The Fall of Reach
Page 33
“The inhalant surfactant is highly nutritious, sir. Please regurgitate and swallow the protein complex.”
Captain Keyes swung his legs out of the tube. He coughed and spat the mucus onto the deck. “You wouldn’t say that, Cortana, if you ever tasted this stuff. Ship status?”
“Reactor two has been fully repaired,” she replied. “Reactors one and three are inoperable. That gives us twenty percent power. Archer missile pods I and J rows serviceable. Autocannon ammunition at ten percent. Our two remaining Shiva warheads are intact.” She paused and double-checked the MAC gun. “Magnetic Accelerator Gun’s capacitors depolarized. We cannot fire the system, sir.”
“More good news,” he grumbled. “Continue.”
“Hull breaches patched—but the majority of decks eleven, twelve, and thirteen are destroyed—that includes the Spartans’ weapons locker.”
“Are there any infantry weapons left?” Keyes asked. “We may need to repel boarders.”
“Yes, Captain. A substantial number of standard Marine infantry weapons survived the engagement. Would you like an inventory?”
“Later. What about the crew?”
“All crew accounted for. Spartan-117 is in cryo sleep with the Marine and security personnel. Waking bridge officers and all essential personnel.”
“And the Covenant?”
“We’ll know in a moment if they were able to track us, sir.”
“Very well. I’ll be on the bridge in ten minutes.” He eased out of the tube. “I’m getting too damn old to be frozen and shot through space at light speed,” he muttered.
Cortana checked the status of the waking crew. There was a minor flutter in Lieutenant Dominique’s heart, which she corrected. Otherwise, status normal.
The Captain and crew assembled on the bridge. They waited.
“Five minutes until normal space, sir,” Cortana announced.
She knew they could see the countdown timer, but Cortana noticed that the crew responded well to her calm voice in stressful situations. Their reaction times generally improved by as much as 15 percent—give or take. Sometimes, human imperfection made calculations maddeningly imprecise.
She ran another check on all intact systems. The Pillar of Autumn had taken a tremendous beating at Reach. It was a wonder it was still in one piece.
“Entering normal space in thirty seconds,” she informed Captain Keyes.
“Shut down all systems, Cortana. I want us to be dark when we hit normal space. If the Covenant did follow us—maybe we can hide.”
“Aye, sir. Running dark.”
The view screen filled with green light; smears of stars came into focus. A purple-hued gas giant filled a third of the screen.
Captain Keyes said, “Fire thrusters to position us in orbit around the planet, Ensign Lovell.”
“Aye, sir,” he replied.
The Pillar of Autumn glided around the gravity well of the moon.
Cortana detected a radar echo ahead, an object hidden in the shadow.
As the ship rounded the dark side of the gas giant, the object came into full view. It was a ring-shaped structure … gigantic.
“Cortana,” Captain Keyes whispered. “What is that?”
Cortana noted a sudden spike in pulse and respiration among the bridge crew … particularly the Captain.
The object spun serenely in the heavens. The outer surface was gray metal, reflecting the brilliant starlight. From this distance, the surface of the object seemed to be engraved with deep, ornate geometric patterns.
“Could this be some kind of naturally occurring phenomenon?” Dominique asked.
“Unknown,” Cortana replied.
She activated the ship’s long-range detection gear. Cortana’s holo image frowned. The Pillar of Autumn’s scanning systems were fine for combat … but for this kind of analysis it was like using stone tools. She diverted processing power away from ancillary systems and channeled it into the task.
Figures scrolled across the sensor displays.
“The ring is ten thousand kilometers in diameter,” Cortana announced, “and twenty-two point three kilometers thick. Spectroscopic analysis is inconclusive, but patterns do not match any known Covenant materials, sir.”
She paused and aimed the long-range camera array at the ring. A moment later a close-up of the object snapped into focus.
Keyes let out a low whistle.
The inner surface was a mosaic of greens, blues, and browns—trackless desert; jungles; glaciers and vast oceans. Streaks of white clouds cast deep shadows upon the terrain. The ring rotated and brought a new feature into view—a tremendous hurricane forming over an unimaginably wide body of water.
Equations scrolled furiously across Cortana as she studied the ring. She checked and rechecked her numbers—the rotational speed of the object and its estimated mass. They didn’t quite add up. She ran through a series of passive and active scans … and found something.
“Captain,” Cortana said, “the object is clearly artificial. There’s a gravity field that controls the ring’s spin and keeps the atmosphere inside. At this range—and with this gear—I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty, but it appears that the ring has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and Earth-normal gravity.”
