Later that night

Night time on Reach was generally a very beautiful time, especially in the spring and summer when most nights were clear of clouds. Tonight was one of those nights. The sky was completely clear, giving anyone on the ground an amazing view of the thousands and thousands of stars that shone in the night sky. It was beautiful to see this sight and was, without a doubt, sparking the thought in the minds of some of the soldiers on this planet: Even in war there are beautiful things and for tonight it just looked as though they were right. It just seemed as though for tonight, the universe had forgotten about the war and peace had returned. If only that was what was really happening.

Below on the surface of the planet a few hundred feet from the main base building was a small park, named Jura Park, about one hundred feet long and wide. A single large path ran through the middle of the park from one end to the other with about four smaller paths coming off it, two on the left and two on the right. Grass covered the ground around the paths and trees were set in lines along the smaller paths. Several benches were scattered about the path. It was a peaceful place and right now it was empty.

Well, almost empty. There were two people in the park. A man and a woman dressed in special bodysuits. It was Marcus and Anya. Anya had asked Marcus if she wanted to come for a walk in the park with him after she had asked John for permission, which he had given only they were to only go to the park and nowhere else, which they agreed to.

The two walked side by side, Anya having her arm hooked around Marcus', down one of the side paths along the right of the main pathway. She gazed lovingly up at the stars as if they were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, which was partly true, though it was not the, but one ofthe most beautiful things she had seen.

"It's so beautiful," she said, resting her head on Marcus' arm.

"Yeah, it is," Marcus replied, also looking up at the stars. He tried looked happy but there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

That nervousness was what he had been doing for the past few days. He had been out in fighting Covenant recon teams at two outposts. The first one had been yesterday at New Haven outpost and the second had been this morning at Keva outpost not far from New Haven outpost. What he was nervous about though was that no one else in the taskforce, save for Stinger (Simon), Tanya, Alice and Tyler, who had taken part on these missions with him (Stinger taking part in the mission this morning), knew about the Covenant presence here on Reach, and that was because they had been ordered not to tell anyone else about this by John. He and his friends who had been on these missions were furious and shocked about this. The others deserved to know about this but no. They were to be kept in the dark. Sooner or later, though, they had to know.

What if…? Marcus thought as the two reached a bench situated on the left side of the path about half-way down it.

What if…he could tell Anya about what was going on? John or no UNSC High Command officer was around to stop him and like he just thought to himself, they had to know and he could start with Anya.

"Um…Anya?" Marcus said, looking down at her, snapping her out of her beauty gaze up at the stars.

She looked up at him. "Yes?" she inquired and she saw the worry on Marcus' face. "Are you okay, Marcus?"

Marcus looked down at the floor for a moment before he looked at her again, meeting her questionable gaze and waiting for an answer, worry filling her eyes as well. She had been a bit suspicious about him for the past two days as well. She had seen him leave the barracks yesterday with a group and arrive back some time later and then he and one his friends had arrived back whilst the others were getting up. There was something going on about him.

"Um…" Marcus began, trailing off quickly. It was hard to explain this even though he was pressuring himself to tell her. "It's about…It's about me and…and the others," he told her.

"What about you and the others?" she asked him.

"We…um. We're leaving the…the barracks because-"

"Alright," a voice said from the darkness, making them jump and Anya grabbed Marcus, scared. The two looked up the path from where they had come from to see John standing a few feet from them. He walked up to them. "Walk's over," he said. "Anya, get back to the barracks," he said to her. "I need to have a word with Marcus,"

Anya looked from John to Marcus and back again. It was obvious she was a bit wary about what was going on here, but she decided it was best not to argue or question her superior and she got up and, after taking one more look at Marcus, walked away from them. Marcus and John watched her go.

When she disappeared from sight, John turned to face Marcus, glaring at him. Marcus tensed himself, waiting for John to grab him.

Amazingly, John just sighed and sat down next to him.

"Marcus, I thought you and me agreed not to spread any word of this," he said to him.

"Sergeant, y'know I can't agree to this," he replied. "It's not fair on the others,"

"Marcus, you don't know how serious this is! I know It's not fair, I agree with you, but you have to realise that you can't go around opening your mouth about what is happening,"

"I know that!" Marcus half-shouted. He buried his face in his hands for a moment before he sighed and sat up and faced John. "I'm sorry, sir but we can't just keep it secret from the others. They're gonna have to know eventually,"

"And they will. But right now, we have to keep this limited to us and the rest of that group of yours, okay," John paused and looked up at the sky for a moment before looking back at Marcus. "And I will tell you this," he said in a tone that sounded much more dangerous than before. "If you try and tell anyone else about this, you and your friends'll be thrown in jail, and I really mean it this time, okay?"

Marcus stared at John for a moment, taking in what he had told him. By the sounds of his tone, John was serious about this. If he told anyone about the Covenant recon teams, then he and his friends could face imprisonment. That would not be good for him or his friends and right now, the UNSC needed everyone they could get.

After a moment, he sighed and nodded "Yes, sir,"

John nodded. "Now get back to the barracks and tell no one, especially Anya, why I needed to speak to you. And remember this time: keep quiet!" he added a dangerous and serious tone on the last to words before he got up and walked away from Marcus, cutting across the grass, towards the entrance to the park.

Marcus sat on the bench for another moment, watching John go, before he decided to listen to John and got up and walked back towards the main base building. What John had told him ran over and over again in his mind. He could not believe that John was trying to keep this quiet about the Covenant presence on Reach. He did not understand how or why it was so important and it was not fair! The others had a right to know and they had to know, but he was putting himself and the others in his group, and probably even the entire taskforce, at risk. He sighed again as he walked through the park entrance just a few feet behind John, who did not turn to look over his shoulder at him.

He was going to have to find a way to explain this to the others in the taskforce. How was going to be difficult and actually telling them was not going to be any easier, probably even more difficult, but he was going to tell them, but he may have to leave it for a while until John decided to no longer keep an eye on him.