John brushed off the frost buildup that clouded the top half of the cryotube, and revealedthe green-armored figure sprawled4 behind the plastasteel shell.
SPARTAN-058. Linda.
She'd been mortally wounded during the raid on Gamma Sta.tion, just before Reach fell.
He'd dragged her burned, limp body back to the Pillar of Autumn, and the medics hadplaced her in deep cryostasis just before the jump.
When the Autumn crashed on Halo, Keyes must have jetti.soned the active cryotubes—standard operating procedure.
They had frozen her while she'd still been in her suit. That was for the best, consideringthe extent of her injuries ... but he would have given anything to see her face one last time.
Linda had been unique among the Spartans6 with her bloodred hair and dark emeraldeyes, but her appearance was not what set her apart. She was the unit's best sniper-scoutand could hit tar1.gets the rest of them couldn't. While the other Spartans pre.ferred tooperate as a team, Linda was content to separate, hide and post in some remote location,and wait for days for the sin.gle, critical shot that could turn the tide of battle. Althoughsnipers in the UNSC were always trained to function in pairs, a shooter and a spotter,Linda was the exception to that rule—she had proven time and again that she was mosteffective on her own. If any one of the Spartans could be called a "lone7 wolf," it was Linda.In many ways that made her the strongest of them.
To see her like this ...
ERIC NYLUND 151John wiped away the condensation8 that formed over her hel-meted head. She was neither dead nor alive. She was in some twilight9 place in between.
That uncertainty10 was worse than seeing her broken and burned body on Gamma Station. It felt like an open wound in John's chest.
Linda's prognosis was good. The occupants of the other two cryopods hadn't made it.Some kind of energy discharge had de.activated11 the units, and those inside had died coldbleak deaths.
There was a gentle knock on the hull12 of the Pelican13, and Sergeant14 Johnson pulled himselfinside. "Master Chief," he said. "You got the air scrubbers? The remote COM? Polaski says she's ready to call it a day with that Covenant dropship. We need to get on board and work."The Master Chief stood and nodded to the aft hatch, where he had stripped the airscrubbers and COM from the Pelican.
The Sergeant picked up the gear, and then he and the Chief crawled out of the Pelican.The Chief hesitated and looked back atthecryotube.
"Don't you worry about her," Johnson said. "Hell, I been hit worse and she's three times the soldier I am. She'll pull through."The Chief sealed the hatch without comment. He had heard the same hollow promises a hundred times before with critically wounded men. Why was it that soldiers would face their own deaths without blinking an eye... but when faced with the death of a squadmate,they turned away and lied to themselves?
They silently marched across the hangar. It had been cleared of debris15 and bodies, andWarrant Officer Polaski had, for the last six hours, been practicing inside the space withthe intact Covenant dropship. She spun16 the odd U-shaped craft around on its center axis,shimmied to port, rose, and then floated down for a landing.
Johnson squinted17 his dark eyes at her performance and nod.ded approvingly. "She says that she's figured out the weapon controls, too. No way to test them in here, of course.""Understood," the Master Chief replied. "And the rest of the team's progress?""I've got the doors from here to the bridge and to the engine room welded shut," Sergeant Johnson told him. "If those tran152HALO: FIRST STRIKEsient sensor18 contacts that Cortana keeps picking up are anything, they'll have to cutthrough to get to us.
"Locklear's grabbing some sack time. He needed it." The Sergeant shrugged19. "He'll be fine,though; ODSTs are tough as nails. Lieutenant20 Haverson slept some then got up, had a long conversation with Cortana, and started reading through some of the Covenant database.Everyone seems to be fine, considering what we've been through.""Understood," the Chief said. "Cortana? Ship status?""ETA to Reach in twenty minutes," she said.
The Chief checked his mission clock. "You said thirteen hours' total travel time. By my count, we have approximately two hours to go.""I had determined21 it would be thirteen hours based on the spec.ifications of theCovenant Slipspace drive, but there's ..." Her voice trailed off and faded.
"Cortana?""Sorry. There's a curious time-dilation effect at these Slip-space velocities22. Although,technically, velocity23, acceleration24, and for that matter even time have no meaning in thefolds of Slipspace. I thought I told you all this," she said. Irritation25 crept into her voice.
The Chief looked to the Sergeant, who shook his head and shrugged.
Cortana sounded more than distracted—and she didn't just "forget" things. It was a badsign. They depended on her to fly this ship, and if she started falling apart they were inreal trouble.
