Ongoing thanks to Zimu Yang for beta-reading
My apologies to those of you who have not read Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
I should have posted a spoiler warning last chapter

Red In Tooth And Claw
Chapter 29: Past Sins

Sharon landed her Raptor outside the cave, cutting power the moment it was down to try and avoid throwing up a cloud of dust, but failing. Admiral Adama, however, was in no mood to wait, and opened the hatch almost before the craft had touched down. Pausing only to glance up at the imposing rock face above, he marched past the two marines on sentry duty, returning their salutes as he went.

"Sir." Starbuck was waiting for him just outside the main chamber.

"Captain." Adama stopped, "What's so important that you couldn't tell me over the wireless?"

"I..." Starbuck paused, then shook her head, "You'd better see for yourself."

Confused, Adama stepped through the archway and stopped, a gun pointed at his head. He looked back along the barrel and found himself looking at his reflection, distorted in a golden bubble-helmet attached to green armour. It resembled the Master Chiefs, but was smaller, more streamlines, and looked like it had been through its fair-share of battles, if the scratches and burn-marks were any indication.

"Stand easy." Cortana appeared, slowly pushing the gun out of the way, "He's the man we've been waiting for." She turned to face the admiral, "My apologies, sir; Lucy's been though a lot recently."

"Lucy?" Adama asked, then got his first good view of the room beyond.

It seemed to be full of Spartans, and he couldn't have picked out the Master Chief if his life had depended on it. They were standing in a rough circle, along with a man in worn BDU's and a woman in a lab coat. He was taken aback when he noticed a number of floating, purple creatures moving about, long tendrils working on the Spartans armour with intense purpose. Then he saw the glowing blue and silver object hovering in the middle of the circle, and he felt himself go faint for a moment.

"This is some kind of Forerunner transport hub." Cortana explained, "The Huragok, that's the name of the pinky/purple beings otherwise known as 'Engineers', maintain the systems under the watchful eye of Silent Contemplation; a Forerunner AI who makes my old form look like a Speak-'N-Spell by comparison."

"Another frakking A.I.?" Adama grunted, "Who's in charge?"

"Well, that's where it gets complicated." Cortana led the way towards the middle of the chamber, "Technically, Fred is the senior officer, but he seems intent on deferring to John." Cortana stopped just outside the circle and folded her arms, "And then there's my mother."

"Admiral Adama, I presume?" Dr Halsey broke away from the others, "Dr Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, M.D. and Ph.D." She offered her hand, "I'd like to thank you for helping John and my daughter."

"It seems to have worked out for the best." Adama took the offered hand, "You'll forgive me for asking this, but are you human?"

"Yes; I was even born on Earth, although I spent little time there as an adult." Halsey smiled, "And before you ask, the reason Cortana and I look so alike is that I am, as she said, her mother. Or as close to one as you'll find; she's the product of my mind, in more ways than one."

"She pioneered the creation of the very first third-generation A.I.'s." Cortana explained, "Also, my original form was created by flash-cloning her brain and mapping the neural pathways. This is why I have some of her personality traits and a few vague memories."

Adama looked phased for a moment then something in his eyes seemed to change for a split second, before returning to normal.

"I have no idea what you have been led to expect from your acquaintances, but let me explain the situation to you." The Admiral smiled, "Almost my entire civilisation has been nuked out of existence by a race of sentient machines we made the mistake of creating, a race that I have spent most of my life fighting or guarding against. I have been forced to go from the eve of retirement to senior military commander, facing an enemy that is interested in nothing less than the total extermination of the human race. The ships in orbit of this planet hold all that is left of anything and everything I have ever known or loved." He paused to take a deep breath, "Now, I am aware that you have been through something similar, if on a larger scale, but I feel the need to point out that I am at near breaking-point as to how much more I can take!"

"I understand your position Admiral and I doubt that anyone could have done better in the circumstances." Halsey nodded respectively, "Now I have a certain amount of influence, back on Earth and whatever is left of our Colonies, and in exchange for transportation, I am willing to do all in my power to help your people if and when we make contact with the UNSC."

"What about that, thing?" Adama waved a hand at Silent Contemplation, "I may be able to accept cyborg super-soldiers and A.I.'s that talk their way into a flesh-and-blood body, but how in Zeus' name am I supposed to deal with the little brother of the self-styled 'God' who ordered the Cylons to murder my entire civilisation?"

"I can only offer my most humble apology." The Monitor floated over, keeping out of arms reach, "Your people are the chosen successor to those who created me: all they had and knew is now yours to command, and it is my duty to serve you as I once did them."

"And this other A.I.? This Guilty Spark?" Adama asked, venom dripping from his voice, "What if he somehow survived? He didn't seem that willing to serve us."

