Halo: Endurance

{A/N: I LIVE}

After the conversation in the elevator, the pair made their way silently to the spaceship with the doctor walking in front and Keyes following closely behind. They passed through any security checkpoints with ease, simply scanning badges that were immediately recognized as high priority. The staff of the station were extra energetic when it came to assisting them.

After walking through the last turnstile, they began their final approach through an empty corridor to the Han, and for the first time, Jacob noticed something out of place with what Catherine had been carrying, or rather, the lack thereof.

"Doctor, weren't you supposed to have luggage?" Jacob asked curiously. Seeing that the doctor had dropped the persona from earlier, he decided to speak to her professionally.

"All of my field laboratory equipment will be personally moved and delivered by ONI personnel," she replied calmly no longer worried about any eavesdropping with the lack of any visible ears, "The same could be said for most of my personal items, but the few things I might need for this trip I had my assistant carry,"

"Your assistant?" Keyes asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, my assistant will be accompanying us, though perhaps I forgot to mention that he will be tagging along." Catherine brought her hand to her chin with a contemplative expression. Whether it was fake or not, the man beside her could not tell.

Jacob caught himself as he began to open his mouth, 'Stay out of her way…Stay out of her way…. Stay out of her way,' he reminded himself over and over in his head, and instead of speaking out, he simply shook his head and carried along.

"I'm guessing you were telling him the location of the ship with the pad on your wrist earlier?" the lieutenant shot a glance at her wrist hanging by her side.

"You would be correct in your observation, Lieutenant," Catherine nodded before her expression briefly flickered, "You're sharper than you appear, Lieutenant," Catherine spoke, giving a genuine compliment.

"Thank you?" he said, unsurely, 'Was that supposed to be a compliment?' Jacob asked himself.

…

..

.

"This is your assistant?" Jacob asked tiredly, scratching his head as he peered down at what appeared to be a young boy. His lips formed a perfect horizontal line as he adopted the firmest deadpan expression that his face could muster.

"I am," the kid in front of him said, nodding his head.

Keyes turned his head to the side to look at Catherine, who had an amused expression while watching his reaction. "Is he?" he asked while his right eye twitched.

"He is, Lieutenant. Why? Not what you were expecting?" she asked with a slight smirk in her expression.

'This has to be a damn joke,' he thought to himself massaging his face in his hand before running his hand through his hair, a habit he picked up that presented itself when he was stressed, "You aren't testing me again are you?" he felt the need to ask

"Do you think you are being tested?" Catherine asked facetiously. That earned her an annoyed look.

"She's testing you," the boy decided to clarify innocently

He didn't expect such a blunt response but was nonetheless thankful, "Thanks, kid," he said somewhat awkwardly, realizing he didn't know his name.

"My name's David, it's nice to meet you, sir." The boy raised his hand, to which Jacob accepted, shaking his head with a strange expression. All the while, the doctor watched on with amusement.

Wanting to put the entire interaction behind him Keyes stepped forward to activate the keypad, and in a moment, the doors to the pressure seal were open, leading to the small ship.

'At least he's polite,'

======================================================================

Inside, it was apparent just how large the shuttle was. The craft could easily support nearly 40 people inside for extended cargo hauling trips. It sported more than enough cryo-chambers for the crew and passengers, along with a rotating midsection to generate artificial gravity everywhere in the ship besides the cockpit.

David walked behind the pair that led the way to the cockpit of the ship. His head was on a swivel as he tried to commit to memory the layout of the ship so he wouldn't need to ask later.

"What do you think?" Jacob asked, glancing behind him and to his side, trying to make small talk.

Catherine thought for a moment before responding, "This will be sufficient for my requirements," she said, giving a lukewarm reply.

"It's big," David said, his gaze tracing the studs that supported the hull. "How many do you plan to take on your mission?" he asked

Jacob stayed silent, instead choosing to direct his eyes toward Catherine for her to answer, "Just us," she said calmly, "Any more and it would be a waste of resources, and it would undermine my efforts."

David nodded to her response.

During these past weeks of being around the doctor, he had become more comfortable around the woman and understood her a bit better. Since his acceptance of his new role, she had taken it upon herself to be his tutor and teacher, filling the gaps of his gap year.

As a polymath, the woman was the best teacher he had, which was high praise coming from someone with the pedigree he already had when it came to studying. It also helped that she cut out sections that she believed were not worth devoting time to. At this point, he was probably about 3 quarters of the way caught up to the point he should have been at.

As for his thoughts on Halsey as a person? If he were asked to describe her in one word, it would be: weird. She was pragmatic, intelligent, and yet at times she could be quite caring, but these weren't the reasons why he thought she was strange. There always seemed to be an air of mystery around her, and so far, he was unable to crack why that was. Nevertheless, he had no complaints at all with his coming into contact with her, and in fact was grateful in words he could not express. Without her, he would still be drinking puddle water and eating rotten food.

"How many are required to pilot this ship?" After he had thought about it, David decided to ask one of the questions he had thought of since entering the ship and give the Lieutenant a bone.

"For most pilots, it takes two to crew a Vancouver-class Courier," Jacob said with a certain pride in his voice.

David's expression morphed into one of slight confusion. "But you came here alone?" he spoke, a statement intending it to be a question.

Jacob turned his head with a smug smile, "I'm not like most pilots," he said with so much confidence that it was almost believable.

Both of his companions had varying reactions to his words.

Catherine turned her head as if she were in deep thought, peering in the opposite direction from Jacob. While in reality, she was stifling back a laugh, 'He didn't just say that,' she told herself, caught off guard by his cheesy line. She remained turned as she hid her expression.

