Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [97]
Cortana framed her fingers around the man’s face. “He’s so serious,” she murmured. “Thoughtful eyes, though. Attractive in a primitive animal sort of way, don’t you think, Doctor?”
Dr. Halsey blushed. Apparently, shedid think so. Cortana’s thoughts mirrored many of her own, only unchecked by normal military and social protocol.
“Perhaps it would be best if you picked another—”
Cortana turned to face Dr. Halsey and cocked an eyebrow, mock stern. “Youasked me which one I wanted. . . .”
“It was a question, Cortana. I did not give you carte blanche to select your ‘carrier.’ There are compatibility issues to consider.”
Cortana blinked. “His neural patterns are in sync with my mine within two percent. With the new interface we’ll be installing, that should fall well within tolerable limits. In fact—” Her gaze drifted and the symbols along her body brightened and flashed. “—I have just developed a custom interface buffer that will match us within zero point zero eight one percent. You won’t find a better match among the others.
“In fact,” she added coyly, “I can guarantee it.”
“I see,” Dr. Halsey said. She pushed away from her desk, stood, and paced.
Why was she hesitating? The matchwas superb. But was Cortana’s predilection for Spartan 117 a result of him being Dr. Halsey’s favorite? And did it matter? Who better to protect him?
Dr. Halsey walked over to the picture. “He was awarded this Legion of Honor medallion because he dove into a bunker of Covenant soldiers. He took out twenty by himself and saved a platoon of Marines
who were pinned down by a stationary energy weapon emplacement. I’ve read the report, but I’m still not sure how he managed to do it.” She turned to Cortana and stared into her odd translucent eyes. “You’ve read his CSV?”
“I’m reading it again right now.” “Then you know he is neither the smartest nor the fastest nor the strongest of the Spartans. But he is the bravest—and quite possibly the luckiest. And in my opinion, he is the best.”
“Yes,” Cortana whispered. “I concur with your analysis, Doctor.” She drifted closer.
“Could you sacrifice him if you had to? If it meant completing the mission?” Dr. Halsey asked quietly. “Could you watch him die?” Cortana halted and the processing symbols racing across her skin froze midcalculation. “My priority Alpha order is to complete this mission,” she replied emotionlessly. “The Spartans’ safety
as well as mine is a Beta-level priority command.” “Good.” Dr. Halsey returned to her desk and sat down. “Then you can have him.” Cortana smiled and blazed with brilliant electricity. “Now,” Dr. Halsey said, and tapped on her desk to regain Cortana’s attention. “Show me your pick of
our ship candidates for the mission.” Cortana opened her hand. In her palm there was a tiny model of a Halcyon-class UNSC cruiser. “ThePillar of Autumn,” Cortana said. Dr. Halsey leaned back and crossed her arms. Modern USNC cruisers were rare in the fleet. Only a
handful of the impressive warships remained . . . and those were being pulled back to bolster the defense
of the Inner Colonies. This junk-heap, however, was not one of these ships. “ThePillar of Autumn is forty-three years old,” Cortana said. “Halcyon-class ships were the smallest vessel ever to receive the cruiser designation. It is approximately one-third the tonnage of the Marathon- class cruiser currently in service.
“Halcyon-class ships were pulled from long-term storage—they were designated to be scrapped, in fact. TheAutumn was refit in 2550, to serve in the current conflict near Zeta Doradus. Their Mark Two fusion engines supply a tenth of the power of modern reactors. Their armor is light by current standards. Weapon refits have upgraded their offensive capabilities with a single Magnetic Acceleration Cannon and six Archer missile pods.
“The only noteworthy design feature of this ship is the frame.” Cortana reached down and pulled off the skin of the holographic model as if it were a glove. “The structural system was