“If it’s artificial, who the hell built it … and what in God’s name is it?”
Cortana processed that question for a full three seconds, then finally answered: “I don’t know, sir.”
Captain Keyes took out his pipe, lit it, and puffed once. He examined the curls of smoke thoughtfully. “Then we’d better find out.”
ADJUNCT
OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE
CONFIDENTIAL: DIRECTORATE MEMORANDUM
INTERROGATION FINDINGS
UNSC EVEREST
28 DECEMBER 2530
1230 STANDARD
“The Groombridge Subject”
This report was generated by AI Solipsil immediately following the interrogation of SUBJECT 386—also known as “The Groombridge Subject.”
SUBJECT 386 was a biological life-form captured in Waterford, Lemuria of Groombridge-1830 on December 24, 2530, at approximately 1805 hours. This interrogation was conducted on December 25, 2530, 0240 hours. The subject was confirmed deceased at 0417 hours. The following is a series of transcription excerpts from the interrogation of SUBJECT 386, as recorded by AI Solipsil.
RECORDED TRANSCRIPTION EXCERPT:
[SOLIPSIL] Current date and time is December 25, 2530, 0240 hours standard. We are in orbit above Groombridge-1830, aboard the UNSC Everest, within the ship’s biohazard unit R-12. This is UNSC AI Solipsil, service number SLP 0391-5. Lieutenant, please state your rank, name, and service number for the record.
[BARCLAY] First Lieutenant Richard Lionel Barclay, Office of Naval Intelligence, service number 00045-23994-RL.
[SOLIPSIL] Admiral, your rank, name, and service number for the record, please.
[COLE] Fleet Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole, UNSC Everest, service number 03956-26127-PC.
[SOLIPSIL] Let the record show that SUBJECT 386 was captured from an enemy assault carrier which attempted to flee to the planetary surface during the engagement designated GB-5546. Two heavily armed tactical strike teams retrieved SUBJECT 386 from within an enclosed compartment which survived landfall. The subject is approximately 2.3 meters in height and approximately 153 kilograms in weight.
[SUBJECT 386] [unintelligible]
[SOLIPSIL] The SUBJECT 386 is restrained and Lieutenant Barclay has a weapon drawn on the subject. Lieutenant, can you verify that for the record?
[BARCLAY] The weapon is drawn and ready to fire.
[SOLIPSIL] Thank you, Lieutenant. Admiral, you can begin.
[COLE] Can you hear me?
[SOLIPSIL] Let the record show that SUBJECT 386 has made eye contact with the admiral.
[COLE] Do you understand what I’m saying?
[SUBJECT 386] [unintelligible]
[COLE] If you can hear me and unders
tand what I am saying, nod your head.
[SOLIPSIL] SUBJECT 386 has nodded its head.
[COLE] What is your name?
[SUBJECT 386] [unintelligible]
[COLE] Solipsil, is that thing working?
[SOLIPSIL] Let the record show that the admiral is referring to TSV-442, Everest’s onboard translation program. Yes, Admiral, it’s working. The subject’s not speaking any words recognized by our database.
[COLE] State your name.
[SUBJECT 386] [unintelligible]
[COLE] Barclay, I’m clearly confusing it. Please help me articulate.
[SOLIPSIL] The lieutenant has cocked the M6 sidearm and has placed the barrel at SUBJECT 386’s right temple.
[SUBJECT 386] That will not persuade me, human.
[COLE] Your name and rank …
[SUBJECT 386] You are not worthy to hear it.
[COLE] You’re going to die here, you know. You have absolutely nothing to lose. Give us your name and rank.
[SUBJECT 386] [laughter?]
[EXCERPT 01 ENDS] [EXCERPT 04 BEGINS]
[COLE] Why are you here? Why Groombridge?
[SUBJECT 386] It is just another human world. Like all the others.
[COLE] Just like the others? Then why the other worlds?
[SUBJECT 386] [unintelligible]
[COLE] What was that?
[SUBJECT 386] Even now, you stand without [unintelligible] or honor. You are unclean, human, and nothing can save you now.
[COLE] Unclean?
[SUBJECT 386] You are an affront to the gods, desecrating their temples by committing horrors with their consecrated [unintelligible].
[COLE] Temples? What temples? Who are these gods?
