[}{]
Maddie 'The Viper' Harper
July 24, 2552
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He nodded and twenty minutes later, had us cruising at thirty thousand feet. Through the comms blackout, a call was sent to the Aegis Fate using the Winter's advanced deep space comms relay. Alex's face seemed relieved when he appeared in front of me and my new team.
"So, it's all a mess. We got caught with our asses bare in the middle of retrofitting. The rest of the fleet doesn't know yet but they're under emergency orders to patrol the region and prepare for emergency redeployment." Alex sighed, "SUDAN is barely combat ready and they expect us to provide close support to anything that goes on groundside. We still don't even know what that means yet. It could be a full invasion, a scouting party, even a splinter group."
"Nothing to be done about that, what're your orders?" I asked, cocking my head slightly.
"Limit our movement to Viery. ONI identified it as any invading forces first port of call. It's got a small population outside of New Alexandria and plenty of military targets. The ship breaking yards still have a few old cruisers we could throw at them and it's where we refine most of our fuel from. I have Grafton sweeping the area for FOB's but they've come up empty for now."
I looked to my companions as I said the next part, I knew it wouldn't go down well. "Reach's survival isn't our concern, your task force's main priority is aiding Beta-7. For now, I need you to cover the area surrounding Sword Base, Viery can wait."
"Mads…" Alex said, shifting uncomfortably, "We're the only assets on station, if we don't conduct recon, we could be taken by surprise by a massive force. New Alexandria would be wide open, for God's sake!"
The bridge was quiet and tense, everyone was looking at me as they waited to see if I would relent. Once upon a time I might have. I was all in, now, though. This was the endgame. Reach was doomed and with it, half of humanities remaining strength.
" The covenant still think themselves undetected but when they figure out their forces died fighting SPARTANs at Visegrad, they will strike at our strategic assets, then at civilian and industrial targets. We will lose the chance to maybe locate their base of operations but I will secure the assets I need to actually win this war. So, I'm telling you plainly: Move your ships, Captain."
"You had the King of Ballast publicly prosecuted for sacrificing thousands, Madeleine. I hope you realise this is the same thing, even if it is a more strategically sound decision."
"I'm well aware of my own hypocrisy, big brother." I swallowed, knowing that he was right. Parangosky's voice purred in my head, however.
Empathy is weakness. The mission takes priority. The mission is for the greater good. The bigger picture is our painting, Madeleine, and my agents are its artists.
My brother looked sadly at me, it was as though he was saying goodbye to me, just as he had done so many years ago on Skopje.
"I… fine." He relented, just as Captain Van Graff leaned forward in his chair.
"What do we do now?" Van Graff asked, looking between myself and my brother.
"We regroup with Alex on the Aegis Fate. This is going to be a long fight, HIGHCOM won't let Reach go easily. Best to be as prepared as possible."
"It'll be good to have you back, Mads. I'll see you in a few." Alex said, cutting the commlink with a short and curt nod.
The trip back to the Aegis Fate was uneventful because everyone spent the journey in a state of quiet contemplation. We'd all seen it before but the fact that we had early warning this time made the whole event seem different. The assault on Skopje had been a total surprise and Meridian was already a war zone by the time I arrived. Even at Ballast, thanks to Tuk, we had early warning.
I remember the feelings of confusion so clearly that goosebumps rippled along my arms. My body was still flushed with those memories as the craft landed in the hangar.
"You think we can hold it?" Jack asked, looking back down towards the planet. Wisps of light, a magic-like aurora, enveloped the planet.
I bit my lip. "No." I said, grimly. The truth was that if the Covenant knew what they had found, then they'd send everything they have. If they didn't, they would soon find out and send it all anyways.
Jack swallowed, his neck bobbing with concern as he turned away from Kat, who rested a hand on his shoulder.
"In any case, we should see if Jade and Tuk have any extra intel." I said, awkwardly moving the conversation along. I didn't have time for Jack's sentimentality right now.
