Alan Dean Foster Alien 03 Alien 3

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more. She does carry marine lieutenant rank, you know.?
?That's all??Andrews persisted.
Clemens studied his empty teacup. ?Yes.?
?Nothing more??
?No.?
?You're sure??
The medic looked up and met the older man's eyes evenly. ?Very sure.?
Andrews's gaze dropped to his hands and he spoke through clenched teeth.
It was obvious there was more, something the medic wasn't telling him,
but short of physical coercion there wasn't a damned thing he could do
about it. And physical coercion wouldn't work with someone like Clemens,
whose inherent stubbornness would keep him from admitting that he had no
pride left to defend. 95
95
?Get out of here.?
Clemens rose wordlessly and started a second time for the door.
?One more thing.?The medic paused, looked back to find the
superintendent watching him closely. ?I take comfort in the daily
routine here. So do you. There's a great deal of reassurance to be found
in codified monotony. I'm not going to let it be broken. Systematic
repetition of familiar tasks is the best and safest narcotic. I'm not
going to allow the animals to become agitated. Not by a woman, not by
accidents. Not by you.?
?Whatever you say,?Clemens replied agreeably.
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?Don't go getting any funny ideas. Independent action is a valueless
concept on Fiorina. Don't think too much. It'll damage your standing in
our little community, especially with me, and you'll only end up hurting
yourself. You'll do better to keep your long-term goals in mind at all
times.
?Your loyalties are to this operation, and to your employer. Not to
strangers, or to some misguided notions you may happen to erect on the
foundation of your own boredom. She will be gone soon and we will still
be here. You and I, Dillon and Aaron and all the rest. Everything will
be as it was before the EEV crashed. Don't jeopardize your enviable
situation for a temporary abstraction. Do you understand??
?Yes. Your point is quite clear. Even to someone like me.?
Andrews continued to brood uneasily. ?I don't want trouble with our
employers. I don't want trouble of any kind. I get paid to see that
trouble doesn't happen. Our presence here is ... frowned upon by certain
social elements back on Earth. Until the accident we hadn't suffered a
death from other than natural causes since the day this group took 96
Alan Dean Foster
over caretaking duties from its predecessors. I am aware that it could
not have been prevented but it still looks bad in the records. I don't
like looking bad, Mr. Clemens.?He squinted up at the medic. ?You take my
meaning??
?Perfectly, sir.?
Andrews continued. ?Rescue and resupply will be here soon enough.
Meanwhile, you keep an eye on the lieutenant and if you observe
anything, ah, potentially disruptive, I know that I can rely on you to
notify me of it immediately. Right??
Clemens nodded briskly. ?Right.?
Though only partially mollified, the other man could think of nothing
more to say. ?Very well, then. We understand one another. Good night,
Mr. Clemens.?
?Good night, Superintendent.?He shut the door quietly behind him.
The wind of Fiorina rose and fell, dropping occasionally to querulous
zephyrs or rising to tornadic shrieks, but it never stopped. It blew
steadily off the bay, carrying the pungent odor of salt water to the
outer sections of the installation. Sometimes storms and currents
dredged odors more alien from the currents dredged odors more alien from
the depths of the sea and sent them spiraling down through the air
shafts, slipping through the scrubbers to remind the men that the world
they occupied was foreign to the inhabitants of distant Earth, and would
kill them if it could.
They went outside but rarely, preferring the familiar surroundings of
the immense installation to the oppressive spaciousness of the sullen
landscape. There was nothing to look at except the dark waves that broke
on the black sand beach, nothing to remind them of the world they had
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97
known. That was fortunate. Such memories were more painful than any
degree of toil.
The water was cold and home to tiny, disgusting creatures that bit.
Sometimes a few of the men chose to go fishing, but only for physical
and not spiritual nourishment. Inside the facility it was warm and dry.
The wind was no more than distant, discordant music, to be ignored.
Sometimes it was necessary to go outside. These excursions were
invariably brief, and attended to with as much haste as possible, moving
from one refuge to another as quickly as possible.
In contrast, the figure picking through the sheltered mountain of debris
was doing so with deliberation and care. Ripley paced the surface of the
immense pit, her eyes fixed on its irregular surface. The original
excavation had been filled in with discarded, broken equipment. She
wrestled her way past monumental components, punctured storage tanks,
worn-out drill bits the size of small trucks, brightly colored vines of
old wiring and corroded tubes.
Wind whipped around outside and she clutched at the neck of the suit
Clemens had found for her. The ruined mechanical landscape had seemed
endless and the cold was still penetrating her muscles, slowing her and
interfering with her perceptions.
Not to the extent, however, that she failed to see the expensive silvery
filaments protruding from a smaller pimple of recently discarded trash. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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