Oblivion, page 20
What Kelly didn’t understand was why it had taken the aliens more than twenty minutes to arrive. If its mothership had been that far out of position, any decent commander would have sent a reconnaissance flight to check out the situation before going to the trouble—and risk—of a troop insertion.
Any decent UNSC commander, actually. The Covenant had a different way of thinking, as John kept pointing out. Better to avoid assumptions and observe carefully, then build one’s plans based on what the aliens were actually doing—rather than what one thought they should be doing.
Kelly waited another five seconds for more dropships to descend out of the clouds. When that didn’t happen, she decided she could not be watching a full assault. The aliens were either inserting a special forces unit or a reconnaissance patrol—and her bet was on special forces. During one of the Spartans’ earlier operations, it had grown increasingly apparent that the enemy had created a dedicated cadre to hunt them down, which was why John had warned them—repeatedly—that the downing of the Lucky Break could be an elaborate ploy to lure a group of Spartans into a trap.
And from what she was seeing now, it appeared John was right.
As the dropship continued its descent, Kelly realized the pilot was trying to insert covertly. He was coming in slow to avoid a sonic boom, and he was maintaining a steep, steady course that minimized time-of-visibility, but made his craft easy prey for ground-based missile systems. Clearly the aliens believed they were landing unobserved. And that was the kind of mistake that could be used to turn a mission into a disaster.
Rather than betraying her own presence by breaking comm silence, Kelly had her onboard computer project the dropship’s probable landing zone. She was only a little surprised to discover that the site was less than a kilometer away, just beyond the gully where she and the Castoffs were now hiding. But it made sense. She had strayed only a little distance off the rest of Blue Team’s course to the Wheatley, and if the Covenant intended to attack Blue Team from behind, they would naturally try to follow the same path.
Kelly retreated back into the gully bottom, then gathered Lena and the boys in front of her and pointed in the general direction of the landing zone.
“In a few minutes, you’re going to hear some battle sounds from that direction. But you need to stay here.”
“No way,” Lena said. “What if they hurt you?”
“They won’t.” Kelly took her M6D sidearm off its thigh mount. “But take this and some water, and find a good place to hide. Someplace where you can watch your stores without being seen.”
Lena’s gaze was locked on the sidearm. “What’s that for?”
“Nothing, I hope,” Kelly said. “But if anything other than me or another human comes up that gully, you might need it.”
Lena’s eyes grew round. “To do what?”
Kelly tapped the muzzle. “The bullets come out of this end. So never point it at anything you don’t want to kill.” She showed Lena how the safety and trigger worked, then said, “If you need to use it, wait until the enemy is almost close enough to touch you. Then point the bullet end at your target, hold tight with both hands, and keep squeezing the trigger until they drop. Got it?”
“What’s not to get?” Lena asked. “Rocks work the same way.”
“Not quite.”
“Sure they do,” Lena said. “You just keep banging until they die.”
“I see your point, but this is better than a rock. It punches through armor.” Kelly glanced toward the landing zone and saw the dropship still approaching the gully, about five hundred meters off the ground and gently descending. She needed to get moving. “Whatever happens, stay close to this spot. Somebody will come for you, even if it’s not me—”
“Why wouldn’t it be you?” Oskar asked.
“Because she might get killed,” Arne said. “Pay attention.”
“Oh.” Oskar frowned. “So if she gets killed, who gets her stuff?”
“Forget about my stuff.” Kelly was about ready to kill Oskar herself. “If something happens to me, it blows up.”
“Really?” Arne said. “That’s pretty selfish.”
“Live with it.” Kelly handed the M6D to Lena. “I have to go. What are you going to do?”
“Stay here. Hide.” Lena turned the sidearm away from the gathering. “Don’t point this at anything I don’t want to kill.”
“I’m glad we finally understand each other.”
Kelly pulled the MA5B off her back magmount and loaded the underslung M301 grenade launcher, then started down the gully at a sprint. The dropship was still three hundred meters off the ground, with the pilot’s compartment hidden behind its bulk. The two Umbras were secured just beneath the craft, between the three transport prongs.
The propulsion plates beneath the Umbras remained dark and inactive, so it appeared the Covenant did not intend to risk damaging equipment and personnel in one of their dump-and-run drops. That meant the dropship would lower the vehicles to the ground, then wait for the drivers to climb into their seats and bring the propulsion systems online. Once both vehicles had moved a short distance away, the transport prongs would open, the troops would disembark, and the craft would withdraw to its mothership as fast as possible.
And that was when Kelly needed to strike—after the heavily armored dropship and its big plasma cannon were gone. If she’d had Blue Team’s M41 rocket launcher, she would have waited until the two Umbras were fully loaded and then tried to take out both vehicles and the troops aboard them. Quick and efficient.
But all Kelly had was an MA5B assault rifle with an underslung M301 and two satchels of grenades—one filled with 40mm rounds for the M301 and one filled with hand-thrown M9s. That meant she needed to attack after the dropship had withdrawn, but before the ground troops were safely protected inside their Umbras.
On her second magmount, Kelly also carried an M45E tactical shotgun, which she truly hoped she wouldn’t have to use. The odds would be very much against her in close-quarters combat facing so many Covenant special forces troops.
