Zip. Nothing. Next time … I’ll carry at least one twenty-four-hour ration pack. Like the ODSTs.
He opened his jacket as he walked, lifting it by the collar to sniff under his arms, first right, then left. Ewww. I want a shower. The Sangheili probably didn’t care if he was in need of a change of clothes, but he did. Morale. It’s all about morale. Now he wished he’d spent more time talking to Mal, Vaz, and Devereaux about the domestic routine of their deployments rather than getting them to tell him warry stories. He’d never laugh at their obsession with washing their undies ever again. They were incredibly disciplined about keeping their kit clean, and now he knew why. They had to stay clean in the field no matter what crap the war threw at them.
I’ll listen, Mal. I promise. You can teach me. You can turn me into an ODST anytime you want. Really.
“BB, we’re coming up to the main chamber,” he whispered. “Better stay quiet. I don’t want them to start dismantling you.”
“Understood, Professor.”
Phillips waited for the punch line, but of course none came. This was a basic AI with just enough personality to react to him sensibly. He was already missing the real, annoying, funny, bitchy, nosey BB as badly as a best friend.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” ‘Telcam asked, looking up as Phillips wandered in. Most of the Sangheili who’d been clustered around the chart had disappeared. “I was about to send someone to find you.”
“I don’t know.” Phillips gestured with his datapad. If they’d heard him talking, he’d give them a plausible explanation before they asked too many questions. “I’ve been looking at the cartouches and recording my thoughts. I don’t understand any of it, but it’s beautiful.”
‘Telcam cocked his head on one side. “My brothers were always convinced that humans had no souls, but I think some of you are instinctively capable of being touched by the truth of the divine.”
And that, Your Honor, is the case for the defense. “Where did everyone go?”
“To join their ships. I must go, too. Buran’s ship won’t fly itself.” ‘Telcam seemed to be in a rare good mood. Either the coup was shaping up or he was feeling sorry for the tapeworm that had a soul. “There will be guards remaining here, so you’ll be safe.” His voice dropped to a murmur. “If you find meaning in the cartouches, I expect you to share it with me. You have … an unusual insight. You chose to learn the culture of your enemy, but you respect it, which makes you different from the others.”
“Of course.” So I’m reading his bible and even he can’t understand bits of it. Right. That’ll come in handy sooner or later. Bargaining chip. “Do you have any spare clothing? I need to wash mine.”
‘Telcam did the Sangheili equivalent of snapping his fingers and summoned a minion by rapping his knuckles on the table. “Olar, see that our guest gets what he needs.”
“He’ll need children’s clothing,” Olar said.
“Then get it. I hold you responsible for his well-being. Find him some food, too.”
Well, that was one problem solved: nobody was going to kill him, not yet. And he could live on dog food and water indefinitely if he had to. ‘Telcam swept out and Olar stared at him balefully for a few moments.
“I hear you can solve any arum you’re given,” he said.
“For some reason, I can.” Phillips could feel an opportunity for psychological one-upmanship presenting itself. “I seem to have been born with a lot of Sangheili skills.”
Olar chewed that over for a moment and stalked off. The real BB would have had something cutting to say about that, but this one remained silent as he’d been told. Olar returned with a couple of long, plain tunics—knee length when Phillips held one up to himself—and what looked like field dressings. It took Phillips a few moments to work that out.
Ah. Like a sling bandage. I think I know where that goes …
“Thank you,” he said. “Excuse me.”
The temple had a long, narrow bathroom lined with stalls that reminded Phillips of a boarding school. He looked around for their equivalent of soap, a dull gray powder that he’d discovered was a mix of a kind of clay and a plant similar to soapwort, and worked it into a paste in water so cold that it hurt his hands.
I can do this. Think of the lectures I can give on this alone.
He hung his jacket on a nail, took a painfully cold shower that felt like being hit by a water cannon, and tried on his new clothes. It took a bit of ingenuity to tie on the underwear and tuck all the spare fabric from the tunic into his pants, but it would have to do. His shirt and smalls would dry inside the hour, and then he could stick to a routine of doing this every day. Damn it, he was starting to feel pleased with himself. He felt so confident now that he swaggered out into the main chamber and helped himself to some of the rations still stacked in one of the side rooms.
“Is there anything else you need?” Olar asked.
“I’m fine, thanks.” Phillips was already working out how he’d make a bigger bag from one of the tunics and pack it with a few extra meals, clay powder, and a water bottle so he’d be ready to escape when the chance presented itself. “I’m going to head back into the tunnels later. I’ve got plenty of things to study.”
If there was a way in, there would also be a way out. The Forerunners were too smart not to have a fire exit.
“Okay, BB, shall we get back to work?” he said, taking out his datapad. “What have you analyzed so far?”
“There’s a recurring symbol,” BB said. “Using Dr. Halsey’s notes, I believe it means a powered door, or a door to a power source, or even an instruction for accessing power. But there are a few that I can’t interpret yet because there’s no sentence structure.”
