Page 30 (1/2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

0400 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)

UNSC Pillar of Autumn , in orbit around Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex Captain Keyes tapped the thrusters of the shuttle pod CodaThe tiny craft rolled and the Pillar of Autumn came into view

Normally, Captains did not ferry themselves around the space docks of Reach, but Keyes had insisted

All unauthorized personnel were restricted to a narrow flight path around the Pillar of Autumn , and he wanted to take a careful look around the outside of this ship before he took command

From this distance, the Pillar of Autuate As the shuttle pod moved closer, however, details appeared that betrayed the ship’s age The Pillar of Autuine baffles were blackened The portside eotten hi up for Dr Halsey’s mission?

He moved within a hundred meters and circled to the starboard The shuttle bay on this side was sealed off Red-and-yellow hazard warnings had been painted on metal plates that had been hastily welded over her entrance

He closed to ten meters and saw the plate was not a solid sheet of metal--he could see armored ports, heavily reinforcedalhout this section were the round covers of Archer missile pods Captain Keyes counted: thirty pods across, ten down Each pod held dozens of missiles The Pillar of Autumn had a secret arsenal to rival any real cruiser in the fleet

Captain Keyes drifted toward the stern and noticed concealed and recessed 50le ships

Underneath were bumps--part of the linear accelerator systeun It looked too sment Perhaps, like the rest of the Pillar of Autumn , the weapon was more than it appeared to be

He certainly hoped so

Captain Keyes returned to the port side and drifted gently into the shuttle bay He took note of three Longsword single ships and three Pelican dropships in the bay One of the Pelicans had double the nor attachments A serrated titanium ram decorated the dropship’s prow

He touched down on an auto platform and locked the controls down A moment later the shuttle descended belowdecks and was cycled through the airlock Captain Keyes gathered his duffel bag and stepped onto the flight deck

Lieutenant Hikoas there to meet him She saluted "Welcome aboard, Captain Keyes"

He saluted "What do you think of her, Lieutenant?"

Lieutenant Hikowa’s dark eyes widened "You’re not going to believe this ship, sir" Her normally serious face broke with a sspecial"

"I sahat they did to my starboard shuttle bay," Captain Keyes reive you a full tour"

"Please," Captain Keyes said He paused at an interco first, Lieutenant" He keyed the intercoe andvector We will juet there"

"Sir," Lovell replied "Our engines are still in shakedown mode"

"Cortana?" Captain Keyes asked "Can we have power to ines’ final shakedown is in theta cycle," Cortana replied "Operating ithin norines; aye, sir"

"And the other systems’ status?" Captain Keyes asked

"Weapons-syste systeood," he said "Apprise me if there are any anomalies"

"Aye, Captain," she replied

"We finally have an AI," he reotthe shakedown and supervising Dr

Halsey’s modifications to the ship We have a backup AI to handle point defense"

"Really?" Keyes was surprised; getting a single AI was tough enough these days Getting tas unprecedented

"Yes, sir I’ll see to the initialization of our AI as soon as Cortana is through running her diagnostics"

Captain Keyes had h every AI he had met was brilliant, Cortana seemed exceptionally qualified Captain Keyes had posed several navigation probleured out all the solutionsand had come up with a few options he had not considered

She was so

Lieutenant Hikowa led him into the elevator and punched the button for D deck

"At first," Hikowa said, "I was concerned with all the ordnance on board One penetrating shot and we could explode like a string of firecrackers But this ship doesn’t have much empty space--it’s full of braces, honeycombed titanium-A, and hydraulic reinforceency

She can take a tre, sir"

"Let’s hope we don’t have to test that," Captain Keyes said He checked that this pipe was in his pocket

"Yes, sir"

Their elevator passed through the rotating section of the ship and Captain Keyes felt his weight ease and a flutter of vertigo He grabbed hold of the rails

The doors opened and they entered the cavernous engine rooest coonal chamber

"Here’s the new reactor, sir," Hikowa said

The device perched within a lattice of nonferric cera was nestled in the center of what appeared to be two s readings andthe output displays on the walls

"I’n, Lieutenant"

"The latest reactor technology The Pillar of Autuet it The two se the netic fields can temporally boost power by three hundred percent"

Captain Keyes whistled appreciatively as he scrutinized the room "I don’t see any coolant pipes"

"There are none, sir This reactor uses a laser-induced optical slurry of ions chilled to near-absolute zero to neutralize the waste heat The more we crank up the power, the more juice we have to cool the system It is very efficient"

The smaller reactors flickered to life and Captain Keyes felt the aain He removed his pipe and tapped it in the palm of his hand He would have to rethink his old tactics This new engine could give him new options in battle

"There’s more, sir"

Lieutenant Hikowa led him back into the lift "We have forty fifty- fields of fire covering all inbound vectors"