Чужой

           Astugcaptainhecouldspendmostofhisshiptimeinhypersleep,doingnothingbutdreamingandcollectinghissalary.Hedidn’thavetomakedecisionsinhypersleep.

           Soon,heassuredhimself.Soontheycouldallreturntotheprivatecomfortsoftheirindividualcoffins.Theneedleswouldcomedown,thesoporificswouldentertheirveinsandnumbtheirbrains,andtheywoulddriftpleasantlyaway,awaytothelandwheredecisionsnolongerhadtobemadeandtheunpleasantsurprisesofahostileuniversecouldnotintrude.

           Assoonastheyfinishedtheircoffee.

           ’Kanewillhavetogointoquarantine,’hesaidabsently,sippingathismug.

           ’Yeah,andsowillwe.’Ripleylookeddismayedatthethought.Thatwasunderstandable.TheywouldtravelallthewaybacktoEarth,onlytospendweeksinisolationuntilthemedicswereconvincednoneofthemharboredanythingsimilartowhathadflattenedKane.Visionsofgreengrassunderfootandblueskiesfilledhermind.ShesawabeachandablissfullygroundboundlittletownonthecoastofElSalvador.Itwaspainfultohavetoforcethemout.

           Eyesturnedasanewfigurejoinedthem.Lambertlookedtiredanddepressed.

           ’Howaboutalittlesomethingtoloweryourspirits?’shetoldthem.

           ’Thrillme.’Dallastriedtopreparehimselfmentallyforwhathesuspectedwascoming.Heknewwhatthenavigatorhadremainedonthebridgetoworkout.

           ’Accordingtomycalculations,basedonthetimespentgettingtoandfromthatunscheduledstopwemade,theamountoftimespentmakingthedetour.’