D+128:15:25 (Lieutenant McKay Mission Clock) /On the plain surrounding thePillar of Autumn .

The rain stopped just before dawn—not gradually but all at once, as ifsomeone had flipped a switch. The clouds melted away, the first rays of thesun appeared, and darkness surrendered to light.

Slowly, as if to reveal something precious, the golden glow slid across theplain to illuminate thePillar of Autumn , which lay like an abandonedscepter, her bow hanging out over the edge of a steep precipice.

She washuge , so huge that the Covenant had assigned two Banshees to flycover over her, and a squad of six Ghosts patrolled the area immediatelyaround the fallen cruiser’s hull. However, from the listless manner withwhich the enemy soldiers went about their duties, McKay could tell they wereunaware of the threat that had crept up on them during the hours of rain-filled darkness.

Back on Earth, before the invention of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine,and the subsequent efforts to colonize other star systems, human soldiershad frequently staged attacks at dawn, when there was more light to see by,and the enemy sentries were likely to be tired and sleepy. In order tocounter, the more sophisticated armies soon developed the tradition of anearly morning “stand-to,” when every soldier went to barricades in casethe enemy chose that particular morning to attack.

Did the Covenant have a similar tradition, McKay wondered? Or were theydozing a bit, relieved that the long period of darkness was finally over,their fears eased by the first rays of the sun? The officer would soon findout.

Like all sixty-two members of her Company, the Helljumper was concealed justbeyond the border of the roughly U-shaped area that the Covenant activelypatrolled. And now, with daylight only minutes away, the time had arrivedeither to commit herself or to withdraw.

McKay took one last look around. Her arm ached, and her bladder was full,but everything else was A-okay. She keyed the radio and gave the order thatboth platoons had been waiting for. “Red One to Blue One and GreenOne . . . Proceed to objective. Over.”

The response came so quickly that McKay missed whatever acknowledgments thetwo Platoon leaders might have sent. The key was to neutralize the Bansheesand the Ghosts so quickly, so decisively, that the ODST troopers would beable to cross the long stretch of open ground and reach theAutumn virtuallyunopposed. That’s why no fewer than three of the powerful M19 rocketlaunchers were aimed at each Banshee—and three Marines had been assigned toeach of the half dozen target Ghosts.

Two of the four rockets fired at the Covenant aircraft missed their marks,but both Banshees took hits, and immediately exploded. Wreckage rained onthe Covenant position.

The Ghost drivers on both sides of the ship were still looking upward,trying to figure out what had occurred, when more than two dozen assaultweapons opened up on them.

Four of the rapid attack vehicles were destroyed within the first fewseconds of the battle. The fifth, piloted by a mortally wounded Elite,described a number of large overlapping circles before crashing into thecruiser’s hull and finally putting the driver out of his misery. The Elitebehind the controls of the sixth and last Ghost panicked, backed away fromthe wholesale destruction, and toppled over the edge of the precipice.

If the alien screamed on the way down McKay wasn’t able to hear it,especially with the steadycrack ,crack,crackof multiple S2 Sniper Riflesgoing off all around her. She keyed her radio to the command freq andordered her platoon leaders to move up.

The assault force crossed the open area in a run, and headed toward theship’s sternmost air locks.

Covenant troops stationed within the ship heard the ruckus and hurriedoutside, and were met by the sight of the still-smoking wrecks of theirmechanized support, and an enthusiastic—if somewhat thin—infantry assault.

Most were simply standing there, waiting for someone to tell them what todo, when the snipers’ 14.5mm armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot rounds began to cut them down. The impact was devastating. McKay sawElites, Jackals, and Grunts alike throw up their arms and collapse as therolling fusillade took its toll.

Then, as the aliens started to pull back into the relative safety of theship’s interior, McKay jumped to her feet, knowing that one of her noncomswould do likewise on the far side of the hull, and waved the snipersforward. “Switch to your assault weapons! The last one to the lock has tostay and guard it!”

All the ODST troopers knew there were plenty of things to scrounge insidethe hull, and they were eager to do so. The possibility that they might endup guarding a lock rather than pillaging theAutumn ’s interior was morethan sufficient motivation to make each Marine run as fast as possible.

