Derelict Ship
On the surface of planet LV-426 (later known as Acheron) a derelict space craft was discovered by employees of the Weyland-Yutani joint-stock corporation. The crew was on a routine voyage, frozen in hypersleep on an M-class starship called the Nostromo. They were towing 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore back to Earth. A signal from a beacon on the derelict ship was picked up by "Mother", the Nostromo's central computer. This signal was interpreted initially as a distress signal, and according to regulations, they must check it out. Mother then awakened the crew, which went down to the planet to investigate.

  • "Acoustical beacon that ehh... repeats at intervals of twelve seconds" --Dallas
  • "There is a clause in the contract that specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated." --Ash

Crew members Dallas, Kane, and Lambert ventured out toward the mysterious unknown ship. While they were there, Lt. Ripley re-interpreted the signal to be a warning, not a distress one. By then it was too late to contact the members who had already entered the ship.

  • "That transmission. Mother's deciphered part of it, it doesn't look like an SOS." --Ripley
  • "What is it then?" --Ash
  • "Well, It looks like a warning, I'm gonna go after them." --Ripley
  • "What's the point? I mean--by the time it takes to get there, they'll know if it's a warning or not, yes?" --Ash

The ship itself seemed to be bio-mechanical, as if it were more or less grown instead of being built. It was a large horseshoe shaped craft, and had a crack in the side of it that the investigation team had entered. The inside of the ship had the same feel to it. Mostly rounded, oval shaped, and nonlinear in design. There are rib-like walls and odd looking textures. Proceeding down a tunnel brought the crew to a very large, open area. The walls around the sides looked like large bones, interweaved together; not steel beams or any sort of metal. At the center of the room was a fossilized creature. The creature seemed to be built into the ship itself, once again suggestion something of bio-mechanical nature. The pilot or "space-jockey" had a long extending nose, and was larger that a human. The middle of his chest looked as if it were blown away from the inside, giving the creature an everlasting evil grin.

  • "Alien lifeform. Looks like it's been dead a long time. Fossilized...Looks like it's grown out of the chair... Bones are bend outward...Like it exploded from the inside..." --Dallas
  • "I wonder what happened to the rest of the crew...let's get the hell out of here!" --Lambert

A downward shaft at the corner of the room lead to a huge chamber, perhaps a storage chamber or bay of some sort. Larger than two football fields, and sectioned into portions. Six or seven feet above the floor was a blue mist or beam of light that seems to whine when broken. Underneath this beam, were thousands of eggs. The eggs, about two feet tall, had organic life inside of them.

  • "I don't know...A cave! A- A cave of some sort, but well, I don't know, but it's like the goddamn tropics in here! ..... wait a minute, there's movement! It seems to have life. Organic life." --Kane

He touches the egg. It reacts. Fluids start dripping upward and the egg seems to come to life. The lids of the egg open up, like a flower, to four sides. Kane slowly comes close and looks inside. We see a liver like fleshy organ pulsating. Kane keeps on watching and suddenly out of the egg a facehugger jumps screaming. It has a long tail and eight finger like legs. It jumps on his helmet and a high hissing sound is heard. It eats through his helmet, and attaches itself onto Kane's head.