The door slid upward as she approached, revealing a downward staircase, which led Ripley into a four-way corridor junction. At least this part of Sevastopol was well-illuminated, allowing her to see everything around her, not that there was much for her to see at the moment. To the left was an elevator with a red indicator light above it, meaning that it was either broken or locked down, there was some kind of security booth up ahead, although there was no one inside, and to the right was another door... that slid open almost instantly after she looked at it.

"You!" A voice exclaimed over the intercom. "You there! Come in, quickly!"

Well, at least it wasn't another Working Joe, since they all shared that deep, empty voice, and the crazy people around didn't seem too keen on talking to people, so this appeared to be her best bet. Rushing through the door, Ripley now found herself inside some kind of waiting room, where it looked like there had once been lots of people... who must've left in a hurry to leave so much trash and belongings behind. There was also a reception office, where a nervous looking man was sitting at the desk.

"I'm Kuhlman." He said when she approached the window. "Dr. Kuhlman; I'm so happy to see... anyone at all."

"You're a doctor?!" She exclaimed hopefully. "My friend is hurt... she's at the Transit Hub just outside the lower levels... do you have medical supplies, or a trauma kit in there with you?"

Her hopes were dashed a little when he informed her that he did not, and a little more so when he said that there was nothing of that sort on this level. Apparently everything had been moved downstairs to the hospital dispensary, but the only way down there was the elevator she had passed by a moment ago, and it was locked down so that only one of San Cristobal's executives could open it in case of emergency.

"That is the dumbest crap I have ever heard." Ripley said angrily. "So how are we supposed to get down there, then?"

"Dr. Morley had the keycard." Kuhlman explained. "He was up here, but then he took the transit car over to Communications in the next tower... and hasn't come back yet. The only thing I can think of is that there might be a spare in his office. Just head through the next door; it's all the way at the end, and once you've got the key we'll go down to the lower levels together."

He pressed a button on his console, causing the door at the far end of the waiting room to slide open, and apparently Dr. Kuhlman was content to wait there while she went to find the key. Letting out an angry huff as she turned toward the door, part of her wanted to smack him for the way he was acting. Wasn't there some kind of sacred man-rule or something about them being having to act brave and protective when a woman was around? Oh well, at least her task was an easy one this time.

Past the next door there was a very long hallway, and judging by the painted signs on the walls, this area of the hospital looked like it had once been some kind of psychiatric ward, which would explain the need to be able to lock it down in a hurry so that dangerous patients couldn't escape. The hallway took several turns, past observation rooms, patient lounges, and there were even a few padded isolation cells... probably for if the worst patients got too crazy. Sure, that thought was a little insensitive, considering where she was, but it wasn't like anyone was around to hear what she was thinking... okay, now that thought was just weird.

Finally reaching the end of the corridor, the door slid open, and sure enough, she found herself inside of Morley's office. The good doctor was nowhere to be found, but the good news was that Kuhlman was right about a second key being left in the office. Unfortunately, it was locked behind a security glass, and Ripley didn't know the code to open it. The computer terminal on the desk was password locked as well, but maybe she wouldn't need it. Taking the maintenance jack, and swinging it at the glass as hard as she could, the transparent plate didn't break or even crack... but it shook a bit as if it had come loose.

Touching the glass, Ripley was pleasantly surprised by how much it moved, which was enough to get the end of the maintenance jack in between it and the frame. Now bending it backwards, she pulled and pulled until there was a loud pop as the security glass plate was thrown from its frame, followed by a clang when it hit the floor. This allowed her to reach in and grab the cardkey, and now all she had to do was get it back to Kuhlman. So she left the office and was on her way back down the winding corridor, when a loud crash made her jump. There, farther down the corridor, a ceiling grate had fallen from the vent, allowing something big to crawl out of it.

"Oh, no." She whispered as it stood up to its full height. "No, no, no, no, no."

