"Hey its macharius here. I was inspired to write this fan fic after seeing the great pieces under the half life section- super-chocolate-bear's black mesa incident and blind's shepards epic to name but a few.
I do not own half life it belongs to VALVe software as do all characters except for the few I devise. Eg. Martin and Sarah.
Please read and review and enjoy- thankyou
CHAPTER ONE – GRABBING THE BULL BY THE HORNS
"HEY! Bluestuff – open that door quickly before I'm late"
Martin looked over at the flustered scientist. He tried to make himself intimidating and it must have worked because the scientist hastily added a "please" to his sentence and stopped glaring.
"Security clearance sir," Martin said completely disinterested.
It was Monday morning and even though he was working in probably the most secret government facility in America, he was tired and bored. Martin wouldn't be one to say he hated his job but he knew that he could have chosen a better career path.
The scientist removed his pass from his lab coat and handed it to Martin through the small hole in the bottom of the glass. Martin briefly looked it over. The egghead's name was Waters. That was all he needed.
He scanned the tag and it registered. He then handed back the tag and leaned over to a switch on the opposite wall of his small 'personal workspace' as his section manager had called it, what an ass.
He flicked it and the airlock doors opened. The scientist, Waters was obviously pissed at how he was delayed. He gave his best attempt at a dirty look towards Martin as he nearly fell over himself to get in the doorway Martin relaxed back in his chair.
So this is my life ,he thought in boredom, he had been working at the Black Mesa research facility as a security officer for about two years now and he knew that he wasn't about to be promoted any further. He had worked had to carve out a niche for himself but he had fallen short of it.
Now he was assigned to guarding a switch that lead to a small lab that he had never seen the inside of, he didn't have high enough security clearance, level 3 was good but not that good. Black Mesa was full of labs like this, old areas from back in the 50's that were probably completely dangerous, well compared to the newer areas like sectors C and F.
He had a friend in sector C ( the anomalous materials lab); David Castles, who non-stop would boast about how amazing it is and how nice the staff are, except for one doctor Arnie Magnusson that every one was afraid of . Not that the security force and science team ever did get really get along together. There was a huge rift between them that only a few individuals had bridged.
He only knew the name of sector F – it was the lambda complex, and only the top of the Black Mesa foodchain were allowed in there.
Martin's bored blue eyes surveyed his personal workspace. A small door behind him
Lead out to the tram platform complete with waiting automated tram. A faded monitor screen above him displayed the tram times and which were inbound and outbound.
Some propaganda poster with the Black Mesa logo- a black mesa silhouetted against a white sky and underneath it the words "Working to build a better tomorrow for all mankind" Hung beside the switch, put there by its previous occupant who obviously thought very highly of black mesa, at least he got out of this dump.
That sentence alone made Martin want to tear it off the wall. He really hated posters like that and unfortunately – they were every where in the facility.
He glanced at his wristwatch, it was only ten a.m. His section manager was right that he had a long shift ahead of him- he wouldn't be off until nine this evening. However he needed the extra pay because Black Mesa wasn't particularly generous to give him enough to both look after his wife and kid as well as him covering his bills in the bar every night on a normal weeks salary.
Come to think of it, most off the security division got wasted each night; it was a necessity after a gruelling day of hell where they were treated like garbage by scientists, and, when they were feeling brave, the technicians and maintenance crews. On occasion a fight between the two groups would break out, often ending with the suspension of an officer and a trip to the infirmary for a scientist.
No one had messed with Martin, yet.
Martin scratched his chin, he needed to shave, a fierce stubble was growing. While he fidgeted with his stubble the tram at the station pulled out as another arrived. Martin quickly sat up straight, his helmet emitting a resonating clanging noise as it hit off the monitor.
Martin hissed in pain as the helmet slammed back on his head giving him a headache, some shift this was turning out to be. The door to the tram opened and a rather pathetic looking security guard stepped out looking amazingly depressed.
The guard's helmet seemed to squeeze his head so much the guy looked like he was permanently angry due to the vein throbbing viciously above his brow. He dragged himself over to Martin's both.
"Martin Thompson?" He asked completely bored.
"Yeah, that's me"
"I'm your replacement, Quentin Jones"
Panic set in, Martin frantically wracked his brain, a replacement? Were they promoting him, no, he corrected himself, they wanted him gone, and he had crossed the section manager for the last time.
Oh man I am in serious shit now, Sarah is goin to skin me alive.
Unless he thought of something fast. Maybe he could plead with the section manager or administrator to…
"You okay buddy?"
Quentin seemed concerned at the silence that lasted for several long seconds and how the colour had drained from his colleagues face.
"What?"
"Nevermind, chief wants you to gather your stuff and report to the Central Security hub, he wants to talk with you"
Martin swallowed hard.
