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]

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?

[acts_of_gord]

He's not going to facepalm, or turn Coke can red- but damn, he wants to. It's going to take him a while to get his German together for this.

"[Nobody should.... nobody should feel obligated to do... that kind of thing,]" he says awkwardly. "[It's too important. Personal.]"

WHY do women ask him these questions. WHY.

[smelltheashes]

She frowns. "[I don't understand. Don't you want me?]"

[acts_of_gord]

Again. WHYYYYY.

"[I have... even if I didn't have someone,]" Gordon says slowly, "[that is... not something for strangers. Or women I hardly know. You're very pretty, but I keep that for someone I love.]"

He's doing his best with a language he learned for science's sake. this was not the kind of discussion he has much vocabulary for. Yes, he learned colloquial German after he got to Innsbruck, but the only bits of it he remembers now are the kinds of words Sergeant-Major Shephard is so fond of, and he is not going to use those.

"[Anyway you're only a little older than my niece, and that would make it very strange.]"

[smelltheashes]

She's quiet for a moment, mulling this over. "[Then why did Herr Freeman send you to me?]"

[acts_of_gord]

"[Because he thinks I'm like him,]" Gordon says sourly. "[And assumes that I would do what he would do, and want what he would want.]"

[smelltheashes]

She still looks confused, but also profoundly relieved. "[He does that,]" she admits. "[And he doesn't like it when people disagree with him.]"

[acts_of_gord]

"[I'll bet he doesn't,]" Gordon says. "[He strikes me as that kind of person, although I've only just met him. It isn't a good thing.]"

[smelltheashes]

"[But he's Herr Freeman,]" says Anna. "[How can you deny Herr Freeman anything he wants?]"

[acts_of_gord]

"[Herr Doktor Freeman,]" Gordon says, "[is only a man, like any other man.]"

He's pretty sure this joker, whoever he is, wouldn't be able to pass so much as the opening section of the MIT entrance exam, and hence hasn't been encouraging people to call him Dr. Freeman. But it's his degree, dammit.

[smelltheashes]

"[Oh, but he's not really a doctor. Didn't he tell you? He was a deep cover agent for the CIA, investigating Black Mesa. That's why he was able to make it out alive.]"

[acts_of_gord]

"...."

Well. That, he didn't expect.

"[No, he hadn't told me,]" Gordon says mildly. And then: "[It changes nothing. Only that he fought well and deserves respect. Not-]" He struggles through his less science-related vocabulary. "[Blind obedience. Surviving doesn't make him the Messiah.]"

[smelltheashes]

She looks positively stunned. "[But then... how can he keep us safe? And if he cannot, who will?]"

[acts_of_gord]

The more Gordon finds out about this man and what he's said, the more he wants to leave him in a small room with Dr. Magnusson and an angry black headcrab, and see how long it takes him to pull the crab over his own head as his only route of escape.

"[No one can keep you safe forever,]" he says. "[But there are those who can fight, very well. There are people with me who were there when we destroyed the Citadel in City 17. And who forced the Combine's superportal closed.]"

Of course he can say 'superportal' in German. That, unlike personal life questions, was part of the vocabulary for the science he was studying.

"[If they can do it, so can you.]"

[smelltheashes]

"[You really think so?]"