Child of the Xenomorph

2

The wind whistled past my ears, singing to me a song of freedom. I rode upon the dark blue xenomorph's back, the air filled with the triumphant screeches of victory. The wretched laboratory was destroyed, the wicked beings within it sent to wherever dark places they belonged. Most of them, anyways. I did not see Calvis among the slaughtered, and the thought of him escaping filled a small part of me with fear.

You're safe now, sister, the xenomorph I was riding purred into my mind. You will be well taken care of.

A question formed in my mind. Why help me?

She chuckled, a guttural, snorting sound. I am not sure why I determined that she was a 'she'. I just knew.

You will find out soon enough.

Well, could you at least tell me your name?

She then messaged me a series of clicks and hisses that I presumed to be her name. The closest sounding words I could use to describe them would be, 'J'Khati'.

We ran the rest of the way in silence, the other xenomorphs running alongside us. I estimated there was a rough fifteen of them. The screaming of the men faded far away behind me, and I let my fear go. I was safe.

The mountains and crags of Origae-6's landscape rose all around me, and I was astounded at its beauty. Three moons hung brightly in the speckled night sky, illuminating the ground and casting a glow on the xenos. I had only read about this in books, and only two times in my whole life had Calvis taken me outside. It was when I was six and eight, too young to run away, and I barely remembered any details. Now the glory of it took my breath away. A wild song sang through my veins, and I let out an inhuman cry of joy. J'Khati roared with me, our smooth and raspy voices intertwining in a happy symphony, bouncing along the valley.

J'Khati and the rest of the xenomorphs raced into the forest, the trees seeming to be a protective wall from us and the humans.

I stopped my thoughts at that note. I was already starting to view the humans, my species, as another one entirely different from me. I shook my head, internally confused, I supposed I would figure it out later.

As we traveled deeper into the woods, I felt a powerful, authoritative presence grow in my mind.

Welcome, my child. A melodious voice flowed through my head.

Who are you? I asked tentatively.

Your Queen, the voice responded. I gasped. J'Khati grunted in acknowledgement. She must've heard the Queen too.

Now in the distance a dark structure appeared. It looked organic, a strange combination of twisting bonelike materials. It was a fascinating piece of architecture, and there was a tube entrance to it, with four guardian xenomorphs standing watch. They growled when they saw me on J'Khati's back, but when J'Khati clicked back at them, they nodded and let us through.

Inside it was pitch black, but for some reason I just knew where everything was.Branching from the main tunnel was many smaller tunnels, with busy xenomorphs scrambling to get to their jobs. It was as if I had downloaded the map into my brain and had autopilot to wherever I needed to go. Only J'Khati was my ride.

Down, down, down we went, until it the tunnel opened up into a large room. By now the other escapee xenos had gone their own separate ways, until it was just me and J'Khati in the large room. And in the center, was the Queen. My Queen.

She was incredibly majestic, towering at least twenty feet tall. Instead of a simple cylindrical crest, hers was an impressive frill fanning from her head in a huge crown, fit for a queen. She was black with a copper undertone, making her glow from the inside out in a unique way. Tucked under the typical two arms were another smaller pair, held out in a welcoming gesture.

I hopped off of J'Khati's back and bowed as low as I could go.

The Queen chuckled softly. My child, you have no need to go through such lengths, though I am flattered. I bid you welcome to my humble little hive. I know you have already met your sister, J'Khati.

J'Khati nodded at me, and I smiled at her. One question was nagging in my mind, however.

What do you mean by, her being my sister? I asked.

She was the chestburster that came from your mother, the Queen said simply. Her transforming you through the process rather made you her sister. And therefore, my daughter.

The Queen said the information so matter-of-factly that it almost didn't hit me right. J'Khati was the xenomorph that transformed me? Not that I resented her for killing my mother. I never knew my mother, and she was just the body that was selected for me to be carried in. And J'Khati didn't exactly have a choice whether to kill her or not. No, the thing that startled me was that J'Khati was my sister! I had a sister!

Without being able to stop myself, I ran to J'Khati, tears streaming from my eyes. She held her arms out in a warm embrace, pressing me to her soft chest. Though a xenomorph appeared hard and uncomfortable, their skin was actually incredibly smooth and soft, not quite mammalian skin but not quite reptilian. She rested her large head on the side of my neck.

And I knew I was home. At last, I had a family.

I'll never let you be hurt again, Shaniya, J'Khati said to me comfortingly.

And the memory exploded back to me. A name echoing in my ears when I was younger, only to be forgotten later. My true name, Shaniya.

J'Khati led me through the tunnels to the sleeping quarters. All of the xenomorphs were still buzzing with activity, not needing much more sleep than a few hours, but I was getting tired. The exhaustion of the night was catching up to me, and I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I was free, truly free.

J'Khati whistled and clicked to the xenos. I'm telling them who you are, she explained to me. Once they can have a tag to you, such as a name, you can be linked to the hive mind.

Sure enough, voices started pouring into my head.

What an odd addition-

Isn't she a human?

How exciting!

She doesn't belong here

I can't wait to find out more about her!

I was overwhelmed by the voices piling through, but I was too tired to do anything about it.

I'll nap with you for a while, J'khati told me.

Sounds like a plan, I agreed sleepily.

As I curled up into J'Khati's dark blue belly, my mind immediately started drifting off to sleep. I was so tired...so very tired.

I fell asleep so fast I didn't see the claws forming on my fingers.