Free Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric S. Nylund Page A

to kill each other."
    "I see that," the old man said. He nodded approvingly at Shane, and then turned to Robert.
    Robert ignored the old man and took a step toward Shane with his hands raised . "I said STAND DOWN!" Robert dropped his hands and staggered back as if he'd been struck. "I think you're right, Sergeant," the older Navy man said. "They really might have killed
    each other." He smiled, only it
    wasn't a smile. It was more like he was baring his teeth. "Very good. That kind of fight left in them after their first jump? A night jump? My God, I only hope the rest of them are like this."

    CHAPTER
    SEVEN
    0000 HOURS, JANUARY 19, 2532 CMILITARY CALENDAR) / NARROW-BAND POINTTO-POINT TRANSMISSION: ORIGIN UNKNOWN; TERMINATION: SECTION THREE, OMEGA SECURE ANTENNA ARRAY, UNSC HO EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, REACH MILITARY COMPLEX
    ///AUTOMATED REROUTE UNSC SHIP REG-96667 ABY/// FILE ACCESS GRANTED///WORM-PROTOCOL FIREWALL ENABLED/FILE ERASED/// PLNB TRANSMISSION XX087R-XX ENCRYPTION CODE: GAMMA PUBLIC KEY: N/A FROM: CODE NAME COALMINER TO: CODE NAME SURGEON SUBJECT: PROGRESS REPORT/OPERATION HYPODERMIC CLASSIFICATION: EYES ONLY, CODE-WORD XXXX XXXX TOP SECRET (SECTION THREE X-RAY DIRECTIVE)
    / FILE EXTRACTION-RECONSTITUTION COMPLETE/ /START FILE/ INSTITUTIONAL RECORDS ALTERED AS PER INSTRUCTIONS. INITIAL CONTACT WITH BASE AI MADE. HELPFUL, BUT I DON'T TRUST IT . PACKAGES DELIVERED. SELECTION PROCESS STARTED. OPERATION UNDERWAY AND ON
    SCHEDULE . CANDIDATES EXHIBIT MARKED AGGRESSION WELL OUT OF BOUNDS OF THE SMITH
    K ENSINGTON INDEX . AS MUCH WORK TRAINING THEM AS IT IS KEEPING THEM FROM MURDERING EACH OTHER. THEY'RE REAL HELLCATS . LIEUTENANT CLAIMS ALL UNDER CONTROL. HE HAS A PLAN FOR EVERYTHING. UNSURE
    WHERE HE 'S GETTING THIS CONFIDENCE, BUT I DO BELIEVE HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING. ARE YOU SURPRISED?
    /END FILE/ /SCRAMBLE-DESTRUCTION PROCESS ENABLE/ PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE.

    CHAPTER
    EIGHT
    0900 HOURS, JULY 30, 2537 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \ ABOARD UNSC POINT OF NO RETURN, LOCATION CLASSIFED (15 YEARS AFTER ALPHA COMPANY INDOCTRINATION)
    Lieutenant Ambrose and SCPO Mendez had been escorted to this catwalk through a series of corridors and high-security biometric vaults into the bowels of the stealth cruiser Point of No Return.
    The security officers had then left them standing at attention on the catwalk, and sealed the vaultlike door behind them. Below the metal grating of the catwalk, the shadows swallowed all sound.
    Three meters to Kurt's left was a slightly curved white wall. No door. Beyond was Odin's Eye, the high-security conference room where he'd first been told of the SPARTAN-III program by Colonel Ackerson.
    "Think this is some Section Three test?" Mendez finally whispered. "Or maybe someone doesn't like getting news about the lousy selection results for the Beta Company candidates?"
    "I'm not sure," Kurt replied. "My requested upgrades for the Mark-II SPI armor were over budget."
    Mendez raised an eyebrow. "Where did you hear that?"
    "The new AI talks a lot."
    "'Deep Winter,'" muttered Mendez. "I wonder if AIs pick their own names, or if some officer in Section Three does it."
    Kurt was about to offer his opinion when he noticed there now was a door in the curved white wall. Colonel Ackerson stood there. "Gendemen, join us." Ackerson then retreated into a brightly lit chamber.
    Kurt noticed that he hadn't met their eyes. That was always a bad sign.
    They entered, and as he crossed the threshold, Kurt felt static crawl over his skin. The concave illuminated walls of the chamber were disorienting. Kurt focused on the center of the half-spherical room, on the black conference table. Two officers sat there, gazing at holographic screens that floated in the air over its surface.
    Ackerson waved them closer.
    A woman sat with her back to them; opposite her sat a middle-aged gentleman.
    The man was gray and balding. The woman appeared older than regs permitted before mandatory retirement. Her osteoporotic slump, slender frail