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HALO: FIRST STRIKE
from Halo, Threshold, and that Covenant fleet. If this tin can
holds together a bit longer, I want to put some distance between
us and them."
The Chief replied, "Good work, Cortana. Very good." He moved
toward the elevator. "Now we have a hard decision to make."
He paused and turned back toward the Covenant Engineer.
The creature moved away from the repaired power coupling and
drifted to a scarred, half-melted panel that had been hit with
stray plasma fire. It huffed, removed the cover, and delved into
the tangle of optical cables.
The Chief left it alone. It wasn't a threat to him or his team. In
fact, it and the others like it might be key to repairing this ship,
and their continued survival.
He continued to the elevator shaft, stepping over the bodies of
the Grunts in the hallway. He nudged them with his foot to make
certain they were dead, and then retrieved two plasma pistols
and one of the needle launchers.
He entered the elevator shaft, pushed off the deck, and floated
upward in the null gravity. The Chief kept his eyes and ears
sharp for any hint of a threat as he moved through the corridors
to the bridge. Everything was quiet and still.
At the open bridge door, he paused and watched as Warrant
Officer Polaski supervised a Covenant Engineer while it re-
moved the blasted door control panels. The Engineer turned a
melted piece of polarizing crystal before its six eyes, and then
picked up an unblemished crystalline panel off the floor and in-
serted it into the wall.
Polaski wiped her hands on her greasy coveralls and waved
him in.
Thin, blue smoke still filled the bridge, but the Chief noted
that most of the display panels were once again active. Nearby,
Sergeant Johnson tended Haverson's wounds and Locklear stood
guard. The young Marine's eyes never left the Engineer, and his
finger hovered close to, though not quite on, his MA5B's trigger.
The Engineer floated back, spun on its long axis, and looked
first at Polaski, then the Chief.
A burst of static issued from the bridge speakers, and the
Covenant Engineer looked to them and then to Polaski. It tapped
the control, and the massive bridge doors slid shut.