Prelude (Rewritten (again))

My eyes opened, but all I could see was small specks of blurred color, mostly black and lustrous gold and a sandy color, and they were all moving. Every so often there were a few bright flashes of light in a row, combined with a sudden, muffled pop. My hearing was the first thing to return clearly, and I could hear voices, talking, no, shouting, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I realized that I was leaning on something, my mind still not comprehending the situation, I attempted to stand up. My eyesight had begun to clear, And I was soon grabbed by what appeared to be another person. he was saying something, but I still couldn't put together the words. I stared blankly at him until he suddenly pushed me back down. My head hit the wall, not too hard, and even less so because it seemed I was wearing a helmet, but it triggered something, everything seemed to rush back into focus. I now recognized the situation at hand and the man who pushed me down. He was a soldier, a Marine, and so was I. And we were in the middle of a firefight. He was still shouting at me, and I now understood his words.

"Major, what the hell are you doing!? You're going to get yourself killed!" He shouted at me.

I shook my head to clear the remaining fogginess. "What the hell? How did we get here? We were running a joint patrol with the ANA! I was manning the gun on an L-ATV!"

"We were ambushed." He said. "An IED went off under your vehicle. You were thrown out and knocked unconscious." I heard several bullets hit the other side of the sandstone wall, and the soldier ducked further below the resulting spray of dust. "The few of us that remain are heavily outnumbered, and the enemy has us all trapped in this building. Can you still fight?"

Before I could answer, the door, that was hastily barricaded by several large objects, was pushed open.

"Look out!" I shouted, reaching for my sidearm.

The enemy opened fire with his AK-47 before I either of us could shoot him, and I felt several bullets hit me.

"AAH!" I screamed, practically leaping upright in my bed in a cold sweat. Both my wife and my dog were startled awake

"Shawn, what happened?" My wife, Shelby, asked, while my dog, Beau, came over and attempted to lick my face. He may be big and mean when he needs to be, but he's a teddy bear to people he likes.

"A dream, actually more of a memory." I said, blocking the tongue attack with my hand.

"Well, what was it about?" she asked.

"My last experience in combat. The incident that landed me in reserve. I replied, then sighed. It had been just over two years since that routine patrol went haywire, and after it was all said and done, when the AH-1Z drove off the attackers, there were only five of us left of the 30 that were on that mission. What's more, we spent all of our ammo entirely and were left with nothing but our bodies, experience, and equipment. You don't go through something like that and just move on like some Hollywood action movie.

"Why would you be dreaming about that?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said, "but it isn't exactly at the forefront of my mind at the moment."

Abruptly, the bedroom door swung open, and two little terrors ran in with cries of "Mommy! Daddy!"

"Hey, guys." I said, lifting my daughter, Bella onto my bed, while Shelby did the same for my son, Justin.

My kids are twins, 2 years old. I love them to death, but they are about as insufferable as any other child, I've learned to deal with it, though.

I climbed out of bed, put on my bathrobe, and carried Bella downstairs. I poured them both a bowl of cereal, then left them with Shelby so I could get ready.

A few minutes later, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, looking through my E-mails on the display inside. Technology is a wonderful thing, it has saved me and my family a lot of trouble and time.

Shelby walked in and hugged me from behind. "Maybe you should go see a Psychologist." she said. "This isn't the first war memory you've dreamt about, and they've been happening more often lately."

"You're probably right. It's got to have some meaning." I said. "They've been happening in chronological order. I just can't imagine what they could mean."

I saw an E-mail from my boss. I opened it and read its contents, then groaned.

"What?" Shelby asked.

"My boss. Someone was messing around with one of the programs and fucked something up, and now they need the IT guys to fix it." I said. "Damn, I was hoping today would be slow."

After I got ready, I kissed everyone goodbye and headed out to my Jeep. When I opened my garage door, there was a man in ACU garb walking up my driveway.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Are you Major Shawn Foote?" He asked.

"Depends on who's asking." I replied.

"I'm General Jack Pierce." He said.

"Then yes, I'm Major Shawn Foote." I said. "How can I help you?"

"To be short and sweet about it, you're being re-deployed." General Pierce said.

I was silent for a moment. "Why haven't I received a letter?"

"You will." He said.

"Then why are you here telling me this?" I asked.

His face became stern, and he looked around. Noticing my home CCTV cameras, he moved closer to me and spoke in a hushed voice, "Because this is not like any deployment you've ever had. I cannot say how or why here, but you will be informed, soon."

"I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but I have somewhere to be. If you say I will be briefed, I'll wait." I said.

General Pierce nodded and walked back to the HMMWV parked at the curb.

Once I was sure he was gone, I got into my Jeep and started for my office.

12 hours later, I was sitting in my home office, finishing some backed up work. I opened my E-mail, and there was a message marked CONFIDENTIAL. I locked the door to my office and opened the message. It contained a file and a separate document named 'read first'. I opened the separate document, and read.

Dear Major Foote,

First I must say that all information in the other attached document is classified. I am trusting the information to you, and if it falls into the hands of a civilian, both of us, as well as that person could face serious consequences.

I turned the tab into a separate browser window so that I could quickly switch away from it if need be.

Only 130 people know about this operation, 100 of which will be deployed with you. You will be secondary command of this operation, and will guide all field operations. Thus far, basic responsibilities are all we have set. You will have two superiors in the chain of command, a man named Colonel Jacob Locke, and myself.

Assuming you followed the quite obvious instructions, you do not yet know where you are being deployed. In short, NASA and DARPA geeks have been working on a project for the past few years involving what they describe as a weak point in the walls of the universe. This is not the first time something like this has been discovered, but it is the first time that we've discovered one that remains in the same place on Earth, it moves to remain in the same place on the planet, instead of the universe, we see it as an unprecedented opportunity for scientific study and possibly a source of rare resources. Yes, you read that right, your going into the freaking multiverse. This project has been nicknamed "Second Sky", and your new company will be the first humans to physically enter this new realm. Just to keep the importance known.

The other document I have provided contains additional details and tests to show you that we are not pulling your leg. Read it to your heart's content, but I can't make heads or tails of any of it. You should be receiving your letter in a few days to a week. So I suggest you make the most of your time.

-Gen. J. Pierce, USMC.

I immediately went back and opened the other document. It contained several loose text documents and other files marked with dates, topics and objectives. I started from the earliest date I could find, and read for what must have been 2 hours, the whole time I was completely astonished by the whole thing. I only stopped because there was a knock on the door.

"Shawn, come to bed. It's late." I heard Shelby's voice say, muffled by the bulletproof walls and door of my office.

I closed the window, and went to open the door.

"I'm coming." I said to Shelby, who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Why was the door locked?" She asked.

"Private work stuff." I replied. "Kids asleep?"

"Far as I know."

I went upstairs, and slowly opened the door to my kids' shared bedroom. I crept in, gave both of them a kiss on the forehead, and crept back out.

This is going to be hard for all of us. I thought as I went through my evening routine. I just hope I can handle this whole process under the current circumstances.