Halo by Christie Golden

Author:Christie Golden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan Books

“It’s a trick!” the Prelate shouted. “Prepare the ring to fire again!” He was hurtling past Shadow of Intent, and at present speed would reach the installation in less than a minute. Tem’Bhetek didn’t need to look behind to know the Half-Jaw would soon be upon him.

“What happened?!” The Minister of Preparation’s thin, precise voice crackled in the Prelate’s helmet. “I attempted to hail the carrier, but you did not respond!”

The Prelate knew the Minister had been expecting him to arrive in full control of Shadow of Intent. Tem didn’t have the energy now to explain how the Half-Jaw and his warriors had departed the carrier just outside the prototype Halo’s effective range—how he himself had been captured and then made his escape.

Tem’s mind had also been rattled by the activation of the ring. But he had the advantage of knowing what was coming—had used his mental enhancements to blank his thoughts and let the crippling wave wash over him—and in this way recovered a few seconds faster than his ranger guards. He had clubbed the nearest Sangheili with his manacles, taken his plasma pistol, and then shot the Unggoy, who had been the quickest to regain his wits. But the Prelate saved all of this explanation for later and instead simply said:

“Just have the ring ready by the time I reach the bunker!”

There was a long pause. Nothing but static. The Prelate had never been this direct with the Minister. He thought he might have pricked the older San’Shyuum’s pride, giving him an order like he was one of the Jiralhanae.

“I will fire when I see fit, Prelate,” the Minister said, his voice suddenly cold. “Whether you have returned to the bunker or not.” Then he cut the connection.

The Prelate felt a gnawing doubt take a giant bite out of his resolve. After the Half-Jaw had told him his own version of events at High Charity, Tem had gone over and over Boru’a’Neem’s description of events. The Sacred Promissory is lost! the Minister had said. Nothing lives inside the city now except the Flood! And in subsequent conversations, while Preparation had provided a few more details about the holy city’s fall, they were mostly about his failed defense of the Promissory … nothing about events inside the dome.

At the time, because the Prelate had already been convinced of the Half-Jaw’s guilt, he hadn’t pressed the Minister. But having stared the Half-Jaw in the eye and heard the genuine remorse he showed for the Prelate’s loss … things weren’t as black-and-white as they used to be. And the Prelate’s anger was only growing stronger in the gray.

Tem shot through a gap formed by four crossed spines, out of the nebula’s light and into the installation’s darkened interior. Unlike the energy fields on Covenant ships, the Forerunner structure had no visible separation between hard vacuum and atmosphere. More magic we never understood….

But the Prelate didn’t dwell on this. He throttled the output of his anti-grav belt and glided through a long diamond-shaped bay large enough to accommodate three Phantoms side by side.

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