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.
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. 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...
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 top, 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.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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... 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.
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.
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 is 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're 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.
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. 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.
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... 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 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. 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.
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.
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 is 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.
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.
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.
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. 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 elementsmaking it one tough little son-of-a-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. 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 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. 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. (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.
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.
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.
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 - SUNSIRE: 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.
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.
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 beyong gravity.
DALLAS: Set our course and get us up to light plus four.