Ducking down behind a nearby gurney, Ripley knew that this was probably the worst hiding place that she could think of, but then the creature turned and marched into one of the side rooms, giving her a chance to find a better one. Not wanting to give it the chance to come back out and see her, she quickly rushed through a nearby door into one of the other side rooms, but regretted it just as quickly when it turned out to be a dead end. It was some kind of shower room, with benches, and a few small lockers for storing extra clothes. None of this helped her, and she was about to risk going back into the corridor, when a sound made her stop breathing.

It was footsteps; loud ones like the ones she had heard back in the Transit Hub of the SYS/TEC Tower, and if she could hear them through the door, they had to have been pretty close. Then the door started to slide open, and out of panic more than anything, Ripley ran to one of the open lockers, squeezing inside and quietly pulling the door shut just as it entered the room. Through the vent holes in the locker's door, she could see a massive form walking around the room, and for a moment wished that she could actually get a good look at the creature. Of course, this was also the last thing she wanted, but then all thoughts stopped when turned toward her.

For a moment the creature was still, giving her hope that it would leave, but then it started forward again, coming right up to the door. Holding her breath and trying to stay as far back from the vent holes as possible, it was hard to keep her knees from shaking when it got closer, and she nearly pissed herself when its lips curled back to reveal a set of rather human looking teeth. Suddenly there was another sound, like something fell in one of the other rooms, making the creature growl as it turned away from the locker. It then scurried out of the room, and Ripley scrambled out of the locker the moment it was gone.

Not wanting to waste what might be her only chance to get away, she left the room, fearing that the creature would be right there waiting for her, but thankfully it wasn't. She didn't know where it had gone to, nor did she care as she sprinted back down the corridor, and once she had reached the waiting room again, she punched the emergency override button on the door, locking it.

"What happened?!" Kuhlman asked, looking worried as she approached. "Did something happen in there, are you all right?"

"Here... the elevator key." Ripley replied, trying to catch her breath as she shoved the key through the small window. "Unlock it... we gotta go."

He seemed to understand the urgency, so the doctor got up without another word of protest, and took the key. There was a side door within the office that connected to the security room near the locked elevator, so Kuhlman used that while Ripley retraced her path back to the four-way junction. So far there was no sign of the creature as she got back to the security office, and a moment later the doctor reached the controls. She leaned with her hand on the glass, still trying to catch her breath, but managing to breathe a sigh of relief when the indicator light above the elevator turned green.

"There, all done." Kuhlman said with a smile. "Now let's go help your friend."

Ripley started to smile back, but found herself unable to as the door behind him slid open, and she was finally able to get a good look at the creature as walked into the security office. It looked to be about seven feet tall, with an elongated head, and covered with a kind of black oily exoskeleton. Its clawed hands and spear-like tail were even worse now than she remembered, and as much as she wanted to warn Kuhlman, all she managed to do was stare behind him while gasping. When the doctor finally did turn around, he didn't even have time to scream before the creature grabbed him by the shoulders and opened its mouth in order to stab him through the head with... another mouth... inside of its mouth?

Whatever it was, the shock of seeing this happen made Ripley let out a high-pitch scream of mortal terror, but then she froze again when the creature dropped Kuhlman's body and looked at her. It approached, moving right up to the security glass, and placing its hand on it as if to test its stability. Then it struck the glass with its inner mouth, making a small crack in it, and breaking Ripley's paralysis as she jumped back and fell on her rear. The creature shrieked as it turned away and jumped up into the office's vent, giving her only seconds to scramble into the now open elevator on all fours; reaching up and hitting the button just as a nearby vent grate was knocked to the floor.

"Oh, shit." She whispered as it crashed to the floor. "Come on, close, please, close."

The doors began to close at the same time that the creature crawled out of the vent, allowing it to look at her and growl just as they closed completely. Suddenly something struck the door hard enough to make a small dent, making Ripley scream again, but then the elevator started moving, once again allowing her to escape from the creature. But how had it gotten all the way there from the Transit Hub where she had met Burke? It would've had to make its way up multiple levels, as well as crossing through space from tower to tower, but why would it do that unless...

Unless it was hunting her specifically.

Plz sir or miss, will you kindly tell me if I should continue this book. Or is it garbage?