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The lateral motion slowed and stopped. ThePillar of Autumn ’s engines rumbled like thunder throughthe hull of the ship.
Kelly approached him. “Sir? I thought we were accelerating to enter Slipspace?”
“So did I. Have Fred and Joshua continue to prep the tubes. Have Linda get a team and secure our gear.I’ll find out what’s going on.”
“Aye, sir.”
The Master Chief marched toward the intercom panel. He hated being on spaceships. The lack of controlwas disturbing. He and the other Spartans were just extra cargo in a space battle.
He hesitated as he reached for the intercom. If Captain Keyes was involved in some tricky maneuver orengaging an enemy, the last thing he needed was an interruption.
He pressed the button. “Cortana? We’ve changed course. Is there a problem?”
Instead of her voice, however, Captain Keyes spoke over the channel: “Captain Keyes to Spartan 117.”
He replied, “Here, sir.”
“There’s been a change in plans,” Keyes said. There was a long pause. “This will be easier to explainface-to-face. I’m on my way down to brief you. Keyes out.”
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John turned and the other Spartans snapped to their tasks. Those without specific orders checked andrechecked their weapons and assembled their combat gear.
They had all heard the Captain, however. The sound receivers in their armor could pick up a whisper at ahundred meters.
And the Spartans didn’t have to be told this was trouble.
John clicked on the monitor near the intercom. The fore camera showed thePillar of Autumn had indeedturned about. Reach’s sun blazed in the center of the screen. They were heading back.
Was something wrong with the ship? No. Captain Keyes wouldn’t be coming to brief him if that was thecase. There was definitely a snag.
The elevator doors opened and Captain Keyes stepped off the lift.
“Captain on the deck!” the Master Chief shouted.
The Spartans stood at attention.
“At ease,” Captain Keyes said. The expression on the Captain’s face suggested that “ease” was the lastthing on his mind. He smoothed his thumb over the antique pipe the Master Chief had seen him carry.
“There is something very wrong,” Keyes said. He glanced at the other Spartans. “Let’s talk in private,”he told the Master Chief in a low voice. He walked to the monitor over the intercom.
“Sir,” the Master Chief said. “Unless you wish to leave the deck, the Spartans will hear everything wesay.”
Keyes looked at the Spartans and frowned. “I see. Very well, your squad might as well hear this now,too. I don’t know how they found Reach—they bypassed a dozen Inner Colony worlds to get here. Itdoesn’t matter. Theyare here. And we have to do something.”
“Sir? ‘They’?”
“The Covenant.” He turned to the intercom. “Cortana, display the last priority Alpha transmission.”
A communiqué flickered on screen, and the Master Chief read:
United Nations Space Command ALPHA PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 04592Z-83
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