The purpose of the exercise was to get the last members of the Companyacross what could have been a Covenant killing ground and to do so asquickly as possible. McKay thought she’d been successful, thought she’dmade a clean break, when a momentary shadow passed over her and someoneyelled, “Contact! Enemy contact!”

The officer glanced back over her shoulder and spied a Covenant dropship.

The ungainly looking craft swept in from the east, and was about to deployadditional forces. Its plasma cannon opened fire and stitched a line ofblack dots in the dirt, out toward the edge of the drop-off.

A sniper disappeared from the waist down, and still had enough air to screamas his forward motion slowed, and his torso landed on a pile of his ownintestines.

McKay skidded to a halt, yelled, “Snipers! About face,fire !” and hopedthat the brief parade ground–style orders would be sufficient tocommunicate what she wanted.

Each Covenant dropship had side slots, small cubicle-like spaces where theirtroops rode during transit, and from which they were released when theaircraft arrived over the landing zone. Had the pilot been more experiencedhe would have positioned the aircraft so that it was nose-on to the enemyand fired his cannon while the troops bailed out—but he wasn’t, or he’dsimply made a mistake, as he presented the ship’s starboard side to thehumans and opened the doors.

More than half the ODST snipers had switched back to their S2s and hadshouldered their weapons up as the drop doors opened. They opened firebefore the Covenant troops could leap to the ground. One of their rounds hita plasma grenade and caused it to explode. A control line must have beensevered, because the dropship lurched to port, pitched forward, and nosedinto the ground. Twin waves of soil were gouged out of the plateau as theaircraft slid forward, hit a boulder, and exploded into flame.

Secondary explosions cooked off and the twin hulls disintegrated. The soundof the blast bounced off theAutumn ’s hull and rolled across thesurrounding plain.

The Marines waited a moment to see if any of the aliens would try to crawl,walk, or run away, but none of them did.

McKay heard the muffledthump ,thump,thumpof automatic weapons fire comingfrom within the ship behind her, knew the job was only half done, and wavedto the half dozen Marines. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

The Helljumpers looked at one another, grinned, and followed McKay into theship. The El-tee mightlook like a wild-eyed maniac, but she knew her stuff,and that was good enough for them.

The soil was still damp from the rain, so when the sun hit the top of themesa a heavy mist started to form, as if a battalion of spirits had beenreleased from bondage.

Keyes, exhausted by his captivity, not to mention the harrowing escape fromtheTruth and Reconciliation , had literally collapsed in the bed theHelljumpers had prepared for him and slept hard for the next three hours.

Now, awakened by both a nightmare and the internal clock that was stillattuned to the arbitrarily set ship time, the Naval officer was up andprowling about.

The view from the rampart was nothing less than spectacular, looking outover a flat plain to the gently rolling hills beyond. A bank of ivory-whiteclouds scudded above the hills. The vista wasso beautiful,so pristine, thatit was difficult to believe that Halo was a weapon.

He heard the scrape of footsteps, and turned to watch Silva emerge from thestaircase that led up to the observation platform. “Good morning, sir,”

the Marine said. “I heard you were up and around. May I join you?”

“Of course,” Keyes said, gesturing to a place at the waist-high wall.

“Please do. I took a self-guided tour of the landing pads, the Shadeemplacements, and the beginnings of the maintenance shop. Good work, Major.

You and your Helljumpers are to be congratulated. Thanks to you, we have aplace to rest, regroup, and plan.”

“The Covenant did some of the work for us,” Silva replied modestly, “butI agree, sir, my people did a hell of a job. Speaking of which, I thought Ishould let you know that Lieutenant McKay and two platoons of ODST troopsare fighting their way into theAutumn even as we speak. If they retrieve thesupplies we need, Alpha Base will be able to hold for quite a while.”

“And if the Covenant attacks before then?”

“Then we are well and truly screwed. We’re running short on ammo, food,and fuel for the Pelicans.”

Keyes nodded. “Well, let’s hope McKay pulls it off. In the meantime thereare some other things we need to consider.”

