Part 33 (1/2)

Although the hydrostatic gel inside his MJOLNIR armor had been pressurized to its maximum safe value, John's bones still felt as if they were being shaken apart.

This violent ride started when they had cleared Ascendant Justice's Ascendant Justice's launch bay and entered the inky void of Slips.p.a.ce. This ”normal” Slips.p.a.ce was nothing like John had experienced before. Without the smoothing effect of Dr. Halsey's alien crystal-this ride was a thousand times worse. launch bay and entered the inky void of Slips.p.a.ce. This ”normal” Slips.p.a.ce was nothing like John had experienced before. Without the smoothing effect of Dr. Halsey's alien crystal-this ride was a thousand times worse.

Radiation levels spiked and dipped... but so far the dosages getting into the lead-lined drops.h.i.+p were survivable. ”Now I know,” Linda said, ”why only big s.h.i.+ps travel through Slips.p.a.ce.”

296.

”You know those SS probes?” Fred asked. ”They're almost solid t.i.tanium-A.”

The Master Chief checked his team's biosigns: erratic but still within normal operational parameters. Grace's heart skipped a beat or two, but then returned to a normal strong rhythm. No broken bones or signs of internal bleeding yet, either. It was also a good sign that Blue Team were reasonably calm about their dire situation. The Chief knew it was all they could do until they cleared the Slips.p.a.ce field generated by Ascendant Justice. Ascendant Justice.

He ran a diagnostic on his MJOLNIR s.h.i.+elds. They still recharged faster than they were drained by the ambient radiation that stormed invisibly around them. He wished the real Cortana were with him. She would have said something to distract him.

”Status?” John asked. Four blue acknowledgment lights winked on, and four Spartans gave him thumbs-up signals.

Fred chimed in, ”This isn't so bad. The last insertion I made, we hit the ground before the drops.h.i.+p. Now, that that was a rough ride. We were-” was a rough ride. We were-”

The drops.h.i.+p lurched violently and cut off Fred's story. Cracks appeared along the armor welded to the port wall. Molten lead oozed from the rupture.

Despite the hydrostatic gel and the padding, a jolt slammed the Master Chief's head against the front of his helmet with force enough to make black stars explode in his eyes. Another jolt slammed his head into the back of his helmet. The inside of the drops.h.i.+p went entirely dark.

”Chief? Chief?” Cortana's voice whispered through his helmet speaker. ”Chief, respond please.”

John's vision came into focus. His biosigns sluggishly pulsed on his heads-up display. Beyond the display, it was completely dark. He activated his external lights and pointed his head along the interior of the drops.h.i.+p.

His Spartans hung limp in their harnesses. Aside from spheres of lead that had melted under the hull armor, resolidified, and now floated like champagne bubbles in the interior of the vessel, there was no other discernible motion.

”We made it?”

”Affirmative,” the cloned Cortana answered. ”I'm picking up a tremendous volume of Covenant COM traffic on the F-through K-bands. They've pinged us three times already for a response, Chief. Awaiting orders.”

”How can you pick up any signal inside this lead-lined hull?”

”The hull is breached in many sections, Chief. The COM traffic is also unusually strong, indicating extremely close proximity of Covenant forces.”

”Stand by,” he told her. He hit the quick release on his harness and floated free. He called up Blue Team's biosigns and found them all unconscious, but alive. He grabbed a first-aid kit, injected them each with a mild stimulant, and released them from their safety restraints.

”Where are we?” Will asked.

The Master Chief looked instinctively to the forward monitors, but they were dead. ”There's only one way to find out,” he replied. ”I'll take the portside hatch. Fred, you're on the starboard.”

”Roger, Blue-One,” Fred replied.

The Chief rotated the manual release of the hatch and it eased open. Beyond was the velvet black of s.p.a.ce, filled with stars that shone yellow and amber and red. He clipped a tether onto his suit and then onto the hull and leaned out the hatch.

As Cortana had indicated, there were Covenant forces in close proximity. A cruiser glided silently past them three hundred meters away. All John could see was its silver-blue hull, its plasma turrets with their lateral lines aglow with fire, and the flare of its engine cones as it pa.s.sed... and then John saw the rest of them.

