Halo_ Ghosts of Onyx - Eric S. Nylund [96]
leading to the interior.
"Those large enough to fly through?" Kurt asked.
Will consulted his sensor screen. "Huge," he replied.
"Move us in," Kurt told Kelly
"Aye aye." She pulled the nose of the ship up.
As the last traces of light vanished, Kurt saw lights in the crater—red dots that swarmed
over every surface. Sentinels.
Will's hands flashed over the sensor panel. "New energy
signatures detected. Extremely low frequencies." He looked up. "Over a hundred
thousand distinct emitters, sir."
"What configuration?" Dr. Halsey asked. "Clusters, single units, or pairs?"
Will studied the panel. "Ninety-five percent clusters, a few hundred single patterns… and
a few hundred dual signatures."
"Combat pairs," Kurt whispered. "Kelly, match their speed." He keyed TEAMCOM, and said, "Make ready for a hot drop. Battle-ready conditions."
Green status lights flashed back, confirming his order.
They decelerated over the darkening city, creeping toward the dome. Kurt's instinct told him this was the right thing to do. The logical, conscious portion of his mind, however, urged him to leave. He'd trust his "gut" on this one—get them inside and under cover, before every Sentinel in the place fired on them.
"Nice and easy," he said.
Kelly's hand hovered over the throttle stripe. "You think these things are smart enough to use our own tricks against us? Lure us inside and then close the trap?"
"It's a possibility," he admitted. "But I don't think they went to all the trouble to unearth
this place just to blast it to bits." He shrugged. "Just a hunch."
Kelly and Will glanced at each other.
"Understood," Kelly said. "Approaching structure. Three hundred meters."
"Back us in," Kurt said.
Their ship slowed, spun around, and eased toward one of the dome archways. Five
Covenant dropships could have fit through the opening with room to spare.
Inside, the blue glow of their engines illuminated the walls. The interior surfaces were angled and carved with star charts and the Forerunner hieroglyphics.
Below, seven flat surfaces, each the size of carrier landing decks, were evenly spaced.
Kelly set them down one.
Kurt exited the dropship. Will followed him, and together they helped Dr. Halsey off.
The other Spartans took defensive positions around the ship.
Kurt's motion sensor showed everyone on deck, but there was nothing beyond the
landing pad save darkness. Every noise was swallowed by the vast emptiness of the interior, and he felt as if he were drowning in shadows and silence.
He initiated a single-beam COM network, and opened external audio so Dr. Halsey could hear them, too.
"We do this fast," he told his team. "Olivia, Will, scout the perimeter of this landing pad. I want a report in ninety seconds on all routes and motion sensor hits."
Olivia and Will nodded and melted into the dark.
"Linda, Fred, Mark, Holly, get grappling rounds, scale the dome, and take up lookout positions in the arches. Set up single-beam relays and zip lines. Anything moves this way, sound the alarm."
Their status lights flashed green. Linda disappeared into the ship and returned with harpoonlike shafts and rope bags. She passed them out to the three other Spartans. They slid the rounds into their sniper rifles, aimed, and shot them through the archways overhead.
Braided monoline uncoiled, pulled by the grapple. They tested the lines, and then rapidly ascended the ropes.
"Dante, Mendez, stay with the ship. Get our gear ready and loaded into balanced packs."
Dante's status light remained unlit for a full second in protest, and then it winked green. Mendez nodded and they boarded the ship.
"Kelly, Ash, Tom, Lucy—you're with me and Dr. Halsey. Ash, grab those cut-down nukes."
Ash moved into the dropship's cargo area and retuned hefting a backpack.
"Tom, Lucy," Kurt said, "keep Dr. Halsey covered."
His senior NCOs stepped to either side of the Doctor.
"Got a staircase, sir," Will reported. "Goes through the floor and around the landing pad's