Science fiction plucks from within us our deepest fears and hopes
then shows them to us in rough disguise: the monster and the
rocket.
W.H. Auden
We live, as we dream -- alone.
Joseph Conrad
FADE IN
SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE:
INT. ENGINE ROOM
Empty, cavernous.
INT. ENGINE CUBICLE
Circular, jammed with instruments.
All of them idle.
Console chairs for two.
Empty.
INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL
Long, dark.
Empty.
Turbos throbbing.
No other movement.
INT. CORRIDOR - "A" LEVEL
Long, empty.
INT. INFIRMARY - "A" LEVEL
Distressed ivory walls.
All instrumentation at rest.
INT. CORRIDOR TO BRIDGE - "A" LEVEL
Black, empty.
INT. BRIDGE
Vacant.
Two space helmets resting on chairs.
Electrical hum.
3
Lights on the helmets begin to signal one another.
Moments of silence.
A yellow light goes on.
Data mind bank in b.g.
Electronic hum.
A green light goes on in front of one helmet.
Electronic pulsing sounds.
A red light goes on in front of other helmet.
An electronic conversation ensues.
Reaches a crescendo.
Then silence.
The lights go off, save the yellow.
INT. CORRIDOR TO HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Lights come on.
Seven gowns hang from the curved wall.
Vault door opens.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Explosion of escaping gas.
The lid on a freezer pops open.
Slowly, groggily, KANE sits up.
Pale.
Kane rubs the sleep from his eyes.
Stands.
Looks around.
Stretches.
Looks at the other freezer compartments.
Scratches.
Moves off.
INT. GALLEY
Kane plugs in a Silex.
Lights a cigarette.
Coughs.
Grinds some coffee beans.
Runs some water through.
KANE
Rise and shine, Lambert.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Another lid pops open.
A young woman sits up.
4
LAMBERT
What time is it.
KANE
(voice over)
What do you care.
INT. GALLEY
Pot now half-full.
Kane watches it drip.
Inhales the fragrance.
KANE
Now Dallas and Ash.
(calls out)
Good morning Captain.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Where’s the coffee.
KANE
Brewing.
LAMBERT walks into the kitchen.
Pours herself a cup.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Two more lids pop open.
A pair of men sit up.
Look at each other.
INT. GALLEY
Kane enjoys a freshly-brewed cup.
KANE
Ripley...
Another moment.
And then the sound of another lid opening.
KANE
And if we have Parker, can
Brett be far behind.
Lid opening sound.
5
KANE
Right.
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
DALLAS looks at his groggy circus.
DALLAS
One of you jokers get the cat.
RIPLEY picks up a limp cat out of one of the compartments.
INT. MESS
The crew of the United States commercial starship Nostromo
seated around a table.
Dallas.........Captain
Kane...........Executive Officer
Ripley.........Warrant Officer
Ash............Science Officer
Lambert........Navigator
Parker.........Engineer
Brett..........Engineering Technician
Jones..........Cat
Five men and two women: Lambert and Ripley.
LAMBERT
Jesus am I cold.
PARKER
Still with us, Brett.
BRETT
Yo.
RIPLEY
Lucky us.
They yawn, stretch, shiver.
Dallas looks over at a flashing yellow light.
KANE
I feel dead.
Kane is not yet fully awake.
Yawns.
6
PARKER
You look dead.
ASH
Nice to be back.
PARKER
Before we dock maybe we’d
better go over the bonus
situation.
BRETT
Yeah.
PARKER
Brett and I think we deserve a
full share.
DALLAS
You two will get what you
contracted for. Just like
everybody else.
BRETT
Everybody else gets more than us.
DALLAS
Everybody else deserves more
than you two.
ASH
Mother wants to talk to you.
DALLAS
I saw it. Yellow light for my
eyes only...Now, everybody hit
their stations.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM ANNEX
Floor to ceiling data banks.
Another flashing yellow light.
A legend underneath.
COMMAND PRIORITY ACCESS ONLY.
Dallas enters.
Sits at his console.
Removes insignia master computer key attached to his shirt.
Plug it into the board under the light.
7
All banks burst into life.
Dallas punches up a computer code on the keyboard.
Legend on the screen...
What’s my God damn key.
Print-out from computer answers...
01335 on the binary side.
DALLAS
Thank you Mother.
Dallas punches up the combination on the keyboard.
Immediately start getting a readout.
CUT TO:
INT. BRIDGE
Above eye level the room is ringed by viewscreens.
All of them blank.
Kane, Ripley, and Lambert enter.
Dallas’ seat remains empty.
All of them now dressed; they find their way to individual
consoles.
Ripley puts down the cat, straps herself into the highbacked
chair.
KANE
Plug us in.
All three crew members begin throwing switches.
The control room starts to come to life.
Colored lights flicker.
Chase each other across glowing screens.
KANE
Give us something to look at.
Lambert presses a bank of switches.
Viewscreens glimmer into life.
LAMBERT
Take a look at this.
On each screen, blackness speckled with stars.
8
LAMBERT
Where’s Earth.
KANE
You’re the navigator.
RIPLEY
That’s not our system.
KANE
Scan.
Lambert hits several toggles.
On the screens the images begin to drift.
ONE OF THE SCREENS
A moving image of a starfield.
EXT. NOSTROMO
The Factory Starship lumbering with the depths
of inter-stellar space.
Function: Petroleum tanker and Refinery.
Capacity: 2000,000,000 tons.
Length: One and one half kilometers.
Battered exterior encrusted with dark sludge.
INT. BRIDGE
Lambert pores over charts.
Consults her console.
Puzzled.
KANE
Contact traffic control.
Ripley switches on her transmission unit.
RIPLEY
This is commercial vessel Nostromo.
Registration number 180246. Do
you read me. Over.
Nothing but the hiss of static.
9
RIPLEY
Nothing.
KANE
Keep trying.
Turns to Lambert.
Ripley attempting transmission in b.g.
KANE
You got a reading yet.
LAMBERT
We’re way out in the boondocks
here...
KANE
Keep trying...
LAMBERT
Working on it.
Eureka.
LAMBERT
Found it.
KANE
Hard to believe.
LAMBERT
What the hell are we doing out
here.
KANE
What are you talking about.
RIPLEY
It’s not our system.
INT. ENGINE ROOM
Giant reactor system purring smoothly.
INT. ENGINE ROOM
PARKER and BRETT in a glass cubicle. Each having a beer.
Huge powerplant stretching before them.
All units on automatic hyper-drive.
10
Parker hits a switch above his desk. A green light goes on.
PARKER
How’s your light?
BRETT
Green.
PARKER
Mine too.
They both take a swig.
Suddenly a beeper signal begins.
PARKER
Christ. What is it now.
BRETT
Right.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
Report to the mess.
INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL
PARKER
I want to know why they never
come down here. This is where
the work is.
BRETT
Same reason we have half a
share to their one, our time is
their time, that’s the way they
see it.
PARKER
Well, I’ll tell you
something... it stinks.
They move towards the companionway.
INT. MESS
Entire crew present.
11
DALLAS
Some of you may have figured
out that we’re not home.
BRETT
What the hell.
DALLAS
Mother’s interrupted the course
of the voyage.
Mother is programmed to interrupt
the course of out voyage if
certain conditions arise. They
have...
