The Secret Story of Dustin Echoes

Chapter 2 - Knowledge is Power

            “Ree-bus Nowee-procks?” Dustin Echoes echoed, mocking the Elite’s strange name. “What kind of a name is that?”

            “It is our kind of name, human,” the Elite snarled, “Rebas is my personal name. Noi is my title, and it means ‘sharp’ in your tongue. Proks is the title of my family… and finally, my name has lost the honorific ‘ee’ that many of my kind add to their family names. For this title is reserved only for those loyal to the army, the army now of the Covenant… and I am not.”

            Dustin nodded slowly. “Interesting. So you’re… a Covenant traitor? You’re the first one I’ve ever heard of.”

            The Elite made no reply. He merely stared at the human... or through him. It was an unsettling gaze.

            Dustin continued his questioning. “What are you out here for then? Just running away? Why come to Halo?”

            “I run from no fight I think I can win,” Rebas deemed it necessary to say, and he continued, “I am being chased by my kind, by another Sangheili named Urgas Konoproksee.”

            Dustin was a keen observer, a detective as well as a spy, so he caught on quickly. “Another ‘Proks’ I see. Didn’t you say that was your family name? So what is he, your brother?”

            The Elite nodded, “I suppose that is what a human would call it.”

            “Why is he hunting you?”

            “Did I not already tell you, or are you as stupid as your questions make you seem?” Rebas snarled, before calming himself again. “He is hunting me, because I am a traitor and a heretic, and he is of a high rank in the armies of the Prophets and does not want me to spoil his good name. I came to Halo hoping to throw him off my track.”

            “Apparently you failed,” Dustin said, looking at the dead Elite still lying in a pool of its own blood in his ship. “Was that him?”

            “No,” the Elite said simply.

            “Is he alone?”

            “No.”

            “How many are with him?”

            “I do not know,” Rebas said in a low voice, and he seemed to want to say no more.

            “I need more information,” Dustin said. “If they are chasing us, I need to get away from them. Don’t you need to get away from them too?”

            “Can your vessel enter... what is your word... slipspace?” the Elite asked.

            “Yes,” Dustin answered.

            “Can he detect it if it does? Yours is clearly a stealth craft. Perhaps you can escape him where I did not.”

            “Diana,” Dustin said offhandedly, “keep on full alert and continue scanning for enemy vessels.”

            “At once,” Diana replied.

            Dustin turned back to Rebas. “Your brother, is he working with a group of Elites from your family or with the Covenant army themselves?”

            “Those who follow the Covenant aid him in his hunt,” Rebas answered.

            Dustin bit his lip. This was not good news.

            “Why are they all hunting you? All this for just one heretic?”

            The Elite did not reply.

            “You have something…” Dustin guessed, “something valuable. Diana, scan our guest’s Seraph fighter. Look for anything useful, and…”

            “I think you are my only hope,” the Elite said suddenly, interrupting Dustin’s orders, “so I will tell you the truth. What I have is the source of all true power: knowledge. I know the location of another Halo ring. The Covenant only found this holy ring recently, but the team that found it discovered something unique and terrible about this Halo: It contained no Flood.”

            “No Flood?” Dustin echoed, “You mean those things that killed Captain Keyes?”

            The Elite stared at him for a moment before responding, “I do not know your Captain Keyes. The Flood are parasitic life forms that live in the holy rings.”

            Dustin nodded. “Yeah, I know of them. What’s so special about there being no Flood on the ring?”

            Rebas did not answer. He sat clicking his mouthparts together and staring at Dustin. The ONI agent got the feeling that the Elite considered him stupid.

            “I’m asking these questions for my records,” Dustin explained, though he did not know why he felt inclined to reveal that fact. “I need to know every detail. Now… What is so special about the Flood being missing?”

            “They were not missing;” Rebas answered, “they were dead.”

            Dustin paused a while in thought before asking, “So you’re the only one who knows the location of this other Halo?”

            “Yes,” Rebas replied. He seemed to think that simple answer satisfactory.

            “How?”

            “When the captain of the ship that discovered this Halo relayed its position to the next checkpoint, I alone received the message. I kept it secret from the rest of command, and the ship never returned.”

            “Did you destroy it somehow?”

            “Yes,” the Elite said, but this time he knew that answer was insufficient, so he continued, “I relayed incorrect navigational coordinates to the captain, who subsequently made a major miscalculation in his slipspace jump, causing him to exit into a star.”

            “Ouch,” Dustin said with a laugh. “I’m glad I didn’t kill you. You’re good.”

            The Elite did not reply. Dustin swallowed. The piercing stare of the creature made him nervous.

            “So,” Dustin went on, “Why did you do this? Why turn traitor like that?”

