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“Trainee 117,” Mendez snapped. “Tell me again why you stole UNSC property . . . and why youattacked the men I had assigned to guard it.”
John wanted to explain that he was just doing what had to be done. That he was sorry. That he would doanything to make it up. But John knew the Chief hated whiners, almost as much as he hated excuses.
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“Sir,” John said. “The guards were out of uniform. No insignia. They failed to identify themselves, sir!”
“Hmm,” Mendez mused over the report again. “So it seems. And the ship?”
“I took my squad home, sir. I was the last onboard—so if anyone should have been left—”
“I didn’t ask for a passenger list, Crewman.” His voice softened to a growl and he turned to Dr. Halsey.“What are we going to do with this one?”
“Do?” She pushed her glasses higher on her nose and examined John. “I think that’s obvious, Chief.Make him a Squad Leader.”
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CHAPTER SIX
1130 Hours March 09, 2525 (Military Calendar) /Epsilon Eridani System, Office of Naval Intelligence Medical Facility, in orbit around planet Reach
“I want that transmission decoded now,” Dr. Halsey snapped at Déjà.
“The encryption scheme is extremely complex,” replied Déjà with a hint of irritation in her normallyglass-smooth voice. “I don’t even know why they bothered. Who else but Beta-5 Division even has theresources to use this data?”
“Spare me the banter, Déjà. I’m not in the mood. Just concentrate on the decryption.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
Dr. Halsey paced across the antiseptic white tile of the Observation Room. One side of the room wasfilled with floor-to-ceiling terminals that monitored the vital signs of the children—test subjects, shecorrected herself. They displayed drug uptake rates and winking green, blue, and red status indicators:EKGs, pulse rates, and a hundred other pieces of medical data.
The other side of the observation room overlooked dozens of translucent domes, windows into thesurgical bays on the level below. Each bay was a sealed environment, staffed with the best surgeons andbiotechnicians that the Office of Naval Intelligence could drum up. The bays had been scrubbed andirradiated and were in the final preparation stages to receive and hold the special biohazardous materials.
“Done,” Déjà announced. “The file awaits your inspection, Doctor.”
Dr. Halsey stopped her pacing and sat. “On my glasses, please, Déjà.”
Her glasses scanned retinal and brain patterns, and the security barrier of the file lifted. With a blink ofher eyes, she opened the file.
It read:
United Nations Space Command Priority Transmission 09872H-98
Encryption Code:Red
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Public Key:file /excised access Omega/
From:Admiral Ysionris Jeromi, Chief Medical Officer, UNSC Research Station Hopeful
To:Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey M.D., Ph.D., special civilian consultant (civilian IdentificationNumber: 10141-026-SRB4695)