2199 Extinction
Surprise!

“Astra, help me!” Amlican shouts.

“Where are you?!” I shout back. I’m running through a thick jungle, pushing aside vines and flowers as I go. All around me are the echoes of bird calls, grunts, growls, and roars of various creatures. Amlican calls out to me, again but this time it echoes and appears to surround me. Where is he? I stop momentarily, and whip my head from side to side, trying to figure out which way to go. Amlican’s next call is buried by the call of a large black-winged bird, that lands on a branch, just overhead.

“Amlican?!” I yell again. But it’s no use, I hear nothing but the bird. I take off running, again, pushing more vines and flowers out of my way, as I go. Ugh! I hate this stupid jungle! I’ll never find him, here! As soon as I think that, the jungle vanishes, and I find myself back on Natatilis. People are everywhere, and I find myself having to push through them to get by.

It’s as if the people have no faces as if they are just there to prevent me from getting to my destination. From somewhere up ahead, I hear Amlican calling my name. I finally make it through the crowd and find myself standing all alone outside of a bay door with the number forty-two above it. This time, Amlican’s voice is weak, barely above a whisper. I race inside and find him lying on the ground, in a pool of blood.

“No!!! What happened? How do I fix this?”

I shout, trying to stop the flow of blood with my bare hands. The blood keeps flowing and with a desperate attempt, I quickly pull my shirt over my head and hold it to the gaping wound in his chest. I’m left wearing only a tight sleeveless undershirt.

“It’s too late.” He whispers. “Do you remember what I said? Keep going. She’s safe. Don’t try to save me.” He struggles to take one last breath and then goes silent.

“Amlican? Amlican? No!” I shout, pushing on his arm to try and wake him. Tears stream down my face as I give him one last kiss. I look down at my arm for my time travel jacket, but it seems to have vanished. “Nnnnnooooo!!”

***************************

I sit up in bed, screaming no, tears streaming down my face. Once I realize it was just a dream, I cut my scream off and wipe the tears from my eyes. I look around the room, momentarily confused. Where am I? The walls are made from light blue stone. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up. Yellow grass carpets the floor beneath my feet. Several small orange and red flowers bring a pop of color to the room. Green vines grow up the walls and reach across the ceiling.

A small artificial ball of light hangs a few feet below the ceiling, defying gravity. I don’t see any signs of wires or chains. It’s as if the light were tossed into the air, and gravity was turned off. I must have been so tired that I fell asleep with the light turned on. But the question remains, where am I? That dream did a number on me and I can’t seem to shake it. Across the room and to my right sits a brown dresser, with a mirror. A loud banging on the door, to my left, draws my attention.

“Astra! Astra! Are you alright?” comes a female voice from behind the door. I can’t place my finger on it, but it sounds familiar. The knob turns and the door bursts open to reveal Amancia. ​Everything suddenly comes flooding back and I remember the events of the past two days. Finding mother, bringing her here to the Copaie home world. Laying eyes on the place of my birth. Meeting my father. Seeing the Copaie palace. All of it.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

​“I heard screaming. I was worried.” Amancia says, from the doorway.

​“Sorry about that. I was having one of those dreams, and it took a while to wake up. But I do have a question. In all of the excitement, I just realized that I don’t remember seeing Amlican since Natatilis. Did he even board the ship with us?”

​Amancia is quiet for a moment. “No. I don’t remember seeing him since the elevator.” ​

​“Well, where would he have gone?” I ask aloud. ​

“I don’t know but I’ll find out for you,” Amancia says. “Do you remember where the dining room is?” ​ ​

“Yeah, I think so,” I say.

​“Okay. Meet me there. I have to feed the baby, and then I’ll search for answers.” She says turning to leave. ​

“Thank you,” I say as she closes the door. I turn and walk over to the dresser, picking out a matching orange shirt and pants. On the dresser top lays a golden hairbrush with red shiny stones embedded in the handle. A handful of black hair ties lay in a silver dish beside it. Also in the dish lays two matching silver hair combs, encrusted with dark green stones. I pick up the brush and brush my long hair. I reach for a black hair tie and pull my hair out of my face. My stomach starts to churn, and I take deep breaths, attempting to calm it.

When that fails, I run to the bathroom that connects my room to Amancia’s and throw up, barely making it to the toilet in time. Nothing but stomach acid comes up, but I flush the toilet anyways. I stand up, walk to the sink, and rinse my mouth with water. I place my hand on the sink, and my head on the mirror over the sink. The cool glass feels good on my forehead. I hear a beep and I pull my head off the mirror, in surprise.

“Analyzing health.” A voice says, from the mirror. Three dots appear in the middle of the glass. “Health check is done. Status ready. Species: Copaie. Sex: Female. Age: 21. Health: Good. Pregnant: Yes. Status: Eight weeks. Please touch the screen again for another scan.”

​Pregnant? What? How? That can’t be right. But the sickness I’ve been feeling the past few weeks, tells me the health check is correct. My head starts to spin as I try and figure out what happened. Amlican and I never did anything. I don’t understand. And then I remember that night, back in the city. I thought I had dreamed Amlican lying next to me but obviously, I didn’t. And then Amancia’s words come back to me.

She said the night she drew my blood, that the drug would make us do things we wouldn’t normally do. I am such an idiot! I back away from the mirror. Now, what do I do? I can’t be a mother. I’m not ready to be a mother! I give my head a slight shake, trying to clear my thoughts. I have more important things to worry about than my impending motherhood. I know ignoring the problem isn’t a good solution, but it’s the only one I have at the moment.

