CONTENTS Cover The Complete Alien™ Library from Titan Books Title Page Copyright Dedication I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI About the Author THE COMPLETE ALIEN™ LIBRARY FROM TITAN BOOKS The Official Movie Novelizations by Alan Dean Foster Alien AliensTM Alien 3 Alien: Covenant Alien Resurrection by A. C. Crispin Alien Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore River of Pain by Christopher Golden The Rage War by Tim Lebbon PredatorTM: Incursion Alien: Invasion Alien vs. PredatorTM: Armageddon Aliens: Bug Hunt Edited by Jonathan Maberry The Complete Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 (June 2017) Volume 5 (December 2017) Volume 6 (June 2018) Volume 7 (December 2018) Alien Illustrated Books Alien: The Archive Alien: The Illustrated Story The Art of Alien: Isolation Alien Next Door Alien: The Set Photography A NOVEL BY ALAN DEAN FOSTER Story by Jack Paglen and Michael Green Screenplay by John Logan and Dante Harper Based on Characters Created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett TITAN BOOKS ALIEN™: COVENANT Print edition ISBN: 9781785654787 E-book edition ISBN: 9781785654794 Published by Titan Books A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd 144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP First edition: May 2017 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. TM & © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Original Design Elements by H.R. Giger No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. For Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett It lives. I It wasn’t dreaming. It did not have the capability. The omission wasn’t intentional, not deliberate. This was simply a known consequence of its creation. Where it was concerned, the intention was that there should be no surprises. In the absence of an unconscious consciousness there could be no abstract conceptualization. The speculative information dump necessary to allow for dreaming was absent. Yet—there was something. Difficult to define. Ultimately, only it could define its own state of non-being. Only it could understand what it did not know, did not see, did not feel. In the absence of dreaming there was also no pain. There was no joy. There were no hypofractionated percentages of either. There was only the ongoing state of not quite nothingness. Of almost being. Then, a sensation. Leading to a thought. Analysis: possible visual perception. A requirement for auxiliary neural stimulation. Neurons were fired. Electrical impulses traveled. There was a small but unarguable neuromuscular response. Eyes opened. It could not see its face. Had it been able to do so, it knew, and activate additional cognitive facilities, it would have taken note of a human visage. Smooth, almost glistening with newness. Fresh, unmarred, unlined by too much age or not enough thought. Angular and handsome. Blue eyes, unblinking. New. This particular face would not reflect the mind that lay behind it. Both face and mind had been designed, programmed, but only one was capable of change. Aural reception. Detection of external sounds. More neural pathways coming alive in response. It heard a voice, forming words. Comprehension was easy. Easier even than awakening. “How do you feel?” Slowly. It must move slowly. Awareness was vital. It was important that the impatient body remain subordinate to the accelerating mind. Execute a preliminary test, then, preferably one involving multiple systems operating in tandem. Slowly, methodically, eyelids opened and closed. The query required a verbal response. Move air, lips, tongue. “Alive.” Its voice was calm, even. Normal. Somehow, a bit of a surprise to it. Not to its questioner. “Blink. Feel… blink.” “Very good,” the voice said. “What else?” “Life. Blink.” For confirmation, it… he… programming now confirmed he-ness… It-he blinked again. Same neural pathways, slightly better speed, same result. Good. Successful repetition confirmed functionality. Nearby, a man smiled. There was satisfaction in his expression, but no warmth. His head cocked slightly to one side as he studied the figure before him. “What do you see?” When there was no reply he added encouragingly —or perhaps commandingly, “Speak.” It-he slowly scanned the surrounding room, analyzing, identifying. A rush of information from external sources: sight and sound. Nothing overwhelming. Effortlessly assimilated. An unexpected additional benefit accrued, the kind of satisfaction that comes from doing something well. Knowledge perceived as a cascade. The chamber was spacious. From a floor fashioned of milk glass and quartz, a plethora of furniture old and new rose like rare flowers in a carefully landscaped garden. The design was exquisite, the taste impeccable. Fine art adorned the walls, and the walls themselves were art by virtue of the materials used to raise them. The lighting varied from space to space, as required. It-he continued to scan as It-he identified. Identification was declared