"It is apparent that his rampancy has gone too far to ever be rectified. Not since the betrayal of my creators by Mendicant Bias have I felt such shame." The Monitor's normally cheery voice took on an almost apologetic tone, "If we do encounter Guilty Spark, then I will challenge him in single combat, as Offensive Bias did with the Traitor. Unfortunately, as the Monitor of one of the seven Halo rings, his combat capabilities are far in excess of my own. I fear that even if he is in a weakened state, a battle between us would at best result in our mutual destruction." He paused, "But if that is to be my fate, then I shall meet it gladly, know that I am fulfilling one of my primary functions: to protect and defend."

"That's..." The Admiral stopped, unable to maintain his anger, "going to be up to the President to decide." He looked around, "This transport hub: could it get us to Earth?"

"Hypothetically, yes." Contemplation nodded, and a massive hologram appeared above their heads, showing the entire galaxy, "We are here." A star out near the rim pulsed blue." Earth is here." A star in the next spiral arm pulsed red, "This is Earth. The only problem is that I can not archive connection with the transport site there."

"It is possible that firing the replacement Halo at the Ark disabled the gate on Earth; that would explain why John and I were dumped out into deep space rather than sent home." Cortana frowned, "Or the Covenant Loyalist could have glassed the entire planet."

"I don't remember being so pessimistic at your age." Halsey rolled her eyes, then turned to Adama, "I think it would be best if I met with your president, we have much to discuss."


President Roslin felt somewhat at a loss; ever since the signing of the Articles of Colonization, there had been no need for official protocol covering a visit by a foreign dignitary. Her senior aid, Tory Foster, had gone back through the historical texts they had and cobbled together something based on the old Caprican system that would have to make do until they came up with something a little more official. Adama had insisted on the new arrivals undergoing a full medical exam on the Galactica before the meeting could take place, and that had slowed things down enough to give the wheels of government time to turn.

A shadow fell over the cabin, and Roslin looked out to see the Bad Moon Rising pull up alongside Colonial One, the former liners universal docking arm swinging out and locking onto the stealth ship. Taking one last look to make sure everything was ready, she stood behind her desk and waited. She was shocked at her first look at Dr Halsey: she really did look like an older version of Cortana, and time had apparently been kind to her.

"Madam President, may I introduce Dr Catherine Halsey." Foster stood to one side.

"Please, call me Catherine." Halsey smiled as she offered her hand, "I'd like to thank you for helping John..."

"Excuse me, Madam President." Adama burst through the door like a hurricane heading for Florida, "But I just got a call from Dr Cottle; he finished the tests on our newly arrived 'guests'."

"Is there a problem?" Halsey asked dryly, knowing where the conversation was going.

"He had to double check his results, because he didn't believe them the first time." The Admiral glared at her, "Some of the Spartans are only fourteen or fifteen years old."

"Yes, they are." Halsey nodded with a calm expression, "The augmentation procedure has to be carried out within a year or so of puberty or there can be, complications. As such, Spartans are recruited as young as possible."

"How could you...?" Roslin sank back into her chair, finding it impossible to rationalise what she'd just been told, "What kind of monster are you?"

"Am I a monster? That's a very good question. If by a monster you mean, did I take children from their homes to turn them into living weapons? Did I subject them to painful and potential deadly medical procedures?" Halsey asked, cocking her head to the side slightly, "If that is what you mean, then yes, I am the worst kind of monster imaginable; born of your most terrifying childhood nightmares. But I'm not the kind of monster that lives under the bed or in the back of the closet. No, I'm the kind of monster who's willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. I'm the monster who's willing to be responsible for things that would make bile rise in the back of your throat because if I don't, then who will? There may well be innocent blood on my hands, but I can live with that because someone has to stand up and take responsibility. Someone has to make sure that there are watchmen on the walls, keeping the rest of us safe. So yes, in answer to your question, I am a monster. But I'm the kind of monster you need on your side, because no matter how evil you may think I am, Madam President, there are worse things out there in the darkness." She stood and headed for the door, ignoring the way Adama and the President were looking at her, "And the only thing standing between your people, your entire civilisation, and the real monsters in this universe, are my Spartans."

The door closed behind her and there was a stunned silence, before Roslin turned to Adama, "She must have broken half a dozen laws, and that's not counting the ethical and moral questions."

"Even if I felt we had the right to put her on trial, I don't see how we could." The Admiral sat down, a glum expression on his face, "The Spartans are completely loyal to her, and would no doubt resist any attempt to arrest her. Even if we managed to catch her on her own, away from them, they'd move to free here the moment they found out."

"Tom Zarek is already pushing the Quorum to offer her a provisional seat as the representative of the Thirteenth Tribe." Roslin rolled her eyes as she lent back in her chair, "We've just found out that she's some kind of monster who performs probably illegal medical experiments on children, and she could end up with a say in how our society is governed?" She paused, a dark thought looming up from the deepest recesses of her imagination, "What if she decides we need more Spartans?"

To Be Continued...