The commercial space tug Nostromo is returning to Earth with a seven-member crew in "stasis": captain Dallas, executive officer Kane, warrant officer Ripley, navigator Lambert, science officer Ash, and engineers Parker and Brett, along with the ship cat, Jones. The ship's computer, "Mother", detects a transmission from a nearby planetoid and wakes the crew. Following company policy to investigate transmissions indicating intelligent life, they land on the surface, but the ship is damaged. Dallas, Kane, and Lambert discover the transmission comes from a derelict alien vessel. Inside is a giant, fossilised alien corpse with a hole in its torso. Meanwhile, Mother partially deciphers the transmission, which Ripley determines is a warning beacon and not an SOS as first thought.