Chapter 2

The Calm Before

12 ½ greater sub-units/ Ninth Age of Reclamation (Prophetic Calendar)/

CCS Unrivaled Brightness, near planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani system

Kamsig awoke lying on a bed. He sat up and looked around. When he saw the purple opalescent walls, and noticed that he was not wearing a methane rebreather, he knew that he must be in the Unggoy section of a Covenant ship. Noticing a panel next to his bed that had started a soft beeping sound, Kamsig guessed he was in the medical section.

A rather attractive-looking female who was tending to another patient several beds away noticed that the monitor panel next to Kamsig was calling for her attention. Slightly embarrassed, Kamsig lay back down, pretending to sleep. The nurse walked over and tapped three buttons on the display. Kamsig decided to pretend to wake up.

"Ah. I see the monitor was correct in telling me that you were awake," the nurse said with a hint of a smile.

Kamsig realized his mistake: "Oh… yes… um…. I was, but… I was just resting."

"I see," she said with a growing smile.

Kamsig thought she looked familiar. She seemed like she knew him as well… He couldn't remember. Maybe it would come to him later.

"Well, you just go back to sleep," she said with a smile and turned to leave.

"Wait," Kamsig said, "what ship are we on?"

"Unrivaled Brightness."

"What happened? How did I get here?"

"They told me they were looking for something on the ground of the Planet of the Holy Light when they came across you. You had some pretty serious injuries, and you've been asleep for the past 30 lesser sub-units. But you should be back to normal in a few standard sub-units."

"Uh… Oh, ok," Kamsig had become lost in thought and had stopped listening for a second. "Thanks," he said.

2 ½ sub-units had passed, and Kamsig remembered from where he knew his nurse. Her name was Trishan, and he had been in the medical bay on the Unrivaled Brightness before. About 3 greater units ago, Kamsig was wounded in the arm by a piece of shrapnel (why the humans used such primitive weapons, Kamsig couldn't understand), and he came to this very same ship to be treated. He had struck up a friendship with her while he was there. It had obviously meant more to her than he had known. Maybe I should get wounded more often, Kamsig mused. For the last couple of sub-units, he had been enjoying his stay. But, alas, all good things had to come to an end. Although he had taken some pretty serious injuries, no member of any worker-class was allowed to remain under medical attention for more than 4 sub-units.

Kamsig assumed that he would be dispatched to one of the teams on the surface of the Planet of the Holy Light. Why the Hierarchs didn't simply send all of the forces available down to the surface, do what was necessary, and set fire to the human world, he couldn't understand.

Ben sat up. His head was still groggy from the sedatives. He used is neural implants to check the time. 0937 hours, September 1.

"Déjà, are we ready for a slipspace jump to Earth?"

"Yes…" Déjà hesitated. Ben was surprised. AIs never hesitated. They always knew exactly what they wanted to say, and said it immediately. Although, some dumb AIs, after decades of work, had been known to be somewhat 'quirky' and start picking up Human mannerisms.

"Déjà, is something wrong?" Ben inquired.

"No. I… No, I won't bother."

"Listen, if you have something you want to say, say it. In this kind of a situation, we need all of the information we can get… and we need to share it."

"You are correct, Ben," Déjà began, "I detected a weak UNSC transmitter signal. It could be someone still alive out there… but it would take us a lot of time, not to mention close proximity to a Covenant vessel, for us to investigate. I knew that if I told you, you would want to try to find someone. I request that you consider the risks, and the likelihood that we would find anything even if we weren't detected."

"I understand the risks. But you know that I'm not going to let any chance to save someone slip away. I also understand where you are coming from. UNSC protocol would direct us to Earth at the soonest time possible. But I can't let another life sit on my conscience."

"I understand. You've been through a lot. I've already turned the ship around. Our course will take us near Reach Station Gamma," Déjà said.