The man immediately following Jai wore a standard orange prison jumper, but he had the air of command. He walked over to Delgado. "You're the pilot?"

"Yes."

"Excellent, tm

Lieutenant Jacob Keyes. They've asked me to run the ship. I hope I'm not stepping on any toes?" Keyes looked around the cockpit, and Delgado could tell the man knew exactly what he was looking for.

"No toes," Delgado said. "I'm happy to work with you."

"We need weapons," someone said.

Juliana appeared as a hologram over at the communications station. "And weapons you shall have. I need a few more minutes to download a version of myself into this ship. There's a high-capacity storage chip in the comms panel, Jai, Delgado. When we get to the Kig-Yar ship, you'll need to get that into the ship and plug me in."

It looked like some fifty people had invaded the freighter.

Keyes looked around. "This bucket have a name?"

Delgado looked at Juliana. "The

Mighty Sparrow,"

the AI reported. "And no, I have no idea why. I'm downloaded now, though. Time to disconnect."

"Good." Delgado took the pilot's chair, and Keyes moved to stand next to him as Delgado cast off from the airlock. "Where to, Juliana?"

"Habitat Greenworthy for the weapons," the AI replied. She looked around at the cockpit. "So many determined men all around me. It's quite exhilarating."

No one responded.

Keyes cleared his throat as Delgado began moving the

Mighty Sparrow through the Rubble toward Habitat Greenworthy. "The trick will be approaching this Jackal ship. If they get their shields up we'll be useless. By the way, do we have a name for this ship?"

"The

Infinite Spoils,"

Juliana muttered.

One of the crew on deck, Dante Kirtley, who had seated himself near Juliana's image at comms, suggested a diversion. "You asked about tricks, sir.

We need to keep their eyes on something else while we drift near."

"What can you offer us?" Keyes asked Juliana. "You said you controlled the Rubble when you were catching me up as we walked from the prison over to the ship."

Juliana thought about it for a second. "A very large industrial accident. I can cut loose one of the asteroids being mined. We can float it by their ship.

It'll give them a scare but it won't hit."

"Excellent," Keyes said, folding his arms. "Add a lot of debris, we'll use it for chaff."

"Consider it done," Juliana said. "And because they built this Kig-Yar ship here in the Rubble, we'll be able to dock with them. No need for suits."

"What about just attacking the dock they're attached to? Why a ship?" an ODST asked.

"They have the dock airlock guarded," Juliana said. "Of course, a few feints from the docks will also serve to keep them distracted, so I think it's a good idea to attack from the docks as well as via a ship."

Now they had a plan, Delgado thought, as crazy as it was. And they seemed to have a leader, because even Jai, hardened Spartan though he was,

deferred to Lt. Keyes's command of the bridge.

Chapter FORTY-TWO

OUTER RUBBLE

, LIBRAE

The

Petya had been hunting down

Distancia, without the other ship even aware that there was a cat-and-mouse game going on.

Both were plain freighters, long ships with spars and cargo containers bolted to the main frames. But

Petya had the advantage of being extraordinarily well armed.

Inside the

Petya,

Adriana watched Mike lean over the controls with the air of a predator waiting in the bushes, patiently biding time before striking. "He's edging out of the Rubble," Mike whispered.

That was all Adriana needed. Enough toying about. Jai was getting ready to invade a Covenant ship, while they were out here. They needed to move quickly to wrap this up and get back to support him. "Alright, let's hit him."

"We're done playing hide-and-go-ship?" Mike smiled.

"Definitely."

"You hail them, I shoot them."

Adriana looked at the screen showing their trajectories. "Shoot this jerk first. Hit the engines. We're not playing games. We can't give him a chance to turn back and do the right thing. He already chose his fate back at that airlock."

"Yessir," Mike said, with a sudden grin. Two distant thumps under her feet indicated missiles away.

Twin rocket trails flared in front of the cockpit windows as they sped ahead, and then slowly curved down.

"He sees them," Mike reported, as

Distancia increased power to her engines to make a run for it. But the missiles closed the dark gap between the two ships and slammed into

Distancia's rear.

