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CHAPTER THREE

2300 Hours September 23, 2517 (Military Calendar ) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex,

planet Reach

Dr Halsey stood on a platfors of slate-gray risers surrounded her--ehts focused and reflected off her white lab coat, but she still was cold

She should feel safe here Reach was one of the UNSC’s largest industrial bases, ringed with high-orbit gun batteries, space docks, and a fleet of heavily-armed capital ships On the planet’s surface were Marine and Navy Special Warfare training grounds, OCS schools, and between her underground facilities and the surface were three hundred meters of hardened steel and concrete The room where she now stood could withstand a direct hit froaton nuke

So why did she feel so vulnerable?

Dr Halsey knehat she had to do Her duty It was for the greater good All humanity would be servedeven if a tiny handful of them had to suffer for it Still, when she turned inward and faced her complicity in this--she was revolted by what she saw

She wished she still had Lieutenant Keyes He had proven hi the last un to understand the nature of the project--at least seen the edges of the truth Dr

Halsey had hiellan with a commission to full Lieutenant for his troubles

"Are you ready, Doctor?" a diserave;" Dr Halsey sighed "Please summon Chief Petty Officer Mendez I’d like you both present when I address theram flicked on next to Dr Halsey The AI had been specifically created for Dr Halsey’s SPARTAN project She took the appearance of a Greek goddess: barefoot, wrapped in the toga,about her luminous white hair She held a clay tablet in her left hand Binary cuneifors scrolled across the tablet Dr Halsey couldn’t help but ned" a holographic appearance, and each was unique

One of the doors at the top of the amphitheater opened and Chief Petty Officer Mendez strode down the stairs He wore a black dress uniforold stars and a rainbow of caray at the temples He was neither tall nor muscular; he looked so ordinary for a man who had seen so much corace as if he alking in half gravity He paused before Dr Halsey, awaiting further instructions

"Up here, please," she told hiht

Mendez mounted the steps of the platform and then stood at ease next to her

"You have read rave; asked Dr Halsey

"Yes They were quite thorough," she said "Thank you"

"And?"

"I’ to tell therunt of approval--one of the ments Dr

Halsey had heard fro DI, Mendez was the best in the Navy As a conversationalist, however, he left a great deal to be desired

"The truth has risks," Déjà cautioned

"So do lies," Dr Halsey replied "Any story fabricated totheir parents were taken and killed by pirates, or by a plague that devastated their planet--if they learned the truth later, they would turn against us"

"It is a legitirave;, and then she consulted her tablet "May I suggest selective neural paralysis? It produces a targeted amnesia--"