The Winter's arrival went largely unnoticed as Van Graff landed us neatly on the deck and lowered the ramp. Jack, who seemed a little sick, stood extra close to Katya, who put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Am I to tag along?" Van Graff asked theatrically.
"After you clean up." I laughed, looking at his sweaty PT gear. "You're a Captain, now. While I get that protocol isn't your thing, I have a rep to maintain."
"Course" He replied grinning back at me. The man saluted and took leave as the rest of us headed towards the bridge.
We stopped by the lab, chatting idly about anything that could take our minds off the situation. The doors parted and I raised a brow, Tuk's avatar paced about in deep thought as Jade dug frantically through papers and data disks, which flew through the air like leaves on the wind.
"What's going on here?" Katya asked, taking the words out of my mouth.
"Oh, hi guys." Jade said, fixing her uniform when she noticed us standing in the doorway.
"We're ready to announce our plan for ARC DREAM" Tuk said, grinning.
ARC DREAM. The last hope I had for a future for anyone was a nebulous and ill-defined plan to use ancient human technology, humanities best scientists, and our connection to the forerunners to build a civilisation that could defend itself in this terrifying galaxy of ours.
"I thought we had a plan?" I asked, pointedly.
"Stuffing the Fenrir full of scientists and nation-builders like some kind of Noah's Ark isn't exactly a plan." Jade said.
Katya laughed, "she's not wrong, Mads."
"Fair enough, let's hear it."
"Yes!" Jade said, jumping in place, "Okay, so I was talking to Tuk about how early humans left Earth and how the empire expanded in its early days."
Tuk nodded, "we used a device called a world forge. You see, early slip drives are awful, as you well know. So, our government supposedly prioritised using world forges to adapt planets to our needs, rather than searching out perfect colonies as you do."
"From what I understand, it's basically an A.I that remodels whole planets, a starter kit, filled with all the building blocks of life."
Katya shrugged, "so we run away and build a secret empire?"
"Seems a little… I don't know, pathetic?" Jack noted.
"Well, we can build all the weapons we want but ARC DREAM is about more than Fibril Cutters. Empires are built on far more than Guns alone." I said, "besides, we may need a new home regardless of whether these ancient weapons can save us or not."
"Fair point," Jack said, resting his hands on the table. "So can we build one?"
"A world forge?" Tuk asked, "the plans are in the Fenrir's data banks but you lack the technology to craft it. It's millennia ahead of your capabilities and a rudimentary one would take too long to terraform a planet."
"So, what's the solution?" I asked, "none of this matters if it's not actually feasible."
"In the waning years of the Forerunner empire, followers of a character known as the librarian grew a conscience and began to catalogue the species of the galaxy. Part of that process was the seizure and preservation of species specific technology. Even technology that the forerunners hated, like the World Forge." Tukmen'tukhan seemed almost giddy as he spoke, "that means that somewhere out there, there's one in perfect condition."
"Not only that," Jade added, "the place it is located also houses one of the most extensive star maps in the entire galaxy."
"So, what's the catch?" I asked, glancing at Jack and Katya, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"It's on the Ark." Tuk said, grimly.
"What in God's name is that?" Jack asked, rubbing his temple.
"A secret facility built to house everything that was supposed to survive the activation of the Halo array."
"Those rings that the covenant worship" I said, seeing his confusion.
"Naturally." Jack said, grimly. "So, we find the Ark and we find the World Forge. What do we need a map for?"
"Picking the perfect spot, of course!" Jade chimed in, imagine being able to pick the birthplace and seat of power for your Empire before it is established."
"And you have a lead on this Ark?" I asked folding my arms.
"Er…" Jade rubbed her neck.
"The priority is still building the workforce. Finding all this means nothing if Beta-7 doesn't have the ability to exploit it." Tuk offered a weak smile.
"So no, then."
"If there's anywhere on Reach that might have something on the Ark, it'll be deep in ONIs vaults. Halsey calls this place home, so there's bound to be something we can use here." Katya was nodding in agreement.
