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134
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
Inside the first locker were satchel charges. Fred grabbed
three and looped them over his neck. "I think we can find a use
for these."
Will knelt next to the second footlocker. Within were plastic
boxes marked MJOLNIR MARK V followed by a long list of serial
numbers. "This must be what Doctor Halsey wanted," he said.
There was a flutter in the floor—which got Fred's full atten-
tion, because a "flutter" in a solid steel floor meant trouble.
The COM channel opened, and Dr. Halsey's voice crackled
with static: "Get back to the lab ASAP. I might have a way out.
Quickly!"
The vault room flexed, and thunder rumbled through the walls.
"Detonations," Will said. "They're coming."
"Secure those boxes," Fred ordered. He raced to the closed
doors. "Open," he shouted to Kalmiya and waited as the door
slowly eased apart. He scanned up and down the corridor and
then ran back toward the lab.
When they got to the medical wing the lights were dead, and
Fred saw Kelly's helmet lights cut through the velvet-rich,
dust-filled darkness. She had Dr. Halsey draped over her
shoulder. Blood ran from the doctor's nostrils.
"Her office collapsed," Kelly told them. "Support beam missed
her by a centimeter."
Dr. Halsey looked up and whispered, "I'm fine. Really." She
pushed away from Kelly, stood, and teetered in place.
Fred scooped her up and set her on the examination table.
"With all due respect, ma'am, you're not."
Another detonation rippled through the earth—this one stronger
than the previous explosion. Fissures snaked through the con-
crete walls.
Vinh and Isaac bounded into the room. "Enemy contacts at
extreme range," Vinh reported.
"Down," Dr. Halsey said, and she held a palm-sized data pad
for Fred to see. It had a map on its display .. . but not of this
base. "We have to go lower."
Fred wondered if Dr. Halsey was delirious.
"Down the elevator shaft in Section Sigma," she explained.
"We'll seal it behind us. We can't let them follow."
"Kelly, take point," Fred ordered. He grabbed two of the new