(pause)
We’ve received intermittent
transmission from quadrant points
QBR 157, 052. Somebody’s gone
down.
BRETT
So what.
KANE
We’re obligated under Section B2...
PARKER
Christ. We’re a commerical ship
not some rescue team. This kind
of duty’s not in our contract.
ASH
You better read your contract.
Transmissions received in noncommercial
lanes...
Dallas gives Parker and Brett a look.
DALLAS
We’re going in, that’s it.
Brett knows when to ease up.
BRETT
Right, we’re going in.
(smiles)
Sir.
Dallas turns to ASH.
12
DALLAS
Can we land on it.
He takes a print-out from Mother out of his hand.
ASH
The other ship did.
DALLAS
That’s what I mean.
Studies the print-out.
ASH
It’s big enough. Can’t see any
reason why not.
CUT TO:
EXT. NOSTROMO AND REFINERY APPROACHING THE STAR/PLANET SYSTEM
INT. BRIDGE
Dallas at his console speaking to Ash.
DALLAS
We’re coming into range of the
planet. What kind of orbit do
you plan for the cargo.
ASH
Z local vertical mode.
DALLAS
You figure it will hold that.
ASH
You worried about redundancy
management disabling CMGS control.
DALLAS
Yeah.
13
ASH
CMG control is inhibited via
DAS/DCS. We’ll augment with
TACS and monitor through ATMDC
and computer interface.
(pause)
Feel better?
DALLAS
A lot.
EXT. NOSTROMO
Moving within range of the planet.
INT. BRIDGE
The crew strap themselves to their seats.
DALLAS
Prepare for separation and
orbital insertion of the cargo.
Much preparation for separation, etc.
DALLAS
Give me an EC Pressure reading.
ASH
3.45 n/c m^2 squared (5 psia)
DALLAS
Shout if it changes. Deactivate
probe retract system.
KANE
What about the pressure seal.
Dallas hits appropriate switches.
DALLAS
Now the probe retract system.
Kane hits other equally appropriate switches.
KANE
Okay.
14
DALLAS
Release captive hatches and
disengage probe.
Kane working switches and buttons.
KANE
Disengaged.
Dallas punches buttons of his own.
EXT. NOSTROMO
The Refinery separates from Nostromo.
INT. BRIDGE
Dallas watches the refinery moving away on a viewscreen.
KANE
All free and clear.
DALLAS
Ash.
ASH
Orbital insertion complete.
DALLAS
Okay. The money’s safe. Let’s
take it down.
EXT. NOSTROMO
Engines coughing to life.
Nostromo begins its descent.
Below night’s tide rolls across the planet’s surface.
INT. BRIDGE
The viewscreen shimmers.
RIPLEY
Turbulence.
EXT. NOSTROMO
Tug-module hydroplaning downward.
15
A set of brilliant lights switch on.
Cut through the thick atmosphere.
INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE
Parker and Brett strapped in their seats.
Begin rocking from the sudden, extreme turbulence.
PARKER
Chirst. Overloading. What the
hell are we going through.
BRETT
Dust fritzing the compressor.
PARKER
There goes the conversion
stabilizer.
BRETT
I don’t know if the digital
solenoid...
PARKER
Forget it. If we don’t crash,
dollars to your aunt’s cherry
we get an electrical fire...
INT. BRIDGE
The turbulence continues unabated.
Lambert’s eyes follow cross-plot gauges.
LAMBERT
Drop begins...now. Fifteen
kilometers and descending...
twelve...ten...eight and
slowing. Five. Three. Two.
One kilometer and slowing.
DALLAS
Lock tractor breams.
A loud electrical hum.
KANE
Locked.
16
DALLAS
Kill drive engines.
The engines fall silent.
LAMBERT
Nine hundred meters and dropping.
Eight hundred. Seven hundred.
EXT. PLANET - NIGHT
Storm blowing across the night-shrouded surface.
The Nostromo hovers on glowing beams of light.
Landing struts unfold like insect legs.
The ship slams down.
Rocks heavily on massive shock absorbers.
INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
RIPLEY
We’re down.
An enormous vibration.
The panels in the room flash simultaneously.
Light go out.
KANE
Lost it. Lost it.
INT. ENGINE ROOM
Another huge vibration.
An electrical fire breaks out along three control panels.
INT. OILY CORRIDOR
Huge flash fire whips along corridor.
INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE
Parker and Brett see the pandemonium below.
Brett hits the secondary generator switch.
A pressure valve blows.
Another conduit breaks loose.
All lights go out.
They grab hand lights from wall.
17
INT. BRIDGE
Still in darkness.
LAMBERT
Secondary generator should
kick over.
KANE
Where is it.
Moments. Nothing.
Kane grabs emergency headlamp from facia.
Followed by Dallas and Lambert.
DALLAS
What happened?
Ripley hits the voice-amp.
RIPLEY
Engine room, what happened.
PARKER
(voice over)
God damn electrical fire, that’s
what happened.
BRETT
(voice over)
It’s big.
INT. ENGINE ROOM
Parker fighting an electrical fire on one of his panels.
Brett shouting into his voice-amp.
BRETT
The intakes are clogged. We
overheated and burned out a
whole cell...Christ, it’s really
breaking loose down here...
INT. BRIDGE
DALLAS
Somebody give me a simple answer,
Has the hull been breached.
18
Ripley scans her gauges.
RIPLEY
I don’t see anything. We’ve still
got pressure.
A beep from the communicator.
DALLAS
Hit the screen.
Kane snaps three toggles.
The screens flicker, but remain black.
KANE
Nothing.
EXT. SHIP - NIGHT
The wind sounds.
Storm continues to blow around the craft.
A few glittering lights distinguish the Nostromo from
absolute darkness.
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Parker on the communicator to the bridge.
PARKER
4 panel is totally shot, the
secondary load sharing unit is
out, at least three cells on
12 module are gone.
INT. BRIDGE
Ripley listening to Parker.
Dallas standing over her.
No images on any screens.
RIPLEY
Is that it.
PARKER
(voice over)
Couldn’t fix it out here anyway.
And we need to reroute a couple
of these ducts. Can’t really fix
them without a whole drydock...
19
DALLAS
What else.
PARKER
(voice over)
We lost a cell. Some fragments
caked up and blew the whole
system. We’ve got to clean it
all out and repressurize.
BRETT
(voice over)
Right.
RIPLEY
Get started on 4 panel. I’ll
be down in five minutes.
She shuts off her voice communicator.
DALLAS
How long before we’re functional.
RIPLEY
Fifteen to twenty hours...
DALLAS
Stay on it. What about the
auxiliaries.
RIPLEY
Working on it.
EXT. SHIP - NIGHT
Bridge lights come to life.
Illuminate nothing but a patch of featureless ground.
The wind and storm now at a higher pitch.
INT. BRIDGE
Dallas, Kane, Lambert, and Ash.
Slouched around the bridge.
Drinking coffee.
Occasionally staring at the opaque screens.
DALLAS
Any response yet.
20
ASH
Nothing but the same transmission
every thirty-two seconds. All
the other channels are dead.
Pause.
DALLAS
Kick on the floods.
CUT TO:
EXT. SHIP
A ring of floodlights comes to life.
Dimly illuminating the rocky landscape.
The wind and dust now at a higher pitch.
