ALIENS Vs.PREDATOR

Alright then, For what it's worth...yes,

I do.

KAMEN digs appreciatively into a container of food with his fork.

KAMEN

You should try this seasoned stuff. It's

good.

GUTTIEREZ approaches the table carrying something.

GUTTIEREZ

Got a present for you.

He hands HIROKO's leather jacket over to her.

HIROKO

Oh, I've been looking for this! Where

was it?

GUTTIEREZ

You left it in the chopper. Oh, and before

I forget, Don? I ran that test you wanted

on the turbines.

KAMEN

And...?

GUTTIEREZ

And, nothing. They checked out just fine.

EXT. RYUSHI STATION - PLATFORM - AFTERNOON

A metal rail surrounds the perimeter of the platform. DILLER leans against

it down by the access ramp, smoking a cigarette and idly blowing rings into

the air. BREWSTER pricks up her years and begins to quietly SNARL. DILLER

glances down at her curiously.

DILLER

What's the matter, girl? You smell

something?

Now the rhino are restless too. CASSIE walks across the concrete roadway

to join them.

CASSIE

Rhinos look a little antsy,

BREWSTER stops SNARLS and progresses onwards to full-fledged BARKING.

DILLER

Yeah. Never seem 'em act like this

before.

PREDATOR-VISION. CASSIE and DILLER are 'warm', but the rhinos are BREWSTER

are 'hotter' still. Their VOICES and BREWSTER's BARKS are filtered to the

point of unrecognizability, eerily distorted.

CASSIE's the first to hear the SOUND.

CASSIE

Do you hear that?

DILLER straightens up, looking out into the surrounding trees. It's a FAINT

HUM, getting LOUDER every second.

DILLER

Yeah...

A hoverbike appears, trailing smoke from one of it's turbine intakes as it

hurtles towards the base. Halfway between the trees and the ramp, it clips

a fallen log and spins end-over-end. It's rider flies through the air and

hits the swamp face-first. DILLER and CASSIE race down the ramp with

BREWSTER YELPING excitedly in the lead.

CASSIE

I don't believe it.

DILLER splashes through the swamp and pulls the limp body out of the mire.

It's YORK. Blood has caked around his wounded leg.

DILLER

He looks in a bad way. Help me get him

up to Infirmary.

CASSIE

Wait a minute...

Something else has caught CASSIE's eye. A "something" almost two metres in

length protruding from the rear of the wrecked hoverbike. Grasping the haft

firmly, she works it free. CASSIE examines the PREDATOR spear, and slowly

shakes her head.

CASSIE (CONT'D)

Holy Mary...

PREDATOR-VISION. The concealed hunter watches as the colorised human

curiously turns the weapon over in her hands.

INT. RYUSHI STATION - INFIRMARY

REVNA sits at a desk and peers into a microscope. Every so often she GRUNTS

in satisfaction and types something into her computer terminal. The stasis

tube containing the dead FACEHUGGER stands to one side of the computer

screen. The Infirmary is very quiet, and only the gentle THROB of the air-

conditioning intrudes. ACKLAND tosses uncomfortably on his cot. He finally

sits up and massages his chest.

ACKLAND

Oh. Oh God...

REVNA lowers her pen and looks across.

REVNA

What is it?

ACKLAND

It's nothing, Doc. Just a...touch of

indigestion...something.

REVNA

Do you want a tablet?

ACKLAND winces in pain. His breathing's getting heavy. He nods.

ACKLAND

Uh-huh.

REVNA gets up swiftly and crosses to an automated pharmacy. ACKLAND's

beginning to COUGH now.

REVNA

That sounds nasty. I'll give you a couple

of Demazine.

ACKLAND nods again. His COUGHING has deepened, and now he's banging his

chest with a balled fist. REVNA hurries over with three red tablets and a

disposable cup of water. ACKLAND takes them gratefully and gulps them down.

The effect is almost immediate; ACKLAND quietens and an appreciative smile

comes to his pale lips.

REVNA (CONT'D)

Better?

ACKLAND

Yeah...

Before he has a chance to elaborate, ACKLAND COUGHS once more. A thin spray

of blood and saliva dots REVNA's white smock and speckles her cheek.

ACKLAND's scrabbling fingers grab her lapels as he begins to hyperventilate.

