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ERIC NYLUND
175
and flooded the display panels with the purple-blue frequency
the Covenant favored.
The Master Chief realized that he, too, had been holding his
breath. Maybe he and Locklear were more alike than he had
realized.
He took a closer look at the ODST: The wild, desperate look
in his eyes and the flaming-comet tattoo covering his left deltoid
seemed almost alien to the Master Chief. The man had survived
the Covenant and the Flood on Halo, and he had been lucky and
resourceful enough to escape in one piece. True, his emotional
responses were uncontained ... but give him the same aug-
mentations and a set of MJOLNIR armor and what was the
difference between the two of them? Experience? Training?
Discipline?
Luck?
John had always felt the other men and women in the UNSC
were different; he'd felt at ease only with the other Spartans. But
weren't they all fighting and dying for the same reason?
The ruddy light from Epsilon Eridani suddenly filled the
cockpit as the two cruisers passed on.
Polaski sighed, slumped forward, and wiped the sweat from
her brow.
Locklear reached into his shirt pocket, removed a clean and
pressed red bandanna, and offered it to Polaski.
She looked at it for a second, then glanced at the Corporal, then
took it. "Thanks, Locklear." She folded it into a headband, flipped
her blond hair from her face, and tied it around her forehead.
"No problem, ma'am," Locklear replied. "Anytime."
"Locking onto the signal source," Lieutenant Haverson said.
"Course two-three-zero by one-one-zero."
"Two-three-zero by one-one-zero, aye," Polaski said. She
gently pushed forward and turned the yoke.
The dropship smoothly banked into a gentle dive. The surface
of Reach disappeared from the screens as the dropship entered
the thick clouds of smoke that wreathed the planet.
There was a quiet beep, and the display filters activated. A
moment later, images resolved on the display screens—hundreds
of thousands of hectares of raging firestorms and blackened char
where there had once stood forests and fields.