The dropship crossed the gully and sank out of sight. As she ran, Kelly prepared an emergency channel transmission, warning Blue Team that an enemy platoon—possibly special forces—was moving up behind them, and outlining her intentions. She had her onboard computer provide dead-reckoning course bearings from both the destroyed runner and her anticipated ambush site back to where she had left Lena and the two boys. What Kelly did not share was her suspicion that John had been right all along, that the Covenant had been using the downed frigate as bait from the get-go. That was speculation, and such a thing could be its own kind of trap.
Kelly reached the area where the dropship had crossed the gully and crawled up to the rim. She could see the craft two hundred meters ahead, a long band of dark metal hovering fifteen meters off the ground. Beneath it, the first Umbra was already rocking on its propulsion pads. The driver and accompanying gunner—both Elites in dark armor—were visible in their cockpits atop the arched vehicle, running equipment checks in preparation for pulling forward so they could embark Covenant troops.
And that deployment would be quick. The carrier pod beneath each Umbra had a capacity of twenty soldiers—ten on each side of a passenger bay split vertically down the center—but the dropship carried only ten aliens in each of its stubby transport bays, for a total of thirty. And that meant there would be no time spent jockeying for stations or packing in equipment. The soldiers would simply debark the dropship and walk a dozen meters to one of the Umbras, where they would ascend loading ramps that folded out on either side of the carrier pods, secure their equipment, and buckle into their transport stations. Then the loading ramps would close, and the Umbras would depart to attack John and the rest of Blue Team.
Kelly slipped over the rim and began a high-crawl forward. The only watch the aliens had posted so far was the driver and the gunner atop the first Umbra, and they appeared more concerned with preparations than watching for an attack. Kelly would have liked to move quickly, but she had to be cautious, taking care to keep well below the crowns of the crystal bushes and to remain as far from their stems as possible. It was a frustrating and slow process, but after a few minutes she reached a circle of empty ground where the crystal bushes had been destroyed by the dropship’s arrival.
Kelly stopped a meter back from the clearing edge, which would help keep her hidden while providing a full view of the target zone. The dropship was about fifty meters away, hovering at a forty-five-degree angle to her direction of travel. The second Umbra was already floating on its own propulsion pads and would soon move forward to join its companion vehicle. That would put the two Umbras about ninety meters from where Kelly now was—well within range of her weapons, but a little beyond their zone of maximum lethality. And if she wanted to spoil the trap they were laying for her friends, she needed to be lethal.
Kelly dropped to her stomach and began to belly-crawl backward, veering away from her original path. She would circle around to the front of the landing zone, where she could approach to within fifty meters of the Umbras and use her grenade launcher to take out the gunner stations. Then she would switch to her assault rifle and kill the pilots. That would force the rest of the Covenant troops to dismount and pursue her on foot, which would allow Kelly to use her speed to good advantage and, if all went well, pick them off at her leisure. But she would have to be sure the aliens didn’t regroup and circle back to the Umbras—
A FRIEND symbol appeared on Kelly’s motion tracker, coming from the direction of the gully along the same path she had taken. Kelly cursed into her helmet. It could only be one of the Castoffs—Kelly had designated all three as friendlies after destroying the mountain runner. She rolled onto her back and swung her legs around, so her assault rifle was pointed toward the new arrival. Motion trackers rarely misidentified a contact. But Spartans had been known to make the rare mistake in applying the friendly designation in the first place.
Lena appeared a few breaths later, belly-crawling along the same path Kelly had followed. When the girl started past without realizing she was being watched, Kelly reduced the volume of her voicemitter to almost silent, then gave a very soft hiss.
Lena reversed course without even taking the time to look toward the sound, and a moment later the barrel of Kelly’s M6D began to slide past the stems of a crystal bush.
“Don’t you dare.” Kelly’s words were so quiet that even she could barely hear them. “The aliens will cook you . . . and I’ll leave them to it.”
The M6D went flat against the ground, and Lena’s face slowly came into view above it, her blue eyes as big and round as coins.
“Wow,” she whispered. “You’re good.”
Kelly raised a finger to her faceplate, then motioned Lena forward. The girl was only a few meters distant, so if the loaned pistol barrel started to swing in the wrong direction, Kelly thought she would be able to disarm the Castoff before she fired. Still, Kelly found herself wondering what the hell she had been thinking in the first place, trusting an orphan girl to follow orders. Lena had probably never even heard the phrase unit discipline.
As soon as Lena was within arm’s reach, Kelly snatched the pistol away and returned it to her thigh mount. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. “I gave you an order.”
Lena shrugged. “What are you gonna do?” She glanced toward the dropship. “Bullet me?”
“Too noisy.” Kelly menacingly splayed her free hand. “Now, are you going to explain yourself? Or do I crush your head like an egg and go about my business?”
“What’s to explain?” Lena asked. “Arne and Oskar talked it over with me, and we decided John would never believe us if we let you get killed.”
“What wouldn’t he believe?” Kelly asked. “It’s not your responsibility to protect me.”
