Alan Foster: Alien: Covenant - Origins: The Official Movie Prequel

Ngata explained. “In my childhood, I was exposed to the exploits of a national hero, Hiroshi Hoketsu. He was twice the oldest person to compete in the old international Olympics, and the oldest competitor ever for Japan.”

A look of understanding came over Lopé’s face. “Let me guess. Equestrian competition.”

Ngata nodded. “I wanted to be like him, but horses are expensive to maintain. More so than guns. I have maintained an affection for both, and follow developments in both.” Turning, he gestured into the woods. “I knew immediately that two of the creatures running could not be actual horses. So I took a gamble, and shot one.”

“Good call. Good shot,” Lopé grunted. “I love horses, too. Preferably broiled and medium-rare.” At the look that came over Ngata’s face, the sergeant hastened to reassure him. “A joke. Just a joke. Come on. I’ll buy you dinner when we get back to the city and you can tell me everything about the briefing you received before you arrived here.”

“I cannot tell you everything.” They started toward the car that had brought Lopé and Rosenthal. “Company policy.”

The sergeant pursed his lips. “I’ll settle for what you can tell me. It won’t matter anyway. In a little while I’ll be snug in deepsleep and unable to tell anyone anything. Besides,” he added cheerfully, “I know a great Uzbek restaurant that services horse steak and… just a joke, my friend, just a joke.”

Except this time, it wasn’t.

The security convoy reconvened back on the road leading to the farm complex. Lopé’s wish was granted as he was present when the captured prophet and his escort were loaded into the same truck as the quartet of previously detained colleagues. Instead of cries of anguish and distress, however, there were only brief nods of recognition. The captives’ expressions hardly changed.

It made no sense, and that bothered him.

With the capture of the prophet and the council, their entire organization had been broken. Yet no one seemed to care . This didn’t fit with the behavior of fanatics. Were they that confident of their lawyers? Did they expect to be released on their own recognizance? If so, he told himself, they greatly underestimated the influence of Weyland-Yutani, and the ability of Hideo Yutani to carry a grudge.

Or was he overlooking something?

I’m worrying too much , he told himself. We’ve more than done our part, helped take down the enemy that’s been bedeviling us. It was time to relax a little, enjoy the last sights and sounds and smells of Earth, before embarking on the final shuttle flight back up to the Covenant . Goodbye to Mother Earth and hello to Mother, the ship’s pervasive AI.

No surprises lurking there, at least.

Even so, as Bevridge was shaking his hand and going on and on about the success of the operation, the sergeant couldn’t escape a nagging unease at the sight of the preternatural calm displayed by the departing captives.

It did not bother Hideo Yutani that a typhoon was predicted to hit the islands. As far as he was concerned, the real storm, the important storm, was over.

Ngata had contacted him with the good news. The Earthsavers—the organization that had violently attempted to halt the scheduled departure of the Covenant —had been shattered, its so-called “prophet” captured and its center overrun. Once Weyland-Yutani specialists had a chance to run through the organization’s records and files, the rest of its acolytes could be identified and rounded up.

The man deserved a promotion… except that agents like Ngata did not get promoted. There was no level, no company specification, to which they could be promoted. They were simply valued, and moved around as necessary.

One more piece on the chessboard , he told himself as he stared out the window of the tower residence. Employed in service to the company. In this case, in service of getting the colonization mission under way. Yutani himself would not live to confirm the ship’s arrival at Origae-6, of course. That did not matter.

What mattered was that the last obstacle had been removed, and mankind’s destiny could proceed. Knowing that all was well, he called for a drink and settled down to celebrate… alone, as was his wont.

“You ever done a shuttle jump before?”

Seated across from the sergeant, Rosenthal licked her lips and tried to appear less nervous than she was as she pressed back into her jump seat as hard as she could.

“Just simulations.”

Lopé nodded thoughtfully. “Simulations. They’re okay.” Peering over at the private, he tried to think of a way to reassure her. “You know there’s no danger. Jumping to orbit is a thousand times safer than crossing the street in any major city.”

“I’m aware of the statistics.” She snugged even further back into her seat. “Stats don’t eliminate the fact that you’re leaving Earth and going out into a vacuum.”

He frowned. “If you’re so uneasy about going out into space, what the hell made you sign up for a colonization mission?”

Looking over at him, she smiled tightly. “There’s only two jumps. Earth to the Covenant and the Covenant to the surface of Origae-6. I figure I can handle that.”

The opportunity to prove she could do so came with the roar of the shuttle’s engines as it lifted off from the Wash spaceport. As Lopé relaxed, closing his eyes, settling back into his seat, listening to music via an aural disc, every muscle in Rosenthal’s body tensed. She didn’t seem to breathe until the engines cut off and the shuttle entered a rendezvous trajectory in free space.

Opening one eye to check her again, Lopé hoped that if she was going to throw up, she would have sense enough to utilize the vacuum port slotted into the seat in front of her. He was pleased to see that she kept control of her guts, if not her emotions.

Shutting off his music with a sigh, he continued their conversation. It was better for her to look at him than the rotating view of the Earth outside her port. Keeping her occupied helped, until the looming bulk of the Covenant drew their attentions away from her disquiet.

Luckily docking went smoothly. Once through the main airlock, and with the ship’s artificial gravity reassuringly underfoot, Rosenthal finally relaxed. While the rest of the shuttle’s passengers disembarked and cargo was unloaded—including the private’s personal effects—they went to meet with Daniels. The captain was otherwise occupied with a never-ending series of pre-departure tasks.

“Good to see you back, Sergeant.” Daniels shook Lopé’s hand, then turned to take the measure of the security team’s final recruit. “The company has forwarded your particulars, Private Rosenthal. In addition, Lopé added some good things to say about you.”

Her zero-gee distress forgotten, Rosenthal glanced over at her superior.

“Lies. All lies.”

“Well, it’s good to recognize your own shortcomings.” There were grins all around.

Lopé excused himself. “I should see how the rest of the team is doing, let them know I’m back.”

Daniels nodded, then offered Rosenthal a smile. “I’ll show you to your quarters. There’ll be more space than you probably expect, especially for a single crew member. Not that it matters much, since we’ll all spend the majority of the trip in deepsleep. We have some luxuries you’ll appreciate. Dining and exercise area if you want human interaction while we’re awake and carrying out maintenance and recharge duties. Large shower facilities. Every little extra matters when you’re light-years from home.”