Desperate Measures

Chapter VI

"What would you say that last bit was; three quarters or half a mile?"

"Mmmm…probably closer to three quarters." Kat was hunched over the notebook in her lap, carefully sketching the contours of the land and the features of the security perimeter. Barney had been quite relieved to learn of this ability of hers as he had no artistic talent whatsoever. A map of the area surrounding the Atmosphere Control Facility could prove to be quite useful. They had worked their way around the wide perimeter of guard posts and patrols and now only needed to slip past security and get a look at the facility itself.

The open, rolling grasslands near the sea had given them very little cover. They had proceeded slowly around to the south, sticking to the far sides of the hills and watching carefully for the small patrols that moved regularly between the posts. Their rounds were rather predictable and Barney could foresee few problems with slipping past them.

He knew Kat was not completely comfortable with this part of the mission and she seemed to be especially nervous about approaching the facility itself. He did the best he could to reassure her that there was little risk as long as they remained alert and careful. After all, it was just a simple scouting mission.

They were sitting in a hollow, shielded by several large boulders. The shadows stretched towards the east. Barney checked over the night-vision binoculars for the third time while they waited for night. Kat finally snapped her notebook closed and stowed it deep in her pack. "I think I've got most of the details in there."

"Good. I wasn't sure how I was going to get all that recorded. Let's wait another half-hour and head out."

X X X

The half-moon was low in the sky, giving them just enough light to see by as they approached the glow in the distance. The craggy bluffs sloped upwards slightly as they neared the sea, blocking most of the view. As they crawled the last few dozen yards, Barney felt as though his perspective was being distorted. He had been led to believe that the Atmosphere Control Facility was a large building, but the parts he could above the edge of the bluff see seemed much too small. Reaching the edge, he realized his mistake; the darkness was throwing off his depth perception. The building was not on the beach as he had expected.

"My God…" Kat whispered next to him.

The facility was immense. It squatted above the waves two hundred yards out to sea, lit up like a malignant Christmas tree. It had a piecemeal look to it, connected with odd angles and multiple levels. Banks of intake fans lined one side and two colossal exhaust towers belched the modified air into the atmosphere. Around the base of the structure, huge pipes descended into the water. A causeway spanned the distance to the shore where various support buildings were located.

"Do you see that building on the shore down there?" Barney whispered, pointing for Kat. "Does it look new to you?"

Kat pulled out her binoculars. Everything was so well lit there was no need for night-vision. She studied the building for a moment. "I think you're right. In fact, it doesn't even look completed. Here," she handed him the binoculars.

Barney examined the structure. It had the rough look of something recently and hastily constructed. On the far side were a set of railroad tracks and what looked like an ore depot. A long train was slowly unloading it's cargo. Two flatbed trucks backed up to a loading dock were being stacked with large yellow barrels. "There are tracks down there. I wonder if they're the same ones we passed over on our way around the perimeter."

"The new ones?"

"Yeah. It looks like they're processing something down there." Barney lowered the binoculars and turned to Kat. "I think they found something that's letting them speed up their production. It just seems like too much of a coincidence."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's all this recent construction. The air in the city is getting worse all of the sudden. For the last month or so we've been getting reports of Combine activity in the northwest where, as far as we know, there's nothing that should interest them. The new tracks were headed in that direction"

Kat turned back to him suddenly, "Northwest of the city?"

"Yeah, in the foothills. Why?

She dropped her eyes and shook her head, "Nothing."

"Wasn't that where you were…"

Kat interrupted suddenly, "I don't see how we could do much damage to this place. Weren't you hoping to lead a group back here?"

Barney blinked at the abrupt change of topic. "Uh…yeah. That's what I wanted to do, but I had figured on something we could get to easily. Out in the water like that though, I don't know. It's pretty isolated. If we could get someone out there with some explosives, maybe…" He shook his head and thought for a moment.

"We need to find out what they're hauling in here. If it's some sort of vital resource, it might be another good target. We'll need a sample."

Kat took the binoculars and peered through them again. "That train is pretty long. If we could get down there, it wouldn't be too hard to get at one of the cars near the end. I don't see much activity; it looks like most of the process is automated."

"Good idea. Why don't you get a sketch of this area and then we'll go check it out."

Kat dug out her notebook and roughed out the layout of the facility. She shook her head as she added a few details and notes. "I hope this is useful. I'm not used to drawing by moonlight."

Barney looked over her shoulder, "It looks fine to me, but all I can draw are stick figures." After a few more minutes, she finished up and repacked her notebook.

"Okay, let's go."

