Chapter 5:
The Lieutenant moved over in the back of his Warthog, when he realized he wasn't sure where he was or how he had gotten there. He quickly rolled out of the vehicle and landed on his feet, seeing that it was still parked in front of the E-Club and that his Uncle was in the passenger seat snoring away. As usual, he had blacked out almost all that had happened the night before, which was a common thing for the Lieutenant when drinking was involved. He wasn't an alcoholic per say, however, he did always tend to drink when he was on leave. He had often thought about why such a thing would be so pleasant to him, and he decided it was because it was the one time where something terrible could happen and he was certain he wouldn't remember or be haunted by it. Guilt and regret were things that often plagued Sykes, even before he had been an ODST he felt this way. As his head began to pound and feel lighter, the Lieutenant bent over and regurgitated the remainder of the alcohol that was in his stomach. As he stood straight once again, he felt ten times better. The Lieutenant wiped his mouth and walked up to the driver side of his Warthog and climbed in.
While he was sobering up, he was nowhere close to the desired end result as he turned on the autopilot and spoke to the vehicle. "Knight Company Barracks." The vehicle jumped to life and began to drive the two towards their desired destination. The sun pierced the atmosphere and above all else that the Lieutenant noticed was his eyes, as the rays made his affliction feel twenty times worse. He quickly located his old fashioned Aviator Sunglasses in his pocket and placed them on his face. Immediately the Lieutenant passed back into a state of sleep and began dreaming, his dreams were never pleasant however and this one would be no exception.
Sykes was in an HEV as he passed through the atmosphere. The small capsule shook violently as it always did, but the young Lance Corporal hadn't failed a jump yet and this definitely wouldn't be the first. The mission was simple Drop in and converge on the insurrectionist warehouse, although something didn't seem right on this mission. It was a normal one, but it didn't feel right.
The Warthog stopped in front of the barracks with a jolt that awoke the Lieutenant. Sykes quickly rose, and walked over to the other side of the vehicle. After nudging the CPO, Sykes surrendered, threw the man over his shoulder, carried him into the barracks, and laid him down in the guest quarters. Sykes walked to his own quarters and pushed open the door just to remember that these were no longer his quarters. As he staggered even further down the hall way he came to the door that read "XO" on the front of it. Sykes opened the door and walked into the newly emptied room and fell face first on the bed as he passed out once again.
The pod crashed to the ground, and Sykes immediately hit the release as the front of the pod shot off and impacted a small building; nearly punching straight through it. He had eyes on the RP, and grabbed his Sniper Rifle and SMG and ran for the point at full speed. As he ducked behind a small shed, he saw his commander a young Lieutenant named Faison running up from the position where his pod had crashed down. The place was quiet even though they had just dropped in from the sky. There was no presence of enemy fire. But this was far from a good thing, Sykes preferred his enemies shooting at him as opposed to the feeling he would get when they were just about to walk into a trap. "Status Lance Corporal." The Lieutenant said over the COM.
"I'm good sir, just waiting for the team." Sykes said as he shifted his position. Staring down the scope of his rifle, he saw Buck running towards them with his Assault Rifle at the ready. "I have eyes on Buck Sir." Sykes said as he changed to another view and saw Larkin running towards their position from another location far off his drop position. "And Larkin Sir." The Lance Corporal lowered his weapon and waited as his allies approached at a cautious yet fast pace.
As the two approached they immediately checked with stat COM, since they had only a third of the number they were sent with. "We are all there is." Faison said flatly as he pulled up his Assault Rifle. "Buck you're with me, Larkin and Sykes you've got the back door. Oh, and don't bother knocken boys, I'm sure they aren't expecting us."
