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Warnings and disclaimers in Part 1
2345 Hours, August 26, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
North America, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
Military Barracks
“John.”
Cortana’s voice cut through his sleep-deprived mind. It had been nearly two days since John had been able to sleep and if Cortana’s interruption was any indication, he would have to wait longer to get some rest.
He rolled on his side and opened his eyes, attempting to clear his mind of exhaustion. “Go ahead.”
“Get suited up and meet us in the hangar ASAP.”
If Cortana’s lack of sarcasm wasn’t clue enough to the seriousness of the situation, his orders were. He was only given clearance to wear his armor during high-priority missions.
“What happened?” he asked as he made his way down the hallway. People were bustling around the base; there was too much activity at three in the morning.
“We’ve detected Covenant movement in New York.”
John halted his walk. New York? That was only 200 miles from Reach. The only comfort that John had was knowing that it was a well-fortified city with a half-dozen MAC guns and thousands of UNSC troops stationed there to protect the million civilians that called New York City their home.
Still, it unnerved him that the Covenant would make such a bold move. How had the UNSC managed to miss the intel that the enemy was crossing into their territory?
“Have they started glassing the city?” he asked. The tension in his voice was heavy.
“No.”
Her answer caught him off-guard. Normally the Covenant wasted no time in destroying the cities they invaded.
“There is nothing normal about this entire situation, Chief.” He could hear the annoyance in her voice. “The Omega Team noticed something strange during their watch. They only detected about a dozen or so Covenant and they were only focused on one building, the New York Public Library.”
He approached the waiting Jeep. He nodded to the driver as he stepped in. The young soldier pressed on the gas and drove towards the ONI building.
“High Command wants to know why they are there which is where we come in. They’re after something, John and we’re going to find out what it is.”
“Do you think it’s Forerunner?”
The soldier glanced at him in surprise out of the corner of his eye. The Chief looked forward.
“Probably. It’s the only thing that would compel them to approach NYC. I’m going to continue to try to access their battle net. If they are talking to each other, I want to know what they are saying.”
“Understood.”
The rest of the drive was silent. The soldier saluted to John as he stepped out of the jeep. John returned the gesture before facing the ONI building.
Doctor Halsey was waiting for him on the main floor. She escorted him past security to her main lab. Three lab assistants stood waiting in the room. Cortana, however, was nowhere to be found.
“Cortana was in the middle with Lord Hood when the transmission came in,” Halsey explained, not waiting for him to ask about her. She looked him over carefully. “How are you feeling, John?”
“Fine, ma’am.” He didn’t want to comment on his exhaustion.
“According to Captain Keyes, you haven’t slept in nearly two days.”
John said nothing.
Halsey pressed her lips together, the only sign of her annoyance. “I’m giving you a stimulant. It should keep you awake for at least another forty-eight hours.”
John would have protested if he wasn’t so tired. Stimulants, while effective, had the inconvenient side effect of causing the user to crash for twelve hours once the drug wore off.
She injected him with the syringe then nodded to her techs. Halsey kept her eyes on her tablet as the others assisted John to donning his armor, giving him some privacy.
When they finished, he picked up his helmet from the table next to her. She gave him a thoughtful glance.
“Ma’am?”
Her shoulders drooped slightly. “I have a request for you, John. More of a favor, if you will.”
He considered the woman who had given his life purpose when she brought him into the Spartan program decades ago. Short of defying a direct order from High Command, he would do anything for her. “What is it?”
She lowered her voice. “Keep an eye on Cortana. I fear she is still eager to push herself too hard, too quickly.” She drew in a deep breath. “I want you to make sure she doesn’t do anything too rash to try to prove to everyone that she hasn’t changed since Panama.”
An unexpected emotion--guilt--pervaded John’s mind. Though he knew he had done nothing wrong in Panama, he still felt responsible for not being able to lure the Covenant fire from Cortana and the stolen data long enough for her to escape.
“She is headstrong to a fault,” Halsey continued, unaware of his inner turmoil. A chagrined look passed over her face. “I suppose she isn’t entirely to blame for that. There aren’t many people she is willing to listen to, but she will listen to you.”
John didn’t know why that made a swirl of emotions swirl through him. He pushed them aside and forced himself to think of the mission at hand. Even without Halsey’s request, John had promised to himself that Cortana would be safe on the battlefield, no matter the sacrifice. “I will, ma’am.” He slid the helmet over his head.
She nodded, satisfied with his promise. “Good luck, Master Chief.”
0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=
There were too many unknown variables in this situation and Cortana hated it.
They had arrived at the command post five minutes ago and had been debriefed of the situation. Reports from the surveillance teams said that the Covenant strike team hadn’t left the building.
It had been ninety minutes since the Covenant presence was discovered, plenty of time for them to get the upper-hand in a close quarters battle.
Keyes bit the lip of his pipe, leaning towards the holographic image of the city’s main library. “Why do I get the feeling that the odds are stacked against us?”
“Because they are.” Johnson frowned.
Security cameras had documented the Covenant enter the section of the building that was under Bryant Park. It had been closed to the public for over a hundred years due to the structural damage it had taken during the Inner Colony War of 2427. The entrance to that portion of the library was being guarded by two Elites who were standing at the threshold of the old wing.
There was no other obvious way of entering that area without direct contact with the Covenant. Which meant Cortana needed to get creative.
She accessed all of the maps of New York City’s underground that the UNSC had on file. “We could gain access to the building through the archaic subway lines. We would have to walk several blocks though.” Cortana positioned an overlay of the old public transits tunnels over the map of the library. “If we go here,” she said, pointing to the left side, “we should be able to find an access tunnel that will give us entrance into the lower levels.”
Keyes glanced at Cortana. “How stable are those tunnels?”
The AI shrugged. “There is a sixty percent degradation of structural integrity, but there haven’t been any recent cave-ins.” She looked up at the captain. “It’s our only option unless you want to have a major firefight on our hands.”
“Alright,” the captain sighed. He straightened. “Let’s get these bastards out of our city.”
It didn’t take long for Cortana to wish she had found another way to gain access to the lower levels of the library. They had been walking underground for ten minutes. The air was stale; the rubble and rocks slid around them as they progressed further into the tunnel system. She forced herself to remain calm; she had a job and her claustrophobia wouldn’t get in her way.
