ya?  Run a check on the stasis system.  Pressure
differential's off and the read keep fluctuating.
And punch it Priority One; Trent'll cover it.

JACKSON
(with a characteristic little
jerk of her head, light-pen
winking)
Sure.  You want a piece of the Superbowl, Tully?

TULLY
Nah.

JACKSON
Denver...

TULLY
Denver?  No way.  Gimme a tenth on Chicago.

INT. RODINA -- BIOLAB

Braun is seated at a computer, entering data.  Suslov is staring into the
stasis tube containing the developing Alien.

SUSLOV
There's an irony in this...

BRAUN
(engrossed in the data)
Irony, Colonel-Doctor?

SUSLOV
The readiness with which it lends itself to
genetic manipulation, Braun.  The speed with which
its cells multiply.

BRAUN
Yes. Remarkable.

SUSLOV
As though the gene-structure had been designed
for ease of manipulation.  And this apparently
universal compatibility with other plasms...

BRAUN
(reluctantly abandoning
his task)
And you find this ironic?

SUSLOV
Ironic that we are attempting to program it as
a weapon, yes.

BRAUN
How is that?

SUSLOV
Perhaps it is the fruit of some ancient
experiment... A living artifact, the product of
genetic engineering... A weapon.  Perhaps we are
looking at the end result of yet another arms
race...

BRAUN
A defeatist attitude, Colonel-Doctor.  Our
project can only strengthen the Union of
Progressive Peoples...

CLOSE -- THE STASIS TUBE -- A CHEST-BURSTER

is suspended there like an eyeless fetal dolphin.

INT. MACHINE SHOP

Hicks, alone in the shop, mechanically going through the motions of the
busywork he's been assigned to keep him out of the way.

BISHOP
(from the doorway)
That's quite a piece of machinery, Corporal
Hicks...

HICKS
(looking up, grinning)
That's what we used to say about you.  How the
hell are you, Bishop?  Brass said you were
snatched by the U.P.P.  How're things in the
socialist paradise?

BISHOP
I was returned.  I assume they had no further
use for me.

He moves among the silent machines, touching them as he speaks.

BISHOP
(continuing)
There are rumors, Hicks, that Weapons Division
intends to develop the Alien.

HICKS
(with a glance at the
video camera on the wall)
Where'd the bastards get one, Bishop?

BISHOP
One of them managed to board Sulaco, Hicks.
Ripley killed it...

HICKS
Good for her.

BISHOP
She called it "the queen."  It was larger than
the others.  Very large.  Somehow is deposited
genetic material in the ship.

HICKS
Then they're stone cold crazy, man.  I hear the
U.P.P. might try it themselves.

BISHOP
Given the current state of the arms race, it's
entirely possible.  I'm programmed to protect
human life, Hicks.  It's my... nature.  Everything
I am, everything I know, tells me this experiment
must be aborted.

HICKS
Yeah.  I know the feeling.

BISHOP
But I can't be entirely sure you can trust me,
Hicks.

HICKS
You can't what?

BISHOP
The U.P.P. may have reprogrammed me.  I've been
very thoroughly examined, of course, but the
possibility does exist.

HICKS
Wouldn't you know?

BISHOP
No.  I may be functioning as an enemy agent.

HICKS
(beat)
What the hell.  We have to kill it, don't we?

BISHOP
I have to try.

HICKS
I'm in man.  And I think I know where we can find
us a little help...

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. TISSUE LAB

Spence and Tully are alone.

SPENCE
What coffee?  I'm going to the machine.

TULLY
No.

He peers into one of the stasis tubes; a small ovoid of tissue suspended
there.

SPENCE
Maintenance cure your pressure differential
problem?

TULLY
Said there wasn't any.  Said it was a glitch.

SPENCE
Didn't want to get his hands dirty?

TULLY
It settled down by itself.

Spence exits; Tully moves closer to the tube.

CLOSE -- THE SINGLE DEVELOPING SPORE

inside; it looks like a much smaller version of the alien egg.

WIDER ANGLE

TULLY
Hey there.  Hi ya.  How ya doin'?  Nutrient
solution agreeing with you, hm?  We're looking
lots bigger today, aren't we?  You bet.