Goddess Rising Read Online Free PDF Page A

He directed a hard and meaningful stare across the cadets. “You want to be the best?” he asked. “You want to be officers in the greatest army the world has ever known?”
    The cadets straightened infinitesimally as he passed, postures ramrod, demeanors stern and proud. Though Sam could only see Sasser peripherally, she knew the exact moment his unwavering gaze fell on her. She knew she looked downright diminutive compared to the rows of powerful young men standing in silent, polished succession.
    Her chin came up a fraction of an inch under the weight of Sasser’s stare. She was going to kick ass at this. Her plan was to separate from the pack and make a name for herself as someone other than a low-rung freshman like she’d been last year, or worse, her daddy’s daughter . Rich, entitled, and a Wyatt —the path to the future all laid out for her in a neat little row.
    Sam knew what her father had in mind for her. Four years Navy, followed by business school, maybe marry one of the guys he would have vetted and approved of, then take over as the head of Wyatt Petroleum. Sam could see it all cascading, like dominoes falling one after another in perfect sync, right according to plan. Well, she wasn’t falling into lockstep just because Robert Wyatt expected her to. She didn’t believe in predestination. She believed in being her own woman, making her own calls. And taking on the Challenge was going to be the first big step toward proving it.
    “This marks the beginning of a new year, cadets,” Sasser continued. “Another year in which you will be taught, tested, and refined into leaders prepared to assume the responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government. That requires the highest ideals of duty, the highest ideals of loyalty.”
    And unbelievable endurance for physical and mental pressure . Sam felt her resolve harden.
    “You will learn how to manage yourselves and your teams under fire, how to solve problems you’ve never encountered before, and prepare yourselves to see the world in all its guts and all its glory.”
    Another year. Only this year not as a fish , broken down before they’d begun the process of being rebuilt.
    “You are not only responsible for your individual success. You are responsible for the success of your platoon. Your personal development does not happen without the growth of the team. And that is why you are here today,” he told them. “You will learn what it takes to be part of the best team in Ranger Challenge history. You will find out if you have what it takes to be among the best and brightest our young military talent has to offer.
    “You will persevere,” Sasser continued. “You will excel. And you will suffer,” he promised. “Beginning today, you will train every day, sometimes twice a day, for the next seven weeks. You will spend your weekends running drills and performing training exercises while your friends go to football games and parties. And at the end of the training, the top nine cadets will be selected to enter the Challenge.”
    And I’ll be one of them, Sam promised herself.
    “Every cadet here will have a chance to compete, but you must bring your best to the table during each and every field training exercise. And why?” he asked, holding his hand up to his ear.
    “Because close is not good enough, sir!!” the cadets shouted back, chanting Sasser’s motto.
    “The 10K ruck march race is one of the requirements for the Ranger Challenge,” Sasser told them. “But I like to make sure you understand what you’re getting into beforehand.” His slow smile bordered on evil. “We start with a twelve miler today. Anybody over two hours automatically disqualifies.” He lifted his service weapon and fired into the sky. “ GO! GO! GO!”
    Sam shifted her heavy pack and gripped her rifle, taking off in tight formation with her squad. Alejandro’s squad pulled up in front almost immediately, just in front of hers. He glanced at her as he