Chapter twenty-three – Halo Lighting System First Strike Games User Manual

Page 217

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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

TIME:DATE RECORD [[ERROR]]ANOMALY\Date
unknown\ Aboard captured Covenant flagship Ascendant
Justice,
in Slipspace. Now.

"Cortana?" the Master Chief asked. "What's our status?"

The Chief and the rest of his team scrambled out of the Cove-

nant dropship. Fred carried a semiconscious Kelly out and laid

her on the deck of the launch bay.

"Same as ever," Cortana replied. "We're in trouble."

Video feed from the ship's external cameras appeared on the

Master Chief's heads-up display. Covenant cruisers surrounded

them, their plasma turrets aglow; they reminded the Chief of
pictures he had seen of fish that lived at the bottom of Earth's

oceans—swarms of phosphorescing lights and razor-sharp teeth.

He marched toward the edge of the launch bay and stood a

centimeter from where the ship's energy shield abutted the open-

ing to the space beyond. He looked directly into the vast blue

fields and the giant warships far too close for his liking.

"We jumped to Slipspace, didn't we?" Lieutenant Haverson

asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Dr. Halsey replied. "And no."

She withdrew the crystal from her lab coat pocket and frowned

as she discovered that it was no longer a slender shard. The

facets had rearranged like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle... but in a
configuration that differed from the one the artifact displayed in

the Covenant grav beam. This time it was a starburst of edges and

refracted light.

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