            “I believe,” the Elite said slowly, “that on this Halo is the secret of how to kill the Flood completely. I have long suspected that the purpose of the rings is not an entirely beneficial one. I know that they are somehow connected with the Flood. Perhaps, I thought, this ring malfunctioned somehow and accidentally killed the life forms it housed. I brought this information to my brother, who was with me… to Urgas. He told me that such talk was blasphemy. The rings, he said, never malfunctioned, and they did not destroy life. They must be activated, so that the cleansing wind would sweep through the galaxy. I knew that if I relayed this information to the Prophets, they would disregard it as blasphemy as well. They might even kill me. Similar things have happened before to anyone who doubted the pure holiness of Halo. So I escaped in the lone Seraph fighter you destroyed. But it is not due to fear of death that I ran away. I wanted to reach this Halo and discover how all of the Flood there were killed... There, now you know my story. Will you help me?”

            Dustin looked at the Elite long and hard. He had never met a Covenant like this, so openly treacherous. Elites were zealously loyal to their commanders, fighting with religious fervor that few humans could rival. Yet this one seemed more peaceful than most, and he had betrayed his kind for a cause that could aid both human and Covenant alike. Dustin wondered if it was some kind of trick, but then he remembered the space battle. That other Elite had earnestly wanted to kill Rebas…

            “Do you still have the coordinates?” he asked.

            “Can your ship be tracked through slipspace?”

            “Perhaps,” Dustin said, “but it would be hard.”

            “We should outrun Urgas before we travel to the holy ring. If he discovers it, he may destroy the vital information on how the Flood died. He might activate the ring before even knowing what it actually does.”

            “He won’t find the Blackdagger. Just give me the coordinates.”

            “You may download them from my Seraph. The ship’s computer is locked, but you may get in with the code. The code is ‘delazbelok.’”

            “Diana…” Dustin began, but the AI interrupted him.

            “Done,” she said. “I have the coordinates now, Dustin.”

            “Then off we go,” Dustin said, striding back to the cockpit. “Hang on, Elite. We’re about to drop into slipspace.”

            “It goes against my honor to be in this sector and not be hunting the humans who destroyed the holy ring, but that is not my task today. Keep watching the location of the two Seraph fighters,” said Urgas Konoproksee to his crew. “Watch closely. Look for movement. Any movement. If you see any, then track it.”

            Urgas stood atop a platform suspended above his bridge crew, who were seated below him behind a row of Covenant computers. On either side of him upon the platform were his two mates, Thanatos the Brute and another Elite. The dark purple interior of the alien ship glowed eerily in the light made by the holographic computer screen, and data flashed before Urgas’s red eyes as information appeared hovering around him. One of the grunts below him suddenly squealed and pointed at his screen.

            “They move!” the Grunt, named Dordap, shouted. “They move! Tracking!”

            “Track it well!” Urgas said. "Or I strip you of your armor and feed you to the Jackals in the prison cells!”

            Dordap shuddered, but his attempt was successful. As the invisible ship streaked away, he was able to follow its trail. The Covenant slipspace technology was far superior to that of humans, and they could easily determine the ship’s destination and follow it there. Dordap began inputting the coordinates immediately.

            “Cease your typing, worm!” rumbled the deep voice of Thanatos. “I will input coordinates to be sure of no mistake!”

            “Or perhaps to see them yourself…” Urgas hissed.

            Thanatos laughed, deep in his throat, and turned to regard the Elite. “Perahps so. But that is my mission, after all.”

            “By all means; don’t let me stop you,” Urgas said. “I obey the will of the Prophets, but they are not why I am here today. The score I wish to settle with Rebas… is personal.”

            “But it's also official,” Thanatos grunted, “so I will make sure it gets done right. If you fail to ‘settle your score’ with Rebas, then I…”

            “Silence, Brute!” Urgas interrupted. “This is a matter of honor, something your kind does not understand. I, and I alone, will kill Rebas. You will not interfere. If you do, then I will take YOUR armor, tie YOU up, and feed YOU to the Jackals! And I will let the Grunts laugh at you while you are ripped apart!”

            Thanatos gave an uncaring huff, so as to retain some measure of dignity, and fell silent. Though not particularly intelligent, even for a Brute, he saw it was no use to argue the point.

            “We are making jump to slipspace now,” Thanatos grumbled.

            The sleek and deadly Covenant cruiser known as the Relentless Inquisitor then activated its slipspace drive and shot away into that alternate dimension, heading for the same destination as the tiny Blackdagger.

            When the Blackdagger came diving back into real-space, Dustin found himself almost on top of… another Halo. He had been so awed by the first Halo that he could hardly imagine there was even enough material in the universe to build another one… but here one was. He saw the clouds floating gently over the lush, grassy terrain below, the blue oceans, mountains, forests, and valleys lining the inside surface of that great, enormous ring. He had never been this close to the first one. It took his breath away. Then he spotted something, far down on the surface below. The ring was huge, but he thought he could make out something recognizable on its distant surface.