"It's a start I guess" I said, unconvinced by the plan. ARC DREAM was a long shot and I'd made the mistake of getting on hopes bandwagon before, I wasn't about to put myself through that trauma again.
Don't hold your breath, Maddie.
"Regardless, I need you both back on Fenrir, with the covenant on Reach, you need to be where you're safest."
Jade saluted emphatically and Katya led us out and down the hall towards the bridge.
"Building a whole new civilisation seems a bit…"
"Far-fetched?" I chuckled, "We've seen weirder."
"True." Katya agreed with a sigh.
"I was hoping we could skip the grandeur and have a quiet assignment" Jack groaned, coming to a halt outside the bridge door. "Call me crazy, but I think I'm getting too old for this."
"I think we all are, Jack" Katya touched his arm tenderly and I smiled, thumbing the bridge access panel.
The door slid open and I saw Alex, head in his palm, tapping his foot against the deck.
"...insane if you think I can spare anything for ground support!" Alex's bridge was quiet, save for the large projection of Fleet Admiral Ward above his comms table. "I have my own fleet to refit, you're a Captain, you know this will take everything I have to eke out a damned draw. Get the army to send you supplies."
"Sir, I already tried, they're a mess. Whatever they have lying around is either a token force or unable to be moved to our ships."
"I don't see what I can do about that, son."
"Send us a few Condors and some archers, we're a third staffed and half armed."
The old Admiral snorted, "they supply my fleet. You think I can spare any?"
Alex sighed, "I need something, literally anything." Alex's brows furrowed and he rubbed his thumb against the hem of his pocket.
Surprisingly, Admiral Ward relented, uncrossing his arms. "Which Anchor station are you tied to?"
Alex looked up, "nine, sir."
"Those stations are supplied by condors. I'm not saying you commandeer them but if you used it as a base of operations, you could probably get in on their supply runs."
"I suppose."
"It's not much, I know, and if it means anything, I'd ask you not to do it. We need each of those stations operational if we want to counter the Covenant's Naval supremacy."
Alex nodded, "I understand, sir. It's better than nothing. I do appreciate it."
"I know you do, son. Good luck. Ward out."
I let Alex close his eyes a second, there were huge bags under his eyes. He blinked a few times and turned to me.
"Captain" I said, smiling thinly.
"Mads… you doing alright?"
"Should I not be?"
He laughed and shook his head. "I'm glad you're out of that valley, sounds like a lot of the locals didn't make it."
"Wasn't a total dead end, though." I replied, "got a lead on some research the covenant was after. There were…" I looked around, "we should continue this in private"
Alex nodded and turned to his first officer. She was a slight woman of around twenty eight with hazelnut hair and a serious disposition that seemed to hold the world in place around her. She was perfect for Alex, who was far too emotional at times, that weakness could be his undoing if Maddie didn't keep an eye out for him.
Alex led the way, sealing his office using a switch behind the head of his large conference table.
"So, what have you got?" He asked as the room's lights dimmed to a feeble glow.
"a squad of Zealots leading the assault" Katya sighed, "you know what that means."
Alex nodded, "it's an officially sanctioned invasion by their government. There's likely objects of religious significance on Reach."
"Not good."
"Never is." Jack replied, sharing a grin with Ollie, who bobbed in agreement. "Which is why extractions have to begin ASAP, Captain. We can't afford to lose anyone at this stage."
"Or any-thing." I replied, thinking of all the strange forerunner artifacts and xenoarchaeological findings buried in the various black sites that spread out around the planet's surface.
"Do you have a list of personnel that you need?" Alex asked, his eyes searching my own.
I nodded.
"Tukmen'tukhan has compiled a list and an order to seize the targets in. We can begin immediately, Sir" Katya said, rubbing her knuckles with her fingers.
