2199 Extinction

The first thing I notice is that I appear to be alive. I can feel something hard on my back. I’m still in that jail cell. It didn’t work. A sinking feeling appears in the pit of my stomach. I take a couple of deep breaths and then open my eyes. I’m staring up into grey skies and not the rocky enclosure of the jail cell. It worked! It actually worked! I’m not sure if we traveled back in time, but I’m alive and that’s all that matters to me. I sit up and look around me. Strange trees and flowers surround me, and I catch sight of small, furry, four-legged creatures running up trees and chattering.

Where did I bring us? I was so panicked about getting out before we could get caught that I just entered the first set of coordinates that entered my mind. I climb unsteadily to my feet and start walking. I look up at the sky, as I go, hoping to catch sight of stars, moons, or suns, anything to give me a hint about where we are. Something liquid hits me between my eyes and I blink.

What the? Soon, more liquid is falling from the sky and soaking me. We aren’t in the Lynal Galaxy anymore. Back home, water doesn’t fall from the sky. At some point, it starts to pool up from the ground. Early morning hours see swampy, muddy, ground until the plants soak it up close to midday. Whatever the plants don’t suck up, the hot sun evaporates. This is true of all the planets in the eight or ten galaxies that surround us. Some planets have more groundwater than others, these planets have more lush vegetation. And some planets have a constant wet type feeling in the air, this humidity helps to water plants there. But liquid water from the sky, that’s a first for me.

“Astra? Astra!” I hear Amlican yelling for me.

“Over here!” I call to him. The sky water starts falling harder and faster. And out of nowhere a memory hits me. I must have been five or six at the time.

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

“I love early mornings. It’s the best time to catch one-day frogs.” I say laughing as the tadpoles tickle my bare toes.

“Galipins.” Mother corrects me. “And I love them too.”

“Are Gally Pinies on every planet in the entire universe?” I ask as I sit down in the water.

“No dear. Galipins only exist on Terraqua planets like ours.”

“What’s Terri Qa?” I reach out and carefully grab a tadpole in my chubby young hands.

“Terraqua. It means land water. That’s what you call planets like ours. It’s where the water bubbles up from the ground every morning and is soaked up by the plants and sun by midday. Some planets are Calqua. Or sky water planets.” She picks up a small fish that swims by, inspects it, and releases it back into the water.

“Sky water? Does that mean the water just sits above everyone’s head?” I ask, releasing the tadpole and watching it swim off.

“Sort of.” She laughs before continuing. “The water is just vapors that are in the air. Instead of their plants soaking up the vapors, it forms something called clouds.”

“We have clouds,” I say.

“Yes, we also have clouds, but the clouds on Calqua planets release the water back to the ground. Our clouds sink to the ground when they are full of water, theirs don’t. The water falls from the sky and is called rain.”

“Like a shower?” I ask.

“Like a shower,” Mother says, taking me by the hand. She pulls me back to my feet and we skip through the early morning water, together.

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

Rain. The sky water is called rain. That’s one of my favorite memories of my mother. She was always doing small things like that with me. I am pulled from my musings by Amlican coming up beside me.

“What’s going on? Why is water falling from the sky? Can we go somewhere to get out of this?” Amlican asks. His arms are over his head, in a weak attempt to keep himself dry.

“The sky water is called rain,” I say, looking around for shelter.

“Well, let’s get out of this rain or whatever you want to call it. Look, there’s a cave, let’s go.” He says, pointing.

I look in the direction and see the small cave he’s talking about. It’s surrounded, on all sides, by trees. We dash through the rain and take shelter in the small cave. We sit at the entrance of the cave and watch as the water falls from the sky. After a few hours, it becomes obvious that the sky water isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Already it is covering the ground; soon there is no dry land left, and I’m reminded of early mornings back home. The only thing missing is Galipins and small fish.

“So, you’ve heard of this sky water before?” Amlican asks, sitting next to me, his legs outstretched in front of him.

“Yes, Mother told me about it. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it, with all of the books you read.” I say.

Although, surprised is hardly the word I would use to describe it. Amlican reads so many books, that one of them had to have mentioned the word rain. I cross my legs and lean back on my hands, enjoying the scenery with my best friend.

