Helljumper

by M. Cartwright

The year is 2550. A team of elite ODSTs callsign "Charlie Six" are enjoying a much needed shore leave after months of fighting. The Covenant invade in the midst of their R&R and in the height of the battle, the team is recalled to a remote ONI base in the mountains. They find the Covenant are determined to seize the base and the team begins to ask the question: what're they after?

8. Food for Thought

HALO: HELLJUMPER

By M. Cartwright

CHAPTER VIII: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

1154 Hours Local Time, July 6th, 2550 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \

Mess Hall 01, ONI Installation "Dagger Base,"

Planet Crystal

The mess hall looked different than how he had remembered it from earlier that morning. For one, it was now crowded with personnel from different parts of the base and, as he walked deeper into the room, he noticed several groups of Marines sitting isolated in the corner of the mess hall. A flicker of a grin crossed his features as he followed the pleasant aroma of freshly cooked food to its source—the chow line—and retrieved a tray from a stack placed at the beginning of the line.

As he stood in the line, he made twin revelations. The first: the chow line was configured differently than what he was used to. On the typical UNSC ship, if one wanted to order food, they would have to approach a machine and press a whole lot of buttons to select what they wanted to eat. The Dagger Base chow line were configured more like a buffet. The food was displayed in front of you in heated containers and all you had to do was grab what you wanted and move on to the next station until you were satisfied with the meal in front of you.

The second: the food that ONI served to its personnel was of top quality. All the food was freshly prepared before chow call, not food stored in a freezer for God knew how long, thawed, and re-cooked. That meant that the taste was exponentially better and you never had to worry about being served food still partially frozen. A fact he was silently thankful for.

After filling his tray with fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and a side of green beans, he left the chow line behind and searched for a place to sit. Surprisingly, he found an empty table in the far back corner of the mess hall and immediately headed towards it. Once he was seated, he tore a plastic spork from the thin layer of plastic it was encased in, and immediately dug into his meal.

He had to resist jumping out of his seat when—while consumed in devouring the food in front of him—someone plopped down into the chair across from him. He managed to keep himself from being startled when he finally noticed Sergeant Jason Furby sitting across from him with a smile on his face. Before anything could be said by either of them, the seats to his right and Furby's left were suddenly occupied by PFCs MacDoyle and Owen.

"Afternoon, Staff Sergeant!" Owen greeted exuberantly, to which Ward simply nodded to him.

"This food is amazing," commented MacDoyle as he began digging into his own plate of food.

"Yeah," replied Furby, rather tersely. "It's one of the few redeeming qualities of being stationed here for so long. ONI knows how to cook a meal."

The Staff Sergeant could tell by the expression upon his friend's face that he had hoped to be able to catch up with his buddy alone. Jon shrugged at him as if to say 'I'm not saying anything', to which Jason frowned. "So, Jonny, what's up?" he asked, sounding hesitant to refer to him by his nickname. MacDoyle and Owen said nothing of it, so Ward didn't feel the need to say anything on the subject.

"Well, I just ran into the illustrious commanding officer of Dagger Base," he said, flatly.

Jason nodded at him with a smirk. "Good 'ol Durant."

"Yep."

"Still think he's crazy?"

Ward nodded without hesitation. "More than ever."

This caused Jason's smirk to widen. Jon guessed his come back before he had even said it. "This comin' from a guy who drops from the upper atmosphere in a metal tin can that could easily become his coffin."

Ward chuckled. "Yeah, well, at least I know I'm crazy."

"Women dig us crazy guys!" Owen blurted out all of a sudden.

"Owen," MacDoyle started, shaking his head. "Shut the hell up 'n quit actin' the maggot."

The Sergeant cast a curious glance towards the two ODSTs beside them. "So, who're your friends?" he asked.

Ward chuckled. "The gentleman to my right is our demolitionist, PFC Tyler Owen," he said, to which Owen waved at Jason, "and the man beside you is our CQB expert, PFC Colin MacDoyle."

Jason nodded and glanced at MacDoyle. He studied him for a moment before making the comment, "Nice mohawk."

"Thanks. I get that a lot."

The next few minutes passed in companionable silence. Ward took the opportunity to finish his meal, placing the spork down with an air of finality, and rubbed his stomach. That was good, he thought pleasantly. He hadn't had a meal that good since the last time he had been on leave on Reach. His wife had cooked him a huge dinner for just the two of them. It had been a great meal and the sex that had happened so spontaneously afterward had been the icing on the metaphorical cake for him.

The thought of that night made him miss her so much more. He missed waking up in beside her, snuggling with her while she slept so peacefully. The scent of the shampoo she used, the smile that snuck its away across her face when she felt him embrace her. The look of bliss on her face when they did the deed. It all so vividly snaked its way to the front of his mind. He wanted to be home so very badly.

