This was a very bad time to find God, even an explicable and mortal one. Osman shook herself out of it and drained her coffee. She had to send Piety on her way before she called in.

"BB, have you finished nobbling their nav computer yet?" she asked, heading for her day cabin.

"Autopilot back on course for the original coordinates in Mdama, Captain. And the rest of the cockpit data's creatively edited-rather thrilling, if I might say so-to show a spirited defense against Kig-Yar pirates, one of whom didn't make it and lies clutching a MA-Five-B. Not a Five-C. No point being too lavish."

"I'll hope they don't ponder too long on how a Kig-Yar managed to snap a Brute's spinal cord, but we have to work with what we've got." Osman settled into her seat. "Okay, launch it so Devereaux can get the dropship secured."

"I could do that for her."

"I know, but I don't want her getting bored. This is already a pretty low-key life for an ODST as it is."

Seven years. Is that all he gets? Doesn't seem fair. Seven damn years.

That was BB's life expectancy before rampancy destroyed him. It had started to gnaw more deeply at Osman now. Perhaps that was what came of worrying about a ninety-two-year-old boss. Everyone she relied on seemed more finite than she was.

I wonder if BB's engram donor was anything like him in real life.

But AIs weren't copies of human brains. They were unique entities in their own right. It made her feel guilty for even wanting to find out, as if it negated BB's individuality. She reached out to tap the comms panel and waited for Parangosky's image to appear on the main screen.

The UNSC portal screen dissolved to an image she wasn't expecting. Parangosky appeared to be sitting at an open window overlooking the harbor, not in her office. Osman hadn't been away from Sydney long enough yet to miss it.

"Looks like a nice day, ma'am," Osman said.

"It is," Parangosky said, turning to the lens. "I rarely feel the need for a day off, but I'm finally learning to pace myself."

Osman fought down a reflex to worry. She's not ill. She's just old and she can't keep up that schedule forever. "We're due to make another weapons drop to 'Telcam shortly. Some of the items are already finding their way into other hands, but I don't think we need to worry too much about that. You've had a chance to read Phillips's analyses of the chatter, have you?"

"Yes. I think it's inevitable that Sangheili lapse back into their keep structures, waiting to be told what to do. But that won't last forever. How's the plot against the Arbiter?"

"Simmering. 'Telcam looks like he's assembling a pretty mixed following, but he may well have a warship now and a few more competent shipmasters."

"Very positive. Be aware that Hood's planning to travel to Vadam to talk to the Arbiter in the next week." Parangosky paused to swat away a fly. "Very low key, very small entourage, just in case-well, just in case your mission is excessively successful, I suppose. We could end up stoking so much unrest that poor Terrence gets assassinated too. There's going to be a memorial service at Voi and he's rather keen for the Arbiter to attend."

"Memorial to what?"

"Personnel who were lost in the portal when they disabled the Halo. You probably need to mention this to Naomi. Spartan One-One-Seven's top of the list."

Parangosky said it in that carefully flat tone she adopted when she was aware of the reaction it would get. It was all rather final. Anyone could believe a legend was missing in action, but when his name was carved into a memorial to the fallen, the illusion was over. Osman considered herself immune to that sort of thing. But confirmation that the Master Chief was actually gone took the shine off the day.

She tried to remember him as John, as a ferocious, scared, endlessly resourceful colonial kid like herself, but she couldn't even recall his face.

"But what about the MIA status? Are we announcing that Spartans die now?"

"No, but the public realizes that MIA is just a service courtesy. I think even I have to accept he's dead, Captain. It's been two months now."

Osman wondered how to rephrase the good news she'd been rehearsing mentally. She decided to plunge in and risk sounding crass. Parangosky knew her too well to misunderstand her.

"I thought he'd survive us all," she said, taking a breath. "It's hard to say happy birthday after that, ma'am, but I do have something for you. How would you like a pet Huragok? His name's Requires Adjustment, but we call him Adj."

Parangosky looked blank for a moment, and then started to smile. The smile spread for quite some time, sad and genuine.

"How thoughtful, Captain. In fact, it's just what I needed. Thank you."

"He's upgrading everything in sight at the moment, but we'll get him to you as soon as we can."

"That might prove to be even more important than your current mission. Well done, Serin. Seriously. Well done." She rarely used Osman's first name. "Would you like a little gift in return?"

"We've got the good Jamaican coffee, ma'am. It's very much appreciated."

"Better than that."

Osman basked in the brief respite of a small success that might turn the tide for good. She thought of John and reminded herself that she might be dead tomorrow too, along with everyone she cared about. "I could do with cheering up, Admiral."

"We finally found the hole where Halsey bolted," Parangosky said. "Now all we have to do is work out how to kick down the door."

CHAPTER.

ELEVEN.

