An alternate ending for "Aliens" (1986)

Climbing with all her ability Ripley scaled the fifty-foot ladder leading to the surface. Distantly behind her, scuttling sounds made their way up to her. Reaching the surface, Ripley breathed a sigh in relieve, spotting Bishop, their human-looking cybernetic companion. So he made it. Quickly Ripley climbed out of the tube Ripley glanced down the hatch. She couldn't see any of the aliens yet, but the sounds of their approach grew louder. With a heave, she closed the thick metal hatch and locked it. "How long until the drop ship arrives?" she asked Bishop.

"Five minutes," Bishop replied, not looking up for the computer console where he was piloting the vessel remotely. Even he, an android, felt a sense of relief knowing not all was lost.

"How long until the reactor blows?" Ripley asked, a little more urgently.

Still not looking up Bishop replied, "Almost two hours. Plenty of time." Earlier the first drop ship had crashed violently near the cooling tanks for the fusion reactors powering the terraforming plant, rupturing it. Since then they had been fighting against the clock to get the second drop ship down to them from the ship, now empty of human life, orbiting the planet

"Good. We're not leaving yet."

"What? Why?" Bishop said, alarmed.

"They took Newt. She's... She's not dead yet. I'm going to go into their nest and get her. She still has the emitter; we can track where she is." Ripley and her companions had found Newt, a girl of no more than eight, alone in this terraforming facility—the only survivor. The rest had been killed by the aliens who were hunting them even now. In their short time together, Ripley had come to think of Newt as her own daughter. The rest of the people in her team, a military rescue squad, had been killed by the aliens... but not Newt... not yet.

A few minutes later the scuttling sounds of the aliens approached again. They must have found another way out. Ripley scanned the area around her, but couldn't see them yet. She doubted they had much time. None too soon, the drop ship flew gracefully out of the sky and slowed, hovering near them. Bishop and Ripley leapt on board and Bishop took the ship up a hundred feet before the aliens got any closer.

Once on board, Ripley began to equip herself for her impending encounter with the aliens, taking a flamethrower and pulse rifle and taping them together. In addition she took several clips of ammo and half a dozen grenades.

Finally prepared she went to the cockpit where Bishop was flying, keep the ship steady in the strong winds. Using the tracking device they followed Newt's signal to the power station, a huge structure perhaps twenty stories tall and with many sublevels. The place where Ripley and her now-lost companions originally had found, and were ambushed by the aliens. Bishop deftly piloted the vessel into the drop-zone on the top level of the facility.

"Don't leave without me," Ripley said.

"I won't."

"I'll be back with Newt. I will." Ripley climbed out of the ship onto the solid surface of the building. After a moment, the vessel gained some altitude and Ripley watched as it began to make a slow holding pattern over the building, then pushed the button to call the lift. It opened and Ripley got on. After setting it to go the lowest level Ripley kept an eye on the tracking device. Newt's signal, weak at first, got stronger and stronger as she approached the correct level. As soon as it began to weaken again, Ripley stopped the elevator ordered it to raise a floor. The doors opened and she readied her bulky weapons.

The metal walls and pipes were covered with a strange organic substance, which glistened moistly in the light. Even the floor was covered in a mat of some fleshy substance, wet, and slightly slippery. Strange organic tubes ran over the floor. Ripley stepped out and followed the locator around and down a dozen hallways and corners. The entire way the walls and floor were covered with the alien taint, but she did not meet any.

The locator beeped excitedly now and read 10m, in the next room. A few feet before the open hatch, Ripley spotted Newt across the room and half-cocooned in translucent goo. The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw her and she exclaimed "Ripley!" She struggled to free herself and run to her, but she was held tight.

In relief and excitement, Ripley ran through the threshold into the room, then got another four paces before freezing. All around her were eggs. Hundreds of large alien eggs, each about three feet tall. She spun around terrified, then noticed a massive tube-like appendage which was laying more eggs. She followed it then gasped.

No more than five feet from her was a huge alien. The Queen. Her body, like the other aliens Ripley had seen, was jet-black but glistened moistly. Her skull was an elongated ovoid shape with two deep-set black spheres for eyes on the end. Semi-transparent, white, razor-sharp teeth filled her large mouth, which hunt slightly open, thick goo covering and spilling from it.

For a moment Ripley stood there silently, frozen in fear and disbelief. Without warning another alien appeared beside her, this one regular-sized. Before she could react, he snatched her weapons with a lightning-fast movement.

At this moment, she might have died for fear, despite all of her bravery and self-confidence, no man or women who had seen what she had seen these aliens to be capable of could have a shred of hope being in her situation. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't run. She couldn't fight. There was nothing left to do but die. But this would not be an easy death. She would probably be a host for another one of these horrific aliens and die in the most painful way.