            “Diana…” he said, “is that… a human vessel, crashed on the surface of Halo?”

            “Scanning…” said the AI. “Very perceptive, Dustin. Yes, it is indeed a human vessel. It appears to have crash-landed on the surface, much like the Autumn did on the last Halo.”

            “I’ll go talk to our friend about it,” Dustin said, “Begin approaching it, but slowly. Don’t land until I give permission.”

            “Aye, Dustin,” Diana said.

            Dustin walked back through the door into the rear of his ship. There in his cryo-tube, the Elite waited. It was creepy, Dustin thought, having an Elite on board his ship like this. Rebas seemed to be in a trance, staring down at the bottom of the inside of his prison, his mandibles slowly opening and closing.

            “We’re here,” Dustin said, “We just arrived at your Flood-less Halo ring.”

            The Elite did not look up when he asked, “Were you followed?”

            “Negative,” came Diana’s calm voice as she appeared on the holo-projector on the table nearby. “I detect no enemy ships in the area.”

            “Then perhaps it is good I found you, after all,” Rebas said, looking up.

            “But we detected a human ship down the surface of the ring,” Dustin said, looking the Elite in the eyes though he knew he could tell nothing from what facial expression the creature was capable of. “Do you know anything about that?”

            “Yes,” the alien answered, nodding, “That is the Equinox, a vessel that attacked the Covenant cruiser that discovered this ring. Our side won the fight, and the Equinox crashed on Halo. The crew of the Covenant ship then proceeded to launch a surface assault to explore the ring and make sure everyone onboard the human vessel was dead. We… I mean, they… were successful. No humans survived.”

            “We’ll have to go and be sure about that,” Echoes said. “Diana, land on the surface, as close to this Equinox ship as possible.”

            “Done.”

            The Blackdagger’s engines fired, and the ship shot through space, turning toward the surface of Halo. Diana adjusted the ship’s trajectory so that it would survive the entry into Halo’s atmosphere, and then it plunged into the clouds. Unseen behind it, another ship dropped out of slipspace… the Covenant cruiser Relentless Inquisitor.

            “Are you picking up the human anywhere nearby?” asked Urgas in the ship’s bridge as he stared at his holographic computer screens, their glowing displays reflecting in his shining gold armor.

            “Yes,” Thanatos replied, “he is headed for Halo’s surface. Hmm… Appears to be a human starship crashed there!”

            “More humans?” squeaked Dordap. “Uh oh… I smell a battle!”

            “Ah, it is good to see the lust for blood in one so small,” said Urgas sarcastically. “Very well, Dordap, I will let you lead the group of your kind, the Unggoy I’m sending for the surface attack.”

            “Yikes!” Dordap squealed, “Uh…”

            “No going back on it now, Dordap,” Urgas interrupted. “I am going as well. No one shall keep me from Rebas. Worra will be in charge while I am gone.”

            The red-armored Elite on the station below him turned and saluted. “Yes, Sir!”

            “Come, Thanatos. You will go with us as well. It does not become a true warrior to wait on his ship as his troops fly into battle. Do you not agree?”

            Thanatos snorted. “Of course…”

            Urgas nodded and descended from his Captain’s throne. “Then prepare the Phantom! We leave immediately!”

            The Blackdagger dropped swiftly into Halo’s atmosphere and came to a gentle landing upon its serene, grassy surface. Dustin sat staring out the window at the beautiful alien landscape for a while, and then he got up and walked to the back of the ship. Diana’s hologram appeared on the briefing table again, and Rebas the Elite stared at his human captor from inside the cryo-tube.

            “Okay, Diana,” Dustin said, “Now that we’re here, we need to make sure what our Covenant friend said is true. And if all the Flood here really are dead – we need to find out why. But before we do any of that, we need to check for survivors from the Equinox.”

            “I can help you,” came the deep, calm voice of Rebas Noiproks, “You cannot do this alone.”

            Dustin turned his head slowly to regard the Elite, “Can you be trusted?”

            “It would do me no good to kill you, human,” Rebas said, “It would only make my mission a thousand times harder… perhaps impossible. You have my word that, on my honor, I will not harm you if I am released.

            Dustin stood and stared at him a moment before nodding, “Fair enough. Diana, release the Elite.”

            The cryo-tube slid open with a hiss, and the giant alien uncurled from inside. Once again, Dustin was impressed with his height. The spikes on the back of his long, red helmet almost touched the ceiling of the ship. The creature’s red eyes almost seemed to glow with fiery intensity against its dark grey skin. Rebas’s four mouthparts occasionally opened very slightly, as if he had to open his mouth to breathe. As Dustin’s eyes wandered down the rest of the alien’s body, he wondered where an Elite kept its reproductive organs, and he wondered what those bent pieces of metal were hanging from the half-circle of metal that was wrapped around Rebas’s waist. The Elite’s legs were also interesting, as were its feet, which were almost like hooves.

