fountain_scripts/Alien.fountain

Title: "_ALIEN_"
Credit: by
Authors:
    Walter Hill
    and
    David Giler
Source:
    Based on screenplay
    by
    Dan O'Bannon
Story: by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Draft date:
    REVISED FINAL
    JUNE, 1978
Notes: NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS AND SOME "SCENE OMITTED" SLUGS. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS SOFT COPY.
Epigraph:
    Science fiction plucks from within
    us our deepest fears and hopes then
    shows them to us in rough disguise:
    the monster and the rocket.
    W.H. Auden
Second epigraph:
    We live, as we dream -- alone.
    Joseph Conrad


> FADE IN

!SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE:

INT. ENGINE ROOM

!Empty, cavernous.

INT. ENGINE CUBICLE

!Circular, jammed with instruments.
All of them idle.
Console chairs for two.
Empty.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL

!Long, dark.
Empty.
Turbos throbbing.
No other movement.

INT. CORRIDOR - "A" LEVEL

!Long, empty.

INT. INFIRMARY - "A" LEVEL

!Distressed ivory walls.
All instrumentation at rest.

INT. CORRIDOR TO BRIDGE - "A" LEVEL

!Black, empty.

INT. BRIDGE

!Vacant.
Two space helmets resting on chairs.
Electrical hum.
Lights on the helmets begin to signal one another.
Moments of silence.
A yellow light goes on.
Data mind bank in b.g.
Electronic hum.
A green light goes on in front of one helmet.
Electronic pulsing sounds.
A red light goes on in front of other helmet.
An electronic conversation ensues.
Reaches a crescendo.
Then silence.
The lights go off, save the yellow.

INT. CORRIDOR TO HYPERSLEEP VAULT

!Lights come on.
Seven gowns hang from the curved wall.
Vault door opens.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

!Explosion of escaping gas.
The lid on a freezer pops open.
Slowly, groggily, KANE sits up.
Pale.
Kane rubs the sleep from his eyes.
Stands.
Looks around.
Stretches.
Looks at the other freezer compartments.
Scratches.
Moves off.

INT. GALLEY

!Kane plugs in a Silex.
Lights a cigarette.
Coughs.
Grinds some coffee beans.
Runs some water through.

                        @KANE
        Rise and shine, Lambert.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

!Another lid pops open.
A young woman sits up.

                        @LAMBERT
        What time is it.

                        @KANE
                (voice over)
        What do you care.

INT. GALLEY

!Pot now half-full.
Kane watches it drip.
Inhales the fragrance.

                        @KANE
        Now Dallas and Ash.
                (calls out)
        Good morning Captain.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Where's the coffee.

                        @KANE
        Brewing.

!LAMBERT walks into the kitchen.
Pours herself a cup.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

!Two more lids pop open.
A pair of men sit up.
Look at each other.

INT. GALLEY

!Kane enjoys a freshly-brewed cup.

                        @KANE
        Ripley...

!Another moment.
And then the sound of another lid opening.

                        @KANE
        And if we have Parker, can Brett be far behind.

!Lid opening sound.

                        @KANE
        Right.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

!DALLAS looks at his groggy circus.

                        @DALLAS
        One of you jokers get the cat.

!RIPLEY picks up a limp cat out of one of the compartments.

INT. MESS

!The crew of the United States commercial starship Nostromo seated around a table.

!Dallas.........Captain
Kane...........Executive Officer
Ripley.........Warrant Officer
Ash............Science Officer
Lambert........Navigator
Parker.........Engineer
Brett..........Engineering Technician
Jones..........Cat

!Five men and two women: Lambert and Ripley.

                        @LAMBERT
        Jesus am I cold.

                        @PARKER
        Still with us, Brett.

                        @BRETT
        Yo.

                        @RIPLEY
        Lucky us.

!They yawn, stretch, shiver.
Dallas looks over at a flashing yellow light.

                        @KANE
        I feel dead.

!Kane is not yet fully awake.
Yawns.

                        @PARKER
        You look dead.

                        @ASH
        Nice to be back.

                        @PARKER
        Before we dock maybe we'd better go over the bonus situation.

                        @BRETT
        Yeah.

                        @PARKER
        Brett and I think we deserve a full share.

                        @DALLAS
        You two will get what you contracted for.  Just like everybody else.

                        @BRETT
        Everybody else gets more than us.

                        @DALLAS
        Everybody else deserves more than you two.

                        @ASH
        Mother wants to talk to you.

                        @DALLAS
        I saw it.  Yellow light for my eyes only...Now, everybody hit their stations.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM ANNEX

!Floor to ceiling data banks.
Another flashing yellow light.
A legend underneath.
COMMAND PRIORITY ACCESS ONLY.
Dallas enters.
Sits at his console.
Removes insignia master computer key attached to his shirt.
Plugs it into the board under the light.
All banks burst into life.
Dallas punches up a computer code on the keyboard.

!Legend on the screen...

!What's my God damn key.

!Print-out from computer answers...

!01335 on the binary side.

                        @DALLAS
        Thank you Mother.

!Dallas punches up the combination on the keyboard.
Immediately starts getting a readout.

> CUT TO:

INT. BRIDGE

!Above eye level the room is ringed by viewscreens.
All of them blank.
Kane, Ripley, and Lambert enter.
Dallas' seat remains empty.
All of them now dressed; they find their way to individual consoles.
Ripley puts down the cat, straps herself into the high-backed chair.

                        @KANE
        Plug us in.

!All three crew members begin throwing switches.
The control room starts to come to life.
Colored lights flicker.
Chase each other across glowing screens.

                        @KANE
        Give us something to look at.

!Lambert presses a bank of switches.
Viewscreens glimmer into life.

                        @LAMBERT
        Take a look at this.

!On each screen, blackness speckled with stars.

                        @LAMBERT
        Where's Earth.

                        @KANE
        You're the navigator.

                        @RIPLEY
        That's not our system.

                        @KANE
        Scan.

!Lambert hits several toggles.
On the screens the images begin to drift.

.ONE OF THE SCREENS

!A moving image of a starfield.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!The Factory Starship lumbering within the depths of inter-stellar space.

!Function:           Petroleum tanker and Refinery.
Capacity:           2,000,000,000 tons.
Length:             One and one half kilometers.

!Battered exterior encrusted with dark sludge.

INT. BRIDGE

!Lambert pores over charts.
Consults her console.
Puzzled.

                        @KANE
        Contact traffic control.

!Ripley switches on her transmission unit.

                        @RIPLEY
        This is commercial vessel Nostromo. Registration number 180246.  Do you read me.  Over.

!Nothing but the hiss of static.

                        @RIPLEY
        Nothing.

                        @KANE
        Keep trying.

!Turns to Lambert.
Ripley attempting transmission in b.g.

                        @KANE
        You got a reading yet.

                        @LAMBERT
        We're way out in the boondocks here...

                        @KANE
        Keep trying...

                        @LAMBERT
        Working on it.

!Eureka.

                        @LAMBERT
        Found it.

                        @KANE
        Hard to believe.

                        @LAMBERT
        What the hell are we doing out here.

                        @KANE
        What are you talking about.

                        @RIPLEY
        It's not our system.

INT. ENGINE ROOM

!Giant reactor system purring smoothly.

INT. ENGINE ROOM

!PARKER and BRETT in a glass cubicle.  Each having a beer.
Huge powerplant stretching before them.
All units on automatic hyper-drive.
Parker hits a switch above his desk.  A green light goes on.

                        @PARKER
        How's your light?

                        @BRETT
        Green.

                        @PARKER
        Mine too.

!They both take a swig.
Suddenly a beeper signal begins.

                        @PARKER
        Christ.  What is it now.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        Report to the mess.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL

                        @PARKER
        I want to know why they never come down here.  This is where the work is.

                        @BRETT
        Same reason we have half a share to their one, our time is their time, that's the way they see it.

                        @PARKER
        Well, I'll tell you something... it stinks.

!They move towards the companionway.

INT. MESS

!Entire crew present.

                        @DALLAS
        Some of you may have figured out that we're not home.

                        @BRETT
        What the hell.

                        @DALLAS
        Mother's interrupted the course of the voyage. Mother is programmed to interrupt the course of our voyage if certain conditions arise.  They have...
                (pause)
        We've received intermittent transmission from quadrant points QBR 157, 052.  Somebody's gone down.

                        @BRETT
        So what.

                        @KANE
        We're obligated under Section B2...

                        @PARKER
        Christ.  We're a commercial ship not some rescue team.  This kind of duty's not in our contract.

                        @ASH
        You better read your contract. Transmissions received in non-commercial lanes...

!Dallas gives Parker and Brett a look.

                        @DALLAS
        We're going in, that's it.

!Brett knows when to ease up.

                        @BRETT
        Right, we're going in.
                (smiles)
        Sir.

!Dallas turns to ASH.

                        @DALLAS
        Can we land on it.

!He takes a print-out from Mother out of his hand.

                        @ASH
        The other ship did.

                        @DALLAS
        That's what I mean.

!Studies the print-out.

                        @ASH
        It's big enough.  Can't see any reason why not.

> CUT TO:

EXT. NOSTROMO AND REFINERY APPROACHING THE STAR/PLANET SYSTEM

INT. BRIDGE

!Dallas at his console speaking to Ash.

                        @DALLAS
        We're coming into range of the planet.  What kind of orbit do you plan for the cargo.

                        @ASH
        Z local vertical mode.

                        @DALLAS
        You figure it will hold that.

                        @ASH
        You worried about redundancy management disabling CMGS control.

                        @DALLAS
        Yeah.

                        @ASH
        CMG control is inhibited via DAS/DCS.  We'll augment with TACS and monitor through ATMDC and computer interface.
                (pause)
        Feel better?

                        @DALLAS
        A lot.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!Moving within range of the planet.

INT. BRIDGE

!The crew strap themselves to their seats.

                        @DALLAS
        Prepare for separation and orbital insertion of the cargo.

!Much preparation for separation, etc.

                        @DALLAS
        Give me an EC Pressure reading.

                        @ASH
        3.45 n/c m^2 squared (5 psia)

                        @DALLAS
        Shout if it changes.  Deactivate probe retract system.

                        @KANE
        What about the pressure seal.

!Dallas hits appropriate switches.

                        @DALLAS
        Now the probe retract system.

!Kane hits other equally appropriate switches.

                        @KANE
        Okay.

                        @DALLAS
        Release captive hatches and disengage probe.

!Kane working switches and buttons.

                        @KANE
        Disengaged.

!Dallas punches buttons of his own.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!The Refinery separates from Nostromo.

INT. BRIDGE

!Dallas watches the refinery moving away on a viewscreen.

                        @KANE
        All free and clear.

                        @DALLAS
        Ash.

                        @ASH
        Orbital insertion complete.

                        @DALLAS
        Okay.  The money's safe.  Let's take it down.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!Engines coughing to life.
Nostromo begins its descent.

!Below night's tide rolls across the planet's surface.

INT. BRIDGE

!The viewscreen shimmers.

                        @RIPLEY
        Turbulence.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!Tug-module hydroplaning downward.
A set of brilliant lights switch on.
Cut through the thick atmosphere.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE

!Parker and Brett strapped in their seats.
Begin rocking from the sudden, extreme turbulence.

                        @PARKER
        Christ.  Overloading.  What the hell are we going through.

                        @BRETT
        Dust fritzing the compressor.

                        @PARKER
        There goes the conversion stabilizer.

                        @BRETT
        I don't know if the digital solenoid...

                        @PARKER
        Forget it.  If we don't crash, dollars to your aunt's cherry we get an electrical fire...

INT. BRIDGE

!The turbulence continues unabated.
Lambert's eyes follow cross-plot gauges.

                        @LAMBERT
        Drop begins...now.  Fifteen kilometers and descending... twelve...ten...eight and slowing.  Five.  Three.  Two. One kilometer and slowing.

                        @DALLAS
        Lock tractor beams.

!A loud electrical hum.

                        @KANE
        Locked.

                        @DALLAS
        Kill drive engines.

!The engines fall silent.

                        @LAMBERT
        Nine hundred meters and dropping. Eight hundred.  Seven hundred.

EXT. PLANET - NIGHT

!Storm blowing across the night-shrouded surface.
The Nostromo hovers on glowing beams of light.
Landing struts unfold like insect legs.
The ship slams down.
Rocks heavily on massive shock absorbers.

INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT

                        @RIPLEY
        We're down.

!An enormous vibration.
The panels in the room flash simultaneously.
Lights go out.

                        @KANE
        Lost it.  Lost it.

INT. ENGINE ROOM

!Another huge vibration.
An electrical fire breaks out along three control panels.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR

!Huge flash fire whips along corridor.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE

!Parker and Brett see the pandemonium below.
Brett hits the secondary generator switch.
A pressure valve blows.
Another conduit breaks loose.
All lights go out.
They grab hand lights from wall.

INT. BRIDGE

!Still in darkness.

                        @LAMBERT
        Secondary generator should kick over.

                        @KANE
        Where is it.

!Moments.  Nothing.  Kane grabs emergency headlamp from facia.
Followed by Dallas and Lambert.