The Master Chief opened a COM channel. "Change of plans, team. Reach ETA is nineteen minutes. I'll explain later—just grab your gear and meet on the bridge ASAP."There was a pause, then Lieutenant Haverson replied, "Roger, Master Chief. Locklear and I are already up here."The hatch of the Covenant dropship opened, and Polaski jogged out. The three of them proceeded at a brisk pace to the bridge.
The Master Chief opened a private COM channel to Cortana. "Anything else I shouldknow?"The channel was silent for a full ten seconds. "I have the Covenant magnetic plasma-shaping system figured out," sheERIC NYLUND 153replied. "We'll have a limited offensive capacity when we get to Reach, if we need it. Ithink.""And the rest of this ship is still functional26?""Yes," she replied. "I'm sorry, Chief ... these calculations are... tricky27."The COM went dead.
Cortana's behavior worried the Chief, but he resigned himself to trust her. What otheroption was there?
He, the Sergeant, and Polaski halted outside the bridge; the thick blast doors were sealed.
"Lieutenant?" he said. "We're outside."The doors pulled apart. Locklear and the Lieutenant stood with their assault rifles aimeddown the hall. They relaxed their stance when they identified them as friendlies.
Lieutenant Haverson slung28 his rifle and said, "Sorry for the warm welcome. Cortana'sbeen picking up transient contacts all over the ship. We're going to have to deal withthem sooner or later—preferably before they deal with us.""Agreed," the Chief said.
Polaski approached the Lieutenant, saluted29, and gave her report on her efforts to masterthe Covenant dropship's controls.
Locklear edged closer to the Chief and the Sergeant. "What do you think, Sarge?" hewhispered and cast a furtive30 glance at Polaski. "I mean, about her? Sure, there's thatMarine-Navy thing to get over, but I can get past that. You think there's a chance that sheand I? I mean—""I'd give you the same odds31 as spacing yourself and walking the rest of the way to Reach,"the Sergeant declared. "In your skivvies.""Give me a drop capsule and I'd take those odds, Sarge." A smile split Locklear's tannedface, and he turned to the Master Chief. "Sure, I get it. Wouldn't be so defensive32 if I hadn'tbeen close to the mark. Where there's smoke, there's fire, right?"The Master Chief stared at Locklear and slowly shook his head.
Locklear's smile faded, but not entirely33. "You guys are just jealous," he muttered andabsentmindedly ran his finger over the scar that lined his jaw34. "That's cool. I get that allthe time."Locklear's spirits had improved. Despite the ODST's rough edges, the Chief had seen himin combat. He didn't panic, and he154HALO: FIRST STRIKEhad the skill and luck to survive Halo—qualities the Master Chief knew they'd need if they were ever going to get back.
"Exiting Slipspace," Cortana announced, "in three ... two ... one."According to the Master Chief's mission clock, it had only been eight minutes since Cortana had told him their ETA was nineteen minutes. Was there more to the time-dilation effect than she realized?
The bridge lights dimmed, and blackness filled the arc of dis.plays along the wall. Stars winked35 into existence, and at three o'clock blazed the warm yellow orb36 of Epsilon Eridani.
"We are seven hundred thousand kilometers from the system center," Cortana told them."I wanted to jump in close enough to see what's going on—but far enough away so we would have time to recharge and reenter Slipspace if there's any trouble. Picking up signals now. Covenant signals. Lots of them. Trans.lating ... stand by."Haverson tapped one of the screens and magnified the image.
"My God," he whispered.
A planet appeared on the screen. He sucked in his breath as he saw a world smolderingfrom pole to equator. Fires raged over its surface, and a hurricane of black spiraledthrough the atmosphere.
The Master Chief felt as if the ship had suddenly decelerated. His hands clenched37.
He'd sent the majority of his team down there—and had con5.sidered it the "easier" mission. He'd gotten his Spartans killed, he was sure of it.
Had they at least died fighting? Or were they burned from an orbiting Covenant ship,helpless?
"Are we in the right place?" Locklear murmured. "That's Reach?" He removed his cap,crushed it in his hand, and whis.pered, "Poor bastards38."The other displays showed Covenant warships39 orbiting the planet, as well as dozens ofsmaller craft and one large structure that seemed to be a central docking station.
"What is this?" the Master Chief asked, stepping closer. He tapped the center display,pushing the limits of its resolution and magnifying a portion of the surface near themidlatitudes.
ERIC NYLUND 155The image resolved into patches of green, brown, and white— different from the angry black and livid orange that dominated the view of the rest of the planet.