The men all nodded and split off into their designated groups. Jake Larkin was a fairly competent ODST, who sported a Shot Gun as his main weapon. Sykes always used to joke with him that it was because it was the only way he could hit anything, but not even Sykes could deny his precision with it. As the two men reached the back of the facility, they quietly waited for the signal over the secure Com. Channel. Three taps went through the Lance Corporals ear. He immediately kicked in the door, and rushed in with his SMG up and at the ready. At first glance, he didn't see anything in the dark room that was filled with crates. Then, as the team began to examine their area of the building a sound broke out. Sykes immediately turned to see his teammate fall to the ground dead from a single shot to the head from an M-6 Pistol at close range, stunned by the sight he raised his weapon in what seemed like slow motion. He locked eyes with the crazy Innie who had a smile on his face that made Sykes doubt his humanity. Sykes squeezed off a three round burst into the man's chest, watching as he fell backwards, and laid there motionless. As he bent over to check on his fallen comrade, he heard another sound but this was the sound of someone behind him and closing on his position. He turned quickly firing blindly mostly due to the adrenaline that was running through his veins. He quickly stopped as he saw what he had just hit however, as the two bodies hit the floor. The man may have been an Insurrectionist but these two weren't, the two children lay there dead in front of the Lance Corporal as he tore off his helmet and began to weep.
However, he was interrupted in the middle of his sorrowful cries as a man started beating him. Sykes took the beating without the will to fight back. As the man went to deliver another blow the sound of an SMG rang out and the man fell dead to the floor. Sykes sat up to see Faison and Buck standing in front of him looking at the massacre that had happened.
"Lance Corporal? Are you alright?" Faison asked as Sykes sat there with a blank look of utter disgust on his face. He was disgusted with what he had done, with what he had taken from existence. He had signed on knowing he might have to kill a man someday, and that was an act, which he had committed before. This, however, this was something else that he had never wanted to be a part of.
"Will… Will… Are you okay?" Buck said as he kneeled down next to his friend, that he had gone through basic and ODST training with.
"I… I.. Di.. I didn't mean to hurt them…" Sykes said as his friend inspected his now bruised face.
"Sir I think he is out of it." Buck said as he turned to Faison.
"Agreed, I'm calling for pick up." Faison said as he worked his helmet mic and connected to Sat COM.
The Lieutenant rolled over and found himself awake and no longer fearing his hangover, but the memories that he had just seen flash before him as though they had happened again. Sykes opened his jacket pocket and removed a flask and took a large swig of the whisky inside it. Some memories will never die…. No matter how hard you try to drown them.
Lieutenant Sykes and CPO Mendez pulled up to the small dinner outside the Spaceport on Reach. Mendez was in his regular green fatigues while Sykes had switched over to a pair of loose fitting jeans, a black T-Shirt, and his aviator sunglasses. The two had spent the week in the backcountry of the planet. Although, they were both soldiers and forced to survive on next to nothing while camping in inhospitable conditions, they still enjoyed camping and most of all fishing. But the time had come for Mendez to ship out, apparently a new mission aboard a Frigate. The CPO had spent most of his life working in secretive ONI Projects. At least, that was what Sykes had assumed by the fact that his Uncle had rarely even mentioned his missions, nor what they were about. This new one was the only one with some actual specifics that he was able to tell Sykes about. Those details told him his Uncle had been doing these "Top Secret" missions for quite some time. The fact that he had said that he was getting "back on a regular duty" spoke even more to that fact.
As Sykes had thought back to the first time he had met his Uncle. He remembered that his Uncle was much smaller. Although he was still Navy, he lacked the muscle mass that he had now, which was an odd thing to gain as one ages. However, he remembered the third time he saw his Uncle. He had looked like that, he was 12 at the time and he hadn't seen Mendez for well over three years. Sykes knew that his Uncle had seen a large amount of warfare. It was something that only a military man could see; something behind the eyes. The CPO had black eyes but it was the way he looked with them that told the story, and how terrible the things were that he had seen. Knowing this, Sykes wondered if his eyes looked similar, if his eyes told the stories of those he had lost in the heat of battle.
