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"PZ three hundredher tablet "Welcohts"
"Tell thee," John said, "and we need a hand"
"Roger that," she said
Thefast
Ahead, the forest turned into swamp With a hurricane roar, a UNSC Pelican dropship rose over the treetops and its twin chain guns spat a cloud of depleted uraniu it bloom into a flower of fire and smoke
"Stand by for pickup, Blue Tea single-craft hostiles So hang tight, and go vacuurity," John ordered He remembered Sa on a Covenant ship under siege because of a breach in his suit If a single AP round had breached their MJOLNIR, they'd be in a si thick black clouds, rattled to a stop
The Pelican settled over it and clareen status lights, and John relaxed; he had been holding his breath
The Pelican lifted the Warthog, laden with Spartans and warheads, into the air
"Make secure," the pilot said "Bogies inbound on vector zero seven two"
Acceleration tugged at John, but he stood fast, one hand bracing the nukes, the other against the punctured side of the Warthog
The clear blue light outside darkened to black and filled with the twinkle of stars
"Rendezvous with the Bunker Hill in fifteen seconds," the Pelican pilot announced
"Prepare for immediate out-system Slipspace jump"
Kurt carefully eased out of the driver's seat and into the midsection to join them
"Nice work," Fred told hiuards loading a," Kurt explained "I saw it at the tiister until it was almost too late Those a rounds All of the on a few light tanks…"
"Or a squad of Spartans," Linda said, catching on
"Us," Fred reedly shook his head "I should have figured it out sooner I alot everyone killed"
"You mean you saved everyone," Kelly said and she butted her shoulder into his
"If you ever have another funny 'feeling,'" John told him, "tell me, and make me understand"
Kurt nodded
John wondered about this s," his instinctive subconscious awareness of the danger CPO Mendez had ration, target prioritization, hand-to-hand combat, and battlefield tactics were part of their hardwired instincts now But that didn't ical impulses orthless Quite the opposite
John set a hand on Kurt's shoulder, searching for the right words
Kelly, as usual, articulated the sentiments that John never could She said, "Welcoreat team"
CHAPTER TWO
0500 HOURS, OCTOBER 24, 2531 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \ ABOARD UNSC POINT OF NO RETURN, INTERSTELLAR SPACE, SECTOR B-042
Colonel Ackerson ran both hands through his thinning hair, and poured hilass of water from the carafe on the table His hand shook Ironic that his career in theon a ship that technically didn't exist, about to discuss a project that, if successful, would never surface from the shadows
Eyes-only classification Code words Double deals and back-stabbing
He longed for earlier days when he held a rifle in his hands, the enenized and dispatched, and Earth was the most powerful, secure center of the universe
Those times only existed in memory now, and Ackerson had to live in the dark to save what little light remained
He pushed back froaze swept over the roorate floor, with stainless-steel walls brushed to a white reflective sheen Once sealed, it becanals could escape
He hated this place The white walls and the black table iant eye, always under observation
The "cage," as it was referred to, was contained within a cocoon of ablative insulating layers, and counterelectronics to provide further security, and this ensconced on the most secret ship in the UNSC fleet, Point of No Return
Constructed in parts and then asseest prowler-class vessel ever built The size of a destroyer, she was coines ran below 30 percent she was as dark as interstellar space Point of No Return was the wartime field command and control platforence, NavSpecWep Section Three
Very few had actually seen this ship, only a handful had ever been aboard, and fewer than twenty officers in the galaxy had access to the cage
The white wall sheathed apart and three people walked in, boots clipping across the rate
Rear Adray He coe of every field operation save Dr Halsey's SPARTAN-II progralanced at the water, and scowled He withdrew a gold flask and un-stoppered it The odor of cheap whiskey immediately assailed Acker son
Next was Captain Gibson Thestrides indicative of tiravity He was the field officer in charge of Section Three Black Ops, the hands-on ork counterpart to Rear Adosky entered
The doors immediately sheathed close behind her There were three distinct clicks as locks meshed into place, and then the rooosky reaze finally pinned Ackerson "You better have one hell of a reason for dragging us all here through back channels, Colonel"
Parangosky looked fragile and closer to 170 years old than her actual seventy years, but she was in Ackerson's opinion the erous person in the UNSC She was the real power in ONI To his knowledge, only one person had ever successfully crossed her and lived
Colonel Ackerson set four reader tablets on the table Bio-metric scanners flashed on the sidebars
"Please, Admiral," he said, "if you would"
"Very well," she growled and sat "I'll bite"