Silva found the easy, almost offhanded manner in which Keyes had reassumedcommand to be a bit irritating, even though he knew it was the otherofficer’s obligation to do so. There was a clear-cut chain of command, andnow that Keyes was free, the Naval officer was in charge. There was nothingthe Marine could do except look interested—and hope his superior came upwith at least some of the right ideas.

“Yes, sir. What’s up?”

So Keyes talked, and Silva listened, as the Captain reviewed what he hadlearned while in captivity. “The essence of the matter is that while theraces which comprise the Covenantseem to possess a high level of technology,most if not all of it may have been looted from the beings they refer to asthe ‘Forerunners,’ an ancient race which left ruins on dozens of planets,and presumably was responsible for constructing Halo.

“In the long run, the fact that they are adaptive, rather than innovative,may prove to be their undoing. For the moment, however, before we can takeadvantage of that weakness, we must first find the means to survive.If Halois a weapon, andif it has the capacity to destroy all of humanity as theyseem to believe, then we must find the means to neutralize it—and perhapsturn it against the Covenant.

“That’s why I ordered Cortana and the Master Chief to find the so-calledControl Room to which the aliens have alluded, and see if there’s a way toblock the Covenant’s plan.”

Silva placed his forearms on the top of the wall that fronted the rampartand looked out over the plain. If one knew where to look, and had a goodeye, he could see the blast-scarred ground where the Ghosts had attacked,the Helljumpers had held, and some of his Marines lay buried.

“I see what you mean, sir. Permission to speak freely?”

Keyes looked at Silva, then back to the view. “Of course. You’re second incommand here, and obviously you know your way around ground engagements farbetter than I do. If you have ideas, suggestions, or concerns, I want tohear them.”

Silva nodded respectfully. “Thank you, sir. My question has to do with theSpartan. Like everyone else, I have nothing but respect for the Chief’srecord. However, is he the right person for the mission you have in mind?

Come to think of it, is anyone person right for that kind of operation?

“I know that the Master Chief has an augmented body,” Silva continued,“not to mention the advantage that the armor gives him, but take a lookaround. This base, these defenses, were the work of normal human beings.

“The Spartan program is a failure, Captain—the fact that the Chief is theonly one left proves that, so let’s put your mission into the hands of somereal honest-to-god Marines and let them earn their pay.

“Thanks for hearing me out.”

Keyes had been in the Navy for a long time. He knew Silva was ambitious, notonly for himself, but for the ODST branch of the Marine Corps. He also knewthat Silva was brave, well-intentioned, and in this case, flat-outwrong .

But how to tell him that? He needed Silva’s enthusiastic support if any ofthem were going to make it out of this mess alive.

The Captain considered Silva’s words, then nodded. “You make some validpoints. What you and your ‘honest-to-god’ Marines have accomplished onthis butte is nothing short of miraculous.

“However, I can’t agree with your conclusions regarding the Chief or theSpartan program. First, it’s important to understand that what makes theChief so effective isn’twhat he is, butwho he is. His record is not theresult of technology—not because of what they’ve done to him butin spiteof what they’ve done to him, and the pain he has suffered.

“The truth is that the Chief would have grown up to be a remarkableindividual regardless of what the government did or didn’t do to him. Do Ithink children should be snatched away from their families? Raised by themilitary? Surgically altered? No, I don’t, not during normal times.”

He sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “Major, one of my firstassignments was to escort the Spartan’s project leader during the selectionprocess for the II-series candidates. At the time, I didn’t know the fullscope of the operation—and I probably would have resigned had I known.

“Thesearen’t normal times. We’re talking about the very real possibilityoftotal extinction , Major. How many people did we lose in the OuterColonies? How many did the Covenant kill on Jerico VII? On Reach? How manywill be glassed if they locate Earth?”

It was a rhetorical question. The Marine shook his head. “I don’t know,sir, but I do knowthis . More than twenty-five years ago, when I was asecond lieutenant, the people who invented the Chief thought it would be funto test their new pet weapon on somereal meat. They engineered a situationin which four of my Marines would run into your friend, take offense atsomething he did, and try to teach him a lesson.

