"2 - The Flood" - читать интересную книгу автора (Halo ebooks txt)

THE
FLOOD
WILLIAM C. DIETZ
BALLANTINE BOOKS Х NEW YORK
For Marjorie, with love and gratitude.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks go to Steve Saffel for charting the course, to Doug Zartman for
coordinating the pieces, to Eric S. Trautmann for polishing Тtil it sparkled, to
Eric Nylund who led the way inThe Fall of Reach , to Nancy Figatner and
the Franchise Development Group for their support, and to Jason Jones,
who, along with the rest of the outstanding Bungie team, created one helluva
pulse-pounding game.
PROLOGUE
0103 Hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC CruiserPillar of Autumn, location unknown.
Tech Officer (3rd Class) Sam Marcus swore as the intercom roused him
from fitful sleep. He rubbed his blurry eyes and glanced at the Mission
Clock bolted to the wall above his bunk. HeТd been asleep for three hoursЧ
his first sleep cycle in thirty-six hours, damn it. Worse, this was the first time
since the ship had jumped that heТd been able to fall asleepat all .
УJesus,Ф he muttered, Уthis better be good.Ф
The Old Man had put the tech crews on triple shifts after thePillar of
Autumn jumped away from Reach. The ship was a mess after the battle, and
what was left of the engineering crews worked around the clock to keep the
aging cruiser in one piece. Nearly one third of the tech staff had died during
the flight from Reach, and every department was running a skeleton crew.
Everyone else went into the freezer, of courseЧnonessential personnel
always got an ice-nap during a Slipspace jump. In over two hundred combat
cruises, Marcus had clocked fewer than seventy-two hours in cryostorage.
Right now, though, he was so tired that even the discomfort of cryorevival
sounded appealing if it meant that he could manage some uninterrupted
sleep.
Of course, it was difficult to complain; Captain Keyes was a brilliant
tacticianЧand everyone aboard theAutumn knew just how close theyТd
come to destruction when Reach fell to the enemy. A major naval base
destroyed, millions dead or dying as the Covenant burned the planet to a
cinderЧand one of EarthТs few remaining defenses transformed into corpses
and molten slag.
All in all, theyТd been damned lucky to get awayЧbut Sam couldnТt help
but feel that everyone on theAutumn was living on borrowed time.
The intercom buzzed again, and Sam swung himself out of the bunk. He
jabbed at the comm control. УMarcus here,Ф he growled.
УIТm sorry to wake you, Sam, but I need you down in Cryo Two.Ф Tech
Chief Shephard sounded exhausted. УItТs important.Ф
УCryo Two?Ф Sam repeated, puzzled. УWhatТs the emergency, Thom? IТm
not a cryo specialist.Ф
УI canТt give you specifics, Sam. The Captain wants it kept off the comm,Ф
Shephard replied, his voice almost a whisper. УJust in case we have
eavesdroppers.Ф
Sam winced at the tone in his superiorТs voice. HeТd known Thom Shephard