I stop outside the door to the conference room where Wash said Nick is. I take a moment to check my breathing and make sure it's fully steady, as well as set my face in an expressionless mask. Mom never had any sympathy for our tears growing up, so I learned to hide most negative emotions at an early age. By now it's no challenge to hide every emotion that passes through me when I want to.

I see Wash out of the corner of my eye. He seems surprised at the sudden change in my demeanor. He shouldn't be. I know he's able to do the same. It pays to be able to hide your feelings from an opponent, to never let them see if you're nervous or afraid. The files I read from Project Freelancer said they drilled this into their agents from day one. Emotions have no place on a battle field, except maybe confidence.

Still, it's nice to know that I can surprise him, that there are some things I can do that he doesn't know about. It's good to know I can still keep secrets.

I push these thoughts aside, half wondering where they came from and half cursing all medication ever invented, before opening the door. Nick is standing next to the table, which is displaying a three dimensional holographic map. Stepping around the edges of this map is Rho. They both turn when they see me step through the door.

"How are you feeling?" Rho and Nick ask simultaneously.

"Alright," I say. Before they can argue, I continue. "Not one hundred percent, but Rhodi says I'll heal, so long as I rest and take it easy." I see a flash of amusement in Nick's eyes as he recognizes the advice he himself had given me, but he doesn't comment. "So, what's going on? Wash said you came up with a plan."

"They did," Rho says. "And, I've gotta say, I think it'll work."

I look at Wash, but he's standing in the most shadowed corner of the room, leaning against the wall in a way that can only be described as overly dramatic and showing no signs of talking. So, I turn to Nick. "What is this plan?" I ask. I get the feeling my dear brother is enjoying keeping me in the dark like this, and I'm really not in the mood for it.

"I know we're trying to find Epsilon so he can help us find mom," Nick starts. "Rho is monitoring the listening devices you set up during your last mission, but until she finds anything, we're just sitting around waiting. Personally, I'm done waiting. It's time we do something.

"We know that once we find mom, we'll still have to deal with Gold. He'll try to stop us from capturing her. So, I say we deal with him now," Nick says.

I wonder how many times he's practiced this little speech in his head, hoping it'll be convincing enough to make me go along with his plan. He thinks I don't trust his judgment, or that I don't value his skill, and that this is why I leave him behind so often. He's wrong. I know what he's capable. Nick is a brilliant strategist. I have no doubt that whatever this plan is, it will be both efficient and practical. "How do you plan on doing that?" I ask.

"An ambush," he says simply. "Ruth found the signal mom's been using to give Gold his orders. We can use it to send him a message, tell him to go wherever we want, and capture him there. Since his main goal seems to be to kill us, I figured we'd tell him you were going to be there, but then a lot of us will be waiting for him."

I have to admit, it sounds like a good plan. Simple, straightforward, nothing overly complicated to add problems. Normally Gold is one step ahead of us, like he knows what we're going to do before we do. With this, we could finally have the element of surprise. Still, I wonder if Nick has really thought this through. If we forget to consider a single variable, or if anything goes wrong…

"Have you chosen a location?" I ask.

"A planet called Chorus," he says.

I look down at the table, finally recognizing the map shown there. "Where we found the sim-troopers?"

Nick nods. "We know the area around the crash site. Wash has it committed to memory so well that he was able to help me make a 3d map. Plus, the current political climate means we can get in and out without being noticed."

I try to remember what I've heard about Chorus. It's a small planet, basically in the middle of nowhere. It was considered highly valuable during the war with the Covenant due to the presence of forerunner artifacts. After the war, the UNSC practically abandoned it, along with all its colonies. After that, they started their own government and have pretty much been unheard from ever since.

"There's a civil war," Nick explains. "Both sides are too busy fighting each other to notice us messing around on the uninhabited side of the planet. Plus, the UNSC has declared complete neutrality in the war. They don't want to get involved. The Covenant feels the same way."