And not just because of his wife. No, his daughter too came to mind as he reminisced about the last time he was home. The innocent, carefree look on her face as she played with her toys. That happy smile she always wore when he read her a story before she went to bed. The elation he felt when she took her first steps. All of that came back to him.

Though, instead of being at home with the family he loved so dearly, he was here. Sitting in a mess hall on a planet light-years away from Reach. Maybe two dozen systems away from them. Or, well, maybe more. He wasn't sure of the distance exactly, but what he did know was this: any distance away from his family was too far.

Jonathan was brought back to reality when he suddenly noticed the absence of Mac and Owen. He focused on Furby who couldn't help but notice the look on his face. He laughed and shook his head. "They finished eating and left," he explained matter-of-factly. "And I know that look. Thinkin' about your family again, huh?"

"Yeah," Ward answered after a moment.

"How are they?"

He thought about that for a long moment. The last letchip he had received from his wife had been brief. But, from the sounds of it everything was going okay at home. She was supposedly starting up her job as a teacher's assistance in a few months time and their daughter would be starting school. Beyond that, she expressed how much she worried about him and missed him. This, by now, he had grown used to hearing.

"They're doing fine," he finally answered. "Char's just picked up a job as a teacher's assistant and'll be starting in September, Sarah also starts school then, and the usual stuff about worrying about me and missing me."

Jason listened to him quietly and nodded after. He leaned back in his chair a little bit but didn't break eye contact with him. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Yeah."

Silence fell between them again and this time Furby directed his attention to the food he had been neglecting on his tray. It only took him about a minute to eat it all. One of the things every Marine learned, that was hard to unlearn, was the ability to eat extremely fast. It helped when you were in a combat situation and never knew when the enemy might jump out and attack you. It was a trait every Marine learned in boot camp.

The not-so-fond memories of his drill instructors slapping their trays away before they could finish eating because they were, quote, "taking too long" flashed before his eyes. In an effort to fight them off, he decided to conversate some more.

"There's one thing that's bothering me," he said, breaking the amiable silence.

"Oh," Furby replied curiously. "What's that?"

"I don't think the Colonel was being entirely honest with me."

"About?"

"About his motives for having my team and I come here."

Furby thought about that for a moment. He leaned back in his chair again and glanced up at the ceiling, squinting just a little at the too-bright illumination emitted from the overhead lights. "If it's one thing I've learned about the good Colonel, even before he jumped in bed with the Spooks, was that he always does things for a reason. Even if we don't know exactly know what that reason is."

"But that's the underlying issue here, Jay," Ward stated, staring directly into his friend's eyes. "What are his reasons for having us here? What is he hiding?"

Furby shrugged without even contemplating his question. "He's a Spook. It's his job to hide things and, I hate to say it, he's damn good at it. There could be a million and one reasons why he wanted you and your men here. I just don't know what they could be."

Ward frowned, unhappy with his friend's answer. Furby sensed this and smiled meekly. "I do know one thing, though. Having you and your boys here is helping morale. When Winter Contingency was declared and the Covenant started landing troops, we were all excited at first. But after several hours of the bastards beating us back to the front gate and almost being overrun, that motivation turned to desperation. You showing up changed that. Even if it doesn't seem like it to you, I've been here for six months. You could say I'm attuned to everybody's feelings nowadays. Now, the only people who're worried about shit are the Spooks. But, like I said, they know more than we do so they might have a reason to. And, they're all hiding those reasons from us too."

Ward processed what Jason said in silence. After a couple minutes he managed to smile weakly and nod his head. He wasn't about to give up wondering what Colonel Durant's motives were; but he would let the issue rest at least for a little while. The Covenant weren't knocking at their door just yet. So he would try to make the most of the reprieve they were being given. "You should be an officer. You could inspire an army with speeches like that."

Furby scoffed and shook his head. "Just giving food for thought," he said, and then added with a smirk. "Besides, I have to deal with enough shit leading my own squad. I don't wanna know what kind of shit officer's have to deal with."

Ward laughed and stood up. Chow time was almost over and he wanted to see what his team was up to. Besides Mac and Owen, he hadn't seen any of the others. Jason picked up his now-empty tray and tossed it into the proper dispenser and then started towards the door, Jonathan right on his tail. They exited the mess hall together and then went their separate ways.

As he marched through the maze of corridors that all looked the same, he wondered how long it would be until the Covenant made their presence known again. He hadn't heard anything about their activities since his team and the base's Marines repelled them earlier that morning. Whatever it they were doing, it couldn't have been good.

If only he knew what they were up to.