DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Alien stuff belongs to Fox. Actually, one of the clones belongs to me, I guess. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. Anyway, for the sake of easier differentiation of the two clones I'm going to refer to the original Ripley clone as Ripley 1 and to the other clone as Ripley 2. Sometimes, it may be a bit difficult to follow the dialogues.

The Power of Love
By Kristjan Brezovnik

A small ship arrived to the space where the Auriga used to be a couple of hours ago.

The pilot was Human, at least on the outside, and she was a predator. She had dark curly hair and dark eyes and only her nails gave away the other part of her heritage.

She scanned the space, but the Auriga was gone. There were some debris, but not enough for a ship that size. The pilot considered her options for a moment and then set a course. She flew slowly trough the debris until she found what she was looking for. Then she set her engines to full.

In the meantime, the Auriga had reached Earth. Ripley made sure Call was safely fastened and then went to the cockpit.

The cockpit was a mess. Vriess hit his head when the ship hit the atmosphere and was unconscious. Johner tried to fly the ship to the best of his abilities, but the ship had been damaged.

He glanced at Ripley as she came in.

"We're gonna be one big pancake leftovers."

Ripley sat down and helped him. Together they managed to steer the Betty away from the Auriga's crash course. They were still too fast, but slowly, very slowly, Ripley managed to decrease their speed.

They were about a kilometer above the ground when the Auriga hit the dirt. The explosion was huge and the shock wave destroyed everything within a hundred kilometers.

Ripley had just begun to check the landing gear when the shock wave hit them and took them along for the ride.

"Get us higher!" Johner called.

"I can't! I'm gonna try and push us through the shock wave!"

"Okay!"

Ripley turned the ship around, which wasn't an easy task, considering that she was riding a shock wave. Finally, she succeeded and increased power to the engines. The engines whined under the pressure, but held.

They managed to push through the shock wave and Johner was about to congratulate Ripley when their luck ran out.

"We're going down!" Ripley announced as the engines coughed and died.

Johner looked through the windows.

"Shit," he said and watched as the ground approached them much too fast for his taste.

When Ripley woke up, everything was silent. For a moment she thought that she was aboard the Auriga, but then the memories came back and quickly gave way to pain. She moaned and opened her eyes. They were on the ground. She felt a cold breeze caressing her hair and she looked around. She noticed that the cockpit had been torn away from the rest of the ship. She looked at Johner and immediately noticed the unnatural position of his head. She looked around for Vriess, but all she saw was a thick red puddle of blood under some part of the Betty.

She sighed and checked her own body. Beside some cuts and a major headache she was okay. She buried her fingers into the debris that lay over her legs and had nearly smashed her head and pushed it away. She got up and tried to stretch, but her body still hurt.

Then she remembered Call. She looked around for a way out of the cockpit. She decided that the door would be the best way. She went to it and noticed that it was jammed. She thrust her fingers into the slit between the two parts and pushed. The door protested, but soon subdued to the raw strength of Ripley's hybrid muscles. She then cleared some of the debris and jumped out.

She took a deep breath and looked around. She saw the rest of the Betty near-by and slowly ran to it. She soon located the cargo hold's door.

"Call!" she called. "Call, can you hear me!"

"Yes!" came the answer from the ship.

"How are you?!"

"I'm stuck!"

"I'll be right there!"

Ripley climbed inside and looked around. Everything was a mess. Full and empty crates lied around, cables and parts of the ship stuck among the harnesses. She grabbed the nearest harness and pulled. Everything moved. She jumped out and continued to pull until most of the debris was out. Then she climbed back in and saw that Call had managed to free herself.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Fine."

Ripley didn't believe her.

"Call."

"Not good. I'm still leaking fluid into my chest cavity. I've managed to shut down most of the leakage, but not all. If I don't get help within three days, I'll die."

"Would the med packs from the Betty help?"

"Probably, but I'll still need professional help."

"I know. Come, I'll help you down."

Ripley helped Call out of the ship and into a shadow.

