Chapter Twenty-Four: Welcome Home?
November 29, 2552 0755 hours
Covenant Warship Holy Retribution
En route to Sol System
Laura made it back to the bridge quietly, hoping no one would notice her entry. She arrived in time to hear a debate about how to return to Earth.
"We have the ship, so why not just set a course from here to Earth?" Fred was asking.
"The Cole protocol doesn't permit a direct route to Earth, as you know very well," Cortana replied. "We are also not allowed an indirect route according to Subsection Seven: No Covenant vessel may be taken to Earth Space without an exhaustive search for tracking systems."
"The Covenant already know the way to Earth," Will pointed out.
"Overwhelming evidence is not absolute evidence," Cortana responded.
Laura decided to jump in at that point.
"All this bickering while there's a perfectly good ship in the docking bay. I'm surprised."
"When did you get in?" Fred asked.
"Just two minutes ago. Chiropteras are perfectly capable of Slipspace travel, and we're not able to search the ship ourselves for tracking devices, even if we knew where to look. All we need to do is get back to Earth, or as close to it as safety and the Cole protocol will allow, and bring back a few extra bodies to help search the ship. Problem solved, and you Spartans get some more medals out of the deal."
"Makes sense, provided the Slipspace drive is still working," Fred mused. Laura winced; she'd forgotten why the Chiroptera-class ships were decommissioned in the first place.
"I'll check that directly. Hopefully our luck holds out and it'll still be in good shape, enough to get the job done."
"Assuming we can still use that antique, how do you suppose we secure the ship, our prisoners, and fly a stealth ship at the same time?" Will asked.
"One problem at a time. We know we can use the stealth ship without it being tracked, and I think once we've secured the rest of the Retribution it'll only need one person to watch the prisoners. It's all up to you: who wants to do what?"
They'd finally made it back to Earth with the rest of the Retribution's crew—with a Prophet as an added bonus, in the ship's brig, and the ship free of any tracking devices. Laura had been about ready to add the Engineers to the cells as well, but the Chief stopped her.
"Let them be. They're no threat."
"And how do we know that for sure? For all we know there could be a saboteur among them, and you're still willing to let them have free rein to the rest of the ship?"
"They're going to be repairing it, not destroying it. They don't really care about anything else." Noticing her rigid stance, the Chief added: "Let them be. That's an order."
"Sir!" She snapped off a salute and moved off, making sure the rest of the prisoners were secure.
When they finally got into Earth orbit, the small team headed to the launch bay, where a number of Phantoms were docked; securing those had been touchy business, Laura recalled with a smirk inside her helmet, since a number of Elite strike teams had holed up inside to escape the gas. The Spartans took one of these dropships down to the planet, leaving the prisoners onboard in containment fields. Laura silently took the pilot's seat, hoping she'd be able to figure out the controls; surprisingly, she knew exactly what control did which thing. Must be more of those weird memories. Concentrating fully on the task at hand, she piloted the U-shaped craft down with surprising skill, and gently landed the ship on one of the many landing pads around Williams Airfield. ONI had ordered them to return to Camp Hayes, since they wanted as few military personnel knowing about her as possible; since Camp Hayes was where Blade spent all of her time, sending the Spartans back there was considered the most secure course of action. Her helmet was on so they couldn't see her face, but the others noticed her discomfort; she was tensed, as if she were still expecting trouble.
"Ok, we're down. Opening the hatches now." If she really was nervous, it didn't show in her voice.
The four Spartans disembarked, dropping to the ground from one of the open hatches. Looking around they were slightly surprised to see a number of people grouped nearby, apparently waiting for them to return: General West, Colonel Ackerson and other officers were closest, looking the epitome of military standards in their dress uniforms. Nearby stood Dr. Gedeon in her usual lab coat and suit, Nicole Mitchell in a leather jacket and blue jeans, and a young woman with light brown hair they'd never met before. The woman was trying to restrain a pair of rambunctious young children, who seemed eager to get into some kind of mischief. The Master Chief headed towards West and Ackerson, saluting smartly; as much as he and the other Spartans loathed being around Ackerson, they still respected the chain of command.
"At ease, Master Chief," West stated as he returned the salute. He missed Ackerson's less-than-happy salute, as he was busy looking over the strike team.
"General West, Colonel Ackerson," John addressed the two officers, "the mission was accomplished successfully, and the Covenant cruiser is currently in orbit above the planet with prisoners aboard."
"Well done, Master Chief," Ackerson spoke in harsh, carefully controlled tones. "This is quite an accomplishment for you and your team. Any casualties?"
"One wounded, no KIA."
One more Spartan walked off the dropship, with her helmet off and a hole in the shoulder of her slightly burnt armor. The young woman he'd noticed earlier lost her grip on the two children as they ran forward.
