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Not for her, not for any of them

―Take ‘em down!" she roared ―Take ‘e

>Benti 1318 hours

Even though she was just following orders, so off into the darkness with an unknown nu dose of crazy

The larger part of her didn‘t care

―To the left!" Orlav shouted, her flashlight bea off into the distant ceiling It caught in freeze-frame wide sprays of blood The floor was sticky with it

They were following drag marks, and over the top, wide stuunfire, but no flash, hidden so over the roar of a Covenant Elite Lopez swearing So--wouldn‘t be

surprised if so it

Benti al too hard around a corner, following the footprints, dimly aware the others weren‘t around her

She slipped on the blood-slick floor, caught the ier without waiting The bullets punched into the Elite‘s gut and purple blood splashed down on her face and neck It doubled over, h of the creature‘s fetid breath, those four spiny jaitching beneath the clenched fist of a head flexed wide in surprise, anger, or some emotion she‘d never understand Especially without their ar But that couldn‘t be it, and she wasn‘t going to give it a chance to think

Her rifle roared until the Elite dropped, collapsing on top of her

―Crap!" Being crushed see her job

But then Clarence was there, grabbing her harness and hauling her from beneath the Elite by the scruff of the neck Covie blood had soaked her It glowed in the dark and smelled a bit like arunfire throughout the hangar couldn‘t , fast and heavy

A second Covenant Elite burst out fro them as they pivoted to face it The Elite vaulted over an operation console and into the darkness

―It‘s going for the Pelican!"

They took off after it

―Orlav, you back there? One co not to think about the alien blood in her ain she followed the footprints, down one narrow corridor, then another The container crates for the corners, not happy about rushing past so many places ripe for more Elites to pop out at the for the Pelican Instead, it was--

Well, crap It was right there , against the wall of crates

Crouched, but not hiding, its head tilted, listening She noticed its muscles ithered and its limbs lined with scars and wounds, not all of them old, and then realized it was naked No ar to kill you," Benti whispered ―I‘er It shushed her Pointed toward the darkness in front of them

That surprised her so much she shut up, listened with the alien

Benti heard a last bark of gunfire, the ar

Status reports back and forth on the radio The alien‘s breathing Her breathing Nothing more

It looked over at her

Benti was no expert on Covie expressions, but she could tell it was relieved

Nothingless

Even unar any Marine with its bare hands They never stopped, they never gave up until you put the Listening

It wasn‘t afraid of her She knew that

But it was afraid of so

The muzzle of Clarence‘s rifle entered her peripheral vision, spat fire, and deafened her in one ear

The Covenant Elite sainst a container, half its face shorn off

Face i in the set of shoulders He‘d seen her hesitate Crap She stared back at hi a flare of irritation she kneas her ee? You could’ve frozen up a hundred tiut, that was a lie Rumor had it no one had killed more Covies than Clarence

Lopez, from off to the left: ―Marines! Four Covie dead over here The rest of you, report! Watch for active cahts on"

The surprise party was over A sound-off around the hangar, which didn‘t see now that their eyes had adjusted to the darkness

―We‘re good, Sarge," Benti said, punching Clarence in the shoulder in an atteloss over the aard strain between them ―Two confirmed kills" She turned her back on the dead, naked alien and followed Clarence to where the flashlights were converging

―No kills here, just thrills," Gersten said froot s, I dunno"

Only one wounded Marine, as it turned out, and that was MacCraho had a gash in his shoulder fro into a metal hook

―I think Rakesh wet his pants" MacCraw sounded a little shaky even as he tried to joke

―Only if you pissed on ers," Orlav said

Benti could see that idiot Cranker posing with his boot on a Covie torso, like so hero That sobered hernot just overconfident but a jerk about it

Percy crouched by Cranker‘s leg, exa," he said

―No weapons, no gear Think they‘re running out of money"

―Maybe we can buy them out!"

―Shut it, MacCraw Where‘s Rabbit?"

No answer

>Lopez 1327 hours

Taking out the second Covie hadn‘t been as satisfying to Lopez as taking out the first The third was less satisfying to her than that She‘d just watched by the tih the all-clear and found that Rabbit washer, even as she ordered a sweep of the hangar just to find Rabbit It had been too easy These were Covenant Elites They‘d presuh to take the ship without tooBut: they‘d allowed themselves to be cut down like so many, well, rabbits She knew her Covies, and they were better than that

So Had there been some breakdown in

command-and-control? And why hadn‘t they been able to keep power on in the ship? Had most of them left in the escape pods? If so, you‘d think the Red Horse would‘ve already picked up a few

The sweep didn‘t locate herMarine

―She ith rouped by theover there by the , then another Covie popped up" He shrugged in his arht she ith le rosary bead naundy, you‘ve a lovely ords, talk to undy said ―And this ship s Seal up, sit tight Don‘t want no Covies getting in and stinking up your bird even more" Then she turned to the rest of the crew ―Cranker, Maller, Simmons, Sydney, maintain position here You‘re base ca on The rest of us are going wabbit hunting Move out"

She stopped in front of Benti Looked the little medic down and down She was practically neon

―I think this color suits s out your eyes," Lopez said with distaste ―Take the rear" Didn‘t always knohat to s a little more seriously soency lighting off, except for one flickering light in the distance On the wall, a sed down to the floor only to join a larger, thicker pool that was red and huh the blood, the trail heading aft Through the drag ulation boots

―There was lots of blood in the hangar, too," Tsardikos ventured hesitantly ―Enough for a few people to have bled out But I didn‘t see any bodies"

―No small-arms fire or plasma burns, either," Orlav said

―Maybe the Covenant really are running out of money"

―MacCraw, one more larowled, and the chatter shut down The real Mona Lisa was famatic smile, but Lopez still wasn‘t in the mood for mysteries