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by Bear, Greg

  I take complete responsibility. It is my decision.

  “Do we delay?” Offensive Bias asks.

  “No delay,” I say.

  “Check point for final abort, ten seconds. Installation 04—Alpha Halo, it shall be called—will initiate discharge, followed sequentially by the remaining installations. The rings will fire once their fields intersect.”

  And then follow so many details, all handled superbly by Offensive Bias. The metarch has taken its final fleet back to the Line, running ahead to meet Mendicant Bias and the Gravemind—and a fleet of Flood ships larger than has ever been witnessed. That battle will delay our foes long enough to finish what has already been set in motion. Ironic that in this deadly act there is such grace and perfection of execution. This will be the greatest combined operation in the history of Warriors, in the history of Forerunners. It is proceeding flawlessly.

  We will feel side-effects, how intensely, no one can tell. There has never been such power unleashed all at once. I press the activation plate and close my eyes.

  “Forgive us,” I say.

  Have said.

  Will always say.

  STRING 39

  343 GUILTY SPARK • INSTALLATION 04

  FOR A FEW hours, after I do my duty, I try to listen to all the communications, the final sounds. The channels are remarkably free and clear.

  Would I fire Halo, if it were my decision?

  Not my decision. It has been done, but the effects are out of sequence, smeared in time—ghostly.

  There is one last patch of communication, somewhere below, within a great dense cloud—perhaps a star nursery. A new and precocious civilization acquiring its voice only now, having eluded both the Forerunners and the Flood … sending its first plaintive, hopeful signals.

  Crying out for attention. Heed us!

  I do not understand what they are trying to say. Do not know what they might have looked like, cannot imagine what they might have done, had they been born in more fortuitous times.

  And then … even that young voice is gone.

  They have done this thing. We have done this thing. What more will come, ever?

  Without warning, internal processes already set in motion begin to erase parts of my memory, concealing secrets and hiding my past from me.

  I strain to prevent this, but it is inevitable. I try to hold on to history, but slowly it fades away, replaced now by my new station—my new purpose.

  My galaxy is dead.

  I am machine.

  I am Chakas.

  I am human.

  I am 343 Guilty Spark.

  I have never understood Forerunners.

  And they will never understand me.

  But for now …

  Silentium.

  Novels in the New York Times Bestselling Halo® Series

  Halo®: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund

  Halo®: The Flood by William C. Dietz

  Halo®: First Strike by Eric Nylund

  Halo®: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund

  Halo®: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten

  Halo®: The Cole Protocol by Tobias S. Buckell

  Halo®: Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe by various authors/artists

  Halo®: Cryptum: Book One of the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear

  Halo®: Glasslands: Book One of the Kilo-Five Trilogy by Karen Traviss

  Halo®: Primordium: Book Two of the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear

  Halo®: The Thursday War: Book Two of the Kilo-Five Trilogy by Karen Traviss

  Halo®: Silentium: Book Three of the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books of science fiction and fantasy, including Hull Zero Three, City at the End of Time, Eon, Moving Mars, Mariposa, and Quantico. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear and is the father of Erik and Alexandra. Awarded two Hugos and five Nebulas for his fiction, one of two authors to win a Nebula in every category, Bear has been called the “best working writer of hard science fiction” by The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. His stories have been collected into an omnibus volume by Tor Books.

  Bear has served on political and scientific action committees and has advised both government agencies and corporations on issues ranging from national security to private aerospace ventures to new media and video-game development. His most recent endeavor is a long-term collaboration with Neal Stephenson and the Subutai Corporation on The Mongoliad, an interactive serial novel available on multiple platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and Kindle.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  HALO: SILENTIUM

  Copyright © 2013 by Microsoft Corporation

  All rights reserved.

  Microsoft, Halo, the Halo logo, Xbox, and the Xbox logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

  Cover art by Sparth, Robogabo, and Glenn Israel

  Edited by Stacy Hague-Hill

  A Tor Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-2398-9 (hardcover)

  ISBN 9781429944786 (e-book)

  First Edition: March 2013