第137页

　　Another  plasma  bolt  sizzled  close  to  the  hull,  this  one  thirty  meters  to  port.  It  was  a  river  of  fire  that  lit  the  surface  of  Ascen?dant  Justice  like  a  dozen  suns.  John's  shields  drained  to  a  quarter.
　　"Okay,  Chief,"  Fred  told  him,  "I'm—"
　　ERIC  NYLUND 223
　　"Incoming!"  Polaski  cried  over  the  COM.
　　John  turned  to  the  dropship  and  saw  a  third  plasma  projectile  materialize  from  the  folds  of  tangled  Slipspace.  This  one  skimmed  a  mere  three  meters  over  the  hull—straight  toward  them.
　　Will  dived  into  the  crux  where  the  dropship  met  the  hull.  Fred  and  Grace  hit  the  deck.  Li  stood  his  ground  and  fired  at  the  Elites,  muzzle  flash  reflected  in  his  helmet's  faceplate.  Anton  rose  from  his  limited  cover  on  top  of  the  dropship,  but  instinc?tively  ducked  again  as  an  Elite  took  a  shot  at  him.  John  crouched,  jumped,  and  propelled  himself  into  the  sheltered  area  between  the  dropship's  mandibles.
　　The  plasma  blasted  over  the  dropship  like  a  tidal  wave  of  fire.
　　Polaski  screamed,  and  her  channel  went  silent.
　　Blue-white  light  filled  John's  vision,  and  electrical  discharges  jolted  his  flesh  and  buzzed  through  his  muscles  and  ligaments.  Temperature  warnings  blared.  Boiling  hydrostatic  gel  vented  through  his  MJOLNIR  armor's  emergency  ducts.
　　Through  blurry  eyes,  John  saw  the  Covenant  Elites  flash  va?porize.  Downship,  Ascendant  Justice's  hull  heated  to  a  glowing  yellow  and  softened.
　　Then  the  light  and  heat  vanished,  and  the  torrent  of  fire  trailed  aft  like  the  tail  of  a  comet.
　　John  craned  his  neck  up,  every  muscle  in  his  body  screaming  in  pain.  There  was  no  trace  of  Li  or  Anton.  The  dropship's  hull  was  melted  and  distorted  like  a  wax  candle  caught  in  a  blow?torch's  blast.
　　The  cockpit  and  Polaski  were  gone.
　　His  biosign  warning  blared.  Will,  Grace,  and  Fred  lay  next  to  him—dead  or  unconscious,  he  couldn't  tell.  He  quickly  attached  their  tethers  to  the  deck,  then  clipped  his  own  in  place.
　　John  keyed  the  COM.  "Admiral,  conduit  breach  is  sealed,  sir."
　　"Hang  on,  son,"  Admiral  Whitcomb  replied.  "This  might  be  a  rough  ride."
　　John  slumped  to  the  deck  unconscious.
　　CHAPTER  TWENTY-FIVE
　　TIME:DATE  RECORD  [[ERROR]]ANOMALY\Date  Unknown\  Captured  Covenant  flagship  Ascendant  Justice,  in  anomalous  Slipspace  bubble.
　　Admiral  Whitcomb  stood  on  the  bridge  of  Ascendant  Justice.  He  gripped  the  edges  of  the  railing  that  encircled  the  central  raised  platform  and  watched  the  sea  of  fire  on  the  wall  displays.
　　They  were  stuck  in  this  pocket  of  Slipspace,  trapped  like  an  insect  in  amber  as  lines  of  plasma  crisscrossed  the  region.  Enemy  fire  vanished  and  reappeared,  smearing  the  blue  fog  of  Slipspace  with  crimson  streaks  of  glowing  energy.  Molten  chunks  of  metal,  the  broken  pieces  of  Covenant  ships,  streaked  past  the  cameras—comets  that  thudded  into  their  hull.
　　There  was  another  danger  in  the  blue  fog:  ghost  ships  that  ap?peared  and  faded  from  sight...  more  than  half  of  them  disabled,  engulfed  in  fire,  or  their  hulls  broken.  How  many  of  those  Cove?nant  craft  were  still  capable  of  engaging  Ascendant  Justice"!  How  many  could  they  take  out  before  they  risked  the  jump  back  to  normal  space?