"Well I suppose you're paying'." Mendez said as he sat down in the both opposite Sykes.
"Oh and why is that?" Sykes said as he raised an eyebrow.
"Well, for one, you're an Officer now and you get a higher paycheck. For another, because of the fact that you still owe me for the booze I brought on our camping trip. Lastly, because you kept me awake half the night with your tossing and turning." Mendez said as he joked with his nephew.
"Okay then I guess I do owe you breakfast at least." Sykes said as he hid the discomfort of his nightmares behind a joking smirk.
"Now you're talkin'." Mendez said as the waitress approached the two men. "I'll have a tall stack of flap jacks with a side of bacon."
"Same." Sykes said as he sipped on the cup of coffee that the waitress had just pored for him. The waitress shook her head and walked away, as she typed a few things on a small data pad.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Mendez said as he took a drink of his coffee.
"What about the flap jacks and bacon?" Sykes said as he formed a sarcastic smirk, trying to hide his grief.
"You know what I'm talking about." Mendez said, killing the sarcasm.
"No I don't Uncle Frank." Sykes said as he lost his smirk and took another drink of coffee.
"What is the dream?"
"What?"
"I've seen it before, and I felt it to. So tell me what nightmare of the battlefield is causing you to scream out in your sleep." Mendez said as he continued to drink his coffee. "You're a marine, and you've spent your entire career on the frontlines doing things you really didn't want to do. Killing, fighting, destroying. Until the Covenant arrived, even I hated warfare, and that's how I know this is something from before this damned war. And if I had to guess I'd say it has to do with your mission on Chyrbdis back when you were still ODST."
Sykes looked at his Uncle with surprise. Not only that his Uncle had guessed exactly what was bothering him, but also because he had known about the mission; which had been Top Secret. And after how it turned out would always be that way. "How do you know about that?" Sykes said as he tightened his hand around his coffee cup as he took a long drink of the steaming hot liquid.
"Well, you're smart enough to know that I have been working with ONI for years. During that time I've been keeping my eye on you and all the missions you've been on. And, yes, that includes your last one on Oasis." Mendez said calmly as he sipped his coffee.
"You know everything about Oasis?" Sykes asked surprised by his Uncle's level of clearance.
"Well I wouldn't say everything, but I would say that I know more about it than you do. However, that's not what's important. Now what's bothering you?" Mendez said as he put down his cup and slid his plate of food over and in front of him after the waitress set them on the table. Mendez sliced into the stack of flapjacks and quickly began slathering them with syrup as he wedged large portions into his mouth.
"It was Chyrbdis, at first, but it keeps on switching from mission to mission. Last night it was Oasis. And to be honest, I'm afraid what the next one will be." Sykes slid his plate closer and grabbed a piece of bacon and began to snack on it.
"The life of a soldier isn't an easy one, and it never will be. Our hands will forever be stained by the blood of those who we have killed, and those brothers we have lost to the battle for freedom. What happened on Chrybdis IV was tragic, but you didn't put those kids there. Gelgamesh III, you didn't make that sniper miss and hit the guy standing next to you. Every mission someone loses something, whether it be their humanity or their life. Either way, it is the price which is demanded and it is the price we must all pay." Mendez said as he took another large bite of his breakfast.
"What do I do? How can I stop the nightmares?" Sykes asked, pushing away his plate. He was suddenly not as hungry as he had been before he had started eating.
"You forgive yourself." Mendez said as he ate the rest of his breakfast as though it was trying to run away from him.
The two men sat there and finished their breakfast and coffee in silence.
Sykes drove the warthog up to the side of the spaceport and got out with his Uncle, while grabbing the CPOs duffle. The two men proceeded to the door where they both stopped and Sykes handed the duffle to his Uncle.
"Well Will, I guess this is farewell. Until next time." Mendez said as he looked upon his nephew and only family that was still living.
