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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
0600 Hours, July 18, 2552 (Military Calendar) /UNSCIroquois , military staging area in orbit around Sigma Octanus IV
Commander Keyes had a sinking feeling that although he had won the battle, it would be the first ofmany to come in the Sigma Octanus System.
He watched the four dozen other UNSC ships orbit the planet: frigates and destroyers, two carriers, anda massive repair and refitting station—more vessels than Admiral Cole had at his disposal during hisfour-year-long campaign to save Harvest. Admiral Stanforth had pulled out all the stops.
Although Commander Keyes was grateful for the quick and overwhelming response, he wondered whythe Admiral had dedicated so many ships to the area. Sigma Octanus wasn’t strategically positioned. Ithad no special resources. True, the UNSC had standing orders to protect civilian lives, but the fleet wasspread dangerously thin. Commander Keyes knew there were more valuable systems that neededprotection.
He pushed these thoughts aside. He was sure Admiral Stanforth had his reasons. Meanwhile the repairand resupply of theIroquois was his top priority—he didn’t want to get caught half ready if the Covenantreturned.
Or rather,when they returned.
It was a curious thing: the aliens dropping their ground forces and then retreating. That was not theirusual mode of operation. Commander Keyes suspected this was just an opening move in a game hedidn’t yet understand.
A shadow crossed the fore camera of theIroquois as the repair stationCradle maneuvered closer.Cradlewas essentially a large square plate with engines. Large was an understatement; she was over a squarekilometer. Three destroyers could be eclipsed by her shadow. The station running at full steam couldrefit six destroyers, three from her lower surface and three on her upper surface, within a matter of hours.
Scaffolds deployed from her surfaces to facilitate repairs. Resupply tubes, hoses, and cargo trams fedinto theIroquois . It would take the full attention ofCradle thirty hours to repair theIroquois , however.
The aliens had not landed a single serious shot. Nonetheless, theIroquois had almost been destroyedduring the execution of what some in the fleet were already calling the “Keyes Loop.”
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Commander Keyes glanced at his data pad and the extensive list of repairs. Fifteen percent of theelectronic systems had to be replaced—burned out from the EMP when the Shiva missile detonated.TheIroquois ’ engines required a full overhaul. Both coolant systems had valves that had been fusedfrom the tremendous heat. Five of the superconducting magnets had to be replaced as well.
But most troublesome was the damage to the underside of theIroquois . When they had told CommanderKeyes what had happened, he went outside in a Longsword interceptor to personally inspect what he haddone to his ship.
The underside of theIroquois had been scraped when they passed over the prow of the alien destroyer.He knew there was some damage . . . but was not prepared for what he saw.