第65页

　　Wagner  continued  to  feign  ignorance—and  no  matter  what,  he  didn't  meet  Colonel  Ackerson's  gaze.  If  Ackerson  suspected  that  he'd  caught  on,  the  bastard  would  have  him  erased  to  pre?vent  his  secret  from  getting  back  to  Section  Three.
　　After  what  seemed  a  century  of  uncomfortable  silence,  Admi?ral  Hood  cleared  his  throat.  "The  Pillar  of  Autumn,  Lieutenant  Wagner.  Was  that  ship  destroyed?  Or  did  she  jump?  There  is  no  mention  in  your  report."
　　"She  jumped,  sir.  Telemetry  indicates  the  Autumn  was  pur?sued  by  several  enemy  ships,  however,  so  her  fate  can  only  be  speculated  upon.  I  did  not  mention  the  Pillar  of  Autumn  in  my  report,  as  that  ship  is  on  Section  Three's  Secure  List."
　　"Good."  Hood  closed  his  eyes.  "Then  there  is,  at  least,  some  hope."
　　Ackerson  shook  his  head.  "With  all  due  respect  to  my  prede?cessor,  Doctor  Halsey,  the  special  weapons  package  on  the  Pil?lar  hasn't  got  a  chance  in  hell  of  accomplishing  its  mission.  You  might  as  well  have  shot  every  one  of  them  in  the  head  and  gotten  it  over  with."
　　"That  will  be  enough,  Ackerson,"  Hood  said  and  glowered  at  him.  "Quite  enough."
　　"Sir,"  Wagner  ventured.  "The  Colonel  may  be  correct...  at  least  in  his  mission  assessment.  Our  agent  on  the  Pillar  of  Au?tumn  signaled  us  before  the  end.  He  regrettably  reported  that  a
　　104 HALO:  FIRST  STRIKE
　　significant  number  of  Spartans  went  groundside  to  defend  Reach's  orbital  guns."
　　"Then  they're  dead,"  Ackerson  said.  "Halsey's  freaks  have  fi?nally  lost  their  luster  of  invincibility."
　　Admiral  Hood  set  his  jaw.  "Doctor  Halsey,"  he  said  slowly  and  with  deliberate  control,  "and  her  Spartans  deserve  the  ut?most  respect,  Colonel."  He  turned  to  face  him,  but  Hood  stared  through  Ackerson.  "And  if  you  wish  to  keep  your  newly  ac?quired  position  on  the  Security  Council,  you  will  show  them  that  respect,  or  I  will  personally  kick  you  from  here  to  Melbourne."
　　"I  merely—"  Ackerson  said.
　　"Those  'freaks,'  "  Hood  said  over  his  protest,  "have  more  confirmed  kills  than  any  three  divisions  of  ODSTs  and  have  gar?nered  every  major  citation  the  UNSC  awards.  Those  'freaks'  have  personally  saved  my  life  twice,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  most  of  the  senior  staff  here  at  HighCom.  Keep  your  bigotry  in  check,  Colonel.  Do  you  understand?"
　　"My  apologies,"  Ackerson  muttered.
　　"I  asked  you  a  direct  question,"  Admiral  Hood  barked.
　　"Sir,"  Ackerson  said.  "I  understand  completely,  Admiral.  It  will  not  happen  again."  His  face  burned  bright  red.
　　Wagner,  however,  didn't  think  this  was  the  color  of  shame.  It  was  anger.
　　"The  Spartans,"  Hood  whispered.  "Doctor  Halsey.  Whit-comb.  We  lost  too  many  good  people  on  Reach.  Not  to  mention  dozens  of  ships."  He  pursed  his  lips  into  a  razor-thin  line.
　　"We  should  send  a  small  recon  force  to  see  what's  left,"  Gen?eral  Strauss  suggested.
　　"Not  wise,  sir,"  Ackerson  replied.  "We  must  pull  back  and  re?inforce  the  Inner  Colonies  and  Earth.  The  new  orbital  platforms  won't  be  online  for  another  ten  days.  Until  then,  our  defense  pos?ture  will  be  far  too  weak.  We'll  need  every  ship  we've  got."