They crawled back from the edge of the cliff and headed towards the tracks. The bluffs sloped gently downwards as they traveled along in silence. After some time they came to an excavated area where the bluff had been gently sloped down to the level of the beach. The tracks slipped away to the northwest, gleaming silver in the moonlight.

The train stretched up the slope towards them. The cars were simple open-topped ore hoppers. Every minute or so, the train slowly moved forward a car-length. Barney scanned the area, "I don't see any security. You keep watch and I'll grab a sample."

Kat reached into her pack and handed him a sample container. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful." Barney gave her a grin, "Don't worry, I'll just grab this and then we'll head home. No problem."

He jogged over to the train and waited for it to stop. Quickly climbing the ladder on the side of the hopper, he leaned in and scooped up a sample of the dark shale-like rocks inside. He dropped back to the ground and returned to Kat.

"There we go! That was easy. Now we just need to find somewhere quiet to hang out until we can catch our train home."

"Sounds good to me. Let's get away from this place."

X X X

Kat fought her way out of a light sleep. She sensed that she had been sleeping longer than a couple of hours. Sitting up, she looked around the moonlit hollow. There was no sign of Barney. She angled her watch to catch the meager light and checked the time. It would be dawn soon. He should have woken her several minutes ago.

She stood and stretched her cold stiffened muscles. In mid-stretch Kat froze. There was a sound in the distance, something unnatural. She strained to see anything that looked human. "Barney?" she hissed quietly. There was no response. A tingling sensation ran up her spine. Something was wrong.

Most of her equipment lay in a small pile where she had been sleeping. She slipped into her vest and shouldered her small pack. The MP-7 she attached to a three-point sling to keep it handy, but out of the way. Moving quietly, she headed towards the edge of the forest where she had heard the sound.

Progressing slowly, Kat strained with all of her senses to catch any bit of information in the dim landscape. She carefully picked her way through the fallen forest detritus. A sudden nearby crackle broke through the quiet. Kat dropped to the ground. Combine!

They were very close. She felt that there was no way they could miss the pounding of her heart. Kat could see them moving not far from her location. There were two of them bent over something on the ground. One was crouched down as though examining the object. Kat slipped behind a tree and watched.

"…just one?" She could barely hear the distorted voices.

"…didn't see any sign…"

"Probably a Resistance spy…report it… question him…"

Kat's stomach clenched in terror as she realized what they were talking about. The dark figures bent to grab the arms of the fallen figure and dragged it towards the forest's edge. Ducking back behind the tree, Kat fought to subdue her rising panic. She felt as though she couldn't breath. Her heart was racing and her vision seemed cloudy. Gasping with shallow breaths, she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them. She closed her eyes, but she could still see…

Lying on the hillside above the farm, with chaos below. Combine and Civil Protection units swarming through the buildings. Echoing gunfire in the valley. Lucia's screams cut short. Therese and Viktor flushed from the tool shed where they were hiding. The bullets mowing them down as they ran. Helpless, helpless… CP's dragging the bodies into the barn. Two of them pulling Joshua's shattered body along by the arms. The smell of the burning buildings. So much smoke. The feel of the heat on her face even at that distance. Everyone she knew…gone.

Kat slowly regained her senses. She lay curled on the forest floor, shaking uncontrollably. Calm, I have to stay calm. I am of no use in a panic. She repeated this mantra to herself several times and took deep breaths until she felt able to move again. Hands still shaking slightly, she sat up and checked to make sure she hadn't dropped anything.

She stood and moved to where the troopers had dragged Barney off. The trail was easily visible in the growing light of dawn. Kat followed the path to the verge of the forest where it turned north. She slipped along within the cover of the woods. After a short distance, she spotted a dilapidated cabin set back against the forest. She circled around the back, noting several sheds and outbuildings and began to concoct a plan.

How about a cliff hanger for a change? I know it's a lot shorter. It was going to be about twice as long, but I think it works better as two chapters. Plus, it gives me some more time to work over the next one. It should be up soon!

Thanks for the reviews, especially to Sulkdodds. You are the first person out there to give me something specific. Thank you, thank you! I'm gladyou liked that part. I was really worried about it as it was the first real 'action' and I was unsure how well I could write it. Sounds like I got it right. Yes, this takes place some time before Gordon's arrival. I'm not sure how long though. I've toyed with the idea of having it parallel the game eventually, but that would probably be a whole different story. I have no interest in just redoing the storyline of the game with some new characters thrown in.

Stormsworder, I'm waiting on that next chapter. :)

Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Please feel free to critique.