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  The other Halos—if any survived—would have to be dealt with later. There were now not enough, away from the Ark, to complete the Master Builder’s plan. And if those others somehow managed to return to the Ark, no one here would repair, rebuild, replenish them.…

  I would make sure of that. In time, I would prepare once again the defense I had championed a thousand years ago: my far-spread Shield Worlds, if the Master Builder had not destroyed them.

  Time was very short. But we still had no communications with the capital system. The entire range of slipspace was in turmoil, and might not settle for years.

  Other chores awaited me, as well. Chores—and personal obligations. I confirmed what I had suspected ever since my revival on Erde-Tyrene. The Librarian had filled the humans there with versions of their history that would reawaken in time. Intelligent species, she told me, are very little indeed without their deep memories.

  As I contained the essence of the Didact, the Master Builder must have suspected the value of the two humans, and so I hoped that he had not killed them, but hidden them away, where only he might find them again … if he still lived.

  Somewhere in the humans’ awakened memory lay our last hope of defeating the Flood, which was even now ravaging world after world, system after system—more hideous by far than it had been a thousand years before.

  More sophisticated, more devious. More vital. And soon to acquire a new Master, if we did not act quickly—if we did not locate the lost installation and the former captive.

  Ten thousand years ago, on Charum Hakkor, before I resealed its cage, this is what the captive had said to me, speaking in ancient Digon, which it had to have learned from our far-distant ancestors:

  We meet again, young one. I am the last of those who gave you breath and shape and form, millions of years ago.

  I am the last of those your kind rose up against and ruthlessly destroyed.

  I am the last Precursor.

  And our answer is at hand.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Greg Bear would like to thank the excellent team at 343, including Frank O’Connor and Kevin Grace, for their creativity, patience, and 24/7 assistance in beginning this monumental journey through the Halo origins story. Thanks to my son, Erik Bear, for introducing me to Halo in the first place, and for providing additional creative input and thorough fan advice. And thanks to Eric Raab for watching over us all.

  343 Industries would like to thank Bungie Studios, Greg Bear, Scott Dell’Osso, Nick Dimitrov, David Figatner, Nancy Figatner, Josh Kerwin, Bryan Koski, Matt McCloskey, Corrinne Robinson, Bonnie Ross-Ziegler, Phil Spencer, and Carla Woo. Also the staff at Tor Books, including Tom Doherty, Karl Gold, Justin Golenbock, Seth Lerner, Jane Liddle, Heather Saunders, Eric Raab, Whitney Ross, and Nathan Weaver.

  And none of this would have been possible without the Herculean efforts of the Microsoft staffers, including Jacob Benton, Nicolas “Sparth” Bouvier, Alicia Brattin, Kevin Grace, Tyler Jeffers, Frank O’Connor, Ryan Payton, Jeremy Patenaude, Chris Schlerf, Kenneth Scott, and Kiki Wolfkill.

  Novels in the New York Times Bestselling Halo® Series

  Halo®: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund

  Halo®: The Flood by William C. Dietz

  Halo®: First Strike by Eric Nylund

  Halo®: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund

  Halo®: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten

  Halo®: The Cole Protocol by Tobias S. Buckell

  Halo®: Evolutions by Various Authors

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  HALO®: CRYPTUM

  Copyright © 2010 by Microsoft Corporation

  All rights reserved.

  Microsoft, Halo, the Halo logo, Xbox, the Xbox logo, 343 Industries, and the 343 Industries logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

  A Tor® eBook

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-2396-5

  First Edition: January 2011

  eISBN 978-1-4299-6164-6

  First Tor eBook Edition: January 2011