And yet, before she could slip into an even deeper despair, a presence touched her mind. The presence soothed her and conveyed a sense of safety and warmth, a most unexpected feeling in this place. Ripley looked up at the queen. Was it trying to communicate with her? More emotions flooded her mind. Triumph with a touch of relief. It wasn't gloating triumph... more like the triumph of a success after many failures. The queen knew feeling this. It knew she was getting through.

Impressions filled Ripley's mind. They weren't pictures or words or feelings even... it was knowledge, almost in the purest sense. She didn't have to ask questions or to try to understand it. It was almost like she had always understood it, like instinct. The queen had been trying to communicate with many others before her, but had always failed. It was frustrating. She would try to communicate, and they would fight her; try to kill her and her children. So she fought back. She had done terrible things, but she felt no remorse. Nor did she feel glee. It was more like duty. She did what she had to do.

More knowledge filled Ripley's buzzing mind from the queen. The aliens were an ancient race. They had been sentient in one form or another for billions of years. Their appearance and abilities had changed drastically, repeatedly, but one thing remained constant: their survival. It was the one thing which drove them. They were not an ambitious race, they did not seek to conquer or to spread rampantly... just merely to exist. And this is what caused them so much strife. They would survive at the cost of others, at times.

Despite herself, despite all that she had experienced, Ripley began to empathize with the queen, the aliens. If only others did not try to destroy them, they would not do what they did. But they did what they must, without consequence, without guilt. If another race tried to extinguish them, they were forced to destroy that race—to survive.

Ripley began to weep. Not out of despair or fear, but out of grief. This race had a most tragic history. A history so unfair to them. The aliens had passed the complete knowledge of their race from one queen to the next since their birth into sentiency. And this knowledge had now been passed to Ripley. They were an ancient race, but they were not alone. Even when they were still young they killed and were killed by other races. In fact, they were exterminated by other races. Their homeworld devastated, wiped clean. And so for the last five hundred million years their species had survived by a thread so thin it could snap at any moment. Would snap when this facility exploded... they would be extinct.

Deep inside, Ripley knew that she and her and her fellow humans were justified in their attempts to kill these aliens, but she also knew if the rest of humanity could feel what she felt now, they would understand. Would forgive the aliens for what they had done, terrible as it was. What is one, or even a hundred human lives for the survival of another sentient species?

"What can I do?" Ripley said, gazing at the queen through teary eyes. She wanted to help them to survive... because survival was all any species ever wants. Especially any sentient species. And this alien race was sentient. Possibly more sentient than mankind. They were intelligent, but single-minded in their pursuit for survival. Not distracted by any of the millions of distractions mankind has.

More knowledge filled her brain. They could make her the host for a queen. She wouldn't even die. The queen would live in her, with her. And so she allow the race to survive. Ripley knew in that moment that she'd do it. Without hesitation. She knew what was involved. One of the aliens would mate with her. The new queen would gestate inside of her, slowly, oh so slowly, simultaneously producing eggs for workers, soldiers, and whatever else the new hive would need. And she would be the vessel.

Ripley began to strip. She unbuttoned her blouse and let it fall to the floor. The alien who had stripped her of her weapons earlier came closer to her from behind and she felt warm, moist air blown on her neck. Newt screamed.

Newt! She had almost forgotten. "Newt! It's okay! It's okay, baby." Ripley rushed over to where Newt was still entrapped in thick mucous-y material. She gave her a hug and comforted her. "They'll let us live. It's okay. I just have to do this one thing. I'll explain it to you one day. Just be quiet until it is done, okay?

Newt whimpered, then nodded. Ripley gave her a thumbs up with a small smile. Newt's arm was entrapped but her hand was free, and she returned the thumb-up. Ripley turned around to see the queen and soldier looking her way, but waiting patiently. Then she gasped as she saw the huge member sprouting between the thighs of the soldier. It was not exactly what she pictured. About two feet long and three inches in diameter, black as the rest of its body, and glistening wetly, the phallus hung out, erect. About a third of the way down it, a six-inch section of the top-half appeared transparent. Through it she could see a line of off-white, which matched the color of the highly-viscous fluid dribbling from the head of it.

Despite herself, Ripley felt the heat of raw lust blush her cheeks and moisten her groin. Quickly she unbuttoned her pants, dropped them to the floor and kicked them off near her blouse, then unclasped her bra and removed them and her panties. She shivered, but she was not cold. The air in the room was unnaturally warm.

Newt, the queen, and her soon-to-be lover watched her. The queen filled her with acceptance and a sense of patience. She knew she had a little over an hour still until the fusion plant would overheat... plenty of time. Trembling, she approached the alien. Gently she touched the large, smooth shape of its head. It was hard, unyielding to her touch. She felt down its face to its teeth, feeling their sharpness. Despite the softness of her touch, she cut herself on them and her finger began to bleed a bit. Startled she sucked on her injured finger. The alien's warm breath felt surprisingly good on her face. Off-white goo seeped through the alien's teeth and began to fell towards the ground slowly. With her other hand, Ripley felt the fluid. It felt thick, but lubricating.