Halo_ First Strike - Eric S. Nylund [122]
with her team. She sat cross-legged before a disassembled SRS99C sniper rifle and selected gyro compensators, optics, and adaptive texture barrel sheaths. Linda proceeded to reassemble the precision-made weapon with the care of a loving mother caressing her newborn child.
Without looking up from her rifle she said, "Now I know what you have to do to get a couple of days' R-and-R in this outfit." "I heard," Fred remarked, "that you spent the whole time sleeping, too." "That's why she likes to snipe," Will replied. "I caught her snoring last time she posted in that tower on Europa."
John was glad they could joke about her return from the dead. He couldn't bring himself to join in, though. He had accepted the mantle of command, and CPO Mendez had taught him to repress his external emotional reactions to preserve his authority. Right now, he resented that.
Kelly rolled over and woke up. She nudged Grace, and they sat up, shaking their helmets. "0400," Kelly told them. "That was six hours."
"Felt like a fifteen-minute nap," Grace muttered. "I just closed my eyes. You're kidding, right?"
Kelly looked over to Linda and drew her two fingers across her helmet in the smile gesture. Linda returned a rare, bare smile to her.
The smile looked odd to John. He wanted to smile, too, but nothing much—apart from Linda—in a long time had given him cause: not the hordes of rebels crawling over and through the Gettysburg whom Admiral Whitcomb trusted too much, nor the imminent return of Covenant forces before their engines and weapons could be repaired. .. and certainly not the hundreds of dead crew members aboard the Gettysburg, whom they had collected and placed in cargo bay seven.
The slight click of metal on metal alerted every Spartan in the room. Pistols drew in a blur of motion and rifles leveled at the side hatch as it eased open with a squeak.
Sergeant Johnson and Corporal Locklear stood in the doorway— frozen. "No one told me this was target practice," Locklear muttered. "Else I woulda painted a bull's-eye on my chest."
"Master Chief," the Sergeant said. "Reporting as you requested." John nodded and lowered his gun, as did the other Spartans. "Come in, Marines."
As he holstered his weapon, John's hand brushed against the belt compartment that held Dr. Halsey's data crystals. He hadn't decided which to give to Lieutenant Haverson. Did he sacrifice the Sergeant to save billions from potential Flood infestation? Did it even matter? He had every reason to believe that the Flood had been destroyed with Halo—but what if he was wrong?
"I wanted you both down here to help us discuss our tactical options," John told them.
The COM pulsed to life. Dr. Halsey said, "Master Chief?"
"Yes, Doctor?"
"I need Kelly to report to Medical Four," she said. "She requires one last injection of dermacortic steroids. And I could use her assistance on another matter."
John nodded to Kelly.
She slowly stretched, stood, sighed, and marched out of the room. "I'll be right back," she said, flexing her burned hands. "Don't plan the overthrow of the Covenant Empire without me."
"She's on her way, Doctor."
The COM snapped off.
The Master Chief turned to his Spartans and the Marines. "Let's go over what we know and see if we've missed anything— any way to exploit the enemy's plan." He set down a data pad with a star map glittering upon its surface.
"The Covenant are on their way to Earth," he told them. "They are gathering at a battle station and then jumping en masse to the Sol system."
"What happens then?" Fred asked.
"Assuming we get to Earth first," Linda answered, "our Fleet will be waiting for them, and"—she pulled back the bolt on her rifle with a clack—"they'll give them a warm reception."
"But what chance will our forces have?" Will asked. There was no fear in his voice, just cool logic. "You saw Cortana's report. There will be hundreds of Covenant warships. I don't think our Fleet or even Earth's orbital MAC platforms can repel a force that powerful."
f 270 HALO: FIRST STRIKE
"No," the Chief quietly said. "They can't win. They'll