                        @DALLAS
        What happened?

!Ripley hits the voice-amp.

                        @RIPLEY
        Engine room, what happened.

                        @PARKER
                (voice over)
        God damn electrical fire, that's what happened.

                        @BRETT
                (voice over)
        It's big.

INT. ENGINE ROOM

!Parker fighting an electrical fire on one of his panels.
Brett shouting into his voice-amp.

                        @BRETT
        The intakes are clogged.  We overheated and burned out a whole cell...Christ, it's really breaking loose down here...

INT. BRIDGE

                        @DALLAS
        Somebody give me a simple answer, Has the hull been breached.

!Ripley scans her gauges.

                        @RIPLEY
        I don't see anything.  We've still got pressure.

!A beep from the communicator.

                        @DALLAS
        Hit the screen.

!Kane snaps three toggles.
The screens flicker, but remain black.

                        @KANE
        Nothing.

EXT. SHIP - NIGHT

!The wind sounds.
Storm continues to blow around the craft.
A few glittering lights distinguish the Nostromo from absolute darkness.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Parker on the communicator to the bridge.

                        @PARKER
        4 panel is totally shot, the secondary load sharing unit is out, at least three cells on 12 module are gone.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley listening to Parker.
Dallas standing over her.
No images on any screens.

                        @RIPLEY
        Is that it.

                        @PARKER
                (voice over)
        Couldn't fix it out here anyway. And we need to reroute a couple of these ducts.  Can't really fix them without a whole drydock...

                        @DALLAS
        What else.

                        @PARKER
                (voice over)
        We lost a cell.  Some fragments caked up and blew the whole system.  We've got to clean it all out and repressurize.

                        @BRETT
                (voice over)
        Right.

                        @RIPLEY
        Get started on 4 panel.  I'll be down in five minutes.

!She shuts off her voice communicator.

                        @DALLAS
        How long before we're functional.

                        @RIPLEY
        Fifteen to twenty hours...

                        @DALLAS
        Stay on it.  What about the auxiliaries.

                        @RIPLEY
        Working on it.

EXT. SHIP - NIGHT

!Bridge lights come to life.
Illuminate nothing but a patch of featureless ground.
The wind and storm now at a higher pitch.

INT. BRIDGE

!Dallas, Kane, Lambert, and Ash.
Slouched around the bridge.
Drinking coffee.
Occasionally staring at the opaque screens.

                        @DALLAS
        Any response yet.

                        @ASH
        Nothing but the same transmission every thirty-two seconds.  All the other channels are dead.

!Pause.

                        @DALLAS
        Kick on the floods.

> CUT TO:

EXT. SHIP

!A ring of floodlights comes to life.
Dimly illuminating the rocky landscape.
The wind and dust now at a higher pitch.

> CUT TO:

INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT

!Dallas stares at the dark screens.

                        @KANE
        We can't go anywhere in this.

                        @ASH
        Mother says the sun's coming up in about twenty minutes.

                        @DALLAS
        How far from the source of the transmission.

                        @ASH
        Northeast... about 3000 meters.

                        @KANE
        Close enough to walk.

                        @DALLAS
        Let's run an atmospheric.

!Ash punches buttons, starts to consult his panel.

                        @ASH
        10 percent argon, 85 percent nitrogen, 5 percent neon...I'm working on the trace elements.

                        @DALLAS
        Pressure.

                        @ASH
        Ten to the fourth dynes per square centimeter.

                        @KANE
        Moisture content.

                        @ASH
        None.  Zero.

                        @DALLAS
        Anything else.

                        @ASH
        Rock, lava base.  And cold... well below the centigrade line.

                        @KANE
        I volunteer for the first group going out.

                        @DALLAS
        I hear you.  Lambert.  You too.

!Pause.

                        @LAMBERT
        Swell.

                        @DALLAS
        One more thing.  Let's get out some weapons.

EXT. SHIP - DAWN

!Sunrise.
The atmosphere begins to lighten.
Silhouette of the Nostromo becoming dimly visible.
Starship perched on barren rock.
More rolling clouds of dust.
The floodlights automatically shut off.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Parker and Brett laser welding one of the ducts.
Shirts off.
Sweat steaming.
Ripley rewiring one of the panels.
Parker shuts down the laser, inspects the fusion.

                        @PARKER
        Hey, Ripley, I got a question.

                        @RIPLEY
        Yeah.

                        @PARKER
        Do we get to go out on the expedition or are we stuck here until everything's fixed.

                        @RIPLEY
        You know the answer to that.

                        @BRETT
        What about the shares in case they find anything.

                        @RIPLEY
        Don't worry, you'll both get what's coming to you.

                        @BRETT
        I'm not doing any more work unless we get full shares.

                        @RIPLEY
        You're guaranteed by law that you'll get a share... Now both of you knock it off and get back to work.

!Parker looks at her.
Snaps on the laser weld.
Starts to join another section of the duct.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN

!Dallas, Kane and Lambert enter the lock.
All wear gloves, boots, jackets.
Carry laser pistols.
Kane touches a button.
Servo whine.
Then the inner door slides quietly shut.
The trio pull on their helmets.

                        @DALLAS
        I'm sending.  Do you hear me.

                        @KANE
        Receiving.

                        @LAMBERT
        Receiving.

                        @DALLAS
        All right.  Keep away from the weapons unless I say otherwise.

INT. ASH'S BLISTER - DAWN

!Ash descends companionway to blister.
Punches up screens and instrumentation.

INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN

                        @DALLAS
        Open the hatch.

!Another servo whine.
Ponderously, the outer lock hatch slides open.
Clouds of dust and steam swirl before the three crew members.
A mobile gangway slides out the open hatch.
Burnt orange sunlight beyond.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN

!The trio walk down the gangplank.
Arrive at surface level.
Their feet striking onto a thick layer of lava rock.
The wind at gale force.

                        @DALLAS
        Which way.

                        @LAMBERT
        Over here.

                        @DALLAS
        You lead.

!Lambert walks into the storm.
Followed closely by the others.

                        @LAMBERT
        Now I can't see a God damn thing.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        Turn on the finder.

                        @DALLAS
        It's on...Ash are you receiving.

INT. ASH'S BLISTER - DAWN

!Ash leaning over his console.
Watches them beneath him.
Corresponding images on the screen in front of him.

                        @ASH
        See you.  Read you.  Good contact on my board.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Getting you clear and free.  Let's keep the line open.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN

!The three crew members push their way along.
Like divers at the bottom of a dark sea.
The wind and dust continues driving down in dark sheets.
Lambert repeats.

                        @LAMBERT
        Can't see more than three meters in any direction.

                        @KANE
        Quit griping.

                        @LAMBERT
        I like griping.

                        @DALLAS
        Come on.

!They wade on, following Lambert.
She halts abruptly.
Confused.

INT. BLISTER - DAWN

!Ash watches intently.
Images on each screen of the trio.

                        @LAMBERT
                (voice over)
        I've got it again.

                        @ASH
        Any problems.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Yeah.  A lot of dust and wind. Starting to get some fade on the beam.

EXT. PLANET - DAWN

!The trio moves through a dark limbo.

                        @LAMBERT
        This way.

!Lambert indicates left.
Moves in that direction.
The others follow.
The storm growing.

                        @KANE
        It's close.

!They approach a towering rock formation.
The transmission stops.

                        @LAMBERT
        It's gone again.

                        @KANE
        Did we pass it.

                        @DALLAS
        Not unless it's underground. Let's take a break.

!They shelter with the rock formation.
Storm howls round them.
Dallas adjusts headset.
The signal starts.

                        @DALLAS
        I've got it again.  Let's go.

                        @LAMBERT
        How about our break.

                        @DALLAS
        No. Let's move on while we've got the signal, again.

!Dallas gets up.

!They stand for a moment...

!Then move away from the rock formation.
Fossilized into the other side of the rock is a shape.
Fifteen feet tall.
Unseen by the members of the party.

INT. BLISTER - DAWN

!Ash receiving the video transmission.
Notices something within the formation.
Freezes the image.
Enlarges it.
Enlarges again.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE

!Atmosphere turning the color of blood.
Then the sun is up.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE

!Brett and Parker still at work.
Ripley moves away from her panel in triumph...

                        @RIPLEY
        You ought to be able to handle the rest.

                        @PARKER
        Don't worry.

                        @RIPLEY
        If you run into trouble, I'll be on the bridge.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

!She leaves.

                        @PARKER
        Bitch.

INT. BLISTER - DAY

!Ash still working on the video image.
Enhances the enlargement.
Transfers the image to cathode ray.
The image reveals itself to be a giant form.  Indistinct.

!Ripley's voice comes over.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        How's it going.

!Ash quickly shuts off the video image.
Hits the intercom.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley at her console.
Looking at Ash on her screen.
Ash's video image not visible to Ripley.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        All right.

                        @RIPLEY
        Have you tried putting the transmission through ECIU.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        Mother hasn't identified it as yet. It's not a language.

                        @RIPLEY
        I'll give it a shot.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        Be my guest.

!She pushes some buttons.
The noise is now heard on her speaker.

EXT. PLANET - DAY

!Dust clearing.
Three tiny figures against the landscape.

EXT. PLANET - DAY

!Empty landscape.
Then Kane comes up over a rise startled by what he sees.
Suddenly the transmission is deafening.

                        @KANE
        Jesus Christ.

!Dallas and Lambert join him equally startled.

.THEIR P.O.V. - DAY

!A gargantuan construction rising from the rock.
Clearly of nonhuman manufacture.

EXT. PLANET - DAY

!Noise still at shrill pitch.
All members of the party shouting into their voice-amps.

                        @KANE
        Some kind of spaceship.

                        @LAMBERT
        Are you sure.  It's weird...

                        @DALLAS
        Ash, can you see this.

INT. ASH'S BLISTER - DAY

!Ash looking at the craft on a screen.

                        @ASH
        Yeah.  Never seen one like it. Neither has Mother.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Keep checking for enhancement.

                        @ASH
        Whatever the transmission is, it's inside that.

                        @KANE
                (voice over)
        I'll go in and have a look.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Hold on.  Ash, I don't see any lights or movements.  Do you.

                        @ASH
        I can't get any reading.

EXT. PLANET - DAY

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        It's putting out so much power I just can't get any reading.

!Dallas shuts off his receiver.
Sudden quiet.
A long moment.

                        @DALLAS
        It looks pretty dead from here. We'll approach the base.

!They move toward the ship.

INT. BLISTER - DAY

!Ash still adjusting image of form in rock.
It suddenly resolves.
A skeleton.  Fifteen feet long.
He enlarges the image.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        There's only one thing I can...

!Dallas' voice fades in and out.
As do their images on the screen.

                        @ASH
        Dallas...
                (frantically punches buttons on console)
        Dallas...Do you read me.

!No reply.

INT. BRIDGE - DAY

!Ripley is running the transmission through ECIU.
Over the speakers Dallas' voice fades in.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        No sign of life.  No lights... No movement...

!She studies a long series of binary programs...

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        We're beneath the base.

!His voice fades into static.
Disappears.

> CUT TO:

EXT. STRUCTURE - DAY

!The lower part of the entrance filled with dust and pumice.

                        @KANE
        Looks like an entrance.

                        @DALLAS
        Yeah... Let's move inside...

!They climb up to one of the apertures and enter.

INT. CHAMBER - DAY

!They move into a high-ceilinged chamber.
Walls covered with shadowy lattices.
Ghostly light filters dust-filled air.
A few meters in an opening appears.
Dallas leans over and looks into the hole.
Only blackness.
He unclips the light from his belt.
Shines it down into the hole.

                        @DALLAS
        It just goes down... smooth walls. I can't see the bottom, light won't reach.

!Kane and Lambert come over.
Dallas begins unclipping gear from his belt.

                        @DALLAS
        Let's take a look around here first.

!Kane and Lambert exchange a glance.
Dallas shines his light about, sees...
A large, glossy urn, tan coloration.
Round opening at the top, empty within.
Then Dallas shines his light on nearby lattice...
Moves closer.

                        @DALLAS
        Over here.

!They approach.
Train their lights along the floor.
A machine.
On the mechanism, a small bar moves steadily back and forth.
Sliding noiselessly in the grooves.

                        @KANE
        Still functioning.

!Lambert looks down at her direction finder.

                        @LAMBERT
        Automatic recording.

!Dallas snaps it off.

                        @DALLAS
        Now for a look down below.
                (looks at Kane)
        This is your big chance.

                        @KANE
        Okay.

                        @DALLAS
        Don't unhook yourself from the cable.  Be out in less than ten minutes.  Read me.

                        @KANE
        Aye aye.

!Dallas rigs a tripod over the opening in the floor.
Unspools a couple of feet of wire.
Kane attaches the end of it to his chest unit.
Climbs over the lip and drops it into the hole.
Now hanging by the wire...
Head and shoulders out of the opening.
Kane activates the climbing unit.
Lowers himself into the fissure.

INT. STRUCTURE OPENING

!Kane braces his feet against the wall of the vertical shaft.
Switches on his light, points it into the depths.
The beam penetrates only thirty feet or so, then is lost in darkness.

