Chapter 18 Summary

The Commander is intrigued by the fact that the aliens dropped their ground forces and then retreated. The Commander inspects the damage to his ship and then starts to think about what to do for Jaggers, the officer that almost didn't obey his orders during the fight with the Covenant ships. He decides to have Jaggers transferred to a remote outpost. Admiral Stanforth comes to congratulate Keyes and promote him to Captain. Keyes lets the Admiral know that he needs to replace his bridge office. Six hours later, the Admiral radios in that they have spotted 10 Covenant ships on the outskirts of the Inner Colonies.

Chapter 18 Analysis

The aliens dropping their ground forces and then retreating sets a false sense of safety to the Iroquois crew. When they are down trying to get the ship repaired, it foreshadows the aliens continuing to work...