“Is that a linguistic issue, or are we talking about this being lists of isolated words?” For all Phillips knew, they might have been trying to translate the Forerunner language using a department store directory. Context was everything. “Describe them to me.”
“I’m unable to interface with your datapad to show you what I mean. But if Halsey’s notes are correct, then one word either means someone who lays down absolute rules, or the regulations themselves.” BB sounded as if he was going to lapse into being his old self. Phillips could have sworn he was going to sigh in exasperation, but he kept on going in an uncharacteristically unemotional tone. “The recurring symbol next to it contains the negative phoneme. I believe it’s an instruction not to do something.”
“What is it, then? A warning, a keep-out sign, or the Ten Commandments?”
“Eleven,” BB said. “One cartouche has eleven items.”
“Thou shalt not … what?”
Phillips didn’t know. He looked at the cartouche detail he’d recorded for himself. He was hunting for Halos. He was sure the Forerunners would have left records of where they’d located the remaining devices, as well as the locations of bunker worlds like Onyx. It wasn’t the kind of thing they’d have kept secret. Everyone would have needed to know where they were, to get to safety before the Halos activated to scour the galaxy clean of sentient life.
“Look for references to rings, Halos, circles, shield worlds, and contamination, BB,” he said. “That’s what I came here to find.”
SANDSTONE QUARRY, BEKAN KEEP, MDAMA, SANGHELIOS
Raia ‘Mdama stood at the ramp to the main hatch of Unflinching Resolve with her pistol drawn, watching the shuttle approaching low over the hill. If ‘Telcam wanted his precious warship then he would have to come through her to take it.
“You think that’s going to stop him?” Forze stood beside her, one hand on his holster, showing partial solidarity. “He believes his authority comes from the gods.”
“He wouldn’t dare shoot a female,” she said. “And he wouldn’t dare shoot an elder’s wife in her own keep.”
“His brothers butchered the Relon elders … in their own keep.”
“I will not stand down.”
“You and Jul, you’re very alike. Do you realize
that?”
“You mean that we can only be pushed so far.”
Movement caught her eye. She turned her head to see Naxan, one of Jul’s uncles, charging down the slope with a couple of the juvenile males behind him, pistols drawn.
“Raia, you can’t do this!” He was beginning to show his age, but his willingness to plunge into a fight hadn’t diminished. He stopped to stand between her and the shuttle that had now landed on the far side of the quarry. “If this monk knows anything about Jul’s disappearance, let me deal with him.”
“No, Uncle, I’m the keep elder while my husband is absent.” Raia tried to wave him away. “I’ll deal with this.”
“They’re lunatics,” he snapped. “I won’t let you put yourself at risk.”
“Stand back, Naxan. I mean to do this. You and the boys, you leave this to me and Forze. Do you understand?”
“This won’t end well.” Naxan stood his ground for a few more seconds, then backed off. He didn’t leave, though. “Revolution or no revolution, I’ll take his head off if he harms this clan in any way.”
“It might not come to that.”
Raia could now see ‘Telcam loping down the hill with the shipmaster called Buran. And he’d seen her. She watched his head jerk back but he didn’t break his stride. He probably saw a female, an old man, and some juveniles, and decided he only had to deal with Forze.
“Avu Med ‘Telcam,” she said. “Where’s my husband? What have you done with him?”
‘Telcam bowed his head politely. “My lady, I too would like to know where your husband is. Ask Forze. I’ve looked for him. I wouldn’t want to think he’s defected to the Arbiter.”
“You believe that?” Raia raised her pistol, a furious reflex, but now that she’d done it she had to follow through. Naxan spat in contempt. Nobody moved. “If Jul had changed his position, he’d have sought you out and told you to your face. No, more than that—he’d come after you and kill you. But he went looking for you, monk, because you never revealed where your arms came from. If anyone’s playing both games, it’s you.”
She waited for him to erupt. She was ready. She’d have a moment’s advantage, the moment when he hesitated to lash out because she was a female, and that was when she’d get one shot in. He certainly hesitated. But then he shook his head slowly from side to side, puzzled.
“But where did he follow?” he asked. “Where did he go? Damn the fool, if he’s been taken by Brutes, then he could betray the whole liberation.”
Forze stepped in. “The day you declined to let him know where you were meeting your supplier.”
That got ‘Telcam’s attention. He shut his eyes for a few moments as if he was racking his brains to recall the detail of that day. “He was safer not knowing,” he said. “But if he did follow me, then I suspect he went straight to the Arbiter afterward.”
“Why?”
“You’re really much safer not knowing the answer.”
“If Jul had switched sides, he would have contacted me. He hasn’t. So he must have been captured or killed.”
‘Telcam went to walk past her up the ramp, but she aimed the pistol squarely at his chest. “You do not walk away from me until you give me an answer, Field Master.”
“I don’t have one.” He turned to Buran. “If he’s been taken by the Arbiter’s agents, we’d better find somewhere else for these ships.”
Buran was keeping a wary eye on Naxan. “‘Vadam would have shown up here and razed this keep to the ground by now.”