"Nice!" Adriana said, looking at the debris trailing off the stern of the

Distancia.

"Crippled in one shot." Mike leaned back. "They're not going anywhere."

Adriana hailed the stricken freighter.

"Distancia, this is

Petya.

We took out your engines, don't make us hole the rest of the ship. I'm coming aboard. You cause any trouble, it gets ugly. You cooperate, you live."

For a long moment there was no reply, leading Adriana to wonder if they weren't monitoring any of the standard channels.

Then finally, over a burst of static, a reply:

"Petya, this is Peter Bonifacio, aboard the

Distancia.

I have to protest this extraordinary hostility. I am a member of the Rubble Security Council, on a top-priority mission. You are way out of line, whoever the hell you are."

"Shut up and get ready to open your airlock, Bonifacio," Adriana snapped.

"But what is this about?" Bonifacio whined over the radio.

Adriana didn't reply. Mike pulled them in over the

Distancia's spine, getting ready to dock.

"I will report this," Bonifacio radioed. "You can trust that..." Adriana muted the volume.

The

Petya shuddered as the two ships docked, Mike grappling them into place. "Pressurizing the lock. You're go in twenty," Mike said.

Adriana pulled her helmet on and snapped it into place. "Once I'm in, you undock. Just in case. Hit them from a distance if it goes bad."

"You sure about that?" Mike asked.

"Damn straight. I'll find a way off."

"Ten seconds to full pressure."

Adriana turned and left the cockpit for the airlock. She flipped her battle rifle forward and stood in front of the door as the light on the airlock door flashed green. It slid open and Adriana walked through, wincing slightly as it then slid closed after her. There was always a sense of finality in leaving the safety of a base ship like this, a sense of stepping off the edge of a metaphorical cliff of some sort.

And now she was free-falling her way into a new situation, a new set of variables: whatever was on the other side of the large metal door in front of her.

But then, she liked the screaming flow of adrenaline coursing through her.

She liked the adrenaline rush even back when she'd first showed up at the Spartan training grounds, staring with all the other kids at the instructors.

She hadn't broken out with Jai because she wanted to escape. She'd done it for the fun, that feeling of stepping off the edge.

The more dangerous, the more it felt like she was really someone. It beat the gray numbness of stillness, and sameness.

The world seemed to vibrate as Adriana watched the outer door open, her rifle up, her vision expanding into a sort of hunting state.

She burst through into the

Distancia's airlock where nothing waited for her but benches and metal grating.

The door closed behind her, and the

Petya disengaged with a loud thump as Mike cleared away.

Adriana waited until Mike had time to get well clear, then banged on the inner airlock door.

It opened, and two gunshots cracked into the armor over her ribs. Adriana grunted and rolled through the crack in the door, firing back at the two men shooting at her. Always take the offensive, she thought. Don't get backed into a corner.

After dropping them she moved back into the airlock for a moment and checked her armor. Just dinged.

But her ribs ached from taking the impact.

"Hold on," a voice shouted. Not Bonifacio, another bodyguard of his. A handgun skittered down to stop in front of the airlock door. "I'm not going down like that, no way. I signed up as a bodyguard, that's it. I'm unarmed, now, please don't shoot."

Adriana moved her back against the corner and glanced at the gun. "Who else is there?"

"Just me."

"Bonifacio?"

"He's in an escape pod," the bodyguard said. His voice quavered a bit.

Adriana spun around the corner and marched up on the bodyguard, a slender man with a shaved head. He looked up at her, hands up near his chest to show he was unarmed.

"What's your name?" Adriana asked.

"Sean. Wha... What the hell are you?" The patch on his jumpsuit said S. WILLIAMS.

"You catching this, Mike?" Adriana murmured, amused. "Any pod launch yet?"

"No," came the answer.

Adriana looked down at Sean. "Why hasn't he launched?"

"Because you'll shoot him," the bodyguard said.

"Tempting, huh?" Mike said.

"So what game is Bonifacio playing, then?"

"He's hailing us," Mike said.

"Put him through," Adriana sighed.

Bonifacio's voice filled her helmet. "You're after the navigation chip, right?"