"Uncle Frank, there is one thing I have to know." Sykes said as he looked into his Uncle's black eyes.
"What?"
"What is the MJOLNIR V Project?" Sykes asked keeping his voice down so as not to alert anyone to the fact that he was asking about something that was well beyond his level of clearance.
"I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you that it has the potential to save humanity." Mendez said as he followed Sykes in keeping his voice low.
"Well then it was worth it. Farewell Uncle Frank."
"Goodbye Lieutenant." Mendez said as he snapped to attention and gave a crisp salute.
"Carry on Chief Petty Officer." Sykes said as he saluted his Uncle.
Driving the Warthog down the winding road, with a Marine's version of casual clothes on; Sykes wore his black T-Shirt, standard issue green Combat Fatigue pants, and his trusty Aviator sunglasses. Sykes enjoyed the scenery, as he drove down the winding road, that would inevitably bring him to the Marine Detention Center, or as most Marines called it "Vacation." Normally it was a minor crime that was committed, and the Marines missed a mission or two while they "Rested".
Sykes pulled up to the main gate and was greeted by an armed Marine with an Assault Rifle slung over his shoulder, while another man in the nearest watch tower scoped him with his Sniper Rifle. The Marine who greeted the Lieutenant was young and couldn't have been older than eighteen, which wasn't uncommon even these days since overall it was a good first assignment, simple guard duty. "Identification please." Said the Marine, as he approached the warthog and unsnapped his pistol, a cautious action mostly unnecessary but cautious.
"Here you go Private." Sykes said as he pulled up his Data pad and displayed his Name and Rank along with his current position.
"Oh sorry Sir. I wasn't aware I was addressing an Officer." The young Private said as he quickly snapped to attention.
"At ease Private, I'm out of uniform and I don't expect you to know every Officer on Reach by their face." Sykes said as the Private loosened his stance a bit.
"Thank you sir. I must ask however… What is your business at the MDC?"
"I'm here to see an inmate."
"Name please."
"Master Gunnery Sergeant James Marco."
The Privates eyes widened as he punched the name into his data pad and the inmate's offense was displayed. "Are you sure you want to see him sir? Do you know what he is in here for?"
"Yes Private I am sure. And I'm well aware of his offenses I was present during them." Sykes said as he put a Sweet William in his lips and lit it.
"Yes sir, I will need to take your side arm and any other weapons you may have on your person."
"Okay but I will have you know that I count my bullets and I expect to find this pistol and knife the same way when I get them back, otherwise I'll be sure that you do this duty on an ice planet." Sykes said as he removed his pistol from his underarm holster and his Bowie Knife from his boot while he gave a joking smirk.
"Of course Sir I wouldn't dream of…"
"Easy Private it's a joke."
"Yes Sir." The private said as he turned and pushed a button on his wrist. "Go right on in to the main building sir."
Sykes nodded, put the vehicle in gear, and proceeded through the main gate as he entered the prison. He was here to tell Marco the bad news that Weatherbee would not only not be standing trial but was still on active duty. This was a conversation he wasn't looking forward to having with his friend who he was forced to arrest himself. Especially, given the promises he was forced to make that he would make sure Weatherbee was brought to justice. This was going to be a short visit because only good news would make it worth staying.
"Get up Marco." The guard said as he opened the door to Marco's private cell. They had to give him a private cell due to the fact that he had nearly killed a corporal who was doing two months for falling asleep on watch. The man had frightened Marco while he was having a nightmare that entailed the events that had occurred on Oasis. I wasn't his fault it was a natural reaction, a reaction that was brought on by a tormented mind put in a very unstable place. Marco stood and put on his shirt that read the numbers 417829-73 across the back and on the front in smaller font over his heart. Marco hated the walls that had become a prison within a prison; he had always been a marine who had loved the field more than the time in homeport. It wasn't the war that he loved it was the purpose he felt he had been given by the missions and he loved knowing that he was saving twice even three times the number that he had to lead to death. That was a train of thought that was destroyed with his last mission on Oasis; it was a mission for some pointless ONI piece of junk that would amount to a microwave against a nuke. As he walked down the constantly shrinking hallways he wondered who it was that would want to come and see him, he was crazy as far as anyone was concerned.
