Directive 937 - Part two: Peep Hole

Daniels and Tennessee are on their way to the Infirmary, their machine-guns ready. They have recruited the rover as well; Daniels has been able to reset the vehicle's electronic brain so it would be possible to use it manually, without interference from MUTHR. They have piled up food and water, all sorts of nets and flamethrowers, a couple of space suits and gas masks just in case. The little guy is sturdy.

As they advance on the hallway, Daniels says:

-Tennessee, let's put those gas masks on, I have a bad feeling about this.

Ahead of them the air looks fuzzy; MUTHR has turned on the emergency lights and the alarm beacons accentuate the atmosphere of chaos.

Ricks stands in front of the Infirmary's glass panel, on the outer side, his face almost touching the glass, his arms extended in cross, palms touching the glass as well.

-Hey, man. What is going on -says Tennessee, trying to sound as lighthearted as he possibly can. But his attempt is betrayed my the mask he is wearing, which makes his voice sound canny.

Ricks turns around, he seems stunned at the sight of Tennessee and Daniels wearing gas masks. His face looks swollen, as if he got beaten up.

-Don't ask -he says with a grin- The bot got me off guard. He must have had a short or something -but he is dead serious when he adds: -Please, we need to get her out of there: she is trapped.

-How come? -asks Daniels

-I don't know.

Upworth starts to get up slowly,  very slowly.

-Baby, please shut up. No, no... HUSH. There is no use. There is something in the air. I am fucked, Daniels- she says

Standing in front of the glass, Daniels looks straight into Upworth's eyes and asks her:

-How did the air get contaminated with the pathogen? (No need explain what the pathogen is: everybody has seen the video feeds from Ledward and Hallett, and knows exactly what Daniels is talking about)

-I was about to start the procedure on the Sargent. Ricks had gone to get some drugs from the warehouse. Then I noticed the hatch got locked up by remote command. I thought I heard something, a buzzing noise. I looked up, and there was this drizzle of tiny, flaky black particles. I think it got in here through the air duct up there.

"Then Walter showed up. He had this strange behavior, acting the way robots behave when there are no humans around. I mean, he was so fast!... I didn't even have time to react and he had already removed Lope from the room.

"He took him away. -she starting sobbing- He dragged him from one leg, like if he was a rag doll.

Daniels looks at Tennessee and asks him:

-Where do think he took him?

Tennessee requests the rover to produce a hologram with a map of the Covenant. They study the labyrinth of tunnels, and after a while Daniels enhances a section on the upper left side.

-What is this? -she asks

Tennessee looks closely ans says: -Wait a second: Maggie mentioned something about Karin's project. That is the hydroponic garden. She wrote, and don't ask me if I know what she meant: "If not for that goddamned garden they might have left her alone"

Daniels takes Tennessee aside and tells him in a lower tone of voice:

-So that's where the pathogen is coming from. Do you know what that means, right?

-You have to keep 'em separated, as they say.

-That's right, we are going to get two of those ugly bastards popping up anytime now, and we know damn well they don't get along -it was her turn to look the other way- These are our friends...

There was a silence.

-What do we do.

Daniels squats down to study the section of the hatch in direct contact with the floor. Then she gets back up and does the same with the area where the glass and the metallic walls meet.

-This section of the ship is different from all the others. Look at the insulation; it is perfectly sealed: a gas chamber.

Tennessee looks down: -That son of a bitch -he utters- I bet it's connected directly with the hydroponic garden.

-I would suggest we look around the ship for most places like this. I have the impression that David will try to trap us all in one of these death chambers. That is why he didn't kill us yet. After all, he still works for the Company; he needs to keep the infection contained. And the experiments.

-But why all this madness...

-You tell me

-How would I know? -asks Tennessee

-As soon s we can get away remember that I need to see Maggie's letter. 

-I burnt it, but it's all in my head.

-I need you to write a statement then. Right now. Go to the other room and get that into the rover's hard drive. One more thing: do we have that special lead paint? The one that even blocks x rays.

-I want you to get some. Paint every single MUTHR visual terminal with it. I want her blind.

Hours passed. They did not hear from David, nor from MUTHR for that matter. The empty hallways seem to have a malevolent shiny finish, as if it was a giant killing jar, and all you can hear is the machinery buzzing and the distant rumor of the atomic engine. A light on the rover indicates that the oxygen percentage in the surrounding area has dropped by a 2% during the last hour.

-We need to keep an eye on that. Remember this air is what robots breath.

Barricaded by the Infirmary, they spent the couple next hours making a duplicate of the Covenant's map, juxtaposing it in order to detect all the sections that could have been used as traps by David, and devising possible escape routes in case they were to stumble upon the robot.

Upworth has developed several lumps throughout her body. She got one on the side of her hip; another one on her thigh, on one arm, the right shoulder and her throat. Half of her face was completely swollen and unrecognizable. She seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

Ricks has been reckless in spite of being heavily sedated, and had to be restrained with handcuffs.

Upworth drags along across the room and scatters the contents from a drawer. Some of them falls to the floor. She gets a sheet of paper and manages to grab a pen even though her hand is already massively deformed. She scribbles something, then she puts the paper against the glass: "I love you, baby. Please I don't want anybody to see me like this, Cover up the glass. Do it for me".

Daniels, Tennessee and Ricks looks at each other. They don't find anything to say. Then Ricks speaks:

-I will do it. Please get off the handcuffs. And get me that paint.

-Promise you won't do anything crazy, man -asks Tennessee

-No, no. I need to be in one piece so I can blow up that fucking machine to pieces -says Ricks

Ricks does an excellent job. He paints meticulously every single inch. From the left to the right and from top to bottom. Until he gets to the middle part. There he lingers, and when there is a tiny bit left to cover, he starts to perform relaxed but precise circular strokes, slowly, leaving one single opening, right in the center, twice as big as a human iris. Then he stops.

He steps back, and that is when violent tremors start shaking up the walls. And soon violent blows charge against the freshly painted glass. And impossibly loud screams of newborn things that were anything like a baby's cry pierce through everyone's ears, while the Covenant multiplies the echoes crazily, maddeningly, escalating into a living pandemonium.

And riding on top of that eardrum punishing blasts, emerging and sinking again into the abrasive sonic waves, Daniels imagines she hears soothing voices, and the wind blowing, and some sweeping Hollywood music. She thinks she might be crazy, but she is convinced now that she is listening to Peter O'Toole's voice. Peter O'Toole talking like the english gentleman that he was.

(to be continued)

Directive 937 - Part I

http://www.alien-covenant.com/topic/45763