John woke up with a start. Looking around, he found that he was in one of the rooms in which he was assigned. The bed he was on was strangely comfortable and he wanted to sleep more. That, however, was not an option. He had to find Sam and finish his conversation. He didn't know for sure how he had ended up unconsious, but that didn't matter to him right now.
He got off the bed, walked out of the room, and headed to Sam's room. When he got there he knocked, but no answer was given. After Knocking again and recieving no answer, the Chief opened the door, but found no one inside. He turned around and decided to head to the bridge. Once there he saw Sam looking at the view screen with a sad expression. John looked too, but found nothing sad about the picture. In fact, he was elated by what he saw on the screen: Earth.
"Demon!" The Chief turned quickly to the call and saw the Arbiter walking toward him. "I am glad you are okay."
Sam looked away from the view screen and smiled when he saw his friend. "John, I was so worried when you collapsed."
'Collapsed?' The Chief pondered. He had never collapsed before. Perhaps he really was in need of that rest that Sam had told him to take.
"The doc says you'll be fine though," Sam continued. "You just needed some sleep."
The Chief made a face that said he didn't need anything.
Sam laughed and slapped him on the back. "Man I missed seeing you guys!"
John's heart clenched in his chest. You guys? He hadn't seen any other Spartan for a long time and he was sure that they were all dead. "Sam."
"Hmm?"
"I haven't seen or heard from Kelly or the others in a long time. They could be..." the Spartan paused and swallowed, almost unable to continue, but he forced the word to come out of his mouth. "Dead."
Sam looked to the floor. "Yeah, I figured they were. I thought all of you were dead until yesterday, when I found you."
The Chief looked back at the tall man and gave a pat to his shoulder. "Let's get going."
"Yeah," Sam smiled. "I'm sure there's a party waiting down there for us. Don't want to keep them too long."
John smiled at his friend and they both headed for the shuttle that would take them down. The Arbiter was coming with them to see if he could help with the new threat.
111
The head of the UNSC stood infront of the shuttle that had just landed. It was from the Arbiter's ship. The Elite had told him that he had very important news to speak with him about so he agreed to meet with him. The door hissed open and revealed the eight foot alien and two tall figure behind him. The man thought that they must be personal gaurds. Once they stepped out, however, two humans were revealed. One donned in green armor...
"Master Chief," breathed the man.
The Chief's eyes met with his. He then remembered that he had been missing for over two and a half years and was probably labelled as dead. He snapped a crisp salute. "Sir! Reporting for duty!"
The man stood there in disbelief, but quickly snapped out of and returned the salute. "I can't believe you're alive, Chief."
"I've been stuck in space, for the past two years, sir."
The man sighed, "It's good to see you alive and functioning. Now, who is this other man?"
The other man looked up and old habits got the better of him. He stood as straight as he could and brought his hand to his forehead in a salute. "Sir, Spartan 034, returning for duty."
'Crap!' Sam thought. 'Stupid instincts.'
"Spartan 034?" The man thought for a moment. He remembered reading that the 034 had died on a Covenant vessle. "I'm sorry, but that's impossible. 034 is dead."
"I can explain what happened."
"Very well, you and Chief follow me. McNally, please escort the Arbiter to the meeting room. We should be quick." Turning quickly, the man began to walk away with the two Spartans following. When they entered a secure room, the veteran faced the tall men. "Okay, now explain."
Sam took a deep breath and began the story of how he had stayed behind on the alien ship, but had found a strange machine. How he had been teleported to the distant planet of Minister and how a family took him in. He helped on the planet, but never once did he inform the UNSC that he alive and well. Instead he lived out his life with his new family, protecting the planet from harms way and defeating the Covenant more than once.
He story came to a close when he told him of how he and his sister saved the Chief, but his sister was kidnapped by this new alien race. "And here we are."
The man simply stared at Sam, choosing his next words carefully. "So, you deserted the UNSC."
Sam seemed taken aback from that comment and tried to defend himself. "I did not desert the UNSC! I helped to protect the planet minister!"
"Yes, but had you reported your whereabouts, you could have protected larger and more important planets."
Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't go around labeling the importance of planets. Thats like saying that some people are more important than others just because of where they are living or by the amount of money in their pockets!"
The man let the Spartan ('no ex-Spartan' he told himself) yell it out. Once he was done he continued. "I don't go around labeling the importance of others. The only thing that I go around labeling is how much the planet provides the human race. Resources are the thing we need right now, and a small planet the barely provides us with anything except for a small percentage of corn is not our priority right now."
A look of digust shown in Sam's eyes. "It really surprises me how much can change in alittle over thirty years."
With that the taller Spartan turned and walked out of the room. He wasn't sure he wanted to be a Spartan anymore.