The door opened to the visiting/interrogation room where Lieutenant Sykes sat waiting smoking his cigar. Marco immediately stopped in his tracks, snapped to attention and delivered a sharp salute that would have won an award if there was such a competition. "Master Gunnery Sergeant James Marco reporting Sir!" Marco said as he locked eyes with Sykes.
"At ease Gunny. Have a seat Jim." Sykes said as the guard faded into the background and waited with his electric baton ready just in case Marco decided to try and kill another superior officer.
"It's good to see you sir." Marco said as he sat down in the chair that was half pulled out.
"Here I brought you something." Sykes said as he reached into his pocket and removed a silver cigar case that contained several Sweet William Cigars. He removed one and pushed it across the table to Marco who snatched it quicker than a child did candy. Marco sniffed the cigar and made a sound that was normally made when a marine who had been eating MREs for months made when he had a good home cooked meal. Sykes pulled out his Zippo lighter and lit the cigar for his friend and immediately placed the lighter and cigar case back into his pocket and sat there looking at his NCO who had lost his mind under his watch.
"Thank you sir, I've been craving one of these ever since I was captured." Marco said as he released the drag that he had just taken; he quickly inhaled again and exhaled seconds later. He then looked a bit more serious as his eyes narrowed and he looked squarely at Sykes. "So what's the bad news sir?"
"How did you know it was bad?" Sykes asked surprised at the accuracy of the man's assumption.
"Well sir I figure that if things went as you and I wanted them to I would have been released and given a commendation, but here you are giving me a cigar and now you're about to tell me what exactly went wrong."
"You're as perceptive as ever Jim."
"So what happened sir?"
"They not only let the matter drop they also sent him right back out into the fight, in charge of some twelve ships going on some suicide mission."
"That seems to be the good Admirals specialty. I guess we just managed to be part of the minority that survived." Marco said with pessimism looming in his voice.
"How I understand it, you're exactly right. I don't like it but it's the way it is and it's the way that the Admiralty likes it and that's exactly what they use him for."
"Well then what's going to happen to me sir?" Marco said as he exhaled a long drag from his cigar.
"Well the good news is that you won't be executed."
"I'm not sure if that's better than spending the rest of my days locked in here."
"Well we might have another option."
"Like what?"
"Well I heard that something similar happened a while ago on board a Navy ship, and the one who did it was released after it was determined that he had temporary insanity."
"So you're saying I'm crazy sir?"
"No, I'm saying you were still in the frame of mind that we have in the field and you shouldn't be in prison for acting on those emotions."
"I won't do it if I can't return to the corp. sir."
Sykes rose from his chair and looked down at the man. "I'll do what I can Gunny. That I promise." Sykes said as he held out his hand.
"I'm not a Master Gunnery Sergeant anymore sir. My only designation is this arbitrary number on my chest." He put his hand in his former commanding officers and shook it. "Just try; I won't hold it against you if you can't do it."
"I will Jim, and that's a promise." Sykes released the man's hand and walked out of the room, but one thing stuck with him. Was that all any of them were? Just numbers in a cell?
The Lieutenant pulled up next to his newly purchased home. After his time with his Uncle, he had realized the value of having a place where you could lay your head and not have to salute someone when you woke up. He reached in the back of his Warthog and retrieved the last box he was transporting from the Barracks, and a case of alcohol he had recently bought. Many things had been bothering him in the week and a half that he had been off duty, but above all else it was the silence. Those quiet moments were always the scariest on the battlefield, and it was something that held true in his normal life as well. Things were different now that he was an Officer. He was saluted often, had to salute others less, had more paper work, but most of all, more stress. This was never more obvious then when he had gone and seen Marco.
