第56页

　　"What's  it  doing?"  the  Master  Chief  asked,  turning  to  face  the  creature.
　　The  Engineer  huffed  in  annoyance  and  tried  again  to  move  around  him.
　　The  Master  Chief  didn't  let  it.  While  John  had  seen  no  hostil?ity  from  the  creatures,  they  were  still  part  of  the  Covenant.  Hav?ing  one  at  his  back  grated  against  every  instinct.
　　"I've  told  it  to  repair  your  armor's  shields,"  Cortana  said.  "Let  it."
　　The  Master  Chief  allowed  the  small  alien  to  pass.  He  felt  the  access  panel  removed  from  the  shield  generator  housing  on  his  back.  Normally  it  took  a  team  of  three  technicians  to  remove  the  safety  catches  and  get  to  the  radioactive  power  source.  The  Chief  shifted  uneasily.  He  didn't  like  this  one  bit,  but  Cortana  had  al?ways  known  what  she  was  doing.
　　Locklear  watched  this  and  ran  a  hand  over  his  shaved  head.  He  stood  on  the  raised  center  platform  and  turned  to  the  other  Covenant  Engineer  as  it  repaired  the  burned-out  displays  on  the  port  side  of  the  room.  He  held  his  MA5B  loosely,  but  it  was  still  aimed  in  the  alien's  general  direction.  "I  don't  care  what  Cortana  says,"  he  told  the  Chief,  "I  don't  trust  them."
　　The  Engineer  near  Locklear  floated  to  the  bridge's  holographic  controls  and  passed  a  tentacle  over  a  series  of  raised  dots.
　　The  screens  snapped  on  and  showed  three  Covenant  cruisers  closing  fast.
　　Adrenaline  spiked  through  the  Master  Chief's  blood.  "Cor?tana,  quick—take  evasive  action."
　　"Relax,  Chief,"  Locklear  said.  He  waved  his  hand  over  a  holo?graphic  control;  the  images  on  screen  froze.  "It's  just  a  replay."  He  turned  and  examined  the  suspended  plasma  bolts  just  as  they
　　90 HALO:  FIRST  STRIKE
　　impacted  on  the  flagship's  shields.  "Man,"  he  whispered.  "I  wish  our  boats  had  weapons  like  those."
　　"We  might  soon  have  exactly  that,  Marine,"  Lieutenant  Haver-son  said.  He  winced  and  stood,  then  moved  to  a  screen  that  showed  the  storms  in  the  upper  atmosphere  of  Threshold.  "Play  this  one,  Corporal."
　　Locklear  tapped  one  of  the  controls.
　　A  line  of  sparkling  blue  lights  appeared  on  screen,  and  the  nose  of  the  flagship  edged  into  view.  The  blue  line  ripped  a  hole  in  space,  and  the  ship  jumped  forward.  The  clouds  of  Threshold  vanished;  there  was  only  blackness  on  the  screen.
　　Haverson  slicked  back  the  strands  of  his  red  hair  that  had  fallen  into  his  face.  "Cortana,"  he  asked,  "has  anyone,  human  or  Covenant,  ever  performed  a  Slipspace  jump  from  within  an  atmosphere?"
　　"No,  Lieutenant.  Normally  such  strong  gravitational  fields  would  distort  and  collapse  the  Shaw-Fujikawa  event  horizon.  With  the  Covenant's  Slipspace  matrices,  however,  I  had  greatly  increased  resolution.  I  was  able  to  compensate."
　　"Amazing,"  he  whispered.
　　"Goddamned  lucky,"  Polaski  muttered.  She  tugged  on  the  rim  of  her  cap.
　　"It  worked,"  the  Master  Chief  told  them.  "For  now,  that's  all  that  matters."  He  faced  his  team,  trying  to  ignore  the  motions  of  the  Covenant  Engineer  attached  to  his  back.  "We  have  to  plan  our  next  move."
　　"I'm  sorry  to  disagree,  Chief,"  Lieutenant  Haverson  said.  "The  mere  fact  that  Cortana's  maneuver  worked  is  the  only  thing  that  matters  now."