Ripley discovers that it was Burke who ordered the colonists to investigate the
derelict spaceship where the Nostromo crew first encountered the Alien eggs, and that he hopes to return Alien
specimens to the company laboratories where he can profit from their use as
biological weapons.
She threatens to
expose him, but Bishop soon informs the group of a greater threat: the damaged processing station has become unstable and will soon
detonate with the force of a
thermonuclear weapon. He
volunteers to use the colony's
transmitter to
pilot the Sulaco's remaining dropship to the surface by remote control so that the group can escape.