Universe of the Soul (12 page)

“I'm flattered. I thought I'd just send you a little message. No hard feelings over the other night, right?”

Adri's eyes narrowed at the smirking tone in Kobane's voice. “I suppose.”

“Good. I wanted to let you know that I was sorry our meeting got cut off so abruptly. We'll make sure that doesn't happen again, shall we?”

“What makes you think there'll be a next time?”

“Oh, there will. Good night, Rael.”

For a long moment Adri sat seething in the captain's chair before turning to the petty officer on ops duty. “Tell the crew to remain alert. I want every post to be on their guard for any suspicious activity on any level. And, dang it, wake the captain.”

So much for getting to bed tonight, Adri thought sourly. She wished now that she had blasted Kobane into a pile of ATF dust when she'd had the chance.

Theabadian News – Print Edition

Editorial Section

The Effects of War on the Next Generation

To the Editor,

The war with the Galactic Commonwealth, which we have been engaged in for all these years, is fully justified. I have no compunctions that our current aims are not in line with what is right for our planets. But while this terrible war rages back and forth against our lands, there are other consequences that are not adequately addressed. To the Coalition of Planets I ask: what are we doing to provide for the children left alone in the midst of this war?

The statistics on orphans in the Theabid System alone reach an unacceptable excess of twenty million. There is no way to provide for all these unfortunate souls, and the result is total abandonment! If we cannot improve from the tragedy 15 years ago that marked Iqaidi after its assault, leaving nearly a hundred million homeless, most of them minors under the age of seventeen, then have we really improved at all? How will this carelessness be viewed when these children grow up to be the leaders of our Coalition? Will they accept that they were casualties of war, or will they hold a grudge for our neglect?

When a nation of planets cannot take care of its own young, leaving them to starve, die of exposure, or out of desperation seek asylum within the confines of the military, what is that nation? How will we be judged by the young who are even now being raised within the capriciousness and violence of our own front lines, whose toys are weapons of destruction and whose lullabies are the sounds of bombs and blaster fire? What sort of generation are we raising? Are we to entrust them with the future and expect them to follow the lines we have drawn?

Let us all take care that we do not, with our zeal, alienate those whom we have sworn to fight for.

A concerned citizen of Theabid

A
fter thirty-two hours of rousing the crew to yellow alert and dealing with a captain who hated to be woken during the night, Adri lay facedown on her bed. She was exhausted but still too caffeinated to sleep. Captain Heedman, for better or worse, was on the bridge. The only reason it was he and not Adri was the fact that Dr. Geiger had insisted she get some sleep before she collapsed. Adri wondered idly if the good doctor was the only member of the senior staff that Heedman truly feared.

Of course, Heedman was offended that Adri had ‘brought this calamity upon us' by inciting the Belligerents. This was completely unfair, in Adri's estimation, because she had no idea how or why Hildana Kobane had become fixated on her. All she'd done was survive!

Adri had no willpower or energy to move when the buzzer sounded on the door to her quarters, indicating a visitor. Not even the announcement from the scanner, stating that Field Lieutenant Thaddeus Grayson was waiting, could rouse her. “Computer, unlock door,” she said from her prone position on the bed.

Gray walked in. He took one look at her and grinned. “You're fully dressed and on top of the covers with the lights on. How are you supposed to sleep?”

“I'll jus' close my eyes.” Adri replied a little groggily, and did so.

“How come you're not asleep yet?”

“Too wired. Crashing now, though.”

“I told you not to have those last three cups of coffee,”

Adri grunted.

Gray sat down on the side of the bed and reached over for Adri's leg.

“What're you doing?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“I'm taking your boots off for you,” Gray replied. “Is that a problem?”

Adri could feel her body beginning to shut down. “Guess not.”

He removed both her boots and set them together at the foot of her bed. “Come on, turn around for me,” he coaxed.

“Nope. Too tired.”

Gray leaned forward and gave her back a quick stroke. Adri made a low, agreeable hum in her throat, so he spent the next several minutes massaging her neck and back. She was very responsive, and he found himself longing…well, that would come. For now, he needed to fulfill a lifelong ambition and put his girl to bed. “Come on, Adri, turn around for me,”

“No.”

Chuckling, Gray reached over and turned Adri onto her back. “There we go,”

Adri made a long moaning sound. “Stoppit! ‘m tired!”

“Just your jacket,” Gray murmured. “Lights dim,” he ordered.

With the lights reduced, Gray unfastened Adri's standard uniform jacket. He eased her arms through the sleeves with no help. Once he'd slid the jacket out from underneath her, he tossed it on the nearby chair. Then he stretched out beside her, propping his head on his hand in order to look down at her face.

“What're you doing?” Adri whispered, slitting her eyes open to look up at him. “Go find somewhere else to sleep,”

“In a minute,” He continued to look down at her. “You're a very beautiful woman, Adri,” he whispered at last.

Adri's mind was slow to pick up the compliment. “Uhm…thanks.” His laughter made her frown. “What?”