“Well, guess what? The plan worked perfectly. The plan sucked my people in,and the freak not only kicked the hell out of them, he left two of them dead—beaten to death in a goddamned ship’s gymnasium. I don’t know what youcall that, sir, but I call it murder. Were there repercussions? Hell, no.

The windup toy got a pat on the head and a ticket to the showers. It was allin a day’s bloody work.”

Keyes looked bleak. “For whatever it’s worth I’m truly sorry about whathappened to your men, Major, but here’s the truth: Maybe it isn’t nice—hell, maybe it isn’t evenright —but if I could get my hands on a millionChiefs I’d take every single one of them. As for this particular mission,yes, I believe it’s possible that your people could get the job done, andif that’s all we had, I wouldn’t hesitate to send them in. But the Chiefhas a number of distinct advantages, not the least of which is Cortana, andby taking this task on he will free your Helljumpers to handle other things.

Lord knows there’s plenty to do. My decision stands.”

Silva nodded stiffly. “Sir, yes sir. My people will do everything they canto support both the Chief and Cortana.”

“Yes,” Keyes said, as he gazed up into the gently curving ring, “I’msure they will.”

The normally dark room was bright with artificial light. Zuka ’Zamamee hadstudied the raid on theTruth and Reconciliation , taken note of the mannerin which the human AI had accessed the Covenant battle net, and analyzed thenature of the electronic intrusions to see what the entity seemed mostinterested in.

Then, based on that analysis, he had constructed projections of what thehumans would do next. Notall of the humans, since that lay outside theparameters of his mission, but the one person in whom he was trulyinterested. An individual who appeared to be part of a specialized, elitegroup similar to his own, and would almost certainly be sent to follow up onwhat the humans had learned.

Now, in the room that led directly into the Security Control Center,’Zamamee laid a trap. The armored human would come, he felt sure of that,and once inside the snare, the human would meet his end. The thought cheered’Zamamee immensely and he hummed a battle hymn as he worked.

There was a flash, followed by a loudbang! as the fragmentation grenade wentoff. A Jackal screamed, an assault weapon stuttered, and a Marine yelled,“Let me know if you want some more!”

“Good work!” McKay exclaimed. “That’s the last of them. Close the hatch,lock it, and post a fire team here to make sure they don’t cut their wayout. The Covenant is welcome to the upper decks. What we need is downhere.”

The battle had been raging for hours by then as McKay and her Marines foughtto push the remaining enemy forces out of key portions of theAutumn and intothe sections of the ship that weren’t mission-critical.

As the Helljumpers sealed the last interdeck ladder not already secured,they had what they’d been striving for: free and unfettered access to theship’s main magazine, cargo holds, and vehicle bays.

In fact, even as the second platoon pushed the last of the aliens out of thelower decks, the first platoon, under the leadership of Lieutenant Oros, hadbegun the important task of hitching trailers to the fleet of Warthogsstowed in theAutumn ’s belly and loading them with food, ammo, and the longlist McKay had brought with her of other supplies. Then, once each ’Hogtrailer combo was ready, the Marines drove them down makeshift ramps ontothe hardpan below.

Once outside, and positioned laager style, the combined power of the LRV-mounted M41 light antiaircraft guns formed a potent defense against possibleattack by Covenant dropships, Banshees, and Ghosts. It wouldn’t hold outforever, but it would do the most important job: It would buy themtime .

Adding to the supply column’s already formidable firepower were four M808BScorpion Main Battle Tanks, or MBTs, which rumbled down off the ramps, andthrew dirt rooster tails up off their powerful treads as they growled intoposition within the screen established by the Warthogs.

The MBTs’ ceramic-titanium armor provided them with excellent protectionagainst small arms fire—although the vehicles were vulnerable should thealiens manage to get in close. That’s why provision had been made for up tofour Marines to ride on top of each Scorpion’s track pods.

Now, free to withdraw from the grounded cruiser and supervise final loading,McKay left Lister in charge of keeping the aliens penned up.

