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The Admiral had also brushed aside his concerns about the Covenant too quickly. Something didn’tquite add up.
Keyes clicked on the intercom. “Lieutenant Dominique: track the Admiral’s shuttle when he leaves. Letme know which ship he’s on.”
“Sir? We had an Admiral aboard? I wasn’t informed.”
“No, Lieutenant, I suspect you weren’t. Just track the next outbound shuttle.”
“Aye, sir.”
Keyes looked back on his data pad and reread Ensign Lovell’s CSV. He couldn’t take back what hadhappened with Jaggers—there could be no second chance for him. But maybe he could somehowbalance the books by giving Lovell another chance.
He filled out the necessary paperwork for the transfer request. The forms were long and unnecessarilycomplex. He transmitted the files to UNSC PERSCOM and sent a copy directly to Admiral Stanforth’sstaff.
“Sir?” Lieutenant Dominique’s voice broke over the intercom. “That shuttle docked with theLeviathan .”
“Put it on-screen.”
The screen over his desk snapped on to camera five, the aft-starboard view. Among the dozens of shipsin orbit around Sigma Octanus IV, he easily spotted theLeviathan . She was one of the twenty UNSCcruisers left in the fleet.
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A cruiser was the most powerful warship ever built by human hands. And Keyes knew they were beingslowly pulled out of forward areas and parked in reserve to guard the Inner Colonies.
A piece of shadow moved under the great warship, black moving on black. It revealed itself for only aninstant in the sunlight, then slithered back into the darkness. It was a prowler.
Those stealth ships were used exclusively by Naval Intelligence.
A cruiser and an ONI presence here? Now Keyes knew there was more going on here than a simplemorale boost. He tried not to think about it. It was best not to go too far when questioning the intentionsof one’s superior officer—especially when that officer was an Admiral. And especially not when NavalIntelligence was literally lurking in the shadows.
Keyes poured himself another three fingers of Scotch, set his head on his desk—just to rest his eyes for amoment. The last few hours had drained him.
“Sir.” Dominique’s voice over the intercom woke Captain Keyes. “Incoming fleet-wide transmission onAlpha priority channel.”
Keyes sat up and ran his hand over his face. He glanced at the brass clock affixed over his bunk—he hadslept for almost six hours.
Admiral Stanforth appeared on-screen. “Listen up, ladies and gentlemen: we’ve just detected a largenumber of Covenant ships massing on the edge of the system. We estimate ten ships.”
On-screen the silhouettes of the all-too-familiar Covenant frigates and a destroyer appeared as ghostlyradar smears.
“We’ll remain where we are,” the Admiral continued. “There’s no need to charge in and have those uglybastards take a shortcut through Slipspace and undercut us. Make your ships ready for battle. We’ve gotprobes gathering more data. I’ll update you when we know more. Stanforth out.”