"We will coordinate with you via the Winter. Major Braeburn will be our go-between, so if you need anything go through him. My team…" I leaned forward and activated a scan of the planet below. " My team will be looking into a lead we uncovered from the Visegrad Relay. The girl, Sàra Sorvad, mentioned that her father worked directly with Catherine Halsey."
"Shit…" Alex said, biting his fingernail.
I raised a brow. It wasn't like Alex to react so negatively to a member of staff, let alone a revered one. "That a problem big brother?"
Alex frowned. "Halsey is bad news, Mads. We all know that."
"The closer we are to the core worlds, the worse it will get for encountering the insipid bi- uh, Doctor. Her influence is strong here, which could mean the girl's family were just doing drone work."
"We just need to investigate to confirm it," Katya offered, downplaying the fact that going after Catherine's assets was part of the plan. "Sàra mentioned that not all of the research team at Visegrad were okay with Halsey's influence over the team. Something happened and someone left."
"Sounds like you have a lead, at least."
I nodded, pulling up a file on the screen. "Mikaela Sorvad, 23. Location of birth, Little Hungary Community Hospital in Karinka, Camber. Mother died in childbirth, father unknown. Fostered by multiple families, including a grandparent who was killed sometime around her sixth year followed by a narcissist, clinically diagnosed until she disappeared during the Covenant's invasion of Camber. Likely aged nine at the time, how she left Camber and arrived on Reach is anyone's guess. Professor Sorvad adopted her in 2542 aged 13 after she fled her home for reach. He caught her selling unlocked university access cards to students who needed to up their grades on the school's systems."
"Jesus" Jack noted, highlighting a photo included in the police report. His eyes flickered between myself and Katya and I could tell he was seeing us in the young girl. She'd gone through the wringer even earlier than we had and I found myself struggling to swallow a lump in my throat as I saw the cycle of violence, loss, and theft of a childhood play out in front of my eyes again.
"It doesn't look fake…" Alex said, maximising it on the holoprojector. "We had a couple lying around our house back on Skopje. Joey and Dad had kept them as a little memento.
"They weren't fake, they were legitimate. Mikaela would take them and unlock them without leaving a trace."
"That doesn't seem like such a big deal" Van Graff laughed, "guessing there's more to it than that?"
I was about to speak when Katya smirked, "The University of New Alexandria is the best University outside of Sol and the only non-military institution that takes UEG research contracts. It's a battleground for humanities brightest to prove to humanities greediest that they're assets worth investing in."
"What you're saying, then, is that this place was supposed to be secure." Jack said, his eyes darting around the room for clarification.
"Exactly. Her hack was untraceable." I replied, "I studied the code back at Luna with Serin, it was… genius."
"That's putting it mildly" Katya snorted, "I couldn't make sense of any of it."
"But she still got caught." Jack said, looking at me.
"Well, that's where the trail ends, unfortunately. She doesn't crop up again in the records until she began school in New Alexandria."
"...as a member of the Sorvad family, right?" Jack asked as he itched the stubble on his chin."
"But why would this girl know more than Sara? Seems odd that he'd trust her with something that he didn't trust Sara with." Alex asked, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.
"Well, she left, right?" Ollie said, flippantly playing with the cufflinks at the end of his sleeve. "Maybe the Foster arrangement weren't much good behind closed doors. I know what it's like to live like that, anything can be your breaking point when you don't feel like anything is your own."
I sighed, "as you can imagine, there's a lot here that we just don't know. Her file has gaps that even Tukmen'tukhan cannot fill. We'll need to interrogate Sara until we're confident that Mikaela is a lead worth pursuing."
The atmosphere in the room became tense as I said it. I chuckled inwardly. Moments like these showed who the real Spooks were. All eyes were on myself and Katya, whose eye twinkled into mine.
She's thinking the same thing.
"Calm down, boys. This isn't going to be some barbaric and messy ONI black op. We just need to befriend her."
"So, which one of us are you sending to do it?" Van Graff asked, pointedly.
I blinked, "I was gonna do it, obviously."
"You? Oh... sure. Good call."
