A small shuttle floats silently across the vast, black stretches of space.
Alien
The shuttle lands at a scientific complex on a moon. A passenger (
Christian Bale) emerges from the craft. He is greeted by the commander of the complex (
Jeffrey Tambor) who gives him a quick tour of the facility. Among the people he meets are the lead scientist/doctor (
Saffron Burrows), the chief of security and former soldier (
Chiwetel Ejiofor) and the cynical chef (
Ken Leung). There are also hundreds of other staff members, though hardly any of them know why this visitor is here…
Through conversation between the visitor and the commander, it is revealed that the visitor works for an organization known as The Company. They sent a ship and a crew on a mission 18 months ago but lost all communication with it 6 months ago. He has arrived at the complex because the ship has been found.
He asks if there were any survivors, and the commander tells him there was one.
The small group (the agent, the commander, the scientist and the soldier) visit a special cell, which is holding the only female "survivor" of the crew. They explain that she hasn't talked since they found her, and the agent explains that he's going to need to take her back to The Company immediately. The scientist explains that she cannot be moved until tomorrow – they need to operate on her shortly or she will die. The agent is obviously annoyed at this, but decides to stay.
He visits the hangar where the ruined ship is being held. He plays over the last recordings where strange, animalistic noises can be heard along with people screaming. He does not seem worried at this.
The agent is invited to watch the operation along with the commander. The soldier brings the survivor in, and the procedure begins. Upon seeing a needle, the female begins to beg them to kill her, but the doctor injects her and she stays still. A male doctor announces that there's something moving around inside of her, but before they can do anything, her stomach explodes and a small black creature bursts out. It leaps onto the male doctor and begins to tear into his skin.
The others are quick to react, as the soldier begins to fire at the creature/doctor, while the commander pulls the female doctor out of the room and locks the door. The agent asks if the thing will be able to get out, and the commander explains that there's a staircase leading to the surface. The small quarter realize they must reach the surface, evacuate the facility, and then destroy this monster.
The rush to the lift. As it ascends, they wonder what the creature was and where it's from. The soldier tells them about rumours he's heard of military teams being taken out by strange black aliens similar to the one they just saw. While this is happening, the agent remains quiet.
Before the lift reaches the surface, it shakes violently, and the power dies. They manage to force the door open, and realize they're a couple of floors from the top. They figure out they can reach the stairway from the other side of the floor, and still make it to the surface.
The quartet journey throughout the dark and disturbing facility. They encounter the chef, armed with a knife, who explains that he couldn't reach the upper levels because the stairway is blocked. They realize the only option left is to take an emergency ladder to the top.
As they search for this ladder, they encounter the creature again, but manage to fight it off. However, in the conflict, the chef is ripped to pieces. The commander uses a grenade to annihilate the alien. Thinking they're safe, the group split off, in order to find the ladder quickly.
The soldier finds the ladder and they all regroup… minus one. The commander is nowhere to be found. They quickly search, but can find no body. The three take the ladder up to the surface, where they realize what has happened…
Everyone is dead. The alien creatures are everywhere. The scientist explains how the alien swarm must have known that the woman was carrying one of their offspring, and have come to collect their child. The three, hiding in the control room, realize there is only one course of action now: escape.
They manage to evade the aliens and reach the escape pods, but find only two of them are functioning. The soldier quips that each pod can only carry two people so they're going to have to draw straws. The agent cold replies that he won't have to make that decision and shoots the soldier in the stomach.
The scientist screams as the agent puts a gun to her head. He forces her into an escape pod and ties her up. She realizes that he killed the commander. He smirks, and tells her that his purpose all along was to come for the "weapon" (the alien that had grown inside the survivor). Since this has been killed, he explains that he's going to have to create another one… using her as bait.
He drags the soldier's dying body off and disappears, while she screams for non existent help. The noise attracts an alien, which ventures into the pod and examines the woman. The agent rushes to the pod and attempts to close the door, but the doors are jammed. The alien immediately bursts onto the agent and rips him to pieces. The scientist, watching all of this happen before her eyes, tears at the rope tying her down, and manages to slip out. She runs, and the creature pursues. She has no idea where she's going to go, anywhere but there.
She comes to a dead end and the alien stalks her. Suddenly, the soldier appears behind it, and cuts its head open with an axe. Acid spews everywhere. The soldier collapses.
He tells her there's still a chance for her to get out, but either way, he is going to die. They come up with a plan: he will act as a distraction, and lead the aliens to the control room, where he will detonate the facility. Upon hearing the alarm, she is to run to the remaining escape pod, and escape. She agrees, though knows if the pod doors won't close, she's doomed.
They commence the plan, with the bleeding soldier attracting the various aliens, who pursue him. However, he is too slow, and one of the aliens grabs him before he can activate the self destruct sequence. He grabs the axe and thrusts it into the alien's head, causing acid to burst everywhere – including all over the control. They overheat, causing the system to go into its self destruct sequence, and the alarm goes off.
The scientist immediately leaps from her hiding space, and rushes to the escape pod. A lone alien notices her flee, and chases. She manages to reach the pod just in time, presses the button and the doors close upon the alien, causing it to burst. She activates the rockets and the escape pod blasts off from the facility. She watches the moon explode, and cries.
The escape pod floats silently across the vast, black stretches of space.