"Hand it over and live, Bonifacio," Adriana said.

"Maybe. I heard what you did to my crew, soldier." Bonifacio spat the last word. "I'm not stupid enough to believe you'll just play nice once I hand the chip over."

Adriana sighed. Now the man was getting seriously jittery and causing problems. "Bonifacio ..."

"Here's the deal. I am leaving the data onboard, but I'll tell you where it is once I've cleared the ship in my pod."

"Oh, come on," Adriana said. "And then we find out that you lied and have the chip on you."

"We split the difference," Bonifacio said quickly. "Let me get far enough away in the pod that it would require some serious work for you to catch up to me. A good-faith gesture that you're actually going to let me go. I get to that point and I tell you where the data is."

"Let me think about it," Adriana replied, and toggled the mic off. "Williams?"

"Yes?"

"Did Bonifacio make a copy? And if you lie, don't imagine I won't make you pay for it."

Williams shook his head. "No, he didn't think you were on to him until you shot the engines out."

Adriana moved until her faceplate stopped an inch from Williams's nose, looking at his reaction. She waited until he finally closed his eyes. Satisfied, she flicked the radio mic back on. "Alright, Bonifacio, you cut loose."

Mike came on. "Adriana, you sure?"

"Jai is about to storm that ship without us, Mike. We don't have time -- we need to move quickly and get back to him."

"Okay, he just shot clear."

Adriana walked over and stood by the pilot's chair of the crippled ship, and watched the tiny pod dwindle away on one of the monitors.

The pinpoint flare of its exhaust finally winked out.

Bonifacio's voice crackled. "It's taped above the edge of the airlock's lip, right where you entered." He laughed.

Adriana ran down to the airlock. She felt along the top of the rim of the entrance delicately, and found the chip where he said it was.

She pulled it free and looked at it. It wasn't much more than a tiny, stubby hardened wafer that sat in the palm of her hand. So much trouble over such a small thing, she thought as she slid it into a hip pocket.

"Got it?" Mike asked.

"Think so. I'm coming back to double-check," she radioed. "I'm moving in."

She stepped into the airlock, and Williams moved forward. "What about me?" he asked.

"You stay aboard the ship." Adriana put a hand to his chest and pushed him back. "Someone will eventually be out for you."

"Eventually?"

"It'll give you time to think about the quality of the people you choose to work for."

The door slid between them, and Williams looked through a porthole at her.

Adriana turned her back to him and cycled aboard the Petya.

She walked forward to the cockpit and handed Mike the chip. He plugged it into the ship's computer.

"It's good."

"Then let's get the hell out of here."

Mike looked at the monitors tracking the escape pod. "You sure you don't want to go after him?"

Adriana bit her lip. "Let him rot in his pod. It's going to be a long journey. I don't imagine whoever he was working for is going to be happy. People like Bonifacio might believe the Jackals are suddenly warm and fuzzy, but he's insane if he thinks the Covenant is going soft. He's a dead man, he just doesn't know it yet. Let's go."

"Strap in, then," Mike said. "We're bugging out."

The nearest chair groaned as Adriana sat in it. They'd reinforced the chairs to deal with fully armored Spartans, but the chairs still protested the weight.

Then Mike spun

Petya around and fired up the main engine, speeding them toward the Jackal ship that Jai was going to be storming.

She hoped they got there in time.

Because she would be a little bit disappointed if they missed all the action, Adriana realized.

Chapter FORTY-THREE

MIGHTY SPARROW

APPROACHING HABITAT TIAGO, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE

The freighter

Mighty Sparrow drifted ever so slowly behind the protective bulk of a stray asteroid as Juliana reassured some very worried Jackals that the asteroid would miss the Infinite Spoils.

An industrial accident.

A debris cloud of rock, water vapor, and metal shards all completed the messy illusion.

On deck, a tense Lt. Keyes eyed the screens, watching closely. Everyone in the cockpit was suited up, guns at their hips, ready for anything. He glanced over at Li and Kirtley, who had both managed to integrate themselves into the crowded bridge, helping out where needed.