A Soldier in Love (4 page)

She looked to Aaron and
he looked back. Just having a friend made things so much easier.

She began to regret how
she had treated the girl Kate on the previous flight. She looked around to see
if she could see her, but she couldn’t get a good view of the back of the ship
being strapped in.

“Attention soldiers,
take off will begin shortly. Strap in,” the intercom announced.

“All oxygen masks on.
We are preparing for takeoff, I repeat all oxygen masks on,” the intercom
boomed.

“Takeoff initiating in
five… four… three…two… one…” the intercom continued.
 

Michelle gave Aaron a
weak smile and before she knew it the ship was propelling itself from the space
station out into the unknown.

Redex reminded Michelle
of the Grand Canyon except the sky was not blue; it was more of a turquoise
color. The sun was a soft green color through the atmosphere. The terrain was
red and desert like. She looked in the sky to see two moons beginning to set in
the sky. It was evening in Redex, if that’s what you called this time of day on
another planet.

Despite the vivid
colors of the planet, it seemed to be a barren wasteland. There were a few canyons
but nothing beyond that. Michelle could feel the gritty sand beneath her boots.
She could see no plant life in range. She heard nothing but the footsteps of
the others and the sound of the wind.

She looked back to the
terrain and began to remember when she was a child. Her parents had taken her
and Amy to the Grand Canyon.

Did we do that?
Michelle
questioned herself. She felt as though she had a mild headache.

Maybe, we didn’t. Why does my head feel so foggy? Everything
seems blurry. Must be all this space travel…

“It looks like the
Grand Canyon,” she said to Aaron who stood beside her.

He shook his head.
“Yeah, except were not on any vacation.”

Michelle knew he was
right. She felt silly making such a comment. That sort of thing didn’t matter
anymore; they were here to fight a war not to reminisce about the past on Earth.
She shook her concern off as she felt a wave of heat come over her. She felt a
few beads of sweat begin to form on her brow as they made their way to the base
by jeep. It had to be at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit if not more and that was with
the sun going down.

If I can’t take a little heat, a little sweat, what
kind of soldier
am
I?

It wasn’t very long
until they reached the base. The base was a large flat, concrete building. Close
to it was a small dam of water. It seemed as though the dam provided the energy
the base would need.

“Soldiers,
attention!”
The Commander they had
been following boomed. He was a short, stocky man with a bald head. He had dull
brown eyes and weathered face. It was evident he had seen his fair share of
war, fighting, and death. He was a no-nonsense type of man as most were in the
Earth Army. Michelle knew his type; she had spent ample time with Amy and Eric
and their military circles.

Michelle stood at
attention along with the others in her squad.

“At ease,” he said as
he began to pace up and down the line studying each soldier’s face.

“Welcome
to Redex, it’s hot as Hell here. You will all be issued a cooler pack when you
get inside,” he stated. He paused as he marched up and down the row of soldiers
again.

“We are here to fight
and we are fighting an enemy we do not know,” he continued. “That doesn’t mean
we can’t win, that just means we have to be the best,” his voice echoed off of
the concrete walls.

He continued to pace up
and down the line of soldiers, studying each of them. Michelle shuddered. She
felt something between a piece of meat and a prized race horse.

“Training is going to
be intense. We have to be smarter, stronger, faster than them,” he continued to
eye each soldier’s body.

He stood still.

“Today, you will get
your cooler, take nourishment, and rest. Tomorrow we will begin,” he said as he
led the way inside.

The soldiers made their
way in the base behind The Commander. Michelle and Aaron followed last in line.
To her relief it was cool in the base building.

“What are cooler packs?”
Michelle whispered to Aaron while keeping an eye on The Commander in the front
of the line.

“They are affixed to
your neck, removable but sturdy. They are made of a cooling gel. Your neck is
close to your brain so it tricks your body into thinking it is much cooler than
it actually is. It keeps your brain from overheating and causing brain damage,”
he explained in a quick whisper.

Michelle nodded.

“Next,” the nurse called
out.

Michelle sat down as
the dark haired nurse affixed her cooling pack. She recognized her from the
cafeteria; she was one of the ones speaking at the table.

Michelle held out her
wrist tentatively. All healthcare procedures were documented by the Earth Army.

The nurse shook her
head. “No need for that here. We have to conserve power so we have to do things
the old fashioned way.”

Michelle nodded. “Ah,
OK.”

She watched as the
nurse opened a packet of disinfectant.

“Put your head down,” the
nurse instructed.

Michelle held her head
down as to expose the back of her neck. She felt the nurse pull a few wisps of
hair away from the back of her neck. Shortly after, she felt the familiar sting
of antiseptic.

“Almost done,” the
nurse murmured.

Michelle took a deep
breath in as she felt a pricking sensation on her neck and then a sudden blast
of coldness throughout her body. She watched as
goosebumps
formed on her arms. She felt the nurse press the pack against her neck harder
and she felt the coolness leave her body.

“It will activate again
in the heat tomorrow,” the nurse kindly explained.

