第167页

　　"A  week?"  Kelly  growled  and  struggled  to  rise.  "Doctor,  I  need  to  be  one  hundred  percent  ASAP.  The  Chief  has  a  mission—"
　　Dr.  Halsey  activated  the  injectors,  and  they  hissed  their  con?tents  into  Kelly's  body.  She  relaxed  and  slumped  back  on  the  ta?ble,  unconscious.
　　"No,  Kelly,"  Dr.  Halsey  whispered.  "You're  not  going  on  the  Chief's  mission.  You're  going  on  mine."
　　The  sedative  in  her  bloodstream  would  knock  out  an  ODST  in  peak  condition  for  the  better  part  of  a  day.  Halsey  estimated  that  Kelly  would  be  unconscious  for  a  little  more  than  two  hours.  By  that  time  they'd  both  be  far  enough  along  that  there'd  be  no  turn?ing  back.
　　Dr.  Halsey  swiveled  one  of  the  displays  to  face  her.  She  exe?cuted  the  memory-erase  command—wiping  clean  Cortana's  recollection  of  the  research  they  had  done  on  old  ONI  lockdown  codes.  She  folded  the  printout  of  their  results  and  stuffed  it  into  her  pocket.
　　"Cortana?"
　　"Yes,  Doctor?"  she  replied.  Her  voice  through  the  room's  speakers  sounded  distracted.
　　"Locate  Corporal  Locklear  and  have  him  report  immediately,  please."
　　"Done,  Doctor  Halsey."
　　"Thank  you,  Cortana.  That  will  be  all."  She  added  in  a  whisper  so  low  that  only  she  heard:  "Take  good  care  of  them  all  for  me."
　　Dr.  Halsey  adjusted  the  examination  table  so  it  lay  flat,  and  then  loaded  medical  supplies  and  equipment  onto  its  undercar?riage.  She  placed  a  bag  with  four  submachine  guns  and  sixteen  full  clips  of  ammunition  on  top  of  the  supplies.
　　She  found  a  lukewarm  cup  of  stale  coffee  and  gulped  it  down  to  the  dregs.
　　Corporal  Locklear  appeared  at  the  open  entrance  to  the  prep  room.  "Hey,  Doc.  Cortana  said  you  needed  me?"  he  said  tersely.
　　274 HALO:  FIRST  STRIKE
　　He  smoothed  his  hand  over  his  shaved  head.  "I'm  kind  of  busy  right  now,  so  if  this  can  wait—"
　　"Whatever  you're  doing,"  Dr.  Halsey  told  him,  "this  is  more  important."  She  nodded  to  Kelly's  prone  form.  "I  need  your  help  getting  SPARTAN-087  to  the  launch  bay."
　　"Is  she  okay?"  he  asked  and  took  a  step  toward  her.
　　"She's  fine,  but  I  have  to  transfer  her  to  the  asteroid  base.  They  have  a  piece  of  equipment  necessary  to  complete  her  treatment."
　　Locklear  appeared  unconvinced.  "But  I  just  saw  her—"
　　"She's  fine,"  Dr.  Halsey  assured  him.  "Just  sedated.  This  pro?cedure  is...  unpleasant,  even  for  a  Spartan."
　　Locklear  looked  into  Dr.  Halsey's  eyes  and  then  nodded,  ac?cepting  this  explanation.  He  moved  the  head  of  the  table  and  wheeled  it  through  the  doors,  the  med  bay,  and  out  into  the  wait?ing  elevator.
　　Dr.  Halsey  followed  on  his  heels.
　　When  the  elevator  doors  closed,  she  turned  to  the  Corporal.  "Your  hand,  please."
　　He  looked  puzzled  but  held  out  his  hand.
　　Dr.  Halsey  took  it  and  turned  it  palm-up.  She  set  the  long,  lu?minous  blue  artifact  in  his  grasp.  The  light  emitted  by  the  alien  artifact  shone  onto  their  faces  and  made  the  interior  of  the  eleva?tor  colder.  "This  is  what  the  Covenant  so  desperately  want.  They  tore  up  Reach  to  get  it.  They  followed  us  into  Slipspace.  And  Po-laski  died  protecting  this  thing."