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Cortana was silent

"Corporal Locklear was right," Haverson muttered "I really hate this shit, too"

"I understand," Cortana finally replied, but her voice was so cold it could have frozen heliuineer's blood tattooed his skin with tiny pinpoints of blue-black "Do you think that the Master Chief will find what he's really looking for on Reach?"

"What do youfor'?" Cortana said Her voice was still frosty, but curiosity thawed her tone

"I h

"True, his argu otherwise But that's not what he's after He sent his team down to the surface of Reach sent theo back? And what commander wouldn't hope that they were alive? No matter what the odds?"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

0930 hours, SeptehCom) Facility Bravo-6, Sydney, Australia, Earth Two and a half weeks ago

Lieutenant Wagner walked through ates and into the atriuuely conical structure Officially designated UNSC HighCo edifice had been nicknaht filtered in through the crystal do with purpose to whatever destinations occupied their tinored the dis- plays of acacia trees and exotic ferns meant for the press and civilian tours Today there was no time for pleasantries

In another hour the apparent calhCom would be shattered into a billion pieces Only a few of the brass knew that the UNSC'sner approached the receptionist's station under the watchful eyes of a trio of ar Reach's fate quiet was not the UNSC's biggest se- cret, not by a country mile Virtually no one in the civilian popu- lation of the Inner Colonies kne perilously close they were to losing this war ONI Section Two had done a brilliant job of preserving the fiction that Earth forces held their own against the Covenant

And what did the citizens of the Outer Colonies think? Those who hadn't fled to remote outposts and hidden privateer bases weren't in any position to make trouble The Covenant didn't take prisoners

"You're expected today, Lieutenant," the receptionist said

She was a young Chief Petty Officer and looked like she didn't have a care, or a clue But her eyes gave her away She knew so Maybe not what, but she had undoubtedly picked up on the increased security protocolsor the haunted looks in the eyes of her coht," she told him and returned her attention to the screen in front of her

He made a mental note to find out who this perceptive person was and see if she could be recruited into Section Three ONI had lost a lot of good people in the last feeeks

Wagner moved to the solid steel wall, and a pair of doors parted for him He entered the small room; the doors closed and locked with a whisper-quiet snik

A fingerprint pad and retinal scanner extended froner pressed his hand onto the scanner, and a needle stabbed his index finger They'd check his DNA against the sample on file He blinked once and then rested his chin on the retinal scanner

"Good , Lieutenant," a sweet fe, Lysithea How are you today?"

"Very well, now that I see that you have returned safely fro went as expected"

"You know that's classified," he told the AI

"Certainly," she replied, her tone playful "But I'll find out anyway, you know Why not save enerally enjoyed this tete-a-tete with Lysithea, he kneas part of the biometric scan, too She scanned his brainwaves and voice patterns in response to her queries and matched them to older responses in her memory She probably tested his loyalty in securitypast Section Three; they grew ner replied "But I still can't tell you That would be a breach of security, punishable under Article 428-A In fact," he said in a more serious tone, "I'll have to report this violation to hed, and it sounded like fine bone china clinking to- gether "You may proceed, Lieutenant," she told him

The doors parted and revealed a corridor lined alnut panels and paintings of Washington Crossing the Delaware, Ad- miral Cole's Last Stand, various alien landscapes, and space battles

Although he had barely felt the descent, Wagner knew he had dropped three kiloranite, reinforced concrete, plates of Titanium-A, and EMP-hardened h; ONI's research facility on Reach had the saood

He stepped off the elevator Lysithea whispered at his back: "Watch out in there They're looking to put sohtened the microscopic wrinkles in his unifor that would keep hihed and overcame his inertia No one kept the Security Co

A pair of MPs snapped to as he approached the set of double doors They didn't salute, and their hands rested on their hol-stered sidearner knew that if he twitched the wrong way he'd be shot first and questioned later

The doors silently swung inward

He entered, and the doors closed behind hinized most of the brass seated at the crescent-shaped table: Major General Nicolas Strauss, Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood, and Colonel James Ackerson Vice Admiral Whit-comb's chair was empty

Another half-dozen officers were also present, and all were of coner nervous Each had display tablets set before the- nized his preliner saluted

General Strauss leaned forward and snapped off his display

"Christ! Did we know they had so ed a fist onto the table "Why the hell didn't we know about this? Who in ONI let this one slip by?"

Ackerson leaned back "No one is to blame, General--except the Covenant, obviously I'm more concerned with our response to this incursion Our fleet was deciner had heard about the lengths to which he'd gone in the past to ot priority over Section Three's His rivalry with the SPARTAN-II prograner thought Ackerson had been reassigned to a front-line post Apparently he'd squirhtened and pushed his display away and finally acknowledged Wagner He returned the salute The Ad- roomed, not a silver hair out of place on his head, and yet there were dark circles under his eyes "At ease, Lieutenant"

Wagner tucked his hands behind the shtly apart, but otherwise didn't relax a mil- limeter One was never at ease when in the presence of lions, sharks, and scorpions