As she exited the ship, McKay caught sight of two heavily-loaded Pelicansflying off in the general direction of the butte, each with a ’Hog clutchedbeneath its belly. And there, arrayed on the hardpan in front of her,twenty-six Warthog-trailer combinations sat ready to roll, with still morecoming off the ship.

Their only problem was personnel. As a result of the work only fifty-twoeffectives remained, which meant that the stripped-down infantry companywould be hard-pressed to crew thirty-four vehicles and fight, should thatbecome necessary. Both McKay and her noncoms would all play a role asdrivers or gunners during the return trip.

Oros saw the Company Commander emerge from theAutumn ’s hull. The PlatoonLeader was caged inside one of the loader-type exoskeletons taken from theship. Servos whined in sympathy with her movements as she crossed theintervening stretch of wheel-churned dirt to the point where McKay waitedwith hands on hips. Grime covered her face and her body armor was charredwhere a plasma pulse had hit. “You look good in orange.”

Oros grinned. “Thanks, boss. Did you see the Pelicans?”

“As a matter of fact I did. They looked a bit overloaded.”

“Yeah, the pilots were starting to whine about weight, but I bribed themwith a couple of candy bars. They’ll be back in about forty-five minutes.

When they do we’ll wrestle fuel bladders into the cargo compartments, fillthem from the ship, and top their tanks all at the same time. Then, just tomake sure we get our money’s worth, we’ll hook a 50mm MLA autocannon undereach fuselage and take those out as well.”

McKay raised both eyebrows. “Autocannons? Where did you get those?”

“They were part of theAutumn ’s armament,” the other officer answeredcheerfully. “I thought it would be fun to spot the occasional Covenantdropship from the top of the mesa.”

He paused then added, “That’s the good news.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“A lot of gear didn’t survive the crash. No missile or rocket pods for thePelicans, and we’re almost bone dry on 70mm for their chin guns. We can’tcount on air support for much more than bus rides.”

“Damn.” She scowled. Without well-armed air support, Alpha Base was goingto be a lot tougher to defend.

“Affirmative,” Oros agreed. “Oh, and I ordered the pilots to bringfifteen additional bodies on the return trip. Clerks, medics, anybody whocan drive or fire an M41. That would allow me to squeeze some additional’Hogs into the column and put at least two people on each tank.”

McKay raised an eyebrow. “You ‘ordered’ them to bring more bodies?”

“Well, I kind of let them believe thatyou whistled them up.”

McKay shook her head. “You are amazing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Oros replied shamelessly.“Semper Fi.”

The Pelicans swept over the glittering sea, passed over a line of gentlybreaking surf, and flew parallel with the beach. Foehammer saw a constructup ahead, a headland beyond, and a whole lot of Covenant troops runningaround in response to the sudden and unexpected arrival of two UNSCdropships. Rawley fought the urge to trigger the Pelican’s 70mm chin gun.

She’d expended the last of her ammo on the last pass—had watched geysersof sand chase an Elite up the beach, and was rewarded by the sight of thealien disappearing in a cloud of his own blood—and it didn’t look likemore were coming anytime soon.

She keyed open a master channel. “The LZ is hot, repeat,hot ,” Foehammeremphasized. “Five to dirt.”

The Master Chief stood next to the open hatch, and waited for Foehammer’ssignal: “Touchdown! Hit it, Marines!”

He was among the first to step off the ramp, his boots leaving deepimpressions in the soft sand.

He paused for a quick look around, then started down-spin to the point wherethe aliens waited. No sooner had the last member of the landing partydisembarked than the Pelicans were airborne once more—and flying up-spin.

Plasma fire stuttered down from the top of a rise as the Marines advanced upthe sandy slope, careful to fire staggered bursts, so the entire groupdidn’t wind up reloading at the same time. The Spartan ran forward, addedhis fire to the rest, and sent an Elite sprawling to the ground. TheCovenant forces were outnumbered for once and the human attackers wastedlittle time cutting them down. The whole fight lasted only ten minutes.

Time to get moving. He reviewed the mission objectives as he surveyed theLZ: find and secure a Covenant-held facility, some kind of map room—whichthe enemy had already captured.

