Brief Summary:

The surviving crew of a damaged space harvester have a motion sensor as their only navigation tool to guide them to safety while being terrorized by a creature in the shadows.

Detailed Summary:

2121.

The crew of the commercial transporter Otranto abandoned the ship due to chemical pollution. They left the synthetic Hope behind.

2122.

Hope has been drifting alone for over a year. She spends her time in monotonous work, such as drawing, reading, and counting the rivets on the Otranto. She also makes the smallest of repairs to the wrecked ship. Despite her best efforts, she realizes that the ship is deteriorating beyond her efforts to repair it. She holds on to the wish her commanding officer promised her before the evacuation: that someone would come back to save her.

Hope has complete control over the vessel. Mother, Otranto's computer, denies Hope access to Lab B-11a. Hope deems this unfair considering that she is the last person left on board. An electrical fire breaks out on the ship's bridge, destroying Mother's circuits. With the computer no longer working, Hope realizes there is nothing stopping her from reaching lab B-11a.

She cuts her way inside and discovers various biological specimens. All but one—a Facehugger—had died. She resurrects the Facehugger, who tries to impregnate her right away. The Facehugger determined that she is not organic and so is incapable of functioning as a host for a Chestburster. It detaches and vanishes into the ship's ventilation system.

Hope disassembles Mother and uses her parts to get the computer in Lab B-11a working again. Hope spends the next few weeks studying the creature. The Facehugger appears unaffected by the deadly chemicals that have poisoned the Otranto. Hope warms a piece of metal with a blowtorch, leading the Facehugger to approach it and attempt to latch onto it. The Facehugger even climbs up onto her shoulder while she sits meditating.

The creature's lack of interest in Hope other than watching her movements in the hopes of finding a compatible host. Nonetheless, Hope comes to see the Facehugger as a type of companion.

However, both Hope and the Facehugger begin to show symptoms of wear and tear over time. Hope's mechanical components are failing, and the Facehugger has outlived its natural lifespan. Hope, distraught by her companion's impending death, makes fast, improvised repairs to the Otranto. These repairs would allow her to sail the ship into populated space in the hopes of rescue before they both die. Hope accessed the ship's systems to ascertain whether it will survive the manoeuvre, only to learn that there is a significant chance the vessel will break up when she activates the engines.

The Otranto survives the maneuver. Macwhirr discovers them, and boards the ship. Hope gains the upper hand, helping the Facehugger in subduing him. Macwhirr wakes up imprisoned in a storeroom on the Otrantowith no recollection of the incident. He asks Hope to release him outside the door. She refuses, proposing instead that he embrace his approaching death as she has. When the Chestburster inside Macwhirr emerges, he dies.

Later, Hope mourns over the body of the deceased Facehugger. She is then approached by Macwhirr's offspring — a fully-grown Drone. She gazes up at the creature as it looms over her.