I'M GLAD THAT CAPTAIN OSMAN IS SATISFIED WITH THE TEAM WE RECOMMENDED. IT TOOK SOME EFFORT TO SELECT QUALIFIED PERSONNEL WHO HAD BOTH NO FAMILY TIES AND WHO WOULD ALSO BOND WELL WITH ONE ANOTHER. SPARTAN-010 DIDN'T QUITE FIT THOSE CRITERIA, BUT WITH SO FEW SPARTANS LEFT, SOME FLEXIBILITY WAS NEEDED.

(DR. MIRIAM BAXENDALE, HEAD OF OCCUPATIONAL PERSONALITY TESTING, UNSC HR, TO ADMIRAL MARGARET O. PARANGOSKY, CINCONI).

BEKAN KEEP, MDAMA, SANGHELIOS: FEBRUARY 2553 BY THE HUMAN CALENDAR.

'Telcam was late.

Jul paced up and down the quarry, fidgeting with the arum while he waited for whatever shuttle the monk was flying today. 'Telcam changed transports on each trip to avoid attention, he said. The only flaw in that strategy was Unflinching Resolve, huge and unconcealable as only a frigate could be.

The ship sat in the disused quarry like a rebuke to Jul's common sense. Her magazine was steadily filling up with arms and ordnance, one cargo drop at a time, gleaned from hardware scattered around Sanghelios and the nearby colonies. Just as the small transports had found their way back to the keeps, nobody was keeping tabs on any other equipment either, and in the absence of the San'Shyuum, their organizational skills, and a war to fight, it was simply being taken by shipmasters and stored in the keeps.

How many shots does it take to kill one Arbiter?

'Telcam kept telling Jul that overthrowing a charismatic leader like Thel 'Vadam would take more than killing him. The ideas around him-his loyal entourage-had to be rooted out too, or else the very death became a new Arbiter in itself, a martyrdom, the creation of a legend after death.

And you couldn't assassinate a ghost.

The sound of a Kig-Yar shuttle made him spin around. So that was 'Telcam's transport today. Jul, like most warriors, knew almost every vessel by the sound of its engine or drive long before he saw it. It was a matter of prudence. He would never admit that was his motive, of course, because a warrior was supposed to prize a glorious death before a timely extraction, but it was hard to be a successful warrior when you were dead. Jul didn't regard a tactical withdrawal as cowardice.

The shuttle-yes, Kig-Yar, just as he thought-finally came into view and dropped down into the quarry. He waited for its drives to shut down and approached it. 'Telcam climbed down from the cockpit and looked around.

"Where's Manus?" he asked. That was one of Buran's loyal Jiralhanae. "He should have been here by now. We lost contact with him last night."

Jiralhanae weren't known for their timekeeping. "Yours is the first shuttle to land for two days," Jul said. "You know what they're like. He probably became embroiled in some fistfight over philosophical matters and it's delayed him."

"No, Buran assured me he was reliable. He had a very important cargo, and I don't just mean weapons. He had a Huragok they recovered from Serene Certainty."

Had they been discussing Kig-Yar, Jul would have assumed that the shipment had been diverted and sold by now. But Jiralhanae weren't interested in profits. Everything stemmed from their unfathomable pack politics. The feud between Jiralhanae and Sangheili had finally erupted again with the Great Schism, but Jul had never quite worked out where the fault lines were. Jiralhanae fought each other, they fought the Sangheili, and, for no reason Jul could truly understand, some of them remained loyal to Sanghelios.

"Give him a little longer," Jul said. "Now let's transfer the cargo before we attract an audience."

"Something's wrong. I know it."

"Brother, if the vessel had crashed, we would have heard by now."

"Would we? What's happened to our communications? Our monitoring? No, we would not know. That yawning gap is also what enables us to stand a chance of succeeding, but sometimes it conspires against us."

Jul had formed the opinion that 'Telcam was blessed with the calm certainty of the faithful, so seeing him agitated was unsettling. But Jul understood the importance of acquiring a Huragok or two. The Covenant had run on them, invisible and reliable, repairing everything from machines and buildings to living bodies, and constructing every piece of technology a modern empire needed. He'd grown so used to their presence that he'd ceased to notice them. Now his wife and brothers were forced to learn construction skills, and he was starting to see all the things, large and small, that were starting to fall apart because the Huragok had fled.

There were so many. Where did they all go?

He was certain that the Great Schism hadn't killed all the San'Shyuum. That wasn't possible. As he unloaded the shuttle with 'Telcam, he wondered where the survivors had gone. They had almost certainly taken most of the Huragok with them, and that meant they might be regrouping to return one day and take back their old empire.

The idea was so appalling that he stopped in his tracks. What was he doing worrying about the humans? They were no more than an infestation, backward vermin, and could be eradicated. The San'Shyuum, though, would be another matter.

"What's wrong?" 'Telcam asked.

Jul got on with the job, wondering what had happened to his strategic judgment. "Merely speculating what might happen if the San'Shyuum recovered and came back."

