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The Chief frowned. This was taking too long. Every passing second made it that much less likely that any of the rescue party would be able to get off theTruth and Reconciliation alive, let alone with Captain Keyes. The ODSTs were good fighters, but they were slowing him down.
He turned to Sergeant Parker and said, “Hold your men here. I’ll be back soon—with the Captain.”
She started to protest, then nodded. “Just don’t tell Silva,” she said.
“I won’t.”
The Master Chief ran from door to door until one of them opened to reveal a rectangular room lined with cells. It appeared that the translucent force fields served in place of bars. He dashed inside and called the Captain’s name, but received no answer. A quick check confirmed that, with the exception of one dead Marine, the detention center was empty.
Frustrated, yet reassured by Cortana’s insistence that the CNI signal remained strong, the Spartan exited the room, entered the hall, and literally went door to door, searching for the correct hatch. Once he located it, the Master Chief almost wished he hadn’t.
The portal slid open, a Grunt yelled something the Master Chief couldn’t understand, and a plasma beam lashed past the human’s helmet.
The Master Chief opened fire, heard a Marine yell from within one of the cells, “Good to see you, Chief!” and knew he was in the right place.
A plasma beam appeared out of nowhere, hit the Spartan in the chest, and triggered the armor’s audible alarm. He ducked behind a support column, just in time to see an energy beam slice through the spot he had just vacated. He scanned the room, looking for his assailant.
Nothing.
His motion sensor showed faint trace movements, but he couldn’t spot their source.
His eyes narrowed, and he noticed a slight shimmer in the air, directly in front of him. He fired a sustained burst through the middle of it, and was rewarded with a loud howl. The Elite seemed to materialize out of thin air, made a grab for his own entrails, and managed to catch them before he died.
He strode to the access controls and, with Cortana’s help, killed the force fields. Captain Keyes stepped out of his cell, paused to scoop a Needler off the floor, and met the Chief’s eyes. “Coming here was reckless,” he said, his voice harsh. The Chief was about to explain his orders when Keyes’ expression warmed, and theAutumn ’s CO smiled. “Thanks.”
The Spartan nodded. “Any time, sir.”
“Can you find your way out?” Keyes inquired doubtfully. “The corridors of this ship are like a maze.”
“It shouldn’t be too difficult,” the Master Chief replied. “All we have to do is follow the bodies.”
Lieutenant “Cookie” Peterson put Echo 136 down a full klick from thePillar of Autumn , looked out through the rain-spattered windscreen, and saw Echo 206 settle in approximately fifty meters away. It had been an uneventful flight, thanks in part to the weather, and the fact that the assault on theTruth and Reconciliation had probably served to distract the Covenant from what was going on elsewhere.