"My God" Don blurted out, "You were here, at Black Mesa, at the beginning?"
"Yeah" Danni said, "I don't remember much though, I was only 13. I was getting ready for school. Mom had left a few minutes earlier for the Tram to substation 3. The Tram from the Family dorm complex to school was supposed to leave 15 min later, but something weird was going on. The lights flickered off and on, the intercom was sporadic, there were constant announcements of shutdowns, power failures, tram delays, and accidents. I normally walked the Vance's daughter Alyx to the Tram station, but she hadn't shown up yet. Then Mom burst in, saying 'we've got to get out of here, go to your room and grab some stuff to take.' I tried to ask what was going on, she just yelled,' there's no time, just do it. I've got to get hold of your father'."
… … … … …
"Living at Black Mesa was a real bitch. Security was so tight that getting permission to leave was damn near impossible, and you couldn't have visitors. Though Dad was in the military and had very high security clearance it wouldn't touch Black Mesa. Dad had been in the military a long time and dealing with this kind of stuff was his job; in spite of the promises, he had no illusions about how much he would see his family if Mom took the position. Once we got to Black Mesa our contact with the outside would be severely limited. Once we got to Black Mesa all our expenses would be taken care of, and with Dad's work he always has a place provided to stay. Even knowing what they knew they felt the opportunity was too good to pass up. The salary was tremendous, the fact that they not have any family expenses, only income for several years; and then the experience she would gain and people she would be working with, she would be set for life. So they sold our home and put the money in the bank and we took the plunge. The night before we left for Black Mesa he gave her a satellite phone. "Just in case" he had said. Dad always said that the Mafia wasn't the only one that could give you an offer you couldn't refuse. Then mom burst in, muttering about something in the hallway and yelling, 'Where's the damn Sat phone, I can't find the phone'. That's when the gas started coming through the vents. Next thing I remember was Dad holding an oxygen mask to my face and then puking my guts out." Danni hesitated for a moment, "Mom never woke up."
"Okay… all this is just too much to tell right now."
"Here is the Bottom-line… Several major events had just taken place. Plots we hatched by several different sources. The Resonance Cascade was started and the Earth was invaded in an attempt to not only conquer Earth but escape the Combine. But during the invasion, Gordon Freeman destroyed the Nihilanth and the Vortigaunts were freed. But the Resonance cascade has now brought the attention of the Combine to Earth. And last but not least a Nuclear device was detonated at the Black Mesa facility"
"Black Mesa or 'a' Black Mesa is traveling in slow time. To the world it is a smoking pile of radioactive goo. But you can get inside of 'a' Black Mesa through the sewers, but sewers are filled with all kinds Xenian wildlife. It is not a trip for the faint hearted. That Black Mesa is filled to rim with Xenians too. You can also get to 'a' Black Mesa through the corridor at the canyon floor. And that Black Mesa is Xenian free. I have no idea why or how. The Black Mesa you visit through the sewers is the same as the one on the canyon floor but it's not." "Hold onto your hat Don, and I'll explain." "It isn't just that one has Xenian wildlife and the other one doesn't. If you go to my Moms work station in the Llamba section through the sewers, the stuff setting on top her desk (books, coffee cup, papers, photos, etc) may or may not be the same as the ones you would find if you went to it through the corridor. I'm not talking about any particular desk or area here; any desk, or locker, or safe, or filing cabinet may or may not be the same. The are several sewer entrances too, each one has a different possibility. So, we have Black Mesa's they are the same but different; what the differences are, why they are different, and how those changes occurred are another mystery."
"And one more thing, our Black Mesa, the one you reach through the corridor, is waking up."
… … … … …
"Okay, now follow my lead when we get in there. This is not play, it's not a simulation, these guys will kill you if you let them. I don't want you to get hurt. But don't get in my way, and don't shoot me. Now, please listen, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Don't get killed because of your friggin ego, I like the world better with you in it."
Danni was wearing a skin tight black suit. She said it was made out of material they found in Black Mesa. It felt like Lycra but the strength and puncture resistance was better than Kevlar. Her shoes/boots, were made out of the same stuff, they looked almost like socks but had a place that separated the big toe from the other toes. Hanging in the middle of her back was a Nickel plated Ruger Mini 14 with the stock collapsed. Strapped to both ankles were orange 10' ceramic throwing knives. Crossing that ample chest of hers were 2 belts, kinda like bandoliers, they held an assortment of Shuriken. On her right hip was a holster that held a Glock 20 converted to shoot 50 caliber shells. The ammo for both rifle and pistol were developed in the Black Mesa Labs. They were Titanium jacketed Uranium tipped explosive bullets, supposedly one could pierce the skull of an elephant, and then after it exploded; well it was all over but the crying. They were designed to be one shot kills, when something was shot with one, it was not supposed to rise again. And last but not least, on either side of the mini 14 hung scabbards, one slightly larger than the other. The larger one held her Mother's Katana, a 500 year old blade allegedly created by Muramasa; the other was a blade of her fathers, a very similar Katana and a long blade itself, but a full foot shorter than her Mother's. As a finishing touch she covered the knot of her braid with a stainless steel sleeve, razor sharp blades were arranged all around it, similar to the tip of a hunting arrow.