The Covenant called the site “the Silent Cartographer”—which couldpresumably pinpoint the location of Halo’s control room. Keyes had beenvery adamant about the urgency of the mission. “If the Covenant figure outhow to turn Halo into a weapon, we’re cooked.”

Maybe, with Cortana’s help, they had a good chance of figuring out wherethe hell the ring’s control systems were housed. All they had to do is takeit away from an entrenched enemy.

The Spartan heard a burst of static followed by Foehammer’s cheerful voiceas her Pelican swooped back into the LZ area.“Echo 419 inbound. Did someoneorder a Warthog?”

A Marine said, “I didn’t know that you made house calls, Foehammer.”

The pilot chuckled.“You know our motto: ‘we deliver.’ ”

The Master Chief waited for the dropship to deposit the LRV on the beach,saw two Marines jump on board, and climbed up behind the wheel. The soldierriding shotgun nodded. “Ready when you are, Chief.”

The Spartan put his foot on the accelerator, sand shot out from under thevehicle’s tires, and the ’Hog left parallel tracks as it raced along theedge of the beach.

They rounded the headland in minutes, and entered the open area beyond.

There was a scattering of trees, some weathered boulders, and a swath ofgreen ground cover. “Firing!” the gunner called, and pulled his trigger.

The petty officer saw Covenant troops scurry for cover, steered right togive the three-barreled weapon a better angle, and was soon rewarded with abatch of dead Grunts and a badly mangled Jackal.

The Spartan drove the Warthog uphill, turning to avoid obstacles, careful tomaintain the vehicle’s traction. It wasn’t long before the humans nearedthe top of the slope and spotted the massive structure beyond. The topcurved downward, cut dramatically in, and gave way to a flat area where aCovenant dropship had been docked.

It appeared that the aircraft had just finished loading: It backed out of aU-shaped slot, swung out toward the ocean, and quickly disappeared. Thenoise generated by its engines covered the sound made by the Warthog andprovided the defenders with something to look at.

The gunner tracked the aircraft but knew better than to open fire andattract unwanted attention. The area beyond was crawling with Covenanttroops. “Anyone else see whatI see?” the second leatherneck inquired.

“How are we supposed to get aroundthat ?”

The Master Chief killed the ’Hog’s engine, motioned for the Marines toremain where they were, and eased his way up to a point where a fallen logoffered him some cover. He drew his pistol, took aim, and opened fire. FourGrunts and an Elite fell beneath the quick barrage of gunfire.

The response was nearly instantaneous as the surviving troops ran for coverand a series of plasma bolts blew chunks of wood out of the protective logand set it ablaze.

Confident that he had whittled the opposition down to a more manageablesize, the Chief eased his way back to the LRV and pulled himself up into thedriver’s seat. The Marines waited to see what he would do next. “Checkyour weapons,” he advised, as he hit the ignition switch and the big engineroared to life. “We have some clean-up to do.”

“Roger that,” the gunner said grimly. “It looks like we have KP dutyagain.”

There was no telling what the Covenant troops expected the humans to do, butjudging from the way they ran around screaming, the possibility of an old-fashioned frontal assault just hadn’t occurred to them.

The Spartan aimed the vehicle for the front of the complex, spotted thehallway that extended back toward the face of the cliff, and drove straightinside. It was a tight fit, and the Warthog wallowed a bit as the big off-road tires rolled over a couple of dead Grunts, but the strategy worked.

Both Marines opened up on the Covenant troops and the Chief ran one of themdown.

Then, once the outer part of the structure had been cleared, the MasterChief parked the LRV where the Marines could provide him with fire support,and ventured inside. A series of ramps led down through darkened hallways tothe antechamber below. It was full of aliens. The Master Chief tossed agrenade in among them, backed up out of the way, and sprayed the ramp withbullets. The grenade went off with a satisfyingwham! and body parts flewhigh into the air before thumping to the floor.

Cortana said, “Don’t let them lock the doors!”

Too late. The doors noiselessly flashed shut.

The Spartan polished off the last of the resistance, checked to confirm thatthe doors were locked, and was already on his way back to the surface whenthe AI accessed the suit’s radio.“Cortana to Keyes . . .”