She pulls away, dragging him from the bed in the process. He falls to the

floor, his MOANS growing in volume.

REVNA

Hold on, it's alright. I'm gonna give

you a shot...

Her fingers tremble as she clumsily examines a tray of surgical instruments.

She finds a pneumatic spray-injector, fully charged with a vial of amber

liquid attached. ACKLAND SCREAMS and fall backwards onto the floor, his

hands clawing at the air. REVNA fumbles with the injector control and gives

him a blast in his upper arm. ACKLAND convulses once then goes still, his

eyes staring fixedly at the ceiling. The Infirmary is deathly quiet once

again.

We hear a gentle CRACKING, like twigs being snapped. REVNA watches in

horrified fascination as a pool of blood spreads swiftly outward across the

floor from below ACKLAND's corpse. REVNA shudders as the body moves a

little, then _is rolled over by something underneath it_.

WHAT SHE SEES. ACKLAND's body slumps forward onto it's front, revealing a

gaping cavity in his back. Bits of spine and ribcage are just visible. A

CHESTBURSTER - the second stage of the ALIEN lifeform - pulls itself clear

and wipes red gunk from it's body with a pair of still-underdeveloped arms.

Around it's head is a distinctive nascent crest. It kicks away from ACKLAND

with a powerful push from it's legs, quickly gaining balance. After a moment

appraising it's new environment, it stalks off behind a table. REVNA thinks

quickly. She leaps forward and THUMPS a large red stud next to the pressure-

door, which promptly RUMBLES closed.

The room is bathed in pools of shadows. Plenty of hiding space for the

creature. REVNA hears breaking glass, making her start. She cautiously

edges over to the Autodoc and looks up into the forest of probe-arms.

There's a wicked looking blade there, the kind used in major surgery. REVNA

reaches up and twists the base; it detaches easily. Now she's armed.

Stooped over, she begins to stalk the CHESTBURSTER...

There's a flurry of movement, and suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.

The CHESTBURSTER vaults from the table at her with a SHRILL SHRIEK, and

REVNA blindly swings her make-shift knife in defense. We hear a SIZZLE like

frying bacon...

INT. RYUSHI STATION - INFIRMARY CORRIDOR

HIROKO sprints down the corridor and reaches the Infirmary. DILLER, CASSIE,

and a few others are crowded around outside. YORK lays unconscious on one

of the medical trolleys next to the door, making access difficult. Above

them, a hinged flap on the wall lies open revealing a circular mechanism

beneath. BREWSTER scratches at the bulkhead and WHINES. MUFFLED THUMPS

come from within.

HIROKO

What happened?

DILLER

York just turned up outside. We're trying

to get him into Infirmary.

HIROKO

(astonished)

York...

HIROKO leans over to examine him, but a particularly loud CRASH from within

the Infirmary distracts her.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

What's going on?

CASSIE

The door's sealed from inside. Doc Revna's

in there, and it sounds like Ackland's

going nuts.

HIROKO

Force the door.

DILLER

Can't. It's pressure sealed.

GUTTIEREZ races up and hands DILLER a wrench with a shaped tip.

GUTTIEREZ

Here...

DILLER

Thanks.

He inserts the end into the open flap and pulls hard, the physical effort

showing on his face. The door grinds open about eight inches...

The bloodied CHESTBURSTER forces itself through the narrow gap, HISSING

vehemently. Yellow fluid wells from a wound in it's crested skull,

dissolving everything it comes into contact with. The small group gathered

around fall back in panic, jarring YORK's trolley and knocking HIROKO to the

floor. BREWSTER BARKS at the CHESTBURSTER, which tenses as if to leap.

DILLER brings the wrench down, but the CHESTBURSTER evades his blow and takes

flight. It strikes at HIROKO, who reflexively draws her head back and

escapes with nothing more than a light scratch to the cheek. The ALIEN

disappears down the corridor, leaving a trail of smeared blood and a series

of acidic pits which melt the grillework flooring. GUTTIEREZ bends down and

helps HIROKO to her feet. Shocked, she MUTTERS something to herself in

JAPANESE, and regains some of her composure.

HIROKO

Get after it, don't let it get away!

DILLER stands there with the metal bar. Does she think he's nuts?

HIROKO (CONT'D)

Go on!