Johnson and Keyes took the lead while Cortana walked beside John. So far he hadn’t asked how she was managing being in such a tight place. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was being his normal stoic self or because he was exhausted.
She studied him for several seconds. His stride was steady, his posture perfect. He showed no outward signs of fatigue.
“She gave you a stim, huh?”
He hesitated a moment before giving her a slight nod. “Yes.”
“You must have been more tired than you let on,” Cortana noted. She knew John’s disdain for any type of medication that had major side effects.
“How are you doing?”
“Fine. I was able to sleep and get a cup of coffee.”
“I was talking about--”
He wasn’t able to finish his sentence. The top of the tunnel began to tremble as the loud roar of a collapse filled the air. Cortana noticed the ceiling starting to crumble near Keyes and Johnson’s location. “Watch out!” she cried.
They started to run, but they were moving too slow. They were going to get crushed by the debris.
Suddenly, a blur of motion ran passed her. John moved as quickly as she had ever seen him. As he raced forward, he pushed the two men beyond the debris pile.
Cortana allowed herself a small sigh of relief when the data from John’s armor showed that all three men had survived the collapse. But there was one very significant problem.
The rock and wreckage blocked the path ahead of her.
“Cortana, are you alright?” She caught the concern in John’s voice.
“I’m fine, but I don’t see how I’m getting through.” She carefully approached the pile, shining her flashlight over the debris. In the top corner there was a small opening. She calculated the dimensions and figured that she could fit through the small hole. Barely.
She needed to come up with another solution.
“Cortana?” Keyes’ voice floated in the air.
Damn. They were under a strict time limit; she didn’t have time to double-back and find another way into the library. “There is a small opening in the rubble. I should be able to climb through.”
She watched as the light from John’s helmet shine through the hole. “There’s no way you’re getting through that.”
Thanks for the encouragement, Johnson, she thought sarcastically.
“I might need a little help getting all the way through, but according to my calculations, I should fit.” She berated herself for the tremor in her voice.
“I can try to remove some of the rubble,” John’s voice spoke via their comm channel.
“No, you can’t,” she sighed. “The structural integrity is too weak already. We can’t risk a further cave-in.” She swallowed, forcing her heart rate to slow. “I can do this.”
There was a long two second pause. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just give me a hand when I reach the other side.”
“Understood.”
Cortana drew in a long breath and eyed the pile of fallen debris. She would be able to climb up and hoist herself through the opening. She would have to shimmy several feet through the rubble until she reached the other side. Without letting her fears voice their concerns, she approached the remains of the collapsed tunnel.
The broken cement crumbled and shifted as she took her first step on the pile. She reached up to the opening; her hand slipped as the dirt crumbled in her grasp. She tucked the flashlight in her vest pocket and looked ahead to where John’s light was shining.
She could do this.
Cortana grabbed a hold of a large chunk of cement and pulled herself in the hole. Almost instantly, her pulse spiked and her breathing became shallow. She told herself to just move forward, but she found herself paralyzed by the idea of moving forward.
Her alpha directive was doing its best to silence her fears: there was a mission to complete and she needed to get to where the rest of her team were waiting for her.
She silenced the command with an impatient mental shove.
She closed her eyes briefly and willed her breathing to slow. Once she was confident that she wasn’t going to hyperventilate, she pushed herself to move her arms. She belly crawled through the small opening, not opening her eyes.
The dirt that surrounded her sprinkled down around her. She coughed as the particles entered her lungs. Her stomach muscles barely had room to move as she attempted to control the spasms in her throat. She hit her head on the top on the passage as the worst of her coughing subsided.
That was when she opened her eyes.
Which was a major error on her part. She had gone far enough in the opening to get herself wedged between both sides. There was no easy way to go forward or backwards.
“Are you alright?” John’s voice was laced with concern.
She was fine! She was not some average human with irrational fears! She was the technological achievement of the UNSC!
She was terrified.
“No.” It was barely more than a whisper.
Instead of feeling weaker, Cortana almost felt empowered by her admission. How many humans had faced frightening situations and become better because of it? How many had those men waiting for her done the same thing?
She looked ahead and saw the bright lights of John’s helmet. She only had several more feet and she would be out of this premature grave. Keeping her eyes trained on the glow, she drew in a long breath and held it. She continued her slow trek forward. When she needed to breathe, she paused, collected another breath and moved ahead.
Finally, she reached the other side. Unlike where she had come from, there was not a slope of debris to climb down, but a sheer drop eight feet to the ground. She pushed her hands forward and held them out, lowering them as much as she was able. “I’m going to need some help.”
She felt the fingertips rub across her palm. Then she felt a large, calloused hand --Keyes’-- wrap around her left. Another hand --Johnson’s-- grabbed her right.
“We’re gonna get you out of there,” Keyes assured her. He looked over at John. “You got her?”
“Yes, sir.”
On their private comm, “I’m not going to let you fall.”
It was an uncharacteristic assurance; Cortana must have taken longer to navigate through the opening than she had realized. Or maybe he was truly concerned about her welfare.
Either way, she knew that he would keep his word.
“One. Two. Three.” Keyes and Johnson tugged on Cortana’s arms. She felt the pockets of her vest snag in the rocks, but they managed to pull her far enough out of the rubble to where John could grab her. His hands steadied her as he lowered her back to solid ground.
Keyes gave her a once-over and nodded. She had passed his visual inspection. “Let’s go.”
Cortana let out a long breath. They would have to find another way back to the command post; even if the other men could have fit through the opening, she doubted she could convince herself to go through that again.
She tilted her head up. John was looking at her. One second passed. Then another. And another.
Then, without a word, he turned and started walking with Keyes.
What was that all about?
She let the unspoken question drift to the back of her matrix. There would be time to analyze John’s behavior later. Right now, they had a mission to complete.
*************
It took another twenty minutes, but, with Cortana’s directions, they had finally reached the library basement. John took point as the others followed him. The dim lights allowed him to turn off his helmet’s as they made their way down the long corridor.
Suddenly, a deep voice cut through the air. “He is moving too slowly, Vadam! We are running out of time.”
John froze.