Right now, I need to find out what happened to Amlican and check on my mother, make sure she gets back to Talfar, safely. ​I make my way through many long, winding, hallways, down a large staircase, and into the dining room, where I am to meet Amancia. A long table, covered in a white lacy cloth, is stretched out across the middle of the room. Nine chairs, most likely hand-carved, line one side of the table, across from them are another nine chairs, and one chair at each end.

If this is where the royal family sits to eat, there must be a lot of them. I walk over to the table and examine its setup. Each chair sits in front of a place setting, a pale-green plate, and a matching bowl. Beautiful golden eating utensils sit on either side of the plate and a golden goblet sits in front of each plate.

I pick up a fork and examine it. Its handle features a Copaie drawing back a bow and firing on some sort of six-legged creature. I put it back and pick up a spoon, its handle features a Copaie reading a book. I put it back and pick up a goblet.

This shows a Copaie with one foot on a planet, sword held high, as if it just defeated the planet. Interesting. I place the goblet back where it was. I look around and along the back wall, on the east side of the room, is another long table, and white cloth, this one loaded down with a variety of food. The smells both make my mouth water and make me want to puke at the same time. It seems like eating is going to be a challenge, today. I walk towards this table. On either end of the food, table stands two Copaie females.

“Do I just help myself?” I ask the closest one. She nods her head in assent and gives a little bow.

“Whatever you wish. Just let me know what you want to drink.”

“Okay,” I say. I’m so used to the servants being male, back home. I keep forgetting that females are the servants, here. This will take some getting used to. Since I don’t see any plates on this table, I walk back to the other table and grab one. I hold it up and call out, “Are these the plates I’m supposed to use?”

The female servant nods her head, again, and I walk back with a plate in my hand. I carefully load my plate full of food, letting my stomach decide what I can eat, and then go sit back down. Once seated, one of the servants approaches and offers me some Kavva milk, from a golden pitcher. I’ve never heard of that creature, before, so I hesitantly accept.

She takes my goblet and fills it up, with the strange milk. It’s a pale orange color, which is a little off-putting at first, but once I taste it, I down the entire goblet, before she can walk away. It’s thick, rich, and seems to ease my morning sickness. The servant refills my goblet and then walks away. With my stomach calmed, I’m finally able to eat my first full meal in two weeks.

Amancia walks in about the time I am finishing up. She walks over and pulls out the chair next to mine. “I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” she asks.

“How about the good news?” I ask. “I found out what happened to Amlican. The bad news is he never made it to Saltu. One of Mangone’s men killed him before he could board the ship. Malum killed Mangone and that was retaliation for Mangone’s death. I’m sorry Astra.” She says placing a hand on my shoulder.

I know I should be angry, or upset, or anything really, but instead all I feel is numbness. In a way, that dream I had, already prepared me for this. I should have been paying better attention to him. But I was so caught up with saving my mother and then in being with my own kind. It’s been so nice not being judged by the color of my skin. Here I haven’t felt the need to prove myself. But all of this joy doesn’t fill the hole that Amlican’s death has left in my heart. Maybe I should go back and save him. But no, he didn’t want that. He told me to quit saving him. I suppose later, the feelings will hit, but for now, I welcome the numbness.

“You said there was good news?” I ask.

She takes her hand off my shoulder. “Yes, there is. Once my father heard what happened to Amlican, he ordered the immediate execution of Mangone’s man. He’s gone. He will not hurt anyone else. Father doesn’t like interracial relationships, but he doesn’t like anyone hurting his family. You are his family. By the way, there is one more piece of good news. The negotiations for the Talfarian-owned planets, in the Cresent Galaxy, are over. They have agreed to leave the planets and give them to us. They will be here shortly to collect their princess.”

“That’s good,” I say. “Amancia, I need to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Can I stay here? I mean, I know you are raising my younger self, but with Amlican gone….”

“Yes, you can stay. I already talked to my father about this. He said it was fine. We will just tell your younger self that you are her older sister. Of course, you can’t have the same name. How about we call you, Vos? Or V for short?” Amancia says.

“Vos sounds good,” I say, starting to feel dizzy. I get this intense feeling of déjà vu and then I’m hit with a memory.

*****************************

“My name is Vos. V for short. But before I answer any more questions, why don’t you join us, Astra?” the shadow says.

“How did you know I was there?” I ask, pulling down my hood. “And who exactly are you?”

The shadowed figure steps into the moonlight and I can see that she is wearing an old, faded, black cloak. In the bright moonlight, I can see holes in various places on the cloak, as if it had been worn, for several years.

“I just told your friend that my name is Vos. And I knew you were there because I knew your curiosity would get the best of you. I knew that you would have to talk to me for yourself. Curiosity and a sense of adventure is how you usually find yourself in dangerous situations. Am I right?”

“Maybe, but how do you know that about me? And why are you still wearing the hood? I’m not going to talk to you anymore unless you remove it.” I say, annoyed.

“I knew you would ask that as well,” Vos says, reaching up and removing the hood. The first thing I notice is the dark black hair, the two-toned eyes, and then I see it, yellow skin.

“You’re a Copaie?!” I shout.

“Hush! You will get us caught.” Vos scolds. “Yes, I’m a Copaie. But I’m not here to hurt you, as I’ve already stated.”

********************************

The memory fades just as quickly as it hit. Vos. V. I am Vos. I am V.

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