A rubbery tentacle2 reached in along the seam of the drop-ship's hatch.
John raised his hand and signaled Linda to stand down. He recognized the alien limb—thesplitting cilia feelers and globu.lar sensory3 organs could belong only to a Covenant1 Engineer.
The Engineer pushed open the hatch and entered the ship, floating past John and Linda as if they weren't there. It chittered and squawked as it ran its tentacles4 over the foreign armor plates and spatters of lead. Two more Engineers bolted through the open hatchand joined the first.
As long as they left the single-minded aliens to their work, they wouldn't raise an alarm.But what else was out there?
John eased against the frame of the hatch and slid the fiber5.optic probe outside. Therewas a line of dropships, Seraph6 fight.ers, and other singleships that stretched away into the shadows. Swarms7 of Engineers, thousands of the creatures, hovered8 and driftedthroughout the area. They moved parts, disassembled and reassembled sections of shiphulls, and plumbed10 plasma11 coils. There was no trace of a welcome party of Elites12 waitingfor Blue Team.
John turned the optic probe up and saw a latticework deck overhead with tools, welders,and spotlights13 hanging like jungle vines. It was as good a place as any to get theirbearings.
John turned and pointed14 at Linda and Will, then out the hatch and up. They nodded and moved out.
304HALO: FIRST STRIKEFive seconds later acknowledgment lights from Blue Four and Three winked16 on. It was safe for the rest of them.
John grabbed the upper lip of the hatchway and flipped17 up onto the top of the dropship.He grabbed a dangling18 cord and pulled himself onto the latticework deck where Fred and Linda perched, watching and making sure the bay was clear.
Grace and Fred disembarked and scrambled19 silently up into the darkness, joining them.
John pointed two fingers at his eyes and then made a flat fan motion across the space ofthe bay. The Spartans20 moved to care.fully21 scan the area.
From his shadowy overview22 John saw that this place was a repair-and-refit facility, withslots for hundreds of singleships. The room curved out of view three hundred meters ineither di.rection. It must run the circumference23 of the station's hub.
Apart from the thousands of busy Engineers, John spotted24 only two Grunts25 wearing whitemethane-breather masks. It was not a color designation he had seen before. They pushedcarts containing barrels of sloshing fluids. They would be easy to avoid.
One side of the bay had a series of sealed doors that he pre.sumed led to air locks. The opposite wall of the bay had a meter-thick window through which poured an intense blue light.
Every thirty meters along that transparent27 wall was a recessed28 alcove29. Overflowing30 from the nearest alcove were purple poly.hedral cargo31 barrels, old charred32 plasma coils, and plates of the silver-blue Covenant alloy33. But what piqued34 John's interest was what was next to this pile of junk: a holographic terminal.
John clicked his COM to get Blue Team's attention, pointed to the junk pile, held up two fingers, and then pointed again at the alcove.
Everyone nodded, understanding his order.
Fred and Linda silently dropped to the deck, ran across the bay, and melted into theshadows behind a cut section of hull9. Grace followed.
John looked up and down and side to side across the bay, mak.ing sure no Grunts werevisible. He and Will crossed and took cover behind a plasma coil the size of a Warthoglight reconnais.sance vehicle.
ERIC NYLUND305He used both hands to point at Fred and Linda, turned his hands so they pointed tohimself, and then nodded to the data terminal.
Linda la flat and slithered to the edge of the alcove shadows on his right; Fred took theleft. Theyyy would cover him while he moved to the terminal.
John reached to the back of his neck and pulled Cortana's chip from his skull35. He crawledon his stomach, hugging the wall un.til he got to the terminal. He slid Cortana's chip intothe input36 slot and then eased back into the shadows.
"I'm in," Cortana reported over the COM. "I have secured our own channel and encryptedthe signal so we're free to use the interteam COM.""Good work," John told her. "Is there a central reactor37 in this station? How well defendedis it?""Stand by. I have to move carefully. There are Covenant secu.rity AIs in this system."John hoped that this copy of Cortana's infiltration38 routines was as good as the realCortana.
