Synopsis: From the back cover of the Bantam first edition: "An average woman with an extraordinary will to live. A sheltered girl with few options left. A world on the brink of no way out. - Aliens Lieutenant Ellen Ripley awoke from her long journey in space with a hole in her memory and an overwhelming drive to survive. When she meets Wilks and Billie, two battered veterans in the war against the aliens, she realizes she's found two comrades in arms - and she's ready to take up the fight. Only then does she discover the devastating secret that lurks behind her long sleep. When she, Wilks, and Billie prepare to meet the aliens head-on to turn a powerful alien queen against her spawn in a battle intended to save Earth, that secret becomes her greatest weapon - and her greatest liability. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, Ripley and Billie must come to terms with what it means to be alien... and what it means to be human."