"That would take many years," 'Telcam said, as if it had already occurred to him and had been dismissed. "And by then, we'll be more than ready for them."

'Telcam made no complaint about having to do the heavy lifting himself in the absence of any Jiralhanae. Jul found himself thinking of him less as a fanatical monk and more as a decent warrior who happened to have some extreme views on the subject of religion. As long as they had the same objective, Jul wasn't too worried about the separate paths that brought them there.

"Where are you getting your supplies?" Jul asked, heaving a crate up the ramp into the frigate's hold. "Who funds this?"

"Donations," 'Telcam said. "From many sources."

"Are all of them aware they're donating?"

"No."

"And how much do we really need?"

"You mean when should we act, because you grow impatient."

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"I'm waiting upon the whims of an old nobleman." 'Telcam dusted off his hands and stood back to look at the growing arms cache. "And Buran needs to know that he has a fully competent crew when we make our move. Some of his old crew have gone back to their keeps to try to feed their families."

Jul tried to imagine which kaidon could be so important to the plot that 'Telcam would feel he needed his approval. Perhaps this was just a regular power struggle after all, a coup on behalf of another kaidon who'd chosen not to show his face, rather than an outpouring of religious zeal.

"Which nobleman?"

"Admiral Hood," 'Telcam said. "The human Shipmaster of Shipmasters. He's made it clear to the Arbiter that he wants to formalize this cease-fire. There's much talk of it in Vadam."

"What cease-fire?" Jul demanded. "There is no cease-fire. Just an absence of fighting."

"We don't know that, and neither does the Arbiter-or Hood. Communications are what the humans call patchy." 'Telcam, who was unusually fluent in the primary human language, pronounced the word with care. It was hard to form a human P when trying to compress four lips. "The humans have lost many of their communications relays, too, so both sides flounder in the dark and eavesdrop where they can. There are worlds out there where the battles may still be raging. We may not know for years."

It took them an hour to move all the containers, but there was still no sign of the Jiralhanae. Jul found himself sitting in the shuttle cockpit with 'Telcam in awkward silence, waiting. Every half hour, 'Telcam opened a channel and listened to crackling static.

"Their radio's working," he said. "You can hear it. I don't understand this."

"Perhaps it's malfunctioning. Whether they have a Huragok on board or not."

It was another hour before the shuttle's comms indicator lit up to indicate an inbound message. 'Telcam pounced on the console, teeth bared.

"Manus? Where in the name of the gods have you been?"

"This is not Manus, brother. This is the temple. We hear Piety is returning, but isn't responding to her radio. A sympathetic shipmaster picked her up on his radar."

'Telcam's lips settled back over his fangs and he leaned back in his seat. His relief was obvious. "We'll wait for the ship. We have little else to do."

"I told you as much," Jul said. "Everything breaks down these days."

"You'd think they'd let the Huragok repair it."

"They're Jiralhanae. Their logic eludes me."

Jul got out of the cockpit to listen for the sound of Piety's drive. Nearly an hour later, he heard the rumble of a small auxiliary and the ship appeared above the quarry, looking predictably scraped and battered, then hovered over her landing coordinates for a few moments before descending in a storm of dust. Jul could have sworn that her nose hatch was dented.

'Telcam climbed down from the cockpit, looking murderous. "I shall have an explanation," he murmured.

Piety's side hatches had taken some damage and there were dents around the lock plates. She was an old tug used in the docks to berth warships, so it might have been wear and tear, but Jul was getting concerned. He strained to see what was going on in the cockpit. But it was dark inside, and he was sure he'd been mistaken about the nose hatch. 'Telcam stood about ten meters from the ship and kept glancing irritably at the hatches. Manus seemed to be taking his time about things.

So they waited. After five silent minutes, 'Telcam ran out of patience.

"This is the last time I allow those idiots to go on missions without supervision, I swear." He strode up to the main side hatch and hammered on the hull. Nothing happened. "Manus? Open this damned hatch. Where have you been?"

Jul looked over the smaller side hatches. He could now see slight ripples, as if the metal had been distorted by force, and he was sure he could see a gap. If he was right, then something terrible had happened to Piety.

Her hull's breached. Her atmosphere's leaked away.

"Brother, she's damaged," Jul said. "Look at the metal. Something's very wrong."

'Telcam just grunted. Jul drew his energy sword and approached Piety cautiously. He couldn't imagine what form the danger inside a ship opened to vacuum might take, but he wasn't prepared to take a chance so close to his home and his family. If anything was going to leap out of there, he would be ready for it.

'Telcam turned to him, nodded, and drew his own weapon.

There was a manual override for the main cargo hatch. 'Telcam closed his fingers slowly around the handle and twisted it to the left, slowly and carefully, then stood to one side as the door slid back on its runners. Jul aimed squarely into the open compartment. But the only thing that emerged was a stench.