by Matt Forbeck
But I wanted to end him so bad I could taste it. It would have been so simple then, and it would have been over, right?
Ah, bullshit. Even I don’t believe that.
Either way, dead or alive, that bastard haunts me to this day.
Vergil and Sadie headed back to Mars with us on our transport. The days of letting the Huragok work in the field—even with a handler like Sadie and a supposedly vetted security detail—were over, and I don’t think they minded it. I hear ONI’s going to keep them on a much tighter leash after this.
Sadie gave me a huge hug once we were all on the transport together and rocketing for the stars. “I know we’ve never met,” she said, hoisting the tablet she used to communicate with the Engineer, “but Vergil’s told me so much about Alpha-Nine over the years, and everything you did for him.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the Huragok. He leaned into me, and I patted him on his flank. “You know how these guys are,” I said with a wistful smile. “They don’t know how to lie.”
The support crew in the transport stripped Mickey out of his armor as we left Talitsa behind. We shackled his wrists together as well and tossed him in the brig until we got back to base.
I’d never seen another trooper in the brig before, much less a Spartan.
Much less someone I’d considered a brother.
Romeo just shook his head and watched over Mickey the entire trip from a seat in the main cabin. I sat on the far side of the room, with my back to them both. I wanted to be there in case Romeo decided that he’d administer a little justice to Mickey himself, but I feared if I kept watch over Mickey, too, I might succumb to the same temptation.
Mickey didn’t say a word the entire time. For a guy who’d spouted a lot of shit when he had a gun on us, he kept awfully silent. I don’t think he could bear to confront us or even ponder what his future looked like.
In his head, I don’t think he saw one at all.
ONI had a team ready and waiting for us when we landed at the Spartan base on Mars.
“We’ll take over from here,” the lead agent told me, but I wasn’t having any of it.
“No. This one’s our responsibility,” I said, nodding toward Mickey. “I’m not turning him over to anyone but Commander Musa.”
“He betrayed the UNSC,” the agent said. “He needs to be tried for high treason.”
“He may be a traitor—”
“I think we’re pretty clear on that count, Gunny,” Romeo said.
I shot a sidelong glare at him and continued. “But he’s our traitor. Once a Spartan?”
“Always a Spartan.” Romeo nodded and then gave the ONI crew a winning smile, paying special attention to the woman in charge. “Right?”
The agent disapproved of our decision—and of Romeo’s leer. “With all due respect, a problem like this is an ONI matter.”
I stared down at her and her team. “We’re Spartans. We don’t take orders from ONI. Unless Commander Musa himself calls me up to disagree with me, we’re not turning this prisoner over to anyone but him.”
ONI agents don’t intimidate easily, but I’d just had the worst day of my life since the Covenant glassed Draco III. She saw that in my eyes, did the calculus, and gave way.
She nodded and motioned for her team to step aside. “I’ll leave it to people above my pay grade to sort that out.”
Romeo and I actually handed Mickey over to Jun. I hadn’t seen the man look so grim since the younger Schein had sent him to the infirmary.
I looked at Romeo and gave him a brotherly hug; then we silently walked off to our respective quarters.
That night, after I’d gotten out of my armor and washed the day off me, I got a private video call from Commander Musa over a secure channel. I thought about dodging it for a while—maybe at least until I’d gotten a good night’s sleep—but I didn’t see the point. We had to have a conversation eventually, and that might as well be now.
I took it in my quarters.
“Good work out there today, Spartan Buck.”
“You call all your Spartans to congratulate them after every mission?”
“This was a particularly special mission. In many ways. If we’d have lost the Engineer, that could have been disastrous.”
“It wasn’t far shy of that anyhow.”
“Yes.” He steepled his fingers before his face, and his lips drew into a straight, grim line. “Spartan Crespo.”
“I’d like to formally apologize for Spartan Crespo’s actions, sir, and to submit myself for discipline.”
Musa wrinkled his brow at me. “Whatever for?”
“I not only vouched for his character but made his acceptance into the SPARTAN-IV program a condition of my own.”
“And you think that makes you responsible for his actions?”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Perhaps you think a little too highly of the power of your recommendation.” Musa brought down his fingers and allowed himself a gentle smile. “Spartan Jun and I vetted each one of our candidates. If we hadn’t thought that Mr. Crespo would make an outstanding addition, we wouldn’t have admitted him to the program.”
“But one element of that vetting came from interviewing me, and I let you down.”
Musa nodded. “Spartan Crespo let us all down. We put our trust in others, and sometimes they disappoint us in the worst possible ways. Does that mean we should lash out and look for people onto whom we can shuffle the blame?”
“That’s not what I meant—”
He raised a hand to interrupt me. “I know, but if you want to start looking at it that way, then Jun and I are just as responsible for Spartan Crespo’s actions as anyone. To some extent, that’s true, and we’re going to review our procedures and see where and how we went wrong.”
“And what do you suspect you’ll find?”
Musa shrugged. “Nothing? I’m not sure. Honestly, if I knew, believe me, I would have put a stop to it before we got to this point. But can I tell you something in confidence, Spartan Buck?”
“As long as it’s within my security clearance, sir.”
He chuckled. “Despite what we tell everyone—despite what the UNSC wants the entire galaxy to believe—Spartans are as human as anyone.”
