Chapter 16: What's This Knife Doing in My Back?
Johnson was itching for a cigar. Or two.
If he had thought things were perturbing during the hijacking of the Light and Cortana's subsequent miraculous recovery from Rampancy, it paled to the tidal waves of emotion running through him now.
Truth was alive. And so was Miranda Keyes.
He led the team of six Marines and two Elites down the long corridor as he did his best to suppress his emotions concerning his discovery. He forced himself to focus on the granite colored walls that reached high towards the heavens. He drew in a deep breath as the pungent smell of plasma and metal-the scent of Elites- hit his nostrils.
Still it wasn't enough to keep the haunting memories away from the sergeant. He swallowed thickly as he recalled his broken confession to Keyes that Miranda had died while he had been able to do nothing as that bastard Brute killed her.
"I failed you, sir. I failed myself. But worst of all, I failed Miranda."
It had been raining on Earth that day.
Keyes, for his part, held no ill will towards Johnson; the sergeant had been punishing himself enough.
Johnson allowed a brief glimmer of hope that Doctor Halsey would be able to awaken Miranda from the stasis and she would be alive and well, ready to go wherever the fight led as she had always been. But, he thought with a frown, if she could be revived then Truth could also come back from the Great Beyond.
It seemed like Fate still was one sadistic SOB.
Johnson sighed as he tightened his hold of the pod as they stepped through the door to the outside. In the distance, he could barely make out the shape of the Warthog the Chief back to the main structure.
Good, Johnson thought. The sooner they could load the pods and get everyone back aboard the Light, the better. The entire mission had moved a bit too smoothly for his liking.
Several hundred yards ahead of them he saw a Pelican-the one the captain had piloted to the surface, he assumed-and a couple of Phantoms courtesy of the Arbiter.
He gave a sidelong glance at the Arbiter who looked more upset than he had been when Johnson had first met him, if that was possible. "Why are you acting like ya got a bee in your bonnet?" he finally asked.
The Arbiter considered him for a second before answering. "Truth's reappearance cannot be discovered. If it were to be known, the Loyalists would seize on the information and use it to rebuild the Covenant."
Johnson notice the Elite standing next to the Arbiter, looking at him anxiously. Two jumpy Elites were enough to make Johnson feel nervous himself.
"This is some sort of clone, Cortana said so herself." He shook his head adamantly. "He's no Messiah."
"Others will not be so easily convinced, Sergeant. He was dead, now his body is here." He snarled. "We should destroy this here. Now."
Johnson bristled at his suggestion. The Elites had a running record of destroying things because it caused problems to their agenda, whether it was glassing planets or murdering millions of innocents on nonmilitary installations. True, their two peoples had come together to destroy the Ark but Johnson knew true peace between humans and Sangheili would be a long time coming.
The longing for a cigar came back on full force. "High Command isn't gonna let him be revived if that's what you're worried about. We've got twenty-three billion more reasons to hate him more than you," he pointedly reminded him.
The Arbiter stiffened at his harsh words and the Elite beside him bristled but Johnson felt no remorse. If they didn't want to be reminded of what they did-regardless of the lies the Prophets told them-that was just too damn bad.
Tension swirled around them. Even with his back to them, Johnson knew the Marines were ready to pull out their weapons, tentative truce or no, if they sensed any trouble from the Arbiter or his Elite friend.
Five seconds passed. Then another. And another.
Finally, the Arbiter spoke. "I would not be so quick to assume that you understand how deep our hate for Truth runs. If something were to happen-"
"Nothin' gonna happen once we get this back to the Light. In case you missed the big ass Forerunner ship when you entered the system, the Covenant vessels don't stand a chance against us. We'll get the pod on board and then we'll go to Earth. You can talk to Lord Hood to your heart's content. After we get there," Johnson said as they were nearing a Phantom.
"No."
It wasn't the Arbiter who spoke, but the Elite who was standing next to him.
Johnson amended his earlier assessment of the Elite. He wasn't nervous. He was twitchy.
They stopped walking as the Arbiter faced his comrade. "We will do as the humans have requested. If it was not for their construct's discovery, we would have never know about Truth. We will insure that he never comes into power again."
The Elite snarled. "You are wrong, Vadam. You have been wrong since you took the mantle of being the Arbiter. Truth succeeded in his Great Journey. It was you who allowed the Demon to destroy our path to follow him."
A sinking feeling settled into Johnson's gut. Oh yeah, some heavy crap was about to go down.
Johnson reached for his assault rifle and heard the soldiers behind him do the same. The Arbiter began to activate his light sword, but he was unable to move fast enough. The other Elite slammed his fist into the Arbiter's jaw before grabbing the base of his unactivated sword and smashing it against his forehead.
"You will pay for your treason. You will die at the hand of Truth," he roared before lifting his gaze at the seven standing humans.
They were too close for Johnson's liking for a firefight. "Fall back!" Johnson ordered as he gave his men suppressive fire. He aimed in the direction of the Elite, but it was as good as taking a shot in the dark; the Sangheili had already activated his active camo.
He sprinted to take cover behind the Phantom, which was still over a dozen yards away. It might as well been a mile with the Elite's location being unknown.
"We need help up here," Johnson said through his comm channel. A plasma bolt flew over hit head and hit one of the Marines. He turned around and fired his weapon aimlessly, hoping to hit the Elite.
As he spun back towards the Phantom he saw Major Hillston come from behind the Phantom to throw a plasma grenade.
Johnson frowned. "Didn't you hear me, Marine? I said fall-"
The major crumpled forward as two plasma shots hit him square in the chest.
"Damn it," Johnson shouted. Just one more dead hero, he thought bitterly.
There would be time for mourning later. Now, Johnson had to focus on surviving long enough to make sure the pod holding Truth wasn't taken. He ducked as he heard the plasma rifle fire another shot.
He opened his comm channel again hoping Cortana or Keyes would be able to understand his words over the sounds of the firefight. "One of the Arbiter's buddies decided to turn on him. I've got a feeling he's gonna try to take Truth's pod." He swallowed as he ran past the fallen body of Lieutenant Dixon. "I don't know how much longer we can hold him off. I've already got four soldiers down and I-"
An explosion of stars filled his vision. His rifle fell, clattering on the ground. Pain roared through the back of his skull, but he forced himself to stay conscious. He dropped to his knees, attempting to look at his attacker. Though his eyesight was blurry, Johnson didn't miss the snarl on the Elite's face as he deactivated his camo.
The blackness was increasing; Johnson knew he wouldn't be able to fight off the darkness much longer. As he dropped onto his back, he forced out, "Why...not kill me?"
The Elite's laugh was without humor. "Truth has some unfinished business with you too, Vermin."
Chapter 17: Did Somebody Call For Backup?