[SUBJECT 386] You are ignorant swarming maggots. You know nothing of the Great Journey or of our gods’ treasures, yet you [unintelligible] intend to destroy them. We will root out every single world you possess and lay waste to them one by one until there’s nowhere left for you to go.
[COLE] I seem to remember us destroying your ships yesterday. Did you think we were going to let you just waltz right in?
[SUBJECT 386] Yesterday? Three ships, human? You boast about [unintelligible] three of our vessels when you had five times that many, and lost almost all?
[COLE] We—
[SUBJECT 386] Our fleets approach from beyond the stars and they are far more vast than your [unintelligible] mind can fathom. There is no defense which you can muster. No escape.
[SOLIPSIL] Let the record show an increase in the heart rate of SUBJECT 386.
[COLE] We’re not afraid of you. We’ll stand and fight.
[SUBJECT 386] And you will perish. By the billions.
[COLE] We’ll stop you. I promise you.
[SUBJECT 386] Your [unintelligible] is weak. Nothing more than slithering [unintelligible] to be cut away and discarded.
[SOLIPSIL] Let the record show that SUBJECT 386 is moving within its restraints. Lieutenant …
[BARCLAY] Stay down! Do not move or I’ll blow your [EXPLETIVE] head off!
[SUBJECT 386] We are the holy and glorious inheritors.
[COLE] Why are you attacking us?
[SOLIPSIL] Subject is slipping into some kind of arrest or seizure. Medics! Let the record show that SUBJECT 386’s extensive injuries and trauma have—
[SUBJECT 386] You have been judged unclean! A scourge that must be burned away! Every one of your worlds will be reduced to ash.
[SOLIPSIL] Medic! Medic! Let the record show—
[SUBJECT 386] [unintelligible] destroy you all …
[SOLIPSIL] Medic! Let the record show that the subject’s vitals have flatlined.
[COLE] We can’t let them find her.
[BARCLAY] Earth?
[COLE] Earth.
[SOLIPSIL] Let the record show that as of December 25, 2530, 0417 hours, SUBJECT 386’s vitals flatlined and, lacking the necessary understanding of its anatomy, the subject was not resuscitated. Transcription terminated.
WORD FROM THE THIRD FLEET OF GLORIOUS CONSEQUENCE
TO THE HOLY CITY OF HIGH CHARITY, VICE CLERIC OF ZEAL
Excellency—
Since we last spoke, much has changed. The human world we had targeted has been laid to waste. The last cycle of purification is in its final stage—May we all walk The Path!
Unfortunately, our return will be delayed due to a local magnetic irregularity, but an early report may help to stay any concern you might have about this protracted engagement. In particular, any concern about one Major Thel ‘Lodamee and the actions which placed our fleet and his entire battalion at grave risk, extending this skirmish needlessly.
Thel’s devout hatred for the humans is commendable, but it feeds an unchecked and dangerous level of recklessness. He is a vicious commander and a skilled warrior, but he is incapable of self-control—even at the peril of the troops who serve under him. All were concerns which I respectfully addressed at the last assignment tribunal.
During our siege, some of the vermin attempted to escape. We destroyed each and every vessel before they could even breach their world’s gravity well, but one managed to find the system’s edge. It was then that Thel left his battlegroup without notice in pursuit of this single ship with a small strike force.
You already know what befell our fleet and the cost we have paid. Early estimates are somewhere near three thousand—all on the shoulders of reckless abandon.
While Thel managed to slay a human demon—something we were surprised to find here—he came to understand that its purpose was to protect a key military asset. We are not certain what this asset’s significance is, only that it is, in fact, significant—it is a human, a female. So important, that the demon protector swiftly traded its life for the creature’s safety. Such dedication is rather surprising.
They will follow and we will be ready for them. And then, we will continue as planned, rejoining the Fleets of Furious Retribution and Rigorous Prayer at our assigned rendezvous point.
In faith, your humble servant,
SUPREME COMMANDER LURO ‘TARALUMEE, RESPLENDENT FERVOR
OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE
NARROW-BAND POINT-TO-POINT TRANSMISSION
CLASSIFIED TOP-SECRET // FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
RE: WARM BLANKET
FROM: VADM. BERLIN M. TURSK, UNSC HEAVY CRUISER SWIFTSURE
TO: CPT. LUCIUS R. JIRON, ONI PRO-49776
LUCIUS, MY APOLOGIES FOR THE BREVITY OF THIS MESSAGE. RAIN CHECK ON THAT COFFEE TOO, WE’RE PULLING OUT OF THE SYSTEM.
AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, YESTERDAY THE UNSC DECLARED THE COLONY OF MIRIDEM LOST. THE FIGHT HAD GONE ON FOR OVER TWO WEEKS AND WE KILLED A MOUNTAIN OF THOSE BASTARDS, BUT APPARENTLY NOT ENOUGH.
DURING CIVILIAN EGRESS, ONE OF OUR EVAC CRAFT [BL-9400493] CARRIED A PSEUDOCIVILIAN THE SPOOKS CONSIDER PRI 1—DOCTOR CATHERINE ELIZABETH HALSEY. NOT SURE HOW THE HELL THAT WENT DOWN, AND USUALLY ONI HAS A GOOD EYE ON WHERE SHE IS AT ALL TIMES, BUT THERE SHE WAS, ON MIRIDEM’S SURFACE, JUST AS THE COVENANT STARTED THEIR THING. APPARENTLY HER S-II BODYGUARD WAS TAKEN OUT DURING EXTRACTION, BUT THE SHIP SHE WAS ON STILL MANAGED TO ESCAPE.
THEY EVEN MADE IT TO THE EDGE OF THE SYSTEM SAFELY, BUT A COVENANT INTERCEPTOR DISABLED THE VESSEL BEFORE IT WAS ABLE TO SLIP. EVERYONE ON BOARD WAS KILLED EXCEPT FOR HER, SO THEY OBVIOUSLY REALIZE THEY HAVE SOMETHING. AS YOU KNOW, THEY’RE NOT BIG ON TAKING PRISONERS. OUR CONTINUOUS PINGS TO HER BEACON INDICATE THAT SHE’S STILL ALIVE AND STILL ON ICE.
ONE OTHER COMPLICATION—THEY’RE BOUND TO HAVE DETECTED THE SHORT-RADIUS M-WAVE BOUNCE, WHICH MEANS THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A MICROTAIL AND THEY’RE LETTING IT FOLLOW, SO THEY’LL BE EXPECTING TROUBLE. IF WE STOP PINGING HER TRACKER, THEY MAY ASSUME SHE’S OF NO VALUE TO US. WE’RE BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE.
FOR THE TIME BEING, WE’RE FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT THE COVENANT DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OR NATURE OF THE PACKAGE THEY HAVE IN THEIR POSSESSION, BUT WE’RE ALSO PRETTY DAMN SURE THAT ONCE THEY FIND OUT, THEY’LL ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT HER TO THE FULLEST EX
TENT.
FOR NOW, PREP YOUR OF92S. ADMIRALTY’S SENDING SPARTANS YOUR WAY FOR A QUICK AND DIRTY EXTRACTION.
ORDERS WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY.
- B.
Hello Agnes,
Your probably didn’t expect to hear from me, not while we’re in the middle of this mess, but I know you’ve seen the bulletin and it’s been eating away at me. You’re the only person I can really talk to about it. I have no doubt my communications are being monitored, but all of this is public record, or at least, official record.
Ralph 303 is hardly anomalous in terms of what happened to his mind state and general psychological condition after his removal from the Spartan-II program, but the recent revelation regarding the manner of his death and the declassification of some elements of the Spartan-II program make this as good a time to talk about an uncomfortable part of our lives as any.
We have to be careful with children.
I don’t mean to sound glib or preachy, you know I’m not that way, but we have a moral responsibility, even in the face of great challenges and difficulties, that we cannot ignore. If we are tasked with saving humanity, then we must, as scientists, understand what saving “humanity” actually means. If we abandon the very things that make us human to defend balls of rock, then what are we saving, precisely?
Better to take the path of least resistance offered by the “Flood” anomaly, or even annihilation by the Covenant, than abandon our own human worth. Self-preservation simply isn’t a strong enough argument.
So I said I wasn’t going to be preachy or glib, and I failed there, I suppose. I’m sorry. This has been eating at me since I saw the bulletin. He was a good kid. Most of them were good kids, and I feel like we let them down. Daisy handled it better than Ralph did, at least in the short term. But I think at the end of the day, Ralph’s path was better. I think he lived a happier life, even if it was truncated.
I read his whole file. He led a good life.
Physiological differences can’t be ignored. Although some of his gene treatments were curtailed and suppressed, some irreversible changes had occurred. He’d have been an intimidating child in school, even with a strict military upbringing. Being an alpha male in an environment replete with them hardly makes his adolescence and emergence into adulthood typical—he had some advantages.