"Auntie Laura! Auntie Laura!" they shouted as they ran up the ramp. Laura dropped to one knee, scooped them up and brought them up to eye level as she stood back up. The Spartans noticed how careful she was to be gentle with the youngsters, as if she knew how dangerous she could be while she was in the armor.
"Hey, it's the Terrible Tickling Twins! Have you two been good while I was gone?" The two children nodded vigorously as Laura walked back to the small group of people waiting nearby. As she set the kids down, John swore she winced, but she masked it quickly enough to greet the three women. Dr. Gedeon immediately noticed the damage to her armor.
"Laura, you're in no condition to be walking on your own. I don't want you standing anymore, certainly not in that armor."
"Don't have much choice about that, since I see Ackerson waving me over. I'll head over ASAP, fear not. Believe me, I'd rather go over now." She stopped and regarded the twins as they wrapped themselves around her armored legs. "Okay, you two, let go of me. I promise I'll see you later. Now let go of me so your mom can take you home." As she said this, Laura bent down and gently disentangled their arms. They ran off, shouting over their shoulders.
"Bye, Auntie Laura! Bye!"
Laura shook her dark head in silent amusement, until she noticed the others approaching. Squaring her shoulders, wincing again as her shoulder protested, she braced herself for the inevitable. Ackerson seemed cordial enough, but she noticed his disappointment at her still being alive.
"So, what happened to you?"
"Long story, too long to tell here. I'll send you a mission report. In the mean, why don't you ask them? I'm sure they did more than a mistake like me could ever hope to accomplish." Her voice was positively dripping with sarcasm on her last two statements. The Spartans were surprised at her remarks, and more than a little amused at Ackerson's reaction. He's definitely pissed, John thought. The little confrontation was interrupted by General West's approach.
"Well done, Laura. I'm impressed: an intact Covenant cruiser and a Prophet," he commented.
"Well done when I don't get my ass shot off, sir," Laura countered. "Besides, all I did was think and get shot. Not exactly good for the ole CSV. They did as much as I did, if not more. Now if you'll excuse me, Dr. Gedeon wants me in Medical ASAP. She seems to think I'll fall apart if I don't get there soon."
"Go on then, Laura. We certainly don't need you falling apart, especially not now. I'll expect a copy of your mission report soon." West smiled lightly, knowing exactly when Laura would send it: she delivered all her reports at exactly 1800 hours, no matter what day it was.
"Yes sir!" Laura snapped off a salute, ignoring Ackerson completely, and moved off towards her bunk, determined to strip out of her armor in private and get into real clothes before heading to the base hospital.
December 1, 2552 1510 hours
North America
Two days later, Laura was seated on a rock ledge near her mother's house; it was one of her favorite spots, since it overlooked a small waterfall in the river there. She was actually crying, something that rarely happened. After all I went through, they still refuse to acknowledge me, she thought sadly. Sitting on the rocky ledge, ignoring her physical discomfort, Laura mentally replayed the entire incident in detail:
There was an awards ceremony for the Spartans; she'd found out about it and had seated herself near the back so she could watch. The Spartans were standing there in their dress uniforms, uniforms covered in medal and citations she had earned but never received. Her disgust and disappointment mounted as she heard Ackerson giving them credit for the capture of the Covenant cruiser and the Prophet onboard, not even acknowledging her efforts or presence. West had been there, and she saw his disgust plainly, but the Spartans acted as though nothing had happened. Finally it had gotten to the point where she couldn't take anymore; she stood up and left, not caring if anyone noticed her leaving. If anyone followed her, she didn't notice, but headed straight here even though it was a twenty-mile hike from the base. Not many people knew this place, so there was no chance they'd look for her here.
Her tears flowed afresh as she thought again on the incident, even more so when she recalled that John had just stood there, even though he knew the truth: they all knew the truth, but only John had been in a position to do something about it. It hurt to think that… Laura, get a grip on yourself, she thought angrily, once she realized what she had started to think about. He probably didn't notice you, and even if he did he wouldn't have done anything to help you. He only cares about his fellow Spartans and the battlefield. As she thought this, her sharp ears picked up noises, different from the normal chatter of the riverside: human voices. She dropped silently over the edge of the rock ledge; there were two large boulders on one side, and a small crevice in the wall of the ledge behind them. She could hole up there and never be noticed. As she hid, she listened and recognized the voices: Nicole and the four Spartans. What the hell are they doing here?
Nicole stood on the rock ledge, noticing patches of damp stone. "She was definitely here recently, and from the looks of things she was pretty upset."
"But where could she have gone?" Will asked, scanning the area. "There aren't a lot of tracks here, and the only place she could have gone is into the river. Can she swim?"
"Yeah, she's a good swimmer, but the river current here is too strong. She'd never survive the current from those rapids, and she knows she'd die trying to swim across the river here. She must have heard us coming and hid in the trees; Laura's been climbing trees since she was six years old." When Nicole said this, the Spartans remembered a photograph of a young girl hanging out of a tree by her knees. While Linda and Will scanned the treetops, John and Fred checked around the ledge.