                        @KANE
        Hotter in here.  Warm air rising from below.

!He starts down, playing out the line.
Descending in short leaps.
Stops to catch his breath.
Breathing rasping loudly in his helmet.
A little sunlight filters from above.
Looking up, Kane can see the mouth of the hole...
A glowing spot of light.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        You okay in there.

                        @KANE
        Haven't hit bottom yet. This is work.  Can't talk now.

!He kicks off and continues down.
Taking longer and longer hops as he gains confidence.
Pausing for a moment to regain his breath, he shines the light on his instruments.

                        @KANE
        I'm below ground level.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley at her console, still working on transmission.
Gets a readout.
Looks worried.
Speaks into communicator.

                        @RIPLEY
        Ash, tell Dallas Mother speculates that the noise is some kind of warning.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        I can't tell him anything.  I've lost contact.  The transmission around the ship is killing all communications.

!Pause.

                        @RIPLEY
        I'm going out after them.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        I don't think so.  We can't spare the personnel.  We've got minimum takeoff capability right now.  That's why Dallas left us on board.

                        @RIPLEY
        I still think we should go after them.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        What's the point.  In the time it takes to get there.  They'll know if it's a warning.

!Ripley looks steadily at Ash on her monitor.
His screen, not visible to her, shows blowup of helmeted, skeletal head.  Not human.

INT. STRUCTURE

!Kane resumes his downward climb.
Suddenly, his feet lose their purchase as the walls of the shaft disappear.
The tunnel has reached its end.
Below him is a dark, cavernous space.
Deep breaths due to his violent exertion.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        See anything?

                        @KANE
        No...Tunnel's gone.  Cave or something below me.  Feels like the goddamn tropics in here...

!He consults his instruments.
Helmet instrumentation strobing softly in the darkness.

                        @KANE
        ...high nitrogen content, no oxygen...

!Still puffing, he releases his purchase on the stone walls.
Begins to lower himself on power.
Now Kane is dangling free in darkness.
Spinning slowly on the wire as the chest unit unwinds.
Then his feet hit bottom.
Kane grunts in surprise, almost loses his balance.
He flashes his suit lights.
The beams reveal that he is in a large hold.
Row after row of extrusions stretch from floor to ceiling.

                        @KANE
        This is weird.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        What do you mean.

                        @KANE
        There's something all over the walls.

!Kane walks across the chamber.
Examines the organic protrusions.

INT. CHAMBER ABOVE

!Dallas and Lambert.

                        @DALLAS
        How long till sunset.

                        @LAMBERT
        Twenty minutes.

!A look from Lambert.

INT. HOLD

!Kane approaches the center of the room.
On the floor are rows of leathery ovoid shapes.
He walks around them.
Shines his light on one.

                        @KANE
        It's like some kind of storage area.  Is anybody there.  Do you read me.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Loud and clear.

                        @KANE
        The place is full of leathery things sealed...soft to the touch.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Can you see what's in them.

                        @KANE
        I'll give it a look.

!He tries to open one of them.
It won't open.

                        @KANE
        Strange feeling to it.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Don't open it.  You don't know what's in it.

!Kane peers closely at the leathery ovoids.
Turns away.
Raised areas begin to appear where he touched it.
He moves his light along the rows.
Turns back to the one he was examining.
Something has changed.
The opaque surface begins to clear.
Object becoming visible within.
Kane shines his light on the floor at the base of it.
He studies it.

                        @KANE
        Jesus...

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        What.

!Viscera and mandible now visible.
The interior surface spongy and irregular.
Kane shines the light inside.
With shocking violence, a small creature smashes outward.
Fixes itself to his mask.
Sizzling sound.
The creature melts through the mask.
Attaches itself to Kane's face.
Kane tears at the thing with his hands.
His mouth forced open.
He falls backward.

INT. CHAMBER ABOVE

                        @DALLAS
        Kane...Kane can you hear me.

                        @LAMBERT
        What's the matter.

                        @DALLAS
        We better haul him out.

                        @LAMBERT
        It'll yank him right off his feet if he's not expecting it.

                        @DALLAS
        Try him again.

                        @LAMBERT
        Kane...Kane...Goddamn it.  Answer me.

!Dallas begins to fiddle with the winch mechanism.

                        @DALLAS
        The line's slack.

!Pause.

                        @LAMBERT
        He doesn't answer.
                (pause)
        Do you think he could have unhooked himself.

!Dallas switches on the winch motor.
With a whine, it begins to reel the line in.
After a moment the line tightens with a jerk.
The motor slows, laboring under added weight.

                        @DALLAS
        It caught.

                        @LAMBERT
        Is it hooked on something.

                        @DALLAS
        No, it's coming.

                        @LAMBERT
        I can't see anything.

!Dallas shines his light down into the hole.
Shakes his head.

                        @DALLAS
        Line's still moving.

!A long moment.
Dallas shines his light again.

                        @DALLAS
        Here he comes.

!The winch labors heavily.

                        @DALLAS
        Get ready to grab him.

!Kane appears at the top of the opening.
Dangles limply from the wire.
Dallas reaches for him, then recoils.

                        @DALLAS
        Look out.  There's something on his face.

!Lambert attempts to help.

                        @LAMBERT
        What is it.

!Kane appears to be completely unconscious.
The life form is still wrapped motionless around his face.

                        @LAMBERT
        Oh Jesus.

                        @DALLAS
        Don't touch it.

!They grapple with Kane's limp body.
Lift him from the hole.

INT. ENTRANCE TO DERELICT - SUNSET

!Kane is now pinioned between Dallas and Lambert.
The storm raging through and beyond the entrance...
Dallas begins to assemble travois.

EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNSET

!Atmosphere turning the color of blood.
And the sun is down.
The ring of floodlights on the ship comes to life.
Feebly combatting the darkness and continuing storm.

INT. BRIDGE

!Jones the cat staring through a port opening at the storm.
Ripley waiting on the bridge.
Ash stares at his inactive monitors.
Suddenly:

                        @ASH
        We've got them.  They're back on the screens.

                        @RIPLEY
        How many.

                        @ASH
        Three blips.  They're coming this way.

!Ripley presses transmitter.

                        @RIPLEY
        Dallas, Lambert.  Can you read me.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        We hear you.  We're coming back... Kane's injured... We'll need some help getting him in.

!Ripley stares at the screen.

                        @ASH
        I'll go.

!Ash moves from the room.
Ripley remains seated at her console.

EXT. LANDING LEG - NIGHT

!Dallas and Lambert dragging Kane on a travois towards landing leg.

INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK

!Ash comes down the steps.
Hurries to the inner door lock.
Presses the wall voice-amp.

                        @ASH
        Ripley, I'm by the inner lock hatch.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        Okay.

EXT. LANDING LEG - NIGHT

!Dallas and Lambert drag Kane onto lift platform.

INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK

!Parker comes running up.

                        @PARKER
        What's going on.

                        @ASH
        Kane got hurt somehow.

                        @PARKER
        How bad.

!Ash shrugs.
Brett appears at the top of the companionway.
Puzzled look on his face.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley seated alone in the room.
Dallas appears as a huge image on all screens.
Lambert behind him.
Kane pinioned to Dallas.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Ripley, are you there.

                        @RIPLEY
        Right here.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        We're coming up.  Open the lock.

                        @RIPLEY
        What happened to Kane.  I need a clear definition.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Some kind of organism.  It's attached itself to him.  Let us in.
                (long moment)
        You hear me.  Open the lock.

                        @RIPLEY
        If we let it in, the ship could be infected.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Goddamn it.  Open the hatch.

                        @RIPLEY
        We've already broken every rule of quarantine.  If we bring an organism on board, we won't have a single layer of defense left.

                        @LAMBERT
                (voice over)
        Open the God damn hatch.  We have to get him inside.

                        @RIPLEY
        I can't.  If you were in my position you'd do the same.

INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Ripley, do you hear me.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        I read you.  The answer is negative.

!Ash hits the emergency switch.
A red light goes on.
Servo whine.
Followed by a solid metallic chunk.

                        @ASH
        Inner hatch open.

INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT

!Ripley staring at the console.
She can't believe what she sees.
Turns to the viewscreens.
Watches Dallas, Kane and Lambert enter.

INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK

!The servo again turns over.
Another clunk.
The outer door has closed.
Red light off.
The inner door slides open.
Dallas and Lambert stagger into passageway.
Carry Kane's body between them.
Dallas pulls off his helmet.

                        @DALLAS
        Stay clear.

!Ash and Parker move back.

                        @ASH
        God.

                        @PARKER
        Is it alive.

                        @LAMBERT
        I don't know, but don't touch it.

                        @DALLAS
        Take him to the infirmary.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

!Ash and Brett move in carefully to help with the limp burden.

INT. INFIRMARY

!Kane's helmet.
Hands begin to open it with a laser cutter.
The helmet separates easily.
The two halves part...
...The life form slowly pulsing on Kane's face.
Dallas hesitates, then puts his hand on the small Creature.
Tries to pull it free.
Unsuccessful.
The Alien remains anchored to Kane's tissue.

                        @ASH
        Let me try.

!Ash takes a pair of pliers from a rack.
Carefully grasps the tip of the Creature.
Squeezes tightly.
Leans back.

                        @DALLAS
        You're tearing his face.

!A trickle of blood appears on Kane's cheek.

                        @BRETT
        It's not going to come off without pulling his whole face off at the same time.

                        @DALLAS
        Let the machine work on him.

!Ash presses a switch.
The machine lights up.
Kane is sucked into a slot on the wall.
Visible inside through the glass layer.
A blinding colored light performs antisepsis.
Two video monitors pop on.

.ANGLE ON THE DOORWAY

!Ripley appears.
Dallas turns and looks at her.
A long moment.

                        @DALLAS
        When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed.

                        @RIPLEY
        Even if it's against the law.

                        @DALLAS
        That's right.

!Lambert steps forward and slaps Ripley across the face.
Ripley slowly puts her hand to her cheek.

                        @LAMBERT
        You were going to leave us out there.

                        @PARKER
        Maybe she should have.  Who the hell knows what that is.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

!Ripley looks at Lambert.
A moment.

                        @RIPLEY
        Let's call it settled.

!Lambert gives her a curt nod.
Ash turns attention to the instrumentation.

                        @RIPLEY
        Somebody fill me in.

                        @DALLAS
        He went into the structure alone, we lost radio contact.  When we pulled him out, it was on his face...

                        @ASH
        Where did it come from...

                        @DALLAS
        Somewhere inside that ship.

                        @PARKER
        How the hell is he breathing.

!They study the monitors.

                        @ASH
        Blood's thoroughly oxygenated.

                        @DALLAS
        How.  His nose and mouth seem to be blocked.

                        @ASH
        We better look inside his head.

!Ash punches three buttons.
An X-ray image appears.
A color depiction of Kane's head and upper torso.
The Alien is clearly visible.
A maze of complicated biology.
Kane's jaws are forced open.
The creature has extruded a long tube down his mouth and throat.
The appendage ending at the base of the esophagus.

                        @BRETT
        It's got something down his goddamn throat.

                        @ASH
        That must be how it's getting oxygen to him.

                        @RIPLEY
        It doesn't make sense.  It paralyzes him, puts him into a coma, then keeps him alive.

                        @PARKER
        Let's kill it.  We can't leave the damn thing on him.

                        @ASH
        I don't know.  At the moment the Creature is keeping him alive. If we remove it we might terminate Kane...

                        @DALLAS
        I don't think so.  Let's take the chance and cut it off him.

                        @ASH
        You'll take the responsibility.

                        @DALLAS
        That's right.

!Slips into surgical gloves.
Presses a switch, Kane slides back out of the booth.

                        @DALLAS
        Give me the knife.

!Ripley takes a surgical laser blade from the case.
Carefully passes it to Dallas.
He manipulates the knife until he has a comfortable grip.
Flicks a small button with his thumb.
The blade begins to hum.
Dallas advances on Kane's prostrate form.
Touches the scalpel to the Creature.
The electronic blade slices effortlessly downward.
Suddenly a urine-like fluid begins to drip from the wound.

                        @DALLAS
        Starting to bleed.

!The liquid flows onto the bedding next to Kane's head.
Starts to hiss.
Smoke curls up from the stain.
Next the yellow fluid eats a hole through the bunk bed.
Then drips onto the deck below.
Metal bubbling and sizzling.
More smoke rising, sending the crew into a coughing jag.
The crew jostle their way out of the cabin.
Huddle in the passageway outside, still coughing.
Dallas frantically applies pressure to the wound.
In the process, some of the fluid gets on Dallas's gloves.
They begin to smoke.
Dallas leaps back, pulls them off.
Then runs out into the corridor.

INT. PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE INFIRMARY

                        @BRETT
        Shit.  It's going to eat through the decks and go out the hull...

!He starts to run for the companionway.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" DECK

!Dallas wrenches an emergency lamp from a socket.
Hurls himself down a companionway.
The others follow.

                        @DALLAS
        There.

!A droplet of fluid is sizzling on the ceiling bulkhead.
It oozes down.
Drips to the deck.
Continues to bubble.
Then goes through the bulkhead.