Immediately after seeing Marco, Sykes had gone directly to Lieutenant Colonel Sable and requested a hearing to determine if Marco was in his right mind when he did what he did. The answer was abrupt and cryptic. "I'm sorry Lieutenant but the UNSC has other plans for James Marco." That told him something that was unsettling; any way he looked at it, there were only two things that it could mean. First, that they were going to make an example of him; which, Sykes believed that he neither deserved, nor would tolerate. The second was even more frightening, and it was all due to the fact that when he looked up the official information on Marco, he had been blocked by three letters ONI. It was well known that some inmates were often selected to do some spook dirty work. However, Sykes wasn't certain if that was the reality of it. Just moments prior to his arriving he had gotten off the COM with the prison, where Marco was being held, and they informed him that there wasn't, nor never has there been anyone named James Marco incarcerated at the detention center. His question, which he had been debating for days, was finally answered as he realized that ONI had plans for his friend; and he accepted the tough fact that he would most likely never see Marco again.
Sykes approached the door and was surprise to find it only pushed to. This was something that was simply not done in the Marines. This told him that there was someone in his new home, and that it was someone who wasn't invited. Sykes immediately put down his two boxes and reached around behind his back, drawing out his M6 Pistol. He pushed open the door and entered the house with the gun leveled and began to search room to room as he had learned to do in his years fighting in the Insurrectionist War. He searched the living room and found it empty; likewise with the closet and his bedroom. He then turned to walk into the kitchen when he saw her round the corner and look at him. She was barely recognizable wearing her pencil skirt and white blouse, with her hair up in a very casual manner. This was much more attractive than the first time he had set eyes on her back on Oasis. "Can I help you doctor?" Sykes said as he lowered his weapon, keeping it in his hand at the ready.
"Oh I hope you don't mind Lieutenant, I tried waiting but when I realized it would be more than an hour I just let myself in." She said as she approached walking more seductively then she had before.
"Not at all Doctor, in fact I would have shown up sooner if I would have known that I was expecting company." Sykes said as he holstered his sidearm now that he was relaxed by the doctor's appearance and the way in which she was speaking. "So how may I be of assistance?" Sykes asked as he walked past her to bring in the two boxes he had left outside.
"Well I'm actually here to return something to you." She said as she reached into her purse and withdrew the foot long piece of metal, which had raised sides and a raised center. She handled the object carefully knowing very well what it was capable of.
"I thought ONI was taking care of that energy weapon?" Sykes said as he took the Plasma Sword from the doctor.
"Well I'm not at liberty to say specifically but let's just say that we have many more to study."
She didn't say it, but the way she said what she did, told him enough. Someone else had managed to kill some of the Ghosts, and enough to where they wouldn't miss one of them. "So why give it to me?"
"Well two reasons. The first, being that that weapon saved your life. And the second, being that it gave me an excuse to come see you." She put her purse down and moved much closer to him after saying this, she was so close that her scent was drawing the Lieutenant to her nearly more than her eyes which, he couldn't seem to look away from.
"And what makes me that lucky Doctor? Why would a woman like you be attracted to a stupid grunt like me?"
"You know I've always been a fan of old fables from Earth. Hercules and King Arthur, you know things like that." She said as she moved even closer to the Lieutenant, who was now pinned against the door still staring into Natalie's eyes. "And in every story, when the hero saves the damsel in distress he gets rewarded by her." She moved in close and connected his lips with her own as the Lieutenant reacted as he had wanted to ever since he saw her in his home. He dropped the weapon to the deck and brought one of his hands to the small of her back and moved up to her neck with the other, as he brushed a spot on her neck that from his experience would drive her wild. She immediately stopped after he had done what he did. "Well that's all you get for free you have to work for the rest." She said teasingly as she pushed away from him.