“Maybe not,” Lena said. “That doesn’t mean John would be okay with us letting it happen.”
“That makes no sense,” Kelly said. “John wouldn’t hold you responsible for anything that happens to me.”
Lena rolled her eyes. “That helmet must be too tight, ’cause you’re either blind or clueless.”
Kelly glanced back toward the Spirit, checking the aliens’ progress. She couldn’t let the girl distract her, but it would probably be faster—and quieter—to hear her out than to argue with her about going back. Or so Kelly told herself.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know when someone’s following your trail from twenty paces away, but you can’t tell when you’re the captain’s favorite?”
“His favorite?”
Kelly was certainly fond of John, and she wanted to believe that the feeling was mutual. After all, they had been living and training together since they were six years old, and if that didn’t make them family, then she didn’t have one, period.
But his favorite? That could never be true . . . at least, not in the way Lena seemed to think. Spartans weren’t just family—they were a fighting force, and anything that interfered with their unit cohesion was apt to get them all killed. Which meant John would never play favorites. He wouldn’t be that careless with their lives.
The dropship swept past overhead, on the way back to its mothership, and Kelly realized she was running out of time.
“Don’t be daft,” she said. “John-117 doesn’t have favorites.”
“Sure he does,” Lena said. “Why do you think he left you with us, and not Linda? He doesn’t want you to get hurt, and if we let that happen—”
“We?” Kelly checked her motion tracker and saw nothing, but it only had a range of twenty-five meters—and it only detected moving bodies. “Don’t tell me Arne and Oskar are here.”
“Not here, exactly,” Lena said. “Back in the gully. They were too unsteady from the polysumiorphi—”
“Just call it polly-sue,” Kelly said. “Polly-sue” was the nickname for the polypseudomorphine she had given the boys to dull their pain. “I’ll know what you mean.”
“Whatever you call it, I didn’t think they were in any shape to be sneaking up on aliens.”
“At least you got that right. Sit tight.” Kelly started to raise her head to check the Covenant’s progress, then decided she needed to be clearer and looked back to Lena. “Don’t move a finger.”
Lena rolled her eyes, but remained otherwise motionless.
Kelly raised her head to the top of the crystal bushes and found the Covenant troops already starting up the ramps into the two carrier pods. Most were armored in the standard blue harness of common Elites, but about a third wore black armor with a deep-red tinge—a color scheme that was all too familiar. During one of the Spartans’ earlier operations, SILENT STORM with Task Force Yama, Blue Team had kept butting heads with an especially deadly Covenant unit wearing the same kind of armor. If Kelly had any lingering doubts that John was right all along about being hunted, they were vanishing fast.
She estimated it would take the platoon about three minutes to stow its equipment and strap into their transport stations. After that, stopping the Umbras would become a suicide mission, and probably an unsuccessful one at that.
She had no idea how old Lena and the other two Castoffs really were. But they definitely were no ordinary children—no more than Kelly and the other Spartans had been growing up on Reach.
And if Kelly hoped to stop an entire platoon of Spartan-hunters, she was going to need help.
Kelly turned back to Lena. “Very well. Consider yourselves conscripted.”
“What’s conscripted?”
“It means you get to help,” she said. “Do Arne and Oskar still have their slings?”
“We always have our slings,” Lena said. “But like we’ve seen, rocks haven’t been much good against armor.”
“I have some special rocks.” Kelly removed a fragmentation grenade from her hip satchel, then showed Lena how to arm the priming switch. She was less than thrilled about trusting the Castoffs to back her up, but she didn’t have a lot of choice. “In about four minutes, you’re going to see a bunch of aliens chasing me up the gully. Hit them with these as soon as you can be sure of reaching your targets.”
“We can do that,” Lena said. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. Hurry.” Kelly returned the grenade to the satchel, then removed the satchel and her sidearm from their mounts and passed them to Lena. “And if you miss, run.”
“No worries.” Lena turned and began to scramble back toward the gully. “We don’t miss.”
Kelly turned back toward the Umbras and began to circle through the brush toward her assault point. At this stage, she put more emphasis on speed than stealth. Even if the Covenant did happen to notice the crystal bushes dissolving into flutter bugs as she approached, the enemy response would only delay the Umbras’ departure.
But Kelly had no such luck. She was still twenty paces from her assault point when the Umbras began to raise the carrier pod ramps. Their loads weren’t evenly distributed. The first vehicle was nearly full, carrying all ten of the warriors in black armor and eight warriors in the standard blue, with a blue-armored driver and gunner sitting on top. The second Umbra had only a blue-armored driver and gunner and eight warriors in the carrying pod—an indication, most likely, that it was assigned to some sort of support role. She had her onboard computer transmit the emergency message she’d prepared earlier, then opened fire on the driver of the farthest vehicle.
The first burst split the Elite’s blue helmet in two. The second one turned his head into a purple spray. Kelly shifted fire to the next vehicle and gave the other driver the same treatment, then launched a grenade toward the gunner’s cockpit.
By then, both Covenant gunners were swinging their plasma cannons toward her. She dived away from the gully, opposite the direction she intended to flee, and heard rock cracking behind her as superheated enemy rounds punched into the stony ground.