A calm voice responded, “If this building had been infiltrated, we would have been alerted to their presence by the others. I trust that he is working as fast as he is able.” The voice turned away from where they were standing. “How much longer?”
Another voice, much more nervous than the first two, stuttered, “It will take another thirty minutes to decrypt the data and another fifteen to upload it.”
“Very well.”
John looked back at Keyes. He was looking at Cortana questioningly. There were times such as these when her ability to rely a transmission over their comm channels wordlessly was a valuable asset.
“Based on the video feed I’m getting, there are only three Covenant on this level,” she said over the team’s comm. “I would suggest we allow the Chief to handle them.”
“Agreed,” Keyes whispered. He faced John. “No lethal force. I want their sorry asses dragged out of here and back to High Command to find out what the hell they are doing there.”
“Understood.”
He crept along the poorly lit wall, silently stalking his prey. Once he reached the corner, he stepped from the shadows and grabbed his assault rifle. He slowly moved forward until he was able to see his targets. The three of them were standing close together, making it impossible for the Spartan to go undetected.
He considered the three men in front of him. Two of them were Elite soldiers; their gold armor shone in the light. Each was armed with a plasma rifle. The other man, however, held no weapon and seemed terrified; even from across the room, John could see his hand trembling.
Suddenly, the Elite on the left turned around and began walking in a tight circle. John tucked himself back in the shadows and waited for him to have his back turned.
When the Elite had moved into position, John turned into a blur of motion. He ran to the soldier and slammed the butt of his gun on the back of his skull. Before the unsuspecting Elite hit the ground, John spun around and slammed his gauntlet into the other Elite’s jaw as he was reaching for his weapon. The Elite staggered back several steps, but had not fallen. John rushed him and smashed his fist into his jaw, knocking him to the floor unconscious.
The man at the desk cowered in fear. “Please! Don’t hurt me, I’m unarmed,” he said in the Covenant dialect.
John hesitated.
Keyes and the others stepped into the room. “Hold on, Master Chief.” The captain strode across the room and plucked the transmitter from the man’s ear. “We wouldn’t want anyone to know that we’re here, would we?”
“No!” the man replied.
“He certainly doesn’t seem like the typical pain in the ass Covenant we’re used to,” said Johnson.
“I am not a soldier. My homeland was taken over by the Covenant nearly 25 years ago. They make those of us who are good in the sciences to work for them,” he spoke in broken English.
“What are you doing here?” Keyes demanded.
The man didn’t answer right away. John took a step forward.
“All right, we were looking for the technology of the Ancients! We believe there is a database here in the archives.” He looked at Cortana. “Please, if I don’t retrieve the data, they will kill my wife and daughters.”
“No they won’t. Your bodyguards didn’t do their job,” Keyes replied. Then he nodded to John.
John hit him on the head and the man slumped to the floor.
“We’ll finish setting up the charges and find another way back to the command post,” Keyes said.
Cortana spoke up. “Sir, if there is Forerunner technology here, I should attempt to recover it before it gets destroyed.”
Keyes frowned. “My orders are clear, Cortana. So are yours. We are to blow the hell out of this place, making sure that the Covenant don’t have any reason to come back here.”
“I only need fifteen minutes, sir. If some Covenant scientist can hack into the database then so can I,” Cortana retorted.
John stood in between them as they faced off.
The fact they were still outnumbered weighed on his mind. Insuring their safety while completing their mission was going to be difficult to do without the added objective of Cortana decrypting the Forerunner data. Halsey and her uncharacteristic request flittered through his mind.
He opened his private comm channel to the AI. “Cortana, we shouldn’t stay. The captain is right. We need to finish the mission”
Her lips pressed together, the only outward sign that she had heard hm.
“Yes we should. What we shouldn’t do is destroy any Forerunner data.”
John was accustomed to Cortana’s stubbornness; he had come to appreciate it over time. This was something different. She had never argued a direct order from High Command before.
“There will be others.”
“Sir,” Cortana said, ignoring John. “I can download the contents of the files while the Chief and Johnson set up the charges.”
When Keyes swore under his breath, John knew Cortana had gotten her way. “You’ve got ten minutes.” She flashed John a smug look before sitting in front of the computer.
“Chief, Johnson...you know what you need to do.” Keyes handed Johnson the sack with the explosive charges on it. “It’s up to you two to find an escape route.”
“Understood, sir.”
The two men left Keyes and Cortana behind, despite John’s unspoken concerns. He knew the captain was a skiled soldier; he and Cortana would be prepared if something went wrong.
He and Johnson moved stealthy through the ancient library. Methodically, they avoided the Covenant patrols and planted the explosives throughout the building. When Johnson set down the final charge, John glanced at the timer of his HUD: Cortana and Keyes had less than a minute before they should be leaving the basement area.
Tense, he straightened as he waited for Cortana to contact him. He was tempted to reach across their link himself and “see” through Cortana’s perspective, but decided against it. He knew her migraines were still a threat and wouldn’t risk doing anything that would jeopardize her well-being.
Less than a minute later, he was contacted not by Cortana, but by Captain Keyes. “Chief, you and Johnson need to get to our position. Now.”
The fact that the captain was speaking to him meant one thing: Cortana was in trouble.
His promise to Doctor Halsey replayed in his mind. He nodded in the direction of the basement. “Time to move.”
“Damn,” Johnson swore. “I knew this was too easy.”
John nodded curtly as they retraced their steps. As they were getting to the underground wing of the library, John heard a very familiar voice carry over the air. “...you sure you want to do that? If anything happens to either of us, I will erase all of the data.”
“How do you know that you have the data?” questioned one of the Covenant soldiers.
John led Johnson into the small passageway. It led to a large room where Cortana and Keyes were surrounded by nearly a dozen Elites. They had their weapons aimed at her; she and Keyes were standing back to back, each brandishing a pistol.
“Cortana.”
“It’s about time you got here. I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off,” she transmitted.
“What do you want me to do?”
“A distraction would be nice.”
John could do that. He pulled out a frag grenade. If he lobbed it just right, he could knock out several support columns on the other side of the room, causing enough of a distraction to allow Cortana and Keyes to escape.
He pulled out the pin and hurled it across the room. Seconds later, the explosion shook the ground and the Covenant soldiers turned from their prisoners.
