第108页
"Got it," Linda whispered.
"The other bolt still tracking," Will said. "Impact in two seconds."
"Shields?" Fred asked.
"Working," Will said. "No—they're down."
The holographic viewers spilled blazing red light onto the bridge.
Beneath the deck, the ship shuddered.
"Power loss across all systems," Will told Fred. "Slipspace capacitors draining from ninety-eight… trying to reroute."
"Jump now," Fred ordered. "Before we lose more power."
Underpowered Slipspace transitions were technically possible. Over the last thirty years UNSC ships had attempted such a maneuver, twice. Both times they succeeded transitioning… into atomized bits.
Fred hoped Covenant technology had a work-around for that problem.
"Aye aye," Will said. He tapped a control.
The enemy ships and stars vanished from the viewer.
The Spartans stood silent; Fred held his breath, unsure if they'd explode.
The viewers went completely dark. It was silent.
Slipspace parameters then streamed across Will's console.
"We made it," Will breathed.
Fred exhaled. "Good job," he told them. He stood there dumb and mute as he worked through the undeniable logic of what had just happened.
"What is it?" Linda asked.
"We were in Slipstream space," he said, "and answered a distress signal from a ship in combat in normal space."
Linda nodded and one of her hands nervously flexed.
"So?" Will asked. "The Covenant can send signals in Slipspace. So can we."
"But not hsten to those signals in normal space," Linda said.
"They could have heard Cortana's message and Dr. Halsey's," Fred told them. "They may know everything."
Ship Master Voro clutched the rail of his command platform and shouted, "Now! All thrusters answer new course one eight zero by zero zero zero. Divert engine and shield power to the forward energy projector."
"Answering new course," Zasses said.
The Incorruptible spun about—its momentum continued to carry it forward—but now they faced the pursuing frigate pair.
Uruo at his Operation station called out, "Projector hot, sir. Target solution ready."
"On my word."
Voro hesitated and listened to three beats of his hearts—one
for faith, one for family, and the last for honor—the ritual mediation of the Mendicant.
The leading frigate fired lasers.
"Armor sections Prime One and Ventral Three severely damaged," Y'gar announced with utter calm.
"Stand by," Voro said.
He felt his junior officers' eyes upon him. They were wondering perhaps, as he was, if he had gone mad.
"Let them come closer for the kill," Voro said. "We have but one shot. Wait… Wait…"
Both frigates, the Twilight Compunction and the Revenant, filled and blurred the edges of the holographic viewers, their lateral lines powering.
A single, normal energy-projector shot could not by itself destroy a Covenant ship of war. It would obliterate shields, but it had to be followed by a plasma bolt to damage or disable.
This was a tactic neutralized by the skillful maneuvers employed by a Jiralhanae frigate pair. They would shift to take alternate plasma hits efficiently, giving the pair an alternating energy shield. They could then combine firepower. If they made no mistakes, they were more than a match for the Incorruptible.