Chapter Twenty-Seven: Double Trouble
March 4, 2553 1527 hours
UNSC Reserve Base Camp Hayes
North America
Laura had had an extremely rough day, having been tormented at the hands of Col. Ackerson and several squads of Helljumpers. No matter how many times she tried to explain that she was no traitor, she always got attacked. It sickened her to have to fight her fellow soldiers, but she had no choice. Although, the past few months had been quiet, almost too quiet, which probably only added to her jitters; she was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, since ONI never slacked off without a reason. She'd been kept on base lately, and her contact with the other Spartans had been limited for some reason: a few minor commando strikes, but nothing else. Most of the time, she was left alone, and for some reason that worried her.
The walk back to her quarters was quiet enough, but something about it made her uneasy. She felt a prickling sensation along her spine, as if someone were alternately trickling hot and cold water down her back. It was a feeling she got whenever she felt like she was walking into an ambush, and it only intensified when she saw a blood trail on the path: faint, but heading towards her quarters. Laura ran down the path as quickly as she could, only to find a huddled, bleeding mass on her doorstep. It was Nicole Mitchell, her only real friend, bruised and bleeding from multiple wounds. It was clear that she'd been beaten harshly for some time, and that the wounds, while not fresh, had been inflicted not more than two hours before.
"Nicole! What happened?" Sweet heaven, please tell me ONI didn't go after her!
"Laura, is it you? Don't come closer, you don't want to see what they did."
"Like hell. You need to get help. Can you walk?"
Nicole stood shakily, her legs trembling as though unable to support her weight. Laura helped her friend into her quarters and drew a warm bath for her.
"Here, just clean yourself up and rest in the water. I'll see about some food and some proper help. Did you see who did this?"
"I didn't see their faces, but I saw their shoulders. Their names I couldn't read, but they had patches. Gold comets."
Damn! "I'll get help. You were attacked by ODSTs, Nicole, Helljumpers. We're going to need a lot of help to bring them down. In the meantime, don't drain the tub: they may have left DNA behind when they attacked you. I'll take care of everything else."
Two hours later, Laura sat in her living room with General West, her mother, and a freshly washed Nicole. Dr. Gedeon had examined her thoroughly and documented all her findings, while West questioned her extensively about the attack. Laura, meanwhile, was pouring hot chamomile tea for Nicole, herself and her mother, waiting for the end of the session. When it arrived, Laura waited for the verdict.
"Well, Laura, you showed some remarkable foresight when you left the water in the tub; there was a lot of DNA evidence in there. Unfortunately, with the war and all, I'm not sure what kind of investigation I'll be able to conduct, or what kind of punishment will be dished out. I promise I'll do what I can." West's promise was hollow, because of the war: there really wasn't anything that could be done, outside of public censure and demotion of the parties responsible. Laura knew it, but was still grateful for the support
"Thank you, sir. We really appreciate it. I just wonder if this isn't my fault in some way. They may have come after her because she's my friend."
"That may be the case, but it wasn't your fault. These are Marines, and they should know better than to attack civilians, especially human civilians." He turned to Nicole. "Miss Mitchell, we'll need you to come down to the base again tomorrow." Nicole nodded, silently afraid of what might happen.
Laura escorted her friend out of the courtrooms on base, shaking her head in astonishment. Nothing is being done! Damn ONI, she thought in disgust. I should have seen this coming! As they cleared the steps, Laura noticed Nicole stiffen almost perceptibly. She followed her friend's gaze to a squad of ODSTs standing nearby, and touched her arm lightly.
"Nick, look at me. Don't look at them, ignore them and walk past them as if they don't matter." Nicole nodded, but the Helljumpers weren't going to let them off so easily. They walked right up to the two friends and blocked their path.
"So, come to sow a few lies, eh, traitor?" the leader sneered. Laura bristled, but her main concern was for her friend.
"I came to see justice done, and saw it denied again. Civilians have no part in this war," Laura replied pointedly, trying to push past them and get her friend to safety. The lead Helljumper tried to grab Nicole and separate her from her friend. When she realized this, Laura whipped her elbow around and caught the man in the shoulder, inwardly wincing as his bones broke audibly. Facing the remaining members of the group, she gave them the ugliest look any of them had ever seen; judging by the sudden foul smell that assailed her nose, Laura had scared one of the younger ones really badly.
