"Time to choose!" the voice echoed throughout the infinity of
space, sing-songy, even though the man was dead serious.  He stood there,
almost casually, in a train flying through space, as if nothing was out
of the ordinary.  The man wasn't quite as tall as Gordon, though he
looked a few years his senior.  The man's age didn't give away weakness,
rather it gave away some sort of mysterious strength.  The man had an
aura of mystery, and Gordon could feel it as if it was an entity,
floating around him, whispering to him in low voices.
	And the strange man stood there, with briefcase in hand, standing
next to the open door of a train without rails.  The GMan in person. 
Throughout the Black Mesa "incident" Gordon had seen the man, wandering
along like nothing was wrong, like the aliens around him were only a
dream and he was real.  Now as Gordon stood there in front of this man,
the only other passenger in this train, he realized that the aliens may
as well have been a dream.  This man was the true danger.
	The door to the train opened with a hum, and to Gordon's
surprise, a green ball of a lava-like substance floated outside the door.
 A teleporter,  he realized with a start.  At Black Mesa, a huge machine
was required to spawn one of these, the GMan seemed to summon it at will.
	"It's time to choose," the man said, the final sound drawn out
and slowly faded with a huff of breath.
	The man had offered Gordon a choice, join him or die.  Despite
the consequences, Gordon was not sure.  This man just felt  wrong, almost
evil.  He did not want a pact with the devil, nor did he want to die.
	With a second of thought, Gordon nodded, "Okay, you've got a
deal."
	The GMan cocked an eyebrow, a slight curve of a smile appeared on
the edge his lips, "Good," and he pointed out the door.
	Gordon took a deep breath, careful to conceal his fear, and
wandered to the door.  The wind whipping by at incredible speeds.  There
shouldn't be wind in the emptiness of space.   The GMan certainly had
some strange powers.  The teleportation ball floated freely right outsid
the door, floating  up and down slowly.
	"Step in Mr. Freeman," there was a hint of impatience in his
voice.
	Gordon looked behind him once, just able to see the man out of
the corner of his eye, sighed and stepped forward.  Cold rushed over him,
like he had jumped into a pool of water, just as soon replaced by an
extreme heat, disappearing before he even realized that he felt it.  He
found himself standing in an open field, the Black Mesa research facility
standing in front of him.
	The facility stood in ruins, much like he had left it, but there
were construction workers ambling about outside, waiting for orders.  The
face of the building he was near was crumbling, about to collapse under
its own weight.  Crates, both opened and unopened stood around the open
field, holding building utilities and maybe some weapons.  Every few
seconds he heard gunshots, apparently the aliens were not all dead.  He
heard a loud buzz over the intervcom, and a deep robotic voice spoke out,
"Gordon Freeman, please report to the militarty sector immediately."
	Military sector?  Black Mesa has a military sector?   One of the
construction workers looked over at him, something that seemed like pity
in his eyes.
	Gordon was just about to ask what the SOB found interesting when
he heard an electric crackle behind him.  He was about to dive to the
side behind a crate when he remembered who would be following him.  The
GMan appeared inside a green glow which quickly faded away, a slight
residue left behind in the air.  He looked toward Gordon, "Follow me Mr.
Freeman."
	The man began to walk toward the outer wall of the facility,
disappearing behind a crate.  With a sigh Gordon followed him.
	As he round a corner behind the crate, he saw the GMan disappear
down a hole in the ground, climbing a ladder.  Gordon had never seen this
entrance, although he had not worked at the facility for more than a few
weeks.  He shook his head and slowly climbed down behind the GMan.
	Gordon looked around inside the damp tunnel that he had entered. 
The walls seemed to have been carved out of rock, and the cuts looked
fresh.  Gordon began to speed his walk, so he could catch up with the
GMan, "Since when has this been here?"
	The GMan shrugged his shoulders, "Since the Garg plowed through
yesterday."
	Gordon stopped, surprised, and stared ahead, not sure if he
wanted to go any further, "They killed it right?"
	The GMan looked back, not stopping, "They have assured me that it
will be captured within fourty-eight hours."
	Gordon was about to turn around and run, when he realized the
hole he had climbed down was closed, "Is it, um, safe down here?"
	He simply shrugged.
	The lighting around them changed from an unnatural red to the
more man-made off white of neon bulbs.  The GMan pointed through a hole
in the wall, and Gordon noticed that the garg tunnel had torn through a
Black Mesa hallway.  The GMan gestured down to the left, "This way Mr.
Freeman."
 	Gordon looked down the hall, it was rather long, but it ended in
a rockslide, the ceiling torn down.  Just before the crumbled wall, there
was a small office, and inside Gordon could see another man, dressed
identically to the GMan, but his hair was a graying-blonde, cut into a
crew cut.  Gordon quickly reached back, as if to draw a weapon when he
remembered where he was, what was happening.  This man was not one of the
marines that had hunted him down, though he had probably ordered the
attack.
	The GMan gestured at him, "This is General Mitchell, four stars. 
He'd like a word with you."
	Gordon looked at the man, he seemed to be waiting for something. 
Gordon looked around, the GMan looked at him oddly.  Oh yeah,  Gordon
snapped to what he considered attention, although it was very sloppy.
	The man smiled, pathetic, "Mr. Freeman, my friend here tells me
that you're a good pick for my newest assignment.  I apologize for some
of the 'difficulties'   you may have experienced with my men.  But you
see Mr. Freeman, we underestimated you, had we known your true ability,
we would have asked you to join us immediately."