"Wait here, I'll see if I can find some med packs."

Call nodded and Ripley left.

When the small ship finally reached Earth, the pilot immediately noticed the Auriga's crash site. Except some pieces of debris there was nothing left in the area of hundred kilometers around the center of the impact.

She was about to begin her descent when she suddenly felt a presence near by, a presence she loathed. She checked her instruments and quickly located the object. She turned the ship around and zoomed a camera on it.

It was an alien all right, but it was different, very different. She loaded a missile, aimed and fired. The missile shot out toward the alien and exploded on impact, vaporizing it. When she was satisfied that there was nothing left of the creature, the pilot turned her ship around again and scanned the impact area. She soon located an object near the edge of the impact zone. It was another ship or what was left of it. She prepared two missiles and descended through the atmosphere. She was about to fire when she felt her, the queen. She forced the presence out of her mind and blew up the Betty.

Satisfied that nothing was left of the ship, she headed toward the remains of the Auriga. She used another two missiles and vaporized the debris. The she headed in the direction in the direction from which she had felt the queen.

She soon spotted the place where she knew the queen would build a new hive. The place looked like a military base and Ripley grinned when she thought of the dead soldiers.

She was about to land when she detected a small object, an escape pod. She changed course and annihilated it. Then she landed a couple of kilometers away from the hive.

Ripley and Call took a break before going into the base. While Call guarded their equipment, Ripley went scouting.

Finally, Call heard footsteps. She looked and saw that it was Ripley. She looked different and Call watched for a few moments before she realized that she was carrying something.

"I've finished the meal," she said when Ripley got to her. "What're you… You're not Ripley."

Ripley grabbed her throat and took a closer look.

"You're an android," she declared after she smelled her.

"Yes," Call confirmed.

"You know me?"

"Not you. Someone…"

"Ripley."

"Yes."

"She's here. She is from the Auriga?"

"Yes."

"What…"

Ripley suddenly stopped, let go of Call and turned around. There was another Ripley. Call stared at the two women, confused. They slowly approached each other and smelled each other. Then they circled and observed each other like two predators.

"Where are you from?" Ripley 2 demanded.

"The Auriga."

"They were supposed to destroy all Ripley clones."

"Yes, but they found me interesting enough."

"What happened?"

"She came aboard with some smugglers to kill me," Ripley 1 said and pointed at Call. "The aliens escaped and killed the crew. We escaped in the smugglers' ship and crashed."

"They are still alive."

"Yes. We were going to destroy them."

"Good." She turned to Call. "Do you have anything to eat?"

Call glanced at Ripley 1.

"Ah, yes."

"Give me some."

Ripley 2 followed Call, but she kept her eye on Ripley 1 as well. Call gave her some food and Ripley 2 ate it.

"Who are you?" Call asked the stranger.

"A Ripley clone."

"But from where?"

"Dromba."

"Dromba?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand."

"The blood sample from the original Ripley was first used to recreate the original Ripley and the alien inside her. But that didn't quite work, because the clones were never fully Human. So they decided to split the blood sample into three parts. They assigned three ships to the project. On my ship, they produced Ripley clones and they trained us to be soldiers. On the Auriga, they produced aliens and tried to control them. On the third ship, they produced the mixture of the first two, aliens with the brain and individuality of Humans.

We rebelled and killed the crew. Then we sent out three ships. One was to destroy the third location, one was to destroy the base where they first performed the experiments and where now the data was being stored and I was sent to destroy the Auriga. The other two have succeeded."

They were quiet for a while.

"How many Ripley clones were there?" Ripley 1 finally asked.

"79 that lived."

Ripley 1 thought.

"What was that thing?" Ripley 2 asked.

"What thing?"

"In space. It looked like an alien, but it was different."

"That was the Newborn."

"Explain."

"The queen on my ship went through two cycles. In the first, she lay eggs and in the second, she gave birth to the Newborn."

"Only one?"

"Yes."

They were quiet until the Ripley clones finished eating. Then Ripley 2 took off her gear.