Don figured the way the guns sounded, what else would you need. So he said all he needed was guns, and Danni gave him the same guns and ammo as she carried.
Compared to the dry desert terrain around it, the sewer entrance looked like a park. Flowers and vines had sprung up all around the filthy waterhole and moss covered the slime and sludge at the entrance. Don stepped into the muck and sunk to his ankle; he cussed pulled his foot out and stood on one foot muttering shaking the mud off his foot. Danni turned around and flashed him a disapproving look, "Shhhhh... wait here" she whispered. She ran lightly across the moss to the gate, and opened it the rest of the way, then waved him forward. He stepped exactly where she had assuming it would also support his weight but each time he stepped the muck and slime would cover his foot dripping off in chunks as he took the next step. "Man, what did you eat?" she teased, waving her hand in front of her nose, after he finally caught up. "Wait here."
On the other side of the gate was a circular room approximately 50ft across. Water was flowing into the room from two large corridors which joined directly opposite the entrance. Along each wall several smaller corridors intersected and emptied their contents. Sewage also dripped from a series of 3ft pipes set at about head high all around the collection area. Danni did this hop/skip/jump thing that took her to the top of a mound at the room's center. The moment she landed things began moving. The skittering of claws on cement could be heard coming from the pipes. "Get Ready" She took a yellow flare she'd pulled from God knows where, and threw it so it stuck to the ceiling bathing her in yellow light. For the rest of his life he would remember that moment, Danni standing on that mound in all her statuesque glory with the biggest damn shit eating grin he'd ever seen.
Before he could even get the mini pulled around and ready, she had thrown a Shuriken down every pipe. Deep thumps resounded from each of them as the Shuriken exploded; flaming headcrabs, chunks and goo started flying out of the ends of the pipes and then the moaning began. Zombies were appearing everywhere, rising out of the slime and shadows. Danni leaped forward and flipped through the air drawing her blades, as she came down she drew the Katana across the head of the first zombie and neatly sliced the headcrab in two, falling on either side of the crumpling body. She planted both feet on its chest, pushed off, spun and snapped her head to one side, her braid flew around decapitating a zombie rising from the floor. She shoved the Katana through the headcrab pushed off and propelled herself into a flip coming down with both blades cross ways taking out another as it reached for her. Don was mesmerized till a moan from behind him woke him from his stupor. He brought up the mini and shot the zombie in the chest, it blew back against the wall and exploded but now the headcrab needed a new host and leaped. An orange throwing knife came out of the dark and impaled the headcrab to the wall. "Headshots, ya big Dufus, shoot'em in the head" she laughed. Don turned just in time for the next zombie to reach for him, he raised the mini with one hand like a large pistol and shot, the headcrab exploded and the headless corpse dropped to the ground. "BooYa" he screamed and drew himself up to start causing some real damage. As he did the world around him seemed to change, the sounds got a little crisper, his eyes seemed to sharpen even in the dim light, everything seem to slow, and he began to see everything in the room as if from outside his body. He caught sight of Danni out of the corner of his eye. Her body seemed aglow, she was flying sideways through the air into 2 more zombies, each foot connected and removed the headcrab. She moved faster than he thought humanly possible, spinning, kicking, flipping her head from side to side the yellow light from the flare glinting off the 2 swords and blade in the hair. Don got into a groove, he put the mini in his left hand and drew the pistol. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the mini had been converted to full auto. He'd fire a burst with the mini churning everything into paste and then take a zombie out with a pistol headshot. Danni was a blur, at one point he could have swore he saw her running on the wall. And then it was over... nothing could be heard but Danni's deep rythmic breathing and the drip of water.
"Don't move" she said, "stand perfectly still." She walked over to him held her sword above her head and said, "Going up." Then reached out and pulled the chord hanging next to him. He recognized it immediately as the same as the chords hanging down from the overhead at the Stuckey's. Danni slowly rose as the Barnacle slowly drew her up and impaled itself on her sword. She calmly let go, and dropped to the ground, she grabbed his arm and tugged him along with her. "You might want to step out of the way" she laughed as the contents of Barnacle's stomach came pouring out onto the ground.
"Not bad" she said, "Not bad at all. At least you didn't run screaming like Bob his first time out."
"Your Kidding aren't you, that big palooka Bob!"
Danni was nodding and grinning from ear to ear "He cried like a baby," she laughed, "and don't let him tell you any different."
They were both laughing, when he said, "How do you do that thing with the muck?"
"Huh" she said and tilted her head to one side.
"You don't sink"
She smiled and said with a mock accent, "Ancient Chinese Secret!"
and they were both laughing again.
"Man, you smell like shit! Time to get you a shower." She held her nose and walked into the sun.
... ... ... ... ...
end Chapter 4
c'mon guys review! no takers on that Dino?