"Well doctor, how may I be of assistance?" Sykes said sporting a smile from ear to ear.
"Wow that was amazing." She said as she turned and looked at him.
"Well, it's been awhile since anyone has said that to me." Sykes said as he retrieved the energy weapon from the floor and placed it in a drawer just inside his living room.
"Your smile, I thought Marines never smiled."
Sykes chuckled at the comment. "Well then I suppose you have never been to the Crimson Avenue." Sykes said implying the Reaches most notable area for the vices that follow soldiers.
The doctor smirked and batted her eyelashes in such a way that made the Lieutenants blood pressure spike. "Needless to say Lieutenant I have never been to that part of Reach."
"Will."
"Pardon me?"
"You keep on calling me Lieutenant, please call me Will."
"Okay, Will."
"So Doctor..."
"Natalie."
"So Natalie, how can this Marine be of service?" Sykes said as he sat down next to her and the two locked eyes.
"The Marine can try to keep up." She said as she closed the distance between the two of them in less time than it took for him to blink. She reminded him of someone at that moment, but before this would be over he would never think of anyone else.
It had been Three days since Natalie had surprised the Lieutenant with her visit. Every day since then, at some point in the day, she would wander in. Even though obviously exhausted, she still managed to carry herself with grace. There was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on, and there was something that they were both feeling that neither had expected. Many call it love, but to Sykes the word was one that he had used once and had an unfavorable result. Therefore, he banished it to a list of things to never say again. For Natalie, being the scientist that she always was, love was something that she couldn't prove and therefore remained an unproven theory. This had held slightly more validity than the notion that Earth was flat. There was chemistry and attraction and there was no doubting that, but the thing that both of them kept wondering was what more was possible in such a situation. What was making him think right now was the fact that they had admitted their obvious attraction only the night before, and as short as life was these days they had decided that they would hold on to one another. Or as Natalie put it. "I guess I could keep you around, at least until the shiny new Marine model comes out of boot." They both laughed about it because they both knew that it was a joke, and he was beginning to feel very comfortable with her near him. This was obvious when he realized that his nightmares had stopped; and that he wasn't being haunted every waking minute by the ghosts of the men, he had lead into battle, and put in the ground. He was happy, and he realized that he had taken his Uncle's advice and he had begun to forgive himself.
As the Lieutenant was putting up a picture of his former home on Harvest, his doorbell rang. His heart began to pound rapidly as he anticipated Natalie, but then it was quickly repressed when he realized that it couldn't be her. Natalie had demonstrated many times how easily she could hack into his security system and open it at her own will. This was someone else, someone he was most certainly not expecting. He reached behind his back and thumbed the safety off on his pistol as he looked into the security monitor that was mounted on the door. He saw two men dressed in regulation Navy Uniforms. "Can I help you?" Sykes said into the microphone beneath the monitor.
"First Lieutenant Sykes, William H.?" The first man sporting the markings of a Lieutenant Commander said to the door.
"Yes Sir. I'm Lieutenant Sykes."
"We have orders to bring you to a mandatory meeting with a top specialist for a special debrief." The other man said, he was shorter and sported the bar of a Lieutenant Junior Grade.
"On whose authority?" Sykes asked insuring that this wasn't some set up. It was border line paranoia, but as he had learned quite some time ago it's better to be safe then dead.
"We have orders directly from Major General Merrick; he informed us that you would be cooperative." The Lt. Commander said as he crossed his arms and began to sound annoyed.
"This is a situation which we can inform you more about if you let us in, Lieutenant." The Junior Grade Lieutenant said.
"Very well." Sykes said as he opened the door to reveal a heat that was so intense that even he wasn't comfortable to encounter, and since he was from a planet where there was no winter that was saying a lot. "Sorry for all the questions Sir, just being cautious." Sykes said as he snapped a salute.