CUT TO:
INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
Dallas stares at the dark screens.
KANE
We can’t go anywhere in this.
ASH
Mother says the sun’s coming up
in about twenty minutes.
DALLAS
How far from the source of the
transmission.
ASH
Northeast... about 3000 meters.
KANE
Close enough to walk.
DALLAS
Let’s run an atmospheric.
Ash punches buttons, starts to consult his panel.
21
ASH
10 percent agron, 85 precent
nitrogen, 5 percent neon...I’m
working on the trace elements.
DALLAS
Pressure.
ASH
Ten to the fourth dynes per square
centimeter.
KANE
Moisture content.
ASH
None. Zero.
DALLAS
Anything else.
ASH
Rock, lava base. And cold...
well below the centrigrade line.
KANE
I volunteer for the first group
going out.
DALLAS
I hear you. Lambert. You too.
Pause.
LAMBERT
Swell.
DALLAS
One more thing. Let’s get out
some weapons.
EXT. SHIP - DAWN
Sunrise.
The atmosphere begins to lighten.
Silhouette of the Nostromo becoming dimly visible.
Starship perched on barren rock.
More rolling clouds of dust.
The floodlights automatically shut off.
22
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Parker and Brett laser welding one of the ducts.
Shirts off.
Sweat steaming.
Ripley rewiring one of the panels.
Parker shuts down the laser, inspects the fusion.
PARKER
Hey, Ripley, I got a question.
RIPLEY
Yeah.
PARKER
Do we get to go out on the
expedition or are we stuck here
until everything’s fixed.
RIPLEY
You know the answer to that.
BRETT
What about the shares in case
they find anything.
RIPLEY
Don’t worry, you’ll both get
what’s coming to you.
BRETT
I’m not doing any more work unless
we get full shares.
RIPLEY
You’re guaranteed by law that
you’ll get a share... Now both
of you knock it off and get back
to work.
Parker looks at her.
Snaps on the laser weld.
Starts to join another section of the duct.
BRETT
Right.
23
INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN
Dallas, Kane and Lambert enter the lock.
All wear gloves, boots, jackets.
Carry laser pistols.
Kane touches a button.
Servo whine.
Then the inner door slides quietly shut.
The trio pull on their helmets.
DALLAS
I’m sending. Do you hear me.
KANE
Receiving.
LAMBERT
Receiving.
DALLAS
All right. Keep away from the
weapons unless I say otherwise.
INT. ASH’S BLISTER - DAWN
Ash descends companionway to blister.
Punches up screens and instrumentation.
INT. MAIN AIR LOCK - DAWN
DALLAS
Open the hatch.
Another servo whine.
Ponderously, the outer lock hatch slides open.
Clouds of dust and steam swirl before the three crew members.
A mobile gangway slides out the open hatch.
Burnt orange sunlight beyond.
EXT. PLANET - DAWN
The trio walk down the gangplank.
Arrive at surface level.
Their feet striking onto a thick layer of lava rock.
The wind at gale force.
DALLAS
Which way.
24
LAMBERT
Over here.
DALLAS
You lead.
Lambert walks into the storm.
Followed closely by the others.
LAMBERT
Now I can’t see a God damn thing.
ASH
(voice over)
Turn on the finder.
DALLAS
It’s on...Ash are you receiving.
INT. ASH’S BLISTER - DAWN
Ash leaning over his console.
Watches them beneath him.
Corresponding images on the screen in front of him.
ASH
See you. Read you. Good contact
on my board.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Getting you clear and free. Let’s
keep the line open.
EXT. PLANET - DAWN
The three crew members push their way along.
Like divers at the bottom of a dark sea.
The wind and dust continues driving down in dark sheets.
Lambert repeats.
LAMBERT
Can’t see more than three meters
in any direction.
KANE
Quit griping.
25
LAMBERT
I like griping.
DALLAS
Come on.
They wade on, following Lambert.
She halts abruptly.
Confused.
INT. BLISTER - DAWN
Ash watches intently.
Images on each screen of the trio.
LAMBERT
(voice over)
I’ve got it again.
ASH
Any problems.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Yeah. A lot of dust and wind.
Starting to get some fade on the
beam.
EXT. PLANET - DAWN
The trio moves through a dark limbo.
LAMBERT
This way.
Lambert indicates left.
Moves in that direction.
The others follow.
The storm growing.
KANE
It’s close.
They approach a towering rock formation.
The transmission stops.
LAMBERT
It’s gone again.
26
KANE
Did we pass it.
DALLAS
Not unless it’s underground.
Let’s take a break.
They shelter with the rock formation.
Storm howls round them.
Dallas adjusts headset.
The signal starts.
DALLAS
I’ve got it again. Let’s go.
LAMBERT
How about our break.
DALLAS
No. Let’s move on while we’ve
got the signal, again.
Dallas gets up.
They stand for a moment...
Then move away from the rock formation.
Fossilized into the other side of the rock is a shape.
Fifteen feet tall.
Unseen by the members of the party.
INT. BLISTER - DAWN
Ash receiving the video transmission.
Notices something within the formation.
Freezes the image.
Enlarges it.
Enlarges again.
EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE
Atmosphere turning the color of blood.
Then the sun is up.
EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNRISE
Brett and Parker still at work.
Ripley moves away from her panel in triumph...
27
RIPLEY
You ought to be able to handle
the rest.
PARKER
Don’t worry.
RIPLEY
If you run into trouble, I’ll be
on the bridge.
BRETT
Right.
She leaves.
PARKER
Bitch.
INT. BLISTER - DAY
Ash still working on the video image.
Enhances the enlargement.
Transfers the image to cathode ray.
The image reveals itself to be a giant form. Indistinct.
Ripley’s voice comes over.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
How’s it going.
Ash quickly shuts off the video image.
Hits the intercom.
INT. BRIDGE
Ripley at her console.
Looking at Ash on her screen.
Ash’s video image not visible to Ripley.
ASH
(voice over)
All right.
RIPLEY
Have you tried putting the
transmission through ECIU.
28
ASH
(voice over)
Mother hasn’t identified it as yet.
It’s not a language.
RIPLEY
I’ll give it a shot.
ASH
(voice over)
Be my guest.
She pushes some button.
The noise is now heard on her speaker.
EXT. PLANET - DAY
Dust clearing.
Three tiny figures against the landscape.
EXT. PLANET - DAY
Empty landscape.
Then Kane comes up over a rise startled by what he sees.
Suddenly the transmission is deafening.
KANE
Jesus Christ.
Dallas and Lambert join him equally startled.
THEIR P.O.V. - DAY
A gargantuan construction rising from the rock.
Clearly of nonhuman manufacture.
EXT. PLANET - DAY
Noise still at shrill pitch.
All members of the party shouting into their voice-amps.
KANE
Some kind of spaceship.
LAMBERT
Are you sure. It’s weird...
DALLAS
Ash, can you see this.
29
INT. ASH’S BLISTER - DAY
Ash looking at the craft on a screen.
ASH
Yeah. Never seen one like it.
Neither has Mother.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Keep checking for enhancement.
ASH
Whatever the transmission is,
it’s inside that.
KANE
(voice over)
I’ll go in and have a look.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Hold on. Ash, I don’t see any
lights or movements. Do you.
ASH
I can’t get any reading.