John took advantage of their confusion and took aim at one of the the Elites while Johnson fired at another. Just as John hit his target, Cortana shot the soldier standing in front of her as Keyes did the same. A smattering of shots hit his armor; his shields lowered dangerously.
When he tucked behind a large bookcase, he saw Cortana and Keyes run in the direction of the passage. John gave them covering fire as they made it safely inside. Johnson was close behind them. Once John was convinced the other three had enough of a head start, he pulled out his only plasma grenade and threw it in the midst of the surviving Elites.
John activated the remote timer for the explosives, not wanting any of the Covenant forces to escape.
They had five minutes to get out of the building.
The four of them ran down the corridor to the library’s main structure. They stayed in the shadows, knowing that the Covenant wouldn’t stop chasing them.
They ran through another wing and Cortana nodded to a plain door. “It’s a fire access hallway. Should keep us out of the Covenant’s view.”
Should be. John would have liked something a bit but reassuring, but they are few options.
She turned the knob but it didn’t move. John stepped beside her and kicked in the door.
3:46
It was pitch black.
He turned on the flashlight on his helmet and took point. A steep set of stairs was in front of them. Without wasting a moment, John climbed the stairs, three at a time.
When they got to the top of the stairs, there was another door waiting for them.
2:51
The door opened to a large room full of ancient books and parchments. There would be time to mourn the loss of human history, but not until after they weren’t being chased by the Covenant.
They were halfway across the enormous room when a bolt of plasma sailed over his head.
“Where’s that luck of yours?” Cortana grumbled.
“Go,” John said. “I’ll take care of him.”
The three of them exchange a look with each other. Keyes nodded slowly. “Let’s go.”
John stopped running and scanned the room. For seven precious seconds, he couldn’t see anyone in the room. Then, as he leaned to the left, he saw the light bend in an unnatural way.
There.
He grabbed his pistol and barely lined up the shot before firing twice. Each bullet hits its target and the Elite crumbled to the ground.
1:16
The rest of his team had made it out of the main reading room. He sprinted to the end of the room and turned the corner. Johnson and the others were approaching a group of ODSTs at the end of the hall.
When he caught up to the others, the group of UNSC soldiers ran through an emergency exit to the outside.
0:32
The building was surrounded by Bumblebees, Scorpions and Pelicans, all ready to take out any Covenant that tried to escape. In the distance, John saw a very familiar four-person team: his former Blue team.
0:00
The ground shook as the explosions detonated. The building spewed dust and debris as it shuddered at the impact.
Keyes looked at Cortana with a slight frown. “Was it worth it?”
“I think we both know the answer to that, sir.”
*******************
“Is this seat taken?”
It wasn’t often that Cortana emerged from her lab to the mess hall but with everything that happened since their return to Reach, she wanted to avoid the ONI building. And Halsey in particular.
The doctor has been livid when she had found out that Cortana had put up a fight to collect the Forerunner data. “You were reckless. You could have gotten yourself killed. If you had just wiped the mainframe when you found it, you and Jacob would have never been in that situation,” she had seethed. “Your actions not only endangered you, but affected others.”
A wave of guilt had washed over Cortana. Captain Keyes had received an official reprimand for defying a direct order from High Command.
“I know,” she had said quietly.
“And now, my hands are tied.” Halsey had gestured to the tablet on her desk. “High Command is forcing me to upload this protocol into your system.”
Cortana had been aware of the command. The protocol --GOLD MINE--was designed to override any of her subroutines if she was in the middle of completing a direct command from High Command. Everything, including her alpha-priority commands, would be subjugated by the protocol if it was activated.
“High Command sees you as their tool, Cortana. There are some of us who feel otherwise,” the doctor had said pointedly.
That time the shame had become too overwhelming. Cortana had excused herself while Halsey worked on the final programming for the protocol and escaped from the ONI building.
John looked up from the empty table and shook his head. He didn’t seem surprised to see her there.
Cortana sat down in front of him with a cup of coffee in her hands. “I never got a chance to say thank you for saving my life. Again.”
It could have been the lighting in the room, but she swore she saw a faint blush color his cheek. “I was following orders.”
It didn’t sound as noble -- or as significant-- when he put it that way.
She swallowed a swig of coffee. “You were right,” she forced out.
This time, John was surprised. His eyebrows rose at her statement.
“I shouldn’t have pushed the issue with the database. Based on the preliminary analysis, it doesn’t look like there is anything significant on it.” She looked away. “Captain Keyes got a reprimand because of his actions,” she confessed.
John picked up an orange segment and ate it before replying. “I know. I was in the waiting room when he came out of his debriefing. He told me to watch my ass.”
“Did you...” she trailed off as she accessed his CSV. Surely Catherine would have told her had John been punished for his involvement.
“No,” he said as she accessed the debriefing notes.
“They are adding a new protocol to my programming,” she admitted. “I’m becoming too much of a free thinker.”
John’s brow furrowed. “What does this protocol do?”
She shook off his question. “It’s nothing. In fact,” she smiled a little too brightly, “you’ll probably enjoy the ‘improvement’.”
“I like your programming just the way it is.”
It was the most overt compliment that John had ever given her. Despite the mirth it produced, it was overshadowed by the guilt that she was dealing with. “I don’t. I didn’t fully analyze about the welfare of the team. Captain Keyes would have gotten killed when he was protecting me when I was in the system. You and Johnson risked your lives coming back for us. If I had--”
“Cortana,” John interrupted. “Don’t.”
“It’s alright, John. What Catherine told me was the truth.” She lifted her head and jutted her jaw forward. “I’m sorry.” She drew in a long breath. “I won’t put any of you in that position again. The risks I take will be my own.” She reached across the table and gave his hand a brief squeeze. “I promise.”
John just looked at her.
She didn’t take offense at his silence. She knew she had thrown a lot of emotional issues at him during their brief conversation. Cortana stood up. “I should go find the captain and apologize.”
As she began to turn around, John called her name. She looked at him questioningly.
“I overheard him say he was going back to the Autumn,” he said awkwardly.
They both knew that wasn’t what he was going to say, but Cortana was content to let the issue go. She had more pressing things to deal with, though her subroutines were already trying to determine what John was going to say.
