A Soldier in Love Page 6

  She mustered up another smile for her friend. “We are fine. It is enough.”

  She hoped her words were true. If not, she wasn’t sure how much more everyone could take.

  Chapter Nine

  “Today, we are all going out to the range,” The Commander yelled.

  Michelle wondered if he ever got tired of yelling. She watched as his face became redder as he became louder.

  “Run,” he shouted.

  More running, surprise, surprise…

  Michelle began to run, passing a few others in order to catch up with Kate. Whatever Kate lacked, she made up for by being the best runner out of all of them. It surprised Michelle a lot that Kate could out run her, she knew it was highly unlikely Kate had received an additional injection like she had, but still, she couldn’t help to wonder.

  How does she run so fast in this heat?

  Kate smiled to her as they ran side by side.

  “Over the hill and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go,” Michelle turned her head to see Aaron catching up behind them although he looked a bit winded.

  “Be careful or The Commander will yell at you for talking,” Kate scolded as she slowed down to a jog. Michelle followed her pace as some of the others began to pass them.

  “Maybe he’ll have a yelling fit and have a seizure,” Michelle retorted dryly.

  Kate looked horrified and Aaron laughed.

  “What? I’m fucking sick of running. Its bullshit,” Michelle huffed.

  “Well, today were not running,” Aaron chimed.

  “Then what do you call what we’re doing now? Shit, I thought I got out of this to get the crap beat out of me by Bryce every day,” Michelle retorted as she panted and sucked in another gulp of air, “I’m sorry, I’m being testy aren’t I? I used to like to run on Earth. I used to think it was fun, can you believe it?”

  Kate and Aaron both grinned.

  “We’re almost there,” Kate said warmly.

  Kate, always so nice, always trying to keep the peace, Michelle thought to herself.

  She looked to Aaron and Kate and quietly thanked God for them. Although sometimes they made her feel like an awkward third wheel they kept her sane. Michelle wasn’t sure what she would do without them.

  “Aaron, where did you say we are going?” Kate asked.

  “Guns and missile training,” he replied.

  Finally, something useful to know instead of running, Michelle thought to herself.

  “How’d you find that out… Oh, wait you’d have to kill me if you told me,” Kate said.

  They arrived a few minutes later at the makeshift shooting range. Michelle remembered she had shot a gun before in basic training, but again, everything was fuzzy. She looked down at firearm that was handed to her. It was larger than any other gun she had ever held. It had a huge sight on top along with a strap to allow her to carry it on her back.

  It’s a rifle… no wait, a bayonet, she realized as she saw the sharply pointed end. She examined it further and noticed a third unknown part.

  “It’s got three modes soldiers. It’s got one with regular bullets, a knife, and then it’s got a hazing mode. The hazing mode will temporary disorient and blind most opponents. I say most because we don’t know this enemy very well,” The Commander called out.

  Michelle took her place as the soldiers lined up at their posts to practice on targets. She felt the hot waves of heat radiating onto her as she loaded her firearm with ammunition. She balanced her rifle in her arms and took her stance. She aligned her sight with the target and shot. The others did too. She wished for ear plugs but there were none. They were always unprepared it seemed. The others had all began shooting. She did the same until she was out of ammo.

  It seemed like target practice went on for hours. She reloaded and continued shooting. Her shoulders were beginning to become stiff. She watched as the sun began to lower itself. It was getting close to evening. She unloaded her gun and fastened it to her back.

  She took a drink of water from her canteen and looked up to see Kate.

  Kate let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m just not good at this sort of thing. I keep telling you I’m not a good soldier.”

  “Hey you can be the fastest runner but you can’t be the fastest runner and the best shot. That just wouldn’t be fair,” Michelle said warmly.

  Kate rolled her eyes. Michelle motioned for her to follow her back to the targets.

  “Here, let me show you just try holding it like this it will make a huge difference,” Michelle explained as she gently guided Kate’s shoulder in place. Kate tried the stance and Michelle nodded in approval.

  Michelle stepped back as Kate reloaded and began to fire again. She could see that she was more confident.

  She turned her attention to Aaron as Kate concentrated on her new found skill.

  “Aaron?” Michelle called out.

  “Hey,” he replied as he made his way closer to her.

  “What’s in this gas?” she asked in a soft tone.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure.”

  “Do you think that you could find out?”

  He nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  ***

  Michelle heard a soft knocking on her door. Michelle looked over to Kate who was sprawled out on her bed.

  She rose and opened to door.