EXT. PLANET - DAY
ASH
(voice over)
It’s putting out so much power
I just can’t get any reading.
Dallas shuts off his receiver.
Sudden quiet.
A long moment.
DALLAS
It looks pretty dead from here.
We’ll approach the base.
They move toward the ship.
INT. BLISTER - DAY
Ash still adjusting image of form in rock.
30
It suddenly resolves.
A skeleton. Fifteen feet long.
He enlarges the image.
DALLAS
(voice over)
There’s only one thing I can...
Dallas’ voice fades in and out.
As do their images on the screen.
ASH
Dallas...
(frantically punches
buttons on console)
Dallas...Do you read me.
No reply.
INT. BRIDGE - DAY
Ripley is running the transmission through ECIU.
Over the speakers Dallas’ voice fades in.
DALLAS
(voice over)
No sign of life. No lights...
No movement...
She studies a long series of binary programs...
DALLAS
(voice over)
We’re beneath the base.
His voice fades into static.
Disappears.
CUT TO:
EXT. STRUCTURE - DAY
The lower part of the entrance filled with dust and pumice.
KANE
Looks like an entrance.
DALLAS
Yeah... Let’s move inside...
31
They climb up to one of the apertures and enter.
INT. CHAMBER - DAY
They move into a high-ceilinged chamber.
Walls covered with shadowy lattices.
Ghostly light filters dust-filled air.
A few meters in an opening appears.
Dallas leans over and looks into the hole.
Only blackness.
He unclips the light from his belt.
Shines it down into the hole.
DALLAS
It just goes down... smooth walls.
I can’t see the bottom, light
won’t reach.
Kane and Lambert come over.
Dallas begins unclipping gear from his belt.
DALLAS
Let’s take a look around here
first.
Kane and Lambert exchange a glance.
Dallas shines his light about, sees...
A large, glossy urn, tan coloration.
Round opening at the rop, empty within.
Then Dallas shines his light on nearby lattice...
Moves closer.
DALLAS
Over here.
They approach.
Train their lights along the floor.
A machine.
On the mechanism, a small bar moves steadily back
and forth.
Sliding noiselessly in the grooves.
KANE
Still functioning.
Lambert looks down at her direction finder.
32
LAMBERT
Automatic recording.
Dallas snaps it off.
DALLAS
Now for a look down below.
(looks at Kane)
This is your big chance.
KANE
Okay.
DALLAS
Don’t unhook yourself from the
cable. Be out in less than ten
minutes. Read me.
KANE
Aye aye.
Dallas rigs a tripod over the opening in the floor.
Unspools a couple of feet of wire.
Kane attaches the end of it to his chest unit.
Climbs over the lip and drops it into the hole.
Now hanging by the wire...
Head and shoulders out of the opening.
Kane activates the climbing unit.
Lowers himself into the fissure.
INT. STRUCTURE OPENING
Kane braces his feet against the wall of the vertical shaft.
Switches on his light, points it into the depths.
The beam penetrates only thirty feet or so, then is lost in
darkness.
KANE
Hotter in here. Warm air rising
from below.
He starts down, playing out the line.
Descending in short leaps.
Stops to catch his breath.
Breathing rasping loudly in his helmet.
A little sunlight filters from above.
Looking up, Kane can see the mouth of the hole...
A glowing spot of light.
33
DALLAS
(voice over)
You okay in there.
KANE
Haven’t hit bottom yet.
This is work. Can’t talk now.
He kicks off and continues down.
Taking longer and longer hops as he gains confidence.
Pausing for a moment to regain his breath, he shines the
light on his instruments.
KANE
I’m below ground level.
INT. BRIDGE
Ripley at her console, still working on transmission.
Gets a readout.
Looks worried.
Speaks into communicator.
RIPLEY
Ash, tell Dallas Mother speculates
that the noise is some kind of
warning.
ASH
(voice over)
I can’t tell him anything. I’ve
lost contact. The transmission
around the ship is killing all
communications.
Pause.
RIPLEY
I’m going out after them.
ASH
(voice over)
I don’t think so. We can’t
spare the personnel. We’ve
got minimum takeoff capability
right now. That’s why Dallas
left us on board.
34
RIPLEY
I still think we should go after
them.
ASH
(voice over)
What’s the point. In the time
it take to get there. They’ll
know if it’s a warning.
Ripley looks steadily at Ash on her monitor.
His screen, not visible to her, shows blowup of helmeted,
skeletal head. Not human.
INT. STRUCTURE
Kane resumes his downward climb.
Suddenly, his feet lose their purchase as the walls of the
shaft disappear.
The tunnel has reached its end.
Below him is a dark, cavernous space.
Deep breaths due to his violent exertion.
DALLAS
(voice over)
See anything?
KANE
No...Tunnel’s gone. Cave or
something below me. Feels like
the goddamn tropics in here...
He consults his instruments.
Helmet instrumentation strobing softly in the darkness.
KANE
...high nitrogen content, no
oxygen...
Still puffing, he releases his purchase on the stone walls.
Begins to lower himself on power.
Now Kane is dangling free in darkness.
Spinning slowly on the wire as the chest unit unwinds.
Then his feet hit bottom.
Kane grunts in surprise, almost loses his balance.
He flashes his suit lights.
The beams reveal that he is in a large hold.
Row after row of extrusions stretch from floor to ceiling.
35
KANE
This is weird.
DALLAS
(voice over)
What do you mean.
KANE
There’s something all over the
walls.
Kane walks across the chamber.
Examines the organic protrusions.
INT. CHAMBER ABOVE
Dallas and Lambert.
DALLAS
How long till sunset.
LAMBERT
Twenty minutes.
A look from Lambert.
INT. HOLD
Kane approaches the center of the room.
On the floor are rows of leathery ovoid shapes.
He walks around them.
Shines his light on one.
KANE
It’s like some kind of storage
area. Is anybody there? Do
you read me?
DALLAS
(voice over)
Loud and clear.
KANE
The place is full of leathery
things sealed...soft to the
touch.
36
DALLAS
(voice over)
Can you see what’s in them.
KANE
I’ll give it a look.
He tries to open one of them.
It won’t open.
KANE
Strange feeling to it.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Don’t open it. You don’t know
what’s in it.
Kane peers closely at the leathery ovoids.
Turns away.
Raised areas begin to appear where he touched it.
He moves his light along the rows.
Turns back to the one he was examining.
Something has changed.
The opaque surface begins to clear.
Object becoming visible within.
Kane shines his light on the floor at the base of it.
He studies it.
KANE
Jesus...
DALLAS
(voice over)
What.
Viscera and mandible now visible.
The interior surface spongy and irregular.
Kane shines the light inside.
With shocking violence, a small creature smashes outward.
Fixes itself to his mask.
Sizzling sound.
The creature melts through the mask.
Attaches itself to Kane’s face.
Kane tears at the thing with his hands.
His mouth forced open.
He falls backward.
37
INT. CHAMBER ABOVE
DALLAS
Kane...Kane can you hear me.
LAMBERT
What’s the matter.
DALLAS
We better haul him out.
LAMBERT
It’ll yank him right off his feet
if he’s not expecting it.
DALLAS
Try him again.
LAMBERT
Kane...Kane...Goddamn it. Answer
me.
Dallas begins to fiddle with the wench mechanism.
