A Soldier in Love by A. Petrov Read Free Book Online

degrees. It seemed to be helping a little but sweat was still
beading around her forehead.

 
    If I can’t take a little heat, what kind of solider
will I be?

 
    She thought back to Earth,
where she had used to run every day. She thought back to the treadmill at the
gym and the track at the school but everything seemed a little fuzzy. Her head
felt jumbled up.

 
    She shook the fuzzy
memory away and concentrated on running.

 
    Must be the heat messing with my brain.

 
    She continued to run as
sweat was beginning to drip down her body. She felt strong as her legs
propelled her forward. She looked to the others in her squad. Everyone looked
miserable. She continued to run, passing them one by one. There was only one in
front of her.

 
    Excitement gripped
Michelle when she realized it was Kate.  

 
    “I didn’t see you on
the shuttle,” Michelle called out. She slowed down to catch her breath.

 
    Kate slowed down and
turned to Michelle and smile. Her smile quickly turned to a look of terror.

 
    “What’s wrong?”
Michelle stopped. She gasped when she saw a soldier had fallen down.

 
    “It’s the heat, its
heat exhaustion,” Kate said as she also caught her breath.

 
      Michelle and Kate jogged up to a male soldier who
had collapsed. Michelle took note of him; he wasn’t very tall, maybe the same
height as Michelle. He was about average build which meant they could carry him
back to base without too much trouble.  

 
    “Let’s get him back,”
Kate directed.

 
    Michelle and Kate
remained quiet as they moved the collapsed soldier to the base for the nurse to
attend to them.

 
    “You think he will be
OK?” Michelle asked.

 
    Kate nodded. “Yeah,
they say they’re more out there.”

 
    “Let’s go get them,”
Michelle said despite her reluctance to leave the cool concrete building. Michelle
took a large gulp of water from a canteen she had been handed. She handed it to
Kate who also took a long drink.

 
    Michelle and Kate
jogged slowly back out to collect another with heat exhaustion.

 
    “They sent me on ahead,”
Kate replied finally breaking the silence.

 
    “I was worried,”
Michelle said looking into her deep brown eyes.

 
    Kate nodded.

 
    “Look, I’m sorry for
being a bitch on the shuttle,” Michelle offered.

 
    Kate shook her head.
“You weren’t. Well, actually you were kind of icy but maybe the Redex heat
broke that.”

 
    Michelle smirked.

 
    “Friends?” Michelle asked as they pulled the next soldier up,
each balancing part of the weight on one side.

 
    Kate nodded. “Friends.”

 
 

Chapter Seven

 
    Michelle sat alone in
her bunk. She knew she wouldn’t be alone for much longer because Kate had decided
to bunk with her in the first few days. Michelle and Kate had grown closer but
Kate had also grown close to someone else as well. Michelle didn’t have to
question where Kate went most nights; she knew Kate and Aaron had been spending
a lot of time together. How or why anyone could fall in love on Redex, she was
unsure but she knew she didn’t mind. She needed the time alone. It was the only
time she could get the IS to work without anyone catching on to her.

 
    Suddenly, it dawned on Michelle, the exploration team, the original one that
first came to Redex . She quickly tapped her IS on. She had been so tired and
worn out from training that she hadn’t thought of it. It was hard to keep
everything straight in her head. She had no paper or pen to write with and even
if she did she was sure they would be taken away.

 
    “IS activate ,”
Michelle said softly.

 
    She heard it beep in
agreement to her orders.

 
    “IS stream to me topic,
Redex Exploration Team 700,” she commanded.

 
    “Topic found, Redex
Exploration Team 700. Team was sent on Earth Army mission number 700.”

 
    No way, what great classification skills , she rolled her eyes

 
    “Redex Exploration Team
sent to find