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SECTION I

REVEILLE

CHAPTER ONE

0430 Hours, August 17, 2517 (Military Calendar) / Slipstream space - unknown coordinates near Eridanus Star Systeht filled his blurry vision and he choked on the slis and throat

"Sit up, Lieutenant Keyes," a diseh, sir You need to clear the bronchial surfactant"

Lieutenant Keyes pushed hiel bed Wisps of fog overflowed froenic tube as he clumsily climbed out He sat on a nearby bench, tried to inhale, and doubled over, coughing until a long string of clear fluid flowed from his open mouth

He sat up and drew his first full breath in teeks He tasted his lips and alned to be regurgitated and sed, replacing nutrients lost in the deep sleep No h, it always tasted like lime-flavored mucus

"Status, Toran? Are we under attack?"

"Negative, sir," the ship’s AI replied "Status normal We will enter normal space near the Eridanus Systeain "Good Thank you, Toran"

"You’re welcome, Lieutenant"

Eridanus was on the border of the Outer Colonies It was just far enough off the beaten path for pirates to be lurkingwaiting to capture a diplo in a space action They should have an escort He didn’t understand why they had been sent alone--but Junior Lieutenants didn’t question orders Especially when those orders came from FLEETCOM HQ on planet Reach

Wake-up protocols dictated that he inspect the rest of the crew toHe looked around the sleep chamber: rows of stainless steel lockers and showers, a enic tubes--all empty except the one to his left

The other person on the Han was the civilian specialist, Dr Halsey Keyes had been ordered to protect her at all costs, pilot this ship, and generally stay the hell out of her way They ht as well have asked him to hold her hand This wasn’t aSomeone at Fleet Command must have him on their blacklist

The cover of Dr Halsey’s tube hu Her pale skinMatted locks of dark hair clung to her neck She didn’t look much older than him, and she was lovely--not beautiful, but definitely a striking woman For a civilian, anyway

Her blue eyes fixed upon the Lieutenant and she looked him over "We must be near Eridanus," she said

Lieutenant Keyes almost saluted reflectively, but checked the motion "Yes, Doctor" His face reddened and he looked away froenic recovery a dozen times at the Academy He’d seen his fellow officers naked before--men and women But Dr Halsey was a civilian He didn’t knohat protocols applied

Lieutenant Keyes got up and went to her "Can I help you--"

She swung her legs out of the tube and climbed out "I’m fine, Lieutenant Get cleaned up and dressed"

She brushed past him and strode to the showers "Hurry We have ihter "Aye, aye, Ma’am"

With that brief encounter, their roles and the rules of conduct crystallized Civilian or not--like it or not

--Lieutenant Keyes understood that Dr Halsey was in charge

The bridge of the Han had an abundance of space for a vessel of its size That is, it had all theroom of a walk-in closet A freshly showered, shaved, and uniformed Lieutenant Keyes pulled himself into the room and sealed the pressure door behind hie was covered with e semicurved view screen, dark for thein the visible spectru center section, containing the ravity on the bridge, however The diploers, not the crew

It didn’t seeator’s couch, she wore a white jumpsuit that matched her pale skin, and had tied her dark hair into a siers danced across four keypads, tapping in co up "Please have a seat at the communication station and monitor the channels e enter normal space If there’s so much as a squeak on nonstandard frequencies, I want to know instantly"

He drifted to the communication station and strapped hi your orders, Dr Halsey," the ship AI replied

"Give ation maps of the system"

"Online, Dr Halsey"

"Are there any planets currently aligned with our entry trajectory and Eridanus Two? I want to pick up a gravitational boost so we cannow, Doctor Hal--"

"And can we have some music? Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto Number Three, I think"

"Understood Doctor--"

"And start a preburn warines"

"Yes, Doc--"

"And stop spinning the Han ’s central carousel section We"

She eased back The hed "Thank you, Toran"

"You’re welco normal space in five minutes, plus or minus three lance He was ih its paces so rigorously as to cause a detectable pause

She turned to face him "Yes, Lieutenant? You have a question?"

He composed himself and pulled his uniform jacket taut "I was curious about ourin this system, but why send a shuttle, rather than a prowler or a corvette? And why just the two of us?"

She blinked and smiled "A fairly accurate assumption and analysis, Lieutenant This is a reconnaissance missionof sorts We are here to observe a child The first of many, I hope"

"A child?"

"A six-year-old male, to be precise" She waved her hand "It may help if you think of this purely as a UNSC-funded physiological study" Every trace of a smile evaporated from her lips "Which is precisely what you are to tell anyone who asks Is that understood, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Doctor"

Keyes frowned, retrieved his grandfather’s pipe from his pocket, and turned it end over end He couldn’t sht deck was against every ulation on a UNSC space vehicle--but sometimes he just fiddled with it or chewed on the tip, which helped him think He stuck it back into his pocket, and decided to push the issue and find out more

"With all due respect, Dr Halsey, this sector of space is dangerous"

With a sudden deceleration, they entered normal space The main view screen flickered and a million stars snapped into focus The Han dove toward a cloud-swirled gas giant dead ahead

"Stand by for burn," Dr Halsey announced "On htened his harness

"Threetwoone Mark "

The ship ruiant The pull of the harness increased around the Lieutenant’s chest,difficult They accelerated for sixty-seven secondsthe storer on the view screen--then the Han arced up and away from its surface