                        @ASH
        What can we put under it.

!Ripley and Parker charge down the companionway below.

INT. SECOND LEVEL - "C" DECK

!Ripley and Parker move cautiously down the passageway.
Look up to the ceiling bulkhead.

                        @PARKER
        Don't get under it.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" DECK

!Dallas, Brett and Ash crouch by the spot where the acid sizzles.
Ash fishes a pen out of his pocket.
Probes the hole in the deck.

                        @ASH
        It's stopped penetrating.

!Ripley comes charging back up.

                        @RIPLEY
        What's happening.

                        @ASH
        I think it's lost steam.  No longer active.

!Ripley checks the opening.
Ash straightens up.
Starts to put the pen back in his pocket.
Changes his mind and stands holding it by the end.

                        @ASH
        I've never seen anything like that, except molecular acid...

                        @BRETT
        This thing uses it for blood.

                        @ASH
        It's the asbestos that stopped it, otherwise it would have gone straight through.

                        @DALLAS
        Wonderful defense mechanism. You don't dare kill it.

!Parker comes up the companionway.

                        @PARKER
        It's stopped bleeding.

                        @DALLAS
        Yeah.  After it penetrated two levels.

                        @RIPLEY
        What about Kane.

!Starts up companionway.

INT. INFIRMARY

!They return.
Kane still motionless on the bunk.
The Alien remains secured to his face.
Wound completely healed over.

                        @PARKER
        Any of the acid get on him.

!Dallas approaches, peers at Kane's head.

                        @DALLAS
        Doesn't look like it.

                        @BRETT
        Is it still dripping that crap.

                        @ASH
        Healed over.

                        @LAMBERT
        There must be some way we can get it off.

!And look at Dallas.

                        @ASH
        I don't think you ought to try again.  It didn't work out too well last time.

!Dallas gives him a look in return.
Ripley presses a button.
Kane slides back into the diagnostic coffin.
More buttons pressed.
Display lights up again, showing the different parts of
Kane's body.

                        @ASH
        I better get some intravenous feeding started.  So far I can't tell what the Alien has absorbed from his system.

!The machine begins to process Kane's body.

                        @RIPLEY
        What's the stain on his lungs.

!The X-ray reveals a spreading dark blot in the chest cavity.
At the center, the stain is completely opaque.

                        @ASH
        Whatever it is, it's blocking the X-ray.

!A long moment.
The stain spreads.

                        @BRETT
        What happens now.

!Ash sets aside his partially melted pen.
Looks at Dallas.

                        @DALLAS
        You go back to work.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Brett at work in the cubicle.
Parker supervising him.

                        @BRETT
        I think I've got it.  Give it a try.

!Parker pushes a button.
Negative reaction on his monitor.

                        @PARKER
        Nothing.

                        @BRETT
        Damn.  I was sure that was it.

                        @PARKER
        Well, it wasn't.  Try the next one.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

!Adjusts several toggles.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        What's happening.

                        @PARKER
        This goddamn woman.  I'll tell her what's happening.  My Johnson is happening.
                (punches the communicator)
        A lot of hard work.  Real work.

INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT

                        @PARKER
                (voice over)
        You ought to try it sometime.

                        @RIPLEY
        I've got the toughest job on this ship...

!Derisive laugh from Parker through the speaker.

                        @RIPLEY
        I have to listen to your bullshit.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

                        @PARKER
        Get off my back.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        I'll get off your back when 12 module is fixed.

!She clicks off.
Parker turns away.

                        @PARKER
        Smart mouth broad.

INT. INFIRMARY

!Ash running tests on the equipment.
Kane respirating on the view screens above.
Still deep within a coma.
All instruments recording his life processes.
The Alien's position unchanged.
Ripley approaches.
Sits near Ash.

                        @RIPLEY
        Anything new.

                        @ASH
        He's holding, no changes.

                        @RIPLEY
        What about the Creature.

                        @ASH
        It's got an outer layer of protein polysaccharides.  A lot of Amino Acids for prolonged resistance to adverse environmental conditions... That enough for you.

                        @RIPLEY
        Plenty.  What's it mean.

                        @ASH
        Interesting combination of elements making it one tough little son-of-a-bitch...

                        @RIPLEY
        Is that why you let it in.

                        @ASH
        I was following a direct order. Remember.

                        @RIPLEY
        While Dallas and Kane are off the ship, I'm Senior Officer.

                        @ASH
        Yes, of course -- I forgot.

                        @RIPLEY
        You also forgot the science division's basic quarantine law.

                        @ASH
        No.  That I didn't forget.

                        @RIPLEY
        You just broke it.

                        @ASH
        What would you have done with Kane... His only chance at staying alive was to get into the infirmary.

                        @RIPLEY
        By breaking quarantine procedure you risk everybody's life.

                        @ASH
        Maybe I should have let him die out there.  Maybe I have jeopardized the rest of us...It's a risk I'm willing to take.

                        @RIPLEY
        This is your official position as a science officer.  Not exactly out of the manual.

                        @ASH
        The first position of science is the protection and betterment of human life.  I take my responsibility as seriously as you do... you do your job and I'll do mine.

!Ripley stands...looks at Ash.
Walks out.

INT. MESS

!Lambert playing with some string, amusing Jones.
Cat's Cradle.
Both looking bored.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Parker and Brett at work on the final intake screen.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Dallas listening to a primitive tape.
His foot tapping with the rhythm.
Beep.
An interruption on the communicator.

                        @DALLAS
        Dallas.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        I think you should have a look at Kane.  Something's happened.

                        @DALLAS
        Serious.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        Interesting.

!Dallas exits.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE INFIRMARY WINDOW

!Ash stares through window.
Dallas joins him.
Ripley appears behind.
A long pause.

                        @DALLAS
        It's gone.

!Kane's prone form.
The Alien is no longer on his face.
Kane still unconscious, but continues to breathe.
Face covered with sucker marks.

                        @RIPLEY
        The door is closed.  It must still be in there.

                        @ASH
        We can't open the door.  We don't want to let it out.

                        @RIPLEY
        Yeah, I remember.  We can't grab it.  We can't kill it...

                        @DALLAS
        Maybe we can catch it.

                        @ASH
        As long as we're careful not to damage it.

INT. INFIRMARY

!They enter cautiously.
Dallas begins moving slowly around the room.
Picking up a stainless steel tray.
Looking.
Ash and Ripley do the same.
Ripley bends down and peers under the bunk.
Nothing.
Accidentally kicks over a tray.
She stands.
Doesn't see the Alien on a ledge above her.
Her shoulder brushes against the Creature.
It drops on her.
She screams.  Twists.
The Alien drops to the floor.
Then lies motionless.
Its skin faded to a dead-looking grey.
Ripley doesn't raise her eyes from the Creature.
Prods the Alien.
No response.

                        @ASH
        I think it's dead.
                (looks to Ripley)
        You okay.

                        @RIPLEY
        Yeah.

!She carefully touches the Creature with a metal probe.
Fishes the motionless life-form into the tray.
Quickly closes the lid.
Lifts it onto a stainless steel table.
Bright light trained on the Alien.
The Creature in a supine position.
Ash touches at the Alien with a surgical instrument.

                        @ASH
        Look at those suckers.  No wonder we couldn't get it off him.

                        @RIPLEY
        Where's its mouth.

                        @ASH
        It's this tube-thing, up in here.
                (carefully extracts the end of the organ)
        It's hardening.
                (slips the Creature under a fluoroscope)
        It's dead.  No life sign whatever.

                        @RIPLEY
        Let's get rid of it.

                        @ASH
        This has to go back.  This is our first contact with a specimen like this.  All kinds of tests need to be run.

                        @RIPLEY
        That thing bled acid.  God knows what it'll do when it's dead.

                        @ASH
        I think it's safe to assume it's not a zombie... Dallas, we have to keep this specimen.

!Pause.

                        @DALLAS
        You're the science officer.  It's your decision.

                        @ASH
        Then it's made... I'll seal it in a stasis tube.

!Pause.

                        @RIPLEY
        What about Kane.

!Ash turns back to the bunk.
Studies the life support gauges.
Kane continues to breathe steadily.

                        @ASH
        Running a fever.  And still unconscious.  The machine will bring his temperature down. His vital functions are strong... who knows, he may make it.

!Ash begins to seal the Alien in a large vacuum tube.

                        @RIPLEY
        I need some coffee.

!She turns and walks away.

INT. COMPUTER ANNEX

!Ripley and Dallas.

                        @RIPLEY
        How could you leave that kind of decision to him.

                        @DALLAS
        I just run the ship.  Anything that has to do with science division, Ash has the final word.

                        @RIPLEY
        How does that happen.

                        @DALLAS
        Same way everything else happens. Orders from the Company.

                        @RIPLEY
        Since when is that standard procedure.

                        @DALLAS
        Standard procedure is do what they tell you... Besides, I only know about flying... I haul cargo for a living.

                        @RIPLEY
        Did you ship out with Ash before.

                        @DALLAS
        First time.  I went five hauls with another science man.  Then two days before we left Thedus, replaced him with Ash.

!She looks at him.

                        @DALLAS
        So what.  They replaced my warrant officer with you.

                        @RIPLEY
        I don't trust him.

                        @DALLAS
        I don't trust anybody...What's holding up repairs.

                        @RIPLEY
        They're pretty much finished now.

                        @DALLAS
        Why didn't you say so?

                        @RIPLEY
        There are still some things left to do.

                        @DALLAS
        Like what?

                        @RIPLEY
        We're blind on B and C decks. Reserve power systems blown...

                        @DALLAS
        That's crap.  We can take off without them.

                        @RIPLEY
        Is that a good idea.

                        @DALLAS
        I want to get out of here. Let's get this turkey off the ground.

EXT. PLANET - SUNRISE

!The Nostromo's engines roaring.
Belching out streams of superheated air.
The starship vibrates.
Begins to surge forward.

INT. BRIDGE - SUNRISE

!The crew at their posts.
An electrical hum permeates the air.

                        @RIPLEY
        Lock tractor beams.

!The pitch of the hum changes.
The ship levels itself.

                        @RIPLEY
        Retract leading struts.

EXT. PLANET - SUNRISE

!The Nostromo hovering above the ground.
Held on beams of shimmering force.
The landing struts begin folding.

INT. BRIDGE - DAY

                        @DALLAS
        Take us up.

!Lambert bends over the voice amplifier.

                        @LAMBERT
        One kilometer on ascension.

INT. PLANET

!The Nostromo begins to levitate skyward.
Seemingly pushing upward on the beams of light.

INT. BRIDGE - DAY

!The ship continues vibrating.

                        @DALLAS
        Switch on lifter quads.

!A powerful, deep throbbing begins.
The vibrations increase.

                        @RIPLEY
                (into speaker)
        Everything holding together down there.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Parker and Brett strapped in and vibrating.

                        @PARKER
        We fix something it stays fixed.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

EXT. NOSTROMO - DAY

!The starship hovering below cloud ceiling.
Then begins to accelerate through the dense atmosphere.

INT. BRIDGE - DAY

!All viewscreens operational.

                        @DALLAS
        Engage artificial gravity.

!Lambert throws a switch.
The ship lurches.

                        @LAMBERT
        Engaged.

                        @DALLAS
        Altering the vector now.

!A huge tremor runs throughout the ship.

                        @PARKER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Dust is clogging the damn intakes again.  We're overloading.

                        @DALLAS
        Just hold us together until we're beyond G1...

!The pitch of the engines changes...deepens.

EXT. NOSTROMO - DAY

!The ship moves at an acute angle.
Slices through the boiling clouds.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Parker and Brett watching the gauges.

INT. BRIDGE - DAY

!Outside the screens, clouds, clouds, clouds.
Another tremor runs through the ship.
The crew's eyes riveted to their instruments.

                        @DALLAS
        Let's pick up the money and go home.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!The ship clears the top of the cloud layer.
Bursts out into star-sprinkled space.
Trailing a wake of glimmering dust flecks.
Attaches itself to the hovering refinery.

INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE

!Brett waves his arms in exultation.

                        @BRETT
        We did it

                        @PARKER
        Walk in the park.  When we fix something it stays fixed.

!Big smiles.

INT. BRIDGE

!The Nostromo now safely beyond gravity.

                        @DALLAS
        Set our course and get us up to light plus four.

!Lambert begins punching buttons.

                        @LAMBERT
        Feets get me out of here.

EXT. OUTER SPACE

!The Nostromo now at light speed.
Perceptible movement in the surrounding universe.
A corona effect emerges.
Stars approaching the Nostromo appear blue.
Receding stars going to amber.
Redshift, made visible because of the craft's velocity.

INT. MESS

!Parker, Brett, Dallas and Ripley around the table.
Drinking coffee.

                        @PARKER
        The best thing to do is just to freeze him.  Stop the goddam disease.  He can get a doctor to look at him when we get back home.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

                        @RIPLEY
        Whenever he says anything you say 'right'.  You know that, Brett.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

                        @RIPLEY
        What do you think, Parker.  Your staff just follows you around and says 'right'.  Like a regular parrot.

