Chapter Two: On Their Way
The Chief felt the slight vibration as the Pelican docked with the prowler ship Athens, felt gravity settle in his gut. The ride from the surface had been rather uneventful, but unsettling. He'd had time to reflect on his briefing with Colonel Ackerson, and on the mysterious woman he'd introduced as his mission partner. He hadn't seen Hawkes since the briefing, and she hadn't boarded the Pelican either, which didn't bode well for the rest of the mission.
As he stepped off the dropship, he was greeted by a young Marine private, who swallowed nervously at the sight of the Spartan in his armor.
"Welcome aboard, Master Chief. The captain would like to see you on the bridge," he stated as calmly as he could. John nodded and followed the young man out of the landing bay. Athens was a small ship for its class, but there was still plenty of space for a crew of about twenty-six.
"Cortana, analysis?" John asked the AI inside his helmet.
"The ship and crew have quite a few engagements under their belts. They seem to know what they're doing," Cortana replied. "Our missing lieutenant, however, is a different story. According to ONI, she's been demoted on several occasions, usually due to procedure violations. She's got top marks in stealth and reconnaissance, and excellent decryption skills, but from what I've seen no discipline. There are numerous reports of her entering unauthorized data files," a slight hesitation entered her voice before she continued, "including yours."
"Anything else I should know?"
"Just that she's Ackerson's protégé, for lack of a better term. He was the one who recommended her to ONI as a Special Operations Officer, and from what I understand he's been interceding on her behalf regarding some of these disciplinary actions. I recommend keeping an eye on her, if she ever shows up."
"Understood." The Chief noticed he was approaching the bridge. Nodding to his escort, he stepped inside.
The bridge crew was busy: a navigations officer was checking their departure vectors, a weapons officer ran a diagnostic on the ships offensive capabilities. The captain stood at ease near the communications station, where a young blonde officer monitored incoming and outgoing communications traffic.
"We have clearance to depart whenever we're ready, sir," the young blonde reported.
"Excellent. Navigation, prepare to depart. Let's get going." The captain turned around and noticed the Chief standing at attention. "Welcome aboard, Master Chief. It's an honor to see you here. We're on course for what used to be the Outer Colonies."
The Chief nodded, a bit annoyed with the whole 'honor' bit. "How soon until we arrive?"
"About three days, I think. You'd have to ask the Lieutenant exactly." The captain smirked. "ONI gave us some new engine cores to help get us there faster. Hawkes tried explaining it, but we were both having trouble grasping the whole engineering concept."
"ONI keeps forgetting I'm a recon officer, not an engineer," a quiet, familiar voice spoke up from behind the Chief. Lieutenant Hawkes moved around to the front, hazel eyes holding an amused look. "According to what I can make of these specs, though, our arrival time should be cut in half, provided nothing goes wrong."
"Very good," the Chief nodded.
"I'll let the Lieutenant show you to your quarters, Chief. As soon as we reach the Outer Colonies I'll call you."
----
Jessica was careful to keep her face impassive as she saluted the captain, an old friend of Ackerson's. "This way, Master Chief." She led him through the corridors, having familiarized herself with the ship on a previous mission; Ackerson assigned the Athens to be her staging are as often as he could. To a degree, it annoyed Jessica: she wasn't ungrateful, but she didn't want him to get into more trouble on her account. It was bad enough that he kept interceding with the review board on her behalf.
"How did you get here so quickly?" she heard the Chief ask her; it was the first time he'd spoken to her directly.
"I bummed a ride with the tech crews. They were going the same way, and I figured why waste more time? Besides, it didn't feel right…" she cut herself off abruptly, her face going a slight shade of crimson. "It didn't feel right to wait, since I'm the only one with a hope of explaining the new reactors to the officers." Damn, she swore softly, knowing how close she'd come to saying too much.
"ONI's assigned you this cabin, Master Chief," she said once she rounded the corner. "Everything should be satisfactory; Section III was very explicit in that regard." Jessica saw the Spartan turn his head; while she couldn't see his face, something told her that he was studying her.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, taking the bull by the horns.
"Why were you assigned to this mission? Doesn't ONI have more capable field officers?" The tone of his question hurt, but Jessica forced herself to seem detached.
"Colonel Ackerson doesn't always tell me why he assigns me to a mission. I just do what I'm told, to a degree. As long as I can get the job done, I don't ask questions." She brought her chin up, trying to appear unconcerned. "If there's nothing else you need, I'll be on my way. There's a few things I want to take a look at regarding the mission." With that, Jessica turned and headed to her quarters. Hers at least were a good distance away from the Chief's, which would be a help; as much as she admired the man, proximity would be detrimental to the mission, which was a risk she refused to take.
