第152页

　　"Give  me  an  update  on  SPARTAN-058's  condition,  Cortana."
　　"Core  temperature  increasing  at  a  steady  point-two  degrees  Celsius  per  minute,  attaining  thirty-seven  degrees  in  ten  minutes."
　　"Very  good.  Prep  and  move  the  flash-cloned  liver  and  kidneys  from  storage  and  ready  surgical  bay  three."
　　ERIC  NYLUND
　　249
　　"Aye,  Doctor."
　　Linda's  medical  data  winked  on  a  display  along  with  the  en?tire  Spartan  roster:  a  long  list  of  every  Spartan's  current  opera?tional  status.  Only  a  handful  was  left,  almost  every  one  of  them  listed  as  WOUNDED  IN  ACTION  or  MISSING  IN  ACTION.
　　"No  KIAs?"  Dr.  Halsey  murmured.  She  touched  SPARTAN-034's  entry.  "Sam  is  listed  as  missing  in  action.  Why  would  that  be?  He  died  in  2525."
　　"ONI  Section  Two  Directive  Nine-Three-Zero,"  Cortana  re?plied.  "When  ONI  went  public  with  the  SPARTAN-II  program,  it  was  decided  that  the  reports  of  Spartan  losses  could  cause  a  crip?pling  loss  of  morale.  Consequently,  any  Spartan  casualties  are  listed  as  MIA  or  WIA,  in  order  to  maintain  the  illusion  that  Spar?tans  do  not  die."
　　"Spartans  never  die?"  she  whispered.  Dr.  Halsey  swiveled  out  of  the  contoured  chair  and  pushed  the  monitors  out  of  her  way  with  a  sudden  violence.  "If  only  that  were  true."
　　There  was  so  much  to  do  and  so  little  time  left  for  her,  the  Spar?tans,  and  the  human  race.  She  could  do  something,  though.  She'd  save  them  one  person  at  a  time,  starting  with  Linda,  then  Kelly,  and  then  a  handful  of  very  important  others.
　　Of  course,  it  meant  betraying  everyone  who  trusted  her—but  if  that  was  the  only  way  Dr.  Halsey  could  save  herself,  and  her  soul,  then  she'd  do  it.
　　CHAPTER  TWENTY-EIGHT
　　1930  hours,  September  12,2552  (revised  date,  Military  Calendar)\Captured  Covenant  flagship  Ascendant  Justice,  in  Slipspace  en  route  to  Eridanus  system.
　　Black  space  churned  with  pinpricks  of  light;  it  split,  and  the  Gettysburg-Ascendant  Justice  appeared  in  the  Eridanus  system.
　　The  Master  Chief  stood  on  the  Gettysburg's  bridge.  He'd  wanted  to  be  on  the  medical  deck  when  Dr.  Halsey  had  finished  with  Linda,  be  there  when  she  woke  up  ...  or  be  there  in  case  she  never  woke  up.  But  he  had  to  be  here;  this  was  his  idea,  and  he  was  the  closest  thing  they  had  to  an  expert  on  this  place.
　　"Systems  check,"  Admiral  Whitcomb  ordered.
　　Lieutenant  Haverson  leaned  over  the  ops  console  and  flicked  through  several  screens.  "Residual  radiation  fading,"  he  said.  "Navigation  systems  and  scanners  coming  back  online."
　　Fred  stood  at  the  Engineering  station  and  reported,  "Reactors  at  sixty  percent.  Slight  hysteresis  leak  in  coil  ten.  Compensating."
　　"Plasma?"  the  Admiral  asked  as  he  settled  into  the  Captain's  chair.
　　Cortana's  ghostly  image  flickered  onto  the  holographic  pad  next  to  the  star  chart.
　　"We  can  fire  only  one  turret,"  she  replied,  and  a  wash  of  red  flashed  across  her  image  then  cooled  to  its  normal  deep  blue.  "The  other  two  functional  turrets  are  offline;  their  magnetic  coils  refuse  to  align.  It  might  be  a  side  effect  of  the  artifact's  radiation."