Ceremony had parted with the troops and was going his own way. Maybe he could save this mission if he reverted the station back to a ship and blasted off. Then they could leave the nest to freeze in hell!

He was just passing the nest, with it’s Queen-shaped hole in the wall, when he realised that maybe he wasn’t going to get home after all. Considering the fact that there were no less than ten Marines plastered to the wall, along with fifty other guys including a studio exec (the one in charge of the Teletubies), it was a wonder he wasn’t up there.

Another thing that made him think this was the large Queen that just burst from above.

"Hello, Shitty!" he said.

The Queen hissed and snarled, which was apparently the sign for all the other Aliens to come and form a circle around the two.

"Cheating, eh? Well, I don’t tolerate cheaters, missy!"

The Queen straightened. "Really? Okay then, all you guys can bugger off. This is between him and me!"

The swarm diminished into the shadows, leaving only the Queen and Ceremony. They circled a few times before Betty leapt into the air, pulling himself through the hold made by they Queen and her minions.

"Come and get me!" he teased, bolting down the metal corridors. Her Majesty was not one to let a fight slip, so she obliged and followed him down the length of the station.

Eventually the two came out in a long, vertical service tunnel that went right to the top. The tunnel was filled with a loud howling noise from the storm outside, a howl that deafened the two from any other noise. But at the moment they didn’t need to hear anything; they were so close they could see each other’s muscles twitch with every step, every movement.

After a long period Sshe’ss’Sshitt’y swung her tail at Ceremony, but by luck it got stuck before it even got over her shoulder. She pulled at the tail repeatedly, but it wasn’t coming lose. Using the time, Ceremony started up the ladder to the hatch.