Dark Past

My grandfather was a combat pilot. Even though he always felt distant I liked him. When I grew older, I realized that he was always aware, always looking for any signs of danger. Shell shock, PTSD, it has many names. My mother told me that he didn't use to be like that, that he changed when he came back from Vietnam.

My grandpa's profession was likely the reason why I was obsessed with space, astronauts, planes, and pilots. We used to talk about it when we were together. He was a really skilled and high-ranking officer in the army, and he knew some people, even a couple of really well-known astronauts. When I once asked him, if he met anyone who went to the moon, he simply replied:

"Don't ever talk to me about the Moon, boy. It's a dark and evil place."

He died back in 2004 from natural causes.

About two months ago, we decided to renovate my grandparents' old house. While clearing out the attic. I found an old metallic box. In the box, there was a number of things which as I assumed belonged to my grandfather. There was a military medal, a stack of papers and an old picture of my grandfather and two other men I didn't recognize. My grandpa looked around 40, so I assume that the picture was taken in the 70s. All of them were wearing space suits, and the scene was a typical backdrop used by NASA, but the logo was missing. Only a blank monochrome background. The mission patch was titled Dawnbreaker. I didn't understand anything. My grandfather was an astronaut? Why did he never tell anyone about this? Dawnbreaker? I never heard about such a mission. It must have been covered up really well. But why?

I found the answers in the papers on the bottom of the box. I'll rewrite the literal contents in the next chapter, but I warn you that many people might find it very disturbing.