The Star

[acts_of_gord]

The landing was as simple as a landing can get when there are enough sand-dwelling alien insects around to throw even the Combine off their pace. The slaughter of antlions was nothing short of amazing. There was a bull, too, but the less said about that the better- by the time it was dead they'd used up near all their medkits, and Sergeant-Major Shephard was quoting Milton through clenched teeth. Apparently he'd never seen a man finish off a fifteen-foot-long armored alien bug with the business end of a crowbar before.

Gordon will never in a million years admit that he caught himself enjoying that particular moment of insanity. At least, not to anyone else.

Anyway, the time of slaughtering bugs passed, and the time of sounding out the Combine presence in the area has also passed, because on the journey inland towards the location of the Gene Worm the advance force encountered a number of humans. None of them spoke much English, but they had enough German for Gordon to communicate with them. He didn't like the look he caught them exchanging with one another when he introduced himself. It wasn't quite the look he got in Seattle, but it was close enough...

And now that they've all been shepherded carefully and secretly to the local Resistance hideout, he's been asked to come and meet somebody. This, he isn't looking forward to.

Comments

[smelltheashes]

He holds up his free hand in a 'give me a second' gesture. A few seconds later, the laughter finally subsides and he looks up. "Oh. Oh, my God." He wipes tears from the corners of his eyes. "You know, I've met some real wackjobs in the past ten years, but this? This takes the cake."

[acts_of_gord]

"Sir, if you don't mind, we came here with a purpose. You can think whatever you want of me and I won't care, but the longer we're held up the harder it's going to be to take that Synth down. Unless you're going to lend a hand or loan us that strontium-90..."

At least he's not being accused of being a deliberate liar, but damn this is getting on his nerves.

[smelltheashes]

"Annnd I can't let you do that," says the man seriously. "There's crazy, and then there's suicidal."

[acts_of_gord]

"We've taken down three so far," says Gordon. "I won't say it's been easy, but we've survived that many. We know what we're doing. We can do it again."

[smelltheashes]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you have," says not!Gordon dismissively; clearly he doesn't believe a word of this. "And what happens when the Combine get tired of you poking at them? I'll tell you what happens. They're going to poke back. With a finger big enough to squash you flat."

[acts_of_gord]

"Seen it already," Gordon says quietly.

No one died, but... they still lost White Forest, and that still burns him.

"The alternative's waiting for the hammer to fall later. It's going to. You know it is."

[smelltheashes]

"Exactly. The only thing you can do is not be where the hammer is falling. That's what we're doing here."

[acts_of_gord]

"I don't think you understand," says Gordon. "I'm not talking about localized military action here. I'm talking about a concerted effort on the part of the Combine to use Terran biomass to force-grow their Synths to a level where they can completely convert our atmosphere into something they find breathable. They've given up on us as cyborged soldiers. There's nowhere safe left on Earth."

[smelltheashes]

A patronizing smile. "Sure. And which of the voices in your head told you that?"

[acts_of_gord]

( "I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls." )

"Talk to the others," Gordon says abruptly. No more than that.

It's not a tone of voice he uses often. Wilbur Whateley heard it once.

[smelltheashes]

The man nods. "I might just do that," he says. "But we can't have you wandering around unsupervised, now can we?"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon is right at the point of never speaking to this man again. He crosses his arms over his chest and, nevertheless, says flatly, "Put me somewhere with a door and a guard, then."

[smelltheashes]

He nods again, eying Gordon suspiciously. "Maybe I will. I think I know just the person to keep you under wraps, too..."

He reaches back behind him, pulls a .44 off the wall, and trains it on Gordon without breaking eye contact.

"Okay, let's go."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon doesn't react. Unless you count putting his hand on the crowbar he always, always has with him, that is.

He'll follow. For now. But if there's the slightest hint of this going south...

[smelltheashes]

There isn't, so far. The man just leads Gordon down another series of narrow concrete corridors to what appears to be the sleeping quarters. "Mayr?" he calls into the mostly-empty barracks. "I got a job for you..."

[acts_of_gord]

Well, could be worse. Not like they offered him anything better during the wait in Seattle.

Gordon might crane his neck a little to try and see who's got the job, but he's not going out of his way to do anything outstanding otherwise.

[smelltheashes]

"Yes, Herr Freeman?"

A young woman--a girl, really, she's probably not a day over eighteen--slides out of one of the upper bunks and steps forward. She's fair-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed, and quite... let's say 'shapely.'

"This guy's part of the American resistance group. Would you mind... 'taking care' of him for an hour or so?" The man in the yellow suit winks. "You know what I'm talkin' about."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon is an atheist, not a praying man.

But for an instant there he's this close to praying that he means the girl is a world-class violinist with a penchant for complicated solos.

"Look, just... [You don't have to do that,]" he says, switching into German for the girl's benefit. "[I have a fiancee. Have you got any books or anything instead?]"

[smelltheashes]

The girl looks pleasantly surprised. "[You speak German?]" she asks. (Her accent marks her as Austrian.)

The man in the yellow suit is nonplussed.

[acts_of_gord]

"[I did post-doctoral work at Innsbruck,]" Gordon says. "[Physics. Forgive me if it's a little rusty. It's been some time since I had to use it much.]"

He's quite happy to ignore the man in the yellow suit at this point, really.

[smelltheashes]

"[Really? I lived in Innsbruck when I was a little girl!]"

The man in the yellow suit grimaces and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Anna, you know how I feel about you saying stuff I can't understand..."

The girl looks contrite. "Sorry, Herr Freeman."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon's mouth twitches. "I think we can manage," he says, and waves one hand in the general direction of where the rest of his people are probably currently being held. Yes, it's a shooing gesture, and yes, it's probably going to cause the man to misinterpret his intentions, but Gordon's pretty sure the man is going to assume the worst no matter what he does anyway. At least it looks as if there's a good chance at civilized conversation.

[smelltheashes]

The man in the yellow suit grins a lecherous grin. "Gettin' right down to business, eh? Don't let me stop ya."

He swaggers out. Yes, swaggers.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon just rolls his eyes. "[I was serious, you know,]" he says. "[About the fiancee. I'm not going to do anything inappropriate.]" After a moment he adds, "[I probably wouldn't anyway. Even without Alyx.]"

[smelltheashes]

Anna Mayr blinks in surprise. "[What do you mean, 'inappropriate'?]"

She's doing what Herr Freeman wants her to do, isn't she? How is that inappropriate?