DALLAS
The line’s slack.
Pause.
LAMBERT
He doesn’t answer.
(pause)
Do you think he could have unhooked
himself.
Dallas switches on the winch motor.
With a whine, it begins to reel the line in.
After a moment the line tightens with a jerk.
The motor slows, laboring under added weight.
DALLAS
It caught.
LAMBERT
Is it hooked on something.
DALLAS
No, it’s coming.
38
LAMBERT
I can’t see anything.
Dallas shines his light down into the hole.
Shakes his head.
DALLAS
Line’s still moving.
A long moment.
Dallas shines his light again.
DALLAS
Here he comes.
The winch labors heavily.
DALLAS
Get ready to grab him.
Kane appears at the top of the opening.
Dangles limply from the wire.
Dallas reaches for him, then recoils.
DALLAS
Look out. There’s something on
his face.
Lambert attempts to help.
LAMBERT
What is it.
Kane appears to be completely unconscious.
The life form is still wrapped motionless around his face.
LAMBERT
Oh Jesus.
DALLAS
Don’t touch it.
They grapple with Kane’s limp body.
Lift him from the hole.
INT. ENTRANCE TO DERELICT - SUNSET
Kane is now pinioned between Dallas and Lambert.
The storm raging through and beyond the entrance...
39
Dallas begins to assemble travois.
EXT. THE NOSTROMO - SUNSET
Atmosphere turning the color of blood.
And the sun is down.
The ring of floodlights on the ship comes to life.
Feebly combatting the darkness and continuing storm.
INT. BRIDGE
Jones the cat staring through a port opening at the storm.
Ripley waiting on the bridge.
Ash stares at his inactive monitors.
Suddenly:
ASH
We’ve got them. They’re back
on the screens.
RIPLEY
How many.
ASH
Three blips. They’re coming
this way.
Ripley presses transmitter.
RIPLEY
Dallas, Lambert. Can you read me.
DALLAS
(voice over)
We hear you. We’re coming back...
Kane’s injured... We’ll need some
help getting him in.
Ripley stares at the screen.
ASH
I’ll go.
Ash moves from the room.
Ripley remains seated at her console.
40
EXT. LANDING LEG - NIGHT
Dallas and Lambert dragging Kane on a travois towards landing
leg.
INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK
Ash comes down the steps.
Hurries to the inner door lock.
Presses the wall voice-amp.
ASH
Ripley, I’m by the inner lock
hatch.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
Okay.
EXT. LANDING LEG - NIGHT
Dallas and Lambert drag Kane onto lift platform.
INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK
Parker comes running up.
PARKER
What’s going on.
ASH
Kane got hurt somehow.
PARKER
How bad.
Ash shrugs.
Brett appears at the top of the companionway.
Puzzled look on his face.
INT. BRIDGE
Ripley seated alone in the room.
Dallas appears as a huge image on all screens.
Lambert behind him.
Kane pinioned to Dallas.
41
DALLAS
(voice over)
Ripley, are you there.
RIPLEY
Right here.
DALLAS
(voice over)
We’re coming up. Open the
lock.
RIPLEY
What happened to Kane. I need
a clear definition.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Some kind of organism. It’s
attached itself to him. Let
us in.
(long moment)
You hear me. Open the lock.
RIPLEY
If we let it in, the ship could
be infected.
DALLAS
(voice over)
Goddamn it. Open the hatch.
RIPLEY
We’ve already broken every rule
or quarantine. If we bring an
organism on board, we won’t have
a single layer of defense left.
LAMBERT
(voice over)
Open the God damn hatch. We
have to get him inside.
RIPLEY
I can’t. If you were in my
position you’d do the same.
42
INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK
DALLAS
(voice over)
Ripley, do you hear me.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
I read you. The answer is negative.
Ash hits the emergency switch.
A red light goes on.
Servo whine.
Followed by a solid metallic chunk.
ASH
Inner hatch open.
INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
Ripley staring at the console.
She can’t believe what she sees.
Turns to the viewscreens.
Watches Dallas, Kane and Lambert enter.
INT. PASSAGEWAY NEAR AIR LOCK
The servo again turns over.
Another clunk.
The outer door has closed.
Red light off.
The inner door slides open.
Dallas and Lambert stagger into passageway.
Carry Kane’s body between them.
Dallas pulls off his helmet.
DALLAS
Stay clear.
Ash and Parker move back.
ASH
God.
PARKER
Is it alive.
LAMBERT
I don’t know, but don’t touch it.
43
DALLAS
Take him to the infirmary.
BRETT
Right.
Ash and Brett move in carefully to help with the limp burden.
INT. INFIRMARY
Kane’s helmet.
Hands begin to open it with a laser cutter.
The helmet separates easily.
The two halves part...
...The life form slowly pulsing on Kane’s face.
Dallas hesitates, then puts his hand on the small Creature.
Tries to pull it free.
Unsuccessful.
The Alien remains anchored to Kane’s tissue.
ASH
Let me try.
Ash takes a pair of pliers from a rack.
Carefully grasps the tip of the Creature.
Squeezes tightly.
Leans back.
DALLAS
You’re tearing his face.
A trickle of blood appears on Kane’s cheek.
BRETT
It’s not going to come off without
pulling his whole faceoff at the
same time.
DALLAS
Let the machine work on him.
The Ash presses a switch.
The machine lights up.
Kane is sucked into a slot on the wall.
Visible inside through the glass layer.
A blinding colored light performs antisepsis.
Two video monitors pop on.
44
ANGLE ON THE DOORWAY
Ripley appears.
Dallas turns and looks at her.
A long moment.
DALLAS
When I give an order, I expect
it to be obeyed.
RIPLEY
Even if it’s against the law.
DALLAS
That’s right.
Lambert steps forward and slaps Ripley across the face.
Ripley slowly puts her hand to her cheek.
LAMBERT
You were going to leave us out there.
PARKER
Maybe she should have. Who the
hell knows what that is.
BRETT
Right.
Ripley looks at Lambert.
A moment.
RIPLEY
Let’s call it settled.
Lambert gives her a curt nod.
Ash turns attention to the instrumentation.
RIPLEY
Somebody fill me in.
DALLAS
He went into the structure alone,
we lost radio contact. When we
pulled him out, it was on his face...
ASH
Where did it come from...
45
DALLAS
Somewhere inside that ship.
PARKER
How the hell is he breathing.
They study the monitors.
ASH
Blood’s throughly oxygenated.
DALLAS
How. His nose and mouth seem
to be blocked.
ASH
We better look inside his head.
Ash punches three buttons.
An X-ray image appears.
A color depiction of Kane’s head and upper torso.
The Alien is clearly visible.
A maze of complicated biology.
Kane’s jaws are forced open.
The creature has extruded a long tube down his mouth and
throat.
The appendage ending at the base of the esophagus.
BRETT
It’s got something down his goddamn
throat.
ASH
That must be how it’s getting
oxygen to him.
RIPLEY
It doesn’t make sense. It paralyzes
him, puts him into a coma, then
keeps him alive.
PARKER
Let’s kill it. We can’t leave the
damn thing on him.
46
ASH
I don’t know. At the moment the
Creature is keeping him alive.
If we remove it we might
terminate Kane...
DALLAS
I don’t think so. Let’s take the
chance and cut it off him.
