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"Yes, ma'am," Fred replied "I ed the Covenant, but the eneround forces on Reach We were sent to the surface to protect the orbital-gun generators" He stopped, took a deep breath, and continued "We were not successful in that lanced back at Kelly and the other Spartans "We fell back herewe thought it would be secure"

They continued down the sloping passage; titanium doors irised open for them and closed as soon as they passed

"I see," Dr Halsey replied "And Captain Keyes? John?"

"Unknown," Fred told her "The Master Chief and part of our team attempted to retrieve an unsecured NAV database fro he was successful, and given Captain Keyes's record of coainst the Covenant" Fred's voice trailed off

"I'm sure they accomplished their ht for him "John has never lost"

"No, ma'am," Fred replied

They walked in silence for a s that had beenthe curved concrete wall Most were enia--faons, and scorched crossed swords They continued past these reer had to worry about

"Doctor Halsey?" Fred said "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted," she said "I don't stand on cereiven the circu isn't normal about this Covenant inva- sion," Fred told her "They've won, but they aren't glassing the planet At least not completely--as near as I can determine, they've only hit the poles and a portion of the lower latitudes"

"And they had digging equipment in position over this fa- cility," Kelly added

"Curious," Dr Halsey said "They've never taken an interest in any hue h, and set her hand on a pal," she explained She spoke into the nearby microphone: " 'I shall do no harhts flickered on in the large roonosis tables and a row of dis- plays along the far wall The lihtly polished and sterile The walls gloith a faint pink luical bays s looking out into this central room

"Kalmiya?" she said "Status?"

"Yes, Doctor," replied the disembodied voice of her personal AI, her replacement for Cortana "I have prepared the Spartans' personal medical files and sent runners to fetch stocks of blood plase, as well as tools to assist in the removal of their MJOLNIR armor"

The doors to the tiny service elevator at the far end of the fa- cility opened, and a robotic rover rolled out, its telescopic ars Rows of tools were neatly lined up across the rover's top tray

"Very good," Dr Halsey said "Continue to track seismic ac-ERIC NYLUNO 123 tivity overhead Interface with the Spartans' biomonitors and patch the output to the display on bay three"

She strolled over to a table, and a bank of holographic dis- plays huures scrolled across theht here, prepare a sterilization field, and lower the a by forty percent And a little Mahler, please Symphony number two"

"Yes, Doctor" Music drifted froraphs, tapped tiny hues of" the Spartans' internal structures--holographic bones, organs, and muscles appeared and slowly rotated

She winced at the extent of their injuries

"Fred, you have a torn Achilles tendon and three cracked ribs

Both kidneys have lanced at the rest of the team's data and after a moment's consideration told him, "You're fine

"Willia Get some biofoam into that wound and avoid strenuous mo- tions for the next day" She turned to face Fred and Will "You two are in the best shape I want you to go to Level Aqua, Section Las"

"Yes, ma'am," Fred said

Dr Halsey was only a civilian, but the Spartans had always ac- cepted her authority Perhaps because she had acted as an equal a the Fleet Ad to co-opt her work Or maybe it was more than that She wondered if the Spartans viewed her as so- ure As much as this notion amused her, she doubted that they viewed anyone outside their team as family Not even her

William retrieved a can of biofoam from the rover and in- serted the tip into the tiny injection port in his arh the skin between his fourth and fifth ribs He filled his abdoulant/antibacterial/ tissue-regenerative poly, e She'd always kept her ad she wanted was to do h "special" treatment from everyone else

Dr Halsey picked up a clipboard, tapped a few items onto its display, and handed it to Fred "Neeapons arrived for field-testing last week," she told him, "as well as parts for the MJOLNIR Mark Five ared coive them access to the restricted areas"

"Yes, Doctor," Kalmiya said The med bay doors opened

"This way"

Fred studied the iteood," he said, and his voice was thick with satisfaction He nodded, took a long look at his teammates, and then he and Will departed

Dr Halsey returned to her medical readouts "Vinh, you have a torn deltoid ers, and a herniated disk

Isaac, internal contusions and both shoulders have been dislo- cated and reinserted incorrectly, which is pinching off the blood vessels I'll get you both fixed up in a moment, but first I want you to survey the route we took here and suggest further perimeter defenses"

"Yes, ma'am," they replied, cast a look at Kelly, and left

Dr Halsey concentrated on Kelly's internal scans Her injuries were by far the worst She had seen that froh body telanced at the MRI There wasin her liver-- a fatal condition if not treated--and her right lung was com- pletely collapsed That the wo, was tantamount to an act of God

Of course, that's what the SPARTAN-II project was all about, wasn't it? Playing God for the greater good

"Doctor Halsey," Kelly asked "Where are the others?"

"As I said, they evacuated," she replied "On the table, please

I' to perform some minor repairs"

Kelly complied "Then why aieyou still here, netic wrench, built specifically to fit this, and only this, access panel She in- serted it and popped open a fist-sized section of Kelly's battered ERIC NYLUNO 125 MJOLNIR arel bubbled from Kelly's wounds

"I volunteered to be the fail-safe option," she told Kelly "In the lower levels of these caverns are enough high explosives to level the facility--in case ere ever overrun by the eneets access to our technology"

Dr Halsey injected a local anesthetic and inserted a flexible laser-tipped catheter into Kelly, carefully ress on the MRI She pulsed the laser, fusing the lacerations in her liver Dr Halsey then inflated her lung Kelly would lose half of that organ, regardless of her treat necrotic brown