第143页

　　SECTION  5
　　MASSACRE  AT  ERIDANUS  SECUNDUS
　　CHAPTER  TWENTY-SIX
　　TIME-.DATE  RECORD  [[ERROR]]ANOMALY\Date  unknown\  Captured  Covenant  flagship  Ascendant  Justice,  in  anomalous  Slipspace  bubble.
　　The  Master  Chief  woke.
　　Consciousness,  however,  was  a  slight  overestimation  of  his  condition.  His  blurry  vision  came  into  focus  slowly...  but  there  was  nothing  to  see  except  the  interior  of  his  visor.  Amber  status  lights  winked  on.
　　Pain  washed  over  his  feet,  his  right  thigh,  and  his  hand.  Good.  He  was  alive.  He  knew  from  previous  experience  that  this  was  the  tail  end  of  shock  ...  and  the  stunning,  numbing  effects  of  that  state  were  wearing  off.
　　He  felt  the  familiar  weight  and  reactive  circuits  of  his  MJOLNIR  armor  surrounding  him.  The  coppery-tinged  flavor  of  biofoam  coated  his  mouth,  so  he  also  surmised  that  his  injuries  had  been  recently  treated.
　　And  there  was  gravity.  The  press  against  his  back  was  a  great  comfort  to  the  Master  Chief.  The  next  time  someone  wanted  him  to  go  on  a  zero-gee  op,  he'd—
　　"Welcome  back,"  Cortana  said,  interrupting  his  thoughts.  A  faint  light  flickered  on  to  his  left.
　　He  turned  onto  his  side.  The  burns  on  his  extremities  pro?tested  and  shot  lances  of  pain  up  his  hand  and  feet.
　　He  was  in  a  med  bay.  The  lights  were  turned  down  low,  and  he  saw  that  he  was  the  only  person  occupying  a  recovery  bed.  Bio-monitors  pulsed  along  one  wall,  displaying  his  vital  signs  and  MRI  snapshots.
　　A  holographic  projection  pad  stood  next  to  his  bed.  Cortana's
　　ERIC  NYLUND
　　235
　　tiny  figure,  strobing  with  symbolic  logic  code,  waved  to  him,  and  when  he  didn't  immediately  respond  she  crossed  her  arms  impatiently.  "MRIs  show  no  concussion,  no  subdural  or  epidural  hematomas.  You  must  have  a  thicker  skull  than  I  thought."
　　"Where  am  I?"
　　"Deck  thirty-two  on  the  UNSC  frigate  Gettysburg"  Cortana  told  him.  "Or  what's  left  of  it,  anyway."
　　"What  happened?"
　　Cortana  sighed.  "Are  you  referring  to  what  happened  since  I  left  you  on  Reach?  Or  the  outcome  of  the  Slipspace  battle?  Or  do  you  mean  what  happened  since  that  battle?"
　　"The  battle,  first,"  he  said  and  struggled  to  get  up.  "I  presume  we  won."
　　Standing  was  too  painful,  though,  and  the  strength  seemed  to  have  been  drained  from  his  muscles.  He  eased  himself  back  to  his  original  horizontal  position.
　　Cortana's  pale  blue  light  dimmed  and  her  gaze  dropped  to  the  deck.  "Blue  Team  successfully  repaired  the  main-engine  conduit."
　　"I  remember,"  the  Master  Chief  murmured.  "The  repair  part  of  it,  at  least.  There  was  an  explosion..."
　　"A  plasma  bolt,"  Cortana  corrected.  She  sighed.  "I'm  sorry,  Chief,  but  only  you  and  SPARTANS-093,  -043,  and  -104  sur?vived  that  blast."
　　Grace,  Will,  and  Fred  were  alive,  but  Li,  Anton,  and  Warrant  Officer  Polaski  had  been  killed  in  action.  He  remembered  Po-laski's  scream,  then  Anton's  outline  as  the  flash  of  white-hot  fire  swept  over  the  hull.
　　"Acknowledged,"  he  said  as  graciously  as  he  could  muster,  but  he  heard  bitterness  give  an  edge  to  his  voice.
　　It  struck  him  as  odd  that  Polaski's  death  affected  him  as  well.  He'd  seen  thousands  of  UNSC  soldiers  die.  She  hadn't  hesitated  to  transport  Blue  Team  on  a  mission  that  was  insanely  danger?ous.  She  had  survived  the  battle  of  Reach,  the  crash  landing  on  Halo,  the  Flood,  and  everything  else—then  she  had  bravely  vol?unteered  for  this  mission,  too,  and  perhaps  saved  all  their  lives.