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168
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
nant craft pushed debris into a concentrated region of space in a
high stationary orbit over Reach's northern pole. Within that re-
gion drifted the wrecked hulls of both Covenant and UNSC
ships destroyed in the battle for Reach. Floating there were some
of the UNSC's finest ships: the Basra, the Hannibal, and the pride
of the fleet, the supercarrier Trafalgar. No human signals ema-
nated from the ships; nor did Cortana sense any active electro-
magnetic fields.
She watched as the smaller Covenant ships cut into the dead
hulks and jetted away with chunks of Titanium-A armor. They
moved like a trail of ants to a location in space over the lower
latitudes, a point over Menachite Mountain, where the Covenant
used the metal to construct a platform. The thing was already a
square plate a kilometer to a side. Clearly, the Covenant had
more in mind for Reach than destruction.
"Cortana," the Master Chief said. "We'll need to rendezvous
at a—"
"Coordinates already optimized," she replied and projected
the Covenant blind spot on the bridge displays. "Enemy patrols
miss this nine-thousand-cubic-kilometer region. Further opti-
mization reveals that all ships will be farthest from this point at
oh-seven-fifteen hours. I suggest we meet there at that time."
Cortana felt a pulse of satisfaction at their perplexed looks
over her seemingly instant analysis. She enjoyed dazzling the
crew with her intellect.
"Very good," the Lieutenant replied, still examining her cal-
culations on the display.
"Optimal course plotted and uploaded into the Covenant
drop-ship to the signal source," she told them. Then, on a
private COM channel to the Chief, she added, "Good luck,
Chief. Be careful."
"I always am," he replied.
Cortana didn't bother to reply to that ridiculous statement.
The Master Chief took so many chances and had defied death so
many times, she had given up calculating his odds of survival.
The Chief and his team left the bridge. Cortana swept her sen-
sors through the flagship, making sure the path to the launch bay
was clear. There were still Covenant on board. She couldn't pin