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Naomi just blinked a couple of times "And Dr Halsey?"

"She died on Reach," Os bodies"

Mal felt for Naomi Spartans had mates just like everybody else He had no idea who Halsey was, but everyone knew about the Master Chief

"Okay, Prof, this is where you earn your keep," Osestured Phil ips to the communications console and Naomi moved in beside him "You’re our ears"

Phil ips see He took a molded earpiece from his top pocket and pressed it into his ear canal two- handed like a wo, then sat back in the seat, staring in defocus at the display in front of him while he listened for Elite comms frequencies

Devereaux went over to the chart table "Give me another look at New Llanel i, BB"

Twenty centie of the colony world rotated as a sphere and then peeled itself like an orange, flipping out into a grid of colored lines to show the planet’s topography Mal and Vaz had nothing better to do right then than to take a look and work out the least likely place to get ambushed

"Is New Llanel i the colony itself or the whole planet?" Vaz asked

Os on the screen in front of him "Was both There were only three townships there anyway BB, found any contacts out there?"

"I’ve got a live connection to Kilo-Three-Nine," BB said "No response, but he’s receiving I’l loop it until he picks it up"

"Where is he,for an ONI need-to-know rap across the knuckles "If you’re al owed to say"

Os station on Reynes He’s been ca of Jackal inforheili dialects even better than Dr Phil ips But he’s not ONI, and he thinks this is al part of brokering peace with the hinge-heads so that Hood can waltz in and shake hands with the Arbiter"

Phil ips took the news that he was the understudy pretty welHe didn’t even flinch "Hope I get to debrief him one day"

"He’d talk your ears off He’s not had much huents had been working undercover for years in Covenant space, but it suddenly struck hiiven it h a planet’s at fla behind enemy lines, he could only think of himself and his mates Sometimes he didn’t even have the tiht if things went to plan, flat on its side if they didn’t--and the front hatch would burst open, coughing him out into a hail of fire The job was clear-cut and i in front of him before it could kil hi long, patient recons had finite objectiveson your own for years at a ti betrayed by informers … no, he real y didn’t fancy that at alHe preferred to hunt his enely face, and then slot the bastard

"Captain, I’ve got Kilo-Three-Nine," BB said "Do you want him on the speaker?"

"Let’s hear hi?"

"Good to hear you, Oz" Spenser sounded like a grumpy uncle who smoked fifty a day "You caot?"

"It’s going to rats out here You want me to cut to the chase? I’l upload al the comms codes and detail to your AI, but the headline is headless chicken one They were reliant on the Prophets for the big command picture Plus there’s a real split in the ranks about the Arbiter al ying with us One interesting developious sect just kil ed a couple of keep elders for blasphee at al"What did they do?"

"According to the chatter, these old hinge-heads wrecked a Forerunner relic and ended up diseie a file on theo Anyway, the mad monks hit the keep with an air strike They’re cannoned up"

This hat the e-heads to focus on kil ing each other Mal searched for a hint of satisfaction on Osman’s face, but she just looked total y unmoved

"You’re stil on Reynes, then," she said

"It’s kind of nice this time of year I have a Grunt who co to pul you out, Spenser We’l take over local surveil ance now It’s getting too dangerous"

"It’s been pretty daerous for the last two years"

"You said it yourself It’s fal ing apart Can you exfil to an RV point on your own?"

"I haven’t had orders to pul out"

"You have now We’l extract you after we’ve done a recon Stay in touch with BB and keep your head down"

"Okay, Oz Hang on to your entrails Three-Nine out"

Mal found hi what it was like to live alone on a dead colony world Spenser obviously knew Osh to cal her by a nickname It was hard to think of her as Oz But it was even harder to think of Margaret Parangosky as Big Maggie

"How long has he been there, ma’am?" Vaz asked

"Two years, this ti the bank offroe looked more like a TV studio crossed with a reactor control roo e destabilize BB, patch et this done"

Nobody asked for confirmation that Hood was out of the loop on this, but Mal could work that out for hiray areas that he hated But Ososky and Hood He turned his head very casual y, just to get Vaz’s reaction without BB noticing, and Vaz held his gaze for an extra second that said it al

Ours is not to reason why Right, Vaz

They waited Only the faint sigh and hu five minutes, and then there was a burst of static

"It’s the Bishop for you, Captain," BB said "I’ve taken the liberty of piggybacking on his co to I’l route that audio separately to Dr Phil ips" Phil ips jerked in his seat as if BB had plugged hiht into the main power supply "Oops, volume problem there … sorry"

Osman wandered over to the viewscreen and stared out as she tapped her earpiece, then turned back to the surveil ance screens "‘Telcam, this is Captain Osnment?"