Aetheria's Enigma: The Lost Traveler

Prologue

 This is it. One of the biggest sales of my life. If I screw this up, it's over. My partner, and best friend, is helping with this demonstration. New weapons tech is hard to sell. We've been preparing this for months. Will I be able to handle a demonstration though? It's been three years since it happened but...

"Bud? Hello? Earth to Will."

"Huh? Sorry Tyler." Startled out of my thoughts I rub my eyes and come back to reality. "You ready?"

"Always. Are you?"

"Never."

We both start laughing. Between the two of us, I'm always the one prepared. This time it's the other way around. I have to avoid being around the weapons tests. Our boss understands but it does set us back sometimes. Normally I stick to marketing and paperwork but this was last minute and we were the only ones available to oversee it. I couldn't refuse, especially with the commission.

The vehicle stops and the driver looks back at us. "We're here."

"Been a while since I've been on a range. You go start getting the drone ready."

He looks at me and nods. "You sure you can do this?"

"I'll be fine. If I'm not, you'll know. You always do."

We get out of the vehicle and I start getting the laptop set up while Tyler starts getting the drone together and loaded. When we both finish, we get together with the buyer.

"Are we ready to begin?" The buyer asks us.

We both nod and I begin to boot up the drone. "How far out is the target?"

"3 kilometers out," Tyler replies. He grabs me by the shoulder. "You got this. It's just a test."

The drone begins gaining altitude and stabilizes at 300 meters up. It is fitted with full cloaking technology, a special 50-caliber rifle, and a long-distance camera. It can be used for reconnaissance or to take out a target with minimal risk. "Once I activate the program the drone will automatically find the target and take the shot while accounting for distance and wind." I hesitate, my finger hovering over the enter key.

Tyler notices and grabs my shoulder. "Do it. Remember, just a test."

I press the key and the program starts. My thoughts start to fly. The drone's cloak activates while it begins scanning camera images for the target. Once the target is located, the shot echoes across the open range. I tackle Tyler to the ground for cover, arms shaking, memories flooding back into my mind.

"Will! Hey! Snap out of it man!" His hands are on my shoulders shaking me while I'm still on top of him. "Come on man, everything is fine!" He smacks me across the face.

I snap back from my thoughts and back away. Sitting on the ground against the wall, my face in my hands. "You got some water?"

"Yeah in my bag, just relax bud." He grabs a bottle of water and hands it to me.

I splash some on my face and take a sip. I look at the buyer. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what? We all have demons in our past, some worse than others. You gotta take care of yourself." He hands me a card. "Call the number. Tell him I sent you. This guy helped me after I lost half my unit in an artillery strike. I don't know what you went through, but I do know that if you don't deal with it you'll push away the ones you care about." He looks away.

I look at Tyler. "You can handle it from here? I'm gonna go grab the drone."

"Yeah. Get some air, pack up the drone." He grabs the case and hands it to me.

While I pack it up, he closes the deal. We bring the demo drone back to the office and I head home.

I pull into the driveway of our one-bedroom trailer and head inside. As soon as I open the door, a four-year-old girl attaches to my leg. "Daddy's home!" She yells.

"Hi Sweetheart." I smiled down at her and picked her up. I walked over to the kitchen with her, where my wife was making dinner.

"How was work?"

I faked a smile. "It was fine."

She looked at me and knew something was up. "We can talk about it later."

We all watched a movie while we ate dinner, then put our daughter to bed. We returned to sit on the couch and she asked "What happened?"

"It's not a big deal." I knew she'd ask, but I just wasn't ready to talk about it.

"You never talk. You can't keep bottling this up. Maybe it's time to go talk to-"

"With what money?!"

She sat there, staring at me.

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. You know we don't have the money for that though. When the commission comes in for the deal today, I'll think about it." I put my arm around her. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"I know you don't like to bother others with your problems, but you need to think about what's best for the little girl sleeping in that room."

"Everything I do is for you, her, and Tyler. You three are the only family I have. He has known me for the past 17 years. If something were seriously wrong, you know he would tell you. I love you Amelia."

"Maybe we should go to bed and sleep on it."

"Yeah, let's go." We get up and head to bed. Our daughter always sleeps between us. I climb into bed and kiss her on the forehead. "I love you Lily." I close my eyes and go to sleep.