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

arms, and thinning white hair indicated extreme age.
    Kurt froze as he spotted the one- and three-star rank insignia on their collars and snapped off a salute. "Vice Admiral, ma'am," he said. "Rear Admiral, sir."
    The Vice Admiral ignored Mendez and scrutinized Kurt. "Sit," she said, "both of you."
    Kurt didn't recognize either of these high-ranking officers, and they didn't bother to introduce themselves.
    He did as he was ordered, as did Mendez. Even sitting, though, his back was ramrod straight, his chest out, and eyes forward.
    "We were reviewing the record of your SPARTAN-IIIs since they went operational nine months ago," she said. "Impressive."
    The Rear Admiral gestured at floating holographic panes that contained after-action reports, still shots of battlefields filled with Covenant corpses, and ship damage-assessment profiles. "The insurrection of Mamore," he said "that nasty business at New Constantinople, actions in the Bonanza asteroid belt and the Far-gone colony platforms, and half a dozen other engagements—this reads like the campaign record of a cracking good battalion, not a company of three hundred. Dammed impressive."
    "That was only a fraction of the SPARTAN-III program potential," Colonel Ackerson said. His eyes stared at some distant point.
    "I'm sorry, sir," Kurt said. " 'Was'?"
    The Vice Admiral stiffened. It was clear that she was not accustomed to her junior officers asking questions.
    But Kurt had to. These were his men and women they were talking about. He'd kept his eyes and ears open for news on Alpha Company, and had cultivated intelligence sources outside ONI, Section Three, and Beta-5. Being Commandant of Camp Currahee had its privileges, and he had learned how to use them. He had managed to track his Spartans during the last seven months, until his sources had mysteriously gone silent six days ago. Only the AI Deep Winter had given a clue as to their whereabouts: Operation PROMETHEUS.
    "Tell me about the selection process for the next class of SPARTAN-IIIs," the Vice Admiral asked Kurt.
    "Ma'am," Kurt said, "we are operating under Colonel Acker-son's expanded selection criteria, but there are not enough age-appropriate genetic matches to meet the larger second-class target number."
    "There are sufficient genetic matches," Colonel Ackerson corrected. His face was an impassive mask. "What's missing are data to find additional matches. We need to proscribe mandatory genetic screening in the outer colonies. Those untapped populations are—"
    "That's the last thing we need in the outer colonies," the Rear Admiral said. "We're just getting a handle on a near civil war. You tell an O.C. they got to register their kids' genes, and they'll all be reaching for their rifles."
    The Vice Admiral steepled her withered hands. "Say it is part of a vaccine program. We take a microscopic sample as we inject the children. Inform no one."
    The Rear Admiral looked dubious, but offered no further comment.
    "Go on. Lieutenant," she said.
    "We have identified 375 candidates," Kurt said. "Slightly less than we started with for Alpha Company, but we have learned from our mistakes. We will be able to graduate a much higher percentage this time."
    He nodded toward Mendez to give the Chief the credit he richly deserved. Mendez sat completely still and Kurt saw he wore his poker face.
    Every instinct Kurt had screamed that something was wrong here.
    "But," the Rear Admiral said, "that's nowhere near the one thousand projection for the second wave."
    A brief scowl played over Ackerson's lip. "No, sir."
    The Vice Admiral set her hands flat on the table and leaned closer to Kurt. "What if we loosen the new genetic selection criteria?"
    Kurt took note of the "we" in her question. There was a subtle shift in the power structure at the table. With a single word, the Vice Admiral had made Kurt a part of their group.
    "Our new bioaugmentation protocols target a very specific genetic set. Any deviation from that set would