"Steve Perry - Aliens 03 - The Female War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

worried her was getting past the guard shipsтАФbut they were watching for incoming transport mostly, had
been posted to ward off a possibly infected ship or one manned by somebody dangerous, like the mad
General Spears who had brought Billie and Wilks along as stowaways.

It should work. Ripley hoped it would be as easy as it looked, but she knew from experience that
things rarely were as easy as they looked.

She had concentrated so completely on getting the thing together that there hadn't been time to
relax. Not that there had ever been time for that once she'd run into the aliens. For her, it hadn't been that
long. In realtime, it had been the better part of a century. Now the fucking things owned Earth, and
humankind was a third-class local power.

Her hatred for the creatures was as much a part of her as her hair color or height. It affected
everything she did, was the force behind all she had gone through to get where she was. She smiled
wryly. Where was she? Sitting in the dark preparing to lead a group of fighters to steal a ship, fly across
the galaxy, capture the queen of queens. And, eventually, use their captive to lure and kill every one of
the goddamned aliens.

Ripley sighed. The choices she had made were simple ones, of basic morality, right and wrong. But
now it had gone beyond just her. This could cost lives, could mean the end of her own. She usually knew
better than to try and take responsibility for the people around her, but this felt different.

Shit, it always felt different.

It helped to know one thingтАФshe didn't want to die, but if it meant taking that queen bitch out, or
taking the bitch's spawn, she would. That choice had been made after the Nostromo, and it had become
everything to her. The things had cost her too much. Her crew. Her family. Her whole life. She had
nothing else left.

Ripley closed her eyes and waited for the others.



9


Dunston and Tully walked down the corridor toward the entry of dock D6, loudly discussing
station politics. When they turned the corner to the dock, they would be in a position to see any guard
who might be present

Dunston signaled to Ripley, Wilks, and Falk, who were following. No guard.

Wilks was close enough to see Tully pull a small keyboard from her pack and plug it into a panel
set in the wall. She crouched down and quickly began to punch in codes.

"I don't know. I mean, it's one thing to say you're going to upgrade the conditions, but they've been
saying that since I got here...."

Wilks and the others continued slowly toward the door while Tully checked for monitors.