第10页

　　He  shrugged.  "We'll  improvise,"  he  said.
　　Kelly  picked  up  a  rock  and  hefted  it.
　　Fred  resisted  the  urge  to  lower  his  head  and  catch  his  breath.  There  was  nothing  he  wanted  to  do  more  right  now  than  sit  down  and  just  rest  and  think.  There  had  to  be  a  way  to  get  his  Spartans  out  of  here  in  one  piece.  It  was  like  a  training  exercise—all  he  needed  to  do  was  figure  out  how  best  to  accomplish  their  mis?sion  with  no  more  foul-ups.
　　There  was  no  time,  though.  They'd  been  sent  to  protect  those  generators,  and  the  Covenant  sure  as  hell  weren't  sitting  around  waiting  for  them  to  make  the  first  move.  The  columns  of  smoke  that  marked  where  Reach  HighCom  once  stood  testified  to  that.
　　"Assemble  the  team,"  Fred  told  her.  "Formation  Beta.  We're  heading  toward  the  generators  on  foot.  Pack  out  our  wounded  and  dead.  Send  those  with  weapons  ahead  as  scouts.  Maybe  our  luck  will  change."
　　Kelly  barked  over  the  SQUADCOM:  "Move,  Spartans.  For?mation  Beta  to  the  NAV  point."
　　Fred  initiated  a  diagnostic  on  his  armor.  The  hydrostatic  sub?system  had  blown  a  seal,  and  pressure  was  at  minimal  functional  levels.  He  could  move,  but  he'd  have  to  replace  that  seal  before  he'd  be  able  to  sprint  or  dodge  plasma  fire.
　　He  fell  in  behind  Kelly  and  saw  his  Spartans  on  the  periphery  of  his  tactical  friend-or-foe  monitor.  He  couldn't  actually  see  any  of  them  because  they  were  spread  out  and  darted  from  tree  to  tree  to  avoid  any  Covenant  surprises.  They  all  moved  silently  through  the  forest:  light  and  shadow  and  an  occasional  muted  flash  of  luminous  green  armor,  then  gone  again.
　　"Red-One  this  is  Red-Twelve.  Single  enemy  contact  ...  neutralized."
　　16 HALO:  FIRST  STRIKE
　　"One  here,  too,"  Red-Fifteen  reported.  "Neutralized."
　　There  had  to  be  more.  Fred  knew  the  Covenant  never  traveled  in  small  numbers.
　　Worse,  if  the  Covenant  were  deploying  troops  in  any  signifi?cant  numbers,  that  meant  the  holding  action  in  orbit  had  turned  ugly  ...  so  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  before  this  mission  went  from  bad  to  worse.
　　He  was  so  intent  on  listening  to  his  team's  field  checks,  he  al?most  ran  into  a  pair  of  Jackals.  He  instinctively  melted  into  the  shadow  of  a  tree  and  froze.
　　The  Jackals  hadn't  seen  him.  The  birdlike  aliens  sniffed  at  the  air,  however,  and  then  moved  forward  more  cautiously,  closing  on  Fred's  concealed  position.  They  waved  plasma  pistols  before  them  and  clicked  on  their  energy  shields.  The  small,  oblong  pro?tective  fields  rippled  and  solidified  with  a  muted  hum.
　　Fred  keyed  his  COM  channel  to  Red-Two,  twice.  Her  blue  ac?knowledgment  light  immediately  winked  in  response  to  his  call  for  backup.
　　The  Jackals  suddenly  turned  to  their  right  and  sniffed  rapidly.
　　A  fist-sized  rock  whizzed  in  from  the  aliens'  left.  It  slammed  into  the  lead  Jackal's  occipital  crest  with  a  wet  crack.  The  creature  squawked  and  dropped  to  the  ground  in  a  pool  of  purple-black  blood.
　　Fred  darted  ahead  and  in  three  quick  steps  closed  with  the  re?maining  Jackal.  He  sidestepped  around  the  plane  of  the  energy  shield  and  grabbed  the  creature's  wrist.  The  Jackal  squawked  in  fear  and  surprise.