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“Sir,” Lieutenant Hikowa cried. “We have an insufficient charge rate to fire the MAC guns.”
“Understood,” Captain Keyes said. “Divert all power from the engines to regenerate gun capacitors.”
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“May I point out—” Cortana said and crossed her arms “—that if you power down the engines, we willbe inside the blast radius of the Shiva warhead when it reaches the Covenant ship?”
“Noted,” Captain Keyes said. “Do it.”
“Capacitors at seventy-five percent,” Lieutenant Hikowa announced. “Eighty-five. Ninety-five. Fullcharge, sir. Ready to fire.”
“Fire at will,” Captain Keyes ordered.
“Missiles away—”
A javelin of blue-white energy from the Covenant ship slashed at thePillar of Autumn . The beam struck,and cut through the hull. ThePillar of Autumn slid into a flat spin as the explosive decompressionknocked the ship off course. As theAutumn spun, the Covenant energy beam carved a spiral pattern inthe hull, shredding armor and puncturing deep into the ship.
The ship lurched sickeningly as the beam played across the portside Archer pods; the missiles detonatedin their tubes. Keyes was nearly thrown from the command chair as the deck bucked beneath him.
He tightened his safety straps and scowled at the tactical displays. “Damage report!” he yelled, his voicecompeting with the dozens of hazard alarms that blared through the bridge speakers.
Cortana brought up a holographic view of the ship and flagged damaged areas in pulsing red. “Portlaunch and storage bays have been breached—fires on all decks, all sections. Primary fusion chamber isbreached.”
ThePillar of Autumn tumbled out of control.
“Cortana, get us straight and level. We have to fire our guns!”
“Yes, Captain.” Her body became a blur of mathematical symbols. “This is an extremely chaotictrajectory,” she said. “Atmosphere still venting. Hang on. There. Got it.”
ThePillar of Autumn righted herself. The Covenant ship centered on the main view screen. This closeCaptain Keyes saw how huge the ship was—three times the mass of a normal cruiser. There was a podmounted on the top deck; it swiveled and tracked thePillar of Autumn , bringing the turret to bear. Itglowed electric white as it built up another lethal charge.
“Fire when ready, Lieutenant Hikowa,” Captain Keyes ordered.
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“Firing!” Thunder rumbled belowdecks. “MAC rounds away.”
The shells struck the Covenant vessel; Archer missiles impacted . . . only a handful got though herdowned shields.
“Cortana, crash-land our Longsword on that bastard. Set timer delay on the nuke for fifteen seconds.”
“Afterburners on,” Cortana replied. “Impact in three . . . two . . . one. She’s down, sir.”
ThePillar of Autumn sped past the Covenant ship.
“Lieutenant Hall, divert any power you can muster to the engines.”
“Bringing secondary reactor back online, sir. That gives us fifteen percent.”
“Aft camera on center screen,” Captain Keyes ordered.