Filter
Top Products
ERIC NYLUND
251
The Master Chief stared at the three large monitors that had
replaced the bridge's observation windows. Eridanus blazed in
the center of one display; stars shone with a steady brilliance.
"Move us one-point-five astronomical units relative to the sun,"
he said. "Heading zero-nine-zero by zero-four-five."
"Destination one-point-five AU," Haverson said. "Heading
confirmed. Coming about."
"Plot an elliptical course parallel to the plane of the asteroid
belt," the Master Chief added. "Cortana, scan for asteroids ap-
proximately two kilometers in diameter."
"Scanning," she said. "This might take some time. There are
more than a billion moving objects, some of them in deep
shadow."
"Tell me again about your old mission," Admiral Whitcomb
said. "You and the other Spartans were here before?"
"Yes, sir," the Chief replied. "Myself, Fred, Linda, Kelly, and
Sam. It was the Spartans' first real mission: an infiltration into a
rebel base. We captured their leader and got him to ONI for
debriefing."
"I didn't even know the Spartans were around in 2525," Lieu-
tenant Haverson said.
"Yes, sir," Fred answered. "We just didn't have MJOLNIR ar-
mor or the advanced weaponry we have today. We looked like
any other NavSpecWar team."
"I very much doubt that," Haverson said under his breath.
The Admiral raised one bushy eyebrow. "You mean five peo-
ple made a zero-gee vacuum infiltration onto this space station?
And then exfiltrated with a prisoner who happened to be the guy
in charge of the place?"
"Yes, sir. That was the basic plan."
"I suppose it went off without a hitch?"
The Master Chief was silent for a moment as he remembered
the dozens of dead people they had left behind on that base ...
and he felt a pang of regret. At the time he hadn't thought twice
about removing any obstacle that would have compromised his
mission, human or otherwise. Now, after fighting for humanity
for two decades, he wondered if he could shoot another human
without a good reason.