"Any idea what it's about?"
The security guard shrugged
"Hell if I know, good look buddy, I can give you a hand with your stuff if you…"
"No thanks, I'll be goin"
Slightly glad to be leaving his "Personal workspace" Martin immediately leaped out of the office and bounded along to the tram. Quentin stared surprised after him and yelled
"WAIT, YOUR STUFF!"
The tram door slowed his progress slightly as it wheezed open. Martin threw himself onto one of the seats on the tram and stared out the window as the bewildered Quentin moved into his knew Office, the poor bastard.
The tram trudged along the tracks; it would bring Martin to the central transit hub from where he would get a tram to the surface and his dormitory where he could break the news to Sarah, and get the hell out of there quick enough to get to see the chief and give her time to cool off.
He had decided that grabbing the bull by the horns was the best way to do it.
Perfect, well as far as getting fired from your job and telling your wife that your future together is screwed it was perfect.
He hoped,
Otherwise there was a family plot waiting for him back in Seattle.
The angelic although completely unnecessary voice that emerged from the trams speakers informed him that he had arrived at the area 9 central transit hub.
The hub always amazed Martin simply because of its sheer scale and the amount of employees that journeyed through it each day.
Martin breathed heavily and moved towards the tram that would bring him to his dormitory on surface area 8. He scanned his transit system pass which allowed him to pass onto the tram. It was empty except for one sweet sleeked off duty scientist.
Great, martin thought to himself, more torture before this hell hole will leave me alone.
What creeped out Martin though was the fact that the scientist seemed happy to see him.
"Oh good, please tell me you're here to fix the air conditioning system, as you can see I am sweltering in this heat"
Martin bit his lip; this idiot wanted a security officer to fix a trams air conditioner, God, and scientists were supposed to be smart.
"Um…no"
The scientists smile faded.
"Oh fiddlesticks, more oppressing heat then"
Martin took a seat near the front of the tram as it began its journey to the surface because sitting beside the scientist was probably not the smart thing to do. Once the tram was moving Martin realised why the scientist was moaning about the heat.
Even though under his uniform of a Kevlar vest he wore a cotton blue shirt and a black tie, he was, as David would say, sweating his balls off.
In the time his tram had left the bowels of the facility and reached the surface Martin felt like a tap. As the tram lazed to a halt Martin prayed to God that Sarah wasn't in one of her Moods.
He stepped of the tram and gave the briefest of nods towards the scientist who seemed to scowl at Martin's quick departure.
The sun glared angrily down on the inhabitants of New Mexico, in particular the employees of Black Mesa that were either stupid enough or unfortunate enough to have to go outside during the day.
Martin sighed aloud- he was both of the above today.
He made his way to the entrance where a chubby security guard stood guard beside an entrance console, or at least would be if he wasn't so busy trying to get a helmet to cover his head from the sun.
Martin only knew him to see and didn't know his name.
"Heya Martin, you not supposed to be on a shift?"
Martin was in no humour to be quizzed by a stranger who somehow knew his name.
"I just need to be let in okay"
That seemed to hurt chubby's feelings. He did as he was told and Martin hurried inside. In the main hall some employees were relaxing; either their shifts hadn't started or they weren't scheduled for today.
Some people called over to him to join them for a drink later but he didn't pay any attention to who they were, he doubted that Black Mesa would want a former employee snooping around their facility.
He instead made a beeline for the hallway that lead to the rooms. He almost knocked over another security guard who was making his way down the corridor.
"Jeez careful, you'll give yourself and me a heart attack!"
Martin looked over and apologised. The guard snorted and continued on his way. The architect of the dorms didn't take into the fact that people may be claustrophobic as the corridors were so cramped that more than one person could barely fit.
Martin stopped in front of the door that read 107. He pulled out his keycard and swiped it off the electronic lock. The door beeped approvingly and the door slid open.
Martin heard humming coming from the kitchen. It was Sarah, and when she hummed something good was happening in her life, usually, definitely, hopefully.
Martin crept into the kitchen. Sarah was there leaning over the sink washing something. Her terracotta ponytail bobbing up and down as she hummed happily to herself.
He cleared his throat and she jumped in surprise. She quickly turned to face him.
"Martin, what are you doing here I thought that you were…"
"I know, I know but there's something I need to tell you"
Her emerald eyes widened in horror.
"You're leaving me!"
Martin gasped aloud in shock and confusion.
"What no! Nothing like that"
She seemed to relax a little but still remained tense.
"I don't think I'm going to like this am I"
Martin shrugged and thought, well this is it.
"I think that they are gona fire me Sarah"
Sarah just laughed; it quickly subsided however, when she saw the deathly serious face that Martin had.
