ALIENS Vs.PREDATOR

YORK's kept quiet, but everyone turns to him now. His tone is scathing and

cuts to the marrow.

CASSIE

Well, what about those other things

outside; those warriors? Maybe we can

cut some kind of deal...

YORK looks around at them in incredulous disbelief.

***************************

***** PAGE 84 MISSING *****

***************************

INT. RYUSHI STATION - AUTO-SHOP

MATT walks nervously around, holding the headset. Everybody's eyes are on

him.

MATT

Well, it occurred to me that we could use

the overhead crane to load the admin

module onto the back of Big Bertha. That

way we could put a bit of distance...

INT. RYUSHI STATION - COMMAND CENTER

MATT (CONT'D)

(O.S., on speakers)

...Between us and the station. Least 'till

the guys from Fort Powell arrive.

HIROKO

That sounds promising. Can we operate

the crane from here?

DRISCOLL

Nah. It's got programmable facilities,

but it was never rigged for remote

operation. Someone'd have to go up to the

cab to get it up and running.

HIROKO

Which mean physically going outside.

DRISCOLL looks around uneasily.

DRISCOLL

Yeah.

INT. RYUSHI STATION - COMMAND CENTER - LOWER DECK

A small group of people, most of whom we saw in the Command Center, are

clustered around a section of the poorly-lit maintenance corridor. HIROKO's

wearing a black hi-tech catsuit, a fetishist's dream. Across her shoulder is

a pistol in a slung bandolier holster. She nods at a pile of clothing in

DRISCOLL's hands.

HIROKO

Is this the suit?

DRISCOLL

Uh-huh.

She takes it from him. Slides her legs into the bottom half and pulls it

up. YORK watches with an expression of incredulity etched on his face.

YORK

This is fuckin' lunacy! You're not gonna

make it across the platform on foot!

CASSIE

Shut up, York.

HIROKO

No, he right. Has anyone got a bike near

here?

A REDHEADED GIRL looks around hesitantly, then raises her voice.

REHEADED GIRL

I have.

HIROKO

Let me have the keys.

The GIRL rummages in her pockets and throws the keys over. HIROKO puts them

in a pocket on the suit's sleeve.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

Which one is it?

REDHEADED GIRL

Uh...the Hyundai racer. Yellow and black

stripes.

YORK

Oh, yeah. Real inconspicuous...

HIROKO

Listen, I don't care if it's pink and

purple polka-dots as long as it gets me

there in one piece. Somebody loan me a

headset.

CASSIE pulls off hers and hands it over. DRISCOLL's watching HIROKO fasten

up the suit. He spots a mistake.

DRISCOLL

No, go back. Second clasp from the bottom.

HIROKO finds the offending clasp and locks it.

HIROKO

How much air-time have I got?

CASSIE

About thirty minutes. Those are slimmed-

down tanks, so no stopping to admire the

scenery.

HIROKO

Deal.

CASSIE

We've dumped the whole data-base from one

of the cleaning remotes into the helmet.

It'll project the route through the sewer

system onto the inside of the glass as you

go.

DRISCOLL

Yeah, I stripped down a motion tracker and

hardwired it through to the helmet pick-ups,

too. That's also on the display.

HIROKO

Sounds great.

PARSONS

It's not all good news. We had to take

off the helmet lights. You'll be going in

blind.

HIROKO

What? Why?

DRISCOLL

We had to. They were just too cumbersome

for some of the conduits you're gonna have

to negotiate. Besides, all the crap

floating around reduces visibility to the

extent where I doubt having helmet lights

would have make that much difference,

anyway. Maintenance lights down there

oughta be enough to do the trick.

HIROKO

How tight _are_ these shafts?

CASSIE and DRISCOLL exchange worried looks.

CASSIE

Tight. We chose a route we felt would

reduce the chance of you running into any

Aliens.

HIROKO takes a deep breath. Beads of perspiration dot her forehead. PARSONS

nods.

PARSONS

There's still time to back-out.

HIROKO

Forget it. I wouldn't ask somebody to do

something I wouldn't do myself. Where's

the disk?

PARSONS hands over a vinyl-wrapped packet.

PARSONS

Don't lose it.

HIROKO slips it into a breast-pocket and secures the flap.

HIROKO

Don't worry. I won't.

DRISCOLL hands several metallic objects to HIROKO.

DRISCOLL

Here. If you got to use 'em, make 'em

count.

They're magazines for her gun. She slots them into the bandolier.

HIROKO

Thanks.

PARSONS

Let's just run through it one more time

so I know you've got it straight.

HIROKO

Okay, I pull the access panel off of the

console. Insert the disk, and press the

green enabling button...

PARSONS

(interrupting)

No. There's two of them.

She pulls on the zip and begins locking the harness clasps into place.

HIROKO

Sorry. _Two_ green enabling buttons...

PARSONS

Right. When you've done that, don't waste

any time getting out of there. Once that

crane starts moving...well, it's bound to

provoke some kind of response.

YORK hands over a sophisticated-looking power-tool.

YORK

You'll need this for the gratings.

Trigger finger to operate, thumb button

to switch over to the rivet gun. The

sensors'll choose blade or socket heads

automatically.

HIROKO

Right.

(long beat)

Okay, I'm set.

YORK and DRISCOLL lower the massive dome-fronted helmet over HIROKO's head.

Auto-clasps lock into place as it brackets with the collar. PARSONS clips

the slimline air-tank to her back, and DRISCOLL makes the connections.

PARSONS

Alright, let's open her up. Carefully,

now...

CASSIE and the others hold their weapons and motion-trackers steadily at a

fixed point on the ground. Two ONLOOKERS bend down to the pressure-hatch

beneath the floor-grating. It's identical to the one DILLER and URIOSTE

removed earlier. A plume of pressurised gas jets into the air, and they pull

the metal sealing-plug free. CASSIE scrutinizes her tracker...

CASSIE

All clear...

HIROKO reaches up to her helmet and presses a chunky button on one side.

HIROKO's P.O.V. We're looking through the transparent bowl of the helmet at

the open shaft, braken water SLOSHING around it's rim. Superimposed lines

of glowing neon appear on the visor's surface, a precisely overlaid

duplication of the scene in computer-graphic form. A flatly-synthesised male

COMPUTER VOICE comes over the helmet speakers, O.S.

COMPUTER VOICE

(O.S., on speakers)

Approaching 'A' module lower level venturi

duct DS Oh-four...

HIROKO gets down on her hands and knees and crawls towards the opening. She

stares at the murky water with mounting apprehension. Tries to reassure

herself.

HIROKO

Okay. Okay.

She looks around at the impassive, staring faces. Summoning up her courage,

she submerges the helmet...

HIROKO'S P.O.V. The pale illumination of the lower level deck-lights gives

way to absolute nothingness; a stygian nightmare. She SHUDDERS with horror

and pulls her head free.

HIROKO (CONT'D)

Oh...! Oh, God...

She WIPES frenetically at the slickly-coated visor, breathing heavily.

Worried hands grab her.

CASSIE

Are you alright?

PARSONS

What? What's wrong? What is it?

HIROKO's eyes dart around, speaking volumes. She swallows hard and calms

down.

HIROKO

It's alright. I'm okay.