“Nothing, baby,” They continued to stare at each other. Gray watched as Adri slowly lost the battle to her tired eyes.

“Gray?” She whispered.

“Yes?”

“Do you think about kissing me?”

Gray's finger reached out and traced Adri's lips. “All the time.”

“Oh.” There was a long pause. Gray began to think that she had fallen asleep when she whispered again. “Then why don't you go for it? I thought guys were ‘sposed to be aggressive that way.”

“Well, if my lady insists,” with that, Gray bent down and brushed a light kiss across Adri's lips.

“Mmm,” Adri murmured, opening her eyes. “There's my first,”

“Your first kiss? Seriously?” Gray was incredulous. “And you're how old?”

Adri narrowed her eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I'm honored. How about I give you your second, too?”

Adri felt herself smiling. “Sure.”

Adri's second kiss was more aggressive, and they were both rather surprised when the kiss was over and they found that Gray was on top of her and Adri had her arms wrapped around his neck. “Oh, hmm. That could get addicting.”

Gray laughed and kissed her again. “For sure.”

“Hm,” Adri closed her eyes. She was asleep seconds later.

“Good night, baby,” Gray whispered. He rose, gently tugged the blankets out from under her, and covered her up. With a last glance at the door, he left. Getting Adri to sleep was going to keep
him
awake for hours.

Three tense weeks passed in which there was no further contact with the enemy. Some of the senior staff began to wonder aloud if the whole thing had been planned as a petty parting gesture while the Belligerent forces retreated. Captain Heedman appeared to like that idea, and ignoring Adri's advice, dropped the yellow alert. No argument Adri made could convince him that there was still a threat at large. It was normal Heedman wanted, and it was normal Heedman ordered. What was a second officer to do?

Feeling like a woman living in a paper hut on a viscous planet, Adri went about her usual business ready for any conceivable emergency. As the days passed, however, she would have begun to feel paranoid if it were not for Gray, who shared her opinion of their enemy. But then, Gray himself occupied all her spare time.

Adrienne Rael was not one to lie to herself. When she realized that she was making up excuses on an hourly basis in order to be close to the security officer, she had to finally admit that she was…well, at least infatuated. Wait, girls got infatuated. In serious like? No, that was… wimpy. Then, that left –
whoa, not going there!

Adrienne Rael was not one to lie to herself. She was perfectly capable of avoiding a topic she did not want to think about.

She liked being around Gray; he was smart, amusing, handsome, a fantastic kisser, and a good officer. If the past weeks had given her anything decent, it was time to spend (while not waiting for the ship to explode under surprise enemy fire) with Gray. Even if it was just being able to stare at him from across the bridge. Not that he was perfect. He had his flaws, loads of them. Gray was stubborn, persistent, and almost always right. He never seemed to get truly angry, managing to brush off annoyance and find the positive side to a negative situation. He was probably the most…centered person Adri had ever met, and while that may not have been a flaw in of itself, the fact that he enjoyed pushing
her
off center was incredibly irritating. Arguing with him was like beating her head against a tunsteel wall. He'd just smile and nod, and then do whatever he pleased after she'd run out of steam.

With a last testing snap of her swimsuit strap, Adri dived into the pool. Whenever time permitted, Adri liked to swim in the ship's pool as her mandatory exercise. The water, one of Heedman's miserly allowances to the crew, was first grade Aldalusian spring water, which contained natural vitamins and healing agents for humans. It was wickedly expensive and rather difficult to ship, but well worth every credit. When Adri dreamed of her own ship, she often envisioned having her own pool, filled with this same water. Maybe some norochi sun fish too. They fed on the dead skin cells in the water and, well, were really cute. Adri was a girl, after all.

Reaching the far edge of the pool, Adri did a slow turn and began to swim in the opposite direction at a steady pace. At 130 hours, the pool and adjoining gym were empty, allowing Adri some privacy and time to think. Lap after lap, Adri allowed her mind to drift in an attempt to completely relax before meeting Gray at 215 in the Archives – not to make out (though the possibility was there. Danwe, was she turning into one of those idiot ensigns?) - but to continue their search for the answers to the disappearing blaster beam.

“You have nice form in the water, Adri,” said a voice from the side of the pool.

If her mouth had not currently been underwater, Adri would have screamed. Her instinctive action to reach for her ATF only caused her to dunk herself. After several humiliating seconds, she managed to surface and glare over at the intruder. Embarrassment followed almost immediately when she saw Gray, holding her towel. “Danwe it Grayson, you nearly drowned me!”

“Sorry,” He held out her towel as a truce sign. “I thought you heard me come in.”

“You walk like an undarian.” Adri muttered, swimming to the side of the pool and pulling herself out.

Gray's eyes widened as Adri got to her feet and began walking over to him. He also got a funny expression on his face.

“What is it?” Adri asked, running her fingers through her hair, causing it to stick out at odd angles.

“I've – ah – never seen you in anything but your uniform before.”