"Now you listen to me, all of you. I don't give a damn what you fools do to me, but keep your grudges with me. Don't bring innocents into it, or so help me I will personally make sure you regret it. Leave my family and friends alone, and if you have a problem with me, bring it to me." Laura helped Nicole back to her feet and escorted her out of the base, away from the ODSTs who would have hurt her.
March 10, 2553 1135 hours
Mitchell Residence
North America
The Master Chief had been following Laura for quite a while, on Colonel Ackerson's orders; he had been told Laura had been feeding information to the Covenant, and had been sent to watch her. Normally a Spartan wouldn't be assigned to this kind of covert op, but Ackerson seemed to think he'd be best equipped to defend himself if she were to turn on him; he also had a decent amount of experience at being stealthy, given his experiences on HALO. And so, for three months he'd been shadowing Laura, and during that period of time had begun wondering why he was watching her in the first place. When he had been given the assignment, he'd wondered about the accusations, but his doubts had been pushed to the back of his mind: not only did the orders come directly from ONI's brass, but he'd still been angry with her for playing with his emotions. He had felt like he'd been used, and so he'd taken the assignment. At that time he had obeyed without question, and sent regular reports of Laura's doings to ONI, but now he wasn't so sure. Whenever she was on base, she acted the part of a bitter, angry soldier, but the mask came off once she was sure she was alone; he'd actually seen her crying on more than one occasion. A bug in her quarters revealed that her 'hacking' was usually limited to doings about the war: the latest reports on Covenant technologies, mostly, but with the occasional mission report. Of course, he never mentioned the AI she had, since she'd helped save their bacon from ONI at one point. Thinking about that instance, when they'd gone after Laura to keep her away from ONI, he wondered why she had so quickly allowed them to take her, and why she'd decided to help them.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn't recall any instance where Laura had demonstrated any behaviors to indicate treachery. True, she could be being extremely careful, but his instincts said otherwise. This smells like a set-up. She doesn't seem like the treacherous type, he mused. Why did I even believe Ackerson anyway? The answer hit him like a ton of bricks: he'd been hurt, and he'd wanted to hurt her back.
Realizing he was approaching the Mitchell residence, and that his quarry had entered the house, John pulled himself to a halt and took cover. He was just in time: Laura and her friend Nicole were just leaving Nicole's house with a basket in one hand and a dog leash in the other. Laura whistled, a clear note puncturing the air. At the sound a familiar-looking, red-gold mass came rocketing around the side of the house, long pink tongue at the ready.
"Hey, Skeeter-butt! How're we doing today?"
"I think he's just happy to see you." Nicole smiled at the way the little corgi kept jumping up and putting his muddy paws on Laura's pant leg, trying desperately to slobber all over her face. Laughing fit to burst, Laura bent down and scooped up the wriggling mass of fur and muscle, garnering some face licks in the process before safely depositing him in her friend's car. The two women followed Skeeter into the car shortly, and they headed off; the Chief followed at a safe distance. He'd managed to bug the car a few weeks earlier, so he could listen to the conversation; this one proved to be surprising, for him at least.
"I'm glad to see you doing better, Nick. It still makes me sick to think what those ODST's did to you."
"Don't worry, what goes around comes around, remember? So, how're things on the base?"
"Same as always. ODSTs trying to kill me off, Ackerson trying to assassinate me, typical general chaos."
"You sure? Nothing you want to tell me?" She's trying to bait her, the Chief realized.
"Nothing really of consequence."
"Oh, really?" Nicole paused for a moment; when she spoke again her tone was more straightforward. "What's his name?"
"How--"
"Laura, you keep forgetting I can read you like a book most of the time. There's been a change in you over the past few months: you've gotten sadder and quieter than usual. So who is he?"
"His name is John."
"John. Does he have a last name?"
"No idea… yet."
"Is he…?"Nicole's voice was laced with disbelief.
