Hicks is woken up from cryo-sleep by Mack and Rodan and taken to the infirmary.
He recognizes the two Corporate guardsmen as having once been Colonial Marines. He remarks that they have stopped fighting for real ideals and instead embraced the cold life of mercenaries. Fighting for money and money alone. Hicks sees their choice as dishonorable. Rodan tells Hicks that he is missing out on a hefty paycheck by staying in the Marines and not joining Weyland-Yutani private security.
In the infirmary Hicks is patched up by Portnoy. A special sterilized patch is placed over his eye, far more effective at protecting against infection and irritants than the simple cloth bandage he improvised on LV-426. With his one good eye, Hicks spots Newt unconscious and strapped to a stretcher.
Hicks asks why they have done that to a little girl. He is visibly angry.
Portnoy simply tells the Marine that little Rebecca Jorden is an important asset to the Company, especially considering what was accidentally smuggled aboard via the dropship. It dawns on Hicks that she is going to be exploited by the Bio-Weapons Division, just as Ripley revealed on LV-426 shortly before Carter Burke's death. The Queen must have laid an egg on the dropship while Bishop was flying him, Ripley, and Newt off of LV-426.
Without a weapon, Hicks decides that he cannot physically resist his captors. He regards his captors with a weary eye, sizing them up to see what it would take to get past them. The fragile old doctor would pose no problem, but Hicks knows that Rodan and Mack are both formidable in combat (from his experience serving alongside them).
The Marine lies back on the stretcher and lets the recovery drug cocktail take effect. Better to not fight now if it means living to conquer another day.
Newt, who is completely out cold, is wheeled out of the infirmary by Portnoy.