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The double doors opened and Corporal Harland came out. The young man’s eyes were glazed and hetrembled slightly. He looked worse than he had looked when the Master Chief had found him on SigmaOctanus IV.
The Master Chief gave a curt nod to the Corporal and then entered the debriefing chamber. The doorsclosed behind him.
His eyes instantly adjusted to the dark room. A large, curved desk dominated the far end of therectangular room. A domed ceiling curved over his head, cameras, microphone, and speakers positionedlike constellations.
A spotlight snapped on and tracked the Master Chief as he approached the desk.
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A dozen men and women in Navy uniforms sat in the shadows. Even with his enhanced eyesight, theMaster Chief could barely make out their scowling features and the glistening brass oak leaves and starsthrough the glare of the overhead light.
He stood at attention and saluted.
The debriefing panel ignored the Master Chief and spoke among themselves.
“The transmission that Keyes intercepted only makes sense translated this way,” a man in the shadowssaid. A holotank hummed into operation. Tiny geometric symbols danced in the air above it: squares,triangles, bars, and dots.
To the Master Chief, they looked like either Morse code or ancient Aztec hieroglyphics.
“I will concede that point,” a woman’s voice in the darkness replied. “But translation software comes upempty. It’s not a new Covenant dialect that we’ve discovered.”
“Or a Covenant dialect at all,” someone else said.
Finally one of the officers deigned to notice the Master Chief. “At ease, soldier,” he said.
The Master Chief let his arm fall. “Spartan 117, reporting as ordered, sirs.”
There was a pause, then the woman’s voice spoke up, “We would like to congratulate you on yoursuccessful mission, Master Chief. You’ve certainly given us plenty to consider. We would like to pindown a few details of your mission.”
There was something in her voice that made John nervous. Not scared. But it was the same feeling hehad going into combat. The same feeling he got when bullets started flying.
“Youdo know, Master Chief,” the first male voice said, “that not answering truthfully—or omitting anyrelevant details will lead to a court-martial?”
John bristled. As if he could ever forget his duty. “I will answer to the best of my abilities, sir,” hereplied stiffly.
The holotank hummed again and images from a Spartan helmet recorder sprang into view. John notedthe camera ID—it was his own. The images blurred forward, then stopped. A three-dimensional imageof the floating creatures he had seen in Cote d’Azur hung in the air, motionless.
“Playback, loop bookmarks one through nine, please,” the woman’s voice called out.
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Instantly, the holographic image animated—the alien quickly took apart and then reassembled a car’selectric motor.
“This creature,” she continued. “During the mission, did you see any other Covenant species—Grunts orJackals—interact with them?”