"There's a narrow edge over there where she could have walked down to the riverbed if she were careful," Fred noticed.
"Yes, but look over here," John motioned to the other side of the ledge, where two large boulders kept the river at bay, little pools of water being the only water there. "Someone could have used those to get away, and there are thousands of escape routes here. There's also too many places for her to hide, in spite of the fact that it's late autumn. It would take days to find her here, and she could easily double back and give us the slip." No, we'll have to lure her out.
With a few quick motions, John got the group together and used hand signals to explain his plan: Linda would head for high ground while he, Fred, and Will took cover in the brush along the bank. As the group moved off, he looked at Nicole.
"We're not staying any longer, Miss Mitchell. If you find Laura, tell her we're looking for her." Nicole nodded to show she understood, and the Spartan moved off into the brush.
Laura waited until the silence fell, then moved from her crevice. Nicole was standing alone, looking at the rapids. She whistled lightly, using a wood dove's call. Nicole turned and looked down.
"So that's where you were hiding." She smiled as Laura jumped up onto the ledge and sat down, wincing as her injuries complained at the exertion. "We were looking everywhere for you."
"I wanted to be alone, Nick, and I'm surprised you forgot about the crevice down there," she replied, her voice cracking from her tears earlier. "I didn't think anyone would even care to look for me."
"Believe me, at least four people were besides me and your mom."
"I heard, Nick. Why did you bring them here?" Her voice cracked again from the sense of betrayal she felt.
"Laura, they were disgusted with what Ackerson did today, even more so when they realized you were there to see it. The Master Chief saw you walk out, at which point he noticed Ackerson had seen you, and he saw the look on his face; apparently he'd known you were there the entire time."
"Wouldn't put it past him, the snake," Laura muttered darkly. "But why were the Spartans looking for me? What did they want, and why did you bring them here?"
"They wanted to talk to you, tell you they were sorry. I brought them because you need them, even though you refuse to admit it. You're more of a Spartan than a civilian, and they know that; they want to help you. If I hadn't done anything, that would have been a worse betrayal: everyone can see your need but you, and even if you did, you're too proud to admit you need help. If I hadn't brought them, you'd have suffered even more; you don't deserve to be alone."
"Nicole," she turned and Nicole saw the pain in her friend's dark eyes, "I'll always be alone, no matter what. I can't ever be a civilian, because I was raised to be a soldier. Among soldiers I'll never belong, because I'm considered a 'freak' for being a Spartan. The Spartans will never accept me, because I was never one of them on Reach, never fought or suffered beside them. Even among people who don't know me or my past, I'll always be alone: my life has separated me from humanity, all because I was chosen as the test case, the human guinea pig, for a project to save humanity."
"Laura, look at me. You're not alone. You've got me and Nathan, your family, General West, Lorienna, and now I think you have the Spartans. If they didn't accept you, why would they have come looking for you?"
"To finish what the Covenant and ONI started perhaps?" Laura choked out, not wanting to believe it. "Nick, look what's happened to me! I can't even shake hands with someone without wondering if they're going to try and kill me. I'm suspecting everyone as being an assassin. How can anyone accept me like this?" Sensing someone behind her, Laura whirled around, automatically placing herself in front of Nicole to protect her.
"Relax, Laura." It was John, Fred, and Will, unarmed and in plain military fatigues. Somehow, Laura had never noticed them nearby; she knew better than to make such dumb mistakes. Probably I was so upset I wasn't thinking clearly, she thought grimly. Scanning the treetops, she spotted Linda in a weeping willow that still had all its leaves; she was well concealed as was her way, unless you knew what to look for.
"So, you've started eavesdropping, have you?" she asked harshly, but there was still pain in her voice that she didn't even bother to hide.
"We wanted to talk to you, but you hid too well," Will commented, a trace of admiration in his tone.
"I very much doubt that. After all, how could a mistake in the program be good at anything? Isn't that what everyone calls me, when they're not calling me traitor behind my back?" She grimaced at her own rough tone, realizing she was taking out her anger on the Spartans, and tried to rein in her temper.
"Then they're fools," Linda replied as she dropped down from the willow. She jogged over, taking the rocky ground with almost no difficulty. As Laura and the Spartans stared at each other, it seemed that a kind of understanding had finally sprung up. It wound up being the Master Chief who spoke first.
"We're on your side, Spartan."
Laura smiled faintly at this unexpected wave of support, a few tears trickling down her face again. She wiped them roughly aside.
"Well, it seems there are too many of us for this rock ledge. We should head up to the road, and towards someplace the Spartans would be more used to." The Spartans heard something in her tone which indicated the beginnings of trust. She was finally coming around, like West and Nicole had said: it took a while to gain her trust, but once you did you had an ally whose loyalty knew almost no boundaries. No matter what her differences, she's one of us now, John thought.