Disclaimer: I don't own Halo
chapter 2: inquisitors
September 15, 2552
location: Sol system, M25L recovery station
Linda awoke in a private recovery room that offered a full view of Earth from the window. She figured she was sedated during the night and moved in here, she was also dressed in a white robe, under which was the underwear she was given yesterday. The door opened and a Marine private entered carrying a black uniform and he placed it on the bed.
"There's a transport leaving in thirty minutes for HIGHCOM" he said "you need to be on it".
"Can I see John?" she asked.
"Who?"
"sorry, the Master Chief" Linda corrected.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the orders are to keep you all separated until after the debriefing" the private said again. "Oh, I almost forgot". He set a small case onto of the uniform and saluted as he left. Linda crossed over from the window and opened the case, inside was a purple heart and an oak cluster. She took it out and inspected it, this was her third purple heart and her second cluster, the clusters were only awarded when you got a subsequent metal. At the bottom box was the accompanying ribbon she would have to pin to her dress uniform. She made the changes to the uniform the marine dropped off for her and began putting it on. She had finished with the pants and was about to put on the black wool jacket that bore her rank, name, ribbons and the patch of the Spartan program. But she stopped for a minute to inspect it. Linda had gathered her fair share of ribbons over the years but it was nowhere near as impressive as John's. She donned the shirt, went down to the hangar bay and boarded her pelican to the surface. On the ride she pondered why she asked the marine to see John instead of the team as a whole. She pushed this thought aside as her pelican arrived at Sydney.
--
After going through rigorous screening Linda was admitted to the lobby of one of the briefing rooms and told to wait. The room had a high ceiling with the UNSC seal brazen on it, the floor was marble and there was a comfortable lounger area where she took a seat.
"Nice to see you up" said Sergeant Johnson as he sat next to her.
"I'm doing fine, sir" said Linda.
"They asked some pretty tough questions of the Chief when he was here earlier" said Johnson.
"John was here?" Linda asked, she realized she did it again.
"Yeah, but he left a few hours ago, they did my debrief, and now I'm just waiting for a friend" said Johnson.
Linda's green eyes gravitated to Johnson's medals, one in particular stood out among the rest. It was of a planet with a sword going down the middle, on one side of the sword the planet was a lush green-blue but on the other side it was burning. This medal was the first contact medal and it was only awarded to veterans of the first battle of Harvest, there were only a handful of people left alive who had it.
"You were at Harvest?" Linda asked.
"I was" said Johnson, "in fact, I was the first marine to meet a Covenant ugly up close".
Linda was about to ask another question but Johnson stood up upon seeing a woman emerge from one of the elevators. She had a few streaks of gray in her hair and she wore the uniform of a Navy officer. Linda noticed she also had a first contact metal pinned to her uniform. She hugged Johnson and the two left shortly after.
"Ma'am, they're ready for you" said an MP standing at the door.
Linda stood up and entered the double doors.
September 15, 2552
location: Sol system, UNSC hopeful
First Lieutenant Alicia Baker strolled through the halls of the mobile battlefield hospital heading for her office. She was a psychiatrist on the hopeful and at only 29 she was one of the best under Admiral Jeromni. She entered her office and found a message from Jeromni on her computer so she read it.
FROM: vice admiral Jeromni, commanding officer- UNSC hopeful
TO: first lieutenant Alicia baker MD, UNSC hopeful
/message begins/
Allie, I've got an assignment for you. An old friend on M25L has requested a psychiatrist for a patent he believes is suffering from KIA syndrome. Now I know you like a challenge but you need to take a step back and consider this one for a moment because this patient is a Spartan. Either way you've been placed on temporary detachment to ONI section three and you're being sent to Earth. I know you can handle this and if you need anything don't hesitate to ring me.
-Jeromni
/message ends/
Baker couldn't believe what she read. Everyone had herd of the Spartans at this point, but Baker couldn't understand why one would need a shrink. Then there was the mention of having KIA syndrome. Baker had never found a patient she couldn't understand and like what the Admiral said earlier, she liked a challenge.
