Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [86]
left arm had been burned away from the elbow down, but he didn’t even whimper.
The monolith moved; it inched toward the hole . . . then tilted and went over. It landed with a dull thud and a crunching noise. The Master Chief peered over the edge. He saw an armored left leg, and on the other side of the stone
slab, an arm struggling underneath. The things were still alive. Their motions slowed, but they didn’t cease. The red case was balanced precariously on the edge the hole. It teetered—no way to reach it in time. He turned to Kelly—the fastest Spartan—and yelled: “Grab it!” The box fell—
—and Kelly leaped. In a single bound, she caught the rock as the case dropped, she tucked, rolled, and got to her feet, the rock safely held in one hand. She handed it to the Master Chief.
The rock was a piece of granite and glittered with a few jewel-like inclusions. What was as so special about it? He stuffed it into his ammunition sack and then kicked over the Covenant transmission beacon. Outside, the Master Chief heard the clattering and squawking of the army of Jackals and Grunts.
“Let’s get out of here, Spartans.” He threw his arm around James and helped him along. They ran into the basement, making sure to give the pinned giants under the stone a wide berth, then jumped through the storm drain and into the sewers.
They jogged thought the muck and didn’t stop until they had cleared the drain system and emerged in the rice paddies on the edge of Côte d’Azur.
Fred rigged the ground-return relay to the pipes overhead and ran a crude antenna outside. The Master Chief looked back at the city. Banshee fliers circled through the skyscrapers. Spotlights from the hovering Covenant transport ships bathed the streets in blue illumination. The Grunts were going crazy; their barks and screams rose to an impenetrable din.
The Spartans moved toward the coast and followed the tree line south. James collapsed twice along the way and then finally slipped into unconsciousness. The Master Chief slung him over him shoulder and carried him.
They paused and hid when they heard a patrol of a dozen Grunts. The aliens ran past them—they either
didn’t see the Spartans, or they didn’t care. The animals sprinted as fast as they could back to the city. When they were a click away from the rendezvous point, the Master Chief opened the COM link. “Green Team Leader, we’re on your perimeter, and coming in. Signaling with blue smoke.”
“Ready and waiting for you, sir,”Linda replied.“Welcome back.” The Master Chief set off one of his smoke grenades and they marched into the clearing. The Pelican was intact. Corporal Harland and his Marines stood post, and the rescued civilians were
safely inside the ship. Blue and Red Teams were hidden in the nearby brush and trees. Linda approached them. She motioned for her team to take James and get him onto the Pelican. “Sir,”
she said. “All civilians on board and ready for liftoff.”
The Master Chief wanted to relax, sit down, and close his eyes. But this was often the most dangerous part of any mission . . . those last few steps when you might let down your guard. “Good. Take one more look around the perimeter. Let’s make double sure nothing followed us back.”
“Yes, sir.” Corporal Harland approached and saluted. “Sir? How did you do it? Those civilians said you got them out of the city—past an army of Covenant, sir. How?”
John cocked his head quizzically. “It was our mission, Corporal,” he said. The Corporal stared at him and then at the other Spartans. “Yes, sir.” When Green Team Leader reported that the perimeter was clear, the last of the Spartans boarded the
Pelican. James had regained consciousness. Someone had removed his helmet and propped his head on a folded survival blanket. His eyes watered from the pain, but he managed to salute the Master Chief with his left
hand. John gestured at Kelly; she administered a dose of painkiller,