Chapter Five – Alliance
0830 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Aboard Covenant destroyer, Epsilon Eridani System
Jack's finger let off the trigger just in time.
Engineer.
Strange and bulbous, with many tentacles wiggling about in a seemingly random matter, it floated aloft across the deck, intent on Jack. They were harmless…or so far, they had never been recorded as hostile. Jack had never encountered one himself, and only knew them by John's video recording from Sigma Octanus, months ago.
Jack raised a hand for the others to lower their weapons as well, and they did, although somewhat hesitantly. But still they trusted their leader to make the right call. Only Logan kept his finger tight on his plasma rifle. Jack stood perfectly rigid as the alien creature swept its tentacles over his body, searching for something. Jack noticed its feelers sliding over him, and so he deactivated his energy shielding system, and, to everyone's shock, clicked off his helmet locks and slid it off, letting it clank to the deck.
For whatever reason, Jack had an instinctive trust for this creature, odd though it was. He shivered slightly as three of its tentacles slid up and down his face, leaving a gooey mess as they finally latched themselves with little pods to Jack's temples and forehead. But Jack wasn't worried.
If this thing so much as wiggles wrong, the others will fry him.
Suddenly a white-hot knife seemed to slice through his skull, then an icy cold pulse reverberated throughout Jack's brain, a liquid knowledge sloshing about his mind. Many things were said and understood in that one moment. The others had surrounded him and the Engineer, weapons raised, at his visible wince and quiet outcry when they first touched. He could feel his Spartans tensed to fire, standing around him. In that moment, through the Engineer, he could almost hear voices inside his head.
Jack…Jack please be okay…
Ashley…you're gone…Ashley…
Don't die on me Jack…we have a score to settle…
And then a fourth voice, more clear and resonating than the others.
I can take you to the Elder…
Jack snapped open his eyes. The others relaxed their grip on their weapons. The Engineer slowly retracted his probing tentacles. Jack turned and strode immediately to the ship's main control center.
"Green Team. Find a station. We're jumping," he said, snapping his helmet back into place with a click.
Logan and Rachel looked at each other, confused. Eric obeyed without question in a cold, lifeless manner and moved to hoist Ashley's body over his shoulder, where he set her down in one of the awkward Covenant seats as best he could, then moved to what he figured was the pilot's seat in navigations. Logan and Rachel followed suit, Logan taking weapons, Rachel sitting at what looked like communications and ship operations.
Jack turned and saluted the Engineer in thanks, and the creature opened a panel in the wall and fumbled inside with its tentacles. Rachel turned her head inquiringly.
"Jack…what the hell is going on? What has that thing told you?"
Jack responded passively, gazing at the main view screen as it snapped on and the entire ship hummed to life.
"Many things, Green-Three. But first, vent the atmosphere in every section of the ship that has an alien in it, but spare the Engineers. Green-Five, see if you can get this thing's Slipspace drive going; the Engineer will take it from there."
"Green-One, what is our immediate objective?"
It was Logan. Surprisingly, his attitude was compliant. Jack decided he had time to spare.
"We have our coordinates to the Covenant home world. No other ships have been alerted to our presence, but that other destroyer is preparing to dock and get onboard for direct communication. We're leaving the system, ASAP."
Three blue acknowledgement lights flashed in Jack's HUD. Where was Green-Four…
Oh right. She's dead. You're a team of four now, SPARTAN-067. Jack marked SPARTAN-073, Ashley, as MIA, as were all his dead brothers and sisters.
Rachel piqued up, asking, "Sir? What about our rendezvous with Vladimir at 0900?" Her voice carried a hint of hesitancy in asking the question, but Jack already had his answer. He'd thought it through ever since he'd received his orders from Vladimir.
"Forget it. Our mission is far too important to compromise," Jack said. Vladimir's authority meant nothing in the face of extinction.
"I will take full responsibility for any consequences the UNSC might throw at us later," Jack added, though the others appeared to have drawn the same conclusions about Vladimir and they all nodded their approval of his decision. Good. We're all on the same page here, then.