“Not if Jul’s refusing to talk.” He made another attempt to walk up the ramp but now Forze blocked him as well. “I understand your distress, but the coup has begun. We have to move on Vadam right now. Please, stand aside.”
“You want your ship? Then you take me too, and you help me find my husband.”
“This isn’t the time, my lady.”
Raia put the pistol to his head. “I insist.”
She was worried that the shaking in her gut would show in her hands. Would she fire? Yes. She would. She had nothing to lose. ‘Telcam didn’t so much look scared as bewildered. Perhaps monks’ wives did as they were told. Perhaps he didn’t have a wife at all.
He could knock me to the ground. He’s not afraid of me. Does he pity me? Does he think I’m mad?
“Very well,” ‘Telcam said. He seemed more weary than afraid. “There’s no time to debate about this. But understand one thing—if Jul is being held by the Arbiter, we might not find him. We might attack a building where he’s being held prisoner. I can do nothing about that.”
“It’s better than sitting here doing nothing.” Now she’d won. She tucked her pistol back in its holster, realizing she was now being swept along on a tide of her own making and that there was no way to escape it. “So you’re going to Vadam.”
“You get the idea,” ‘Telcam said.
Raia had never been inside a warship before. The scale of it, the strange smells, the confusing passages, and decks that all looked the same made her ask a question she knew she should have asked herself earlier: what was she going to actually do? Forze beckoned to her and sat her down at the back of the bridge.
“We have to embark troops first,” he said. “Then we head for Vadam. Stay here. And if you see any of the Brutes and you have the slightest concern, shoot them.”
“Why?”
“We have no guarantees of their loyalty. Not even the ones who serve in this vessel. This may be the time to cleanse our decks.”
The ship lurched and lifted clear of the quarry, and she caught a glimpse of her keep—her world—vanishing in the viewscreen. Now all she could do was wait. She was still at the mercy of the whims and timetables of males. She watched the time crawl by, trying to understand what Buran was doing at the controls, and clutched her pistol’s grip with one hand. When the ship landed again, she had no idea where they were, but caught sight of a couple of shuttles sweeping past the viewscreen, and minutes later troops clattered onto the bridge. There were no Brutes among them, just Sangheili.
“We have as near a full crew as we need,” Buran said to ‘Telcam. He’d started to pace, either spoiling for a fight or having second thoughts about the size of the task. “I say we go now. There’s no point waiting for the rest. We need to assess the situation in Vadam.”
“We have nine vessels and the forces from Nuan and Rtova keeps—so far.”
“It’ll be enough. If we delay, the Arbiter’s allies will reach Vadam. This buys us time.”
‘Telcam hesitated for just a moment. “They disappoint me, but you’re right. Momentum will work in our favor.”
If this had been Jul in command, Raia would have had no qualms about lecturing him on gambling with lives. But she had no authority here, and she didn’t fully understand what was happening, other than working out that ‘Telcam was starting the coup with fewer supporters than he’d been counting on.
And I can’t turn back any more than ‘Telcam can.
Forze sat down beside her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Once we make inroads into Vadam’s defenses, others will find their courage and show up.”
“Where are we?”
“We’ll be on the Vadam border very soon. You really shouldn’t have done this, Raia. Jul will kill me when he finds out that I went along with this insanity.”
They were still talking as if his return was imminent. She didn’t dare think anything else. “I want to see what’s happening.”
“Stand to the side of the bridge and don’t get in ‘Telcam’s way.” Forze pointed. “You won’t be able to see a great deal. The more successful we are, the thicker the layer of smoke.”
“I’ll use my imagination,” she said.
When she stood up and walked to the viewscreen, heads turned. The troops who’d just boarded the ship obviously hadn’t realized there was a female on board, and an armed one at that. One or two gave her polite nods. Others stared as if she was an abomination. She considered telling them that she’d come to fi
nd her husband, but then thought better of it. She had no duty to explain herself to strangers.
But she could see the skyline of Vadam now, and there was smoke. The assault seemed to have started in earnest.
‘Telcam took a call on the bridge and listened carefully. Raia caught snatches of the conversation and could only guess what might be happening at the other end.
“Can you understand me?” He paused and nodded. “Yes, I can hear you. He’s safe and I’ve secured him in the temple, under guard … I see, but why was that necessary?” He paused again, looking irritated. “Let us both hope the Arbiter knows nothing of our arrangement. Can I count on you?” Whatever answer he received seemed to reassure him. “Very well.” He looked irritated for a moment, then picked up another communications handset and barked at someone. “Olar? The scholar’s escorts have come for him. Let them take him so that we avoid inconvenient retaliation from Earth if anything goes wrong. Do you understand? Try to show restraint.”
That meant nothing to Raia. Earth? How could humans retaliate? What had this war to do with them anyway? She was trying to work that out when a brilliant flash of white light blinded her for a few moments. A huge roar of approval went up on the bridge. When her vision cleared, she could see what had raised everyone’s spirits. Two ships were flying slowly across the city, firing blue-white bolts on the buildings below. Whoever was down there returned fire, spitting burning arcs into the sky, but the ships continued their barrage.
The Thursday War Page 10