Halo_ First Strike - Eric S. Nylund [41]
Locklear watched this and ran a hand over his shaved head. He stood on the raised center platform and turned to the other Covenant Engineer as it repaired the burned-out displays on the port side of the room. He held his MA5B loosely, but it was still aimed in the alien's general direction. "I don't care what Cortana says," he told the Chief, "I don't trust them."
The Engineer near Locklear floated to the bridge's holographic controls and passed a tentacle over a series of raised dots. The screens snapped on and showed three Covenant cruisers closing fast. Adrenaline spiked through the Master Chief's blood. "Cortana, quick—take evasive action."
"Relax, Chief," Locklear said. He waved his hand over a holographic control; the images on screen froze. "It's just a replay." He turned and examined the suspended plasma bolts just as they impacted on the flagship's shields. "Man," he whispered. "I wish our boats had weapons like those."
"We might soon have exactly that, Marine," Lieutenant Haverson said. He winced and stood, then moved to a screen that showed the storms in the upper atmosphere of Threshold. "Play this one, Corporal."
Locklear tapped one of the controls.
A line of sparkling blue lights appeared on screen, and the nose of the flagship edged into view. The blue line ripped a hole in space, and the ship jumped forward. The clouds of Threshold vanished; there was only blackness on the screen.
Haverson slicked back the strands of his red hair that had fallen into his face. "Cortana," he asked, "has anyone, human or Covenant, ever performed a Slipspace jump from within an atmosphere?"
"No, Lieutenant. Normally such strong gravitational fields would distort and collapse the Shaw-Fujikawa event horizon. With the Covenant's Slipspace matrices, however, I had greatly increased resolution. I was able to compensate."
"Amazing," he whispered. "Goddamned lucky," Polaski muttered. She tugged on the rim of her cap.
"It worked," the Master Chief told them. "For now, that's all that matters." He faced his team, trying to ignore the motions of the Covenant Engineer attached to his back. "We have to plan our next move."
"I'm sorry to disagree, Chief," Lieutenant Haverson said. "The mere fact that Cortana's maneuver worked is the only thing that matters now."
The Chief squared himself to the Lieutenant and said nothing.
Haverson held up his hands. "I acknowledge that you have tactical command, Chief. I know your authority has the backing of the brass and ONI Section Three. You'll get no argument from me on that point, but I put it to you that your original mission has just been superseded by the discovery of the technology on this ship. We should scrub your mission and head straight back to Earth."
"What's this other mission?" Locklear asked, his voice suspicious.
Haverson shrugged. "I see no reason to keep this information classified at this point. Tell him, Chief."
The Master Chief didn't like how Haverson "acceded" to his tactical command yet readily ordered him to reveal highly classified material.
"Cortana," the Chief said. "Is the bridge secure from eavesdroppers?" "A moment," Cortana said. Red lights pulsed around the room's perimeter. "It is now. Go ahead, Chief."
"My team and I—" the Master Chief started.
He hesitated—the thought of his fellow Spartans stopped him cold. For all he knew they were all dead. He pushed that to the back of his mind, however, and continued.
"Our mission was to capture a Covenant ship, infiltrate Covenant-controlled space, and capture one of their leaders. Command hoped they could use this to force the Covenant into a cease-fire and negotiations."
No one said a word. Finally, Locklear snorted and rolled his eyes. "Typical Navy suicide mission." "No," the Master