ASH
You’ll take the responsibility.
DALLAS
That’s right.
Slips into surgical gloves.
Presses a switch, Kane slides back out of the booth.
DALLAS
Give me the knife.
Ripley takes a surgical laser blade from the case.
Carefully passes it to Dallas.
He manipulates the knife until he has a comfortable grip.
Flicks a small button with his thumb.
The blade begins to hum.
Dallas advances on Kane’s prostrate form.
Touches the scalpel to the Creature.
The electronic blade slices effortlessly downward.
Suddenly a urine-like fluid begins to drip from the wound.
DALLAS
Starting to bleed.
The liquid flows onto the bedding next to Kane’s head.
Starts to hiss.
Smoke curls up from the stain.
Next the yellow fluid eats a hole through the bunk bed.
Then drips onto the deck below.
Metal bubbling and sizzling.
More smoke rising, sending the crew into a coughing jag.
The crew jostle their way out of the cabin.
Huddle in the passageway outside, still coughing.
Dallas frantically applies pressure to the wound.
In the process, smoke of the fluid gets on Dallas’s gloves.
They begin to smoke.
Dallas leaps back, pulls them off.
Then runs out into the corridor.
47
INT. PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE INFIRMARY
BRETT
Shit. It’s going to eat through
the decks and go out the hull...
He starts to run for the companionway.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" DECK
Dallas wrenches an emergency lamp from a socket.
Hurls himself down a companionway.
The others follow.
DALLAS
There.
A droplet of fluid is sizzling on the ceiling bulkhead.
It oozes down.
Drips to the deck.
Continues to bubble.
Then goes through the bulkhead.
ASH
What can we put under it?
Ripley and Parker charge down the companionway below.
INT. SECOND LEVEL - "C" DECK
Ripley and Parker move cautiously down the passageway.
Look up to the ceiling bulkhead.
PARKER
Don’t get under it.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - "B" DECK
Dallas, Brett and Ash crouch by the spot where the acid
sizzles.
Ash fishes a pen out of his pocket.
Probes the hole in the deck.
ASH
It’s stopped penetrating.
Ripley comes charging back up.
48
RIPLEY
What’s happening.
ASH
I think it’s lost steam. No
longer active.
Ripley checks the opening.
Ash straightens up.
Starts to put the pen back in his pocket.
Changes his mind and stands holding it by the end.
ASH
I’ve never seen anything like that,
except molecular acid...
BRETT
This thing uses it for blood.
ASH
It’s the asbestos that stopped it,
otherwise it would have gone straight
through.
DALLAS
Wonderful defense mechanism.
You don’t dare kill it.
Parker comes up the companionway.
PARKER
It’s stopped bleeding.
DALLAS
Yeah. After it penetrated two
levels.
RIPLEY
What about Kane.
Starts up companionway.
INT. INFIRMARY
They return.
Kane still motionless on the bunk.
The Alien remains secured to his face.
Wound completely healed over.
49
PARKER
Any of the acid get on him.
Dallas approaches, peers at Kane’s head.
DALLAS
Doesn’t look like it.
BRETT
Is it still dripping that crap.
ASH
Healed over.
LAMBERT
There must be some way we can get
it off.
And look at Dallas.
ASH
I don’t think you ought to try
again. It didn’t work out too well
last time.
Dallas gives him a look in return.
Ripley presses a button.
Kane slides back into the diagnostic coffin.
More buttons pressed.
Display lights up again, showing the different parts of
Kane’s body.
ASH
I better get some intravenous
feeding started. So far I can’t
tell what the Alien has absorbed
from his system.
The machine begins to process Kane’s body.
RIPLEY
What’s the stain on his lungs.
The X-ray reveals a spreading dark blot in the chest cavity.
At the center, the stain is completely opaque.
ASH
Whatever it is, it’s blocking
the X-ray.
50
A long moment.
The stain spreads.
BRETT
What happens now.
Ash sets aside his partially melted pen.
Looks at Dallas.
DALLAS
You go back to work.
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Brett at work in the cubicle.
Parker supervising him.
BRETT
I think I’ve got it. Give it a
try.
Parker pushes a button.
Negative reaction on his monitor.
PARKER
Nothing.
BRETT
Damn. I was sure that was it.
PARKER
Well, it wasn’t. Try the next one.
BRETT
Right.
Adjusts several toggles.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
What’s happening.
PARKER
This goddamn woman. I’ll tell
her what’s happening. My Johnson
is happening.
(punches the communicator)
A lot of hard work. Real work.
51
INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
PARKER
(voice over)
You ought to try it sometime.
RIPLEY
I’ve got the toughest job on
this ship...
Derisive laugh from Parker through the speaker.
RIPLEY
I have to listen to your bullshit.
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
PARKER
Get off my back.
RIPLEY
(voice over)
I’ll get off your back when 12
module is fixed.
She clicks off.
Parker turns away.
PARKER
Smart mouth broad.
INT. INFIRMARY
Ash running test on the equipment.
Kane respirating on the view screens above.
Still deep within a coma.
All instruments recording his life processes.
The Alien’s position unchanged.
Ripley approaches.
Sits near Ash.
RIPLEY
Anything new.
ASH
He’s holding, no changes.
52
RIPLEY
What about the Creature.
ASH
It’s got an outer layer of protein
polysaccharides. A lot of Amino
Acids for prolonged reistance to
adverse environmental conditions...
That enough for you.
RIPLEY
Plenty. What’s it mean.
ASH
Interesting combination of elements
making it one tough little son-ofa-
bitch...
RIPLEY
Is that why you let it in.
ASH
I was following a direct order.
Remember.
RIPLEY
While Dallas and Kane are off
the ship, I’m Senior Officer.
ASH
Yes, of course -- I forgot.
RIPLEY
You also forgot the science division’s
basic quarantine law.
ASH
No. That I didn’t forget.
RIPLEY
You just broke it.
ASH
What would you have done with Kane...
His only chance at staying alive
was to get into the infirmary.
53
RIPLEY
By breaking quarantine procedure
you risk everybody’s life.
ASH
Maybe I should have let him die
out there. Maybe I have jeopardized
the rest of us...It’s a risk I’m
willing to take.
RIPLEY
This is your official position as
a science officer. Not exactly out
of the manual.
ASH
The first position of science is
the protection and betterment of
human life. I take my responsibility
as seriously as you do... you do your
job and I’ll do mine.
Ripley stands...looks at Ash.
Walks out.
INT. MESS
Lambert playing with some string, amusing Jones.
Cat’s Cradle.
Both looking bored.
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Parker and Brett at work on the final intake screen.
INT. NARCISSUS
Dallas listening to a primitive tape.
His foot tapping with the rhythm.
Beep.
An interruption on the communicator.
DALLAS
Dallas.
ASH
(voice over)
I think you should have a
look at Kane. Something’s
54
happened.
DALLAS
Serious.
ASH
(voice over)
Interesting.
Dallas exits.
INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE IMFIRMARY WINDOW
Ash stares through window.
Dallas joins him.
Ripley appears behind.
A long pause.
DALLAS
It’s gone.
Kane’s prone form.
The Alien is no longer on his face.
Kane still unconscious, but continues to breathe.
Face covered with sucker marks.
RIPLEY
The door is closed. It must still
be in there.
