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She was going to have to get used to those gray areas

"I’l worry about that later," she said, walking onto the bridge The ODSTs looked up at her as if she’d said walkies to a dog "Prepare to slip

Let’s see how Spenser’s getting on"

"Does that s, ma’am?" Mal asked "Vaz wants a souvenir of Venezia"

"Why not?" That hat ODSTs were for: operating behind enemy lines "Want to check out some covert insertion sites, Devereaux?"

"Yes ma’am "

Osman could have relied on burst transmissions via the Bacchante node to stay in touch with Spenser, but it was time to assess how easily she could infiltrate the colony and ed weapons had found their way there

And Spenser had asked He wasn’t the asking kind

Port Stanley dropped out of slipspace a couple of hours from Venezia and took up station at a hundred thousand kilo systems for a backwater colony, but a stealth corvette was stil far beyond its detection capabilities They wouldn’t know she was there until it was too late, oron what Osain

CINCONI That’ll beDamn, all this is my decision now, isn’t it? Welcome to ONI command

"Kilo-Three-Nine, this is Port Stanley " BB established a link with Spenser while checking on Phil ips and projecting the stored feed froetting alfun"

Osman, one ear on the radio, tried to helios She’d review the footage later, but she seemed to have lost a day of his activities in slipspace and he was now bouncing around a huge tower that gave him a thirty-kilometer view in al directions Maybe he liked the spectacular scenery, but maybe he’d also absorbed al those tips on how to make the most of surveil ance and his occasional excited comments under his breath to BB were al part of the show Osman decided not to distract him She could see he’d never be satisfied with a quiet life in acade career

"Port Stanley, this is Kilo-Three-Nine" Spenser sounded chirpy for a change "I’ve put the kettle on Want some coordinates?"

VENEZIA: THIRTY KILOMETERS OUTSIDE NEW TYNE

It was dress-down Friday as far as Mal was concerned He held out his arms and stood in front of Devereaux in the crew bay of the dropship, waiting for an opinion

"Do I look like an ODST on his day off?" he asked "Because I’h the hatch and inspected him as welDevereaux cocked her head on one side

"It’s not your color," she said, tugging at the sleeve of the battered jacket "But you’ve got the failedwarry-looking stuff like that"

With a day’s stubble, Vaz looked like a gangland enforcer It was mainly his expression, but the scar helped a lot

"You’l do" He leaned forward and straightened the back of Mal’s col ar "Can you see this, Naomi?"

Her voice drifted over the intercom "I stil say you need me down there"

"You’re a two-meter blonde, and then some," Mal said "It’l take uise that in town"

Spartans were great assets, but they weren’t made for plainclothes work But Mal had never worked undercover before either, and neither had Vaz, so there was a certain amount of anxiety about how out of place they’d look

"They used to say that a good SAS uised as a bottle of Guinness," Vaz said "And don’t ask me what Guinness was, Devereaux I think it was beer"

"I love your little history lessons" She took a carbine out of the locker There was now a handwritten sign on the bulkhead that said UNSC TART- CART "They’re always so inco to do one"

She loaded the carbine and went back into the cockpit Tart-Cart, as she’d nae lined with pines, and even if nobody was going to strol by casual y this was stil Venezia The risks were high But Devereaux could look after herself

Mal and Vaz sat in the shadow of the port wing, staring down the river toward New Tyne Spenser had said he’d be approaching fro shot at

"Ree-heads or not?" Mal asked

Vaz patted the canvas kitbag on his lap, ful of odd bits of kit that Spenser needed "He has to, or we can’t get hied weapons"

"Hope we don’t run into our Kig-Yar fans"

"It’s a big galaxy And we al look the saine wafted in and out on the breeze Mal pressed his earpiece "Dev, can you see what that is?"

There was a few seconds’ pause "Looks like Spenser’s pickup on the scan," she said "Wait one … yes, here he comes"

Mal stil had his rifle ready just in case It was easier dealing with the Covenant, because everything that wasn’t human had been out to kil hih, the eneht just like he did They even carried the saress Then its dul red roof broke the line of the bushes and it bounced over a few boulders to come to a halt in the cover of so, heavily patched and modified Spenser climbed down from the front seat and beckoned

"Wel , don’t you two look the part," Spenser said as they cla into fights with the local Kig-Yar, hear? We can’t afford to draw attention"

"I’l be good," Vaz murmured

Mal checked out the vehicle pass taped to the windshield, surprised that Venezia had rules and regulations, but he supposed that even a bunch of terrorist scu smoothly The name said AMBERLEY, MIKE and the next line said SITE CONTRACTOR

"I’m an electrician," Spenser said "Great cover You should seefibs to these good people"

"Not entirely" Spenser ais to drop a meter onto the smooth black surface It wasn’t a backwater road at al , but a proper highway "I can do basic electrical stuff Real repairs The bit aboutanxious to avoid contact with the CAA et al because I skipped toith some cash from the defense forces--that’s mainly embroidery"