Page 13 (1/2)

CHAPTER TWELVE

1750 Hours, Noveate Co Facility, planet Chi Ceti 4

The view screen in the bunkrooate Commonwealth clicked on as the ship entered norave the distant yellow sun, Chi Ceti, a ghostly ring

John watched and continued to ponder the word Mjolnir as they sped in-system He had looked it up in the education database Mjolnir was the haod of thunder Project MJOLNIR

had to be some kind of weapon At least he hoped it was; they needed soh, as it here at the Dae of UNSC-controlled space? He had only even heard of this systeo

He turned and surveyed the squad Although this bunkrooether, playing cards, polishing boots, reading, exercising Sah she had to slow herself down considerably to give hi on starships The lack of control was disturbing If he wasn’t stuck in "the freezer"--the starship’s cra and wondering what their nextthe last three weeks the Spartans had handled a variety ofup loose ends," she had called it Putting down rebel factions on Jericho VII Re a black-market bazaar near the Roosevelt ht them closer to the Chi Ceti System

John had made sure every member of his squad had participated in these missions They had performed flawlessly There had been no losses Chief Mendez would have been proud of them

"Spartan-117," Dr Halsey’s voice blared over the loudspeaker "Report to the bridge immediately"

John snapped to attention and keyed the intercom "Yes, ma’am!" He turned to Sam "Get everyone ready, in case we’re needed On the double"

"Affir those cards Get into uniform, soldier!"

John double-tie Gravity faded out and then back again as the elevator passed between rotating sections of the ship

The doors parted and he stepped onto the bridge Every wall had a screen Some showed stars and the distant red smear of a nebula Other screens displayed the fusion reactor status and spectru ringed the center of the bridge, and within sat four Junior Lieutenants at their stations: navigation, weapons, communications, and ship operations

John halted and saluted Captain Wallace, then nodded to Dr Halsey

Captain Wallace stood with his right ar fro until the Captain returned the gesture

"Over here, please," Dr Halsey said "I want you to see this"

John walked across the rubberized deck and gave his full attention to the screen Dr Halsey and Captain Wallace were scrutinizing It displayed deconvoluted radar signals It looked like tangled yarn to John

"There--" Dr Halsey pointed to a blip on the screen "It’s there again"

Captain Wallace stroked his dark beard, thinking, then said, "That puts our ghost at eighty million kiloet within weapons range And besides--"

He waved at the screen "--it’s gone again"

"May I suggest that we go to battle stations, Captain," Dr Halsey told hily; the Captain was clearly less than pleased about having a civilian on his bridge

"We haven’t let this be widely known," she said, "but when the aliens were first detected at Harvest, they appeared at extreeand then they were suddenly much closer"

"An intrasystem jump?" John asked

Dr Halsey smiled at him "Correctly surmised, Spartan"

"That’s not possible," Captain Wallace reated that accurately"

"You ate with that kind of accuracy," she said

The Captain clenched and unclenched his jaw He clicked the intercom "General quarters: all hands to battle stations Seal bulkheads I repeat: all hands, battle stations This is not a drill Reactors to ninety percent Cohts darkened to a red hue The deck rumbled beneath John’s boots and the entire ship tilted as it changed heading Pressure doors slae

The Co, and Dr Halsey crossed her ar the Co facility on Chi Ceti Four We have to get to Project MJOLNIR" She turned back and watched the radar screen

"Before they do So get the others ready"

"Yes, ma’am" John keyed the intercom "Sam, muster the squad in Bay Alpha I want that Pelican loaded and ready for drop in fifteen minutes"

"We’ll have it done in ten," Saet out of our way"

John would have given anything to be belowdecks with the others He felt as if he were being left behind

The radar screen flashed with blobs of eerie green lightal

The collision alarm sounded

"Brace for impact!" Captain Wallace said He laced his arency handhold on the wall

So appeared three thousand kilometers off the Cole seahts winked on and off along its hull A faint purple-tinged glow emitted from the tail The ship was only a third the size of the Commonwealth

"A Covenant ship," Dr Halsey said, and she involuntarily backed away from the view screens

Captain Wallace scowled "COM officer: send a signal to Chi Ceti--see if they can send us some reinforce the hull of the alien ship--so bright that even filtered through the external camera, they still made John’s eyes water

The outer hull of the Commonwealth sizzled and popped Three screens filled with static

"Pulse lasers!" the lieutenant at the ops station screamed "Communication dish destroyed Armor in sections three and four at twenty-five percent Hull breach in section three Sealing now" The Lieutenant swiveled in his seat, sweat beaded on his forehead "Ship AI core memory overloaded," he said

With the AI offline, the ship could still fire weapons and navigate through Slipstream space, but John kneould takezero three zero, declination one eight zero," Caption Wallace ordered "Ar solution"

"Aye aye," the navigation and weapons officers said "A through F pods armed" They furiously tapped away on their keypads Seconds ticked by "Firing solution ready, sir"

"Fire"

"Pods A through F firing!"

The Commonwealth had twenty-six pods, each loaded with thirty Archer high-explosive h F opened, and launched--180 plumes of rocket exhaust that traced a path froed course, rotated so that the top of the ship faced the inco speed

The Archer missiles altered their trajectory to track the ship, but half their nuet, clean misses

The others impacted Fire covered the skin of the alien ship

"Good work, Lieutenant," Captain Wallace said, and he clapped the young officer on the shoulder

Dr Halsey frowned and stared at the screen "No," she whispered "Wait"

The fire flared, then di off a hot road in the summer It fluttered with a metallic silver sheen, then brilliant white--and the fire faded, revealing the ship beneath

It was coy shields," Dr Halsey"Even ships this s"

"Lieutenant," the Captain barked at the nav officer "Cutthrusters

Rotate and track so that we’re pointing at that thing"

"Aye aye, sir"

The distant ruines dimmed and stopped and she turned about

Her inertia kept the ship speeding toward the testing facility--now flying backward

"What are you doing, Captain?" Dr Halsey asked

"Arm the MAC," Captain Wallace told the weapons officer "A heavy round"

John understood: Turning your back to an enenetic Accelerator Cannon--was the Costen shell The tremendous mass and velocity of the projectile obliterated most ships on iuided projectile; the firing solution had to be perfect in order to hit the target--not an easy thing to do when both ships were ," the weapons officer announced

The Covenant ship turned its side toward the Coer target"

Pinpoints of blue light glowed and then flared along the alien hull

The tactical view screens on the nose of the Co overhead--then the muffled thumps of explosive decompressions

"More pulse laser hits," the ops officer reported "Arh seven down to four centiation dish destroyed Hull breaches on decks two, five, and nine We have a leak in the port fuel tanks" The Lieutenant’s hand shakily danced over the controls "Pu sections"

John shifted on his feet He had to et to his squad, not doing anything--was counter to every fiber of his being

"MAC at one hundred percent," the weapons officer shouted "Ready to fire!"

"Fire!" Captain Wallace ordered

The lights on the bridge dimmed and the Coh space--a red-hotat thirty thousand ines flared to life and the ship veered away--

--Too late The heavy round closed and slaet’s prow

The Covenant ship reeled backward through space Its energy shields shihtthen flickered, die crew let out a victory cheer

Except Dr Halsey John watched the view screen as she adjusted the camera controls and zoo slowed and it came to a stop The ship’s nose was crumpled and atmosphere vented into vacuum Tiny fires flickered inside The ship slowly ca speed