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Tomorrow’s a bonus, BB She said that quite a lot these days "So I want to find her alive It’s keeping , believe me"

BB had access to every record in the ONI archives, and in the six osky had answered every question he’d put to her Even so, it was hard for an AI to extract as much data from a human as he needed, even froosky Flesh and blood was so very, very slow The question that most fascinated him had stil to be ful y answered

What made you dislike Halsey so erous people in its ranks, but you tolerate them What did she do?

She had answered, in a way Halsey had lied to her, she said

But ONI was al about lies They were now about to tel soosky shut down the holoie "BB, are they al here now?"

"Yes,rooeant Malcoleant Lian Devereaux, Naomi-Zero-One-Zero, and Dr Evan Phil ips"

Ososky didn’t tel her everything But then Phil ips had been a last-osky’s part, and BB stil wasn’t convinced that the professor understood what he’d agreed to in a e, like an AI Can’t exist without it Gorges on et on just fine Phil ips had rushed to Bravo- 6 so fast that he was stil repacking his holdal in the waiting roo," Osetic She always took care not to offend Oss she didn’t tel her for her own good The tih, when she would need to be told everything, and when the na to her

"He’s a gaht need his expertise, even with BB around I’l worry later about how I get him to keep his mouth shut"

She eased herself up from the chair and reached for her cane She needed it for the walk to the elevator down into the core of the HIGHCOM complex, but somehow she

"Tiether, then," she said "BB, you’re forned to Captain Osman as of now Lead on, Captain"

PRIVATE QUARTERS OF FORMER SHIPMASTER JUL ‘MDAMA, BEKAN KEEP, MDAMA, SANGHELIOS: JANUARY 26, 2553 IN THE HUMAN CALENDAR

Nothing had changed since the Covenant had falen, just the deceptive surface of events, but Jul ‘Mda the Arbiter listen

"They’l be back," he said, running a polishing cloth over his ar "They’re like the Flood They expand to fil every available space They devour everything in their path Except they can plan and wait, and persuade our uerous"

Raia didn’t say anything She was stil looking out of the sa stylus fro in the courtyard below rose on the breeze as Great-Uncle Naxan waded in to restore order, yel ing about discipline and dignity

"And even you don’t listen toRaia’s shoulder to make her look at him Within the family keep, her as law "A their breath? They won’t forget, and they won’t forgive They certainly won’t stop their colonization"

"Jul, we face far more immediate proble"

She stepped back froestured to him with the kind of weary patience she reserved for smal children Jul huood view of the landscaping that surrounded the keep To the east, the hil s were stepped with terraces of fruit vines, designed to catch the sun Looking west, he could see fields in a neat ray-blue on either side of the lake Set against the gold e he’d ever seen of this landscape; it hadn’t changed for centuries, and generations of his clan had worked hard to make sure it didn’t He had every expectation that it would look that way to his sons’ children and their grandchildren too

The Sangheili ht have been betrayed and defeated--teed

"I don’t have tio to the kaidon’s asse to be here soon"

"Then you make time," Raia snapped "A world needs more than warriors to survive The San’Shyuum kne to make their servant races weak--they confined us to one skil " Nobody cal ed them the Prophets now It was too painful, but it was also a hard habit to break "And, of course, we lap that up, vain fools that we are We al want to be warriors, nothing else Noe have no engineers, no traders, and no scientists Hoe feed ourselves?"

"I leave the estate ees It had only been half a season since the Arbiter had kil ed the last treacherous Prophet of the High Council and every certainty in life had evaporated, but there was stil food on the table "I know better than to interfere with my wife’s business"

Raia drew back her arms, head thrust forward a little in that don’t-you-dare posture He hadn’t seen her this angry for a long time "That’s the proble the San’Shyuu, each species made as dependent as children, and we never asked ourselves ould happen if it al fel apart The San’Shyuues Noe have to relearn their skil s just to restore basic co culture long before the San’Shyuum arrived and turned us into their personal arsters in the courtyard Sticks crashed against sticks "No, not like that!" Naxan, Raia’s grand-brother, roared his head off, probably putting on the angry theatrics "Control yourself! If that had been a blade, you would have taken your own arm off!"

Jul heard a loud thwack--fol owed by absolute silence--as if Naxan had rapped one of the children with his duht even have been one of the girls; Naxan taught the fehters would probably never serve in the front line, but they had to be able to defend the keep if the worst happened

Raia was right, as usual Every Sangheili judged himself solely by his combat skil s Jul definitely couldn’t re they wanted to be an administrator or a cook The shame would have been unbearable, and yet keeps and asseheili had stopped thinking about how the Covenant kept itself running a long tio

"It’s only been half a season," Jul said "The world hasn’t ground to a halt yet We can iineers"