Part 5: Pushing the Boundaries
2345 Hours, August 26, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
North America, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
Military Barracks
“John.”
Cortana’s voice cut through his sleep-deprived mind. It had been nearly two days since John had been able to sleep and if Cortana’s interruption was any indication, he would have to wait longer to get some rest.
He rolled on his side and opened his eyes, attempting to clear his mind of exhaustion. “Go ahead.”
“Get suited up and meet us in the hangar ASAP.”
If Cortana’s lack of sarcasm wasn’t clue enough to the seriousness of the situation, his orders were. He was only given clearance to wear his armor during high-priority missions.
“What happened?” he asked as he made his way down the hallway. People were bustling around the base; there was too much activity at three in the morning.
“We’ve detected Covenant movement in New York.”
John halted his walk. New York? That was only 200 miles from Reach. The only comfort that John had was knowing that it was a well-fortified city with a half-dozen MAC guns and thousands of UNSC troops stationed there to protect the million civilians that called New York City their home.
Still, it unnerved him that the Covenant would make such a bold move. How had the UNSC managed to miss the intel that the enemy was crossing into their territory?
“Have they started glassing the city?” he asked. The tension in his voice was heavy.
“No.”
Her answer caught him off-guard. Normally the Covenant wasted no time in destroying the cities they invaded.
“There is nothing normal about this entire situation, Chief.” He could hear the annoyance in her voice. “The Omega Team noticed something strange during their watch. They only detected about a dozen or so Covenant and they were only focused on one building, the New York Public Library.”
He approached the waiting Jeep. He nodded to the driver as he stepped in. The young soldier pressed on the gas and drove towards the ONI building.
“High Command wants to know why they are there which is where we come in. They’re after something, John and we’re going to find out what it is.”
“Do you think it’s Forerunner?”
The soldier glanced at him in surprise out of the corner of his eye. The Chief looked forward.
“Probably. It’s the only thing that would compel them to approach NYC. I’m going to continue to try to access their battle net. If they are talking to each other, I want to know what they are saying.”
“Understood.”
The rest of the drive was silent. The soldier saluted to John as he stepped out of the jeep. John returned the gesture before facing the ONI building.
Doctor Halsey was waiting for him on the main floor. She escorted him past security to her main lab. Three lab assistants stood waiting in the room. Cortana, however, was nowhere to be found.
“Cortana was in the middle with Lord Hood when the transmission came in,” Halsey explained, not waiting for him to ask about her. She looked him over carefully. “How are you feeling, John?”
“Fine, ma’am.” He didn’t want to comment on his exhaustion.
“According to Captain Keyes, you haven’t slept in nearly two days.”
John said nothing.
Halsey pressed her lips together, the only sign of her annoyance. “I’m giving you a stimulant. It should keep you awake for at least another forty-eight hours.”
John would have protested if he wasn’t so tired. Stimulants, while effective, had the inconvenient side effect of causing the user to crash for twelve hours once the drug wore off.
She injected him with the syringe then nodded to her techs. Halsey kept her eyes on her tablet as the others assisted John to donning his armor, giving him some privacy.
When they finished, he picked up his helmet from the table next to her. She gave him a thoughtful glance.
“Ma’am?”
Her shoulders drooped slightly. “I have a request for you, John. More of a favor, if you will.”
He considered the woman who had given his life purpose when she brought him into the Spartan program decades ago. Short of defying a direct order from High Command, he would do anything for her. “What is it?”
She lowered her voice. “Keep an eye on Cortana. I fear she is still eager to push herself too hard, too quickly.” She drew in a deep breath. “I want you to make sure she doesn’t do anything too rash to try to prove to everyone that she hasn’t changed since Panama.”
An unexpected emotion--guilt--pervaded John’s mind. Though he knew he had done nothing wrong in Panama, he still felt responsible for not being able to lure the Covenant fire from Cortana and the stolen data long enough for her to escape.
“She is headstrong to a fault,” Halsey continued, unaware of his inner turmoil. A chagrined look passed over her face. “I suppose she isn’t entirely to blame for that. There aren’t many people she is willing to listen to, but she will listen to you.”
John didn’t know why that made a swirl of emotions swirl through him. He pushed them aside and forced himself to think of the mission at hand. Even without Halsey’s request, John had promised to himself that Cortana would be safe on the battlefield, no matter the sacrifice. “I will, ma’am.” He slid the helmet over his head.
She nodded, satisfied with his promise. “Good luck, Master Chief.”
0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=0-=
There were too many unknown variables in this situation and Cortana hated it.
They had arrived at the command post five minutes ago and had been debriefed of the situation. Reports from the surveillance teams said that the Covenant strike team hadn’t left the building.
It had been ninety minutes since the Covenant presence was discovered, plenty of time for them to get the upper-hand in a close quarters battle.
Keyes bit the lip of his pipe, leaning towards the holographic image of the city’s main library. “Why do I get the feeling that the odds are stacked against us?”
“Because they are.” Johnson frowned.
Security cameras had documented the Covenant enter the section of the building that was under Bryant Park. It had been closed to the public for over a hundred years due to the structural damage it had taken during the Inner Colony War of 2427. The entrance to that portion of the library was being guarded by two Elites who were standing at the threshold of the old wing.
There was no other obvious way of entering that area without direct contact with the Covenant. Which meant Cortana needed to get creative.
She accessed all of the maps of New York City’s underground that the UNSC had on file. “We could gain access to the building through the archaic subway lines. We would have to walk several blocks though.” Cortana positioned an overlay of the old public transits tunnels over the map of the library. “If we go here,” she said, pointing to the left side, “we should be able to find an access tunnel that will give us entrance into the lower levels.”
Keyes glanced at Cortana. “How stable are those tunnels?”
The AI shrugged. “There is a sixty percent degradation of structural integrity, but there haven’t been any recent cave-ins.” She looked up at the captain. “It’s our only option unless you want to have a major firefight on our hands.”
“Alright,” the captain sighed. He straightened. “Let’s get these bastards out of our city.”
It didn’t take long for Cortana to wish she had found another way to gain access to the lower levels of the library. They had been walking underground for ten minutes. The air was stale; the rubble and rocks slid around them as they progressed further into the tunnel system. She forced herself to remain calm; she had a job and her claustrophobia wouldn’t get in her way.
