Halo_ Ghosts of Onyx - Eric S. Nylund [54]
Arrow. All UNSC personnel heed and stand to. We are under attack and req—"
It faded to white noise.
Kelly would have known the voice anywhere. It was the man who had made her and
every Spartan what they were: Chief Petty Officer Mendez.
The Bloody Arrow code was used only when all friendly positions had been overrun by enemy forces. A total rout. The most likely interpretation was a Covenant invasion.
"Warning. Pursuing vessels in weapons range in seven seconds," the AI informed her. Sparks appeared in the blue-black of space. "Energy spikes detected from multiple point
sources."
"Confirm, no weapons on this craft," Kelly said.
"Confirmed," the AI replied.
Why would Dr. Halsey take an unarmed ship on a dangerous mission?
"Initiate evasive roll," Kelly ordered the AI.
"Inadvisable. With precarious thruster adjustments I am able to maintain a stable
descent. A roll would result in an unrecoverable tumble." Convection blooms of heat appeared on the aft camera, making the growing pursuit craft
waver. Another shudder ran through the hull, continued, and increased in intensity.
"Energy discharge from pursuit craft," the AI said.
On-screen sparks of gold flared. Scintillating beams stretched between the alien craft
and the Beatrice.
Sitting ducks and fish in a barrel were the phrases that Fred liked to use.
She could jump. Kelly and the other Spartans of Red Team
had survived a high-altitude jump out of a Pelican—but not like this. The Beatrice was in
midorbit. At high velocity, her MJOLNIR armor might survive the turbulence and heat—but inside, she'd be pulped and roasted.
Kelly glanced at Dr. Halsey. There'd be no jumping for the Doctor.
She'd have to take her chances and stay. She climbed back into the first mate's chair, buckled the harness, and gripped the arms.
A crisscross of energy beams blurred in front of the cameras. The heated turbulence was a haze of chaos, smoke, and boiling air. Optically dispersive.
"Delay that braking maneuver."
"Inadvisable. If we do not slow, the Beatrice will bum up."
"That's what I'm counting on," Kelly said. "Wait, three seconds."
The AI considered, his light winking rapidly. "Understood. Recalculating delayed energy output."
The alien energy weapons distorted, refracted by the increasingly chaotic turbulence until they blurred into dozens of fainter beams… and then disintegrated in the fireball left in the Beatrice's wake.
"Beam cohesion near zero," the AI announced.
The temperature within the ship jumped to forty degrees centigrade, and Kelly heard
pinging throughout the frame.
"Initiating counterthrust now," the AI said.
Kelly braced.
An explosion sounded in the aft compartment. Kelly was thrown backward and the first
mate's chair, never designed to hold a half ton of Spartan and MJOLNIR armor, snapped off its base.
She tumbled, crashed into the bulkhead between the bridge and the engine room, punching a dent into the bulkhead.
The engine screamed with ultrasonics and it shook the ship
so violently, Kelly's vision blurred. Crackles radiated from the spine of the hull, microfracture fatigue, and the popping and tearing came from the port wing.
The engines ceased and the crushing deceleration eased.
Kelly peeled herself off the wall, and saw that Dr. Halsey was still safely strapped in her seat. Blood trickled from the elderly woman's nose, and it bubbled, which was good; it meant the Doctor still breathed.
"We are presently seven kilometers over the planet's surface," the AI said. "Stable trajectory for a controlled landing. Main engines… inoperable. Auxiliary engine operable, but incapable of escape velocity."
"Understood," Kelly said. They were stuck… wherever they were. "Pursuit vessel status?"
"None within visual or radar range."
Kelly didn't think they'd seen the last of them.
She went to the Doctor and checked her pulse. It was strong and steady. She was tougher than she looked.
Kelly spotted two duffel bags secured under the captain's chair: one was filled with a variety of medical supplies, and the other held four