Read Universe of the Soul for Free Online Page B

was plentiful, I expect,” she conceded.
    â€œA bit much after a long night,” Gray replied. “But an overabundance of food aside, he did give me information to pass on to you.”
    â€œSuch as?”
    â€œThe Oreallus has made contact with another Advance Force ship, heading in this direction. They are planning a rendezvous in about forty-eight hours.”
    â€œDid he mention the name of the ship?” Adri's interest perked.
    Gray sat down in the chair facing Adri. “Yes, it was the Damacene .”
    Adri nodded thoughtfully. “Did he mention when our backup is arriving?”
    â€œHe did mention that the regular army would be arriving in less than fifteen hours, although he did not give me a specific time.”
    â€œProbably forgot,” Adri muttered.
    â€œWhat is the plan, then?”
    Adri stretched and rubbed the back of her neck. “We hold our position until the army arrives. I'll finish writing the report for the Commonwealth. You go and make a round of the perimeter. Leave Davan in charge of the patrols. I don't want anyone venturing beyond the shields until I've had time to assess the schematics of the battle and can think of a plan for a scouting mission. We have to find out where the Belligerents are based; they did a far better job at their night raid than I would like.”
    â€œI'll get right on it, Adri.” Gray turned and made his way out of the command center, leaving Adri to once again remind herself to tell him not to call her by name.
    ***
    â€œUpdates are complete, sir. Is there anything else you wish to add to the database?”
    Floyd rubbed his face, skewing his glasses, before responding. “No, Zultan. You can run a self scan for any abnormalities.”
    â€œVery well, sir.” Zultan switched programs and analyzed his systems quickly. Floyd watched as the tall humacom's gaze drifted to stare blankly at the far wall, an indicator that Zultan was running a program. He and his father (by Danwe, it hurt to think these days) had done a good job on designing and building Zultan. The humacom, or datacom as this one was sometimes called, looked just like a human with his dark hair and intelligent brown eyes. The only exterior differences were the ports and connectors located behind the ears and down the spine. They contained all the outlets for external cords, and were thus necessary to be easily accessed. Still, with clothes concealing most of those ports, Zultan could easily pass as a young man in his early twenties. “All systems are showing one hundred percent functionality.”
    â€œGood.” Floyd sat back in his chair, contemplating the screen in front of him.
    Zultan gazed at the screen for a moment before turning to gaze at the worktable that Floyd had been bent over for the last eighteen hours. “The project is nearly complete.”
    â€œYes, it is. I've only to install a few more programs, and then give it all a good test scan before activation.”
    â€œIt appears to me as though you've already installed all the government-required programs,” Zultan commented.
    â€œYes, the last ones are just for my own satisfaction. They're the minor things; the physical human mimicry programs.” Floyd replied.
    Zultan nodded. “You and your father installed those in myself as well, correct?”
    â€œThat's right.” Floyd rubbed his forehead, which was hammering painfully.
    Watching Floyd's movements, Zultan said, “You still aren't well, sir.”
    â€œI'm fine.”
    â€œYou've been rubbing your head since you came in to work, your face is a paler tone than normal, and your eyes look bleary and bloodshot.”
    Floyd frowned. “It's just the overwork from trying to finish the project by myself.”
    â€œThen perhaps you shouldn't be doing so.” Zultan replied in his usual even tone. “My knowledge of medical diagnoses is very limited, but I can tell that you are not up to your