Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [118]
I’ll find out what’s going on.” “Aye, sir.” The Master Chief marched toward the intercom panel. He hated being on spaceships. The lack of control
was disturbing. He and the other Spartans were just extra cargo in a space battle.
He hesitated as he reached for the intercom. If Captain Keyes was involved in some tricky maneuver or engaging an enemy, the last thing he needed was an interruption. He pressed the button. “Cortana? We’ve changed course. Is there a problem?” Instead of her voice, however, Captain Keyes spoke over the channel: “Captain Keyes to Spartan 117.” He replied, “Here, sir.” “There’s been a change in plans,” Keyes said. There was a long pause. “This will be easier to explain
face-to-face. I’m on my way down to brief you. Keyes out.”
John turned and the other Spartans snapped to their tasks. Those without specific orders checked and
rechecked their weapons and assembled their combat gear. They had all heard the Captain, however. The sound receivers in their armor could pick up a whisper at a hundred meters.
And the Spartans didn’t have to be told this was trouble.
John clicked on the monitor near the intercom. The fore camera showed thePillar of Autumn had indeed turned about. Reach’s sun blazed in the center of the screen. They were heading back. Was something wrong with the ship? No. Captain Keyes wouldn’t be coming to brief him if that was the
case. There was definitely a snag. The elevator doors opened and Captain Keyes stepped off the lift. “Captain on the deck!” the Master Chief shouted. The Spartans stood at attention. “At ease,” Captain Keyes said. The expression on the Captain’s face suggested that “ease” was the last
thing on his mind. He smoothed his thumb over the antique pipe the Master Chief had seen him carry.
“There is something very wrong,” Keyes said. He glanced at the other Spartans. “Let’s talk in private,” he told the Master Chief in a low voice. He walked to the monitor over the intercom. “Sir,” the Master Chief said. “Unless you wish to leave the deck, the Spartans will hear everything we
say.” Keyes looked at the Spartans and frowned. “I see. Very well, your squad might as well hear this now,
too. I don’t know how they found Reach—they bypassed a dozen Inner Colony worlds to get here. It doesn’t matter. Theyare here. And we have to do something.” “Sir? ‘They’?” “The Covenant.” He turned to the intercom. “Cortana, display the last priority Alpha transmission.” A communiqué flickered on screen, and the Master Chief read:
United Nations Space Command ALPHA PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 04592Z-83
Encryption Code:Red Public Key:file /bravo-tango-beta-five/ From:Admiral Roland Freemont, Commanding Fleet Officer, FLEETCOM Sector One Commander/
(UNSC Service Number: 00745-16778-HS) To:ALL UNSC warships in REACH, JERICO, and TANTALUS systems Subject:IMMEDIATE RECALL Classification:Classified (BGX Directive)
/start file/
Covenant presence detected on REACH system’s edge coordinates 030 relative.
All UNSC warships are hereby ordered to cease all activities and regroup at rally pointZULU at best speed. ALL SHIPSare to enact the Cole Protocol immediately.
/end file/
“Cortana has picked up ship signatures on thePillar of Autumn ’s sensors,” Captain Keyes said. “She cannot be sure how many because of electrical interference, but there are more than a hundred alien ships inbound toward Reach. We have to go. We have our orders. The Section Three mission has to be scrubbed.”
“Sir? Scrubbed?” John had never had a mission canceled.
“Reach is our strategic headquarters and our biggest ship-building facility, Master Chief. If the shipyards fall, then Dr. Halsey’s prediction of humanity having only months to survive will shrink to weeks.”
The Master Chief normally would never have contradicted a superior officer, but this time duty compelled him. “Sir, our two missions are not mutually exclusive.”
Captain Keyes lit his pipe—in defiance of three separate regulations of igniting a combustible on a USNC ship. He puffed once and thoughtfully examined