Dan, The Early Years.

Dan, The Early Years. 2051

FOR GODS SAKE LISTEN TO THE SONG! PRESS PLAY NOW!!!!!

Year 2051

Lieutenant General Dan Haeckel

Age: 31

Location: Manor, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Dublin

_____________________________________________

I should've known. I shouldn't have let him go.

I woke early from a nightmare, something dark, I didn't understand it, I couldn't understand it. But the shadows and crevices of the room made my gut churn. I raced to the en suite and threw up the small amount of food in my stomach. A small, cool hand smoothed over my forehead and brushed my hair gently.

"You okay, baby?" Sondra whispered, crouching down beside me. I rocked back to sit on the tiled floor and put my forehead on my knees.

"I had a horrible, horrible dream."

She slipped her hands around my waist. "Just a dream though. You're here. This is real." She gently rubbed her hand up and down my back, pressed her lips against my neck.

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. Just a dream. By the Goddess, it had seemed so real.

The phone rang and I knew. I swiped my hand over my eyes and shifted onto my feet.

"I can get it," said Sondra, her hand still on my back. The warmth of it told me that my body had gone cold.

"I can... I've got it." I held back water from my eyes, my body shuddering with the effort to stop myself from weeping.

The phone ringing was a piercing sound but I wanted it to keep going. I didn't want to pick up. Oh God, why had I woken up?

I lifted the phone and pressed connect. There was silence for a moment, the person on the line expecting a hello, and then I heard the familiar voice of the LASER director, grief lacing his words.

"We couldn't have known, Dan. It was a cargo ship, small. Explosives of that size... a bunch of suicidal's. The information couldn't have been accurate... and he... he..."

I hardly registered the tears falling freely or the strong arms of Sondra wrapping around my waist. My blood was like ice, numbing me.

"He's gone," I whispered, unable to speak normally.

"Put himself into the group that... oh God, Dan, there was hardly anything left of the ship, let alone... let alone..."

"FUCK!" I swore and ditched the phone across the room. It smashed into smaller pieces against the wall. "FUCK!" I swiped at the bedside table, thrusting it into the ground. Despair tore through me, a skewering stab. A raw sob escaped my throat.

"Dan! Dan!" Sondra. Her hands came up to frame my face, her wide eyes holding my wild, frantic ones. "Tell me, love. What's happened? Who's gone? Hunt?" I could see tears ready to overflow in her own eyes.

"He... His mission, the ship." I couldn't get the words out. I just looked at her, unable to do anything more, unable to say anything more. Her lip trembled, the tears fell.

Hunt. Gone. It couldn't... It couldn't be true. I'd spoken to him, only a few days ago. He was fine. This was the dream. I was still in the dream.

My legs gave out and I dropped down onto the bed. I had to call him. I had to tell him not to go. The mission was too dangerous. He had to stay. Stay home.

Sondra was moving, her hands fluttering down to lift up the table, her movement in slow motion. She took a faltering step towards the door.

"We've got to get you on the next flight," she said hoarsely. "Jasmine... She'll need you... I'll stay with Liam." Her breath caught and a fresh wave of tears flooded her eyes and spilt down her cheeks.