Filter
Top Products
ERIC NYLUND
253
One of his closest teammates, his friend, someone he had
thought dead... was alive again.
"Thank you, Doctor Halsey," he said.
She waved her hand dismissively, and there was a strange look
in her eyes—almost as if she had regretted the success of her
operation.
"Damn good news," Admiral Whitcomb said. "We could use
another hand on deck."
"Hardly," Dr. Halsey replied, suddenly looking much more
alert. "She'll need at least a week to recover—even with the
bio-foam and steroid accelerants I have her on. Then she'll barely
be able to get on her feet. She won't be combat-ready."
Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice moved into the plane of the as-
teroid belt, and three rocks appeared on the screens.
"This region is the source of the D-band signal," Cortana told
them. "There are three possible candidates based on the size pa-
rameters you gave me, Chief."
"Which one is it?" the Admiral asked.
"Only one is rotating fast enough to generate a
three-quarter-gravity internal environment," Cortana replied.
"That's it," the Master Chief replied and nodded toward the
central display. The rock hadn't changed much in the last twenty
years. Was it possible the place had been abandoned? The D-band
transmission that Cortana detected could have been an automated
signal, weak from years of drain on a single battery . .. or the
lure for a trap.
"Admiral?"
"I know, Chief," he said. "They've baited the hook and we're
taking it... at least that's what it's supposed to look like." He
chuckled. "Cortana, power up every turret on our Covenant
flagship."
Her holographic body flushed blue-green and she crossed her
arms. "Let me remind you, sir, that of the three working turrets,
two are offline. I have no way to aim the plasma. The magnetic—"
"I know, Cortana. But they"—the Admiral stabbed a finger at
the displays—"don't know that."
"Yes, sir," she said. "Heating them up now."
"Power dropping," Fred warned the Admiral as he peered at
the Engineering screens. "Down to forty-four percent."