“I seem to recall something about planets on the far side of the galaxy experiencing something similar to sky water. I just never expected to experience it for myself. I don’t care for it at all. Water belongs on the ground, not falling from the sky.” He frowns, picks up a small rock from beside him and throws it outside. It splashes when it hits the ground, sending more water through the air. “Where are we?”

“That seems to be the million-credit question. I have an idea but I’m not completely sure. I was trying to get us out of there alive and kind of panicked. I just entered the first string of numbers that came to mind.”

“Okay, so if you had to guess, where would you say we are?” Amlican asks, turning and looking at me.

“If I had to guess, and I’m hoping I’m right, I would say we are on the planet my mother grew up on, it’s called Earth.”

“Earth? What a weird name. Wait. I think I read a book about this planet. Lots of water. Lots of creatures. At the top of the food chain is a species called humans. Supposedly they look just like Talfarians. Not very smart though. They aren’t even capable of leaving their own solar system. We better be careful. I’ve heard tales of species crash landing here and never being heard from again. One book even says that these Earth people are carnivorous and eat anything that doesn’t eat them, first.”

“Wow! That’s pretty scary.” I say, hugging my knees as a shiver runs through my body.

“Why did you bring us here?” Amlican asks.

“I told you, my mother was raised here. If we are going to stop Malum, then what better way to warn her of danger, than to do it here? This planet can’t be that big. It should be rather easy to find her.” I say, yawning.

Exhaustion eventually overcomes both of us and we fall into a deep sleep, at the mouth of the cave. I wake up to a steady dripping sound. I open my eyes and can see the dim light of a new day. I sit up and look around me. The rain appears to have slowed to a faint mist. White clouds hover close to the ground, and I am once again reminded of the conversation I had with my mother about rain.

On my left, lays Amlican, breathing heavy, apparently still caught up in the dream world. At some point in the night, Amlican and I clasped hands. Not sure which one of us thought it was a good idea, but now my fingers are stiff and asleep. I message my sleeping hand with my other hand, trying to get the blood flowing again. Soon, the tingling sensation starts to fade, and I gently untangle my fingers from his.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Amlican asks.

I jump, startled, I was so sure that I wasn’t going to wake him. “I guess, we need to try and locate my mother.”

“Man, I have absolutely no feeling in my hand, right now.” He says rubbing the hand I just extricated mine from.

“Here. Let me.” I say, taking his hand and gently messaging it. I work for about five minutes before he speaks up.

“That feels better, thanks,” Amlican says. He grabs hold of my hand and brings it to his lips, kissing it softly.

“Well, anyway, we need to get going,” I say pulling my hand away and jumping to my feet. “We have a lot of work to do.”

We hear a rustling sound coming from the bushes in front of us. “Hello? Who is there?” Amlican calls out.

A figure of a male steps out, holding something long, shiny, and black in color. The male looks similar to any Talfarian male back home.

“Hey, we are looking for someone. Her name is Nova. Have you seen her?” I ask stepping forward.

The male’s eyes widen in horror, and he backs up several steps before lifting his shiny rod into the air. I hear a loud booming noise and feel searing pain rip through my body. I fall backward and hit the ground hard. What’s going on? What happened? What was that stick thing? Amlican falls beside me and then rolls over, his body inches above mine. He places one hand on my chest and the other on my right arm. I’m too dizzy and weak to object to his closeness.

He’s pulling my arm over to the other arm and saying something. It takes all I have to understand what he’s wanting me to do. The jacket. He wants me to punch in the coordinates and travel back to before this happened. Somehow, with shaking hands, I manage to punch the coordinates and time in. I’m feeling weaker but I manage to hit the enter button, and then everything fades to black.

“Let’s not stay in the cave. I feel like the cave is a bad idea.” I say as the feeling of being punched in the gut overwhelms me. Wait a minute. What? Why do I feel like I just said this?

“I get the same feeling. I think we time traveled. In fact, I’m pretty sure we did; because I feel like I just watched you die.” He walks over to me and runs his hand across my chest.

“Hey, now! None of that!” I say, slapping his hand.

“Sorry. I just wanted to make sure there was no wound. I wasn’t trying any funny business, I promise.” He says, his hands raised in defense.