--
An hour later Baker was on a shuttle to Earth. Strangely enough she was the only one aboard and probably figured because ONI had sent it. It was a VIP shuttle complete with a lounge area, briefing room and even a galley. She sat in one of the leather couches and busied her self in the records of the Spartan II program. ONI had given Baker provisional security clearance so she could read the files but ONI made her sign several nondisclosure agreements before turning over the files. She was shocked to discover the Spartans conscripting process involved kidnapping the children and replacing them with flash clones. Baker read on about their training, augmentations and finally their MJOLNIR armor. She came upon that was classified at the highest level but her clearance allowed her to read it. It was titled "Spartan roster". Inside was a single sheet of paper with all of the Spartans that graduated in 2525. Her jaw dropped when she scanned the list and saw all but four marked MIA. At the bottom was a footnote from section three, directive 930 stated that all Spartan casualties were to be listed as MIA to preserve the myth that Spartans never die. Beneath that was another foot note that added an acceptation to the list. Spartan-087 and the Spartans of Gray Team were the only true MIA Spartans. Baker finally arrived at the file of her 'patient', Linda-058. According to her records she had been presumed dead at the battle of Reach and placed into cryo by John-117, the famed Master Chief. According to the reports Linda was called a lone wolf among the Spartans, an excellent marksman, practicer of Zen.
"Sounds like the overall quiet type" Baker said to herself. Even with being armed with all the facts of the Spartans she knew that understanding this Linda was going to be a whole other can of worms.
September 15, 2552
location: Sol system, Earth, HIGHCOM
Linda sat before a panel of high ranking officers as they debriefed her about the events at Reach and her subsequent 'death'.
"So you were at no time on the surface of the construct world known as Halo?" the chairman asked
"No" Linda replied.
"Do you also confirm that you were not on the surface of Reach when the Spartans retrieved the unusual alien artifact?"
"No, as stated in the mission logs I was clinically dead until I was revived on the twelfth" said Linda.
"Are you aware of the date log error between these events?" the chairman asked.
"I was told that that the pillar of autumn arrived at the Halo on the nineteenth and my cryo tube was ejected as per SOP. It was then retrieved by Spartan-117 and he took it to Reach aboard the capture Covenant flagship. From what Doctor Halsey told us the crystal artifact found on Reach somehow pulled our Covenant ship through time to September the seventh and when the ship jumped with the artifact we were sent a week into the future".
"According to the report, the artifact was destroyed shortly after".
"That is correct" said Linda.
"Very well, we have one more question for you. Do you know the whereabouts of Doctor Halsey and Spartan-087?"
"No, sir" Linda replied.
"Very good then. Petty Officer, you are dismissed. You are however not to discuss any information about Reach, Halo or anything covered in this room, am I clear?"
"Crystal, sir".
"good, a transport is waiting topside to take you to Vandenberg. You and the rest of your unit are being given extended shore leave until further notice".
"Sir, I request permission to be assigned to a mission instead".
"I applaud you tenacity, Spartan. But to tell you the truth we don't have anywhere to send the Spartans and if the Covenant do know Earth's location then we need the four of you rested and ready for battle".
"Sir, yes, sir" said Linda as she saluted and left.
September 19, 2552
location: Sol system, Earth, California- Vandenberg base
Southern California wasn't Reach but it had its perks. Most of the time the Spartans were in their MJOLNIR armor doing nothing most of the time. John hadn't herd from Cortana ever since the ONI spooks yanked her out of the frigate and whisked her away to a secret facility to be scanned. Linda hadn't really talked to John since the frigate and he only mentioned to her that his injuries were healing nicely. Lately, John was the only thing on Linda's mind.
"Excuse me, Petty Officer" a marine asked Linda as he entered the barracks where the Spartans were staying.
"Yes?" said Linda.
"I was told to bring you to building J right away".
Linda nodded and followed the marine out.
--
Baker had been set up in an office at Vandenberg building J by ONI who spared no expense. They gave her a desk, couch, chairs for the basics but the office also had very rare paintings, works of art and not to mention rugs. She was reclining behind her desk when the marine arrived with her patient. Linda was wearing her MJOLNIR armor which made Baker's job a little more difficult, not being able to read her body language.
"Ma'am, Spartan-058 reporting as ordered".