"You think I can't do it?"
"I didn't say that" He replied coolly.
I looked around the room, Katya remained aloof, her true feelings hidden, as usual, behind those fierce eyes of hers. Jack shifted awkwardly in his seat. He agreed with Van Graff. I raised my brow at Alex, who shook his head and chuckled.
Van Graff was looking me dead in the eye, "its nothin' personal, it's just that you're a Spook. You think she's gonna trust you with information about her sister? Says right there in her file that Sorvad's children are "oppositional" to the Office.
"I think Captain Van Graff is trying to say that it's time to go back to basics." Alex offered.
"Meaning?" I asked, taken aback. "I've interrogated Elites before, you think I can't crack a woman barely out of her twenties?"
"You don't 'crack' a girl who just lost her dad." Van Graff said with a shudder, "You're way too terrifying for this kinda job."
I was speechless. I looked around at everyone and each of them seemed to agree.
"I can be whatever she needs, I'll get the information."
"I think Ollie's right, Mads." Alex said, uneasily. "You've not exactly been… emotive, since Ballast.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked, my face flushing.
"I ain't seen you before that happened so I can only speak for these last few hours. I probably see you like she sees you. Someone who could keep me safe, sure, but not someone to talk about family with."
This time as I looked around, even Katya's eyes told me she agreed. A pit welled in my stomach as I began to process the information. All of them believed I lacked the empathy to get the girl to open to me and all of them pitied me.
"You said back to basics?" I asked Alex, quietly, "well, how about me and Van Graff play good rebel bad Spook?"
"Excuse me?" Van Graff scoffed, "I ain't no interrogator."
"Not asking you to. I'm asking you to be the one she opens up to because she fears me. For a fanboy of mine, you don't seem all that eager to get one up on me."
"Fanboy?" Katya asked.
"Captain Van Graff is a big fan of ours" I said, teasingly. "He went to Luna."
Van Graff just smiled, "well when you put it like that…"
"It's settled then. Time for you to step up, Captain."
[}{]
Sara had been allowed to stew for a few hours. I remembered that feeling well, having been left to sit in silence on the Cavalier after Skopje. It felt like a lifetime ago, like a memory stolen from another person, a weaker person. So much had changed since then, so many battles and struggles. My mind wandered as Katya asked a series of innocuous questions regarding Sara's job at Visegrad.
If I could go back, with hindsight, would I change anything?
Once upon a time, I'd have said no. Truthfully, I thought that I was happy where I was. I would mentally separate myself from the person I had been, the person who had made mistakes wasn't me, it was someone else. Looking through the glass divider and into the steel crate beyond, was a sobering reality. I was the same girl, I am not perfect at this moment, I was not completely flawed before.
Captain Van Graff reached over the table and gripped the girl by the hand as tears welled in her eyes. It was a good move, the girl snivelled and a little more information was wrung from the stone. Jack stood beside me, his arms folded and his eyes severe.
"You, okay?" I asked, looking him over.
"What? Oh, yeah, sorry." He scratched the back of his neck and smiled, "Just don't like this, is all."
"Interrogation?"
He nodded, "never sat right with me. Not the only part of the job I've found issue with, but was always the one I never wanted to be part of, you know?"
"I get that" I replied, shrugging.
"Do you?"
I frowned, "you guys are harsh"
"It's not like that, Maddie. We're just worried about you."
"Why? After all I've been through, you'd have thought I'd earned the benefit of the doubt."
"It's because of what you've been through that we worry. No one bends forever, everyone has their limit."
"I'll let you know when I find it, then."
He sighed, "...and if it's too late by then?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if you cross a line that you didn't realise you had? I didn't want to lose the girl we found kicking ass on Skopje but this job has changed you."
I didn't know what to say, my eyes wandered from his for the first time and settled on the file in front of us. Mikaela was grinning at someone out of shot, the photo looked as though it had been taken by some kind of operative, it was too candid, her hair was slightly out of place and her smile was effortless. I wondered if I had ever looked like that. I wondered what the photo in my file showed.