"I have schematics for the station," she told him. "The good news is, each lobe39 has acentral reactor complex with five hun.dred twelve-terawatt units similar in design to thepinch fusion40 reactors41 on their ships. Apparently this energy is used to power a shieldgenerator that can repel42 the collision of a small moon. I can overload43 one reactor, causingthe melting of its field coils, which will saturate44 the surrounding—""Will it explode?" John asked impatiently.
"Yes—an explosion of sufficient force to vaporize both sections.""That's the good news? Whatt'"s the bad?
"The reactor's control system is isolated45. I cannot reach it from this terminal. You willhave to physically46 deliver me there.""Where is 'there'?""The nearest reactor-control access point is seven kilometers farther into the station'stop lobe."John considered this. If they were careful and lucky, it might be possible.
"Is there a way to leave you in the central system until we need306HALO: FIRST STRIKEyou?" he asked. "It would be handy to have you monitor the Covenant security systems."The duplicate Cortana was silent a full three seconds. "There is a way," she finally replied.
"When I was copied from the origi.nal Cortana, the duplicating software was copied aswell—it becomes an inseparable part of all subsequent copies. I can use this to copymyself into this system.""Perfect.""There are risks, however," Cortana told him. "Each succes.sive copy containsaberrations that I cannot correct. There may be unforeseen complications associated withusing a copy of a copy.""Do it," John ordered. "I'll take that chance. But I'm not will.ing to take a chance oncrossing seven kilometers behind enemy lines without a way to bypass their securitysystems.""Standby," Cortana said. "Working."A minute ticked off John's mission timer. Then the data chip ejected from the terminal.
"Done," Cortana said over the interteam COM. "I'm in. There's an exit to this bay thirtymeters to your left. I will black out the security cameras there and open the door intwenty seconds. Hurry."John retrieved47 the chip and reinserted it into his skull. There was a flash of cold mercuryin his mind.
"Move out," John told Blue Team. "Stay low."Fred's and Linda's acknowledgment lights flickered48, indicat.ing the way was clear.
Blue Team ran, crouching50, for thirty meters. A small access panel slid open, they piledthrough—then the door snapped shut behind them.
They proceeded, hunched51 over; they crawled on their hands and knees, on theirstomachs, and through ducting so tight they had to shut down their shields and scrape byon bare armor over metal. For kilometers they followed Cortana's directions, halt.ing as she ran motion sensors52 through diagnostics until they passed ... twisting and turning and shimmying down long lengths of pipe, dodging53 the giant blades of circulation fans, and edging by transformer coils so close that sparks arced across their shields.
ERIC NYLUND307According to John's mission timer they had followed this route for eleven hours—when itdead-ended.
"New welds," Fred said, running his gauntlet over the seams in the alloy plate blockingtheir path.
Cortana broke in over the COM, "It must be a repair not logged into the station manifest."John said. "Options?"Cortana replied, "I have only limited mission-planning rou.tines. There are three obvious options. You can blow the ob.structing plate with a Lotus antitank mine. You can return to the repair bay where we might find a less obvious way in. Or there is a faster,alternative route, but it has drawbacks.""Time is running out," John said. "The Covenant aren't going to stick around much longer before they strike Earth. Give me the faster route.""Backtrack four hundred meters, turn bearing zero-nine-zero, proceed another twenty meters, and exit through a waste access cover. From there you will move in the open for seven hundred meters, pass through a structure, and then down a guarded corri.dor tothe reactor chambers54."Grace interrupted, "What do you mean 'in the open'? This is a space station; there shouldbe no open spaces.""See for yourself," Cortana said.
A schematic of the "open space" appeared on their heads-up displays. John wasn't able tomake much sense of the diagram, but he could tell there were several catwalks, buildings,and even waterways—as Cortana indicated, lots of open areas for them to be seen in.
