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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
0901 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon
Eridani system, ONI underground facility, planet Reach.
The secure storage doors whispered open, and overhead fluo-
rescent lights strobed on. Fred saw motion—but it was only his
own reflection in the burnished-mirror finish of the chamber's
stainless-steel walls. Will stepped inside and looked up, then
glanced back down the corridor.
The room was a three-by-five-meter vault with steel walls,
floor, and ceiling. Their footfalls were muffled as they entered,
so the floor had to be at least a quarter meter thick. Along the
right and left walls stood secure floor-to-ceiling lockers, and two
metal crates sat along the far wall. Every surface was spotless,
and every seam had been precision-milled to prevent explosives
or acids from penetrating.
"One moment, please," Kalmiya told them. "I'm attempting
to access the locks now. Please stand by."
Will stood at the doorway and watched their backs. It didn't
make Fred feel any more at ease. The abandoned ONI base was
somehow more intimidating than facing the Covenant invasion
force overhead. He had walked down these corridors a dozen
times during his training on Reach. This base had always been
full of people; now, empty, it drove the point home that the Cove-
nant were winning. First the Outer Colonies had been crushed;
now Reach. How long before humanity was forced to retreat all
the way back to Earth? And after that... what? There would be
no other choice but victory or extinction.
Enough. Such musings didn't help him achieve his immediate