	"But that is not what I'm here for.  I need you Gordon.  You are
our best man," sadly,  "and we need you on a mission."
	The General nodded and some hidden person flipped off the lights.
 A slidemachine slid down out of the ceiling and it flipped on.  A large
building was shown, built at the end of a narrow canyon, and it looked
much like the White House.  The only difference was that the whole front
was not visible due to rock slides on either side.  "This is the Facility
de Muerte."
	Gordon tensed, this was not good.  The Facility of the Dead,  
who the hell would name a top secret government base The Facility of the
Dead.
	Gerneral Mitchell noticed Gordon tense, "I, however, prefer to
call it 'Casa Blanca'.  The name it was given is rather fitting now.  We
never considered that this facility would be over run.  The response team
there was even worse than the few pathetic security guards you have here. 
Needless to say they have been captured."
	Good God!  The gateway I opened spread that far!
	"Mr. Freeman, I know what you're thinking, but you can rest
assured tht the Black Mesa incident will get no farther than Black Mesa. 
This place has been captured by terrorists," the man was certainly angry
as he said this, "and they somehow found out about this incident.  We are
absolutely positive that nothing left the Black Mesa facility other than
what left for death or Xen.  This is what leads us to believe that one of
them is under alien control.  This is not good.  If the aliens can open a
gateway enough to control the mind of someone or to even contact them,
then they are more powerful than believed.  It appeared yesterday, that
these creatures were technologically bacward, since there was little in
their world to show otherwise.  It appeared that everything was
biological, the creatures that did the work seemed to be evolutionally
meant to do their work.  This is not so."
	"We have found that the leaders of Xen biologically engineered
these creatures to be this way.  The Nihilanth that you fought was but a
mere glimpse of their power.  He was a servant of a lowly noble.  These
creatures have limitless strength.  Strength far beyond ours.  This is
why I need you now Mr. Freeman."
	Gordon tried to hide his pride.  Trained marines were not as
skilled as he, he was good enough to stop another  invasion.
	General Mitchell seemed to notice, despite Gordon's best efforts,
"Mr. Freeman, do not get cocky.  We can send you in because only you have
the experience dealing with these aliens that we need.  I would send in
my own men, but they are not expendable, since they are previously
engaged."
	As if to emphasize this comment, gunshots could be heard from the
tunnel.  Then finally two human screams, and a third alien scream.  Two
human for one bullsquid.  Is it worth it?
	Mitchell glanced at the GMan for a second, who nodded.  Mitchell
focused on Gordon again,  "You, however, are officially dead.  We can
send you in and forget about you till you come back out.  Which exactly
what we're doing."
	He seemed to focus on Gordon's suit, "You're going to want a new
suit I assume?"
	Gordon shook his head, "No sir, I have been to hell and back with
this suit, a few repairs and it should be fine."
	The GMan nodded, "That can be arranged."
	Mitchell looked towards a wall and the slide changed.  It was a
map of the area around de Muerto.  He pointed at a circle drawn on the
map, "You will be dropped off here by osprey.  You will be alone from
here on.  No contact with us beyond a few transmissions inside the
facility, if you can manage."
	"Now Mr. Freeman, these men have taken many scientists hostage,
and we believe they are forcing them to built an inter-dimensional
teleportation device."
	The GMan snickered.
	Mitchell seemed to smile slightly, "These men don't realize how
'unweildy' a device such as the one they are planning is."  Gordon
wondered what was so funny.
	Mitchell continued, "We will supply you with a pistol and no
more.  These guys have quite a few men backing them.  More than we lost
here.  They are some sort of multi-national organization.  They don't
appear to be religious zealots, which probably helps.  Mr. Freeman, you
understand that this is all optional.  You do not have to go on this
mission.  A local Garg certainly seems to want a dance mate...."
	Gordon nodded, he had been given this choice before, and it was
obvious what he should do, "I'll do it."
	The GMan gestured out the door, "This way Mr. Freeman."
	Gordon followed the mysterious man out the door, he heard a call
behind him, "And one more thing Mr. Freeman.  I forgot to tell you, the
Xen creatures made a few 'donations' to our friends.  Our sources tell us
that they have multiple species under their control."  He then mumbled
under his breath as if it was almost an afterthought, "though Gargs don't
usually like being in cages." 
	Gordon could feel his face turning white.  As uncomfortable as he
felt near the GMan, it was the first time in days he had been near a
human, and he ran to catch up.  He came up beside him, "Just who are
you?"
	He nodded, as if he expected the question, "I am your superior."
	"What is your rank?"
	"I have a rank higher than the president, although neither he nor
the general public know I exist.  I am the final authority on everything
he does, though I pass everything he does, don't want to get them
suspicious."
	Gordon just wondered if he was telling the truth, "Could you give
me your name, you seem to know everything about me."
	They entered a room, a battery recharger and a medical emergency
kit on the wall, "Here you are Mr. Freeman."
	Gordon grumbled and recharged the power on his suit and patched
up a few minor wounds, "Where is this place you're sending me?"
	The GMan shrugged, "In the desert.  That's all you need to know."
	Gordon shook his head, if it was all like this, did he really want to
	go on this mission?



PS.  Many thanks given to Brandon Warnecke and Jim McCarthy for this story