“Go ahead, Cortana. Have you found the Control Center?”

“Negative, Captain. The Covenant have impeded our progress. We can’tproceed unless we can disable the installation’s security system.”

“Understood,”Keyes replied.“Use any means necessary to force your wayinto the facility and find Halo’s Control Center. Failure is not anoption.”

The Master Chief was back in the ’Hog and halfway to the LZ by the time theCaptain signed off.“Good luck, people. Keyes out.”

If the front door is locked—then go around back.That’s what the Spartanfigured as the LRV rolled back the way it had come, through the LZ. TheMarine seated next to him exchanged insults with a buddy stationed on thebeach.

They had just rounded a bluff when Cortana said, “Look up to the right.

There’s a path that leads toward the interior of the island.”

The AI had no more than finished her sentence when the gunner said, “Freaksat two o’clock!” and opened fire.

The Spartan ran the Warthog up a slope, allowed the M41 LAAG to handle theheavy lifting, and positioned the vehicle so the gunner could put fire onthe ravine ahead. “Tell me something, Cortana,” the Master Chief said, ashe lowered himself to the ground. “How come you’re always advising me togo up gravity lifts, run down corridors, and sneak through forests whilemaking no mention of all the enemy troops that seem to inhabit suchplaces?”

“Because I don’t want you to feel unnecessary,” the AI replied easily.

“For example, given the fact that your sensors are telling both of us thatthere are at least five Covenant soldiers lying in wait farther up theravine, it’s logical to suppose that there are even more beyond them.

Doesthat make you feel better?”

“No,” the Spartan admitted as he checked to ensure that both of hisweapons were fully loaded.

He charged up the ravine and took cover behind a large outcropping of rock.

Plasma bolts melted the stone near his head, and he snapped a quick shot inreturn. The Grunt snarled and dove for cover, as a pair of his partnersopened up on the Spartan’s position. Behind them, a cobalt-armored Eliteurged them forward.

The Master Chief took a deep breath.Time to go to work, he thought. Hesprinted from his cover and his pistol’s reports echoed through the narrowravine.

The skirmish took mere minutes. His shield indicator pulsed a warning yetagain, and he paused at the top of the ravine to allow it time to recharge.

His gun swept the area, and noted the circular structure that dominated asmall depression at the top of the ravine.

His shield had just begun a recharge cycle, feeding off the armor’scapacious power plant, when the pair of Hunter aliens burst from cover andlobbed fire at his position.

The first blast struck him square in the chest and sent him tumblingbackward. The second shot was stopped by a thick-trunked tree. A trickle ofblood pooled in the corner of his left eye. He shook his head to clear hisblurred vision and rolled to his left. A third shot kicked up a plume ofsoil where he had lain just seconds before.

The Chief tossed a frag grenade, counted to three, then sprang to his feetand sidestepped to his right, firing all the way.

He’d timed it perfectly. The grenade detonated, and the flash and smokebriefly confused the aliens. His rounds bounced from their thick armorplates. In unison, they spun to face him, their weapons glowing green asthey charged for another salvo.

Another grenade detonated in their path and slowed the Hunters’ advance.

They fired through the smoke and the crash of their weapons thunderedthrough the low ravine.

The Hunters moved forward, eager for the kill—and realized too late thathe’d doubled back and closed in on them. His assault rifle barked and toreinto the gaps in their armor at close range. They screamed and died.

The Master Chief followed the terrain as it gradually sloped back down tothe west. He dealt with a brace of sentries, then located his objective: away into the massive structure that loomed above. The human saw a dark,shadowy door, slipped through the opening. He felt the gloom settle aroundhim.

His biochemically altered eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and hemoved deeper into the structure, pausing only to feed a fresh magazine intohis assault rifle.

One level below, Zuka ’Zamamee listened. Someone was on the way, thedesperate radio traffic testified to that, and it seemed safe to assume thatit was the very human he had set out to kill. The fact that thetransmissions ceased amid the clatter of human weaponry attested to the factthat the armored human was here.