"Let's take a look," John said.
He led his team back the way they had come and pushed open the waste access duct. Bluelight flooded the tunnel. John blinked and let his eyes adjust, then pushed the fiber-opticprobe through the opening.
John didn't understand what he saw—the optical probe must have malfunctioned55. Theimage looked impossibly distorted. But there was no motion nearby ... so he risked pokinghis head out.
He was in the end of an alley56 with walls towering ten meters to either side, casting darkshadows over the waste access hole. A308HALO: FIRST STRIKEgroup of Jackals passed the mouth of the alley only five meters from his position. Heducked ... and none of the vulturelike creatures saw him in the dark.
When they passed he looked up and saw that the fiber-optic probe had not been brokenafter all.
The space station was hollow inside, and a light beam shot lengthwise through its center:a blue light that provided full day.light illumination. Along the curved inner surface wereneedle-thin spires57, squat58 stair-step pyramids, and columned temples. Catwalks withmovi surfaces crisscrossed the space, as did tubes with capsules that whiskedpassengngngers. Water flowed along the walls in inward-spiral patterns and then waterfalled"up" into great hollow towers that sprouted60 from the opposite wall.
Banshees flew in formation through the center space of the great room, as did flocks ofheadless birds and great clouds of butterflies. It could have been an Escher etching cometo life.
John felt extreme vertigo62 for a moment. Then he understood that with advancedCovenant gravity technology, there didn't have to be an up or down here.
Odd that a military station would have so much unnecessary ornamentation. Yet Fleet HQhad a large atrium in their lobby. Maybe this was the Covenant equivalent—multiplied ahundredfold.
John spied a band of translucent63 material set into a far wall, glistening64. "Is that thewindow to the repair bays, Cortana?""Correct," she replied.
"Then at least we know the way out. And the structure we need to enter?""One o'clock," she said. "The one with the carved columns. It is the most direct route tothe reactor chambers."John moved out of the hole and hugged the nearby wall. The shadows in the brightdaylight would do a decent job of camou.flaging them.
"Okay, Blue Team. Get oriented... as much as you can. Our target is the columned buildingat one o'clock. I make it to be a three-hundred-meter sprint65 across open ground. We'llmake a break for it. Unless anyone has a better plan?"Linda emerged, looked around, and said, "Permission to post on the rooftop and providecover."ERIC NYLUND309"Do it," John said. "Let me know when you're in position and ready."Linda retrieved a padded grappling hook and rope from her pack, twirled it, and tossed itup and over the adjacent roof. She tugged66 it once, it caught, and then she quicklyascended.
The remaining Spartans joined John in the shadows. He shouldered his battle rifle and thumbed the safety off.
Linda's acknowledgment light winked once.
John tensed and ran. It took him three strides to build to his top-speed sprint. Hisadrenaline spiked67 and it made his blood burn. He felt time slow, his perception running atan overclocked pace. He focused on speed— putting one foot in front of the other. Hisboots dug into cobblestones, crushed rock, and sent a fine spray of gravel68 behind him. He saw three obstacles in his path: a group of startled Grunts. He slammed the butt61 of hisrifle into the nearest one, and crushed its skull. The dead Grunt26 spun69 end over end and landed in a heap. He heard squawks and shouts around him but didn't stop to look.
He was on the stairs of the building, worn-smooth stone steps that he bounded up five ata time. John saw three friendly con15.tacts behind him on his motion tracker ... and at theperiphery of its range a solid mass of enemy contacts.
"You're good so far," Linda reported. "There are Elites, but they're unarmed. No, wait. AHunter pair is advancing on your position. Stand by."A quartet of shots split the air like thunderclaps.
