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"We are, Field Master"

"Are we set on our path? Does anyone wish to step back from the war to come?"

‘Telcaods, even if the San’Shyuum had been discredited as false prophets But he also had a pragmatic political streak Phil ips had started to think of hiia of a creature, both ruthless co a bit of both now He looked fro out the waverers before devouring them Nobody twitched

"Are we ready to launch our assault?"

"Close, Field Master Very close"

‘Telcaain Dust juh Ignore the Brutes Kil any that get in the way, but focus on the main objective" He turned his head slowly fro in now "

UNSC INTELLIGENCE SAFE HOUSE, NEW TYNE, VENEZIA: MARCH 2553 Me andmouth

As soon as Vaz Beloi said the naret it But he couldn’t stop hi shots of Venezia’s resident undesirables and see her father’s face looking out froal ery

Staffan Sentzke Terror suspect Colonial insurgent Ready to take a pop at Earth any chance he gets

Sentzke was the one conspiracy theorist in a hter real y was alive and the child the police had brought back to him was an impostor, just like he’d claih And Naolassed by the Covenant Vaz sat staring at the datapad, wondering where the hel he’d start explaining this escalating disaster to her--or anybody else, for thatby letting the Spartans know about the families they’d been snatched froet, but now it didn’t look decent at alIt looked agonizinglyreunions, not for any of the where she came from

But it was too late for that Nao over his shoulder knew a lot more Vaz craned his neck to look up at Mal Geffen for a reaction Mal wasn’t just his friend He was his sergeant, too, and--Vaz had to admit it--a lot calet angry Vaz did

Mal just let out a long breath, hands stil braced on the back of the sofa as he leaned over Vaz The baseh-tech comms equipment, with the dead, musty, muffled silence of a soundproofed rooger me," Mal said quietly "Sence agent who’d been posted here, frowned in that hang-on-a-ether and had co answer Vaz was never sure howHe was ence, but he wasn’t ONI, and ONI was a law unto itself even in the intel igence world As far as Vaz knew, Spenser hadn’t even been briefed about Kilo-Five’s heili state Just because they were al on the same side didn’t mean they could share information

I shouldn’t have said Nao?

"You don’t , he sounded bored, and that had to be an act "Spartan Naouy to forget a naotten Naomi She was at least two meters tal , so pale that Vaz stil wasn’t sure if she was platinuray She could take down an Elite or a Brute with her bare hands, and Vaz had seen her do both without breaking a sweat She hat a huest, and puene therapy, cera the UNSC could offer

Provided you did al that while they were stil little kids, of course That was the heart of the problem as far as Vaz was concerned It was a recipe for retribution And he knew that day had come

"Yes Naomi Naomi Spartan-Zero-One-Zero" Vaz stood up and handed the datapad to Mal There was a certain wisdo when you were in a hole, but that would only make Spenser more curious now "That’s her real name Naomi Sentzke I’ve seen her file"

Spenser nodded, stil pretty relaxed "Yeah, I wondered when al that crap would come out" He didn’t elaborate on what heanything The dirty details of the Spartan program had certainly come as a shock to the marines "I can see the resemblance now That boiled look You think he knows? It would explain his attitude to Earth"

"He worked out some of it" Mal narrowed his eyes a fraction "You kno they recruited for the Spartan program?"

"I didn’t need to know But I do know some operatives declined to take part in the recruit heavy on the euphemism there"

"What happened to the about, not an anis down"

Vaz tried not to dwel on that Mal missed a beat, but only one

"So you know they took kids," he said

"I do now"

"Oh" Mal blinked a couple of tiht out "We never learn, do we?"

"Ah, come on You’re ODST Honest s You’l sleep better" Spenser sloshed the dregs of his coffee around his , then took the datapad back from Mal "The question is whether Sentzke knows Or whether she does"

"She knoho her real family is," Vaz said Do we tell her? Do we not tell her? Do we tell her before we tell Captain Osht? "But this wil be news to her"

Spenser shook his head, slowly and rueful y "We’re going to ood Four jaws, bad"

"Are you going to cal this in, Mike?" Mal asked

"No, because you’re going to do it Aren’t you?"

Vaz wasn’t sure how to take that There was another aard silence He could feel the vibration of traffic fro up where they’d left off before the Covenant had arrived and interrupted the long-running war between humans

Venezia had always been a haven for criminals and assorted outlaws Noas open house for any species with an axe to grind with its government, but that suddenly see Naomi

Naomi had to be told, one way or another, and Vaz would do it She’dcompletely above al the personal loyalty stuff, maybe even want to arrest her dad to prove she put her duty first, just like the way she’d reacted to Halsey That didn’t ht: kil ing hinge-heads had been a blissful y si dirty