Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [93]
The older man lowered his voice. “Master Chief, thank you. We’re finished here, I think. We may wish to recall you later . . . but for now, you are dismissed. You are to treat all information you have heard or seen at this debriefing as classified.”
“Yes, sir!” The Master Chief saluted, spun on his heel, and marched to the exit. The double doors opened and then sealed behind him. He exhaled. It felt like he was being evac’d from
the battlefield. He reminded himself that these last few steps were often the most dangerous. “I hope they treated you well . . . or at least decently.” Dr. Halsey sat in an overstuffed chair. She wore a long gray skirt that matched her hair. She rose and
took his hand and gave it a small squeeze. The Master Chief snapped to attention. “Ma’am, a pleasure to see you again.” “How are you, Master Chief?” she asked. She stared pointedly at the hand pressed to his forehead in a
tight salute. Slowly, he dropped his hand. She smiled. Unlike everyone else, who greeted the Master Chief and stared at his uniform, medals,
ribbons, or the Spartan insignia, Dr. Halsey stared into his eyes. And she never saluted. John had never gotten used to that. “I’m fine, ma’am,” he said. “We won at Sigma Octanus. It was good to have a complete victory.” “Indeed it was.” She paused and glanced about. “How would you like to have another victory?” she
whispered. “The biggest we’ve ever had?” “Of course, ma’am,” he said with no hesitation. “I was counting on you to say that, Master Chief. We’ll be speaking soon.” She turned to the Military
Police attendant waiting at the entrance to the lounge. “Open these damn doors, soldier. Let’s get this over with.” “Yes, ma’am,” the MP said.
The doors swung inward. She stopped and said to the Master Chief, “I’ll be speaking to you and the other Spartans, soon.” She then entered the darkened chamber and the doors sealed behind her.
The Master Chief forgot about the debriefing and Captain Keyes’ puzzling question about not winning.
If Dr. Halsey had a mission for him and his team, it would be a good one. She had given him everything: duty, honor, purpose, and a destiny to protect humanity. John hoped she would give him one more thing: a way to win the war.
SECTION IV
MJOLNIR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
0915 Hours, August 25, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex, planet Reach, Omega Wing—Section Three secure facility
“Good morning, Dr. Halsey,” Déjà said. “You’re fourteen point three minutes late this morning.”
“Blame security, Déjà,” Dr. Halsey replied, gesturing absently at the AI’s holographic projection floating above her desk. “ONI’s precautions here are becoming increasingly ridiculous.”
Dr. Halsey threw her coat over the back of an antique armchair before settling behind her desk. She sighed, and for the thousandth time, wished she had a window.
The private office was located deep underground, inside the “Omega Wing” of the super-secure ONI facility, codenamed simply CASTLE.
Castle was a massive complex, two thousand meters below the granite protection of the Highland Mountains—bombproof, well defended, and impenetrable.
The security had its drawbacks, she was forced to admit. Every morning she descended into the secret labyrinth, passed through a dozen security checkpoints, and submitted to a barrage of retina, voice, fingerprint, and brainwave ID scans.
ONI had buried her here years ago when her funding had been shunted to higher profile projects. All other personnel had been transferred to other operations, and her access to classified materials had been severely restricted. Even shadowy ONI was squeamish about her experiments.
That’s all changed—thanks to the Covenant, she thought. The SPARTAN project—unpopular with the Admiralty, and the scientific community—had proven most effective. Her Spartans had proven themselves time after time in countless ground engagements.
When the Spartans started racking up successes, the Admiralty’s reticence