----
Jessica eyed the unappealing mess in front of her; the rations onboard the Athens left a lot to be desired. Granted, it wasn't the worst thing she'd ever eaten, but they could at least give the crews something better to eat once in a while. Just shut up and eat, Hawkes, she told herself, sticking her fork into the slop on her plate. The flavor was equally disgusting, and she had to force herself to swallow. Still, the meal had to have some nutritional value, since none of the crew had died yet.
A figure seated itself opposite her, holding another plate of the disgusting meal. Glancing up briefly, she noted close-cropped brown hair, dark eyes, and abnormally pale skin. Even though she couldn't swear to it, there was only one person who could even come close to matching that description.
"Master Chief," she nodded in his direction, forcing another bite of food into her mouth. Once again, it was all she could do not to gag.
"Lieutenant," he replied, digging into the mess on his plate. She noticed his almost mechanical detachment, and couldn't help but envy him. After forcing a third forkful down her throat, she stood up.
"If you'll excuse me," she said as she took her plate away. Even though she was still hungry, she couldn't force herself to eat anymore; the slop had completely killed her appetite. After disposing of the mess and dishes appropriately, she returned to her quarters, hoping to review the information ONI had provided. And forward it to Cortana, if she doesn't have it already, she smiled to herself; the AI's code-cracking skills were legendary, and Jessica had no doubts as to her ability to get whatever she needed.
A few moments later, Jessica was seated at the computer terminal in her assigned quarters, eyes scanning the data in front of her. She had a hard time understanding the Forerunner reference that the Covenant included in their transmissions, but from what she could gather it was something important. Something about an archive of some sort, she thought. But what kind of archive would we be dealing with? Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her door.
"It's open," she called, only glancing up when she saw who was in the doorway. Her pulse rate skyrocketed, but she forced herself to remain calm. "What can I do for you, Master Chief?"
"We need to talk."
----
John watched as Hawkes' eyes widened in alarm; privately he wondered what could have her so worried. She tried to mask herself, but her brief moment of fear had given her away.
"Very well, Master Chief, say what's on your mind. Since we're going to be working together, we may as well clear the air right now. And no, you don't have to worry about protocol and all that."
"How much do you know about what's going on with the Covenant?" He asked the question directly, half expecting an evasion. What surprised him was her equally direct reply.
"As much as ONI knows, though naturally they didn't tell me everything. I had to do some hacking to get it, and when they find out I'm probably going to be disciplined again." A small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth, giving her a softened, more civil appearance. "I've duplicated my store of knowledge and forwarded it to Cortana, and hopefully she'll be able to make more sense out of it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I keep finding references to some sort of Forerunner archive that I can't make heads or tails of. Since she had embedded herself in Halo's mainframe at one point, maybe she'll be able to understand it." The lieutenant raised a hand, forestalling the Chief's next question. "Yes, I know about Halo. No, you don't want to know how I know."
"You read my file." It was a statement, not a question, and Hawkes flinched.
"Yes, I did. I make it a point to know who I'm dealing with on a mission, regardless of reputations. Though I have to say, in your case your reputation is well-deserved, yours and your compatriots'." Hawkes finally looked him in the eyes; John could see flecks of emerald green in her hazel gaze. "I'm sorry about them, I really am. If it's any consolation, so is a good chunk of ONI's upper echelon, whether they'll admit it or not."
"Including Colonel Ackerson?" John heard his words come out bitterly; Hawkes's hazel eyes narrowed in what was either annoyance or anger.
"Colonel Ackerson is a good man, even if a few of his ideas are…unfounded. He used to be on the front lines at one point, and part of him still thinks the traditional military is the only military. I happen to disagree with him on that score, but I know he's a good man." She scowled, bringing to mind the image of a cornered predator. "And if you have anything to say about the Colonel that isn't professional, I'll thank you to get out of my quarters."
For a moment John was take aback: her support of the Colonel was genuine, as was her anger for the Chief's doubting him. Why, though? It didn't square with anything he'd ever come across in the past.
"Is there anything else you need, Master Chief?" Hawkes asked, her tone more clipped than usual.
"Nothing else, ma'am." He watched Hawkes roll her eyes.
"Please, don't call me 'ma'am'. Hawkes will work just as well. I hate standing on ceremony." She stood up and came around her desk, leaning against it; for some reason John noticed how her uniform hugged her slender body. "We have two and a half days before we reach our destination. I recommend you get some rest, and then we'll continue working on the mission plans.
"Oh, and just so you know, I do know how to use a weapon. You won't be needing to hold my hand once we hit planetside."
"Ma'am," the Chief saluted, and turned to exit the door. Hawkes muttered something to herself, but his sharpened hearing picked it up quite clearly.
"Even though I wouldn't mind you holding my hand that much."