“You don’t need my permission,” she said. “By all means, speak candidly, Lieutenant. You’ve been doing a fine job so far.”

Under normal circumstances, among normal officers, that last remark would have been insubordination—or worse, a rebuke. But he let it pass. Normal military protocols seemed to have been jettisoned on this flight.

“You said we were here to observe a child.” He shook his head dubiously. “If this is a cover for real military intelligence work, then, to tell the truth, there are better-qualified officers for this mission. I graduated from UNSC OCS only seven weeks ago. My orders had me rotated to the Magellan. Those orders were rescinded, ma’am.”

She turned and scrutinized him with icy blue eyes. “Go on, Lieutenant.”

He reached for his pipe, but then checked the motion. She would probably think it a silly habit.

“If this is an intel op,” he said, “then... then I don’t understand why I’m here at all.”

She leaned forward. “Then, Lieutenant, I shall be equally candid.”

Something deep inside Lieutenant Keyes told him he would regret hearing whatever Dr. Halsey had to say. He ignored the feeling. He wanted to know the truth.

“Go ahead, Doctor.”

Her slight smile returned. “You are here because Vice Admiral Stanforth, head of Section Three of UNSC Military Intelligence Division, refused to lend me this shuttle without at least one UNSC officer aboard—even though he knows damn well that I can pilot this bucket by myself. So I picked one UNSC officer. You.” She tapped her lower lip thoughtfully and added, “You see, I’ve read your file, Lieutenant. All of it.”

“I don’t know—”

“You do know what I’m talking about.” She rolled her eyes. “You don’t lie well. Don’t insult me by trying again.”

Lieutenant Keyes swallowed. “Then why me? Especially if you’ve seen my record?”