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“Roger, Blue-One. Keep your head down. I’ll draw their fire.”
She launched herself out the back hatch.
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The Master Chief tapped the Pelican’s thrusters and the ship rose higher in the bay—up to the secondlevel. The upper decks were the mechanic bays; the area was littered with ships that were partiallydisassembled in various stages of repair. It was also where a hundred Jackals and a handful of Elitewarriors were waiting for him.
They opened fire. Plasma bolts scored the hull of the Pelican.
The Master Chief fired the chain-gun and let loose a salvo of missiles. Alien shields blazed and failed.Blue and green blood splashed and flash-froze in the icy vacuum.
He hit the top thrusters and dropped down to the lower level—slammed the ship back into a berth for
cover.
Blue-One crouched by the manual release. The outer doors eased open, revealing the night and starsbeyond. “You’re clear for exit, Master Chief. We’re home free—”
A new contact on the Pelican’s targeting display appeared—right behind Linda. He had towarn her—
A bolt of plasma struck her in the back. Another blot of fire blazed her from the upper decks andsplashed across her front. She crumpled—her shields flickered and went out. Two more bolts hit herchest. A third blast smashed into her helmet.
“No!” the Master Chief said. He felt each of those plasma bolts as if they had hit him, too.
He moved the Pelican to cover her. Plasma struck the hull, melting its outer skin.
“Get her inside!” he ordered the Marines.
They jumped out, grabbed Linda and her smoldering armor, and pulled her inside the Pelican.
The Master Chief sealed the hatch, ignited the engines and pushed them to full thrust—rocketing intospace.
“Can you fly this ship?” he asked the Marine Sergeant.
“Yes, sir,” Johnson replied.
“Take over.”
The Master Chief went to Linda and knelt by her side. Sections of her armor had melted and adhered to
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her. Underneath, in patches, bits of carbonized bone showed. He accessed her vital signs on his heads-updisplay. They were dangerously low.
“Did you do it?” she whispered. “Get the database?”
“Yes. We got it.”
“Good,” she said. “We won.” She clasped his hand and closed her eyes.
Her vital signs flat-lined.
John squeezed her hand and let go. “Yes,” he said bitterly. “We won.”
“Master Chief, come in.”Captain Keyes voice sounded over the COM channel. “ThePillar ofAutumnwill be in rendezvous position in one minute.”
“We’re ready, Captain,” he answered. He set Linda’s hand over her chest. “I’mready.”
The instant the Master Chief docked the Pelican to thePillar of Autumn , he felt the cruiser accelerate.
He took Linda’s body double time to a cryo chamber and immediately froze her. She was clinically dead—there was no doubt of that. Still, if they could get her to a Fleet hospital, they might be able toresuscitate her. It was a long shot—but she was a Spartan.