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ERIC NYLUND
257
Mister Jiles." He turned to Cortana. "If we're not back in thirty
minutes, blast them all to hell."
The Master Chief linked mission telemetry with Cortana as
Jiles's men met them in the landing bay—six men dressed in
black coveralls with old MA3 rifles slung over their shoulders.
They hesitated, then took tentative steps toward the Covenant
dropship. The Chief didn't blame them—he'd have been careful,
too, if he were moving toward an armed enemy vessel. One
fear-induced pull of the trigger from any one of them, however,
and this greeting would turn into a bloody firefight.
He closed off his external speakers and asked, "Cortana: tacti-
cal analysis."
Cortana replied: "The asteroid is a typical ferric oxide
composite. It's reinforced with a layer of Titanium-A armor. The
armor is well camouflaged, but I spotted it with the Gettysburg's
deep radar. They have a few sections with ablative undercoats as
well. Radar's bouncing off those sections—so would Covenant
sensors. Impressive."
Governor Jiles strolled across the deck, flipped his black fur
cap over one shoulder, and shook Admiral Whitcomb's hand.
Jiles nodded to Haverson. His smile vanished, however, when he
looked at the Master Chief and Fred in their MJOLNIR armor.
Jiles recovered his grin and bowed low to Dr. Halsey.
"There are half a dozen guards armed with old MA-3 rifles
and concealed plasma pistols," Cortana whispered. "I'm also
picking up a fireteam often in the side passages, watching."
"I saw them," the Chief muttered. "They're overwatch and
backup, just in case. No problem."
"This way, please," Jiles said, and with a flourish he led them
through a narrow corridor.
The Chief took one last look at the docking bay. It seemed
smaller than he remembered it. Twenty years ago he and his
team had blown off the external doors, stolen a Pelican, escaped,
and left a dozen men dead on the deck.
His team had accomplished that mission without MJOLNIR
armor. It hadn't been developed yet—so there was no way any-
one here could have known that John and Fred were part of
the team that had extracted the last "governor" of the base, the