“I’m all too aware of that, sir.”
“Good. Just making sure you haven’t bought into your own PR. As humans, our new Spartans are liable to make mistakes, and putting our trust in the wrong people sometimes is just as likely as with any of them.”
“Your point, sir?”
He paused for a moment to consider his next words.
“When I was to become a Spartan, Dr. Catherine Halsey had me and my fellow teammates abducted at the age of six. Do you know why she did that?”
“The earlier she got her hands on you, the easier it was to make the transformation.” Even as I said the words, I could see from his wry eyes that I’d gotten it wrong in exactly the way he’d expected—despite the fact he’d just confirmed all the long-standing rumors about how Spartan-IIs had been recruited by kidnapping.
He gestured toward his wheelchair. “I think you can see by what happened to me that your theory isn’t all that true.”
“So fill me in. Sir.”
“Children are easier to mold. Take them from their homes at such a young age, place them into a barracks, give them the kind of training that teaches them to follow orders, to kill without question, and then you get soldiers you can make real weapons out of. Ones you can always trust.”
“You point them at the problem and pull their trigger,” I said.
“Exactly. But I firmly believe that ONI got it wrong with the earlier SPARTAN programs. They set out to create infallible weapons. I wanted to take people and forge them into heroes. Very human heroes.”
“If you wanted us to be fallible, s
ir, I have to say you exceeded far beyond my own expectations.”
“Fair enough. I understand your disappointment in Spartan Crespo. Hell, I share it, and I’ll be answering for it for months. But I still consider the SPARTAN-IV program to be an amazing triumph. And it’s not because of Crespo’s actions, but yours.”
I stared at him, confused, wondering if he was kidding around—or if he’d betray my trust in him instead. “I’m afraid I don’t follow, sir.”
“How many of the earlier Spartans do you think would have spared Crespo’s life? How many of them would have simply put a bullet through his brain instead?”
I shook my head. “That’s not something I care to think much about, sir.”
“You may not—and I understand that—but I’ve been contemplating it a lot. Maybe even the Master Chief?”
“Not Jun?”
Musa grunted. “He’d have killed Crespo for sure. But you let him live. Because you’re not only a Spartan, you’re the best kind. The kind with the potential to save us all.”
He leaned toward the viewscreen, filling it. “You may be a Spartan, but you’re goddamn human, too, and that’s something you should be proud of. I certainly am.”
“Understood, sir.” I struggled for the right thing to say. “I think. Either way, there’s just me and Romeo left from Alpha-Nine. That’s not much of a fireteam.”
“We’ll get you reassigned straightaway. No worries on that front. You’re too valuable to leave in limbo.”
I nodded. “If it’s all the same to you, sir, I think I’d like to be part of a team rather than leading it. At least for a while.”
“Fair enough,” Musa said. “Just don’t get any ideas about that being permanent.”
I gave him a game smile. “I go where I’m needed, sir.”
“That exactly what I want to hear, Spartan Buck,” he said. “Dismissed.”
I contacted Veronica right after that. I hadn’t heard her voice for too long.
We didn’t talk about any of this for a good while. Not one word.
Not until now, anyway.
Bam, said the lady.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
* * *
Matt forbeck
Like any great effort, no book comes together without the help of an amazing team of people. I owe a great deal of thanks to my editor, Ed Schlesinger, who was writing to contact me about this book at the same moment I contacted him. If there are mistakes or troubles in this book, they’re mine, and they don’t include the many jagged bits that Ed spotted and helped me file smooth.
I also need to thank the fantastic people at 343 Industries—especially Jeremy Patenaude and Tiffany O’Brien, as well as the rest of the writing team—who offered comments and constructive criticism. They were an absolute joy to work with, and the passion and caring they showed for the Halo universe spurred me to do my best every step of the way.
On top of that, I’d like to thank all the creators at Bungie as well for building such an amazing galaxy for me to play in. That includes Bob Settles, who showed me a demo of what would become Halo: Combat Evolved back in 2000, when Bungie was still an independent developer in Chicago. It also includes fellow tabletop games writers like Eric Trautmann and my pal Brannon Boren, who helped write the original Halo bible.
343 industries
343 Industries would like to thank Kendall Boyd, Scott Dell’Osso, Matt Forbeck, Isaac Hannaford, Bonnie Ross-Ziegler, Ed Schlesinger, Rob Semsey, Matt Skelton, Phil Spencer, and Carla Woo.
None of this would be possible without the amazing efforts of the Halo Fanchise Team, the Halo Consumer Products Team, Tiffany O’Brien, Kenneth Peters, and Sparth, with special thanks to Jeremy Patenaude.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
* * *
Matt Forbeck is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author and game designer. He has twenty-seven novels and countless games published to date. His latest work includes Magic: The Gathering comics, the 2014 edition of The Marvel Encyclopedia, his Monster Academy YA fantasy novels, and the upcoming Shotguns & Sorcery roleplaying game based on his novels. He lives in Beloit, WI, with his wife and five children, including a set of quadruplets. For more about him and his work, visit www.forbeck.com.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Interior design by Leydiana Rodríguez
Cover art by Isaac Hannaford
ISBN 978-1-4767-9670-3