Johnson and Keyes took the lead while Cortana walked beside John. So far he hadn’t asked how she was managing being in such a tight place. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was being his normal stoic self or because he was exhausted.
She studied him for several seconds. His stride was steady, his posture perfect. He showed no outward signs of fatigue.
“She gave you a stim, huh?”
He hesitated a moment before giving her a slight nod. “Yes.”
“You must have been more tired than you let on,” Cortana noted. She knew John’s disdain for any type of medication that had major side effects.
“How are you doing?”
“Fine. I was able to sleep and get a cup of coffee.”
“I was talking about--”
He wasn’t able to finish his sentence. The top of the tunnel began to tremble as the loud roar of a collapse filled the air. Cortana noticed the ceiling starting to crumble near Keyes and Johnson’s location. “Watch out!” she cried.
They started to run, but they were moving too slow. They were going to get crushed by the debris.
Suddenly, a blur of motion ran passed her. John moved as quickly as she had ever seen him. As he raced forward, he pushed the two men beyond the debris pile.
Cortana allowed herself a small sigh of relief when the data from John’s armor showed that all three men had survived the collapse. But there was one very significant problem.
The rock and wreckage blocked the path ahead of her.
“Cortana, are you alright?” She caught the concern in John’s voice.
“I’m fine, but I don’t see how I’m getting through.” She carefully approached the pile, shining her flashlight over the debris. In the top corner there was a small opening. She calculated the dimensions and figured that she could fit through the small hole. Barely.
She needed to come up with another solution.
“Cortana?” Keyes’ voice floated in the air.
Damn. They were under a strict time limit; she didn’t have time to double-back and find another way into the library. “There is a small opening in the rubble. I should be able to climb through.”
She watched as the light from John’s helmet shine through the hole. “There’s no way you’re getting through that.”
Thanks for the encouragement, Johnson, she thought sarcastically.
“I might need a little help getting all the way through, but according to my calculations, I should fit.” She berated herself for the tremor in her voice.
“I can try to remove some of the rubble,” John’s voice spoke via their comm channel.
“No, you can’t,” she sighed. “The structural integrity is too weak already. We can’t risk a further cave-in.” She swallowed, forcing her heart rate to slow. “I can do this.”
There was a long two second pause. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just give me a hand when I reach the other side.”
“Understood.”
Cortana drew in a long breath and eyed the pile of fallen debris. She would be able to climb up and hoist herself through the opening. She would have to shimmy several feet through the rubble until she reached the other side. Without letting her fears voice their concerns, she approached the remains of the collapsed tunnel.
The broken cement crumbled and shifted as she took her first step on the pile. She reached up to the opening; her hand slipped as the dirt crumbled in her grasp. She tucked the flashlight in her vest pocket and looked ahead to where John’s light was shining.
She could do this.
Cortana grabbed a hold of a large chunk of cement and pulled herself in the hole. Almost instantly, her pulse spiked and her breathing became shallow. She told herself to just move forward, but she found herself paralyzed by the idea of moving forward.
Her alpha directive was doing its best to silence her fears: there was a mission to complete and she needed to get to where the rest of her team were waiting for her.
She silenced the command with an impatient mental shove.
She closed her eyes briefly and willed her breathing to slow. Once she was confident that she wasn’t going to hyperventilate, she pushed herself to move her arms. She belly crawled through the small opening, not opening her eyes.
The dirt that surrounded her sprinkled down around her. She coughed as the particles entered her lungs. Her stomach muscles barely had room to move as she attempted to control the spasms in her throat. She hit her head on the top on the passage as the worst of her coughing subsided.
That was when she opened her eyes.
Which was a major error on her part. She had gone far enough in the opening to get herself wedged between both sides. There was no easy way to go forward or backwards.
“Are you alright?” John’s voice was laced with concern.
She was fine! She was not some average human with irrational fears! She was the technological achievement of the UNSC!
She was terrified.
“No.” It was barely more than a whisper.
Instead of feeling weaker, Cortana almost felt empowered by her admission. How many humans had faced frightening situations and become better because of it? How many had those men waiting for her done the same thing?
She looked ahead and saw the bright lights of John’s helmet. She only had several more feet and she would be out of this premature grave. Keeping her eyes trained on the glow, she drew in a long breath and held it. She continued her slow trek forward. When she needed to breathe, she paused, collected another breath and moved ahead.
Finally, she reached the other side. Unlike where she had come from, there was not a slope of debris to climb down, but a sheer drop eight feet to the ground. She pushed her hands forward and held them out, lowering them as much as she was able. “I’m going to need some help.”
She felt the fingertips rub across her palm. Then she felt a large, calloused hand --Keyes’-- wrap around her left. Another hand --Johnson’s-- grabbed her right.
“We’re gonna get you out of there,” Keyes assured her. He looked over at John. “You got her?”
“Yes, sir.”
On their private comm, “I’m not going to let you fall.”
It was an uncharacteristic assurance; Cortana must have taken longer to navigate through the opening than she had realized. Or maybe he was truly concerned about her welfare.
Either way, she knew that he would keep his word.
“One. Two. Three.” Keyes and Johnson tugged on Cortana’s arms. She felt the pockets of her vest snag in the rocks, but they managed to pull her far enough out of the rubble to where John could grab her. His hands steadied her as he lowered her back to solid ground.
Keyes gave her a once-over and nodded. She had passed his visual inspection. “Let’s go.”
Cortana let out a long breath. They would have to find another way back to the command post; even if the other men could have fit through the opening, she doubted she could convince herself to go through that again.
She tilted her head up. John was looking at her. One second passed. Then another. And another.
Then, without a word, he turned and started walking with Keyes.
What was that all about?
She let the unspoken question drift to the back of her matrix. There would be time to analyze John’s behavior later. Right now, they had a mission to complete.
*************
It took another twenty minutes, but, with Cortana’s directions, they had finally reached the library basement. John took point as the others followed him. The dim lights allowed him to turn off his helmet’s as they made their way down the long corridor.
Suddenly, a deep voice cut through the air. “He is moving too slowly, Vadam! We are running out of time.”
John froze.
