With an almighty splash, the submarine breached the surface of the Kraken Base moon pool. Located some three hundred miles north-west of the ruins of City 17, Gordon had once likened the new home of the Resistance to Echo Base in Star Wars, where Rebels had fled following the destruction of the Death Star. Hopefully, this hideout would last longer.
A short, balding man in a thick parka and spectacles stood hugging himself on the dock.
"Gordon? Ah... I'm sorry. I heard the news. First Eli, then...it's almost too much."
Gordon made a short, exasperated sound. "Don't worry Doc, were working on it. She's not staying back there for long.
Dr Kleiner sniffed, and adjusted his glasses. "I'm glad to hear it. However, there has been an interesting development. Earlier, a small boat was seen drifting near to the moon pool entrance, only a few hours after you and Alyx departed. I had it brought in, and we discovered that it was in fact a lifeboat from the Aurora."
Gordon frowned, but Barney chipped in. "That old thing? The last we heard of it was almost a fortnight ago."
Kleiner continued. "We discovered that the boat contained an occupant. A man who may be able to shed some light onto the disappearance of our vessel, and its crew. Follow me, if you please."
After dropping off their weapons and equipment and changing out of their cold-weather gear, Barney and Gordon followed Dr Kleiner back to his office. Inside, slouched on a faded blue sofa, was a man dressed in orange work overalls, wreathed in a cloud of cigarette smoke. As the door opened, he hastily ground out his light and stood up.
"Barney. Doctor. Pleased to meet you. My name's Odell."
Dawn came early over the Arctic icefields. D-9 awoke to a shaft of pale blue light lancing in through a frost covered porthole. It fell on the still form of Alyx Vance, lying on her side, still deep in sleep. For a time he sat and watched her. He was fascinated, entranced. He had never been so close to a real human to notice their full features, the subtleties in their skin, the way their bodies moved when they breathed. Most intriguing of all was the way a faint smile played at the corners of her mouth, an expression D-9 had not seen on a human before. So fragile, yet still they survived.
He felt confused, and needed to return to familiar territory. D-9 rose slowly, and approached his captive. With quick hands, he rooted through her pockets, retrieving two magazines, a knife taped to her ankle and another blade in her boot. He pocketed these, along with her machine pistol. Making sure to lock the door behind him, the Elite left for several minutes, returning with a packet of cable ties. Most of the plastic ties had degraded, but some were still usable. As much as he wished to show he was not a threat to his captive, she would still have to be restrained for both of their safety.
Dr Kleiner placed a small tape recorder on the coffee table, and turned back to Odell. "Right now. Let's start from the beginning Mr Odell. You left from Kraken Base a fortnight ago, is that right?
"That's right. Onboard the Aurora."
"And how many were with you?
"Let's see...there were ten of us, I think. Me, Chan, Phillips...Davids...those guys and that one girl from City 9...Rachael...and Dr Mossman. Would've liked to have had the Vorts with us, but they don't like the cold so much."
"Where were you headed?"
"We were heading for the last known coordinates of the Borealis, at -"
Dr Kleiner raised a hand. "Don't – we can't afford to disclose those kinds of secrets."
"...sure. Anyway, it still took us about a week to find it, despite all of Dr Mossman's careful calculations."
"In what state was the wreck when you found it?"
"Well, it was in an advanced state of disrepair...it was resting with its stern up out of the water, on quite an angle...the cold had helped to preserve of the Aperture Science guys, poor bastards...they had all been piled up in some of the storerooms."
Gordon shot Dr Kleiner a confused glance. "Odell, did you say that the ship's stern was sticking out of the water when you found it?"
"Sure. The whole thing was pretty firmly wedged in place, if you ask me. Though how it ended up on top of the berg is another question...what? What's with the funny looks?"
Gordon picked up a photo of the ship that had been lying on the table. It had been sent back just this morning by one of the scouts. Odell glared at it, his brow wrinkling in confusion. "No way...that sunofabitch can't have moved that far. I was just there – "
"When we went out there, the ship was completely out of the water. Half covered by the berg. "
"Hmm."
Dr Kleiner leaned over, and switched off the tape recorder. "We'll finish this interview tomorrow."