"The android stays here," she said.

"Her name is Call," Ripley 1 said.

Ripley 2 rose her eyebrows slightly, but she didn't comment. She took a pair of gloves with long sharp blades at the end and gave one to Ripley 1.

"I have some grenades and a gun here. You will carry the gun," she said and gave Ripley 1 the gun. "We will go down, kill the aliens, set the nuke and return."

"What nuke?"

"I have three in my backpack."

"Oh."

"I wanna go with you," Call said.

"No. You will stay here and wait. If we don't come back in one hour, you will leave. My ship is in that direction," Ripley 2 said and pointed in the direction. "Fly to safety and then program it so that it will crash into the base. The aliens must not survive. Do you understand?"

Call nodded.

"Before you program the ship, send out the message which is already programmed. While we're gone, you start sealing the entrances to the base, I don't want any alien to escape. We will return through the same shaft."

"Okay," Call said and turned to Ripley 1. "Be careful."

Ripley 1 smiled and nodded.

"I will, I promise."

The three women got up. Ripley 2 started to leave, but Ripley 1 stopped and hugged Call. Then the two cloned women left.

The base was dark and all the power supply seemed to be gone. The air stank of Human remains and of something alien. Both clones felt the aliens and their new queen. They proceeded along the dark corridors on instinct alone. They had no sensors or even torch-lights. Their eyes were as good as those of the aliens and their sense of smell was also improved. They smelled the path where the aliens moved and they heard them pass a couple of times. They descended several levels before they ran into the first alien. Ripley 1 wanted to use the gun, but Ripley 2 stopped her.

"Not yet. You'll use the gun when we get to the nest."

Ripley 1 nodded and put the gun away.

The alien was approaching slowly, confused by their familiar smell. Ripley 2 stood still and waited for the alien to come closer. When it did, she slashed through its head and jumped away. The alien's corpse fell to the floor, still twitching. They moved on.

"There's a small group coming from that direction," Ripley 1 said when they got to a junction and pointed right.

Ripley 2 gently pulled her back and they waited.

The aliens soon approached the junction, alerted by the smell of the two clones. When they reached the junction, Ripley 2 attacked and Ripley 1 quickly followed her. They used their gloves to kill the aliens and they managed to kill four before the others started to fight back. The aliens slashed around with their tails and tried to puncture the two clones with their secondary jaws.

"They know we're here," Ripley 2 said when they were done. "One of them has escaped."

Ripley 1 nodded.

"How come these gloves don't melt?" she asked.

"Because they're made of the same material as we."

Ripley 1 rose her eyebrows, but didn't comment. They moved on.

They only occasionally met one of the aliens.

"They will meet us at the end where they can attack from all sides," Ripley 1 said.

Ripley 2 nodded and stopped.

"We're near. A couple of hundred meters," she said and took out a nuke and a grenade. "I'll set the nuke for fifteen minutes. When we enter the nest, I want you to make a hole into the queen so I'll throw the nuke into her."

"Won't it melt?"

"Not this one. Its armor is made of the same material as the gloves."

"Oh."

"Are you ready?" Ripley 1 nodded. "Let's go."

They moved.

When they got close to the entrance, the aliens suddenly attacked.

"Shoot them," Ripley 2 said and threw a grenade past them.

Ripley 1 took her gun and quickly disposed of the first aliens. A few moments later, the grenade exploded and cleared the entrance for a few moments. Ripley 2 ran into the nest and Ripley 1 followed her.

"The queen!" Ripley 2 said and pointed at the queen.

Ripley 1 opened fire. Ripley 2 quickly threw two more grenades, one on each side.

"Done!" Ripley 1 finally called.

Ripley 2 looked and ran to the queen. When she was close enough, she threw the nuke into the hole. Then she took out the grenades and started throwing them around. Ripley 1 gave her cover.

"Some of them are getting away!" Ripley 2 suddenly called.

Ripley 1 fired at the fleeing aliens, but only managed to kill two and wound another.

"I'm running out of ammo!"