“Thank you,” Michelle
replied as she slowly stretched her legs and rose to her feet.
 

Michelle made her way
from the clinic back down the hallway to the cafeteria. She couldn’t help but
feel anxious as she realized how large the base was but how few soldiers
occupied it. The base only had a small number of staff members and she wondered
how long they had been here. She thought she remembered mostly everyone from
the station. There were many unopened boxes covered in dust.

I wonder if we were the only ones who made it
through?
What did the nurse mean we have to be old fashioned
and write everything down here? Where are we?

Michelle followed the
sound of chatter into the cafeteria. The other soldiers sat in the make shift dining
area. There were no tables so most everyone huddled in groups and sat Indian
style on the concrete floor.

Michelle took her
rations and looked down at her tray. It was no surprise that again they were
fed the gray, oatmeal-like substance and a lumpy protein shake.

She lowered herself to
the floor slowly away from the others. Michelle counted the other soldiers in
the room, there were only ten.

I wonder what happened to Kate.

She sighed and tried
her best to eat the food in front of her. Her stomach groaned in protest at the
protein shake’s texture, but she ignored it and began to chug it. She started
on her oatmeal and tried to listen in to what the others were saying.

Damn, I’m too far away. I can’t hear anything.

“Soldiers,” The
Commander’s loud voice echoed off the walls as he stepped into the room.

The commotion silenced
and all eyes looked towards him.

“Finish eating and find
a bunk. You can shower tomorrow after we run. Remember we are on water ration here
on Redex, so no more than five minutes in the shower.”

Michelle had expected
him to say more. Hell, she expected anything besides they had to ration water.
No news on Earth, no information on where they were at, why they were sitting
on the floor, no plan, nothing.

Michelle could almost
feel the red sand clinging to her body, her hair, her uniform. She longed for a
shower desperately. Tired, frustrated, and dirty she finished the remaining
oatmeal and made her way to the bunks. She unlaced her black boots and placed
them at the edge of her bed. They were covered in red dust just like the rest
of her.

Redex,
she mused to herself.
What else would you
name a planet covered in red dust that sticks to you? A

Michelle closed her
eyes and relaxed her body against the thin mattress.

 
She quietly whispered, “IS activate,” and
tapped the upper part of her ear.
 

Please work, please work,
she silently begged.

A wave of relief washed
over her as the system began to chime in her ear, “IS sync to satellite
initiated.”

Michelle inhaled
sharply. She hoped it would sync.

“Sync failed no
satellites available. Information available from last sync, continue?”

“Yes,” she whispered
quietly despite being alone in the room.

“IS stream to me topic
Redex,” she continued to whisper even softer now.

“Streaming topic Redex,
please wait,” the computerized tone began.

Redex, a planet discovered in the momentum solar
system. Planet is approximately one-tenth the size of Earth. Redex is
classified as a minor planet. Gravitational pull similar to Earth. Redex has
two known moons, both are small and irregular in nature.

Planet has no known civilization beyond one Earth
Army base and one landing and fueling zone. The landing and fueling zone is
frequented by travelers going to neighboring planets such as
Zimpth
and
Blar
.

Planet with similarity to some Earth climates found
in United States, Africa, and Middle East.

Intelligent inhabitants are unknown. Fauna includes include
molcos hund, species unknown. Species classified as extremely dangerous by
exploration team 700. Redex species unknown are vicious and will attack upon
sight. Dislike acidic nature of humans for food but regard humans as a
predator.

Species will feed on
yowee
melons, tree bark, and any prey. They feed on anything low in
acidicity
. Anything acidic in nature disrupts their
delicate bacterial balance.
 

Due to low intellect, species unknown regards all
others as prey. Species is not available for domestication.
 

Natural foods here include
yowee
melons which grow into
a thick
vegetation.
Yowee
melons should not be consumed by humans as they are
highly poisonous.

Climate possible to grow genetically modified high
heat resistant foods such as
solanum
lycopersicum
and
capsicum cultivars.

“Fuck, speak English to
me. I don’t know what all these scientific terms are,” Michelle hissed.

Tired, confused, and
frustrated Michelle turned the IS off and shut her eyes. Shortly, after she
drifted to sleep.
 

It was cold in the
morning before the green sun came up to radiate heat off of the sandy plains.
It felt much like a desert on Earth. Michelle remembered that the IS did say
Redex would have terrains like those of Earth.

The Commander’s voice
bellowed breaking Michelle’s thoughts, “Today, we will run. We will run ten miles.
Those who do not make it will run again tomorrow, if they do not make it
tomorrow they will run again until they do.”

He paused and wrote
something down on his clipboard.

“You will run to the
vegetated area that will be three miles, and then back to base will be another three
making six,” he shouted. “Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes, sir,” the
soldiers said in unison.

Michelle began to jog
behind the others. She knew six miles was a trek, it wasn’t undoable but it was
best to start slow, especially in this heat. She felt the cooler pack on her
neck drop a few 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.”