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"I’l kil you, demon" Mal understood that just fine "You won’t shoot me"

"No, but I can do this " There were a few thuds and scuffling sounds "Daive me a hand"

Vaz crept into the shattered vessel at a crouch with Mal behind him The interior was coht froht to see Nao to hold hier and heavier than Jul, more of a handful Mal resisted the te and just shoved his rifle in its face instead

"Field Master," he said, "I’et you out That roup, and have a nice cup of tea Okay?"

"I wil decide!" ‘Telcaht or not! I aotyour arse handed to you out there Co his rifle and knelt down to put some restraints on him "You’l thank us later," he said A loud explosion outside shook the whole ship

"Great, we’re going to get creauys"

"Move it Get him out"

Naomi and Vaz hauled ‘Telcam to his feet and bundled him outside to Tart-Cart Unlike Jul ‘Mdaed like a sack of spuds He’d calot to New Llanel i and found he had some ships left and some al ies ere stil prepared to ar the dropship’s drive as ‘Telcam squeezed into the crew bay, head lowered to avoid the trunking He was even tal er than Naoo," Devereaux said "The trouble with Infinity not knowing exactly where we are is that she’s going to end up hitting us if we don’t get clear"

‘Telca to look relaxed at a kid’s tea party, head thrust forward Naolowered at hie-heads that they’d been knocked down by a woman, because she’d done the same with Jul, and she tended to live in that helmet But ‘Telcaers through his hair, noting that it needed cutting, and watched ‘Telcam turn his attention to Phil ips The armor and plasma pistol definitely troubled hi conversation at soirls, we’re off the charts now," Devereaux said "Including Infinity’s Next stop, the lovely glasslands of New Llanel i"

"Dev, how close did we coril ed by Del Rio?" Mal asked

"Very"

That, Mal decided, would be his personal limit He hadn’t reached it yet and he hadn’t even realized it existed, but if bailing out these hinge- heads cost one hu for a transfer There were so to pay, not for ONI, and not even for Osman

In the end, he’d rather have done business with a dozen Staffan Sentzkes than one ‘Telcam Maybe Vaz had a point after al

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I HAVE GIVEN MY WORD TO THE ARBITER, AND WHILE IT MIGHT NOT BE FASHIONABLE TO BELIEVE THAT STILL HAS SOME MEANING, I SHALL KEEP IT UNTIL HE NO LONGER HONORS HIS

(ADMIRAL LORD TERRENCE HOOD, CINCFLEET)

UNSC PORT STANLEY, SOMEWHERE OFF SANGHELIOS

Sanghelios was beco familiar in the same way as the moon over Sydney

There was the coast that looked like a jigsaw-puzzle piece that would fit neatly into the Bay of Biscay; there was the huge inland sea shaped like a bow tie On the night side of the planet, city-states were picked out in points of light Ose viewscreen with her arms folded and wondered what her first impressions of the planet would have been if she’d discovered it yesterday rather than years ago as a war out of the blue

It did a good i norain While she watched, the reflection of a holographic blue box drifted by and hovered beside her

"Are you sure Infinity can’t track us, BB?"

"You real y don’t trust Huragok now, do you?"

"I think the analogy of a hyper-intel igent toddler who’s into everything fits them pretty welJust tel me"

"No, Captain, they haven’t touched the stealth systeo dark"

Because we do all the mucky, dishonorable stuff that the Navy prefers to believe never happens

It was basic security Stealth vessels had to be able to hide even from their own fleet so that they couldn’t be tracked down if another ship fel into enemy hands But she kneas also handy for Fleet to be able to deny al knowledge of ONI activity

"‘Telca to be sociable with him," BB said Osman had learned to deal with the concept of AI o on a mass of ever-open comm channels "It’s bit of a stretch for Tart-Cart But she’l ot a slipspace drive now"

"Is Devereaux actual y rated to fly that?"

"She’s got me, Captain"

"I know, I know"

"And who’s going to argue about it? We’re ONI"

"But dropships with slip drives…"

"Yes, it’s the work of Beelzebub Isn’t it fabulous? Let’s order another one"

BB was right There was nothing to worry about What was the point of having Huragok if you couldn’t let thes like beef up an already heavily modified Pelican? There were no rules now

And if there are … I’ll be the one writing theht that not with satisfaction but with growing unease She stood utterly alone in the corvette Even BB, friend and bodyguard and lieutenant that he was, didn’t quite count right then Sometimes life could be heavy-handed with itswhen it kept warning her that the higher she climbed, the more isolated she’d become, until she’d find herself with no hands left above her to reach out to

This is what being CINCONI is going to feel like No safety net No supervision Nobody to tell me how to do it