"It's alright son. After all, that's why you're still alive. Your just enough cautious and the rest gutsy." The Lieutenant Commander said as he stepped into the well air-conditioned home, followed quickly by the young Lieutenant at his heels. "Now, let's make this conversation quick since we can't tell you much, and we are supposed to have you at the facility in twenty minutes." The Lt. Commander continued.
"Yes sir."
"This is a special briefing which you have been requested to attend since you are so very familiar with the Covenant, and due to your last mission." The Lieutenant Junior Grade rattled off so quickly that he could barely catch it all.
"That's all we can tell you Lieutenant, the rest will be told to you when we get there." The Lt. Commander said abruptly.
"Yes sir. Should I put on my dress uniform?" The Lieutenant said as he reached behind his back discreetly and put the pistol safety back on.
"A pair of green fatigues will do just fine Lieutenant. And make it fast we have a ride to catch." The Lt. Commander said as he looked at his antique wristwatch.
"Yes sir. I'll be ready in two minutes sir." Sykes immediately turned and ran into his room and began tearing off his civilian articles, and replacing them with his green fatigues. He immediately grabbed his data pad and turned it on to record a message. "Hey Natalie. I've been called to a special briefing and might not be here when you stop by, but I will hopefully see you after I'm done. I'll see you then." He immediately dropped to the floor and laced up his boots and walked out of the room to see the Lt. Commander looking at his watch and the Lieutenant Junior Grade missing.
"Not bad marine, one minute thirty-eight seconds. Was that from boot or being caught with your superior's daughter?" The man asked with a smirk on his face.
"Little of both sir. So where is the Lieutenant?"
"Calling in a quicker transport. You ready?"
"Yes sir." Sykes said as he put the pad on the table just inside his door. He closed the door behind him as he realized that this was really the first time since Natalie had first come to his house that he had left its walls.
The car raced down the road at a speed that would normally get them pulled over, but Reach was a colony that catered to the military and they had the right to do as they pleased within reason. The car quickly turned onto a small airbase and Sykes could see the Pelican that would be their ride the rest of the way. The car pulled up to the aircraft and the three men quickly exited the car and hopped into the back, as it began to fire its engines. Sykes knew the routine after several years spent getting in and out of the vehicles; needless to say he knew how to buckle his seatbelt.
The pelican took off at a high speed and shot across the landscape, fast enough to where the Lieutenant Junior Grade looked like he might lose the contents of his stomach. "That's strange." Sykes said. "You know for a Navy boy, I thought you would be used to a few G's Lieutenant."
"I'm mainly a paper pusher Sir. I've never even technically served on a ship before." He said as he began to distract himself in order to aid the sickness in passing.
The Pelican flew over the skies of the base and its surrounding city and into the mountains where it landed on a secret facility that was neither known to the public nor to Sykes. The Lieutenant was quickly rushed inside, disarmed, and then sat in a room with a huge monitor and secured tables and chairs; which seemed to be made of solid Titanium. A woman entered the room. She was older than he was and he could tell that just by looking at her. She was beautiful, but he could see that it was more of her work that had taken its toll on her then time. She had her Gray Hair curled up in a bun behind her head and she wore a coffee stained blouse with a pencil skirt and a white lab coat. She also sported what seemed to be modified glasses.
"Well now, finally I get to meet CPO Mendez's decorated nephew."
"This isn't the first time we have met ma'am." Sykes said as he recognized the voice.
"Oh, then refresh my memory." She said as she smirked.
"You were in the panel that questioned me after my mission on Oasis."
"Very good Lieutenant, Franklin always did say you were smart… for a damn Marine." Sykes chuckled and immediately felt comfortable since that comment could have only come from his Uncle. "I'm sorry. Where are my manors? My name is Doctor Catharine Halsey. And I'm here to talk to you about the reality of what you are getting yourself into.
Sykes sat easier in his chair because he knew that this would be a tough briefing, but more than anything he wanted to know how this woman knew his Uncle so well.