Halo_ First Strike - Eric S. Nylund [18]
He floated through space. He was only thirty meters from the pods, but if he'd guessed wrong about his trajectory and missed the target, he wouldn't get a second chance. By the time he reeled himself back to the Longsword and tried again, those Covenant ships were certain to kill them all.
He stretched his arms and hands toward the cylinders. Twenty meters to go. His approach was off. He shifted his left knee closer to his chest and started a slow tumble.
Ten meters.
His upper body rotated "down" relative to the pods. If he spun just right as he passed the cryotubes, it would give him enough extra reach to make contact. He hoped.
He rotated back... almost standing "up" now.
Three meters.
He stretched his arms until the elbow joints creaked and popped; he stretched his hands, willed his fingers to elongate.
His fingertips brushed against the smooth surface of the leading cryopod. It slid off and over and touched the second pod. He flexed and failed to grab hold. He scratched the surface of the third and final pod—his middle finger hooked on the frame.
His body swung inward, curled, and landed on the pod. He quickly looped his tether through the frame, secured himself to it, and pulled their combined mass back to the Longsword.
"Hurry, Chief," Cortana said over the COM. "We've got trouble."
The Chief saw exactly what the trouble was: The engines of two Covenant cruisers flared electric blue as they accelerated toward the Longsword. The plasma and laser weapons along their hulls warmed from red to orange as they readied to fire.
He pulled as fast as he could, making minor adjustments with the muscles in his braced legs so his motions didn't send them into a tumble in the zero gravity.
The Longsword was a sitting duck for those Covenant cruisers. Cortana couldn't fire the engines until he got on board. Even if he and the pods survived the thruster wash, any evasive maneuver Cortana made would snap him and his cargo like the end of a whip.
The Covenant ships were within firing range, lined up perfectly to destroy the Longsword.
Three missiles streaked though space, impacting on the starboard side of the lead Covenant ship. The explosion splashed harmlessly across its shield, which shimmered silver as it dissipated the energy.
The Chief turned his head and saw the Pelican blast off from the asteroid where it had been hiding. It rocketed on a perpendicular course toward the two Covenant ships.
The cruisers came about, apparently more interested in hunting live prey than the motionless Longsword.
The Chief gave one final yank on the tether. He and the pods flew through the aft hatch and crashed into the deck of the Longsword.
Cortana immediately sealed the hatch and fired the engines.
The Chief climbed into the system-ops seat just as they accelerated and turned toward the cruisers. He activated the weapons systems.
The two Covenant cruisers powered their engines and pursued the Pelican, but it had entered a dense region of the debris field, dodged a chunk of metal and rock, dived over an iceball, and charged through clouds of shattered alien metal. The Covenant fired: Energy blasts impacted on the debris and missed the Pelican.
"Whoever's piloting that Pelican knows their stuff," Cortana said.
"We owe them a favor." John fired the Longsword's guns, and tiny silver dots punctuated the trailing Covenant cruiser's shields. "Let's settle that debt."
"You realize," Cortana said, "that we really can't damage those Covenant ships."
The cruiser slowed and turned toward them.
"We'll see about that. Get me a firing solution for the missiles.
I want them to target their plasma turrets just before they fire. They have to drop a section of their shields for a fraction of a second."
"Working," Cortana replied. "Without precise data, however, I'll have to base my calculations on several assumptions." A string of mathematics appeared on the weapons ops panel. "Give me fire control."
John punched the auto override on the firing systems. "It's yours," he said.
The Covenant cruiser's plasma