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"Descend to five thousand meters and circle that camp," she ordered

"Aye aye," the AI replied

The Beatrice dropped, and a shudder started fro and continued to thrum

Kelly would make theonce this bird set down, it would never fly again

On-screen Kelly saw other objects in the airspace--glints of dull gold

"Radar contacts," Jerrod said "Identical configuration to orbital pursuit craft"

A silhouette appeared andabout a central sphere

Dozens of those things circled the camp They either hadn't noticed them yet, or didn't care

"Move us off five kilo new course, aye"

There was a sle "Scan local airspace," Kelly said, "and if it's clear, put us down here"

She didn't want to give up theto stay up here and be a target, either

If she could caht options open

"No radar contact," the AI infor cae "Horizontal attitude thrusters partially functional Make ready to land"

She went aft to see if there was anything else she could salvage From the s of water She glanced into the engine compartment Her armor's radiation counter clicked wildly The plasma coils were half e

"Ma'a into its voice "Will you be taking me as well?"

Dr Halsey would probably need the AI and it was effective in combat "You're covered"

"Thank you, ma'am Touchdown in three seconds"

Kelly watched the screens There were no fliers She was going to assuh, that they had already spotted her

There was a buines whined down

Kelly yanked the laptop and tossed it into a duffel She unharnessed the Doctor and gently threw her over her shoulder She palplank

The terrain outside waselsethe distance in ten long strides

In the dark of the jungle she set Dr Halsey against a tree and rechecked her vitals Still strong and steady

Kelly scanned the sky No co back to the ship and caht not be necessary The matte-black stealth craft blended almost perfectly with the shady tree line

Kelly tried her COM, clicking on the E-Band

"-- expect an ieneral distress code Bloody Arrow All UNSC personnel heed and stand to We are under attack and require assistance Camp Currahee and the northern peninsula have been invaded by unknown, possible Covenant, hostiles Suggest orbital boion as these entities are equipped with high-heat-output beam weapons Our forces will remain under cover Land in force and expect an immediate threat response--"

Across the swamp came a whisper rustle

Kelly took cover, leveled her MA5B, and held her breath

Two figures ele Hue Their textures adjusted, and they looked like they were part leaf, part shadow She'd seen Orbital Drop Shock Troopers experiotten it to work in the field

The two figures halted It was difficult to tell, but it looked al into palers inwardly curled

That was the Spartan signal for "Unknown ahead Wait"

She'd take a chance If they were hu the latest UNSC armor, they should be nonhostiles

She eased one hand out froain, and then the "co around her--flanking units

Of course, no one was going to close across open terrain Even friendlies

Still, Kelly's co clicked on She had to reposition, but that wouldDr Halsey vulnerable

One of the unknoas near; she couldn't hear it… just a tickling in the back of herwatched, and whatever was doing the watching was now too close for comfort

There was motion in Kelly's peripheral vision, a blur

She spun and saw a ghostly figure,toward her-- faster than any hurabbed the arm, twisted

Her opponent reverse-twisted and countered the lock

Whatever it was, it wasn't human; otherwise Kelly would have ripped its human arm from the socket

Her opponent twisted her wrist and escaped frorip

Kelly was still faster--her other hand lashed out, palm flat, and iure flew back two meters, hit a tree, and slumped

"Stand down Spartan!"

Kelly whirled She recognized the voice--not Mendez's but another voice from the past… one that couldn't be That person was dead

Before her stood a figure wavering as if a e faded, and a person in what looked like cut-down MJOLNIR arround, the other held up

"No time to explain, Kelly," this man said over the COM "Move! Hostiles in--"

An explosion tore through the jungle

CHAPTER NINETEEN

1045 HOURS, NOVEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \ ZETA DORADUS SYSTEM, PLANET ONYX \ NEAR RESTRICTED REGION KNOWN AS ZONE 67

Kelly ducked and placed herself between the blast and Dr Halsey Splinters and stones pelted the energy shield of her MJOLNIR armor

When the dust cleared, the other person--the one that had sounded impossibly like Kurt--had vanished So was the soldier she had knocked out

Her questions would have to wait, because Kelly saw the source of that explosion: a drone identical to the ones they had seen in space now hovered ten h the trees and vines

She aimed her MA5B and fired

A burst of three rounds hit and deflected off a gold shimmer of shields

It turned toward Kelly, and its central sphere heated

Kelly sprinted to draw the fire away fro between trees, and she suddenly stopped, spun-- juht blinded her, and then the world detonated where she had stood a second before

The overpressure propelled her into the air Kelly's shields drained to half, and she felt the heat prick her skin

She hit the ground, chest first, rolled aardly, wobbled, and got to her feet