A calm voice responded, “If this building had been infiltrated, we would have been alerted to their presence by the others. I trust that he is working as fast as he is able.” The voice turned away from where they were standing. “How much longer?”
Another voice, much more nervous than the first two, stuttered, “It will take another thirty minutes to decrypt the data and another fifteen to upload it.”
“Very well.”
John looked back at Keyes. He was looking at Cortana questioningly. There were times such as these when her ability to rely a transmission over their comm channels wordlessly was a valuable asset.
“Based on the video feed I’m getting, there are only three Covenant on this level,” she said over the team’s comm. “I would suggest we allow the Chief to handle them.”
“Agreed,” Keyes whispered. He faced John. “No lethal force. I want their sorry asses dragged out of here and back to High Command to find out what the hell they are doing there.”
“Understood.”
He crept along the poorly lit wall, silently stalking his prey. Once he reached the corner, he stepped from the shadows and grabbed his assault rifle. He slowly moved forward until he was able to see his targets. The three of them were standing close together, making it impossible for the Spartan to go undetected.
He considered the three men in front of him. Two of them were Elite soldiers; their gold armor shone in the light. Each was armed with a plasma rifle. The other man, however, held no weapon and seemed terrified; even from across the room, John could see his hand trembling.
Suddenly, the Elite on the left turned around and began walking in a tight circle. John tucked himself back in the shadows and waited for him to have his back turned.
When the Elite had moved into position, John turned into a blur of motion. He ran to the soldier and slammed the butt of his gun on the back of his skull. Before the unsuspecting Elite hit the ground, John spun around and slammed his gauntlet into the other Elite’s jaw as he was reaching for his weapon. The Elite staggered back several steps, but had not fallen. John rushed him and smashed his fist into his jaw, knocking him to the floor unconscious.
The man at the desk cowered in fear. “Please! Don’t hurt me, I’m unarmed,” he said in the Covenant dialect.
John hesitated.
Keyes and the others stepped into the room. “Hold on, Master Chief.” The captain strode across the room and plucked the transmitter from the man’s ear. “We wouldn’t want anyone to know that we’re here, would we?”
“No!” the man replied.
“He certainly doesn’t seem like the typical pain in the ass Covenant we’re used to,” said Johnson.
“I am not a soldier. My homeland was taken over by the Covenant nearly 25 years ago. They make those of us who are good in the sciences to work for them,” he spoke in broken English.
“What are you doing here?” Keyes demanded.
The man didn’t answer right away. John took a step forward.
“All right, we were looking for the technology of the Ancients! We believe there is a database here in the archives.” He looked at Cortana. “Please, if I don’t retrieve the data, they will kill my wife and daughters.”
“No they won’t. Your bodyguards didn’t do their job,” Keyes replied. Then he nodded to John.
John hit him on the head and the man slumped to the floor.
“We’ll finish setting up the charges and find another way back to the command post,” Keyes said.
Cortana spoke up. “Sir, if there is Forerunner technology here, I should attempt to recover it before it gets destroyed.”
Keyes frowned. “My orders are clear, Cortana. So are yours. We are to blow the hell out of this place, making sure that the Covenant don’t have any reason to come back here.”
“I only need fifteen minutes, sir. If some Covenant scientist can hack into the database then so can I,” Cortana retorted.
John stood in between them as they faced off.
The fact they were still outnumbered weighed on his mind. Insuring their safety while completing their mission was going to be difficult to do without the added objective of Cortana decrypting the Forerunner data. Halsey and her uncharacteristic request flittered through his mind.
He opened his private comm channel to the AI. “Cortana, we shouldn’t stay. The captain is right. We need to finish the mission”
Her lips pressed together, the only outward sign that she had heard hm.
“Yes we should. What we shouldn’t do is destroy any Forerunner data.”
John was accustomed to Cortana’s stubbornness; he had come to appreciate it over time. This was something different. She had never argued a direct order from High Command before.
“There will be others.”
“Sir,” Cortana said, ignoring John. “I can download the contents of the files while the Chief and Johnson set up the charges.”
When Keyes swore under his breath, John knew Cortana had gotten her way. “You’ve got ten minutes.” She flashed John a smug look before sitting in front of the computer.
“Chief, Johnson...you know what you need to do.” Keyes handed Johnson the sack with the explosive charges on it. “It’s up to you two to find an escape route.”
“Understood, sir.”
The two men left Keyes and Cortana behind, despite John’s unspoken concerns. He knew the captain was a skiled soldier; he and Cortana would be prepared if something went wrong.
He and Johnson moved stealthy through the ancient library. Methodically, they avoided the Covenant patrols and planted the explosives throughout the building. When Johnson set down the final charge, John glanced at the timer of his HUD: Cortana and Keyes had less than a minute before they should be leaving the basement area.
Tense, he straightened as he waited for Cortana to contact him. He was tempted to reach across their link himself and “see” through Cortana’s perspective, but decided against it. He knew her migraines were still a threat and wouldn’t risk doing anything that would jeopardize her well-being.
Less than a minute later, he was contacted not by Cortana, but by Captain Keyes. “Chief, you and Johnson need to get to our position. Now.”
The fact that the captain was speaking to him meant one thing: Cortana was in trouble.
His promise to Doctor Halsey replayed in his mind. He nodded in the direction of the basement. “Time to move.”
“Damn,” Johnson swore. “I knew this was too easy.”
John nodded curtly as they retraced their steps. As they were getting to the underground wing of the library, John heard a very familiar voice carry over the air. “...you sure you want to do that? If anything happens to either of us, I will erase all of the data.”
“How do you know that you have the data?” questioned one of the Covenant soldiers.
John led Johnson into the small passageway. It led to a large room where Cortana and Keyes were surrounded by nearly a dozen Elites. They had their weapons aimed at her; she and Keyes were standing back to back, each brandishing a pistol.
“Cortana.”
“It’s about time you got here. I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off,” she transmitted.
“What do you want me to do?”
“A distraction would be nice.”
John could do that. He pulled out a frag grenade. If he lobbed it just right, he could knock out several support columns on the other side of the room, causing enough of a distraction to allow Cortana and Keyes to escape.
He pulled out the pin and hurled it across the room. Seconds later, the explosion shook the ground and the Covenant soldiers turned from their prisoners.