"Yes. He's one of them. I can't let him find out how I feel, and it's a pretty safe bet that he feels nothing for me. So either way, I'm stuck in another Catch-22, which is the last thing I need at the moment."
"Damn. That has to suck."
"Tell me about it." From her quiet, resigned tone of voice, it seemed as if the unshakeable Blade had been shaken: she sounded like she'd given up.
The car finally stopped near a wooded area. Parking it next to the road, they got out; Laura held Skeeter just long enough to clip the leash to his collar, trying and failing to dodge his tongue at the same time, then put him down. Nicole pulled out the basket, and the Master Chief followed them into the forest. After a short walk they entered a good-sized clearing in the forest, most of which was taken up by a small pond. He'd seen it in the winter, when he and the other Spartans had watched Laura and her family ice-skating; it was surprising what a difference the change of season made. Nicole spread out a blanket on the grass while Laura unpacked the basket and Skeeter ran all over the place, trailing his leash out behind him like the tail he never had. Suddenly he began to bark loudly, punctuated by an occasional growl. Nicole looked up and stared in surprise at the barking corgi: she'd never seen anything bother the little furball that badly before.
"Skeeter, what on earth?"
"Relax, Nicole, he's probably just found a squirrel or something." After a moment of staring intensely where Skeeter was barking, and a subtle movement of something on the blanket that the Master Chief barely noticed, Laura slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Nicole, I forgot Skeeter's bone! I left it in the car when we parked."
"Don't worry, I'll go get it."
"Hey, while you're going that way anyway, could you take these back too?" She pulled a chain from around her neck, a chain with two wedding bands on it that had been left to her by her grandmother, and pressed it into Nicole's hand. "I don't want to risk losing them while I swim."
"No problem. Come on, Skeeter." Nicole paused and looked intently at her friend, noticing the troubled look in her dark eyes. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, really, I'll be alright. I promise."
When they had left the glade, Laura pulled out the bone from where she'd hidden it and placed it in the center of the blanket. She then spoke out clearly.
"I know you're hiding there, so do what you came here to do. Now that my friends are safe I will not stop you." She heard a rush of noise behind her, felt something hit the back of her head, and then all was black silence.
Maro 'Iramee had finally tracked this elusive human to this small planet, which seemed to hold little strategic value in his eyes. He waited in a wooded area as two humans approached the watery place nearby. One was the human he sought, but the other was different from her in every way. Both seemed to be laughing happily, as a diminutive furry creature raced around them. The little creature suddenly stopped in front of him and began making loud noises. After a time, the little creature was called away by the other human female. Strangely enough, she left the place, leaving his elusive quarry behind. The human then spoke clearly.
"I know you're hiding there, so do what you came to do. Now that my friends are safe I will not stop you."
'Iramee had no time to wonder how his quarry had known he was hiding nearby, or why she called those others her friends. All he had time to do was strike the human and drag her to his ship. If other vermin discover this, I will never receive the rewards of the Prophets, and I will die on this wretched world. Finally getting her to the ship, he began the launch sequence and prepared to fulfill his duties.
The Master Chief could only watch as Laura was knocked unconscious by a camouflaged Elite, who carried her off into the surrounding trees; as much as he wanted to race after the Elite, pound him to a bloody pulp and rescue a fellow Spartan, his orders were clear: observe only, do not interfere, avoid confrontation, in short stay hidden. In that instance of indecision, the Elite had vanished. A moment later he heard the sound of a ship taking off, but saw nothing when he looked up into the open space between the trees. A stealth ship! But why go to all that unless… unless they wanted only one person. His stomach clenched with cold fear. They were after her, and she knew! That's why she sent Nicole away! A moment later, Nicole returned and saw the bone. The Chief stepped out and showed himself.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was supposed to keep an eye on Laura. She sent you away because there was a Covenant commando in the trees. He's gone now; he got what he came for."
"The Covenant have Laura? What are we going to do?"
"I'll get her back, Miss Mitchell. I promise." Screw my orders, I never leave a teammate behind, he thought angrily. He didn't dare think of the other reason for going after her, he needed a clear head.