A STRANGE DREAM

He looked at her so intimately as they stood at the altar in front of the priest. She put the wedding ring she bought on his finger and he did the same. It was a very happy moment as the priest pronounced them husband and wife. They learned in and shared the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced. It was the best day of her life; she was married and would be graduating from the arts academy in three weeks. Not only that, but her daughter's birthday was in three weeks not to mention her own birthday; which was on the same day. Graduation and both of their birthdays, it was indeed a happy moment. She hoped that it would last forever, but she knew very well that all good things always come to an end.

"You know that I love you more than anything in this whole universe?" He said to her as they went into the private dressing room.

She smiled at him intensely. "I know, I love you too. Where's Valicia? I want her to see the ring."

He looked over at the beautiful girl laying on the sofa that was their daughter. "She's asleep, guess she'll have to see it later."

"I never thought in a million years that this day would come. I've never been this happy." She said as she kissed him.

For her being married after having a baby in her teens was crazy. Luckily it was a blessing in disguise, being a mother made her mature faster and realize that she could still accomplish all the dreams she had. After she graduated, she planned on joining the Imperial Navy and joining a special ops unit. Not just any unit, but she planned on enlisting in her new husbands' squad. They would always be together and raise their daughter, it was her goal to be the best mother she could be. Even if she was in the military, she would always put her family first. For now, she was just going to enjoy this special day and savor this feeling of being married.

* * * * *

Carmen opened her eyes as the weird dream had ended. She laid there wondering who it was she was dreaming of. Why was she dreaming about someone else's wedding day? It didn't make any sense; she knew that it couldn't have been herself that she was dreaming about. It was impossible cause she wasn't married and she had no desire to get married. Although the man in the dream looked very familiar to her as did the little girl. So many questions ran through her mind as she laid in her bed. None of the questions could be answered by anyone she currently knew. It was a weird thing to have a dream about something that never happened, but it felt real to her in so many ways.

"You're crazy if you think that dream is just a figment of your imagination Alicia!"

Carmen looked around the room and found that she was alone. Once again, she had to remember that voice in her head.

"Who are you and why do you keep calling me by that name?"

"You really can't remember, can you?"

Carmen felt an odd sensation in her head and saw an image in her mind of a woman. The woman looked identical to her save for a few minor differences. Her hair was black while Carmen's was a light brown. Her cheek bones were lower than her own and when she spoke her voice was softer.

"I must be going crazy or something."

"If that were true than a part of you wouldn't actually believe that the woman in your dream is you."

Carmen forced a laugh at what the voice told her. "That's not possible, how could I have ever been married and had a child in my teens? Not to mention that I was planning on going into the military."

"Your twenty-one, just six months ago you joined the Syndicate. You don't remember anything before your training because they did something to you! Nothing is impossible, is it not probable that there really is a voice stuck in your head?"

"Maybe I'm suffering from some type of mental disorder or something. Whatever is going on with me it can and will be fixed. I'm tired of always hearing you in my thoughts."

"I figured you would be in denial if I tried to make you see reason so I guess I'm just going to have to show you."

"What are you talking about now?"

"Get up and go to the mirror."

"Are you serious?"

"Just get up and go to the mirror, damnit!"

Carmen shook her head as she got up out the bed. This was ridiculous, she was literally having a conversation with herself. If Mina had walked into the room and heard her, she would have thought she was going insane. She walked over to the mirror and gasped at what she saw. The reflection she was seeing wasn't her own, but in a strange way it was her. She had black shiny hair instead of brown hair, her eyes were dark blue instead of light ocean blue, she weighed more in certain areas and her complexion was very different. This couldn't be her, now she was certain that she was truly losing her mind.

"Now do you believe me?" the reflection asked softly.

Carmen instantly recognized the voice and stood in awe as she fearfully began to touch her hair. Her reflection didn't mirror her movements instead she turned around and pulled up her shirt. Carmen looked closely as she saw a tattoo of an emblem. It was a shield with eight stars and a gun in the center. She turned her head, pulled up her shirt and surprisingly saw the same tattoo.

"So, who are you?"

The woman didn't respond, she just shook her head and pointed towards the door. "I can't tell you that. You have to find out for yourself who you are and only then will you know who I am."

Carmen shook her head in disgust. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Do what?" said another voice that she recognized as Mina's.

Carmen's eyes went wide as she realized she was no longer alone. She turned around to see Mina walking up to her. "How long were you standing there?"

Mina looked at her suspiciously. "Only for a few seconds, why?"

Carmen turned and looked at the mirror and saw that the woman was gone. She shook her head in response and started putting on her clothes.

"Ok, I'm going to act like that weird moment didn't just happen. Anyways, we landed on Cryot II a few hours ago. I did some scouting and got us some food to stock up the refrigeration units with. I also found out where your target is."

She looked up at Mina and was interested in learning just what she knew. "Tell me more."

Mina sat down on the bed as Carmen continued to get dressed. "Well, she is currently off work and is at some high-class restaurant with some colleagues from work. You might just have your chance to do the job today or tonight. Whichever one you prefer, but since it's your first I would suggest doing it at night."

Carmen nodded as she put on her boots. "So, who is she?"

Mina looked at her with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"Just what it sounded like. Who is she, does she have kids, is she married? What are something’s about her?"

Mina gave her a look that spoke volumes to her. "You don't want to know more than you need to. It's not good to get emotionally detoured by facts that aren't going to benefit you."

Carmen felt herself getting frustrated but she tried not to show it on her face. "Look Mina, one thing you need to learn about me is that the small things matter. How would you feel if you had to kill someone who had a family? By doing this means I will have to live with this for the rest of my life, so in order to not emotionally damage myself I would like to know about her."

Mina smiled. "You are the first asset I've ever met to say something like. Most of the agents I've worked with didn't ask questions about their targets they just killed them and continued on like it didn't bother them. Sorry about what I said, but it's just that I've been trained to not give out a target’s personal life information."

Carmen put a hand on Mina's shoulder. "I understand, but as long as you work with me just forget about what you've been trained to do and just follow my lead."

Mina nodded. "She's in her late thirties, single mother, divorced and goes to the bar and drinks to ease the pain of her failed marriage. Her daughter is eighteen and just joined the military and is currently living with her."

Carmen was surprised, Mina was indeed very resourceful just as she thought. "Damn you found all that out from scouting around today?"

Mina shook her head. "Nope, I overheard her talking with her friends while they were eating. Plus, her file gave a bit of information you might be interested in."

"Such as?"

"She's also a spy, apparently she has been in a deep cover operation for a few months now." Mina said as she got up.

Carmen followed suit as she grabbed two plasma carbine pistols from the weapons rack. "Does that operation have anything to do with the Syndicate's drug trafficking ops here?"

"No, it's got something to do with the Federation and some project codenamed Alpha."

As soon as Mina finished her sentence Carmen once again caught that sensation in her head. Project Alpha sounded very familiar to her; it was as if she had heard it before somewhere.

"Find out what you can about that and send me the directions to her apartment. Also, I need you to do me another favor."

Mina gave her a nod. "Anything you need."

"Find out what you can about a woman named Alicia. Cross reference the name with my files"

"Is that someone you know?"

Carmen thought about the question as they walked to the boarding ramp. "Yes, I'm trying to find her."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.