John took advantage of their confusion and took aim at one of the the Elites while Johnson fired at another. Just as John hit his target, Cortana shot the soldier standing in front of her as Keyes did the same. A smattering of shots hit his armor; his shields lowered dangerously.
When he tucked behind a large bookcase, he saw Cortana and Keyes run in the direction of the passage. John gave them covering fire as they made it safely inside. Johnson was close behind them. Once John was convinced the other three had enough of a head start, he pulled out his only plasma grenade and threw it in the midst of the surviving Elites.
John activated the remote timer for the explosives, not wanting any of the Covenant forces to escape.
They had five minutes to get out of the building.
The four of them ran down the corridor to the library’s main structure. They stayed in the shadows, knowing that the Covenant wouldn’t stop chasing them.
They ran through another wing and Cortana nodded to a plain door. “It’s a fire access hallway. Should keep us out of the Covenant’s view.”
Should be. John would have liked something a bit but reassuring, but they are few options.
She turned the knob but it didn’t move. John stepped beside her and kicked in the door.
3:46
It was pitch black.
He turned on the flashlight on his helmet and took point. A steep set of stairs was in front of them. Without wasting a moment, John climbed the stairs, three at a time.
When they got to the top of the stairs, there was another door waiting for them.
2:51
The door opened to a large room full of ancient books and parchments. There would be time to mourn the loss of human history, but not until after they weren’t being chased by the Covenant.
They were halfway across the enormous room when a bolt of plasma sailed over his head.
“Where’s that luck of yours?” Cortana grumbled.
“Go,” John said. “I’ll take care of him.”
The three of them exchange a look with each other. Keyes nodded slowly. “Let’s go.”
John stopped running and scanned the room. For seven precious seconds, he couldn’t see anyone in the room. Then, as he leaned to the left, he saw the light bend in an unnatural way.
There.
He grabbed his pistol and barely lined up the shot before firing twice. Each bullet hits its target and the Elite crumbled to the ground.
1:16
The rest of his team had made it out of the main reading room. He sprinted to the end of the room and turned the corner. Johnson and the others were approaching a group of ODSTs at the end of the hall.
When he caught up to the others, the group of UNSC soldiers ran through an emergency exit to the outside.
0:32
The building was surrounded by Bumblebees, Scorpions and Pelicans, all ready to take out any Covenant that tried to escape. In the distance, John saw a very familiar four-person team: his former Blue team.
0:00
The ground shook as the explosions detonated. The building spewed dust and debris as it shuddered at the impact.
Keyes looked at Cortana with a slight frown. “Was it worth it?”
“I think we both know the answer to that, sir.”
*******************
“Is this seat taken?”
It wasn’t often that Cortana emerged from her lab to the mess hall but with everything that happened since their return to Reach, she wanted to avoid the ONI building. And Halsey in particular.
The doctor has been livid when she had found out that Cortana had put up a fight to collect the Forerunner data. “You were reckless. You could have gotten yourself killed. If you had just wiped the mainframe when you found it, you and Jacob would have never been in that situation,” she had seethed. “Your actions not only endangered you, but affected others.”
A wave of guilt had washed over Cortana. Captain Keyes had received an official reprimand for defying a direct order from High Command.
“I know,” she had said quietly.
“And now, my hands are tied.” Halsey had gestured to the tablet on her desk. “High Command is forcing me to upload this protocol into your system.”
Cortana had been aware of the command. The protocol --GOLD MINE--was designed to override any of her subroutines if she was in the middle of completing a direct command from High Command. Everything, including her alpha-priority commands, would be subjugated by the protocol if it was activated.
“High Command sees you as their tool, Cortana. There are some of us who feel otherwise,” the doctor had said pointedly.
That time the shame had become too overwhelming. Cortana had excused herself while Halsey worked on the final programming for the protocol and escaped from the ONI building.
John looked up from the empty table and shook his head. He didn’t seem surprised to see her there.
Cortana sat down in front of him with a cup of coffee in her hands. “I never got a chance to say thank you for saving my life. Again.”
It could have been the lighting in the room, but she swore she saw a faint blush color his cheek. “I was following orders.”
It didn’t sound as noble -- or as significant-- when he put it that way.
She swallowed a swig of coffee. “You were right,” she forced out.
This time, John was surprised. His eyebrows rose at her statement.
“I shouldn’t have pushed the issue with the database. Based on the preliminary analysis, it doesn’t look like there is anything significant on it.” She looked away. “Captain Keyes got a reprimand because of his actions,” she confessed.
John picked up an orange segment and ate it before replying. “I know. I was in the waiting room when he came out of his debriefing. He told me to watch my ass.”
“Did you...” she trailed off as she accessed his CSV. Surely Catherine would have told her had John been punished for his involvement.
“No,” he said as she accessed the debriefing notes.
“They are adding a new protocol to my programming,” she admitted. “I’m becoming too much of a free thinker.”
John’s brow furrowed. “What does this protocol do?”
She shook off his question. “It’s nothing. In fact,” she smiled a little too brightly, “you’ll probably enjoy the ‘improvement’.”
“I like your programming just the way it is.”
It was the most overt compliment that John had ever given her. Despite the mirth it produced, it was overshadowed by the guilt that she was dealing with. “I don’t. I didn’t fully analyze about the welfare of the team. Captain Keyes would have gotten killed when he was protecting me when I was in the system. You and Johnson risked your lives coming back for us. If I had--”
“Cortana,” John interrupted. “Don’t.”
“It’s alright, John. What Catherine told me was the truth.” She lifted her head and jutted her jaw forward. “I’m sorry.” She drew in a long breath. “I won’t put any of you in that position again. The risks I take will be my own.” She reached across the table and gave his hand a brief squeeze. “I promise.”
John just looked at her.
She didn’t take offense at his silence. She knew she had thrown a lot of emotional issues at him during their brief conversation. Cortana stood up. “I should go find the captain and apologize.”
As she began to turn around, John called her name. She looked at him questioningly.
“I overheard him say he was going back to the Autumn,” he said awkwardly.
They both knew that wasn’t what he was going to say, but Cortana was content to let the issue go. She had more pressing things to deal with, though her subroutines were already trying to determine what John was going to say.
Part 5: Pushing the Boundaries
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