?So we’re just caretakers, just a custodial staff. Keeps things from freezing up in case the price of the ore or the need for it goes back up. Works out well for the government and the Company.?

?I’d think you’d go crazy after a year or so in a place like this.?

Clemens had to laugh. ?That’s what they said some of us were before we were sent here. But I don’t think we are, at least not the majority of us. The isolation isn’t nearly so trying if you can learn to think of yourself as a contemplative penitent instead of an incarcerated felon.?

?Any women ever been here??

?Sorry, Lieutenant Ripley. This is a double Y chromosome facility. Strictly male.? 37

37

She nodded, then turned and bent to crawl through what remained of the battered air lock. Clemens let her forge a path, then followed.

The battered exterior of the craft was pristine compared to what she encountered inside. Walls were crumpled and bent, readouts and consoles smashed, equipment strewn haphazardly across the deck. The thick smell of salt water permeated everything. She paused, astonished that anything or anyone could have survived intact, much less her own fragile form.

?Where are the bodies??

Clemens was equally taken with the extent of the destruction, marveling that Ripley had suffered no more damage than she had.

?We have a morgue. Mining’s the kind of enterprise that demands one. We’ve put your friends in there until the investigative team arrives, probably in a week’s time.?

?There was an android. …?

Clemens made a face. ?Disconnected and discombobulated. There were pieces of him all over the place. What’s left was thrown in the trash. The corporal was impaled by a support beam straight through the chest. Even if he’d been conscious he’d never have known what hit him. As it was he probably never came out of deep sleep long enough to hurt.?

?The girl??She was holding a lot in, Clemens saw. He had no idea how much.

?She drowned in her cryotube. I don’t imagine she was conscious when it happened. If anything, she went out more quietly than the corporal. I’m sorry.?

Ripley digested this quietly. Then her shoulders began to shake and the tears came. That was all. No yelling, no 38

screaming, no violent railing at an unfair, uncaring universe. Little Newt. Newt, who’d never had a chance. At least she was free. Wiping at her eyes, Ripley turned to survey the remains of the little girl’s cryotube. The faceplate was broken, which was understandable.

Abruptly she frowned. The metal below the faceplate was strangely discolored. She leaned forward and ran her fingers over the stain.

Clemens looked on curiously. ?What is it??

Ripley rose, the emotion of the moment transformed into something else. There was no concern in her voice now, none of the tenderness he’d noted previously.

?Where is she??