?I told you, the morgue. Don’t you remember??He eyed her with concern, worried that she might be having a reaction to something from the armpack. ?You’re disoriented. Half your system still thinks it’s in deep sleep.?

She whirled on him so suddenly that he started. ?I want to see what’s left of her body.?

?What do you mean, what’s left? The body’s intact.?

?Is it? I want to see it. I need to see for myself.?

He frowned but held off questioning her. There was something in her expression. … One thing was clear: there would be no denying her access. Not that there was any reason to. He had the feeling her desire to view the corpse had nothing to do with nostalgia. Difficult on short acquaintance to figure what she was really like, but excessively morbid she wasn’t.

The circular stairwell was narrow and slippery, but cut time off the long hike from the storage chamber where the EEV had been secured. Clemens was unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

?Any particular reason you’re so insistent?? 39

39

?I have to make sure how she died,?she replied evenly. ?That it wasn’t something else.?

?Something else??Under different circumstances Clemens might have been insulted. ?I hate to be repetitious about a sensitive subject, but it’s quite clear that her cylinder was breached and that she drowned.?He considered. ?Was she your daughter??

?No,?Ripley replied evenly, ?she wasn’t my daughter. My daughter died a long time ago.?

As she spoke her eyes avoided his. But of course she was still weak and had to concentrate on the narrow, spiraling steps.

?Then why this need??

Instead of answering directly she said, ?Even though we weren’t related, she was very close to me. You think I want to see her the way you’ve described her? I’d much rather remember her as she was. I wouldn’t ask to do this if it wasn’t damned important to me.?

He started to reply, then stopped himself. Already he knew that Ripley wasn’t the sort of person you could force a reply from. If she was going to tell him anything it would come in her own good time.

He unlocked the entrance and preceded her inside. A bottom drawer responded to his official key code and slid open on silent rollers. She moved up to stand alongside him and together they gazed down at the peaceful, tiny body.

?Give me a moment. Please.?

Clemens nodded and walked across the room to fiddle with a readout. Occasionally he turned to watch as his companion examined the little girl’s corpse. Despite the emotions that had to be tearing through her, she was 40

efficient and thorough. When he thought a decent amount of time had passed, he rejoined her.

?Okay??He expected a nod, perhaps a last sigh. He most definitely did not expect what she finally said.