Alien Covenant David Experiment – Excerpt #5

This is the fifth excerpt from my Alien: Covenant (Bridge) novel project, which continues the Alien saga and bridges the story of Alien: Covenant (2017) with that of Alien (1979).

The Covenant ship, January 2105

David can't get the face-hugger out of his head. Has it already finished its job? David's thoughts are firmly tied to room B5. At some point, the waiting becomes unbearable. He decides to stop pretending Walter's work (stupid in his opinion) and heads back to the crime scene.

"Walter," Mother addresses David.

"Yes, Mother?", David replies, hiding his irritation. What "important" does she want from him again?

"For your information, the new crew has already been unfrozen. The new members are in deep sleep now."

That's actually good news, David thinks. It's going to be so much fun. His mood elevates.

"Thank you, Mother. I will check on them later."

"Thank you, Walter." 

In the meantime, David has already arrived in room B5. He enters his opening code eagerly, and the door opens with a quiet hiss. Upon entering the room, David's sensors detect an unusual mix of smells. It seems like a mix of human and synthetic liquids. David takes a few quick steps to Tennessee's sleeping pod.

Yes! The face-hugger has done a great job, David thinks, looking at the grim scene in front of him. Tennessee's mutilated body lies on the floor in a pool of blood and pieces of his organs. The vessel lies overturned on the floor, its biological content merged with blood. Tennessee's upper torso no longer resembles a human form, with the chest looking like a giant, bloody mush. The newborn Alien also hasn't left much of Tennessee's face; parts of the skull are clearly visible.

But where is the face-hugger? David looks around to find the dead parasitoid when something else stuns him. David looks at the room's corner, and his mouth opens a bit in excitement. His pupils dilate. Forget the face-hugger, this is what David looked forward to.

David turns to the left and strolls, almost with awe. A giant slimy cocoon, heaving slowly, fills the corner between two B5's walls. This is it, David thinks after he approaches it. With his eyes still wide open, he looks at the vagina-shaped hole in the middle of the cocoon. Slime drips from it slowly. It appears to nourish and accelerate the development of the creature inside.

The heaving speeds up a bit. David moves right to the cocoon and places his palm on its coarsened surface. He feels weak movements inside of it. David smiles, he can't wait to meet his new pet. He steps back a bit, sits on the floor, and leans on a pad, waiting for the birth.

+++

An hour has passed. The heaving accelerated a bit again, but nothing else happened. The growing slime on the floor almost reaches David's soles. The synthetic looks at the liquid thoughtfully; he hoped this phase would take a shorter time.

A significantly higher amount of secretion pushes out of the hole, falling to the slime on the floor with a soft splash. David looks at the cocoon with hope in his eyes. Is this the moment?

The cocoon starts shaking a bit, and the occasional slime drip becomes a streak. David stands up. After a few moments, the streak ends, and the hole opens and closes regularly. It takes several minutes for David to see the xenomorph's elongated head. Then, its arms appear as the beast wiggles itself out of the cocoon.

The wiggling doesn't take long, the creature works hard to get out of its birthplace. It falls onto the floor, directly into the slime. The following splash almost stains David's clothes. But it doesn't matter to him, David looks proudly on his "child", which is familiarizing with the world it was born into.  

The Alien, lying on its right side, gets on all four and then stands up. David must lift his head a bit, the creature is bigger than he expected. It stirs itself to get the remaining slime from its body. Then, it unwinds the fingers, hisses, and ejects its massive inner jaw. More slime from its mouth drips on the floor. The long tail hits the walls with a thud.

David can't just stand there passively, he wants to snuggle with his new pet. The monster turns to the nearing David with a warning hiss. But it doesn't react aggressively when David starts touching it. David strokes the dark, monstrous body with his palms. At last, he can put his hands on it.

Suddenly, the creature sets itself free from David's semi-hug, leaps to the center of the room, and disappears behind the pods. David looks over the room with a clueless face. Meanwhile, the xenomorph does something on the floor behind the pods with an occasional whip in the air with its long tail.

Curiosity nudges David to follow the xenomorph. What's going on? The scene amuses David after he reaches it. The Alien feasts on Tennessee's remains with great fervor. The human corpse has already lost most muscles. This time, its giant jaws enable the monster to tear away larger chunks of meat. David hears a bone breaking sometimes as the creature devours the pilot's body. The puddle of blood around the former Tennessee widens.

In the end, Tennessee's body looks unrecognizable; only his bloody skeleton, covered by pieces of skin, remains. After finishing its meal, the beast stands up and turns its head to David. The Alien hisses softly, with thick saliva and blood dripping from its mouth. The xenomorph moves toward David slowly.

The Alien stops near David, looking him in the eye and observing the synthetic with interest. Its height dwarfs David, who must tilt back his head. The creature hisses while David's face hardens. Suddenly, it ejects the inner jaw, and the teeth almost reach David's face. But David stands firmly, without a wink, not yielding at all. The xenomorph slowly retracts its inner jaw into its mouth. David keeps a hardened grimace on his face.

But David wants to observe the xenomorph's hunting skills in action. For this reason, he takes a few steps back and opens the door to Covenant's corridor. The beast looks at the path in front of it. The Alien gives David one more look and then passes him out speedily.

David also leaves room B5, locks the door with his code, and watches the Alien disappear to the left. The monster moves with difficulty in the round-shaped corridor. It uses both the floor and the side walls, utilizing the tail for support. Its movement leaves visible scratches on the wall. The sound of the camera being destroyed whistles from afar.

David walks in the other direction to the command bridge. He hopes to have a better overview from there.

You will find more information about this project (Alien Covenant fan novel) in my blog post.