            “Come along my good even-toed ungulate,” Dustin said with a laugh as he pressed the button for the hatch to open, “Stay close behind me. If we run into any humans, they might just shoot first and ask questions later.”

            “And there is no doubt as to what the Covenant will do,” Rebas added.

            As the hatch opened, the fresh forest air wafted into the room, and the human took a deep breath of it. But a strange sound met his ears, coming from the trees in the distance. It was a very faint humming noise. It sounded mechanical. As he watched, he saw four flying robots float up. They were long and thin, made of a shining metal. When they stopped, strange wing-like appendages unfolded on either side of them, and he saw a gun unfold on each robot’s belly.

            “Sentinels,” Diana said from the ship’s speakers, “They are the protectors of Halo. The UNSC forces encountered them on the first ring.”

            “They apparently aren’t hostile,” Dustin said, approaching one and peering at it, “What is their intention?”

            Then a third robot floated out of the woods, hovering from the shadow of the trees. This one was more round, a metallic orb with a glowing green “eye” on the front. It turned, darting from side to side, to view both the Elite and the human.

            “Greetings!” it piped in a friendly voice, “I am 10268 Regretful Vector!”

            “Regretful… Vector?” Dustin echoed.

            “Yes!” it responded, its eye flashing as it talked, “I am the Monitor of this installation. I am in need of your assistance. The Reclaimer seems to have gone missing; she is evading my sensors somehow and has escaped my notice. We must find her and help her get to the Index.”

            “Who is this Reclaimer?” Dustin asked.

            The Monitor stared at him for a moment before responding, “Oh, you mean the name she gave herself? She said she was named Sarah Morrison.”

            “Sarah Morrison? So there are humans still alive here?”

            “I believe she is still living, yes. The Sentinels would not have hurt her, and all of the Flood on this installation have regretfully been mysteriously terminated.”

            Rebas nodded, “The first of your objectives has just been completed, human. As you can see, I was not lying.”

            “I guess you were right then,” Dustin said, “But since we’re working together, why don’t you just call me Dustin?”

            “You have not yet earned my respect. My people only give names to those who are worthy of our respect.”

            “I saved your life,” Dustin said.

            The Elite paused a moment to think. After a moment of staring into the distance, he pivoted his head toward Dustin and replied, “Very well. I shall call you Dustin, and you shall call me Rebas. Is it well?”

            “It is well,” the human replied, “So let’s go find the Reclaimer.”

            “Yes, indeed!” the Monitor exclaimed enthusiastically.

            “Sir,” interrupted the voice of Diana from inside the ship behind them, “I don’t like you leaving like this, beyond the range of my sensors…”

            Dustin turned to regard the woman in the green hologram, “I don’t like it either, Diana, but what else can I do?”

            “I’ll sort myself for removal from the ship,” she said, “and you can insert me into one of those flying androids. I believe there is a port on that one that my disk could fit in.”

            Dustin turned to look at the Sentinel hovering next to him. As she had said, there was a slot on the machine’s belly that looked just the right size. He found this strange, but he remembered how Cortana, the AI from the Pillar of Autumn, had been inserted into the core computer of the other Halo ring, so he knew it was possible.

            “Are you sure you can take care of yourself?” he asked with concern.

            “You may remove me now,” was all Diana said, and then her hologram disappeared.

            Dustin strode up into the ship and took her disk out of the control panel. Then he ran back outside and, before the Monitor could say anything, shoved the thin piece of metal into the slot on the nearest Sentinel. The robot shook for a moment, and then its wings folded and contracted. It turned to face Dustin.

            “I am in,” said Diana’s voice, coming from the Sentinel.

            “Amazing…” Dustin muttered.

            “What?” squealed the Monitor, “I cannot allow you to tamper with the guardians! This AI Construct being inserted into one of my Sentinels is a severe breach of protocol!”

            “Don’t worry about it; she’ll help me,” Dustin said soothingly.

            “I…” the Monitor began, but it stopped itself and said, “Very well. But the Construct must be removed once your mission is completed.”

            “Of course,” Dustin said.

            “Wait!” Rebas interrupted, “Something approaches… Look…”

            Dustin turned to look where the Elite indicated. There, dropping out of the clouds and dipping quickly behind a mountain, was the unmistakable form of a purple Covenant craft. It was a Phantom, and it was no doubt headed their way.

            Rebas Noiproks nodded slowly, resignedly, and said, “We had better move. Urgas has come.”