!Parker turns to Brett.

                        @PARKER
        Yeah.  Shape up.  What are you, some kind of parrot.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

                        @DALLAS
        Knock it off... Kane will have to go into quarantine.

                        @RIPLEY
        Yeah.  And so will we.

!Lambert enters.

                        @LAMBERT
        How about a little something to lower your spirits.

                        @DALLAS
        Thrill me.

                        @LAMBERT
        According to my calculations... based on the time spent getting to and from the planet and the speed at which it's moving away from the other...

                        @DALLAS
        Give me the short version...

                        @LAMBERT
        It'll take us six weeks to get back on course.

                        @DALLAS
        How far to Earth.

                        @LAMBERT
        Ten months.

                        @RIPLEY
        Christ.

!Beep.

                        @DALLAS
        Dallas.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        Come and see Kane right away...

                        @DALLAS
        Any change in his condition.

                        @ASH
                (voice over)
        It's simpler if you just come see him.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE INFIRMARY WINDOW

!What they see is...Not what they expect.
Kane is sitting up in bed...wide awake.
They enter...

                        @LAMBERT
        Kane...Are you all right.

                        @KANE
        Mouth's dry...can I have some water.

!Instantly, Ash brings him a plastic cup and water.
Kane gulps it down in a swallow.

                        @KANE
        More.

!Ripley quickly fills a much bigger container.
Hands it to Kane.
He greedily consumes the entire contents.
Then sags back, panting, on the bunk.

                        @DALLAS
        How do you feel.

                        @KANE
        Terrible.  What happened to me.

                        @ASH
        You don't remember.

                        @KANE
        Don't remember anything.  I can barely remember my name.

                        @PARKER
        Do you hurt.

                        @KANE
        All over.  Feel like somebody's been beating me with a stick for about six years.
                (smiles)
        God, I'm hungry.

                        @RIPLEY
        What's the last thing you can remember.

                        @KANE
        I don't know.

                        @DALLAS
        Do you remember what happened on the planet.

                        @KANE
        Just some horrible dream about smothering.  Where are we.

                        @RIPLEY
        We're on our way home.

                        @BRETT
        Getting ready to go back into the freezers.

                        @KANE
        I'm starving.  I want some food first.

                        @PARKER
        I'm pretty hungry myself.

                        @DALLAS
        One meal before bed.

INT. MESS

!The entire crew is seated.
Hungrily swallowing huge portions of artificial food.
The cat eats from a dish on the table.

                        @KANE
        First thing I'm going to do when we get back is eat some decent food.

                        @PARKER
        I've had worse than this, but I've had better too, if you know what I mean.

                        @LAMBERT
        Christ, you're pounding down this stuff like there's no tomorrow.

!Pause.

                        @PARKER
        I mean I like it.

                        @KANE
        No kidding.

                        @PARKER
        Yeah.  It grows on you.

                        @KANE
        It should.  You know what they make this stuff out of...

                        @PARKER
        I know what they make it out of. So what.  It's food now.  You're eating it.

!Suddenly Kane grimaces.

                        @RIPLEY
        What's wrong.

!Kane's voice strains.

                        @LAMBERT
        What's the matter.

                        @KANE
        I don't know... I'm getting cramps.

!The others stare at him in alarm.
Suddenly he makes a loud groaning noise.
Clutches the edge of the table with his hands.
Knuckles whitening.

                        @ASH
        Breathe deeply.

!Kane screams.

                        @KANE
        Oh God, it hurts so bad. It hurts.  It hurts.
                (stands up)
        Ooooooh.

                        @BRETT
        What is it.  What hurts.

!Kane's face screws into a mask of agony.
He falls back into his chair.

                        @KANE
        Ohmygooaaaahh.

!A red stain.
Then a smear of blood blossoms on his chest.
The fabric of his shirt is ripped apart.
A small head the size of a man's fist pushes out.
The crew shouts in panic.
Leap back from the table.
The cat spits, bolts away.
The tiny head lunges forward.
Comes spurting out of Kane's chest trailing a thick body.
Splatters fluids and blood in its wake.
Lands in the middle of the dishes and food.
Wriggles away while the crew scatters.
Then the Alien being disappears from sight.
Kane lies slumped in his chair.
Very dead.
A huge hole in his chest.
The dishes are scattered.
Food covered with blood.

                        @LAMBERT
        No, no, no, no, no.

                        @BRETT
        What was that.  What the Christ was that.

                        @PARKER
        It was growing in him the whole time and he didn't even know it.

                        @ASH
        It used him for an incubator.

                        @RIPLEY
        That means we've got another one.

                        @DALLAS
        Yeah.  And it's loose on the ship.

!Slowly they gather around Kane's gutted corpse.
Then they all look at one another.
Then at Kane.
Dead on the table.

INT. CORRIDOR - "A" DECK

!Empty.
Parker and Brett descend companionway.
They join Ash, Lambert, Ripley and Dallas.

                        @DALLAS
        Any signs.

                        @LAMBERT
        Nothing.

                        @ASH
        Nothing.

                        @PARKER
        Didn't see a goddamn thing.

                        @BRETT
        Didn't see anything.

                        @RIPLEY
        We can't go into hypersleep with that thing running loose.  We'd be sitting ducks in the freezers. We have to kill it first.

                        @LAMBERT
        We can't kill it.  If we do, it will spill its body acids right through the hull...

                        @BRETT
        Son-of-a-bitch.

                        @RIPLEY
        We have to catch it and eject it from the ship.

                        @ASH
        Our supplies are based on us spending a limited amount of time out of suspended animation. Strictly limited.

                        @RIPLEY
        First we have to find it.

                        @DALLAS
        No.  First we've got something else to do.

!He looks at Kane's body through mess doorway.

INT. AIR LOCK

!Kane's body wrapped in a makeshift shroud.

INT. BRIDGE

!The crew looking at Kane's body on view screens.
Silent.
Depressed.

                        @DALLAS
        Inner hatch sealed.

!Ripley nods.

                        @DALLAS
        Anybody want to say anything.

!Nothing to say.
He nods to Ripley.
She presses a button.

INT. AIR LOCK

!The outer hatch opens.
Yawning space outside.
Kane's body shoots out into eternity.
The hatch closes.

INT. MESS

!The crew is assembled.

                        @RIPLEY
        I've checked on the supplies. For about a week we can stay out of hypersleep.

                        @BRETT
        Then what.

                        @LAMBERT
        We run out of food and oxygen.

                        @DALLAS
        All right, that's what we've got. A week.  It's plenty of time.

                        @PARKER
        I say we put on our pressure suits and blow all the air out of the ship.  That might kill it.

                        @LAMBERT
        What a swell idea.

                        @PARKER
        What's wrong with it.

                        @ASH
        We've got forty-eight hours of air in our pressure suits and it takes six months to get home.

                        @LAMBERT
        Other than that...A swell idea.

!Parker won't give up on this idea.

                        @PARKER
        Maybe we could cut some kind of special lines to the tanks. Brett and I are pretty good practical engineers...We got us back up you know.

                        @RIPLEY
        All by yourselves.

                        @ASH
        I hate to point this out but it might be better off without oxygen.  It lived that way long enough.

                        @RIPLEY
        There's another problem.  How do we find it.  There's no visual communication on B and C decks.  All the screens are out.

                        @DALLAS
        We're going to have to flush it out.

                        @ASH
        Sounds great...but how.

                        @DALLAS
        Room by room, corridor by corridor.

!One of those suggestions that nobody likes.

                        @LAMBERT
        And what do we do when we find it.

                        @RIPLEY
        Trap it somehow.

                        @BRETT
        If we had a really strong piece of net, we could bag it... I could put something together.  A long metal rod with a battery in it. Only take a few hours.

                        @LAMBERT
        Why do we listen to this meathead.

!Dallas turns it over.

                        @DALLAS
        He might be right...

EXT. OUTER SPACE

!The Nostromo continues through the vortex.

INT. INFIRMARY

!Dallas enters.
Ash working at a read-out section.

                        @DALLAS
        I want to talk.

                        @ASH
        I'm a little busy at the moment.

!Pause.

                        @DALLAS
        I don't care.

!Pause.

                        @ASH
        All right, go ahead.

                        @DALLAS
        Why did you let the Alien survive inside Kane.

                        @ASH
        I'm not sure you're getting through to me.

                        @DALLAS
        Mother was monitoring his body. You were monitoring Mother.  You must have had some idea of what was going on.

                        @ASH
        What are you trying to say.

!A long moment.

                        @DALLAS
        You want the Alien to stay alive ...I figure you have a reason.

                        @ASH
        Name one.

                        @DALLAS
        Look, we both work for the same company.  I just want to know what's going on.

                        @ASH
        I don't know what the hell you're talking about.  And I don't like any of the insinuations.  The Alien is a dangerous form of life...I don't want it to stay alive any more than you do.

                        @DALLAS
        You're sure.

                        @ASH
        Yeah, I'm sure.  You should be too.

!Dallas walks out.
Ash watches him go.
Stares in his direction a long while...

INT. NARCISSUS

!Dallas seated in the shuttle craft.
Staring at the myriad lights of outer space.
Ripley climbs beside him.

                        @RIPLEY
        I thought I'd find you here.

!Dallas continues to stare.

                        @DALLAS
        Are the nets finished.

!Pause.

                        @RIPLEY
        We've got an hour...Look I need some relief.

                        @DALLAS
        Why did you wait until now.

!Ripley leans forward.

                        @RIPLEY
        Let me tell you something.  You keep staring out there long enough, they'll be peeling you off the wall.

!Ripley begins taking off her boots.

                        @DALLAS
        We're the new pioneers, Ripley. We even get to have our own special disease.

                        @RIPLEY
        I'm tired of talking.

!She rises and removes her upper garments.

                        @DALLAS
        You waited too long.

                        @RIPLEY
        Give it a try anyway.

!Clothing removed.
His arms move around her.

INT. BRIDGE

!The crew has assembled.
Brett unfolds several yards of asbestos netting.
Hands out five thin rods.
Each of them like metal broom handles.

                        @BRETT
        I put portable generators in each of these.  They're insulated down here.  Just be goddamn careful not to get your hand on the end.

!He touches the tip to a metal object.
A blue spark leaps.

                        @BRETT
        It won't damage the little bastard unless its skin is a lot thinner than ours...It'll just give it a little incentive.

                        @LAMBERT
        Now if we could only find it.

!Ash picks up a portable unit.

                        @ASH
        I've taken care of that...tracking device.  You set it to search for a moving object...It hasn't much range but when you get within a certain distance it starts beeping.

!Ripley takes the tracker from Ash's hand.

                        @RIPLEY
        What's it key on.

                        @ASH
        Micro changes in air density. Keep it pointed ahead of you.

                        @DALLAS
        We'll break into two teams. Whoever finds it first catches it in the net and ejects it from the nearest air lock.
                (pause)
        For starters, let's make sure the bridge is safe.

!Parker turns on his unit.
Scans it around the room.

                        @LAMBERT
        We seem to be okay...If this damn thing works.

                        @DALLAS
        Ash and myself will go with Lambert.  Brett and Parker will make up the second team.  Ripley, you command it.

!They start doling out the equipment.

                        @DALLAS
        Channels are open on all decks. We'll be in constant touch.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "A" LEVEL

!Lambert and Dallas carry the net.
Ash walks directly behind, carrying the tracking device.
He continually scans from side to side.
Lambert stops by a stairwell.

                        @LAMBERT
        Anything down there.

INT. ANOTHER PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker and Ripley move silently along.
Ripley ahead of them with the tracker by the stairwell.

                        @RIPLEY
        Nothing.

!They move on.
A small light flashes.

                        @RIPLEY
        Hold it.  I've got something.

!Parker and Brett grow tense.
Start looking around.

                        @BRETT
        Where's it coming from.

!Ripley peers closely at the tracker.

                        @RIPLEY
        Machine's screwed up.  I can't tell.  Needle's spinning all over the dial.

                        @BRETT
        Goddamn, malfunction.

!Ripley turns the tracker on its side.
The needles stabilize.

                        @RIPLEY
        No, just confused.  It's coming from below us.

!They all look down at their feet.

INT. MAINTENANCE - "C" LEVEL

!Ripley, Parker and Brett come down ladder onto an endless oily corridor.
They stop at the foot of the companionway...
They move down corridor into darkness.

                        @RIPLEY
        Okay.

!Looks at the tracker.
Nods down the passageway.  Stops.

                        @RIPLEY
        Back this way.

!They begin to walk in that direction.
Entering drab section of the ship.
Surrounded by deep shadows.
Footsteps clanging on the metal deck.

                        @RIPLEY
        I thought you fixed 12 module.

                        @BRETT
        We did.

                        @PARKER
        Circuits must have burned out.

!They switch on lights.
Move around two turns.

                        @RIPLEY
        Wait.

!They stop quickly, almost stumbling.

                        @RIPLEY
        It's within five meters.

