do that, we’ll need to go down to the surface again and determine their capabilities and potential.”

He looked grimly at the others seated around the table. “Under normal circumstances, the Prime Directive would be our ultimate guide, but we’re going to have to decide how much it applies here. Nevertheless, it will still ultimately play a large part in determining what action, if any, we take.”

He stood up, and the others followed. “Spock, Bones, Sulu, make ready to beam down to the surface with me. We have to find out just what these aliens could do. And the sooner we do that, the better.”

***