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176
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
John tried not to think of this as Reach anymore—it was only
one more world the Covenant had taken.
"That canyon," Lieutenant Haverson said and pointed at a fis-
sure where the earth had been eroded in a sinuous twisting scar.
"Scanners are just picking up surface information. Let's get a
closer look."
"Understood." Polaski inverted the ship, executed a reversed
roll, and dropped into the canyon. When she righted the
drop-ship, sculpted rock walls raced past them only thirty
meters to either side.
The Lieutenant reached for the backpack COM system they
had removed from the Pelican. He fine-tuned the frequency of
the unusual signal they were homing in on; a six-tone message
played, followed by a two-second pause, and then it repeated.
"Open a channel on that E-band, Lieutenant," the Master
Chief said. "I'll need to send the countersignal."
"Channel open, Chief. Go ahead."
The Master Chief linked his COM and encrypted the channel
so only those people sending the signal would hear him. "Oly
Oly Oxen Free," he spoke into his microphone. "All out in the
free. We're all free."
The beeping over the backpack COM speaker suddenly stopped.
"Signal's gone." Lieutenant Haverson snapped his head around
and stared at the Master Chief. "I'm not sure what you just told
them, but whatever it was, they heard you."
"Good," the Master Chief replied. "Set us down somewhere
safe. They'll find us."
"There's an overhang ahead," Polaski said. She moved the
ship toward a deep shadow along the starboard side where
the cliff angled out from the canyon. "I'll put us down there."
She spun the ship, backed into the darkness, and set it down light
as a feather.
"Open the side hatch," the Chief told Polaski. "I'll go out
alone and make sure it's safe."
"Alone?" Lieutenant Haverson asked. He rose from his seat.
"Are you certain that's wise, Chief?"
"Yes, sir. This was my idea. If it's a trap, I want to be the one to
set it off. You stay here and back me up."