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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

0400 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)

UNSC Pillar of Autumn , in orbit around Epsilon Eridani Systeh based approximately on a human ht she could keep Cortana occupied by checking the systems of the Pillar of Autumn while she attended to her other secret projects

Her assuued with the unique design and workings of the ship--its preparation barely occupied a fraction of her processing power

She watched with the Pillar of Autumn ’s camera as Captain Keyes approached the ship in a shuttle pod

Lieutenant Hikowa left to greet hi bay

From C deck, Captain Keyes spoke over the intercom: "Cortana? Can we have power to et under way"

She calculated the re reactor burn-in tiines’

final shakedown is in theta cycle," Cortana replied "Operating ithin norines; aye, sir"

"And the other systems’ status?" Captain Keyes asked

"Weapons-syste systeood," he said "Apprise me if there are any anomalies"

"Aye, Captain," she replied

The COM channel snapped off

She continued her checks on the Pillar of Autus to consider; namely, a little reconnaissance into ONI databasesand a little revenge

She dedicated the balance of her run ti the SATCOM syste in the satellite network coordination signal She broadcast a resonant carrier wave at that signal and piggybacked into the systes first She had two loose ends to take care of

While she and the Master Chief had been on the obstacle course, she had commandeered SATCOM

observation beacon 419 and rotated it to view them from orbit

She reentered the back door she had left open in the systeuidance thruster subroutine If the system was analyzed later, it would be determined that this error had altered it to a random orientation rather than a planned position

She withdrew, but left her back door intact This trick ain

The other loose end that required her attentions was Colonel Ackerson--the man who had tried to erase her and the Master Chief

Cortana reread Dr Halsey’s recommended test specifications for the MJOLNIR systeested live rounds, yes But never a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, chain-guns, Lotus minesand certainly not an air strike

That was the Colonel’s doing He was an equation that needed to be balanced What Dr Halsey ht have called "payback"

She linked to the UNSC personnel and planning database on Reach The ONI AI there, Beowulf, knew herand knew not to let her in Beoas thorough, methodical, and paranoid; in her oay, Cortana couldn’t help but like hiht as well have been an accounting program

Cortana sent a rapid series of queries into the network node that processed housing transfer requests A normally quiet node--she overloaded it with a billion different pings per ure, causing all nodes to lag, including node seventeen--

personnel records She stepped in and inserted a spike wedge, a subroutine that looked like a nornal, but bounced any handshake protocol

She slipped in

The Colonel’s CSV was impressive He had survived three battles with the Covenant Early in the war, he received a promotion and volunteered for a dozen black ops For the last few years, however, his efforts had focused on political maneuvers rather than battlefield tactics He had filed several requests for increased funding for his Special Warfare projects

No wonder he wanted the Master Chief gone The Spartan IIs and MJOLNIR were his direct co where he failed