Universe of the Soul Read Online Free Page A

monitoring the morale of her troops, getting a chance to see how the mind of her new officer worked…and getting a nice dose of Field Lieutenant Gorgeous’ sexy voice.
    [What if they come up behind me? How am I supposed to be looking ahead and behind me at the same time?] the soldier asked. Adri recognized him as Ensign Piontek, fresh from the Naval Academy and somehow shunted up into the Advance Force.
    [By using more than just your eyes.] Gray replied. [You have ears, use them. In circumstances like these, sometimes your ears are a better bet. Follow your gut instinct. If something doesn't feel quite right, check it out, unless you've been given direct orders to the contrary. But try pushing to the limit of your orders.]
    Well, the man certainly knew what he was talking about , Adri mused.
    [Thanks, sir,] Piontek replied. Adri was about to tune out of the frequency, thinking the conversation over when he said, [Hey, what do you think of the L.C.?]
    [The lieutenant commander?] Gray clarified.
    Adri's head whipped around from the view of the shields (the north one was dimming considerably) and glared at the back of Gray's head.
    [Yeah. Quite a babe, huh?] Piontek went on. [Some of us had a poll taken in the regiment, and it was decided that she's the hottest officer in the Advance Force.]
    Oh, for Danwe's sake , Adri snorted.
    Gray smiled behind his helmet. Piontek was obviously nervous, and was trying to fill up the quiet waiting time with mindless chatter. It would be better for him to stay silent and alert – like they had been talking about just one minute ago – but Gray was far too curious about Adrienne Rael to rebuke the soldier. [I see,] he said encouragingly.
    I see? That was it? Adri glared harder at the back of her field lieutenant's head. What, did she not interest him at all? Obviously, all the other men in her regiment thought she was appealing. It just figured that the first time she wanted a guy to notice her as a woman, he didn't find her attractive.
    Wait, what was she thinking? She didn't want him to find her appealing at all! She didn't want the man to notice her as a woman, because she didn't want any sort of relationship. Such a thing was unnecessary and distracting. It was time to stop the conversation.
    She opened her mouth to rebuke her two idiot troops when, with a dying flicker, the north shield fell.
    At that precise second, all hell broke loose.
    A mass of moving black figures raced for the now defenseless opening in the camp's shield system, while at the same time, shouts over the communicator announced that more of the enemy's troops were racing up the incline behind them.
    The rapid hisses and whines of both ATF and blaster fire rent the silent night. A quick glance showed that Adri's squadron was trapped between the enemy troops assaulting the camp, and the soldiers scaling the ridge.
    With a huff of breath, Adri’ reorganized her plans. There would be no chance of getting back into bed for a good while now, and that thought made her irritated. [Rear group! Return fire!]
    In the midst of the developing chaos, the sound of Gray's voice repeating her commands was unexpectedly soothing.

    Okay, so I've been around, and I've seen a lot of strange things. I was…let's see…about thirteen human years old when my family left Paranth. I remember packing up the evacuation transport with my orhan, after the last asade raid. The air was full of dust, because everyone was moving at once. The asade would be back, and no one wanted to stick around for a massacre sequel. I stopped carting a box for a minute to rub the dust out of my eyes, and I looked up and saw something flash past, nearly blending with the stars.
    I asked my father what it was; it had moved too slowly to be a shooting star, and it hadn't passed through the atmosphere. Was it an asade scout ship, come to note our activities? Was it some new monster come to terrorize us?
    â€œOh, no, Desmumhnach'tos,” he