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"There," Cortana announced "Across the platform is a terminal on the reactor subsystem"
John held up a hand to Will and Fred, waited for the Jackal guards to pass, and then sprinted across the platform He re- moved Cortana's chip and inserted it into the terminal
After three seconds, she reported: "I'm in Very few Covenant counterintrusion measures in this system I can accomplish the overload
"I've found an exit route for Blue Team and uploaded it into your NAV systeh for you to return to the repair bay undetected Once there, give in It will take tenonce I start this, Chief, so be sure"
"This station and the Covenant fleet ht jump to Earth in the next ten minutes," John said He looked to Fred and Will, and they nodded as if they could read his ht froed white and spread like a poison through the interconnecting conduits
"Overload coest Blue Teale indicated a ladder that ran to the catwalk overhead John held up two fingers at Will and Fred and then nodded to the patrolling Jackals Fred and Will knelt, braced, and waited for hio ahead
John cli out behind hi reverberations from the reactors He cleared the top of the ladder and saw three dead Jackals on the catwalk He swept both directions with his rifle and then waved Will and Fred forward
His countdown tirew stronger, and John's shields flared slightly
Blue Teaot inside, the doors closed, and the car iain, artificial blue sunlight filled the car--as did the shadows cast by two Elites waiting for the elevator Blue Tea a spray of blood across the ground
The Chief edged around the frale of pipes and fountains and one of the curious spiral ays that fell up froe plant for the reactors below Already the water in the canals steamed and boiled
He saw that Covenant Elite and Hunter pairs had converged at the entrance to the teht Over the te of Gruntsto the teht and fire that roiled out in a long plu them as well as their Elite overseers
"Good-bye, Grace," John whispered
The detonation of her power pack would buy theure out what just happened-- perhaps they'd think Blue Team was still inside the temple Grace had also taken out a dozen Grunts and four Elites with her last action That would have pleased her
John turned toward the far end of the great room and spotted a band of translucent material on the far wall It led to the repair bays and air locks beyond That was their exit
He glanced at his aze locked onto the Banshees in the air He searched for Linda, posted soeo several kilometers of cityscape
John clicked on his COM "Linda, do not reply The Covenant are triangulating on our signals I' they do and send a few of those Banshees to reconnoiter When they get close to the heat-exchange plant, take them out--we'll need their vehicles"
There was no answer Did that mean Linda understood and was in a position to help? Or was she dead?
As John hoped, three Banshees peeled off the search for toward them
John waved Fred and Will out of the elevator and into the for- est of stea pipes They scattered, took cover, and ai Banshees
The Banshees spread out, slowed but then banked, return- ing to the temple
John clicked his COM three times
The Elite pilots immediately wheeled about and accelerated toward their position One Banshee flier nosed into a classic strafing dive Its plas an ie
There was a spray of blood in the flier, then the pilot fell for- ward and pushed the accelerator to full The Banshee careened through the air atinto a water-recovery tower, and wobbled to the ground
"Linda," Johnfroh the tiny exposed area of the cockpit, and inflicted a lethal ricochet He looked for her position; most likely the shot had come fro across the length of the massive roo Banshees accelerated toward Blue Team
Their plasma cannons flickered, and they leveled into a flat trajectory
John, Fred, and Will raised their rifles
There was a muted crack of a sniper rifle, and another Ban- shee drifted to the ground, its pilot felled by Linda's uncanny skill
The last re what had just taken out its tingoing to live In the tightest arc of its curve, the craft slowed John couldn't tell precisely where the shot cah the craft's cockpit The Banshee spun in circles before it thumped to a halt, nose-down in the street
Three impossible shots, three kills Even for Linda, this was superb shooting--the finest shots John had ever seen He looked around the station, over the buildings, spires, catwalks, transit tubes--it was impossible to spot her
John waved Fred and Will toward two of the downed Ban- shees and sprinted toward the one still spinning riderless in the street, its canards scraping and sparking along the stones
He climbed aboard, pushed the throttle forward, and pointed to the far wall He held his hand flat and lowered it, indicating that Fred and Will should skiround
John veered off in a wide arc Maybe he could divert the atten- tion away froilt domes and statues of Elite heroes with raised swords Grunts and Jackals scattered as he approached, and John fired at the from one side of the station to the other
Four Banshee fliers fell in behind him John weaved back and forth A pair of plasma bolts sizzled over his head
He risked a look over his shoulder and sao of the Ban- shees drop away A moment later they crashed into the surface
Linda still had his back covered
He dropped to the ground and ski a street, skid- ded, and turned into an alley Banshee shadows passed overhead
He pushed the throttle to full and rounded their fliers and crouched next to thethis inner section from the repair bays John settled his Banshee next to theirs, turned his backpack around, reached in, and tossed Fred his last Lotus anti- tank er" He then risked an open COM channel to the copy of Cortana in the station's system "Cortana, can you open the air locks in the repair bay?"
A flurry of voices filled the COM, all speaking at the sa to be heard over one anotherall Cortana's voices One finally broke through "Chief, I've spun off a copy dedicated exclusively to co with you Go ahead"
"How many copies are there of you?"
"Unknown Hundreds The Covenant AI overwhelmed me
Had to This is difficult Many errors inoverall subchannels of information
"To answer your initial question: yes I can override safety lockouts and open the air locks My syste I cannot exist in a coherent state er"
John looked out across the kilo cityscape
Wraith tanks rolled into the streets; legions of Grunts, Jackals, and Elites raced froets that weren't there Banshees and Ghosts buzzed through the air like clouds of flies
John's mission countdown timer read 7:45