"Well," I said, clearing my throat, "good job I have such nosy friends, then."
Jack laughed and shot me a wry smile, "you heard anymore from command about the covenant? It's been unnervingly quiet."
I nodded in agreement, "you can say that again. Apparently, they're tracking a small group across the South Pole but nothing's been said on official channels."
"I don't like this at all. Reach is too well hidden for a tiny force like that to sneak groundside."
"Reach is lost. They won't let it stand when their prophets realise what it means to us."
Jack sighed. He didn't need to say that it was a grim thought, you could see it in the lines on his face.
"You keep sighing like that you're gonna look even older, Jack." I teased.
"Rude." He smiled, and unfolded his arms, relaxing a little. "I have a right to get old how I want, you know."
"You do you" I smiled, gathering up the file from the metal desk in front of me. I picked up my sunglasses, a pair of polarised aviators, and placed them on my nose. "As for me, I'm gonna keep killing it. You think I look the part?"
Jack laughed, "there's a reason you're good at what you do, Madeleine. You always did look the part."
I turned and left, heading next door and unlatching the door with a loud click. It made Sara jump a little and I suppressed a smile as Katya rose to her feet and nodded to me.
"So, you were saying?" Van Graff said, glancing at me for a brief moment. He ran a hand through his hair, "the day you found her, she was actually in the university?"
"Sure. I caught her. Dad and I would occasionally sleepover at his office when I was really small. We'd stay up and eat junk food, I'd play in the piles of boxes… make us a Fort to sleep in when he was finally finished with his work."
"So, he worked and you played?"
"Sort of, he was very good at switching between the two. I can count on one hand the number of times he shouted at me for bugging him."
"And this had stopped by the time you found Mikaela?"
"The administration didn't like it so we had to stop. He was even banned from going into the building after hours. I think he knew about the security breach because he took a huge risk going back."
"And that's when you found her?"
"She'd fallen asleep at the computer. I remember… She was small, barely a patch of fat on the poor girl. Her hair was a wiry mess and there were scars… all over one of her shoulders."
I leaned forward, "old ones?"
She looked at me, "Some of them were new. Raw."
Van Graff chewed a nail, he was doing far better than he thought. "So, what did you do?"
"Father saw what she'd fallen asleep doing. It was clever, apparently."
"Apparently?"
"I'm a sociologist, computers have always been beyond me. If someone came up to you and explained the exact science behind antimatter and slipspace, would you understand it?"
"Point taken" I said, shrugging.
"So, your father adopted her because she was intelligent?" Van Graff said, pushing the point.
Sara shook her head, "he wasn't like that. She needed help and… well he was a xenoarchaeologist. You don't sift through the ashes of dead civilisations if you don't have some kind of proclivity towards broken things."
"So, it was pity." I said, sharply.
"What would you know of it?" She snapped, her words like ice in the cold and steely room.
"More than you would think" I shrugged.
Van Graff looked at me with a raised brow, he was making some kind of connection up in that head of his. "If it was genuine love, why did she leave?"
"It is genuine love. We'd do anything for her."
I rocked on my chair, playing the role we'd selected as I dismissively waved my hand, "but you don't know where she is, you told the captain that you hadn't had contact for almost a year. If what you're saying is true, what changed?"
Van Graff leaned forward again, touching her hand lightly, my eyes were drawn to the tender exchange like a mother to a flame. "Your father was working on something very important, Mikaela is our only hope to recover his work. We don't mean to pry but…"
"But now that the enemy are at the gates, we don't have time to be civil about this." I said, leaning forward. "Nearly a year ago, she walked away from the project at Visegrad, nine months later, she disappears altogether. Why?"
She didn't answer, her eyes flashed between myself and Van Graff, who put an electrifying hand on my shoulder and pulled me back into my seat a little.
"We need to know if this is a lead worth pursuing, Sara. If we found her, would she have more information on your father's project?" Van Graff added, filling the silence.
