" The Shaft" By Brian Keffer katboy59@hotmail.com Hudson crawled through the air shaft,desperatly trying to find a way out. His flame thrower was almost empty and his pulse rifle was useless. The driped down off of his face. HUDSON What am I doing here? Then he felt tense. He thought he saw a dark shape pass by one of the passages. Hudson raised his flame thrower, ready to shoot at anything. After 5 minutes he finally lowered his weapon and continued on. The heat was becoming more and more intense. Hudson removed his boots and helmet. Then he pulled off his vest. A slight wirring sound filled the entire shaft. HUDSON Man, it's hot! Then Hudson passed under a vent. He peered up, desperatly trying to see something. Then a drop of slime hit his chin. HUDSON Oh, no. An alien suddenly appeared above him. It hissed silently. The second mouth extended beyond the creature's jagged teeth. Slime oozed from the alien's mouth and dripped on Hudson's chest. Then, as silently as he could, Hudson pulled up his flame thrower and hesitated. The creature seemed to be staring at him yet it had no eyes. Suddenly, the alien's powerful second mouth punched through the vent. Hudson let out a yell and pulled the trigger. Flames bursted from the barrel and struck the surprised creature in the forehead. The alien's skull was immediatly ingulfed in flames. Screams shattered Hudson's thoughts. Then he realized that he had to move. The alien's head fell apart and spilled acid into the shaft, just as Hudson propelled himself out of the way. Hudson's nose was filledwith the putrid smell of burning metal and acid smoke. He kept crawling through the shaft until he fell through a weak spot. Hudson crashed down apon a heap of garbage. He pulled himself to his feet and looked around. What he saw made him wish that he had never been here. Hudson was in a cavern. The queen's chamber. HUDSON Well, this is just getting better and better. He was immediatly surrounded by warriors. Their six and a half foot bodies were a very dark brown, almost black. The all hissed in unison. Hudson looked to his left. A nest of about 1,500 eggs sat in a guarded corner. The brave marine raised his flame thrower and fired. Three aliens were baked immediatly. Four others leaped at Hudson. He fired at them and they were easily fallen. But soon, Hudson was surrounded by more creatures than he could take. He fired three more shots which emptied his weapon. He threw the useless tool at an alien which grabbed the flame thrower and snapped it in half. Hudson was convinced that he was as good as dead. HUDSON Let's dance! He kicked an alien in the chest and dodged the blow of another warrior. Hudson ran through the swarm and saw a door. He ran for it and tripped on a peice of metal. He hit the hard floor and almost blacked out. Then screams came from all around him. The sound of a flame thrower was hanging in the air. Then there came a familiar voice. RIPLEY Let's get the hell out of here. Hudson scrambled to his feet. He and Ripley ran from the cavern. After many confrontations, they finally made it to the ship. HUDSON Let's get outta here. Shall we? He started the engine and the ship took off. The screeches of aliens could still be heard as they left the hellish planet of LV-426.