!Parker and Brett heft the net.
Ripley has the prod in one hand, tracker in the other.
Moves with great care.
Almost in a half-crouch, ready to leap back.
Prod extended, Ripley constantly glances at her tracker.
The device leads her up to a small hatch in the bulkhead.
Perspiration rivers down her face.
She sets aside the tracker.
Raises the prod, grasps the hatch handle.
Yanks it open.
Jams the electric prod inside.
A nerve-shattering squall.
Then a small creature comes flying out of the locker.
Eyes glaring, claws flashing.
Instinctively, they throw the net over it.
Very annoyed.
They open the net and release the captive.
Which happens to be the cat.
Hissing and spitting...it scampers away.

                        @RIPLEY
        God damn it...hold it.

                        @PARKER
        We should have killed it...Now we might pick it up on the tracker again.

                        @RIPLEY
        Go get it.  We'll go on.

                        @BRETT
        Right.

!Ripley and Parker move down the passageway.
Brett follows the direction taken by the cat.
Moves across passageway into equipment maintenance area.

INT. EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AREA - "C" LEVEL

!Brett walking between rows of shadowed equipment.
Looking for the cat.
Nervous.

                        @BRETT
        Jones...Here kitty...Jones... Goddamn it Jones.

!Scratching noises.
A reassuring cat yowl.
Brett moves on.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "C" LEVEL

!Ripley and Parker walk along.
Tracker signal weakens.
Finally stops.

                        @RIPLEY
        Nothing here.

                        @PARKER
        Let's go back.

INT. UNDERCARRIAGE ROOM - "C" LEVEL

!Brett enters.
Still looking for Jones.
Another yowl followed by a hiss.
Two eyes shining in the dark.
Jones.
Relieved, Brett moves toward the cat.

                        @BRETT
        Here kitty...Come on Jones.

!Brett reaches for Jones.
Jones hisses.
An arm reaches for Brett.
The Alien.
Now seven feet tall.
Hanging from the undercarriage strut in reverse position.
Grabs Brett and swings up into darkness.
Brett screams.
To no avail...
In the doorway Ripley and Parker.
They witness the horror.

INT. MESS

!The remaining crew assemble.
Long faces.

                        @LAMBERT
        Now what.

                        @PARKER
        Blast the rotten bastard with a laser and take our chances.

                        @RIPLEY
        No.  At its present size it's holding enough acid to tear a hole in this ship as big as this room.

                        @ASH
        It wouldn't do any good.  It's self-regenerating.  You saw that when we operated on it.

                        @RIPLEY
        The only plan that's going to work is the same one we had before.  Drive it into an air lock and blow it out into space.

                        @PARKER
        Drive it...The son-of-a-bitch is huge.

                        @LAMBERT
        For once he has a point.  How do we drive it.

                        @RIPLEY
        The science department should be able to help...

                        @ASH
        According to Mother, he's a primitive form of encephlepod...

                        @LAMBERT
        How come it's a he.

                        @ASH
        Just a phrase.  As a matter of fact he's both, bisexual or hermaphrodite to be precise.

                        @DALLAS
        Skip its sex life.  How do we kill it.

                        @ASH
        It seems to have adapted to an oxygen-rich atmosphere and it's certainly adapted well for its nutritional requirements. The only thing we don't know about is temperature.

                        @RIPLEY
        Curious isn't it...That the Alien is an encephlepod...

                        @ASH
        What's so curious about that.

                        @RIPLEY
        It's curious because lower species can't adapt as quickly as higher ones.  And this one's doing very well.  A real survivor. Might even have as good a chance as we do.

                        @ASH
        You're getting paranoid again.

                        @RIPLEY
        All right.  What about the temperature.  What happens if we change it.

                        @ASH
        Let's give it a try.  Most animals retreat from fire.

!Pause.

                        @PARKER
        I can hook up a couple of incinerating units in about fifteen minutes.

!Pause.

                        @DALLAS
        Anybody got any better ideas.

!Nobody does.

                        @DALLAS
        Okay.  When Parker's ready, we'll work our way back down to 'C' deck.

EXT. OUTER SPACE

!Nostromo at light plus four.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker and Dallas lead.
Armed with flamethrowers.
They descend from companionway.
Suddenly both tracking devices beep frantically.
Sound of rending metal up ahead.
They move forward cautiously.

                        @DALLAS
        It's in that food locker.

EXT. FOOD LOCKER NUMBER 12

!More rending noises.

                        @LAMBERT
        Jesus.  It must be huge.

                        @PARKER
        It's got to be using the airshafts to move around...

!Dallas raises flamethrower.

                        @DALLAS
        Do these things really work.

                        @PARKER
        I made them didn't I.

                        @RIPLEY
        That's what worries me.

!Dallas indicates door handle.
Parker reluctantly takes it.

                        @DALLAS
        Now.

!Parker wrenches open door.
Dallas fires a long blast.  Another.
Another and another...Silence.
They move inside...

INT. FOOD STORAGE LOCKER NUMBER 12 - "B" LEVEL

!Charred wreckage.
Packages have been ripped to shreds.
Foodstuffs scattered over the floor.
Carefully, they poke through the smouldering garbage.

                        @RIPLEY
        We didn't get him.

                        @DALLAS
        This is where he went.

!On the wall, a ventilator grill has been ripped open.
They move to the shredded ventilator.
Shine their lights inside the shaft.

                        @DALLAS
        This could work for us.  The duct comes out at the starboard air lock.  There's an exit on the way.  But we can close that off.  Then we drive it into the air lock and blast it into space.

                        @LAMBERT
        Yeah.  All you have to do is crawl in the vent with it, find your way through the maze and hope it's afraid of fire.

                        @DALLAS
        Well Parker, you wanted an equal share...

                        @PARKER
        Yeah.

                        @DALLAS
        Get in the pipe.

                        @PARKER
        Why me.

                        @DALLAS
        I just wanted to see you get your full share.

                        @PARKER
        No way.

                        @RIPLEY
        I'll go.

                        @DALLAS
        Forget it.  You take the air lock.  Parker and Lambert cover the exit.

!No doubt as to who's going inside the vent.

INT. STARBOARD AIR LOCK - VESTIBULE

!Ripley stands in vestibule.
Looks through the Bulkhead door to air lock.
She throws a switch.
Watches airshaft entrance into air lock open.
The trap is ready.

INT. MAINTENANCE LEVEL

!Parker and Lambert get set.

INT. FOOD STORAGE LOCKER NUMBER 12 - "B" LEVEL

!Ash hands Dallas the makeshift flamethrower.
He fires a couple of short bursts.

                        @DALLAS
        It's still working.

                        @ASH
        Why do you have to go.  Why didn't you send Ripley.

                        @DALLAS
        It's my responsibility.  I let Kane go into the craft.  Now it's my turn.

                        @ASH
        You're the captain.  It'll be harder on the rest of us, if we lose you.

                        @DALLAS
        Nothing I do that Ripley can't.

                        @ASH
        I don't agree.

                        @DALLAS
        The decision is final.

!He removes the master computer key.
Hands it to Ash.

                        @DALLAS
        If I don't take it back, Ripley will need this.

!Ash nods.
Dallas turns and climbs into the ventilator opening.
Just large enough to crawl through.

INT. AIR SHAFT

!Completely dark.
Dallas turns on his helmet light.
Flips switch on throat mike.

                        @DALLAS
        Do you receive me.  Ripley. Parker.  Lambert.

INT. EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AREA

!The hum of vast cooling plants.
Large air shafts run off in different directions.
Parker and Lambert stand ready by a duct.
Lambert hits the wall amp button.

                        @LAMBERT
        We're in position.  I'll try and pick you up on the tracker.

!Parker hefts his flamethrower.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Parker, if it tries to come out by you, make sure you drive it back in.  I'll push it forward.

                        @PARKER
        Right.

INT. AIR LOCK VESTIBULE

!Near the starboard air lock.
Ripley pops open the hatch.
The air lock now open and ready.
She moves to the air duct opening.

                        @RIPLEY
        Air lock open.

                        @DALLAS
                (voice over)
        Ready.

                        @RIPLEY
        Ready.

INT. AIR SHAFT

!Dallas begins to crawl forward.
The tunnel is narrow...
Only a foot or two wider than his shoulders.

                        @DALLAS
        I'm under way.

!Turns a corner.
Several more tight turns.
Instinctively Dallas pulls back.
Raises the flamethrower.
Fires a blast around the corner into the darkness.
It roars loudly in the confined tube.
Smoke drifts back into his face.

INT. MAINTENANCE LEVEL

!A large rectangular duct in one wall.

                        @PARKER
        That's where it's got to come out, if it leaves the main shaft.

!He throws a switch.
A metal pane rises and seals off the opening.

                        @LAMBERT
        Let's keep it open.  I'd like to know if anything's coming.

!Reluctantly, Parker again throws the switch and raises the metal pane.

INT. AIR LOCK VESTIBULE

!Ripley waiting.

INT. AIR SHAFT

!Dallas still crawling on hands and knees.
Ahead the shaft takes an abrupt downward turn.
He moves toward the corner.
Fires another blast from the flamethrower.
Then starts crawling down, head first.

INT. EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AREA

!Lambert sees something on the tracker.

                        @LAMBERT
        Beginning to get a reading on you.

INT. AIR SHAFT

!The shaft makes yet another turn.
Puts Dallas into an almost immobilized position.

INT. FOOD STORAGE LOCKER NUMBER 12

!Ash staring at the ventilator opening.

INT. AIR SHAFT

!Dallas against a wall of the shaft.
Clutching his flamethrower.
Whispers into his throat mike.

                        @DALLAS
        Ripley.

INT. AIR LOCK VESTIBULE

                        @RIPLEY
        Read you clear.

INT. AIR SHAFT

                        @DALLAS
        I don't think this shaft goes much farther... It's getting hot in here.

!He readies the flamethrower.

INT. EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AREA

!Parker readies his weapon.

INT. AIR SHAFT - DOUBLE-TIERED PASSAGEWAY

!The air shaft tributary opens into a larger two-tier air tunnel.
Dallas crawls out and stands.
Moves to a catwalk floor.  Looks about.
Moves forward.  Reaches a repair junction.
Sits.

!His feet dangle beneath the catwalk floor to the next level.

                        @DALLAS
        Lambert, what kind of reading are you getting.

INT. MAINTENANCE LEVEL

!Lambert huddled over her tracker.
Puzzled.

                        @LAMBERT
        I'm not sure.  There seems to be some kind of double image.

INT. AIR SHAFT DOUBLE-TIERED PASSAGEWAY

!Dallas sitting.
His feet still dangling in the dark beneath the catwalk.

                        @DALLAS
        It may be interference.  I'll push on ahead.

!Dallas begins to rise.
From below, a gentle movement toward the hanging feet.
A hand reaches up.
Misses his leg as Dallas moves ahead.

!Further on.

                        @DALLAS
        Lambert, am I coming in any clearer.

                        @LAMBERT
                (voice over)
        It's clear all right, but I'm still getting two blips.
                (pause)
        I'm not sure which one is which.

!Dallas stops.
Turns around.
Looks back down through the catwalk.
Lowers the nose of the flamethrower, his finger on the trigger.
From behind him, the hand reaches up.
The Alien is the front signal.

INT. AIR LOCK VESTIBULE

!Ripley bends forward.
Hears the sounds of the struggle...
And Dallas' screams.
She cries out.

                        @RIPLEY
        Dallas...Dallas...

INT. EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AREA

!Lambert and Parker.
Hearing it all.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        Oh my God.

!Then silence.

INT. MESS

!Dallas' flamethrower on the table surface.

                        @PARKER
                (voice over)
        We just found it laying there. No sign of him.  Only a hole torn through to the central cooling complex.

!The remaining crew standing at the table.

                        @RIPLEY
        This puts me in command.

                        @PARKER
        Okay.

!For the first time he's dropped his bullshit.

                        @RIPLEY
        Unless someone's got a better idea about dealing with the Alien, we'll continue with the last plan.

!Silence.

                        @RIPLEY
        How are our weapons.

                        @PARKER
        They're working fine...We could use more fuel for that one.

!Indicating Dallas' flamethrower.

                        @RIPLEY
        Get it.

                        @PARKER
        Right.

!He leaves.
Ripley turns to Ash.

                        @RIPLEY
        Any ideas.  From you or Mother.

                        @ASH
        Nothing new.  Just the one you're operating under.

                        @RIPLEY
        You mean to tell me with everything we've got, we're still powerless against the Beast.

                        @ASH
        That's the way it looks.

                        @RIPLEY
        I can't believe that.

                        @ASH
        I'm sorry captain.  what would you like me to do.

                        @RIPLEY
        Go back to Mother and keep asking questions until you get some better answers.

                        @ASH
        All right...I'll try.

!He starts to go.

                        @RIPLEY
        Dallas didn't leave the master computer key with you.

                        @ASH
        You didn't get it.

                        @RIPLEY
        No.

                        @ASH
        Well, we probably won't need it anyway.

!He leaves.

                        @RIPLEY
        I know Ash has got the key.

                        @LAMBERT
        Why should he lie.

                        @RIPLEY
        He knows I want to check up on him...Without that key we've got no access to command priority information.

                        @LAMBERT
        Swell.

!Lambert shrugs.
They start to leave.