"Martin, what makes you think that"
"Well some guy showed up below and told me that he's my replacement and that the chief wants us to gather our stuff together"
Sarah went quiet for a minute.
"He could be relocating us Martin"
"Sarah, listen, that guy hates my guts- there is no way he wants to promote me, and I guess that he wants me gone for some reason"
More silence, Sarah's eyes began to water at the corners.
"Martin, what the hell did you do, how could you do this to us? We have a son for Christ's sake, where the hell are we going to go?"
Yep, Martin was well and truly screwed.
"Sarah calm down I'll think of something…"
"Think of what Martin? What the hell can you do by yourself?"
It was time for his exit before she hit him with a saucepan.
"Sarah relax, just…just don't worry, I'll be back"
Before she could answer he ducked out of the room and made a dash for the tram station. Sarah was screaming something down the hall after him which caused several passers-by to give worried looks at Martin.
He got to the doorway out of the complex and exiting with chubby glaring angrily after him. Martin got to the platform and pressed the call button beside the railing. Sure enough after about thirty seconds a tram arrived – complete with air conditioning, a godsend after the argument with Sarah and the sweltering New Mexico heat.
The tram sped off to the central transit hub. Martin thought to himself whoa, déjà vu as the tram pulled up and he made for another one, the tram that would bring him to the
Security hub and his superior that even the section managers were wary of.
He scanned his pass and clambered aboard. The angelic voice informing him that just for his benefit it was 93 degrees Fahrenheit, as if he didn't know that already from running around in it and sitting in a windowless, slow moving, non air conditioned tram.
The journey was uneventful, scientists occasionally entered and left the tram as it passed various stops. Finally it reached the Black Mesa Central complex; this is where the chief sat, second only to the administrator- doctor Wallace Breen.
The tram chugged to a halt and thoughtfully informed its passengers where they now were stopped. This complex was the Central Command and Communication Center, and the Mechanized Infantry Repair Bay. This part of the facility also housed the large robots used in hazardous environments throughout the facility.
This part of the facility also scared Martin because as well as armed guards there was a garrison of armed marines in the complex. Martin didn't know why the facility had a group of marines – he simply assumed they were going under some sort of special training in the facility.
On occasion they could be seen training or whatever they did on the surface.
Martin dragged himself along the corridors until he came to the reception area for the chief of security's office. A receptionist sat behind a circular table with a huge banner with a Black Mesa security officer behind her. The banner read "we protect the future"
Jeez it's almost as bad as the one back in my office.
Former office, he corrected himself.
The receptionist without looking up said in a nasally voice
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Yes, the chief wanted to see me, my name is Martin Thompson"
"Just one minute, if you'll take a seat"
She put her hand to her ear and started a conversation with someone. Martin didn't care. He parked himself on one of the seats and gazed about the room. Some other very nervous looking security guards sat around the room but weren't wearing their customary Kevlar vests and steel helmets.
Martin realized he should probably do the same. He shrugged off the vest and pulled the helmet off. Beside him a stack of magazines and newspapers lay. He picked up a copy of the Black Mesa times. He flicked through it until he came to a page which read;
"Say welcome to our newest employee Gordon Freeman"
The guy looked like a mouse. Even through the black and white photograph Martin could tell that the guy was pale. There was something likeable about the guys face though, maybe it was the complete look of stupidity on his face at getting his photo taken.
"Mr. Thompson, you can go on through now"
And then the panic came again. Martin stepped through the now open doorway into the chief's office. It had a faded green carpet and cold grey walls. A small desk and two chairs either side of it were in the corner of the room.
"I suppose you know why I've called you here"
The deep booming voice emerged from the opposite side of the room. Martin nearly had a heart attack.
"Yes sir, I have an idea"
The man emerged out of the poorly lit corner and faced Martin. Good god he was scarier in person than Martian had remembered from their last encounter. The man was small but non the less very threatening looking. A thin layer of scar tissue ran down the side of his face.
Apparently he was a cop who led one of the most famous drug busts in history. As a result a hit was placed out on him. That's what gave him the huge scar, but the guy who did it ended up far worse. Now he's lying in a city morgue.
"Would you like to take a seat?"
Apprehensive to say yes Martin decided against it.
"Would you like to speak your mind Thompson?"
Martin sighed. He had decided against begging for his job back, he was a man of pride.
"I know that you don't want me working here any longer sir, I'll be gone by this evening along with my family"
The chief seemed taken aback.
"That is actually not what I have in mind Thompson; I am promoting you and moving your family closer to your new workspace"
Now it was Martin's turn to be taken aback.
"I…eh, um, thank you sir, where are we being relocated to?"
The chief leaned against the table, the shadows across his face almost gave him a nightmarish visage.
"Sector C, anomalous materials"