"Threat neutralized," Linda said. "The rest of them are scat.tering. Bansheesapproaching. I'm moving."John cleared the stairs and skidded70 to a halt on the threshold of the temple. The interiorwas cold; external temperature read.ings were near freezing. Light filtered in throughstained-glass windows in the ceiling—tinged lavender, cobalt, and turquoise71. Three rowsof giant columns made of blue-black basalt ran the length of the thirty-meter-longrectangular structure, casting long shadows. It was a good place for an ambush72. He set hisback against one of the pillars and swept the entrance, covering his team as they entered.
"Cortana, update on station security?" John said.
310HALO: FIRST STRIKE"There are dozens of reports on the security channels. I've got them covered."Another Cortana voice broke in over the first: "Also be ad.vised, Chief, that there areceremonial guards in this temple—a race we have not encountered before. Roughlytranslated from Covenant dialects, they are called 'Brutes74.' They shouldn't be a significantthreat or they would have been used in previous mili.tary situations."John wasn't so sure of that. The name Brute73 didn't sound promising75. He also wonderedwhy there now seemed to be more than one Cortana in the station's system—but thatcould wait. They had to keep moving now that they had revealed their posi.tion. Hewaved Blue Team forward.
John took point. He moved up to the next column in the mid59.dle of the building. Fred andWill stepped over to the columns on either side behind John. Grace had their backs.
There was a flicker49 on his motion sensor—just ahead. It vanished.
John held up his hand. Blue Team froze.
His motion detector76 was clear ... but there had been some.thing there.
He pulled out a frag grenade.
The transient contact was back—a shadow moved around the same pillar John used forcover. It moved faster than an Elite— as fast as John.
He fired his rifle point blank into the shadowy silhouette77. It didn't slow—it only howledWill and Fred fired three-round bursts from their rifles into the creature. It flinched78 with with rage.
each bullet impact.
Three explosions detonated behind them. Grace's biosign alarm shrilled79 and flashed onJohn's heads-up display.
"Ambush!" Will cried out.
The creature Cortana had called a "Brute" stepped from the shadows and faced John. Itwas taller than an Elite—wider and more muscular. Its mouth was lined with razor-sharpteeth, and its red eyes burned with hate. Its blue-gray skin was riddled80 with bullet holes.
The Brute tackled John, knocking his weapon from his grasp.
ERIC NYLUND311Even with his MJOLNIR armor, John was not as strong as the alien.
It pounded on him with bare fists—broke through his shield.ing, grabbed his neck, andsqueezed.
Red flashes played across John's vision. He began to black out.
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收听单词发音
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1
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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tentacle
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| n.触角，触须，触手 | |
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sensory
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| adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的 | |
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tentacles
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| n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛 | |
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fiber
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| n.纤维，纤维质 | |
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seraph
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| n.六翼天使 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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plumbed
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| v.经历( plumb的过去式和过去分词 )；探究；用铅垂线校正；用铅锤测量 | |
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plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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elites
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| 精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物 | |
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spotlights
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| n.聚光灯（的光）( spotlight的名词复数 )；公众注意的中心v.聚光照明( spotlight的第三人称单数 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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con
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| 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 | |
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winked
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| 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 | |
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flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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overview
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| n.概观，概述 | |
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circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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recessed
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| v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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input
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| n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机 | |
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reactor
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| n.反应器；反应堆 | |
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infiltration
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| n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗 | |
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lobe
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| n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶 | |
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fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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reactors
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| 起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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overload
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| vt.使超载；n.超载 | |
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saturate
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| vt.使湿透，浸透；使充满，使饱和 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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50
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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sensors
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| n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 ) | |
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53
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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malfunctioned
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| 发生故障(malfunction的过去式与过去分词) | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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mid
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| adj.中央的，中间的 | |
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sprouted
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| v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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vertigo
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| n.眩晕 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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65
sprint
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| n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过 | |
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66
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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68
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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69
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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70
skidded
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| v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区 | |
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71
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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72
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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73
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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74
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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75
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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76
detector
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| n.发觉者，探测器 | |
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77
silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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78
flinched
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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