Read Online Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric S. Nylund - Free Book Online Page B

PeHcans and came to this new place, but he'd barely touched the ground when they'd been shoved back inside and sent back up into the air.
    He'd gotten a glimpse of the one in charge. He wore armor like Shane had seen in fairy tale books: the Green Knight who
    fought dragons. That's what Shane wanted. He was going to wear armor like that one day and kill all the monsters.
    "Check your straps," an old Navy man barked at him and the other kids.
    Shane tugged at the black backpack that they'd put on him three minutes ago. It weighed almost as much as him, and the straps had been pulled so tight they cut into his ribs.
    "Report any looseness," the man shouted over the roar of the engines.
    None of the twenty other kids said anything.
    "Recruits, stand by," the man barked. He listened into his headphones and then a green light blinked on a panel near his head. The man punched numbers into a keypad.
    The back of the Pelican hissed open, the ramp lowered, and a tornado screamed around Shane. He yelled; so did the other kids. They all pushed and shoved to the front of the Pelican's bay.
    The old Navy man stood by the open bay door, unafraid that only a meter to his rear was open sky. He regarded the squirming kids with disgust.
    Behind him a dusky orange band marked the edge of the world. Twilight and lengthening shadows slipped over snowcapped mountains.
    "You will form a line and jump," the man shouted. "You will count to ten and pull this." He reached up to his left shoulder, grasped the bright red handle there, and made a pretend pull motion. "Some confusion will be normal."
    The kids stared at him. No one moved.
    "If you cannot do this," the man said, "you cannot be a Spar-Ian. It's your choice."
    Shane looked at the other kids. They looked at him.
    A girl with pigtails and missing her front teeth stepped forward. "I'll go first, sir," she
    yelled.
    "Good girl," he said. "Go right to the edge; hang on to the guide line."
    She took the tiniest baby steps to the edge of the Pelican, then froze. She took three
    deep breaths and then with a squeak, she jumped. The wind caught her.
    She vanished into the dark.
    "Next!" the old Navy man said.
    All the kids, Shane included, slowly formed a line. He couldn't believe they were doing
    this. It was nuts. The next boy got to the edge, looked down, and screamed. He fell backward, and
    scrambled away. "No!" he said. "No way!"
    "Next!" the man called, and didn't give the kid cowering on the deck another glance.
    The next boy jumped without even looking. And the next.
    Then it was Shane's turn.
    He couldn't move his legs.
    "Hurry up, loser," the boy behind him said and gave him a shove.
    Shane stumbled forward—halting only a half step from the edge. He turned and stopped himself from shoving this kid back. The kid was a head taller than Shane, and his black hair fell into his eyes, making it seem like he was missing his forehead. Shane wasn't afraid of this creep.
    He turned back to face the night rushing past him. This was what he was afraid of.
    Shane's legs filled with freezing concrete. The rushing wind was so loud he couldn't hear
    anything else anymore, not even his hammering heart.
    He couldn't move. He was stuck on the edge. There was no way he could jump.
    But now he was so scared he couldn't even turn around and chicken out, either. If he sat
    down, though, and then slowly inched back—
    "Go, dumbass!" The creep kid behind him pushed. Hard.
    Shane fell off the ramp and into the night.
    He tumbled and screamed until he couldn't breathe.
    Shane saw flashes of the dimming sunset, black ground, the white caps of the mountains, and stars.
    He threw up.
    Some confusion will be normal.
    The red handle! He had to grab it. He reached up, but there was nothing there. He clawed at his shoulder until two fmgers found purchase. He tugged.
    There was a ripping sound and something unraveled from his pack.
    Shane jerked straight, his legs whipping after him, and his teeth snapped together from the