Filter
Top Products
ERIC NYLUND
9
The Pelican pitched forward, and her engines blasted in full
overload. The dropship's stabilizers tore away, and the craft
rolled out of control.
The Spartans grabbed on to cross beams as their gear was
flung about inside the ship.
"It's going to be a helluva hot drop, Spartans," their pilot
hissed over the COM. "Autopilot's programmed to angle. Re-
verse thrusters. Gees are takin' me out. I'll—"
A flash of light outlined the cockpit hatch, and the tiny
shock-proof glass window shattered into the passenger
compartment.
The pilot's biomonitor flatlined.
The rate of their dizzying roll increased, and bits of metal and
instruments tore free and danced around the compartment.
SPARTAN-029, Joshua, was closest to the cockpit hatch. He
pulled himself up and looked in. "Plasma blast," he said. He
paused for a heartbeat, then added: "I'll reroute control to the ter-
minal here." With his right hand, he furiously tapped commands
onto the keyboard mounted on the wall. The fingers of his left
hand dug into the metal bulkhead.
Kelly crawled along the starboard frame, held there by the
spinning motion of the out-of-control Pelican. She headed aft of
the passenger compartment and punched a keypad, priming the
explosive bolts on the drop hatch.
"Fire in the hole!" she yelled.
The Spartans braced.
The hatch exploded and whipped away from the plummeting
craft. Fire streamed along the outer hull. Within seconds the
compartment became a blast furnace. With the grace of a
high-wire performer, Kelly leaned out of the rolling ship, her
armor's energy shields flaring in the heat.
The Covenant Seraph fighters fired their lasers, but the energy
weapons scattered in the superheated wake of the dropping Peli-
can. One alien ship tumbled out of control, too deep in the atmo-
sphere to easily maneuver. The others veered and arced up back
into space.
"Too hot for them," Kelly said. "We're on our own."
"Joshua," Fred called out. "Report."
"The autopilot's gone, and cockpit controls are offline," Joshua
answered. "I can counter our spin with thrusters." He tapped in