"Looks like they missed a spot," the Sergeant said.
"The Covenant don't 'miss' anything when they glass a planet," the Master Chief replied."We've seen them do it a thou.sand times. This is no accident." He turned to Lieutenant Haver-son. "We should get closer and see what this is, sir.""Master Chief," Haverson said softly and held up his hands. "I sympathize with your needto know with absolute certainty what happened to your fellow Spartans, but this is..." He gestured to the planet and then frowned as he scrutinized40 the undamaged part of Reach."Indeed," he murmured. "This does warrant a closer look... provided we can get away with it."The Lieutenant pulled the magnification back and refocused the display on the upper atmosphere. A hundred Covenant ships popped into view. "There are several smaller vessels41 circling over that spot. Forget what I just said," Haverson whispered. "If theCovenant are so interested in this region, then we should be as well—as long as our cover holds. Cortana, take us in closer.""Yes, Lieutenant," Cortana replied.
The Covenant flagship smoothly42 accelerated insystem.
"They're hailing us," Cortana said. "Preparing the proper counter-response."John counted the ships on the display. There were hundreds— most no larger than a Covenant dropship, but there were at least a dozen cruisers and two of the titanic43 carriers that each carried three squadrons of Seraph44 fighter craft. There was more than enoughfirepower to turn their captured flagship into molten slag45.
Many of the smaller ships herded46 debris from the battle into one spot over Reach—afloating junkyard of UNSC and Cove2.nant ships.
"You see this?" The Master Chief pointed47 to the field of float.ing debris.
The Lieutenant stared at it. "It's almost as if they planned to stay here for a while—they're cleaning house.""We're in," Cortana announced. "The fleet is curious why a Covenant flagship is here, butnot suspicious enough to question our authority. The translation is tricky. But apparentlyfrom the156HALO: FIRST STRIKEstring of honorifics attached to their responses there's supposed to be someone ofextreme high rank commanding this ship, someone they referred to, among other things,as the 'Guardian48 of the Luminous49 Key.' ""Damn silly name," muttered Sergeant Johnson.
"Can you tell what they're doing down there, Cortana?" the Lieutenant asked.
"Not yet," she replied. "Their language doesn't translate in a literal manner, and eachword has multiple meanings. There's something they consider holy—there are ten timesas many reli.gious allusions50 than in their typical communiques. Hang on ... picking up anew signal. Weaker than the others. Not on a Cove.nant frequency. It's the UNSC E-band."Lieutenant Haverson licked his lips. "Play it," he said.
A message beeped through the speakers, six tones, then a two-second pause; it repeated.
The Master Chief stiffened51.
"That's it," Cortana said. "Just those six notes over and over. It originates here." A tinyNAV triangle appeared on the edge of the intact region on the planet's surface.
"It's not Morse code," Polaski said. "Not any code I've heard of. Maybe it's a test signal?
Something automated52, like an air-traffic repeater relay, maybe?""It's not automated," the Master Chief said. "Everyone gear up and get ready. We're goingdown there. There are Spartans down there. And they're still alive."He whispered so softly that only he and Cortana heard: "Oly Oly Oxen Free."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
tar
|
|
| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
cove
|
|
| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
covenant
|
|
| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
sprawled
|
|
| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
con
|
|
| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
spartans
|
|
| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
lone
|
|
| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
condensation
|
|
| n.压缩，浓缩；凝结的水珠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
uncertainty
|
|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
activated
|
|
| adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
hull
|
|
| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
pelican
|
|
| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sergeant
|
|
| n.警官，中士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
debris
|
|
| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
squinted
|
|
| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
sensor
|
|
| n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
velocities
|
|
| n.速度( velocity的名词复数 )；高速，快速 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
velocity
|
|
| n.速度，速率 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
acceleration
|
|
| n.加速，加速度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
functional
|
|
| adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
tricky
|
|
| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
slung
|
|
| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
saluted
|
|
| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
furtive
|
|
| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
defensive
|
|
| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
winked
|
|
| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
orb
|
|
| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
clenched
|
|
| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
bastards
|
|
| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
warships
|
|
| 军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
scrutinized
|
|
| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
vessels
|
|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
titanic
|
|
| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
seraph
|
|
| n.六翼天使 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
slag
|
|
| n.熔渣，铁屑，矿渣；v.使变成熔渣，变熔渣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
herded
|
|
| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
luminous
|
|
| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
allusions
|
|
| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
stiffened
|
|
| 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
automated
|
|
| a.自动化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |