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]

The scenery, at least, is familiar. Apparently there's some unwritten rule that every Resistance base must contain a certain number of narrow concrete corridors lit by flickering fluorescent lights. They finally come to a halt in front of a heavy door labeled 'PRIVATE - KEEP OUT' in three different languages.

Gordon's escort, a thirtysomething-but-looking-much-older Polish man named Janusz Prohaska, raps his knuckles lightly on the door.

"Who's there?" The voice from inside is male, and, surprisingly, has an American accent.

"Prohaska again. And I have 'Doctor Freeman' with me." Something in Janusz's tone implies air quotes.