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ERIC NYLUND
185
Cut off from the thin shreds of sunlight above, the ship went
dark. The internal running lights glowed a faint blue.
"We've got no room to maneuver in here," Polaski whispered.
Lieutenant Haverson climbed forward. "Admiral Whitcomb, sir,
I see how we can get in—assuming this hole leads somewhere—
but it's the other part of your plan that's unclear. What's our exit
strategy, sir?"
The Admiral's steely glare pinned Haverson. "I've got it fig-
ured out. You just shoot when I tell you to and keep it all puck-
ered up tight. Got it?"
Haverson clenched his jaw, looking extremely unsatisfied.
"Yes, sir."
Polaski focused intently on the walls of the tunnel rushing
toward her craft. "Short-range sensors have a contact," she said.
"It looks like the bottom of the shaft. ETA sixty seconds at this
speed."
The Admiral leaned closer to the Chief and whispered, "We're
gonna get hit heavy by whatever's down there. You make sure
you hit them back three times harder. Then you get Anton on
point and see if he can't locate your Spartans. I'm guessing
they've gone to ground."
Before the Chief could reply, the Admiral moved aft and
grabbed an assault rifle and two HE pistols. He clipped plasma
and frag grenades to his belt.
"Thirty seconds," Polaski called out. She cut the engines, and
the dropship coasted on the grav beam only. "There's something
down there," she said. "Is that sunlight?"
The dropship emerged into a titanic room—three kilometers
across, circular, with a dozen galleries circumscribing the space.
Overhead, a holographic sun and a dozen moons wheeled along
its domed ceiling. Except for the hole drilled into the mountain
by the Covenant, the holographic projection was perfect.
The Admiral scrutinized the room, and his dark eyes locked
onto a gathering of Covenant forces on the floor, near one edge of
the great room. "There," he said, and pointed. "I make out about a
hundred of them: a few Elites, Jackals, mostly Grunts. Looks like
they're clearing a cave-in and not ready for company yet. Good.
"Polaski, land us half a kilometer from 'em and then dust off.