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ERIC NYLUND
217
stepped onto the bridge, sweeping the space with his rifle.
"Clear," he told them.
Admiral Whitcomb and the others entered the bridge. Lieu-
tenant Haverson stepped onto the raised platform and said,
"Cortana, project tactical on the displays."
Enemy ship positions and plasma tracks appeared on the inte-
rior walls. Contacts multiplied and coalesced, making the plasma
appear like waves sloshing about in a bowl. Another bolt broke
across the prow of Ascendant Justice.
Through the deck the Master Chief felt the successive thumps
of explosive decompressions.
"Hit on subengineering decks," Cortana said. "Sealing those
regions. Fire in the lower levels. Attempting to isolate and pump
out the atmosphere."
John's childhood AI teacher, Deja, had taught the Spartans
about the great Naval battles on Earth's oceans before humans
traveled to the stars. They had studied victories in the Punic
Wars, and at Midway, as well as the disastrous defeat of Xerxes
by the Athenian Navy. Deja had told them, however, that one
thing was greater than any human enemy on the sea: nature.
Tidal waves and typhoons could crush the mightiest of battle-
ships ... and ignored the tactics of the most brilliant captain.
Ascendant Justice was in the center of a sea of fire ... and it
was being battered apart.
Thunder ripped through Ascendant Justice's hull; a geyser of
flames shot out the passageway to the bridge. The air jumped and
hissed as it escaped the pressurized chamber.
The bulkhead door slammed shut, and the air stilled.
Sergeant Johnson shook his head clear from the sudden drop
in pressure. "Let's drop out of this mixed-up Slipspace and start
fighting."
"Yeah, or just get rid of that crystal," Locklear said. "If it's the
cause of all this mess." He drew his pistol. "One round and
boom! Problem solved."
"Don't do that!" Dr. Halsey snapped. "A drop back to normal
space has us facing a dozen or more cruisers. And if you destroy
the crystal, the expanded Slipspace bubble we're in would in-
stantly collapse. Every separate mass in the bubble will compact
into a single mass. We wouldn't survive the transition."