Chapter 6: Cortana
Date: 17 November 2552
Location: Crow's Nest, Kenya, Earth
The first thing I was aware of was taking a deep breath, only to choke as calm turned to chaos.
"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey," said a familiar voice.
"Sarge!" I coughed a laugh as I stepped out from cryo.
"Listen up! We have a bit of a situation underway and I'm only going to say all of this once." He handed me some gear including a battle rifle.
As if to emphasize his statement, a woman could be heard over the loudspeaker: "Barracks are under attack! All available combat teams, respond!" Johnson began briefing me as we walked.
"You were taken from a med bay on the Covenant ship High Charity. You and I were on the same Phantom, escorted by Brutes." He paused to light a cigar and I adjusted my gear. "Long story short, a Sangheili by the name of Thel assisted us in making our way here."
'Vadam. Thel. Arbiter.
I shook myself and listened as Johnson continued speaking.
"This is the Crow's Nest. It's an underground UNSC facility. You were so pumped full of alien drugs that it took doctors several days to stabilize you." We stopped as we arrived in a room with a very large explosive. Johnson turned to me directly and spoke a bit more gently.
"Once you were stable they put you in cryo to help your body recover. Jayne, some footage was retrieved by the Master Chief and Cortana…"
AI. CTN 0452-9. Cortana.
"He likes you," the female AI known as Cortana stated simply. I glanced at the holopad from where she observed me.
"Who?" I asked distractedly.
She rolled her eyes and placed a hand on one hip as she replied, "Spartan 117. Master Chief."
I gave her a skeptical look and returned to my work. "The Covenant Lexicon you and Chief recovered while aboard the Ascendant Justice is impressive. Inputting this data is going to help the UNSC immensely. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, don't change the subject."
"Fine! I take the bait. He likes me, how can you tell?" I saved my work and gave Cortana my undivided attention.
"For starters his pulse, respiration, and perspiration rates all increase when he's near you… not by much but a lot by Spartan standards."
"How romantic," I stated dryly. Cortana's glare silenced me on the spot.
"You always manage to make him smile," she continued. "Sometimes, when you crack a wise remark, a quiet huff of amusement escapes him before he can school his emotions."
I grinned and interjected, "Yeah but-" She held up a hand to halt my speech.
"I'm not finished. He watches you," she said softly. My heart skipped a beat, possibly three, at the notion. "Chief almost always angles himself to keep you in his line of sight, that is… when he's not engaged in combat. He hides it well by never taking off that damn helmet but I see what he sees."
She looked at me kindly as I processed this information.
"Cortana, I trust you and I want to believe you but what good will it do? Our paths keep crossing, sure, but they never run parallel. Besides, with the war… there's a high chance one of us will extremely out live the other and my money is on Sierra 117."
Cortana sighed as she spoke, "Jayne…"*
"Jayne," Sergeant Johnson's voice snapped me to the present. "You still with me?" His tight grip on my shoulder slackened.
"Yes! Sir, I think I just remembered something from my past." I smiled up at him, meeting warm brown eyes.
"Glad to hear it! At any rate, you may not remember all of it and frankly I'm not sure you should want to, but in time I'm sure you'll figure it out. Now, time to focus on the present where shit is hitting the fan and we've got work to do."
"Yessir!"
"Johnson," a female Commander on video COMs cut in.
"Mm-hmm?"
"You might want to put that out." I fought a grin as he stumped out his cigar.
"Chief," My breath caught upon hearing his name. I turned to the sound of heavy footsteps approaching.
*I'm trying to figure out the best way to format long memory sequences. I centered the text to better distinguish it from simple trigger word memories.