I nod my head slowly as I listen. "So, none of the people we're running from will notice us there, nor will the local authorities. Good." I continue staring at the map, not really acknowledging it as I think of everything necessary for this plan. "Have you thought of why I'll be there? Gold will see through it if I just show up on some random planet for no reason. We don't have those kinds of resources to waste, and he knows it. We need a good excuse."

"And we have one," Nick says. "We'll tell him you're there looking for supplies. There are plenty of useful and valuable things in the wreckage of that ship. In fact, I had already marked it for such before ever making this plan. It'll be more than believable that you're there looking for spare parts and weapons and whatever else a UNSC super carrier would have had on board."

I smile proudly, face angled down so they can't see. It's clear Nick has thought long and hard about this. "Who else will be going on this mission?" I ask.

"That I'm leaving up to you," Nick says, "although I have made a few suggestions." He points to a holo-pad sitting on the edge of the table. I pick it up and start scanning through the list of names, already making a few mental edits.

After a few moments, I look up from the pad. Nick is watching me with expectant, hopeful eyes. I turn to Agent Washington, who's still standing motionless in the corner. "Any thoughts?"

Wash shrugs. "The plan's solid. Nick and I discussed it at length. I think it'll work."

"That's it?" I ask. I had hoped for a better analysis than that.

Wash steps toward the table, gesturing toward the map. "The location's as close to ideal as we'll get. There are weapon and ammo caches hidden all throughout the canyon, and I've marked them on the map. I've also marked at least a dozen locations where someone could hide. It's perfect for an ambush." He pauses for a moment before adding, "I think you people can handle it."

Despite the positive words, I feel like he's leaving something out. "So what's the problem?"

"There's only one variable here that I can't account for," Wash says, "and that's Gold." He glances up from the table to look at me. "Do you think he'll fall for this?"

I consider this for a moment before answering. "Gold's smart. He'll be prepared for anything, even if he doesn't know we're coming." I remember all the times he's been waiting somewhere for me before I even knew I'd be there. There's always the chance that Gold will see us coming. But this s the first time we've had a guarantee that he'll be there, and we can use it to our advantage. "Still, this is the best plan we've had so far. We stand a chance with this. It'd be stupid not to try."

Wash nods. "That's kind of what I was thinking."

"So, we'll do it?" Nick asks.

"Yes," I answer, nodding slowly. "It'll take a few days to get everything ready, work out a few details, but yes." I don't add that it will also be a few days before I'm capable of going on this mission, or that I need the time to heal. I don't need Nick trying to block me out of this fight.

Nick's lips thin out as he tries to suppress a proud smile. It's clear that he's pleased to finally be allowed to do something he thinks is useful. If I didn't know him better, I'd think he was about to do a Tinu style squeal.

I gesture to the holo-pad in my hand. "I'll let you know when I've gone over the list of names and made my final decision." Nick accepts the subtle dismissal and leaves, smile still on his face.

I see Wash heading toward the door as well and stop him. "Wait," I say. He turns to face me. "I, um, need to ask you about your team," I say after a moment.

"What about them?"

I glance between him and the holo-pad. "We have a rule here that no one is allowed to go on missions without armor. It's just too dangerous. But, we only have three suits of armor here."

"And the basis of this plan is that we outnumber Gold," Wash says, nodding his head in understanding.

"It'll take more than three people to subdue him long enough to deactivate his chip," I say.

"He's really that strong?" Wash asks.

I nod. "Gold's not just strong. He's fast and agile and I've never seen anyone except Manny beat him. If this were a normal fight, if we were trying to kill him, then I'm sure we'd win. But that's not our goal. You fight differently when you try to capture someone."

"So, you need more people, and they can't be any of your people," Wash summarizes.

"The reds and blues said they were willing to help. I'm sure if I ask any of them to go on this mission, they'll agree. I need to know if they can help," I explain. "Do you think they can handle a mission like this?"

Wash thinks about it before answering. "I think that, despite how they may act, those guys can handle pretty much anything."