But would he enter the trap? He had carefully seeded references to the maproom into the stream of battle updates. If the humans had tapped into thenetwork using the downed ship’s AI, then they would have no choice but tosend this fearsome soldier to find it.

Yes,the Elite thought, as his highly sensitive ears heard the scrape of abooted foot, a mutedclick as a new magazine slid home, and the subtle raspof armor.It won’t be long now.

’Zamamee looked left and right, assured himself that the Hunters were inposition, and withdrew to his hiding place. Others were present inside thecargo module as well, including Yayap and a team of Grunts.

The Master Chief hit the bottom of the ramp, saw the alien cargo modulesthat populated the center of the dimly lit room, and knew that damned nearanything could be lurking among them. Something—instinct, or perhaps onlyluck—caused his heart to beat a little faster as he put his back to a walland slid sideways. Something wasn’t right.

Light filtered in through an ornate window which enabled the Spartan to seethat there was an alcove to his left. He eased in that direction, felt acold weight hit the bottom of his stomach as he heard movement, and turnedtoward the sound.

The Hunter rushed out of the darkness, intent on smashing the Chief with hisshield, and finishing him with razor-sharp spines. A steady stream of 7.62mmbullets hammered the Hunter’s chest plate and slowed his rate of advance.

’Zamamee, backed by Yayap and his team of Grunts, chose that moment toemerge from the relative safety of the cargo module. The Elite wasfrightened, but determined to conceal it, and he raised his weapon. But theHunter was in his line of fire.

Then, as if the melee weren’t confusing enough, thesecond Hunter chargedin, bumped into the Elite, and sent him spinning to the cold metal floor.

Yayap, who found himself standing out in the middle of the floor, was aboutto order a retreat when one of his subordinates, a Grunt named Linglin,fired a weapon.

It was a stupid thing to do since there was no clear target to shoot at, butthat’s what Grunts were encouraged to do when in doubt: shoot. Linglinfired, and the plasma bolt flew straight and true. It hit the second Hunterin the back, and threw the spined warrior forward, and caused him to collidewith his bond brother.

“Uh-oh,” Yayap muttered.

The Master Chief saw his opponent start to go down, shot him in the back,and brought the assault weapon back up. The fact that the second Hunter wasalready down came as something of a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, and helooked for something else to shoot.

No doubt stunned by the enormity of his error, and terrified regarding thepotential consequences, Linglin was still backing away when the bulky,armored human raised his weapon and fired. Yayap felt Linglin’s blood spraythe side of his face as he tripped over his own feet, fell over backward,and used his hands to push himself back into the shadows. A hand grabbedhold of his combat harness, jerked the Grunt into the still yawning cargomodule, and held him in place. “Silence!” ’Zamamee instructed. “Thisbattle is over. We must live to fight another.”

That soundedvery good, maybe the most sensible thing he’d heard in ahundred units, so Yayap held his breath as the human walked past the opencargo module. He briefly wondered if there was some way he could get atransfer back to a normal frontline unit. To the diminutive alien trooper,such an assignment seemed considerably less dangerous.

His nerves on edge, fully expecting yetanother attack, the Spartan circledthe room. But there was nothing for him to deal with except his owntwitchiness and the heavy silence which settled over the room.

“Nice job, Chief,” Cortana said. “Head through the cargo modules. Thesecurity center lies beyond.”

The Master Chief followed Cortana’s directions, entered a hall, andfollowed it into a room that featured a small constellation of lightsfloating at its very center. “Use the holo panel to shut down the securitysystem,” Cortana suggested, and, eager to complete the job before anyoneelse could attack him, the Spartan hurried to comply. He was again struck byan odd near-familiarity with the glowing controls.

Cortana used the suit sensors to examine the results. “Good!” sheexclaimed. “That should open the door that leads into the main shaft. Nowall we have to do is find the Silent Cartographer and the map to the ControlRoom.”

“Right,” the Master Chief replied. “That, and avoid capture in unknownterritory, possibly held by the enemy, with no air support or backup.”

“Do you have a plan?” she asked.

“Yes. When we get there, I’m going to kill every single Covenant soldier Ifind.”