INT. MAINTENANCE AREA - "C" DECK

!Parker selects two full methane cylinders.
He tests them.
Moves out.

INT. CORRIDOR TO BRIDGE

                        @RIPLEY
        Did you ever sleep with Ash?

                        @LAMBERT
        No.  What about you.

                        @RIPLEY
        No.

                        @LAMBERT
        I never got the impression he was particularly interested...

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker returning with methane cylinder.
Turns a corner.
Comes to an abrupt halt.
A movement in front of him beyond the air lock.
He hesitates.
Then another shadowy movement...

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley and Lambert.
Parker's voice on voice-amp.
Muffled.
Ripley hits a toggle.

                        @RIPLEY
        Ripley.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker covers the wall communication with his hand.

                        @PARKER
        Keep it down...

!Up the corridor, the movement stops.

INT. BRIDGE

                        @RIPLEY
        Can't hear you...Repeat...

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker whispering.

                        @PARKER
        The Alien...It's outside the main air lock door.  Open the door slowly...When I shout... close it fast.

INT. BLISTER

!Ash listens.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker still whispering.

                        @PARKER
        Open it...slowly.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley hesitates.
Starts to reply.
Throws switch.

INT. AIR LOCK - "B" DECK

!Low servo whine.
Door opens.
Slowly.
Green light throbbing inside air lock.
Creature looks curiously at it.
Moves onto the threshold.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker watches...

INT. AIR LOCK

!Creature moves further into air lock.
Fascinated by green light.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Urgent whisper into voice-amp.

                        @PARKER
        Now...Now...

INT. BRIDGE

!As Ripley moves to throw switch...

INT. AIR LOCK

!Suddenly, from out of nowhere a klaxon wails.
The Creature leaps back across the threshold of the air lock.
Bewildered.
Screams as the inner hatch closes on an appendage.
Acid boiling out.
The appendage crushed.
The acid bubbles.
Metal boils in door.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" LEVEL

!Parker watches.
Frozen.
The Alien wrenches itself free.
Comes flying outward.
Smashes Parker down.
Flees.
On the wall a green light goes on.

!"Inner Hatch Closed"

INT. AIR LOCK

!Metal still boiling.
The outer hatch begins to open.

INT. BRIDGE

                        @RIPLEY
        Parker...

!Pushes a switch.
Pushes it again.

                        @LAMBERT
        What's happening, Parker.

!In front of her a green light blinks.
"Inner Hatch Closed."

                        @RIPLEY
        Inner hatch sealed.  The outer hatch is open.

                        @LAMBERT
        What about Parker.

                        @RIPLEY
        I don't know.  Take over.

!Ripley bolts out of the bridge.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!Air lock open.

INT. PASSAGE NEAR AIR LOCK - "B" LEVEL

!Parker unconscious.

INT. AIR LOCK

!The inner hatch still closed.
Metal boils.
The hole growing deeper.

INT. PASSAGEWAY - "A" LEVEL

!Ripley runs toward the air lock corridor.

INT. AIR LOCK

!Metal boiling in door.

INT. PASSAGEWAYS - "B" DECK

!Ripley slams to a momentary halt against a bulkhead.
Regains her balance.
Starts running.

INT. PASSAGE NEAR AIR LOCK - "B" LEVEL

!Parker now half conscious.
Ripley arrives as the hole in door blows open.
Escaping air shrieks.
Flashing sign comes on.
Critical depressurization.
Emergency klaxon.
Simultaneously vestibule doors close either end.
Sealing in Ripley and Parker.
Door nearest to Parker half-closed on one of the methane cylinders.
Leaving large gap.
Windstorm begins as hole in air lock grows.
Ripley reaches for other cylinder.
Begins smashing the jammed cylinder out of door.
Blood froths at their noses and ears.
Cylinder finally is driven out.
The door slams closed.

INT. BRIDGE

!Lambert watches.
Emergency light readings.

!"Hull Breached"
"Emergency Bulkheads Closed"

                        @LAMBERT
        Ash, get the oxygen.  Meet me at the air lock.

!Rushes out.
Down corridor.

INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK - "B" LEVEL

!Ripley staggers toward an emergency panel.
At far end of corridor.
Pinging sound.
Misty atmosphere.
Tries to activate the door.
Cannot.
Lambert appears other side of bulkhead.
Activates door from outside.
Rush of oxygen.

EXT. NOSTROMO

!Plume of vapor freezes in the vacuum.

INT. PASSAGE NEAR AIR LOCK - "B" LEVEL

!Repressurization sounds.
Parker regains consciousness.
Struggles to breathe.
Ripley unable to move.
Breath coming in shallow pants.
Lambert with an oxygen tank.
Ash follows.
Oxygen administered to Ripley and Parker.

!Finally.

                        @ASH
        You all right.

                        @PARKER
        We didn't get it.  The warning went off and it jumped back in the ship.

                        @ASH
        Who hit the warning.

                        @RIPLEY
        You tell me.

                        @ASH
        What does that mean.

                        @RIPLEY
        I guess the alarm went off by itself.

                        @ASH
        If you've got something to say say it.  I'm sick of these coy accusations.

                        @RIPLEY
        Nobody's accusing you.

                        @ASH
        The hell you're not.

!Sullen silence.

                        @RIPLEY
        Go patch him up.

!Ash and Parker leave.
Ripley turns to Lambert.

                        @RIPLEY
        How much oxygen have we lost. I want an exact reading.

                        @LAMBERT
        You were accusing him.

                        @RIPLEY
        If I could find the command computer key, I could prove it.

                        @LAMBERT
        You're still accusing him of stealing the key.

                        @RIPLEY
        You think I'm wrong.

                        @LAMBERT
        I don't know.  Wrong or crazy.

                        @RIPLEY
        Thanks.

INT. BLISTER STAIRCASE

!Ripley cautiously descends the stairs to the blister.
Carrying a flamethrower.

INT. ASH'S BLISTER

!Looks around the blister.
Satisfied it's deserted.
She puts down the flamethrower.
Methodically begins to search for the key.
Faint tapping sound.
Then stops.
She looks around.
Sees nothing.
Resumes searching near blister window...
Ripley finds key...
Tapping sound.
She whips around to see:
Kane's disfigured face slapping against the plexiglass.
She stifles a scream.
Drops the key onto the curved surface of the blister.
Fishes for it...
Kane's bloated face swings in...
Beneath her.
She grabs the key and bolts up companionway.

INT. COMPUTER ANNEX

!Ripley plugs the key into the board.
Data banks come to life.
She sits at a console.
Thinks for a moment.
Then punches up a code.
Nothing happens.
Punches another combination.
Nothing happens.
Frustration.
Another combination.
One screen comes to life.
Another combination.
She moves to the second keyboard.
Screen One spells out the question:
Question:  WHO TURNED ON AIR LOCK 2 WARNING SYSTEM.
Response:  ASH
Another code.
Question:  IS ASH PROTECTING THE ALIEN.
Response:  YES
New code.
Question:  WHY
Response:  SPECIAL ORDER 937 SCIENCE EYES ONLY
She starts a new code.
A hand slams down next to Ripley's arm.
It sinks elbow deep into the computer.
She whips around in her chair.
Faces Ash.
Ripley lashes out with her foot.
Kicks him in the middle.
No effect.
Ripley twists away.
Ash throws a punch at her.
Misses.
She pushes a chair at him.
Overturns the desk...
And runs through bridge into mess.

!He moves after her.
Gets her.
Parker and Lambert burst into the Mess.
Lambert falls on Ash's back.
Ash turns to Lambert.
Tosses her across the room.
Returns to Ripley.
Again choking her.
Parker lifts the tracker.
Steps behind Ash.
Swings the tracker...Wallop.
Tears his head off...
Wires ascending from Ash's trunk.
Where his head used to be.
Ash's hands release Ripley.
Search above his neck for his missing head.
He walks backward.
All eyes on Ash's headless body.
He walks the room.
Still feeling for his missing head.

                        @PARKER
        A robot, a God damn Droid.

!Ash turns on him.
Starts to advance.
Parker hits him again with the tracker...
Again.
Again.
No avail.
Ash begins choking Parker.
Ripley picks up one of the prod sticks.
Closes on Ash's back.
Tears away the fabric.
Lambert pulls at Ash's legs.
Ripley tears at the controls buried in the cavity once covered by his head.
Parker's eyes bulge in pain.
Ash, headless, choking, choking, choking...
Ripley finds the wires, stabs the prod home...
Ash's grip lessens.
Another stab...electrical flash...
The grip lessens...
Another stab...flash of circuits.
The headless body collapses.
Parker trying to regain his breath.

                        @PARKER
        Damn you.

!Kicks the headless body.
Lambert looks at Ripley.

                        @LAMBERT
        Tell me...What the hell's going on.

!Pause.

                        @RIPLEY
        Let's find out.  Wire him back up.

                        @PARKER
        What kind of crap is that.

                        @RIPLEY
        Do it.

!They set to work.
Begin to reassemble the wiring in Ash's head.

                        @RIPLEY
        Ash let it on board.  Ash let it grow inside Kane.  Ash blew the warning signal.

                        @LAMBERT
        Why.

                        @RIPLEY
        Special Order 937.

                        @PARKER
        What's that.

                        @RIPLEY
        That's what I want to know.

!Ash's head is placed on the table.
His eyes flicker into consciousness.

                        @RIPLEY
        What is Special Order 937.

                        @ASH
        You know I can't tell you that.

                        @RIPLEY
        Then there's no point in talking to you.  Pull the plug.

                        @ASH
        Special Order 937 in essence asked me to direct the ship to the planet, investigate a life form, possibly hostile and bring it back for observation.  With discretion, of course.

                        @RIPLEY
        Why.  Why not tell us.

                        @ASH
        Would you have gone.

                        @PARKER
        It wasn't in the contract.

                        @ASH
        My very point.

                        @RIPLEY
        They wanted to investigate the Alien.  No matter what happened to us.

                        @ASH
        That's unfair.  Actually, you weren't mentioned in the order.

                        @LAMBERT
        Those bastards.

                        @ASH
        See it from their point of view. They didn't know what the Alien is.

                        @RIPLEY
        How do we kill it.

                        @ASH
        I don't think you can.  Not in this ship, given its life support systems.  But I might be able to.

                        @RIPLEY
        How.

                        @ASH
        I don't know quite yet.  I'm not exactly at my best at the moment. If you would reconnect...

                        @RIPLEY
        No way.

                        @ASH
        Don't be so hasty.  You'll never kill it without my help.

                        @RIPLEY
        We've had enough of your help.

                        @ASH
        You've barely got any oxygen left. If you don't go into hypersleep, you'll die with or without the Alien.

                        @RIPLEY
        Nice try, Ash.

                        @ASH
        I will do whatever I can to help you.  I swear it.

                        @PARKER
        Pull the plug.

                        @LAMBERT
        I agree.

                        @ASH
        You idiots.  You still don't realize what you're dealing with. The Alien is a perfect organism. Superbly structured, cunning, quintessentially violent.  With your limited capabilities you have no chance against it.

                        @LAMBERT
        You admire it.

                        @ASH
        How can one not admire perfection. I will kill it because I am programmed to protect human life as you know.

                        @RIPLEY
        Even if you have contempt for it.

                        @ASH
        Even then.

!Bitter and angry.

                        @RIPLEY
        Sorry Ash.  I don't buy it.

                        @ASH
        You egocentric morons.  You'll be ripped to shreds, destroyed and...

!Ripley makes a movement.
Ash softens...

                        @ASH
        I can only wish you well...

!Ripley pulls the plug.

                        @PARKER
        He was probably right.  We do need him.

                        @RIPLEY
        He was conning us.

                        @LAMBERT
        He was programmed to protect human life.

                        @RIPLEY
        He wasn't protecting our human lives and that's all I care about. Anyway it's done.

!Ripley exits to the bridge.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley in the Computer Annex.
Lambert and Parker enter.

                        @RIPLEY
        He's right about one thing. We've got less than twelve hours oxygen left.

                        @PARKER
        It's all over.

!Gloom.

                        @LAMBERT
        I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I prefer a painless peaceful death to any of the alternatives on offer.

                        @RIPLEY
        We're not there yet.

!Lambert holds up a small card of spansules.
Suicide pills.

                        @LAMBERT
        We're not.  Huh.

                        @RIPLEY
        I think we should blow up the ship.

                        @LAMBERT
        I'll stick with chemicals if you don't mind.

                        @RIPLEY
        We leave in the shuttle and then blow up the ship.

INT. AIR LOCK - NARCISSUS

!Ripley, Lambert and Parker loading oxygen tanks onto the
Narcissus.

                        @RIPLEY
        That's all the oxygen.

                        @PARKER
        That's it.

                        @RIPLEY
        Now.  Let's get the food, shut off the engines and get out... Jones.  Where's Jones.

                        @PARKER
        Who knows.

                        @LAMBERT
        Last I saw him was in the mess.

                        @RIPLEY
        Go look.  We don't want to leave him.

                        @LAMBERT
        I don't want to go by myself.

                        @PARKER
        Always hated that damn cat.

