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3. The Umbra will then transport you to Reach where ONI will put you through the debriefing of your life.

4. After that—what happens is anyone’s guess. I’ll wager ONI can’t court-martial unless they can prove you willingly collaborated, because they built you into a military genius superstar back home. But whatever they’re going to do—it ain’t going to be pretty.

I’m breaking regs and telling you this because I don’t believe for a hot second you would have gotten yourself deliberately involved in this—or that you’d be stupid enough to divulge ship locations or technical secrets to some pretty girl.

You’ve got three hours. Find Lyrenne before ONI gets her. Bring her in yourself. That’ll go a long way toward clearing your name and ending this.

Good luck.

Harold

Personal letter from Captain Preston Cole to his brother,

Michael James Cole, July 6, 2503 (Military Calendar)

. . . to follow up on that last quick note, Michael. I need to let you know, in case things end up going badly.

Everything Stanforth said was true.

I got to the bar on Roost and Lyra was gone. Everything she owned in our room had been taken—except one paper she left. It was a printout from a text-only exchange between the Gorgon and the captain of the Bellicose—something that happened two years ago. Lyra should have never known about it.

One part of that exchange she circled in red: “We’re a good match. If you ever retire from the UNSC, you might consider working for the good guys .”

It was a souvenir. She was the captain of the Bellicose, Michael.

All this time. Right under my nose.

Was she using me for information? That doesn’t make sense. I never leaked any classified data. And the more I think of it—the insurgent fighting almost died out in the sector since we met.

So is Lyra a spy? Or someone like me? A ship captain who fell in love and wanted more than a life of fighting?

I have to find out, Michael. I have to find her. —P

{Excerpt} UNSC After-Action Report: Battle Group Tango

AI-enhanced battle summation and casuality reports attached

PRELIMINARY: Battle Group Tango, comprising four heavy UNSC destroyers, engaged one insurgent-controlled frigate in the Theta Ursae Majoris system January 2, 2504 (Military Calendar). Two UNSC destroyers heavily damaged. Insurgent vessel known as the Bellicose (aka the UNSC Bellerophon) lost control, was caught in a gravitational pull of the gas giant (ref ID: XDU-OI-(1)), and lost with all hands.

ANALYSIS

* * *

History looks upon this time as an unfortunate (and perhaps inevitable?) misunderstanding between Earth and her colonies, but those of us fighting for the last decade also realize that it was the most amazing piece of blind fortune the human race has ever stumbled upon. Had we not been armed and learning how to fight in space . . . what would have happened in the years that followed, when we faced an enemy a hundred times worse?

Oblivion, no doubt.

For Preston Cole it was a time when he tempered his brilliance and flexibility into an implacable “do whatever it takes” fighting style, a time of ascendancy when his deeds propelled him (with the help of ONI’s glorification campaign) into one of the most beloved public figures of our generation.

On a personal level, however, Cole lost the woman he loved, suffered, found a second chance at love—and lost it all again.

At the debriefing ONI officers read him the After-Action Report concerning the Bellicose. I can only believe they thought Cole actually colluded with her and this tactic was designed to break his spirit.

(Note to self: find these fool interrogators and transfer them to Kelvin Research Station on Pluto.)

And it did break Cole, but not in the way the debriefing officers expected. For any other man would’ve given up everything because the lady in question was dead. For Cole, however, Lyra’s honor had to now be preserved at all costs. Cole remained stoic and silent and utterly stubborn, just as he had when he was a cadet at the