第111页

　　"Yes,  sir.  It's...  a  long  story."
　　The  Admiral  twisted  the  end  of  his  mustache,  glanced  at  his  wristwatch,  and  smiled.  "We  got  the  time,  son.  Let's  hear  it."
　　John  sat  on  a  rock  and  recounted  to  the  Admiral  what  had  hap?pened  since  he  had  left  Reach:  the  recovery  of  the  NAV  database  on  Gamma  Station,  the  Pillar  ofAutumn's  harrowing  escape,  the  discovery  of  the  Halo  construct  and  its  eccentric  caretaker,  343  Guilty  Spark.  He  hesitated,  then  described  his  encounters  with  the  Flood  and  subsequent  destruction  of  Halo,  ending  with  his  capture  of  the  Covenant  flagship.
　　During  the  story,  Lieutenant  Haverson  and  the  others  from  the  dropship  arrived.  They  remained  silent  as  the  Master  Chief  told  the  tale.
　　The  Admiral  listened  without  speaking  a  word.  As  John  fin?ished,  the  man  gave  a  slow,  low  whistle  and  sat  contemplating  it  all.
　　"That's  one  hell  of  a  tale.  And  if  it  had  come  from  anyone  but  you,  I'd  order  a  psych  exam."  He  stood  and  paced.  He  stopped  and  frowned.  "I  believe  it  all...  but  something  still  doesn't  add  up."  His  face  wrinkled  as  he  thought.  "Can't  quite  put  my  finger  on  it,  though."
　　"Sir,"  Lieutenant  Haverson  meekly  said.  "Pardon  me  for  ask?ing,  but  how  is  it  you  are  alive?  Here?"
　　The  Admiral  smiled.  "Well,  that's  another  long  story,  Lieu?tenant.  Let  me  give  you  the  short-and-sweet  version."  He  leaned  against  the  cavern  wall  and  crossed  his  arms  over  his  chest.
　　"The  second  those  Covenant  bastards  entered  the  system  I  knew  Reach  was  history.  The  Covenant  don't  do  anything  halfway.
　　180 HALO:  FIRST  STRIKE
　　Everyone  planetside  was  busy  evacuating—which  was  the  right  thing  to  do—but  I  had  to  stay  behind."  Several  emotions  played  across  the  Admiral's  face:  concern,  amusement...  and  then  his  features  settled  into  a  firm  stare  as  he  looked  into  the  past,  recalling  what  happened.
　　"We'd  been  working  on  a  new  bomb,  called  the  Nova.  It  was  a  cluster  of  nukes,  each  with  a  lithium  triteride  casing.  Now,  these  things,  in  theory,  when  they  detonate,  not  only  make  a  big  bang  like  you  expect  a  nuke  to—but  they  also  force  their  tritium  cases  together  in  one  big  superheated  and  pressurized  center."  He  made  a  fist  and  slammed  it  into  his  other  palm  for  emphasis.  "Boosts  the  yield  a  hundredfold."  A  grin  spread  across  his  face.  "Planet  killers.  We  had  planned  to  use  these  things  in  space  bat?tles  to  level  the  playing  field."
　　His  grin  faded  and  he  stroked  his  mustache.  "Well,  things  didn't  quite  turn  out  as  planned,  and  we  got  caught  flat-footed  with  those  Novas  on  the  ground.  So  I  decided  to  repurpose  them."
　　Lieutenant  Haverson's  face  wrinkled  with  confusion.  He  didn't  dare  interrupt,  but  the  Admiral  saw  his  expression  and  said,  "Think,  son.  All  that  ordnance  around  with  plenty  of  Cove?nant  to  blow  up."
　　Haverson  shook  his  head.  "I'm  sorry,  sir.  I  still  don't  understand."
　　"Intelligence  officer,  huh?"  Whitcomb  snorted  and  turned  to  the  Master  Chief.  "What  would  you  have  done?"
　　"Arm  them,  sir,"  the  Master  Chief  replied.  "Activate  the  fail?safe  tampering  detonators  and  start  a  countdown  timer.  Say,  two  weeks."