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"I understand youryour team to the Covenant rendezvous point," the Adets its warning"
"Sir," the Master Chief replied, "ill transition from Slip-space to norravitational influence of the Gettysburg and the Ascendant Justice, the Slipspace field will deteriorate and ill enter normal space You need never even stop And only aon the correct trajectory"
"Has a drop out of Slipspace ever been attempted in a ship so sether
"Yes, sir," Cortana said "Our Slipspace probes perfor stress and radiation are considerable" She paused and looked toward John "The Spartans, however, in the MJOLNIR armor should be able to survive"
" 'Should,' " the Ad, Chief, I still have to deny your request You'll need Cortana to get past the Covenant security syste on Halo, the Flood, and Covenant technology, she's far too valuable to risk"
"Understood, sir," John replied "I hadn't considered that"
Haverson slowly stood and brushed the sleeves of his tattered uniforo on the Master Chief's y and Covenant systems"
Admiral Whitcomb narrowed his eyes and reexa him for the first time
"You'd never survive the Slipspace transition," Cortana told hier, deep in thought "There ht be another way"
Covenant icons entered the strearaphic body "I discovered a file-duplication algorithm in the Covenant AI on Ascendant Justice I successfully used it to reproduce ht use it to copy portions ofmatrix in the Master Chief's MJOLNIR armor It won't be a full copy--there are replication errors and other side effects--but it would give the Spartan teaet theh the Covenant security barriers"
Adhed deeply He stood, went to the bar, and then returned to the table carrying a bottle of whiskey and three intact crystal tumblers "I assume you Spartans won't joinfor his tealass before Haverson, the Sergeant, and himself But before he poured, he set the bottle down and shook his head as if a drink were suddenly the last thing he wanted
"You realize, Chief, that you and your team will be on your own?
That et to Earth?"
"My tea to accept the risk," the Chief said
"The risk?" the Admiral whispered "It's a one-way ticket, son But if you're willing to do it, if you can slow the Covenant assault on Earth, then, hell, it ht be worth the trade"
The Chief had no reply to this He and his Spartans had sur- vived against iht: There see that told John he wouldn't make it That was accept- able The cause ainst billions of lives on Earth
Admiral Whitcomb stood and said, "Very well, Master Chief
Mission request approved"
The Master Chief parked the groaning overloaded robotic dolly next to the side hatch of the Covenant dropship The dolly held four tons of carbon-o and hauled it inside, where Fred and the Sergeant cross-braced and welded the beams in place
This was the final reinforcement to the dropship The interior of the craft was so cramped that two armored Spartans could barely pass one another
They had welded layers of lead, boron fibers, and Titaniu According to Cortana's calculations, this was the only way to give the from a Slipspace transition with an intact ship
Admiral Whitcomb monitored the display of a computer re- pair cart, then looked up and said, "Cortana is ready for you, Chief" He waved him over
The Chief marched to the cart and let the Admiral hook up the interface to the base of his neck "This should feel just like a normal download," he said
Chilled mercury filled John's mind just like it always did when Cortana entered and fused with his thoughts This pres- ence, however, warainst his body's heat It was like a recollection of Cor- tana inside his head--not the real thing
"Initializing MJOLNIR ar protocols," Cortana's voice whispered
At the same time, the real Cortana also spoke over the COM: "Don't listen to her She's only half the woood parts," the Chief replied
"I'et too used to a passenger you can order around"
"I wouldn't dream of it"
"Systems check complete," the copied Cortana whispered
"All systems are functional"
Linda approached the opposite side of the Covenant dropship; a robot dolly followed stacked with rifles, Lotus antitank led the dolly and led it up the loading raed frouns
The Master Chief detected a slight limp to her stride and an almost imperceptible aardness to her usual fluid motions
He opened a private COM channel to Linda "What's your sta- tus? Are you fit?"
She shrugged This gesture was notoriously difficult to per- for circuits It took a degree of concentration and dexterity that spoke volumes about Linda's true coordination
"Doctor Halsey would say I needed a month's bed rest," she wryly replied "But I'm squared away, Chief I still have this"
She picked her sniper rifle off the dolly and slung it over her shoulder with a liquid grace "And I still have this" She patted her helh the Covenant did their best to shoot it off last time" She stepped closer to him "I can take care of myself And I can take care of the tea so now"
He nodded
What John wanted to do, however, was order her to stay be- hind But he'd need her uncanny skill with the sniper rifle on this h to stop the Covenant