The others all noticed this sudden change in operations. The way Jack had snapped back into the Green-Leader they remembered. Even Logan had put aside his hostility, for now. Rachel was simply glad they were working as a team again. Perhaps Ashley's death had quieted the two's growing rivalry. Perhaps her death had triggered something within them all.
Only Eric remained wracked with grief, though he dared not show it to the others. He glanced at Ashley's armor-covered form, propped in the chair next to him.
Don't worry, Ashley. I'll finish what we started…as a team. As Spartans…
Jack glanced at another view screen of their main docking port as it fizzed into focus. The Engineers apparently were still finishing repairs to the ship, including its cameras. The enemy Covenant ship had slowed to a crawling drift and released three Phantom dropships towards the open hangar. Jack estimated they'd arrive within the next thirty seconds. Then they'd land, open their doors, find the dead soldiers onboard and conclude what happened, and Green Team would be found and obliterated within the hour.
Not on his watch.
o o o
Golo Zalamuu opened his eyes, silently taking in the situation. Thank the Rings, he had survived the plasma grenade's explosion. Although his opponent seemed to have gotten away, he noted as his eyes rested upon the human who's armor was partly charred. Fortunately, it seemed the rest of Zalamuu's strike team had managed to down one of the intruders before they were slain.
Zalamuu cautiously tried to stand, but winced in pain.
His burns could never entirely heal, he realized with growing despair and anger. The little of his skin that was exposed clung to the deck in a sticky mess. Zalamuu glanced about him, searching for a way to fight back against the humans.
He noted an access panel that had been opened in the wall to his side, and realized he might be able to use it to send off an alert beacon to the rest of the fleet. Then he could make a run for it, grab a life pod, eject into space while the destroyer was blasted apart from afar. He would be found and rescued, awarded a special honor from the Prophets themselves for his act of bravery and cunning, a slayer of demons.
Demon-Slayer. He could get used to that name.
Slowly, achingly, Zalamuu rolled to his stomach and began to crawl towards the access panel. He neared it and reached up to begin typing in the transmission code, when he felt a slimy tentacle slide along his face and over his mandible. Zalamuu turned with a start, glaring angrily at the Engineer. What was it doing? Zalamuu tried to resist as more and more tentacles enveloped his face and hands, binding them to his chest.
Zalamuu screamed as a pincer beak stabbed into his forehead, and he knew no more.
o o o
Jack turned at the gurgling sound, as did the others, and noted with a grim satisfaction the Engineer's lethal work. Perhaps they really could be persuaded in leaving the Covenant someday. But now wasn't the time for Covenant interspecies affairs. Right now, they had a mission.
"Slipspace drive is already at ninety percent!"
"Plasma weapons ready to fire on demand, Green-One."
"Activate Shaw-Fujikawa capacitors set on the Engineer's given coordinates; they should already be programmed into the computer."
"Affirmative," Eric replied, and the stars on their main view screen began to distort, an eerie green tinge to their twinkle as Slipspace began to envelope them.
"Here we go," Rachel said, and laughing bitter tears for Ashley, forced herself to lighten the mood, "Hold on tight, mother-,"
And they vanished in a flash of light, leaving the smoldering Reach, the Covenant, and space itself behind.
o o o
"They never made it onboard. We jumped before their Phantoms reached us."
"Good. Then sit back and enjoy the ride. Our ETA is…Green-Three, recheck your estimate. That can't be right."
"Slipspace reading is one hundred percent accurate, sir!"
Jack looked again at the data Rachel linked to his HUD. She was right. Logan spoke up.
"I didn't know the Covenant home world was located so close to Reach. You'd think we'd have discovered them by now," he said, but Rachel cut it.
"No, you dumbass. Their home world is nowhere near Reach. They just seem to be able to travel Slipspace faster. Much, much faster."
Jack let her earlier remark slide. If only because it was directed at Logan.
"Still," Jack said, "Three hours travel time seems ridiculously short to hop to another system sixty-seven light years away." If only the spooks at ONI could get their hands on this kind of technology. There were still so many things about the Covenant that no one could honestly understand.
