ONE
The captain of the ship was sitting in his command chair when the comms officer bolted upright. He watched as the man nodded and turned to his captain.
"Sir, the Lieutenant would like to speak with you."
The captain nodded and pointed at the display on his chair. A soft chime was heard as the signal was relayed to the small computer in his chair.
"What have you got, Lieutenant?"
"You aren't going to believe this. Only one person is alive aboard the ship, and… 'he's' in a cryo pod."
The captain sat forward. If he had been a dog, his ears would have pricked up. "Out with it El-Tee."
"We think he may be a Spartan."
Everyone on the bridge went slack with shock. The captain took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, letting the surprise flow out of him with the carbon dioxide and other gases.
"Revive him and ask him what he knows about the massive pile of space wreckage that came out of nowhere."
"You sure, sir?"
"Hell no! He may just wake up and kill us all for desertion! But humanity's better off with him alive and well, damnit. Get him onboard and salvage what you can from the ship."
"It's the Forward Unto Dawn, sir."
"Then we'll give her a hero's death, Lieutenant."
The captain cut the connection and rested his chin on his clasped hands. He had to find some way to get the Spartan home without killing his crew in the process.
He sighed again and shook his head, finally leaning back and feeling all of the years he'd been in the service of this ship weighing his bones down. He wondered whether his XO would be able to lead the crew as well as he had. He smiled at the thought, and reassured himself that Mikel could step up to the plate when the time came.
He stood up and decided that he needed a drink.
***
Calandras watched from the side of the cryo pod as the tech-guy worked at the controls. Nick sniggered as the tech cursed for the fourth time.
"Need any 'elp? I could bash the glass a little for ya'."
The tech's glare could have defrosted the Spartan if it had been pointed at the cryo pod. Calandras swore that his suit's temperature jumped a degree.
"If you could just hold this flashlight here." Nick clipped his rifle to his chest and floated towards the tech. He grabbed the flashlight and anchored himself in place by gripping a handrail conveniently placed in case of grav failure.
"So what's giving you so much trouble?"
"Probably some sort of encryption in case of a boarding."
"Or some degraded AI?"
The tech stopped what he was doing for a fraction of a second as the though processed.
"I guess it could be possible."
Despite what all of his instructors said, Nick was excellent at guessing what was causing a problem. He just had some sort of knack for it.
The tech cursed again, this time louder.
"Probably gonna have to manually get this thing open."
"I wonder if 'is name's Prince Albert."
"Why…?"
"Cause then we'd 'ave Prince Albert in a can."
The tech stared at him, trying not to burst out laughing. Something about the Marine was just hilarious.
Nick stepped up to the pod again and looked into it. It may just be a suit of armor, extremely valuable armor at that, placed there just to play a practical joke on everyone aboard the Tyrant's Fear. He brushed the small amount of frost away again and stared into the visor.
He jumped when he saw the seals on the cryo container pop open, and the front panel swung upwards, nearly clipping Nick's chin. He snapped his rifle up and expected something to end his life right then and there.
"What the hell did you do?!" The tech yelled at Nick.
"I didn't do anythin'! Just brushed the damned frost off of it!" Nick switched channels, "El-Tee, get down here! The pod just opened by itself!"
"What the hell do you mean, 'by itself,' Calandras?"
"I just brushed some frost off of it, and the damn thing opened!"
"What did the tech say?"
"'What the hell did you do?'" Nick tried and failed to imitate the tech's voice.
"Jesus, Cal. Stay put and wait for me. Don't let him out of your sight."
"I'm sure the tech doesn't need me to baby-sit 'im."
"Damnit, Private! The Spartan! Watch the Spartan!"
"Right, sir."
***
John's mind stirred. Images flashed by, hundreds at a time. Each one meant something to him. But he couldn't grasp what they were, not with how sluggish his mind felt. His thoughts came to him as though his mind were suspended in a viscous gel. Slowly, his senses came back to him. His skin felt as though it were burning, as though his armor had melted and he were nothing but scorched remains.
His eyes told him differently. The visor's heads-up display was active, which meant the armor wasn't slag, or at least the power supply was still working. His enhanced vision quickly adjusted to the seemingly bright light. He raised a hand to shield his face until his visor darkened to compensate.
The beam of light was coming from a flashlight, being held by someone dressed in a Marine's EVA suit. Bulky, but functional. He quickly noticed that the man had his rifle pointing directly at the center of John's chest. He wondered whether his shields were active, and whether they were charged enough to stop a bullet. If they didn't, then the plates of his armor would.
What really mattered was how many rounds the man would be able to get off before John had his hands around the man's throat.
The man lowered his rifle and a very thick English accent said over all the bands, "'ello there."