Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [135]
They jumped out, grabbed Linda and her smoldering armor, and pulled her inside the Pelican. The Master Chief sealed the hatch, ignited the engines and pushed them to full thrust—rocketing into space.
“Can you fly this ship?” he asked the Marine Sergeant. “Yes, sir,” Johnson replied. “Take over.” The Master Chief went to Linda and knelt by her side. Sections of her armor had melted and adhered to
her. Underneath, in patches, bits of carbonized bone showed. He accessed her vital signs on his heads-up display. They were dangerously low. “Did you do it?” she whispered. “Get the database?” “Yes. We got it.” “Good,” she said. “We won.” She clasped his hand and closed her eyes. Her vital signs flat-lined.
John squeezed her hand and let go. “Yes,” he said bitterly. “We won.” “Master Chief, come in.”Captain Keyes voice sounded over the COM channel. “ThePillar of Autumnwill be in rendezvous position in one minute.”
“We’re ready, Captain,” he answered. He set Linda’s hand over her chest. “I’mready.”
The instant the Master Chief docked the Pelican to thePillar of Autumn , he felt the cruiser accelerate. He took Linda’s body double time to a cryo chamber and immediately froze her. She was clinically dead
—there was no doubt of that. Still, if they could get her to a Fleet hospital, they might be able to resuscitate her. It was a long shot—but she was a Spartan. The med techs wanted to check him out as well, but he declined and took the elevator to the bridge to
report to Captain Keyes. As he rode inside the lift he felt the ship accelerate port—then starboard. Evasive maneuvers. The elevator doors parted and the Master Chief stepped onto the bridge. He snapped a crisp salute to Captain Keyes. “Reporting for debriefing, sir.” Captain Keyes turned and looked surprised to see him . . . or maybe he was shocked to see the condition
of his armor. It was charred, battered, and covered with alien blood. The Captain returned the Master Chief’s salute. “The NAV database was destroyed?” he asked. “Sir, I would not have left if my mission was incomplete.”
“Of course, Master Chief. Very good,” Captain Keyes replied. “Sir, may I ask that you scan for active FOF tags in the region?” The Master Chief glanced at the main
view screen—saw scattered fights between Covenant and UNSC warships in the distance. “I lost a man on the station. He may be floating out there . . . somewhere.” “Lieutenant Hall?” the Captain asked. “Scanning,” she said. After a moment she looked back and shook her head. “I see,” the Master Chief replied. There could be worse deaths . . . but not for one of his Spartans.
Floating helpless. Slowly suffocating and freezing—losing to an enemy that could not be fought. “Sir,” the Master Chief said, “when will thePillar of Autumn rendezvous with my planetside team?” Captain Keyes turned from the Master Chief and stared out into space. “We won’t be picking them up,”
he said quietly. “They were overrun by Covenant forces. They never made orbit. We’ve lost contact with
them.” The Master Chief took a step closer. “Then I would like permission to take a dropship and retrieve them, sir.”
“Request denied, Master Chief. We still have a mission to perform. And we cannot remain in this system
much longer. Lieutenant Dominique, aft camera on the main screen.” Covenant vessels swarmed though the Reach System in five-ship crescent formations. The remaining UNSC ships fled before them . . . those that could still move. Those ships too damaged to outrun the Covenant were blasted with plasma and laser fire.
The Covenant had won this battle. They were mopping up before they glassed the planet; the Master Chief had seen this happen in a dozen campaigns. This time was different, however. This time the Covenant was glassing a planet . . . with his people still on it.
He tried to think of a way to stop them . . . to save his teammates. He couldn’t. The Captain turned and strode to the Master Chief, stood by his side.