I blinked, my shoulder still feeling the presence of his hand, even as he leaned back in his own chair.
"She found out who my father worked for and everything changed. I wasn't there, I was on Earth at the time but father told me that it was a line she refused to cross."
"Who sponsored the project?" I asked, my brain running through a very short list of candidates. "Was it-" I paused. Suddenly, Sara's dislike of the SPARTANs made sense.
"I don't know for sure"
"But you're pretty sure, aren't you?" I asked, removing my sunglasses.
She nodded.
"It was Catherine Halsey."
[}{]
I made my way to the bridge, Van Graff in tow as I tried to piece together the deepening Web surrounding the Sorvad family.
"You think this is all a red herring?" I asked as we turned a corner towards the turbo lift.
"Maybe. The way I see it, you're looking for assets, right?"
"Yeah"
"So, even if it goes nowhere, a young prodigy in the field you need the most is more important than the project she was working on."
"You think we should recruit her?"
"I do. We can reunite the two of them, do a little good."
"Do we need a sociologist?"
"You'll need an expert in every field given what you're tryna achieve. Plus, if we tell Sàra that we want to save her sister, she might just give up her location."
"That's if she even has it."
We stepped inside the turbo lift and hit the button for the bridge, the lift buzzed and whined as it was sucked up the shaft towards the top of the frigate.
"I think she knows a little bit more than she's let on." He said, screwing his mouth up in thought.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, turning to him.
"Halsey's proximity to ONI isn't exactly a secret." He shrugged, "y'all make a name for yourselves and forget it way too easy."
"Hey, you're ONI too."
"And yet she trusts me."
"It's the bumpkin accent" I snorted, the doors sweeping open.
"Naw, it's my charming rebel persona. You can take the pirate outta his ship but you can't take his spirit."
"Whatever you say" I grinned, opening the door to the bridge.
Alex's first officer turned. "Captain on deck!" She snapped to attention.
The rest of Alex's crew followed suit, his people were well drilled and elite. There must have been a lifetime's worth of combat experience staring at me as I put them at ease.
"Lt Commander Liang." I nodded, "Where's the captain?"
"Getting some rest, Ma'am." She blushed, "he won't sleep unless I force him." She added, her voice hushed so that her crew wouldn't hear.
"Sounds familiar" Van Graff said, smiling, "Alex never could let his crew stand without him, especially in a crisis, right?"
She grinned and nodded. I watched as Van Graff worked the bridge, he seemed effortlessly charismatic for a man out of his depth.
"What's the situation with the rest of the task force," he asked, "the rest of the fleet seem spooked."
"We're tracking a group of Covenant fighters across the Babd Catha Ice Shelf." Mei looked concerned as she produced satellite imagery of the convoy.
I frowned, realising exactly why she was so concerned.
"They've found Sword Base." Van Graff said, his eyes wide. "They won't take it with a platoon. They're regrouping. Have to be."
"How do you know where Sword is?" Liang asked.
"It's the deep dark hole they kept me locked up in these last few months."
There was a silence, then. The pair of them quiet as they recalled some shared experience, I was not privy to.
"Is Sword aware?" She asked, looking at me.
"Almost definitely" Van Graff replied, "there'll be a Prowler about I'd imagine."
"Protocol says the covenant have to think we've been taken by surprise" I added, "It's callous but it saves lives."
Liang nodded and didn't press the issue further, she was a good officer, from what I could tell. Once again, Alex had found a diamond. His bridge crew was like a crown at this point, his roster filled with some of the most competent junior officers in the fleet. It was little wonder that my big brother was so highly regarded in spite of the nepotism that had earned him his commission.
"You two look tired, head to the officers lounge for a little R and R and I'll send Alex up to you when he gets up."
I found myself trying not to yawn as Van Graff stretched and twisted his back, clicking his spine as I grimaced at him.
He grinned at me and winked before motioning with his hand towards the door.
"After you, Miss Harper."