But if this Engineer kept to its word, Jack wouldn't be surprised if all of that changed. Even now, Jack could hardly understand the wealth of knowledge the Engineer had instilled in his memory. The thoughts hung there, Jack knew the base of what it meant and what he was trying to do, but they were always taunting his sanity, just out of reach.
Reach. Vladimir would appear over Reach to meet them in twelve minutes. Of course, they'd be long gone by then, and Vladimir would be left to consider two explanations. Either he would conclude that Green Team had failed their mission and died, in which case Vladimir would hopefully return to Earth and spread the news of Reach. Or, he would assume the Spartans had succeeded in capturing the ship and had disobeyed orders and left to complete their mission alone.
Which was exactly what they were doing. But if Vladimir figured that out, he might be arrogant enough to try and finish the mission on his own with his own crew. Although the Lieutenant Commander might deserve such a fate, his crew sure didn't, and his priority to return to Earth must not be compromised. They had to know that Reach had fallen, that at any moment the Covenant could find them and wipe them out, along with the rest of the Inner Colonies. Along with Earth.
Fortunately, by the time the Surrogate Victor arrived in the Epsilon Eridani system, Green Team's trail through Slipspace would be long gone. No one would be following them. Then again, that also meant that any backup was impossible. Everything they did from here on out had to count.
But they had to try, even if it meant disobeying orders and leaving Vladimir in the circling dust of Reach's defenders, ship debris forever a reminder of the sacrifice of many for the victory of none. But maybe, just maybe, their deaths weren't in vain.
There was only one way to find out.
Jack turned his head as Logan's gloved hand clapped his shoulder.
"Now can we talk?" His words seemed almost amused.
Jack nodded and they left the bridge for a moment to stand in an outside corridor, still draining its oxygen.
Logan sighed, then moved to speak, but Jack beat him to it.
"Logan, listen. About Rachel-,"
"I know. We should both put aside our…," he paused. Feelings wasn't the word he wanted to use. "…distractions, and finish the mission. Finish the war. Then we can settle things from there."
"Affirmative, Green-Two. Sounds like a plan."
Logan saluted. Jack returned the motion. They were buds again, and now Jack wasn't so worried about Logan watching his back. They turned and left the corridor, entering the bridge, each clanking to their stations.
Rachel looked between them and smiled inside her faceplate. She felt a strange elation when she had realized what was going on between them…and what she was feeling inside herself. Perhaps it was time for Spartans to know the luxuries of civilians. Perhaps it was time for Spartans to love. But not now. Instead, Rachel felt safe to let her mind ease back into the killer she was, ready to defend humanity and finish the fight. Let her confusing emotions play out later, after the war.
Jack cocked his head at Rachel as he took his seat at the command chair.
"What?"
Rachel suppressed a laugh inside her faceplate, glad the reflective visor hid her girlish smile.
"Nothing."
"Entering normal space in five," Eric called out from the navigations seat.
Suddenly stars exploded into sight, and all gazed at the hologram projection of the planet drifting before them.
"It's…beautiful," Rachel whispered to them all over the private COM Channel. Jack grimly nodded. The planet was a visually enticing torrent of pinks and purples, with touches of shimmering blue and green oceans and lakes now and then. As they neared, the dark side of the planet began to creep over the edge of the horizon, where twinkling lights revealed vast cities.
Beautiful, Jack thought, shaking his head.
I'd rather see it burning in hell.
"Eric. Get us down to the surface. I've marked the location with a NAV marker." Eric turned and punched in several commands. Jack looked back at the hologram, the Covenant home world looming closer.
For all the pain he had suffered at the hands of the Covenant, Jack could never accept that planet as something worth existing. If he had the firepower, he would crash them all onto the surface and explode, destroying everything in sight in the wake of his fiery fury.
But he couldn't; he had a mission: to capture and secure one of the Covenant's holy leaders, a Prophet, and bring it to Earth, where the negotiation and surrender of the Covenant would take place and end the war for good. No winners. No losers. Only peace. Then again, peace was victory. And it would take force to make peace.
And that Engineer was going to lead them straight to victory.
Jack felt his stomach lurch as the ship accelerated towards the surface.
"Hold on Spartans," he said, gripping the rail with one hand, his other straying to the pistol latched to his thigh, "We're going in."