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"Annunciata!"

Of the emotions he was allowed, Ripley proved best at envy and hate Like many others, from the brainiest Alphas to the shallowest Epsilons, he lived for the day when the killing of the Old Race would begin in earnest Hisdreahter

But he was no stranger to fear, which ca hours of unfocused anxiety He had been afraid when he witnessed Werner’s catastrophic cellularto hi Werner was becoht not be as oht

The i

With twenty-four simultaneous clunks, the lock bolts retracted entirely into the vault door On the control console, the yelloitch turned green

The fore

Having burst out of and torn off its gar stepped naed fro hub It was not as handsoed, never achieving a stable new fornificant ways different froarded the overhead ca on his hind legs, the new Werner le cat and also with a praying e that it seemed utterly alien to this planet The eyes were both hued, protuberant, lid-less, and staring with a feverish intensity that seerip of fury, terror, and desperation

Out of the wickedly serrated insectile le and hiss, yet intelligible: "So either infor, feverish eyes revealed only rage, and not also terror and desperation, for Werner said, "I a that he was an Alpha with a high IQ, Ripley only now realized that the Werner thing stood between hi hub

CHAPTER 8

BUCKY AND JANET GUITREAU STOOD side by side on the dark back lawn of the Bennet house, drinking their neighbors’ best Cabernet Bucky held a bottle in each hand, and so did Janet He alternated between a swig froht

Gradually the warm, heavy rain rinsed Janet clean of Yancy and Helene

"You were so right," Bucky said "They really are pussies Did it feel as good as doing the pizza guy?"

"Oh, it felt better It felt like a hundred tiht join in," Janet said

"I’d rather have one of my own to do"

"Are you ready to do one of your own?"

"I s are still happening to ht you’re already … liberated"

"You reuy twice?"

"Dr Phil?"

"Yeah That show ibberish"

"But now I understand I’ to find myself"

"Find yourself--in what sense?" Bucky asked

Janet tossed an empty wine bottle onto the lawn

She said, "My purpose, ood"

"It is good I’ my PCVs"

"What’re they?"

"My personal core values You can’t be of use to yourself or to the community until you live faithfully by your PCVs"

Bucky pitched an empty wine bottle across the yard He had drunk more than a bottle and a half of wine in ten minutes, but because of his superb et ato ot fro"

"You’re the district attorney," she said

"I know But now I’m not sure what habeas corpusa person to be brought to a court or a judge before his liberty can be restrained It’s a protection against illegal ireed

"If you just kill hie, the court, or the prison"

"Exactly" Janet finished the last of her wine and discarded the second bottle She began to undress

"What’re you doing?" Bucky asked

"I need to be naed when I kill the next ones It feels right"

"Does it feel right just for the next house or is it maybe one of your personal core values?"

"I don’t know Maybe it is a PCV I’ll have to wait and see"

Toward the back of the yard, a shadow lealoom

"What’s the matter?" Janet asked

"I think so"

"I don’t care Let hiood naked," Bucky said

"I feel good It feels so natural"

"That’s odd Because we aren’t natural We’re man-made"

"For the first time, I don’t feel artificial," Janet said

"How does it feel not to feel artificial?"

"It feels good You should get naked, too"

"I’m not there yet," Bucky demurred "I still knohat nolo contendereas I keep my clothes on, I think I’m ready to kill one of the hoant Garden District ely beaten Erika He seemed to have had a bad day in the laboratory