This galvanises DILLER. He races off in pursuit.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

Jan, give me a hand over here.

HIROKO AND GUTTIEREZ try to force the door, but DILLER was right - it won't

budge. HIROKO slips her arm through the gap and fumbles around blindly. She

must have hit the control knob, because the door slides back. CASSIE looks

inside.

CASSIE

Oh my God...

She turns away and retches. HIROKO steps through and goes pale. There are

blood-smears over everything, and it's all GUTTIEREZ can do to stop BREWSTER

from getting in there.

INT. RYUSHI STATION - COMMAND CENTER

PARSONS' finger traces a path along a set of computer schematics displayed

on a suspended glass screen.

PARSONS

It left a melted trail on the deck all

the way down to here...

HIROKO

What is that?

DILLER

Secondary fluidic shunt for the sewage

system. I found the grating ripped right

off. The little fucker was _strong_.

HIROKO

Where does that lead to?

PARSONS

Central Pumping. All the waste gets

treated, broken-down, and flushed out

into the swamp. If it wanted a quick

exit then it really lucked-out.

HIROKO

You've checked that end?

GUTTIEREZ

Not yet, no.

HIROKO

Do it. I don't want that thing on my

installation. I want it caught and

destroyed.

KAMEN

Cornering it shouldn't be a problem. Each

part of this station is basically a self-

sufficient deep-space transport module

running off external couplers. If we

disconnect them and seal off every section,

we've got a ceiling of about thirty-six

hours on internal power. That should give

us ample time to find it.

HIROKO

Alright. Pull some trackers and headsets

out of stores, and I'll sign a release for

the weapons. Cassie, organise a team

roster and put it on the board.

CASSIE nods soberly. HIROKO looks at everybody, and her words are carefully

chosen.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

I don't care how you kill this thing, just

be careful not to get in it's way when it

bleeds. You all saw what happened to Doc

Revna.

There are nods of agreement and general enthusiasm all round.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

Nobody wander off on their own until it's

found. Keep in pairs. Diller, once the

first team's done their sweep I want you

to go down with Annie to Three-Pump while

she replaces it.

DILLER

Okay.

HIROKO

One final point. Killing this sonuvabitch

ought to be a reward in itself. However,

just to add a little incentive...I'm

authorizing a hefty bonus in the next pay-

packet for whoever does.

This seems to appeal to those assembled there. There's a palpable buzz in

the air.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

Alright, let's get to it. New York rules

apply.

INT. RYUSHI STATION - EXECUTIVE OFFICE

YORK is recounting his story to KAMEN and HIROKO in a hushed voice. Small

beads of sweat stand out on his forehead and his eyes are haunted by

remembrance. The man's a mess.

YORK

...I mean, these...these mothers were...

were _huge_. They look like bushmen,

but they had all this hi-tech shit

strapped all over 'em. They must've

wasted Beauvais and Minh inside thirty

seconds. Minh got off a couple of shots

from that cannon of his, but he might as

well have been using a B-B gun. I don't

know how the hell I made it out of there

alive.

He nods toward the PREDATOR spear in HIROKO's hands.

YORK (CONT'D)

The one I clipped with the hoverbike

shoved that at me. Whatever it's made of,

it went straight through a double-layer of

honeycomb polyalloy composite like it was

butter.

YORK shakes his head in fear.

YORK (CONT'D)

I don't wanna ever come up against those

things again. Ever.

KAMEN claps the man on the shoulder to reassure him.

KAMEN

Don't worry about it, Yorkie. You're safe

now. Go get come rest.

YORK nods. He gets to his feet and leaves the room. HIROKO waits until the

door slides shut behind him.

HIROKO

So, what do you think?

KAMEN

What do I think? I think if those Marines

from Powell don't shift their butts getting

here, we're gonna get caught up to our

necks in the middle of something we

shouldn't.

EXT. RYUSHI STATION - PLATFORM - DUSK

It's late, and the base's exterior lighting casts yellow pools of light

across the metal and concrete thoroughfares. GUTTIEREZ and DE VRIES - a

tough-looking Afrikaan woman with a think accent - looks uneasily about them.

Another GROUP of PEOPLE with trackers and guns are searching around in the

BACKGROUND. Nearby, the vertical yellow column of a suspension-crane gantry

towers high above.

DE VRIES