第33页
“Our orders, sir?” John asked.
“Two days full bed rest, Squad Leader. Then microgravity physical therapy aboard theAtlas until yourecover from the side effects of your augmentation.”
Side effects.John flexed his hand. He was clumsy now. Sometimes he could barely walk without falling.Dr. Halsey had assured him that these “side effects” were a good sign. “Your brain must relearn how tomove your body with faster reflexes and stronger muscles,” she told him. But his eyes hurt, and they
----------------------- Page 60-----------------------
bled a little in the morning, too. He had constant headaches. Every bone in his body ached.
John didn’t understand any of this. He only knew that he had a duty to perform—and now he feared hewouldn’t be able to. “Is that all, sir?” he asked Mendez.
“No,” the Chief replied. “Déjà will be running your squad through the dropship pilot simulator as soonas they are up to it. And,” he added, “if they are up for the challenge, she wanted to cover some moreorganic chemistry and complex algebra.”
“Yes, sir,” John replied, “we’re up to the challenge.”
“Good.”
John continued to stand fast.
“Was there something else, Squad Leader?”
John furrowed his brow, hesitated, and then finally said, “I was Squad Leader. The last mission wastherefore my responsibility . . . and members of my squaddied . What did I do wrong?”
Mendez stared at John with his impenetrable black eyes. He glanced at the squad, then back to John.“Walk with me.” He led John to the view screen. He stood and watched as the last of the canistersvanished into the darkness.
“A leader must be ready to send the soldiers under his command to their deaths,” Mendez said withoutturning to face John. “You do this because your duty to the UNSC supersedes your duty to yourself oreven your crew.”
John looked away from the view screen. He couldn’t look at the emptiness anymore. He didn’t want tothink of his teammates—friends who were like brothers and sisters to him—forever lost.
“It is acceptable,” Mendez said, “to spend their lives if necessary.” He finally turned and meet John’sgaze. “It is not acceptable, however, to waste those lives. Do you understand the difference?”
“I . . . believe I understand, sir,” John said. “But which was it on this last mission? Lives spent? Or liveswasted?”
Mendez turned back toward the blackness of space and didn’t answer.
----------------------- Page 61-----------------------
0430 Hours, April 22, 2525 (Military Calendar) /UNSC CarrierAtlas on patrol in the LambdaSerpentis System
John oriented himself as he entered the gym.
From the stationary corridor, it was easy to see that this section of theAtlas rotated. The constantacceleration gave the circular walls a semblance of gravity.
Unlike the other portions of the carrier, however, this section wasn’t cylindrical, but rather a segmentedcone. The outer portion was wider and rotated more slowly than the narrower inner portion—simulatinggravitational forces from one quarter to two gravities along the length of the gym.