ASH
We can’t open the door. We don’t
want to let it out.
RIPLEY
Yeah, I remember. We can’t grab
it. We can’t kill it...
DALLAS
Maybe we can catch it.
ASH
As long as we’re careful not to
damage it.
INT. INFIRMARY
They enter cautiously.
Dallas begins moving slowly around the room.
55
Picking up a stainless steel tray.
Looking.
Ash and Ripley do the same.
Ripley bends down and peers under the bunk.
Nothing.
Accidentally kicks over a tray.
She stands.
Doesn’t see the Alien on a ledge above her.
Her shoulder brushes against the Creature.
It drops on her.
She screams. Twists.
The Alien drops to the floor.
Then lies motionless.
Its skin faded to a dead-looking grey.
Ripley doesn’t raise her eyes from the Creature.
Prods the Alien.
No response.
ASH
I think it’s dead.
(looks to Ripley)
You okay.
RIPLEY
Yeah.
She carefully touches the Creature with a metal probe.
Fishes the motionless life-form into the tray.
Quickly closes the lid.
Lifts it onto a stainless steel table.
Bright light trained on the Alien.
The Creature in a supine position.
Ash touches at the Alien with a surgical instrument.
ASH
Look at those suckers. No wonder
we couldn’t get it off him.
RIPLEY
Where’s its mouth.
ASH
It’s this tube-thing, up in
here.
(carefully extracts
the end of the organ)
It’s hardening.
(MORE)
56
ASH (CONT’D)
(slips the Creature
under a fluoroscope)
It’s dead. No life sign whatever.
RIPLEY
Let’s get rid of it.
ASH
This has to go back. This is
our first contact with a
specimen like this. All kinds
of tests need to be run.
RIPLEY
That thing bled acid. God
knows what it’ll do when
it’s dead.
ASH
I think it’s safe to assume
it’s not a zombie... Dallas, we
have to keep this specimen.
Pause.
DALLAS
You’re the science officer. It’s
your decision.
ASH
Then it’s made... I’ll seal it
in a stasis tube.
Pause.
RIPLEY
What about Kane?
Ash turns back to the bunk.
Studies the life support gauges.
Kane continues to breathe steadily.
ASH
Running a fever. And still
unconscious. The machine will
bring his temperature down.
His vital functions are strong...
who knows, he may make it.
57
Ash begins to seal the Alien in a large vacuum tube.
RIPLEY
I need some coffee.
She turns and walks away.
INT. COMPUTER ANNEX
Ripley and Dallas.
RIPLEY
How could you leave that kind
of decision to him.
DALLAS
I just run the ship. Anything
that has to do with science
division, Ash has the final word.
RIPLEY
How does that happen.
DALLAS
Same way everything else happens.
Orders from the Company.
RIPLEY
Since when is that standard
procedure.
DALLAS
Standard procedure is do what
they tell you... Besides, I only
know about flying... I haul cargo
for a living.
RIPLEY
Did you ship out with Ash before.
DALLAS
First time. I went five hauls
with another science man. Then
two days before we left Thedus,
replaced him with Ash.
She looks at him.
58
DALLAS
So what. They replaced my
warrant officer with you.
RIPLEY
I don’t trust him.
DALLAS
I don’t trust anybody...What’s
holding up repairs.
RIPLEY
They’re pretty much finished now.
DALLAS
Why didn’t you say so?
RIPLEY
There are still some thing left
to do.
DALLAS
Like what?
RIPLEY
We’re blind on B and C decks.
Reserve power systems blown...
DALLAS
That’s crap. We can take off
without them.
RIPLEY
Is that a good idea.
DALLAS
I want to get out of here.
Let’s get this turkey off the
ground.
EXT. PLANET - SUNRISE
The Nostromo’s engines roaring.
Belching out streams of superheated air.
The starship vibrates.
Begins to surge forward.
59
INT. BRIDGE - SUNRISE
The crew at their posts.
An electrical hum permeates the air.
RIPLEY
Lock tractor beams.
The pitch of the hum changes.
The ship levels itself.
RIPLEY
Retract leading struts.
EXT. PLANET - SUNRISE
The Nostromo hovering above the ground.
Held on beams of shimmering force.
The landing struts begin folding.
INT. BRIDGE - DAY
DALLAS
Take us up.
Lambert bends over the voice amplifier.
LAMBERT
One kilometer on ascension.
INT. PLANET
The Nostromo begins to levitate skyward.
Seemingly pushing upward on the beams of light.
INT. BRIDGE - DAY
The ship continues vibrating.
DALLAS
Switch on lifter quads.
A powerful, deep throbbing begins.
The vibrations increase.
RIPLEY
(into speaker)
Everything holding together
down there.
60
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Parker and Brett strapped in and vibrating.
PARKER
We fix something it stays fixed.
BRETT
Right.
EXT. NOSTROMO - DAY
The starship hovering below cloud ceiling.
Then begins to accelerate through the dense atmosphere.
INT. BRIDGE - DAY
All viewscreens operational.
DALLAS
Engage artificial gravity.
Lambert throws a switch.
The ship lurches.
LAMBERT
Engaged.
DALLAS
Altering the vector now.
A huge tremor runs throughout the ship.
PARKER’S VOICE
(o.s.)
Dust is clogging the damn intakes
again. We’re overloading.
DALLAS
Just hold us together until
we’re beyond G1...
The pitch of the engines changes...deepens.
EXT. NOSTROMO - DAY
The ship moves at an acute angle.
Slices through the boiling clouds.
61
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Parker and Brett watching the guages.
INT. BRIDGE - DAY
Outside the screens, clouds, clouds, clouds.
Another tremor runs through the ship.
The crew’s eyes riveted to their instruments.
DALLAS
Let’s pick up the money and go
home.
EXT. NOSTROMO
The ship clears the top of the cloud layer.
Bursts out into star-sprinkled space.
Trailing a wake of glimmering dust flecks.
Attached itself to the hovering refinery.
INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE
Brett waves his arms in exultation.
BRETT
We did it
PARKER
Walk in the park. When we fix
something it stays fixed.
Big smiles.
INT. BRIDGE
The Nostromo now safely beyond gravity.
DALLAS
Set our course and get us up
to light plus four.
Lambert begins punching buttons.
LAMBERT
Feets get me out of here.
62
EXT. OUTER SPACE
The Nostromo now at light speed.
Preceptible movement in the surrounding universe.
A corona effect emerges.
Stars approaching the Nostromo appear blue.
Receding stars going to amber.
Redshift, made visible because of the craft’s velocity.
INT. MESS
Parker, Brett, Dallas and Ripley around the table.
Drinking coffee.
PARKER
The best thing to do is just to
freeze him. Stop the goddam
disease. He can get a doctor to
look at him when we get back home.
BRETT
Right.
RIPLEY
Whenever he says anything you say
’right’. You know that, Brett.
BRETT
Right.
RIPLEY
What do you think, Parker. Your
staff just follows you around and
says ’right’. Like a regular parrot.
Parker turns to Brett.
PARKER
Yeah. Shape up. What are you,
some kind of parrot.
BRETT
Right.
DALLAS
Knock it off... Kane will have
to go into quarantine.
63
RIPLEY
Yeah. And so will we.
Lambert enters.
LAMBERT
How about a little something to
lower your spirits.
