milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The door opens with the slow, careful screeeee of someone trying to open a door without making enough noise to be heard. There's a blast of hot air from the other side, and then Adrian Shephard peeks in. "Aw, sweet," he says. "Got it right for once."

He'll go back to Andamooka shortly to round up his people and return to the boat, but right now, Shephard wants to get out of the Australian summer for a bit first.

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At some point, he may notice an exhausted-looking pregnant woman sagged in a booth in the back of the room. Her head is resting on her folded arms; maybe she's taking a nap?

Could be. He wouldn't blame her. It's been a long day and the heat takes it out of you.

"Ma'am?"

"Mrnh?" Alyx lifts her head and blinks muzzily at him. "Shephard? That you?"

"Yes ma'am," says Shephard. "Fresh in from Andamooka. Didn't count on seein' you here, though. You doin' all right?""

"Mmm...I've been better." She runs both hand over her face. "Still can't get PI or the teleporter to respond."

"Damn." Shephard grimaces. "Wish I could say I got someone to help you but they ain't got computer scientists in Andamooka far as I can tell. Got some other info, though, if you're up for it."

"Yeah, just give me a sec..." She downs the half-filled glass of juice on the table and straightens up. "Okay. What do you have to report?"

"First off, there's a good two hunnert'n some-odd people livin' there," Shephard says. "The leader's a woman name of Beatrice. Some of 'em from Andamooka 'riginally, a whole lot from anywhere else nearby couldn't hold itself together on its own any more. Combine ain't been real fussed about the place 'cause it ain't strategic and it's dry as shit. Used to have to truck in water when the cisterns ran dry, on account of the wells not bein' worth a damn half the time."

"And that's where shit gets interestin'. I spent a good couple hours talkin' with Beatrice'n her people 'bout the water situation 'round here..."

"The pipelines going to the Gene Worm?" Alyx guesses. "Yeah, I know. Some of the locals approached us about breaching one of the pipes to buy ourselves some time..."

"The pipelines goin' to the Gene Worm from the offshore desalination plants," Shephard corrects. "You blow up the pipeline, the worm ain't gon' git its water, but ain't nobody else gon' git it neither. The Combine've taken so fuckin' much water from the ground and ocean both 'round here that folks're more likely to die of drought than of bein' fed to the Worm."

"Ohh crap." Alyx's face falls. "I was kind of counting on that so we'd have time to get the ship repaired. We haven't got enough able-bodied soldiers to take on the Gene Worm and defend the Borealis at the same time."

"Andamooka wants to help," Shephard says. "They all said it already. This keeps up, they're gonna die whether the Combine come for 'em or not. They're volunteering to fight wherever we can git 'em, whether it's at the boat or somewheres else. Told me somethin' else, too. Ain't no Xen leeches in the oceans 'round Australia."

"...dare I ask why?"

"Jellyfish," says Shephard. "They got a kind here's supposed to be just about the most painful poison thing in any ocean anywhere. Little fuckers called Iru... Irukandji, think they said. Between them'n the cone snails'n the blue ring octopuses there ain't a whole lot of Xen anything in Australia's waters. Damn near as bad as the fuckin' spiders."

"Swell." Alyx grimaces. "Anything else I should know?"

"If it's got eight legs don't go near it," Shephard says promptly. "If it's got scales don't fuck with it. There ain't that much of the local wildlife left, but everything that lived is really fuckin' nasty. They got spiders here that killed a fuckin' bullsquid."

"Wonderful."

There are, occasionally, times when Alyx is glad that the pregnancy keeps her off the front lines.

"Any recommendations?"

"Beatrice's got a couple science types," says Shephard. "One of 'em's got specs on the Combine water pipeline. You're gonna want to talk to him before you decide on anything." He chews absently on the tip of his thumb a moment before adding, "You meet a fella name of Voodoo 'round here by any chance? Navy SEAL. Those fuckers do amphibious assaults all the time. Might be worth talkin' to just in case we go after that offshore plant somewheres along the way."

"I've run into him a couple of times, yeah," says Alyx with a nod. "Is he willing to swim through waters infested with poison jellyfish?"

"Dunno. Bet you he would, though. Navy don't exactly attract the sane types, if you catch my meaning," says the man who jumped down a gene worm's throat. "I c'n ask him next time I see if you like, ma'am."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Shephard. Thank you."

A hesitant pause, then--

"I'm guessing I can't go back with you to Andamooka without raising a bunch of questions we can't answer properly?"

"Yeeeah," says Shephard. "Wish I could pass you off as Mari or somethin' but that ain't gonna work."

"Damn." Alyx looks thoughtful. "I think it's time to start another Milliways recruiting drive."

"I'll ask around, see if anyone out there wants t'go swimmin' with the jellies," says Shephard. "Or, y'know. Hold the boat or somethin'. You got anything else you need from me?"

"Nothing comes to mind, no," says Alyx. "I'll keep you posted."

Shephard nods. "Thank you, ma'am," he says. "I'm gon' go get a drink real quick before I head on back, if y'don't mind."

"Permission granted," says Alyx with a faint hint of a smile. "Dismissed."

Shephard's indoors and not wearing his helmet, so saluting wouldn't be appropriate, but he dips his head respectfully nonetheless before heading off to the bar.

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