Kelly reclined back into the chair she sat on. Much too small for her body, but no one ever make chairs that were fit for the much-above average ‘Human’. She was surprised that it managed to withstand her weight, and it was probably because Halsey ordered chairs specially made for ‘her’ SPARTAN-IIs to lounge in her office.
If only the chair was more comfortable.
Kelly-087 watched Halsey pace her office side to side as she read the contents of her report. Fresh from the computer into Halsey’s data pad. Complete with video recordings and photography. All provided to Kelly from the recently deceased Cal-141.
Though it didn’t look it, Kelly was able to discern that Halsey was affected by Cal’s death. As was every SPARTAN-II. It showed in the way her eyes seemed a little bit heavier than before as she seemed to almost reminisce about the way Cal wandered through the alien ruins.
“Fascinating…” Halsey murmured as she scrolled through the pictures of the planet. “And just like that, they were gone.” Her eyes turned to Kelly.
“Could have been mutually assured destruction, like how we’ve all been before the Covenant showed up.” Kelly shrugged. She said it as a joke, but Halsey seemed impervious to laughter.
“Perhaps.” Halsey returned to the data pad. “But the ruins are intact.” Which meant that it wasn’t war that caused the alien species to disappear off the planet. Kelly watched for a moment as the doctor appeared to be thinking as she scrolled over the images.
Kelly cracked a smile. “You’re not planning on heading down there, are you?” The place was crawling with Covenant thanks to Operation: GREY VEIL. More than usual now that the UNSC kicked the hornet’s nest. Though no SPARTAN-II would ever say no to kicking more Covenant ass, it would be a risky venture to escort Halsey around. Be that as it may, it might give Kelly the chance to meet the ODST that pulled off the sniper shot that killed the Prophet in charge of that planet. Any SPARTAN-II could have pulled it off. But when Kelly heard that it was some backwater ODST that killed the Prophet she nearly asked for the kid to be reassigned to Chief’s team. If such a thing were possible.
She couldn’t really tell if that ODST was lucky or not for missing out on becoming a SPARTAN-II.
“As much as I’d love to…” Halsey sighed. “I don’t think we need more deaths because of my mistakes.”
Kelly’s smile faded as she thought of Sheila and Solomon. The two of them died for Halsey; one in attempt to protect her and the other in her retrieval from Resplendent Fervor. It always felt with each new Operation and planetary battle that another SPARTAN-II ended up on ONI’s ever growing MIA roster. Kelly liked to think that they were all invincible. But Cal, Sheila, and Solomon were there to tell her otherwise.
“I wouldn’t say it was your fault, ma’am.” Kelly said. “I’m sure if they could, they’d do it again.”
Halsey shook her head. “I don’t need more soldiers laying down their life for mine.”
“Unfortunately, ma’am, you are ONI’s most valuable asset.”
Halsey sighed. “Unfortunately. And it seems the hiding spots to hide ONI’s ‘most valuable asset’ is shrinking by the—" Before she was able to finish her sentence, Halsey’s personal computer lit up with a message.
The room went suddenly silent as Halsey seemed to scramble to read the message. Kelly tensed, preparing for some horrific news. Judging by Halsey’s look, it seemed catastrophic. For a second, the doctor seemed to have forgotten to breathe as her face went suddenly pale and her eyes filled itself with grief. The doctor leaned against the table horribly still, and for a moment, Kelly was scared that the doctor was going to pass out.
The silence was killing Kelly. “Catherine Halsey?” Kelly straightened her back and stared hard at her. “What happened?” She was preparing herself to hear that another inner colony had fallen or that another SPARTAN-II was pronounced KIA.
Halsey was quiet for a moment more. Then, finally, the doctor straightened her back and stared at Kelly. “There was a battle at Gamma Pavonis VII.”
Kelly raised a brow. Unless she was mistaken, that was an outer colony with not much out there. She didn’t think the UNSC or ONI had much of a reason to send anyone of interest over there. But that didn’t amount to much when she’s sure she’s only been privy to 1% of all of humanity’s classified information.
The look on Kelly’s face must have been obvious to Halsey. She continued: “The Hilbert rammed a Covenant destroyer into Gamma Pavonis’s gravity well, tearing the ship apart. It saved the colony and the three UNSC ships en route to protect the Hilbert.”
“Any survivors?” Kelly relaxed slightly. The Hilbert didn’t ring any bells.
Halsey took a deep breath, and relaxed her shoulders as she let out a sigh. “Only two from the Hilbert. Her captain and a single crewmember.”
Kelly frowned, then shook her head. “One for one. All things considered, that isn’t a too bad a victory from the UNSC.” Perhaps she could sleuth around and read the report later if she had the time. To her, the victory didn’t amount to much.
Halsey was silent for a moment. Then looked back down to the computer. “Indeed…”
“You don’t look all too happy about it.” Kelly reclined back in her chair.
“Believe it or not, I am happier than you can imagine.” Halsey thinned her lips and stared at Kelly. The reply came fast and quick, a tell-tale sign that the doctor didn’t want to talk about it.
The better part of Kelly told her to let it go. But her curiosity got the better of her. “Let me guess. You had someone you didn’t like assigned to the Hilbert and they’re on the survivor’s roster?” Kelly cracked another smile. The joke was a bit dark. But it wouldn’t be the first nor last time someone got reassigned someplace because they were not well liked. And she didn’t put it past Halsey to do the same. ONI were a bunch of cut throats.
“How could you say something like that!?” Halsey suddenly stood completely straight. Her eyes filled with unbridled rage. The reaction was far from what Kelly was expecting and it wiped the grin straight off her face. “I sent her there to protect her! This is the opposite of what I wanted for her. And now—!”
Halsey suddenly became quiet as she stared in surprise at what was said. She gasped and touched her lips as though they would bring the very words she said back. There was complete silence as the two women stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Kelly could only sit in stunned silence. The Spartan was ignorant of Halsey’s personal life, but most SPARTAN-IIs weren’t that ignorant to know that she had a daughter. Hidden well from everyone, but people talked. And not even the IIs weren’t susceptible to gossip.
“Is your daughter--?” Kelly began.
“She’s fine.” Halsey averted her gaze from Kelly. Then, she turned away from her to hide the emotions that she couldn’t quell from her face. The embarrassment was evident, but her voice offered a glimpse of something more.
As much as Kelly wanted to offer Halsey a kind word that her daughter was alive, she took this as a sign to get the hell out of there. She knew Halsey wasn’t a person to continue to prod; and it was more evident than ever that the doctor was one more question away from making Kelly the first official SPARTAN-II KIA.
She stood and turned. But before Kelly was able to make it out of Halsey’s office the doctor spoke.
“Kelly…” Halsey spoke quietly. “Please keep this between the both of us.”
Kelly turned to look at Halsey. But the doctor was still faced away from her. But she could still discern from the reflection of the window pane a look that Kelly was well acquainted with. Guilt.
“Don’t worry.” Kelly turned away. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”