  “Aaron?” she said with relief.

  “Hey, I found out what’s in the gas,” he said as he entered their room.

  “What is it?”

  He slipped Michelle a small piece of paper. It read, the gas will be gone.

  The gas they use wouldn’t affect them because it would evaporate before it got to them is what she supposed Aaron meant.

  Aaron smiled at Kate and motioned for her to get up.

  Michelle rolled her eyes. “OK, lovebirds you guys can leave me in peace.”

  The pair gave her a mischievous grin as they exited the door.

  Michelle sighed and tapped her IS on. She had work to do. She listened to its monotonous tone and took mental notes.

  Worry and anxiety stationed themselves deep within her soul. She rolled over on her side and tried to relax against her thin mattress. Despite her physical exhaustion, her mind raced.

  I have to have a plan.

  She couldn’t do it on her own. She needed Aaron and she needed Kate to help her. She just wasn’t sure how they could help yet.

  She shut her eyes. She wasn’t sure how but another day had come to end on Redex. It could wait until morning she was tired.

  Chapter Ten

  “Aaron,” Michelle called out as she made her way down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

  “Hey,” he spun around and smiled. His blue eyes were intense and his face looked concerned.

  “Hey, you OK?” she asked softly.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll have to tell you later, OK?”

  “You coming to lunch?” she questioned despite already knowing the answer. Aaron didn’t eat with them in the cafeteria. She figured he liked furniture instead of sitting Indian style on the concrete floor. He was a doctor, he was afforded such luxuries.

  He shook his head. “No, you go without me. I’ll come find you later, OK?”

  “OK,” she replied furrowing her brow.

  Aaron doesn’t seem like himself today. I wonder what’s going on

  “Hey,” Michelle’s thoughts broke as she looked up to Kate, who was in the cafeteria line behind her.

  “Hey,” Michelle replied warmly.

  ***

  Michelle and Kate quietly made their way out of their bunk to just outside of the concrete building. The night’s air was cool. The howling of the winds could be heard, but beyond that it was quiet.

  Michelle shivered, it was a strange thing, just hours earlier she was sweating due to the intense heat. Now, with the green sun down she was cold. She didn’t know what was worse being burnt or being frozen. She used to feel as though the h
eat never left her body. In those first weeks, she would lay awake at night sweating, but now she was cold. She supposed it was from being so thin. They had been reducing the amount of food rations for weeks now. Now instead of sweating, she lay awake at night with worry as she traced her fingertips over each individual bone in her ribcage, counting them. She wondered how much longer they could go on for.

  Aaron was waiting outside near the dam just as he said he would. It would become a frequent meeting place for the trio. The sound of the water rushing down could be heard. It was clear it was a manmade dam; there was barely any water to be found on the God forsaken planet.

  Michelle and Kate sat down next him and watched the water pool up beneath them. It was loud, but not too loud. It made for a safe place to have a private conversation.

  Michelle looked to Aaron’s face, normally it was happy, yes, even in Redex somehow he had a positive attitude, but now he looked different. His icy blue eyes looked serious. He had a worried expression that cast a shadow over his face.

  “Aaron?” Michelle called out softly as she tried to make herself comfortable on the cool stone beneath her.

  “You going to tell us why we’re both here?” Kate asked gently.

  “You both have memory fog,” he said looking into the dam.

  “We have what?” Kate asked again.

  Michelle moved in closer in order to hear better.

  “The Earth Army has been giving it to all the soldiers, well, almost all the soldiers. I guess since I’m a doctor, I’m exempt. The Commander is exempt.”

  Michelle just stared at the both of them. She was unable to speak.

  “That’s why you never eat with us?” Kate asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I guess they didn’t want me to lose any of my memories in case it somehow interfered with my abilities.”

  Michelle groaned, “But I was just a… what was I?”

  “Aaron,” she said as fear gripped her, “What was I on Earth? I can’t remember.”

  “I don’t know what you were on Earth, Michelle. You were hard to get to know at first, but whatever you were before, it doesn’t matter; you are a soldier now.”

  “Brain damaged soldier,” she added fretfully.

  “Calm down, it’s reversible and it won’t cause any long term damage. The problem is there isn’t any normal food I can give you.”

  Michelle calmed herself as she exchanged worried glances with Kate.

  “What do you mean?” Michelle asked.

  “The meals, the oatmeal type substance and the protein shakes, they all have memory fog. There’s little food here that doesn’t have memory fog because well there is now very little food.” Aaron replied.

