Judith Mossman ran for the stairs as if a fire was lit under her. She plowed into the door and stumbled into the sunlight and snow, shielding her eyes as she looked around for any other Hunters coming her way.

She had a weapon – a small blowtorch used for melting ice off of the doors – but it would do no good against a Hunter's fletchettes. Not even her pistol had been effective against them. If they caught her out in the open, she was as good as dead.

She gave a sigh, turning it into ice crystals in the air, and thought about the Aperture girl. It wouldn't be possible, after all these years, but she honestly looked like...

Mossman gave a dismissive sniff into the air. No. Couldn't be. And her name had been 'Chell'. It was a different person altogether. Different age. Different time. Most likely it was just some drifter from a City who'd come in from the cold and agreed to whatever insanity Aperture was always up to.

But she looked so much like her. So much like the daughter she'd left behind.

For a moment, she looked back at the door, wondering if she should go back and help. Giant robot or no giant robot, the girl was pretty much dead if Hunters were down there. But just then she heard a noise in the distance, and the black dot of a helicopter appeared on the horizon.

She hid cautiously behind a steam vent, not knowing if this was her ride or a Combine-controlled helicopter. True, Combine generally used dropships nowadays, but a rigged army chopper wasn't above their style. It wasn't until she saw the bearded visage of one Gordon Freeman that she crawled out from hiding and waved the chopper down.

Alyx Vance pulled open the door, extending a hand to Mossman. The older woman climbed in, giving a thanks to the younger one. Something looked off about Alyx, though. Her face was pale and tired, and her eyes betrayed some sad and hidden detail.

"Wow, you guys are fast!" she said, taking up the blanket Alyx offered her and curling up in it.

"We got your other transmission earlier. We were en route." Alyx also offered her a thermos of coffee. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

Mossman looked around, noticing that the helicopter they'd brought was large enough for a team of six, plus the pilots. "Dead. No one else survived."

Alyx's eyes narrowed. "Funny coincidence, huh? You're the only survivor?"

Mossman shook her head. "Look, I know how it must sound, but these are Hunters. I think you might remember them as the ones that killed you?"

"Hunters!" The younger woman curled her lip and turned back in her chair. "Take the wheel, Gordon! I'm eager to blow this ship all to hell!"

"Wait, you can't!" Mossman nearly dropped her coffee. "There's a girl down there from Aperture!"

Gordon and Alyx exchanged worried glances. "Aperture girl? That's impossible. Everyone in Aperture died years ago!"

"Yeah, don't ask me how, but she's in there, looking for something. Wait, why are you blowing up the ship? There's still a lot of technology that we can use in there!"

"Dad said... Daddy... said..." She trailed off. Gordon gave her a firm clap on the shoulder and shook his head. Alyx nodded and gulped heavily. "Yeah, Gordon. Thanks. Dad said that we have to destroy the Borealis. Whatever Aperture put on it's just too dangerous for the Combine, and that means we probably shouldn't be usin' it either."

Mossman looked briefly worried. Had something happened to Eli? If so, she didn't know what she would do. "W-well, how are you two gonna destroy it?"

"We've got some explosives. Blow the ice off the ship and send it down, then shoot Magusson's bombs from above so we don't get blown to bits. But if there's someone down there, we gotta get 'em out."

Gordon tapped Alyx's arm, pointing down as several Hunters emerged from below deck.

"Scratch that. If there's that many Combine here, they're dead already."

Panic suddenly gripped Mossman, and she grabbed Alyx's seat, making the young lady jump. "No! You have to wait! She's got to be alive!"

The two gaped at her in confusion. "What? There's no way! Judith, look at all the Hunters down there! I couldn't even escape one of them, and Gordon and I barely scraped by at White Forest!"

"No, she's alive! She has to be! She just..." Mossman looked down, searching wildly for anything except Combine. "She can't die. She can't. I never wanted her to die, I just.. I just wanted..."

She fell into a heavy silence, patterned with small whimpers. Alyx's look softened. "Judith, what's going on?"

Mossman shrank back in her seat, covering her mouth with her hands and refused to speak further. Alyx quickly gave up; she knew from previous experience that arguing or threatening Mossman would do no good. Instead, she turned to her co-pilot. "Gordon, get your gun and snipe at these bastards from up here. I'll send a signal to Aperture, see if anyone's there. I'm not about to get anyone killed."