Adri looked down at her regulation swimsuit. It was a one-piece in dark blue. It was nothing interesting, and certainly not revealing, but Gray looked as though he could stare at her for the rest of the night. “Well, now you have.”

“Oh yeah.”

When Gray still hadn't looked up further than her neck, and had made no move towards handing her the towel, Adri's eyes narrowed. “Grayson,”

“Uhmm,”

Apparently, no matter how spectacular this man was, he was still a man. With a small huff of breath, Adri walked up to Gray, stopping within inches of his chest. “You know something? Sometimes, when I'm alone, I don't bother with a swimsuit.”

Gray's eyes blurred. “That was evil.”

“Justice,” Adri corrected, snatching her towel from his limp hand and wrapping it under her arms. “Why did you come down here, anyway? I thought we were meeting down at the - ”

[Bridge to Rael.] her communicator blipped suddenly.

“Danwe,” Adri muttered, rushing to where she had placed her earpiece. Sticking it on her ear, she returned contact. [This is Rael. Go ahead.]

The petty officer currently in command for the graveyard shift on the bridge responded excitedly. [We are being hailed by an unidentified source! The command signature matches the previous Belligerent transmission!]

[Who is on the bridge now?] Adri demanded.

[Only I am, sir.]

Gray began to run towards the exit. When he realized Adri wasn't behind him, he turned to see her racing towards the locker room. “Where are you going?”

“Where do you think?” Adri waved her hand down at her swimsuit.

“We don't have time for that!” Gray replied in exasperation.

Adri stopped dead and glared over at him. “A woman always has time for this. Get up on the bridge. I'll be there shortly.”

Still dripping slightly (she'd had no time to peel her swimsuit off and was now wearing it under her uniform), Adri hopped the last distance from the lift to the entrance to the bridge as she fastened her second boot. With a little more decorum (she'd brushed her hair in the lift) she stepped through the bridge doors. “What's the status?”

Petty Officer Wellocki raced up to salute her. “We have not responded to the transmission, as per your instructions, sir.”

Before she asked when she had given that order, she caught sight of Gray at the security station. The man really could anticipate her orders. “Very good. I will receive the transmission now. Record and analyze it as it comes through, understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Adri sat down in the captain's chair and waited. The viewscreen popped on to show Hildana, just as before. This time, however, she was dressed in her combat suit. “Rael, it's a pleasure to see you again. I hope I didn't wake you, but from the look of it, I did disturb your bath. I apologize.”

“Apologies are wasted breath, Kobane. What do you want?”

“An infinite amount of things. But for now, I just wanted to say hello, and goodbye. I doubt we'll be able to talk like this again. So hello Lieutenant Commander Rael, and farewell. Sleep tight!”

The viewscreen switched off. Adri's whole body tensed. The background behind the enemy soldier had been all too familiar. “Lieutenant Grayson! Send up the red alert! Inform the captain of the circumstances! We have no time to lose!”

“Yes, ma'am!”

As Gray spoke with Heedman, Adri sent a message over the loudspeaker to the crew, informing them of the red alert. [All hands to your stations. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!]

“L.C., the captain wants to know what the emergency is. Are the Belligerents coming?” Gray asked.

“No,” Adri replied. “They're already here.”

I have never been in love before. My grandmother often told me, as I passed through those various stages of youthful romance, that love was like a line in the sand. It could be shallow, and the slightest breeze will erase it completely. It could be of a good depth, deep enough that when I realized it was not deep enough, I would have to spend time and care to fill it back in. Or, it could be so deep that once I crossed it, there was no way back. The funny thing about sand, she would say, was that it is always shifting; a small dent will quickly disappear, a trench will leave its mark, but will eventually fill in and wear a way, but a chasm will only grow deeper and wider, a constant in the world it sits in.

My grandmother was full of such sayings.

For a long time, I did not really understand what she meant. What did sand have to do with my lovely (but rather embarrassing) crush on the girl who sat next to me at the regional school? But she was right. Like a line drawn with a stick in the sand, I drew it, stepped over it, but quickly forgot it. I can't remember her name now. I hope she is doing well.

I guess I never quite understood it until long after she was gone and I was stationed on the Cliam Lomas. There I met Chia Camden. She was a beautiful woman; smart, amusing, serious about her work as a communications tech in my platoon on the Advance Force. After we had known each other for several months, she came up to me and expressed her feelings. We were a couple for quite some time, but looking back, I can see where I was forcing myself to dig that line in the sand; knowing that it would never be deep enough. Finally I couldn't face it anymore, and I broke things off. She was very upset – I know she cared for me deeply, maybe even loved me. Several miserable weeks passed, where she could barely look at me; finally she requested sick leave to return to the ship. On her way, our enemy attacked the convoy, and she was mortally wounded. She died within hours. I was never able to speak with her, but I wonder if my presence would have been welcome. For my own sake, I hope not. I suppose she was a part of the reason I finally requested a transfer to the Oreallus.