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38
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
"Course plotted," Cortana said. "Thrusters engaged."
There was a slight acceleration.
"ETA twenty minutes, Chief. But given the Covenant cruis-
ers' current search pattern, I estimate they will encounter the
pod infive minutes."
"We need to move faster," the Chief told her, "but without firing
the engines. The drive emissions will show up like a flare on their
sensors."
"Hang on," Cortana said. "I'll get us there."
The Chief donned his helmet and locked its atmosphere seals.
Status lights pulsed green. "Ready," he said.
The aft hatch of the Longsword breached and slammed open.
There was an explosive sound as the atmosphere vented. The
Longsword jumped forward; the Chief's head slammed into the
back of his helmet.
"Adjusting course," Cortana said calmly. "ETA two minutes."
"How are we going to stop?" he asked.
She sighed. "Do I have to think of everything?" The aft hatch
resealed, and John heard the faint hiss as the internal compart-
ments pressurized.
One of the sleek Covenant cruisers slowed and turned
toward them.
"Picking up increased scanning signal activity and strength,"
Cortana reported.
The Chief's hand hovered over the weapons system console.
It would take several seconds for the weapons to power up. The
110mm rotary cannons could fire immediately, but the missiles
would have to wait for their target-lock software to initialize. By
then the cruiser, which outgunned them a hundred to one, would
turn the Longsword into molten slag.
"Attempting to jam their scanners," Cortana said. "That may
buy us some time."
The Covenant cruiser turned away, slowed, and turned back
to face the comparatively tiny Longsword. It took no further ac-
tion .. . as if it were waiting for them to get closer.
So far so good. The Chief clenched and unclenched his
gauntleted hand. We 're not dead yet.
He glanced at the scan display. The contact resolved into a
clearer image: definitely a UNSC cryopod. It tumbled, and he