"At ease" said Baker, "and while you're here I'm either Doctor or Alicia, no ma'am crap".
"Yes, Doctor" said Linda.
"Why don't you sit down" she said offering one of the chairs in front of her desk, reinforced to support the MJOLNIR armor.
"May I ask what I'm doing here?" said Linda.
"I'm going to be truthful here" said Baker. She was a very unusual Doctor because she always told her patients from the first day why they were there and what she was going to do. "The doctor on M25L has noted some concerns about you, that you might be suffering from something we call KIA syndrome".
"KIA syndrome?" Linda asked.
"Its a psychological condition people get when they are declared clinically dead for a long amount of time and then revived, like you. Some people have trouble adjusting to society after coming back from the dead and this is epically difficult for religious people when they discover no afterlife waiting for them. Sometimes it can lead to emotional breakdowns, depression and suicide in most cases. People suffering from KIAS say that they feel a part of them is missing, that they no longer feel whole anymore. They believe they should be dead and the doctors had no right to bring them back... this is why people with KIAS often end up killing themselves".
"Ma'am, I don't believe I'm suffering from this KIA syndrome" said Linda. "Spartans are trained to repress their feelings".
"I know" said Baker "I read the files on the Spartan II program and just because you push your feelings aside doesn't mean they're gone. I know you must feel uncomfortable doing this but we need to determine if you've got KIA syndrome, and I'll be asking some questions that are a bit strange so bare with me".
"I'll do my best, ma'am" said Linda.
"I thought we agreed it was either Alicia or Doctor" said Baker.
"Sorry... Doctor" Linda replied.
"Lets get started then" said Baker. "we'll start with something easy, like your armor for instance. Why do you wear it all the time?"
"It enhances our strength and speed" Linda replied, "the armor is a very useful tool".
"Perhaps I should rephrase the question" said Baker, "why do you continually wear the armor in non-combat situations?"
Now Linda was starting to understand what Baker meant by 'uncomfortable questions'. "We're uncomfortable outside it" she finally said after a few moments, "we're accustomed to it".
"That can be our first topic of this session" said Baker, "trying to get you more comfortable outside your armor".
"I'll do my best" said Linda.
"That's all I ask" said Baker. "now why don't we try talking without the helmet on".
Linda complied and reached up, twisted the helmet sideways slightly and pulled it off with a hiss. Baker was unprepared for what shew saw. Linda's dossier gave her hair and eye color but not a picture of her face. Her red hair was cropped short, just slightly over regulation. Her skin was completely pail but surprisingly smooth for a woman of 41. In fact she looked closer to Baker's age. She figured her skin was so pail from long amounts of time in the armor.
"Its a start" said Baker.
--
A few hours later Linda was back in the barracks, fully concealed in her armor. Her talk with Baker had opened her eyes a little. She started to think about the KIA syndrome she mentioned earlier.
"There's know way I've got it" she thought to herself. But she had to note several similarities to they way she'd been feeling and the symptoms of the syndrome. Linda collapsed on the reinforced bunk and tried to get some sleep. Thankfully it was quiet, John, Will and Fred were out so she had the place to herself... or so she thought because John walked in as she was falling asleep. He was in his dress uniform and had a hard look on his face.
"Something wrong?" she asked as she rolled over on her bunk to face him".
"I personally informed Captain Keyes' daughter of his death" John said, "she didn't take it well. Damn near went ballistic on me".
"I didn't know he had a daughter" said Linda.
"She's in the Navy too" said John as he began removing his uniform. "Lieutenant Commander to be precise, she even has a ship".
"I'm sorry" said Linda. "I should have been there with you."
"You didn't need to be" said John. "I can handle things like that. Besides, you didn't see him die".
Linda rolled over and tried to sleep. Her mind wandered to what John had said, it was a grim reminder that she was floating in a cryo tube over the Halo instead of fighting down there with John, like she should have been. She finally drifted off to sleep and had a very peculiar dream. Linda was sitting under a tree in the arms of John and for some reason he pressed his mouth over hers. Linda awoke immediately wondering what the hell that was all about, she started to feel that same weird feeling from before... the one she liked.