There were Covenant cruisers and larger carriers; there were even bigger vessels with five bulbous sections that were two kilometers stem to stern and had a dozen deadly energy projectors. Motes of dust swirled between the numerous s.h.i.+ps: Seraph fighters, drops.h.i.+ps, and tentacled Engineer pods.

”How many s.h.i.+ps,” he asked Cortana, ”are we looking at?”

”Two hundred forty-seven wars.h.i.+ps,” she replied. ”Estimation of the total population based on the sampling from your limited field of vision puts that total number at more than five hundred Covenant wars.h.i.+ps.”

For the first time the Chief froze; his gauntlets locked onto the edge of the hatch, and his arms failed to respond. Five hundred s.h.i.+ps? There was more firepower here than he had ever seen before. This fleet would easily overwhelm any UNSC defensive force-whether or not the Admiral got through with his warning. Their opening salvo would be a tidal wave of plasma, and it would obliterate Earth's...o...b..tal fortresses before they could fire a shot.

A thousand kilometers below, s.p.a.ce rippled, parted, and seven more cruisers appeared in normal s.p.a.ce. They maneuvered to join the rest of the pack.

John realized he had had seen this magnitude of destructive power: Halo. The ring was a weapon designed to kill all sentient life for dozens of light-years in every direction. seen this magnitude of destructive power: Halo. The ring was a weapon designed to kill all sentient life for dozens of light-years in every direction.

And he had stopped that threat. He could stop this one, too. He had to.

His plan called for the infiltration and destruction of their command-and-control station. But how would that stop this gathering offeree? It wouldn't... but it might buy Earth enough time to come up with a plan to counter this seemingly invincible armada.

”You said they've pinged us three times?” John asked Cortana.

”Affirmative. They've been curious about our status, but not as much as you might expect. There's a tremendous amount of COM traffic. They're probably only interested in us as a navigation hazard.”

”Send a signal and explain that our engines are crippled and we'll need a.s.sistance to move. Let's see if we can get them to take us to this central station for repairs.”

”Sending message now.”

The Master Chief piped what he was seeing to Blue Team. ”Time to wake up,” he said. ”Armor and weapons check on the double.”

There was a pause of several seconds before Blue Team's acknowledgment lights pulsed in his HUD. He knew they were having the same reaction of fear, and then drawing the same conclusion as he had about their mission. They couldn't fail: The fate of humanity lay in their hands.

John angled his head around to take a look at the drops.h.i.+p.

The majority of the drops.h.i.+p's hull had peeled away, and lead and t.i.tanium plates underneath showed through. Without their reinforcements, the craft would have disintegrated on the rough ride through Slips.p.a.ce.

”Covenant C & C responding to our request,” the copied Cortana informed him. ”Ferry en route to take us in for repairs. They were a little confused about which wars.h.i.+p we belong to, but I simulated static to cover our s.h.i.+p's registration ID. They're too busy to take too close a look at us.”

The Master Chief returned inside the drops.h.i.+p. ”We're getting towed,” he told Blue Team.

Linda came up to him and made a circle in the air with her index finger. John nodded and turned around so she could visually inspect his MJOLNIR suit. Computer diagnostics were fine, but his Spartans didn't take any chances with their armor. Especially not in an evacuated environment.

”You're good,” she told him.

John then returned the favor and examined her suit. Fred and Will had done an excellent job integrating the replacement parts into Linda's armor. Aside from their pristine condition, they were a perfect match.

He patted her on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up to indicate that her armor was in working order.

”Ordnance load out,” Grace said and unraveled the duffel bags they had tied to the hull. The packages had been wrapped with lead foil, layers of thermal padding, and then a layer of utility tape. ”Heavy or light?” she asked.

”We go in heavy,” John said. ”Except Linda.”

Linda started to object, but he explained, ”We'll need you to hang back and cover us with your sniper rifle. I want you fast and deadly. Take a close-range weapon, extra ammo, and whatever you need to keep your sniper rifle working in the field.”