Page 40 of Claimed by the Alien Warrior Triad

“Stryker, Haleon, Brigg… I’m coming,” I say out loud.

I walk back in a trance to re-read the article about the meteor. I gasp audibly as I see what I missed.

“The meteor is now displayed in the Tech and Science Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas.”

Oh, my God! Why wait decades, when I have the Internet?

I don’t waste a second.

I grab my laptop and book the next flight to Arkansas. I pack lightly, pulling a few days’ worth of clothes at random and stuffing them willy-nilly into the first suitcase I pull from my closet. I take a cab to the airport within the hour.

OceanofPDF.com

14

OceanofPDF.com

Aubrey

The plane touches down, and if you needed proof of how obsessed I am about this mission, it’s worth nothing that I even forgot to be anxious about flying. I usually have to pop a couple of Ativans before take off. Today, I’m finallydoingsomething – and subsequently, my pointless anxiety is eclipsed with the audacity of hope.

But at the same time, I know that the moment I stop to think – for even asecond –how crazy all this is, I’ll falter.

Some random person saw something shiny, and I’m suddenly dropping everything to take a flight to Little Rock. Just imagine, if I hadn’t seen that Reddit post, I’d truly think I was insane.

I check into a cheap, but clean Quality Inn in the heart of Little Rock.

The lady at the front desk says something about a swimming pool, but all I can think of is the Tech and Science Museum. I dump my things down next to the bed and take the longest, hottest shower of my life, my mind racing as the steam envelopes me.

This trulyisinsane.

On paper, I’m forty-four – and I should know better.

But on the inside? I still don’t feel a day older than when I went through that portal, as if time froze and my entire life has been on standstill ever since I made the choice to leave. At the time, I’d thought I was making the selfless choice to leave, instead of burdening the three Aurelians with a barren woman…

…but now? Now, I don’t care how selfish I am. Icravethem, and the knowledge that those three warriors arereal, and not just a figment of my imagination, has opened my eyes to the futility of my existence back here on Earth.

Everything I’ve worked for is dust –meaningless.

There’s no time to waste. I get dressed and take a cab to the Tech and Science Museum. The cab driver is chatty, but I can’t make out a word he’s saying. All I can think about is seeing the asteroid and uncovering the truth.

And if there’s nothing there? Step two will be to move my firm into the alternative energy sector. If in another ten years I still haven’t aged, I’ll know for certain that I’ve been utterly changed – and I need to do something about it.

My hand shakes as I purchase an admission ticket to the museum.

“Enjoy your visit!” The pimpled young man smiles as he waves me through the turnstile.

“Where is the meteor?” I demand, my eyes narrow.

“Exhibit twelve, just that way. I prefer to end on that exhibit, because otherwise you miss all the…”

He trails off when he sees I’ve already strode away.

I don’t care. All I care about itseeingit.

I rush to the exhibit, and disappointment grabs me as soon as I see the meteor tucked away in a corner, past some pictures and facts about the moon landing.

I walk to it, and the rock is only the size of a large dog. There’s a small list of facts about it, printed on a panel.

---