DALLAS
Thrill me.
LAMBERT
According to my calculations...
based on the time spent getting
to and from the planet and the
speed at which it’s moving away
from the other...
DALLAS
Give me the short version...
LAMBERT
It’ll take us six weeks to get
back on course.
DALLAS
How far to Earth.
LAMBERT
Ten months.
RIPLEY
Christ.
Beep.
DALLAS
Dallas.
ASH
(voice over)
Come and see Kane right away...
DALLAS
Any change in his condition.
64
ASH
(voice over)
It’s simpler if you just come
see him.
INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE INFIRMARY WINDOW
What they see is...Not what they expect.
Kane is sitting up in bed...wide awake.
They enter...
LAMBERT
Kane...Are you all right.
KANE
Mouth’s dry...can I have some
water.
Instantly, Ash brings him a plastic cup and water.
Kane gulps it down in a swallow.
KANE
More.
Ripley quickly fills a much bigger container.
Hands it to Kane.
He greedily consumes the entire contents.
Then sags back, panting, on the bunk.
DALLAS
How do you feel.
KANE
Terrible. What happened to me.
ASH
You don’t remember.
KANE
Don’t remember anything. I can
barely remember my name.
PARKER
Do you hurt.
65
KANE
All over. Feel like somebody’s
been beating me with a stick
for about six years.
(smiles)
God, I’m hungry.
RIPLEY
What’s the last thing you can
remember.
KANE
I don’t know.
DALLAS
Do you remember what happened
on the planet.
KANE
Just some horrible dream
about smothering. Where
are we.
RIPLEY
We’re on our way home.
BRETT
Getting ready to go back into
the freezers.
KANE
I’m starving. I want some food
first.
PARKER
I’m pretty hungry myself.
DALLAS
One meal before bed.
INT. MESS
The entire crew is seated.
Hungrily swallowing huge portions of artificial food.
The cat eats from a dish on the table.
66
KANE
First thing I’m going to do when
we get back is eat some decent
food.
PARKER
I’ve had worse than this, but
I’ve had better too, if you know
what I mean.
LAMBERT
Christ, you’re pounding down this
stuff like there’s no tomorrow.
Pause.
PARKER
I mean I like it.
KANE
No kidding.
PARKER
Yeah. It grows on you.
KANE
It should. You know what they
make this stuff out of...
PARKER
I know what they make it out of.
So what. It’s food now. You’re
eating it.
Suddenly Kane grimaces.
RIPLEY
What’s wrong.
Kane’s voice strains.
LAMBERT
What’s the matter.
KANE
I don’t know... I’m getting cramps.
The others stare at him in alarm.
Suddenly he makes a loud groaning noise.
67
Clutches the edge of the table with his hands.
Knuckles whitening.
ASH
Breathe deeply.
Kane screams.
KANE
Oh God, it hurts so bad.
It hurts. It hurts.
(stands up)
Ooooooh.
BRETT
What is it? What hurts?
Kane’s face screws into a mask of agony.
He falls back into his chair.
KANE
Ohmygooaaaahh.
A red stain.
Then a smear of blood blossoms on his chest.
The fabric of his shirt is ripped apart.
A small head the size of a man’s fist pushes out.
The crew shouts in panic.
Leap back from the table.
The cat spits, bolts away.
The tiny head lunges forward.
Comes spurting out of Kane’s chest trailing a thick body.
Splatters fluids and blood in its wake.
Lands in the middle of the dishes and food.
Wriggles away while the crew scatters.
Then the Alien being disappears from sight.
Kane lies slumped in his chair.
Very dead.
A huge hole in his chest.
The dishes are scattered.
Food covered with blood.
LAMBERT
No, no, no, no, no.
BRETT
What was that. What the Christ
was that.
68
PARKER
It was growing in him the whole
time and he didn’t even know it.
ASH
It used him for an incubator.
RIPLEY
That means we’ve got another
one.
DALLAS
Yeah. And it’s loose on the
ship.
Slowly they gather around Kane’s gutted corpse.
Then they all look at one another.
Then at Kane.
Dead on the table.
INT. CORRIDOR - "A" DECK
Empty.
Parker and Brett descend companioway.
They join Ash, Lambert, Ripley and Dallas.
DALLAS
Any signs.
LAMBERT
Nothing.
ASH
Nothing.
PARKER
Didn’t see a goddamn thing.
BRETT
Didn’t see anything.
RIPLEY
We can’t go into hypersleep with
that thing running loose. We’d
be sitting ducks in the freezers.
We have to kill it first.
69
LAMBERT
We can’t kill it. If we do, it
will spill its body acids right
through the hull...
BRETT
Son-of-a-bitch.
RIPLEY
We have to catch it and eject
it from the ship.
ASH
Our supplies are based on us
spending a limited amount of
time out of suspended animation.
Strictly limited.
RIPLEY
First we have to find it.
DALLAS
No. First we’ve got something
else to do.
He looks at Kane’s body through mess doorway.
INT. AIR LOCK
Kane’s body wrapped in a makeshift shroud.
INT. BRIDGE
The crew looking at Kane’s body on view screens.
Silent.
Depressed.
DALLAS
Inner hatch sealed.
Ripley nods.
DALLAS
Anybody want to say anything.
Nothing to say.
He nods to Ripley.
She presses a button.
70
INT. AIR LOCK
The outer hatch opens.
Yawning space outside.
Kane’s body shoots out into eternity.
The hatch closes.
INT. MESS
The crew is assembled.
RIPLEY
I’ve checked on the supplies.
For about a week we can stay
out of hypersleep.
BRETT
Then what.
LAMBERT
We run out of food and oxygen.
DALLAS
All right, that’s what we’ve got.
A week. It’s plenty of time.
PARKER
I say we put on our pressure
suits and blow all the air out
of the ship. That might kill it.
LAMBERT
What a swell idea.
PARKER
What’s wrong with it.
ASH
We’ve got forty-eight hours of
air in our pressure suits and
it takes six months to get home.
LAMBERT
Other than that...A swell idea.
Parker won’t give up on this idea.
71
PARKER
Maybe we could cut some kind
of special lines to the tanks.
Brett and I are pretty good
practical engineers...We got
us back up you know.
RIPLEY
All by yourselves.
ASH
I hate to point this out but
it might be better off without
oxygen. It lived that way long
enough.
RIPLEY
There’s another problem. How
do we find it. There’s no
visual communication on B and
C decks. All the screens are
out.
DALLAS
We’re going to have to flush it
out.
ASH
Sounds great...but how.
DALLAS
Room by room, corridor by corridor.
One of those suggestions that nobody likes.
LAMBERT
And what do we do when we find it.
RIPLEY
Trap it somehow.
BRETT
If we had a really strong piece
of net, we could bag it... I could
put something together. A long
metal rod with a battery in it.
Only take a few hours.
72
LAMBERT
Why do we listen to this meathead?
Dallas turns it over.
DALLAS
He might be right...
EXT. OUTER SPACE
The Nostromo continues through the vortex.
INT. INFIRMARY
Dallas enters.
Ash working at a read-out section.
DALLAS
I want to talk.
ASH
I’m a little busy at the
moment.
Pause.
DALLAS
I don’t care.
Pause.
ASH
All right, go ahead.
DALLAS
Why did you let the Alien s