David was also taken off guard by his words. He didn't expect a military officer to make a joke, nor did he know that it was a joke. What was worse is that he was unsure of how to respond to what he said. So he simply replied with a response he had heard on the streets that had utility:

"Type shit," he said nodding his head sagely as if he had heard nothing more true.

"Pfft" "Pffft"

For Catherine, it was the straw that broke the camel's back, but Keyes was completely blindsided by hearing the kid's comment. Both of them broke into a restrained fit of laughter. All the while, David gave them a strange expression, unsure of what was so funny.

'Where the hell did he pick that up?' Jacob asked in exasperation

"Ahem," A moment later Halsey cleared her throat ending the laughs as they arrived at the door leading to the cockpit, "Be careful David, this class of ship lacks any artificial gravity inside the cockpit," she warned which David gave a swift nod.

She then turned to Jacob, "I trust you are able to pilot this to Reach, correct?" she asked before receiving an affirmative response, "Very well, I will be retiring to the cryo bay. Wake me if you need me," she said and then walked away.

Jacob watched her back as it departed through a corridor, "Well, kid, I guess it's just you and me,"

"So it would seem," David concurred, "Would it be fine for me to join you in the cockpit?" he asked as more of a formality than anything.

"Knock yourself out," Keyes said with a shrug before the door to the cabin opened and he stepped in, followed by David.

David was surprised for the first time in a while when his feet effectively got yanked out from under him before he had made it all the way through the doorway. With a glance, his eye caught a railing that began at the doorway and ran along the perimeter of the room. He reached out to grab it as he steadily floated above the ground, but found himself unable to touch it.

Looking around again, he found himself stuck. All other surfaces to pull him or push off of were just out of reach, leaving him stranded near the entrance of the room.

"Here," he heard the Lieutenant's voice from behind him as he felt a hand pull him backwards by his shirt.

"Thanks," David said genuinely.

"Don't mention it," Jacob nodded sternly, "But be careful, not to be morbid, but there have been many cases of people dying due to that same situation. When you're in a zero-G environment, it helps to always stay near a wall unless you have some form of propulsion," the Lieutenant spoke, recalling from his training. Inwardly, however, he was unsure the boy beside him would remember anything he had said.

Continuing along the room, the pair made their way to the beginning of the control systems, where they kicked off the wall, lightly gliding toward the Pilot and Co-Pilot chair like space torpedoes. They strapped in and Jacob began diagnostics checking every system, being certain of complete safety before they began their voyage. Once complete, he radioed to the station and was granted clearance for departure. All the while, David beside him sat, quietly observing him throughout.

…

..

.

"So what's it like being the doctor's assistant?" Jacob asked, deciding to make some small talk to pass the time. It would be a week before arriving at Reach and a day before the Shaw-Fujikawa Engine would be ready for Slip-Space.

"Boring," David said, acting just in the way he had rehearsed, "I am more of an intern than an assistant. So the only research I tend to do is on the best way to make a cup of coffee,"

Keyes chuckled, "Believe me, everyone starts somewhere," he spoke from personal experience, "But I bet your parents are proud of you."

At the mention of his parents, David's eyes flickered for a fraction of a second before the thought departed from his mind. He was trying his best not to dwell on the thought of them, a suggestion from Halsey to improve his mindset.

"I guess," David said with a tone of uncertainty. Before his eyes narrowed, thinking of a question he was curious about, "What's it like in the Navy?"

"That's… a loaded question, but I enjoy it overall," he said, carefully thinking of his answer, "Though I haven't been in actual combat yet, and it doesn't appear that the Insurrectionist conflict is going to end any time soon."

"So who knows what I'll think about it then," Jacob finished, shrugging

David stared at him seriously, thinking about what the man had said, "Why did you join?" he decided to ask, searching for something in the officer's answer.

Leaning back in the seat he placed his hand on his chin as his face morphed into a thoughtful expression, "I didn't join for any noble reason if that's what you're asking, but I also didn't do it for glory and money that comes with being a commissioned officer," he said before sighing looking David in the eyes, "No, my dad was in the Navy, his dad was in the Navy, and his dad was in the Navy. And after I finished school, I didn't know what to do. I didn't have good enough grades to do anything academic and wasn't interested in any other civilian jobs," he said, nodding to himself as he recalled, "So I followed in the footsteps of my father and joined the Navy. Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to be sent off to Officer Candidate school, which leads us to now," he finished

"Why? Are you thinking of joining the Navy?

"Maybe," David answered, getting an eyebrow raise from Jacob. The boy decided not to elaborate, and a silence filled the room. His answer was neutral, and it didn't appear that David wanted to continue talking.

After a moment, Jacob exhaled slowly, "Well, whatever you do, be sure to overdo it. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing, moderation is for cowards," he told him, reciting the tag line of an ODST unit he had worked with.

Glancing at the Slipspace drive display showed that it was just past 5 %, 'I need to kill some time,' Jacob remarked to himself before he once again turned his attention to David.

"If you're interested in the Navy, then care to learn some hand-to-hand techniques?" the Lieutenant offered, to which David accepted. This was the general pastime for the pair over the coming week.

==================================================================

Sorry for going MIA summer classes are not for the weak, and I am getting my ass handed to me by Physics II. Who would have thought that having a degree in math doesn't help much (well the math isn't particularly difficult but the fact that I have to learn 100% of the course from a book and Khan academy makes it damn near impossible).

I'll try and get you guys another chapter some time this weekend.

Also: LAYER 8 FRAUD RAHHHHHHHHHHH