“I can promise you that I’m fine. But yeah, I get the same feeling that I just died in another timeline. So how about we be careful, this time?” I say. “How about we go into the sky water?” I feel slightly dizzy as an assault of memories hit me. The man. The long tube thing. Pain. Darkness. I don’t know what exactly happened, but it couldn’t have been good.

“Into the sky water,” Amlican says, getting up and leading the way out of the cave.

We walk for several hours before the rain stops. It seems to just cut off like someone turning off a faucet. I’m thankful it stopped because visibility has improved one hundred percent. And because it was a little weird. Even though I had heard of sky water, before, being in it, was like swimming on land. Although, nothing appears to be swimming in the water, here. It just gives an eerie feeling, like death is imminent. Now that the sky water has stopped, silence covers the surrounding forest like a blanket.

“You know, there is one thing that’s been bugging me about the whole Malum killing my mother thing,” I say after a while.

“What’s that?” he asks.

“Whatever happened to Princess and Rex?” I ask. Princess is the Loftin my mother rescued when I was a baby. It is a dangerous creature that lives on a tropical planet. It stands on all fours, and its head comes to a grown male’s waist. It is incredibly flexible but extremely heavy at the same time. A Loftin is white with light grey spots.

It is longer than the average height of a male Talfarian. Rex on the other hand is a Vanduo Tuk. Rex is a male of his species, identifiable by the long mane around his neck. He is purple and a bluish-green color. Smallish fins on the tail, and a tuft of fur on his tail. He is a four-legged creature that is a quarter of the size of the Loftin. Both of them loved my mother and were rarely seen without her.

“I wondered the same thing myself, so I asked around. Princess was found dead about the same time as your mother, but outside in the courtyard. And someone swears they saw Rex running off into the nearby woods. Probably to join the herd of Duolofts.”

“That just proves my point about Malum. Princess rarely left my mother’s side. And what could be strong enough to kill a grown Loftin?” I ask.

“Maybe you are right.” He says, frowning. “I don’t ever recall seeing your mother without Princess.”

We walk in silence a few minutes before I spot something odd. “What’s that?” I ask, pointing to a large furry brown creature in front of us.

“I don’t know, but I think we should avoid it,” Amlican says.

But it’s too late. The furry thing, turns our direction, stands upon two legs, opens its mouth, and lets out a loud roar. It’s tall, towering way over me, and I noticed a mouth full of sharp teeth. The creature then charges us, running fast on four legs.

“Let’s go!” Amlican shouts, turning and running away.

“Right behind you!” I shout, turning and following. We run and run, but eventually, I feel hot, stinking, breath on the back of my neck. “It’s too fast! We aren’t going to make it!” I stop and turn around to face the beast.

That was stupid! I think as a massive paw smashes me to the ground. I feel blood starting to pour out of my chest, where the claws dug across me. I reach for my jacket sleeve and start inputting coordinates. “Amlican!”

“I’m right here! He shouts from beside me, grabbing my arm.

I smash the enter button, right as the creature’s massive head bites into the side of my neck. Darkness and pain flood my body and mind. I hope Amlican makes it, safely. I open my eyes to find us on the cave floor. Alive. I am getting so tired of this stupid cave.

“I died again, didn’t I?” I ask as waves of pain crash into my body.

“Yep. It’s getting kind of old. How about you try not dying for once?” Amlican asks, laughing.

“That’s a good idea. Let’s just forget this whole Earth mission altogether. I get the feeling these people, and their creatures, aren’t very friendly.” I say.

“I agree. I don’t see how anyone can live on such a hostile planet.” He says.

“I do have one question,” I say.

“What’s that?”

“How did you get us to change our minds about staying?”

“Does it matter?” he asks.

“No, I guess it doesn’t. So, let me just enter in some new coordinates, because I definitely don’t want to stay here.” I say double-tapping the jacket sleeve. I think for a moment trying to decide the next best place to intercept my mother and Malum. “There’s only one problem.”

“What’s that?” he asks.

“I’m not one hundred percent sure of the exact coordinates. So, we are back to the fifty-fifty shot of dying.”

“It wouldn’t be us if there wasn’t a small chance of death.” Amlican quips.

I’m laughing as the feeling of fire fills my bones, and darkness fills my eyes.