  “Everyone is already thin,” Kate pointed out concerned.

  “Most are thin because of a lack of sustenance. Everyone looks healthy because those things have a ton of vitamins and minerals, but it’s barely enough calories to sustain everyone, especially with the running.”

  “Damn, see I knew we shouldn’t have been doing so much running,” Michelle added. It was a small, almost laughable victory for herself.

  “I still don’t understand, Aaron. Why would they give us memory fog? What difference would that make?” Kate asked.

  “They have been giving the soldiers memory fog so they would forget their home life. They have been running us so hard to beat down our will power. They want to make us robots. If we are robots we are easier to manage,” he replied.

  “So, what happened to all of the food?” Michelle asked before doing a quick spot check around them. She wanted to make sure they were still alone.

  “We were supposed to get a supply drop, months ago. We never did,” Aaron sighed. “I’m sorry if I scared you, but you have to keep eating. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything…”

  “We’ll figure this out,” Michelle said with an unwavering strength. She wasn’t sure where the strength came from, but it was right there with her.

  “We have another problem…the molcos hund. I’m not sure but this book it talks about vicious creatures that inhabit this planet,” Aaron said as he held up an old notebook. “They called the vicious creatures, molcos, they learned it from a trader. Then one German explorer added hund. They kind of look like a cross between a dog, a monkey, an alligator,” he said wearily. His blue eyes looked tired.

  “I heard about them…” Michelle replied as worry consumed her. She wondered if it was best to tell Aaron and Kate the truth that the original explorers of the planet all perished or if she should be optimistic.

  “Wait, Michelle. How did you know?” Kate interjected. “How did both of you know?”

  “I found this notebook and Michelle saw me reading it,” Aaron said quickly to cover for Michelle.

  Kate arched an eyebrow.

  “We’ll all get through this, we’ll get through it together,” Michelle added as she tried to make her voice sound as hopeful as she could.

  ***

  The next morning Michelle and Kate made their way to the cafeteria. Michelle took her tray and watched as Kate took hers. They exchanged nervous glances as they found a quiet spot away from the different clicks and groups.

  Michelle’s stomach rumbled with hunger. She hesitated for a moment but then began to drink her thick protein shake.

  Kate watched with a worry look and didn’t touch her own food.

  “You have to eat,” Michelle said softly to her friend.

  Kate shook her head.

  “What good will not eating do?” Michelle asked keeping her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear their conversation.

  “I might remember,” Kate said with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

  Michelle shook her head.

  “Doesn’t matter if you remember anything, if you’re dead. Let’s focus on living before we focus remembering,” Michelle replied calmly as she took a bite of her gray oatmeal.

  Kate gave her a sour look.

  Michelle held out her hand in a gesture for Kate to eat.

  Kate sighed and finally took her protein shake. She slowly brought the bottle to her mouth and took a few sips.

  Michelle wasn’t sure when she had last been so thankful for something. She didn’t know what she would do without Kate if she were to fall sick and she surely would if she didn’t continue to eat.

  Chapter Eleven

  Serik configured the controls of his ship as he set a route to Planet 8932. He needed to stop and refuel if he was going to make this long haul.

  Serik sighed. He hated to admit it but he was lonely. It had been many years since he had started his journey through the vast universe. He had mostly done it alone. The years before he had been spent in the Baat explorations. Those years were hard on him, he thought back to the battles with unknown enemies, charting the unknown, and just trying to survive.

  What had it all been for?

  He shook the thoughts and feelings away and turned his attention to the beeping viewscreen.

  “Will you accept the incoming call?” the somewhat feminine robotic voice of Sally called out. Although Sally was not real, he had affectionately named his ship.

  Serik moved closer to the screen to examine it. “Yeah, Sally, I’ll accept he called out.”

  “Yo, Serik!” a loud voice echoed through the cockpit.

  “What’s up, Bock?” he said into the viewscreen that revealed his old buddy from Baat.

  “Hey man, I just thought I’d let you know there is a bounty out in your area,” Bock encouraged.

  “Really? Where and how much?” Serik replied eagerly.

  “Well, it’s um… it’s on Redex,” Bock mumbled.

  “Smart guy, no one ever goes to Redex,” Serik muttered.

  “Yeah,” Bock replied.

  “Bock, man, come on. Redex? That’s a shithole…” Serik continued.

  “It’s a Cabaka terrorist, they are wanting to pay 500,000 intergalactic currency,” Bock interjected.