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"And there's no ground between here and Earth where we can take the fight to theaze to the deck "Soeant Johnson worked hisHe set his hand on Locklear's wide shoulder and whispered, "Stand tall, Marine Try to--"
The Sergeant's gaze fell on the data pad and the star round to fight on between here and there?" He grinned and picked up the data pad "What's this?" He tapped a dot on the map, squinted, and read the tiny words "This 'Uneven Elephant'?"
"Unyielding Hierophant," the Chief corrected "According to Cortana, it's a command-and-control center, a mobile space platform where the Covenant fleet will rendezvous before their final jueant Johnson said "On this 'elephant'thing"
Will got up and walked over to the data pad "It fits with the timetable This station is on the way to Earth"
Fred offered, "We can drop out of Slipspace in a smaller craft
Go in and--"
"And do what you Spartans do best," Locklear said "Infil- trate, kill, and blow shit up If there's room in this operation for an ODST, pencil me in"
The Master Chief looked to the data pad, then to his teaht: For the first time, they'd knohen and where the Covenant would be If they hit the eneh, they could stop theeddon
The Master Chief gave rapid-fire orders: "Fred, Will: Get Linda's suit back together ASAP
"Locklear, you're on weapons detail again Scrounge every pistol, rifle, a, and scrap of explosives on this vessel and haul it to Ascendant Justice's launch bay
"Grace, Linda, and Sergeant Johnson: Get that Covenant drop-ship ready for its last flight Reinforce the hull for a Slipspace-to-normal-space transition
"And I'll take this plan to Adoing to take this fight to the Cove- nant We're going to launch a first strike"
CHAPTER THIRTY
0440 hours, September 13,2552 (revised date, Military Calendar)\Aboard hybrid vessel Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg, station-keeping in Eridanus syste out
Dr Halsey could feel the Covenant nearly upon the to a pinpoint Only a few o--before she started so she couldn't stop
Someone approached the clean room, heavy footfalls that could only be a Spartan in MJOLNIR arlass partition that separated the clean room from the rest of Medical Four Dr Halsey buzzed her in
"Reporting for treatlanced about at the unsterile environ in: Styrofoaical instrument trays, thermal printout paper curled fro crystal they had found on Reach sat on a nearby instruht that crystal was in the reactor roo"
"It's perfectly safe," Dr Halsey said, "as long as we're in normal space" She picked up the crystal and slipped it carelessly into her lab coat pocket
"Lie down please, Kelly" The doctor gestured to the con- toured treatment chair "Just a few more injections and we're done with your burn therapy"
Kelly sighed and eased herself onto the reclined chair
Dr Halsey re a pair of injectors She clicked them into the ports on Kelly's MJOLNIR armor ports that threaded directly into her subclavian and fe your physical therapy, and the der and restore your full mobility within another week," she explained
"A week?" Kelly growled and struggled to rise "Doctor, I need to be one hundred percent ASAP The Chief has a mission--"
Dr Halsey activated the injectors, and they hissed their con- tents into Kelly's body She relaxed and slumped back on the ta- ble, unconscious
"No, Kelly," Dr Halsey whispered "You're not going on the Chief'son mine"
The sedative in her bloodstream would knock out an ODST in peak condition for the better part of a day Halsey estimated that Kelly would be unconscious for a little h along that there'd be no turning back
Dr Halsey swiveled one of the displays to face her She exe- cuted theclean Cortana's recollection of the research they had done on old ONI lockdown codes She folded the printout of their results and stuffed it into her pocket
"Cortana?"
"Yes, Doctor?" she replied Her voice through the room's speakers sounded distracted
"Locate Corporal Locklear and have him report immediately, please"
"Done, Doctor Halsey"
"Thank you, Cortana That will be all" She added in a whisper so low that only she heard: "Take good care of them all for me"
Dr Halsey adjusted the examination table so it lay flat, and then loaded e She placed a bag with four subuns and sixteen full clips of ammunition on top of the supplies
She found a lukewars
Corporal Locklear appeared at the open entrance to the prep room "Hey, Doc Cortana said you needed me?" he said tersely
He sht now, so if this can wait--"
"Whatever you're doing," Dr Halsey told him, "this is more important" She nodded to Kelly's prone for SPARTAN-087 to the launch bay"
"Is she okay?" he asked and took a step toward her
"She's fine, but I have to transfer her to the asteroid base They have a piece of equipment necessary to complete her treatment"
Locklear appeared unconvinced "But I just saw her--"
"She's fine," Dr Halsey assured him "Just sedated This procedure isunpleasant, even for a Spartan"
Locklear looked into Dr Halsey's eyes and then nodded, ac- cepting this explanation He h the doors, theelevator
Dr Halsey followed on his heels