"Save it for the ones that got away! We'll finish these by hand!"

Ripley 1 nodded and attacked.

Outside, Call was sealing off the entrances. She had three more when she suddenly heard noise in the shaft she was just sealing. She saw an alien climb up and she shot it. She quickly sealed the hatch and ran to the next one. She sealed it and ran to the last. Then she returned to the shaft through which the Ripley clones entered the base. She just got around the corner when she saw an alien climb out of the shaft. She hid behind the corner and observed the aliens as they came out. She quickly checked her ammo. When she looked back at the aliens, she saw that one was approaching her. She took a deep breath and waited. It hadn't spotted her yet.

When she heard the alien's steps, she stepped around the corner and shot it a few times. She hid again and quickly glanced around the corner to make sure that the alien was really dead. It was, but now the others were approaching. She took a deep breath and then stepped around the corner and started shooting the aliens. The aliens immediately started running and most of the managed to avoid her shots.

The aliens made a circle around her and carefully approached her. Suddenly, one of them attacked her. She killed it, but the next was right behind it. She managed to kill it too, but the next one landed on top of her. She saw its secondary jaw shot out toward her and she closed her eyes. She heard shots and the weight on her chest was suddenly gone. Call opened her eyes and saw the alien lying dead next to her. She looked around and saw the aliens charge their new enemy. Call got up and saw the two Ripley clones run toward her. She picked up her gun and ran toward them.

The Ripley clones effectively started to dispose of the aliens, one by one.

"I'm out of ammo!" Ripley 1 finally reported and threw away the gun.

Both clones attacked with their gloves. Call helped them with what ammo she had left.

When, finally, nothing moved anymore, Ripley 2 started counting the aliens.

"Are you okay?" Ripley 1 asked Call.

Call nodded.

"Yes. You were just in time. Were you successful down there?"

"Yes. We killed most of the aliens and the queen. Ripley is counting the bodies of those that got away."

"Oh."

"One is missing," Ripley 2 reported.

"I shot one when it tried to get out through a shaft I was just sealing," Call said.

"Then they're all dead. Go to my ship and do as I told you. You have roughly five minutes before the nuke explodes. Send the ship back one minute after you see the cloud."

"What about you?"

"We can't leave. We have to die so that no trace of the alien genes will remain behind."

Call stared at Ripley 2, shocked. She turned to Ripley 1, who was also surprised at first, but she knew that Ripley 2 was right, they had to die.

"She's right, Call. Go."

Call stared at her for a few moments and then hugged her. Ripley 1 hugged her back.

"I'll miss you," Call said when she broke the hug.

Ripley 1 smiled and caressed her.

"Go now," she said.

"You will not be forgotten," she said and looked at both clones. "People will remember Ellen Ripley."

Both Ripley clones smiled and watched as Call ran away.

"Let's get away from here," Ripley 2 said and started running.

Ripley 1 followed her.

"I thought you said we had to die," she said while running.

"We will."

They ran for a couple of minutes and then stopped and waited. Suddenly, the ground trembled beneath their feet as the nuke in the nest exploded.

"Let's go back," Ripley 2 said and started running again.

Ripley 1 followed her.

When they got back to where the base used to be, there was a crater there. Ripley 2 looked in the direction where her ship was and saw that Call had managed to fly away. She took out another nuke, programmed it and threw it into the crater. Then she took out the last nuke and programmed it. Ripley 1 quietly observed her.

"This nuke will go off just before the one in the crater does," Ripley 2 finally explained and took a deep breath.

Ripley 1 took her hand and gently squeezed it. She smiled softly and Ripley 2 smiled back.

Call had programmed the ship and sent the message and now she waited. When she finally saw the mushroom cloud, she did the android equivalent of gulping. She waited for a minute and then sent the ship on its suicide course. A couple of minutes later, she could see the ship disappear into the crater and a moment later a giant mushroom cloud appeared. She sighed. It was not fair that people like Ripley had to die because of greedy and stupid people. Ripley will not be forgotten, swore and left.

The End