第204页

　　"We  couldn't  have  survived  without  you,"  he  finally  told  her.  "Your  programming  is  as  good  as  ours."
　　She  tinged  pink  and  then  her  hologram  returned  to  a  cool  blue  hue.  "Are  my  aural  systems  malfunctioning  or  was  that  a  com?pliment,  Chief?"
　　"Continue  to  monitor  Slipspace  for  any  anomalies,"  the  Mas?ter  Chief  said,  ignoring  her.
　　He  strode  to  the  three  forward  viewscreens  and  stared  into  blackness.  He  wanted  solitude,  to  gaze  at  nothing,  and  complete  the  task  that  he  dreaded.
　　John  pulled  his  team  roster  onto  his  heads-up  display.  He  ran  down  the  list,  designating  all  those  who  had  died  on  Reach,  and  af?terward,  as  Missing  In  Action.  James,  Li,  Grace...  and  all  his  dead  teammates  who  would  never  officially  be  "allowed"  to  die.  And  in  his  mind,  they  would  never  find  any  peace  until  this  war  was  won.
　　He  paused  at  Kelly's  name.
　　John  listed  her  as  MIA,  too.  She  was  ironically  the  only  Spar?tan  truly  missing,  whisked  away  by  Dr.  Halsey  on  some  secret  pri?vate  mission.  John  knew  that  whatever  the  doctor  had  planned,  she  would  protect  Kelly  if  she  could.  Still,  he  couldn't  help  but  worry  about  them  both.
　　He  added  Corporal  Locklear  to  his  list  and  designated  him  Killed  In  Action.  It  was  a  more  fitting  end  for  a  man  who  had  been  as  much  a  warrior  as  any  Spartan.
　　The  last  three  names  on  his  list  he  stared  at  for  a  long  time:  Warrant  Officer  Shiela  Polaski,  Lieutenant  Elias  Haverson,  and  Admiral  Danforth  Whitcomb.  He  reluctantly  listed  them  as  KIA  and  referenced  his  mission  report,  which  detailed  their  heroism.
　　Two  men  had  stopped  a  Covenant  armada.  They  had  willingly  died  doing  it,  and  they  had  bought  the  human  race  a  brief  respite  from  destruction.
　　John  felt  glad.  They  were  soldiers,  sworn  to  protect  humanity
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　　from  all  threats,  and  they  had  fulfilled  their  duty  as  few  ever  could.  And  like  his  Spartans  who  were  "missing  in  action,"  the  Admiral  and  the  Lieutenant  would  never  die,  either.  Not  because  of  a  technicality  in  a  mission  status  listing,  but  because  in  their  deaths  they  would  live  on  as  inspirations.
　　John  turned  and  watched  as  Linda,  Will,  and  Fred  occupied  the  bridge  stations.  John  would  make  sure  that  he  and  the  last  surviving  Spartans  did  the  same.
　　The  elevator  doors  opened,  and  Sergeant  Johnson  stepped  onto  the  bridge.
　　"Got  all  those  Covenant  Engineers  rounded  up  on  B-Deck,"  Sergeant  Johnson  announced.  "Slippery  suckers."
　　The  Chief  nodded.
　　"The  boys  at  ONI  and  those  squid  heads  have  a  lot  in  com?mon.  Can't  understand  a  thing  they  say  and  they're  just  as  good  looking.  Guess  they're  all  going  to  have  a  long  talk  about  techni?cal  whatsits  and  scientific  doodads  when  we  get  home."
　　Sergeant  Johnson  crossed  the  bridge  to  the  Master  Chief.  "There's  one  other  thing.  Another  ONI  thing."  He  held  out  a  data  crystal  and  his  gaze  fell  to  the  deck.  "Lieutenant  Haverson  gave  this  to  me  before  he  and  the  Admiral  left.  He  said  you'd  have  to  deliver  it  for  him."
　　John  stared  at  the  data  crystal  and  reluctantly  plucked  it  from  the  Sergeant's  fingers  as  if  it  were  a  slug  of  unstable  radioactive  material.