The Spartan came to attention. “Captain Keyes.”
Captain Keyes turned to face him. “Good to see you, Master Chief. Things aren’t going well. Cortana did her best—but we never really had a chance.”
The AI arched a holographic eyebrow. “A dozen Covenant battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser . . . With those odds we still had three—” She paused, as if distracted, then amended: “—make thatfour kills.”
Cortana looked at the Chief. “Sleep well?”
“Yes,” he replied. “No thanks to your driving.”
Cortana smiled. “So, youdid miss me.”
Before he could reply, another blast rocked the entire ship. He grabbed a nearby support pillar and braced himself, as several crewers crashed to the deck nearby.
Keyes grabbed onto a console for support. “Report!”
Cortana shimmered blue. “It must have been one of their boarding parties. My guess is an antimatter charge.”
The fire control officer turned in his seat. “Ma’am! Fire control for the main cannon is off-line!”
Cortana looked at Keyes. The loss of the ship’s primary weapon, the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, was a crippling blow to their holding action. “Captain, the cannon was my last defensive option.”
“All right,” Keyes said gruffly, “I’m initiating Cole Protocol, Article Two. We’re abandoning theAutumn . That means you too, Cortana.”
“While you do what? Go down with the ship?” she shot back.
“In a manner of speaking,” Keyes replied. “The object we found—I’m going to try and land theAutumn on it.”
Cortana shook her head. “With all due respect . . . this war has enough dead heroes.”
The Captain’s eyes locked with hers. “I appreciate your concern, Cortana—but it’s not up to me. The Protocol is clear. The destruction or capture of shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable. That means youare abandoning ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones and upload them to my neural lace.”
The AI paused, then nodded. “Aye, aye, sir.”
“Which is where you come in,” Keyes continued as he turned to face the Spartan. “Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her, they’ll learn everything. Force deployment, weapons research.” He paused, then added: “Earth.”
The Spartan nodded. “I understand.”
Keyes glanced at Cortana. “Are you ready?”
There was a pause as the AI took one last look around. In many ways the ship was her physical body and she was reluctant to leave it. “Yank me.”
Keyes turned to a console, touched a series of controls, and turned back again.
The holo shivered and Cortana’s image swirled into the pedestal below and disappeared from view. Keyes waited until the holo had disappeared, removed a data chip from the pedestal, and offered it to the Spartan, along with his sidearm. “Good luck, Master Chief.”
------<HALO>