                        @RIPLEY
        I'll go.  You load up the food.

!They move out.

INT. BRIDGE

!Jones lying on Dallas' console.
Ripley comes in.
Smiles.

                        @RIPLEY
        Jones.  You're in luck.

!As she reaches for him, Jones jumps off the console.
Moves away.

                        @RIPLEY
        Come on, Jones.

!She moves after the cat.
We hear Parker and Lambert over the communicator from the coolant locker.

                        @LAMBERT
                (voice over)
        How much do you think we'll need.

!Ripley still in pursuit of the cat.

> CUT TO:

INT. FOOD LOCKER NUMBER 6 - "B" LEVEL

!Parker and Lambert loading food.

                        @PARKER
        All you can carry.

!Ripley's voice over communicator from bridge.

                        @RIPLEY
                (voice over)
        God damn it, Jones.  Come here.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley furious but still speaking gently.

                        @RIPLEY
        Here kitty...come here kitty...

!Jones moves away.

INT. FOOD LOCKER NUMBER 6 - "B" DECK

!Arms full, Parker moves out of the locker.
Lambert is still making her selection.
A faint light on the tracker.
Unnoticed.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley finally corners Jones.
Finds his box.
Tries to put him in it.
Jones resists.
Ultimately futile.

INT. FOOD LOCKER CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE

!Parker attempts to pick up the flamethrower.
Can't manage it and the food.
Drops some of the packages.

                        @PARKER
        Goddamn.

!In the locker Lambert gathers food.

                        @LAMBERT
        What's the matter.

                        @PARKER
        Nothing.  just hurry up.

!The tracker flashes faster.
Now it's noticed.
Parker picks up the flamethrower.

                        @PARKER
        Let's get out of here.

                        @LAMBERT
        Right now.

!The Alien appears out of the air shaft ventilator.
Lambert turns.
Screams.
Unfolding, the Alien grabs for her.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley freezes as she hears Lambert's screams.

INT. CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE

!Parker looks back into the locker.
Unable to use the flamethrower without hitting Lambert.
He hesitates for a moment, then strides into the locker.
Wielding the flamethrower like a club.

                        @PARKER
        Goddamn you.

INT. FOOD LOCKER NUMBER 6

!The Alien drops Lambert.
Parker lands a blow with the flamethrower.
No effect.
The Alien strikes him once.
Killing him instantly.
He now moves to Lambert.

INT. BRIDGE

!Ripley listening on the communicator.
Lambert's dying shrieks.
Then the voice-amp goes dead.
Silence.

                        @RIPLEY
        Parker.  Lambert.

!She waits for a response.
But her expression shows that she expects none.
A long moment.
Expectation fulfilled.
Nightmare without end.

INT. "B" LEVEL - COMPANIONWAY

!Ripley descends, cautiously, holding flamethrower.
Jones left above, squalling.

INT. CORRIDOR - "B" DECK

!Ripley moving warily, carrying flamethrower.
Nears entrance to food locker, looks in.
Sees carnage.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" DECK

!Ripley running toward engine room.
Out of breath.
Exhausted she stops, gulps for air.
Suddenly, ahead of her, the sound of human weeping.
She moves quietly ahead until the source of the sound is directly under her feet.
She is standing on a round metal plate.
Ripley starts to remove the disc.

INT. UNDERCARRIAGE MAINTENANCE ROOM NUMBER 4

!The round opening illuminates a dark ladderway.
Still carrying flamethrower, Ripley starts downwards.
Pitch black.
Ripley arrives at deck level.
Shines her light.
Its arc reveals the Alien's lair.
Bones, shreds of flesh.
Pieces of clothing, shoes.
Bizarre extrusions on the wall.

!Something moves in the darkness.
Ripley spins, turns her light toward the movement.

!Hanging from the ceiling is a huge cocoon.
Woven from fine, white, silk-like material.
Flamethrower ready, Ripley approaches.
Sees that the cocoon is semi-transparent.
The body of Dallas inside.

!Unexpectedly, his eyes open.
FOCUS ON Ripley.
His voice is a whisper.

                        @DALLAS
        Kill me.

                        @RIPLEY
        What did it do.

!Dallas moves his head slightly.
Ripley turns her light.
Another cocoon dangles from the ceiling.
But of a different texture.
Smaller and darker, with a harder shell.
Almost exactly like the ovoids in the derelict ship.

                        @DALLAS
        That was Brett...

                        @RIPLEY
        I'll get you out of there... We'll get up the autodoc.

!A long moment.
It's hopeless.

                        @RIPLEY
        What can I do.

                        @DALLAS
        Kill me.

!Ripley stares at him.
Raises the flamethrower.
Sprays a molten blast.
Another blast.
The entire compartment bursts into flames.
Ripley turns and scrambles back up the ladderway.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL

!Ripley emerges from below.
Gasps for breath.
Regains control of herself.

EXT. OUTER SPACE

!At light speed.
The Nostromo and refinery appear to hang motionless.
Star clusters rolling past in the infinite distance.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE

!Ripley enters the power center.
Stares at the massive light-plus engines.
Approaches the main control board.
Begins closing the switches, one by one.
A long moment.
Sirens begin to honk.
Mother speaks.

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Attention.  The cooling units for the light-plus engines are not functioning.  Engines will over-load in four minutes, fifty seconds...

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL

!Ripley running toward the "B" deck companionway.

INT. "B" LEVEL - CORRIDOR

!Ripley starts toward Narcissus.
Remembers Jones.

INT. "A" TO "B" LEVELS - COMPANIONWAY

!Jones howling.
In his box.
Ripley reaches up and grabs him.

INT. "B" LEVEL - CORRIDOR LEADING TO AIR LOCK

!Ripley carrying Jones, holding flamethrower.
Jones hisses.
Fur rises.
Ripley stops, and stares down corridor toward Narcissus.
The Alien can be heard thrashing about the shuttle craft.
Ripley turns and bolts toward the engine room, leaving
Jones on "B" level companionway.

INT. COMPANIONWAY TO OILY CORRIDOR - "E" LEVEL

!Ripley bounds down the companionway.
Her footsteps clanging metallically throughout the ship.
A final sprint towards the engine room.

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Attention.  Engines will overload in three minutes, twenty seconds.

INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE

!The door crashes open, Ripley comes pounding in.
The chamber filled with smoke.
Engines whining dangerously.
Ripley breaks out in perspiration from the intense heat.
She runs to the controls.
Begins throwing the cooling unit switches back into place.
The sirens continue sounding.

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Attention.  Engines will overload in three minutes.

!Ripley pushes a button and speaks into it.

                        @RIPLEY
        Mother, I've turned all the cooling units back on.

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Too late for remedial action. The core has begun to melt. Engines will overload in two minutes, thirty-five seconds.

!A moment.
Then Ripley turns and runs from the engine room.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - COMPANIONWAY

!Ripley runs back down the corridor.
Up the companionway, exhausted, stumbling...

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Attention.  Engines will overload in two minutes.

INT. "B" LEVEL - COMPANIONWAY

!She reaches companionway.
Picks up Jones.

INT. "B" LEVEL - CORRIDOR LEADING TO NARCISSUS

!Ripley staggers towards the air lock.
The Narcissus berthed beyond.
She drags Jones and raises the flamethrower.
Turns to see if the Creature is behind her.
Then advances down the passageway.
Goaded on by the computer.

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Attention.  Engines will explode in ninety seconds.

!She makes it to the vestibule.
Looks into the shuttle.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley scans the narrow deck...empty.

INT. VESTIBULE

!She turns and dashes back.
Grabs the cat box.
Runs back toward the shuttle.

                        @MOTHER'S VOICE
                (o.s.)
        Attention.  The engines will explode in sixty seconds.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley enters on the run.
Hurls the cat box toward the front.
She dives into the control chair.
Hits the "launch" button.

EXT. NOSTROMO - OUTER SPACE

!The retainer clips drop away.
A blast of ram jets.
The shuttle is launched from the mother ship.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley frantically straps herself in.
G-forces from the shuttle's acceleration pulling against her.

EXT. SPACE

!The Narcissus continues to power away from the mother ship.
The larger bulk of the Nostromo quietly receding.
All is strangely serene.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley finishes strapping herself in.
Reaches and grabs the cat box.
The cat yowling within.
Ripley hugs the box to her chest.
Hunches her head down over the container.

EXT. SPACE

!The Nostromo drifts farther away from the shuttle-craft.
Finally becomes a small point of light.
Then it blows up.
Transforms into expanding orange fireball.
Pieces of metal flying in all directions.
And then the refinery explodes.
200,000,000 tons of fuel blasting silently into the cosmos.

INT. NARCISSUS

!The shockwave hits the shuttle craft.
Jolting and rattling everything within.
Then all is quiet.
Ripley unhooks herself from her straps.
Rises, and goes to the back of the escape craft.
Stares out through the porthole.
Face bathed in orange light.

EXT. SPACE

!Pieces of debris float past.
The boiling fireball fades into nothingness.
The Nostromo has ceased to exist.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley watching the final destiny of her ship and crew mates.
A very long moment.
Then, behind her, the lethal hand emerges from deep shadow.
The Alien has been in the shuttle-craft all along.
The cat yowls.

!Ripley whirls.
Finding herself facing the Creature.

!Ripley's first thought is for the flamethrower.
It lies on the deck next to the Alien.
Next she glances around for a place to hide.
Her eye falls on a small locker containing a pressure suit.
The door standing open.
She begins to edge toward the compartment.
The Creature stands.
Comes for her.
Ripley dives for the open door.
Hurls herself inside.
Slams it shut.

INT. LOCKER

!A clear glass panel in the door.
The Alien puts its head up to the window.
Peers in at Ripley.
Their faces only two inches apart.
The Alien looking at Ripley almost in curiosity.
The moaning of the cat distracts it.

INT. NARCISSUS

!The Alien moves to the pressurized cat box.
Bends down and peers inside.
The cat yowls louder as his container is lifted.

INT. LOCKER

!Ripley knocks on the glass.
Trying to distract the Creature from the cat.
The Alien's face is instantly back at the window.
Getting no more interference from her, the Creature returns to the cat box.
Ripley looks around.
Sees the pressure suit.
Quickly begins to pull it on.

INT. NARCISSUS

!The Alien picks up the cat box.
Shakes it.
The cat moans.

INT. LOCKER

!Ripley is halfway into a pressure suit.

INT. NARCISSUS

!The Creature throws the cat box down.
Very hard.
Picks it up again.
Hammers it against the wall.
Then jams it into a crevice.
Begins to pound the container into the opening.
The cat now beyond all hysteria.

INT. LOCKER

!Ripley pulls on the helmet, latches it into place.
Turns the oxygen valve.
With a hiss, the suit fills itself.
A rack on the wall contains a long metal rod.
Ripley peels off the rubber tip.
Revealing a sharp metal point.

INT. SPACE SUIT LOCKER

!Ripley inhales.
Kicks the door open.

INT. NARCISSUS

!The Creature rises.
Faces the locker.
Catches the steel shaft through its midriff.
The Alien clutches at the spear.
Yellow acid begins to flow from the wound.
Before the fluid can touch the floor...
Ripley reaches back and pulls the switch.
Blows the rear hatch.
The atmosphere in the shuttle immediately sucked into space.
The bleeding creature along with it.
Ripley grabs a strut to keep from being pulled out.
The Alien shoots past her.
Grabs Ripley's ankle with an appendage.

EXT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley now hanging halfway out of the shuttle-craft.
The Alien clinging to her leg.
She kicks at it with her free foot.
The Creature holds fast.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley looks for any salvation.
Grabs the hatch lever.
Yanks it.
The hatch slams shut, closing Ripley safely inside.

EXT. NARCISSUS

!The Alien still outside the shuttle-craft.
Within the vacuum of space.
The top of its appendage mashed into the closed hatch.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Acid starts to foam along the base of the hatch.
Eats away at the metal.
Ripley stumbles forward to the controls.
Pushes the ram jet lever.

EXT. NARCISSUS - OUTER SPACE

!The Creature struggling.
Jet exhaust located at the rear of the craft.
The engines belch flame for a few seconds.
Then shut off.
Incinerating, the Alien tumbles slowly away into space.

INT. NARCISSUS

!Ripley hurries to the rear hatch.
Peers through the glass.

EXT. OUTER SPACE

!The burned mass of the Alien drifts slowly away.
Writhing, smoking.
Tumbling into the distance.
Pieces dropping off.
The shape bloats, then bursts.
Spray of particles in all directions.
Then smoldering fragments dwindle into infinity.

INT. NARCISSUS - LATER

!Now repressurized.
Ripley is seated in the control chair.
Calm and composed, almost cheerful.
Cat purring in her lap.
She dictates into a recorder.

                        @RIPLEY
        I should reach the frontier in another five weeks.  With a little luck the network will pick me up...This is Ripley, W564502460H, executive officer, last survivor of the commercial starship Nostromo signing off.
                (pause)
        Come on cat.

!She switches off the recorder.
Stares into space.

EXT. OUTER SPACE

!The shuttle-craft Narcissus sails into the distance.

> FADE OUT

> THE END <