2199 Extinction

The Nursery

                  This room is huge with row after row of large eggs the size of a male Copaie's fist. There must be hundreds of eggs in here! After a few minutes of being in here, sweat starts running down my back. They must have the heat turned up in here for the eggs. There is going to be hundreds more of these bloodthirsty monsters, soon. More of these creatures that will devour every living creature that gets in their way. I find myself thinking, again, of the way they murdered Amlican and then devoured his body. I can feel my temper starting to rise, and in my anger, I reach out, pick up an egg, and smash it on the ground. A much smaller Ravog, as long as my finger is now lying on the ground. Its mouth opens and shuts a few times, its tiny legs giving one kick, before ceasing to move.

          In my heart, I know that it's not the little creature's fault that Amlican was murdered; but my rage is so strong that I smash several hundred eggs before I get it under control. Several hundred dead baby Ravog now litter the floor, but my anger has cooled. I spot the time travel jacket, laying on a table in the far back of the room. I walk to it, walking around the mess I made, and put it on. Finally! I tap the sleeve to pull up the screen, type in the date, time, and location coordinates, and then stop. I look at the room around me and feel a twinge of guilt. I killed some innocent lives in my anger over Amlican.

       "I'm a murderer." I whisper to myself, horrified. I tap enter and feel the familiar darkness surround me.

         I wake up back in the same bay as before. I jump up and run for the door. I frantically wave my hand across it, and it slides open with a whoosh. I don't even wait for the door to fully open before I squeeze through and take off running in the direction we went.

        "I've got to make it. I've got to make it." I huff as I run. I pass by an open door and turn to see the Salmazin slithering inside. Getting closer! I round a corner and up ahead I can hear the sound of whispering. I round the corner and see myself and Amlican, peering into an open door. I hear Amlican explaining about Ravog. I need to stop myself from going inside!

         I look around for a way to draw my attention away from what is happening. I look around and see nothing on the floor. Nothing on the walls, either, but a loose screw. Wait a minute! This will work! I quickly work the screw loose, just in time to hear the Ravog leader shouting, "Get back to work!"

        I pull my arm back and throw the screw with all of my might at the back of my own head.

         "Ow." the me in front whispers, backs up and rubs the spot the screw hit. I quickly duck back around the corner as they both turn in my direction.

         "What was that?" the other me asks.

           "Looks like it was this screw." Amlican whispers, bending over and picking something up from the ground.

            "I don't know where it came from but let's get out of here." I hear myself whisper. "Before they spot us."

             "Now, there's an Astra idea, I can get behind," Amlican says.

              I breathe a sigh of relief and poke my head around the corner. I watch as my other self and Amlican head away from the Ravog. Everything starts to go dark like it would as the sun sets. I guess this version of me disappears because I never had to go back in time.

            I feel a sharp pain as we hurry on down the hall. I stop for a moment, overcome with a feeling of loss. Tears come to my eyes as I think about the idea of losing Amlican. A vision of him being devoured by the Ravog fills my mind and of my going back in time to save him. I got him killed. I got him killed. I got him killed and had to go back and save him.

            The Ravog nursery and what I did, also fills my mind. I'm a murderer. I decide to keep this information to myself, even though it technically didn't happen in this timeline. But tell that to my conscious because I still feel guilty. I have to be careful from now on, that I don't ever let my anger get the best of me, again.

            "Astra?" Amlican stops and turns around. He sees the tears running down my face and come rushing back to me. He wraps me in a hug. "What's the matter?" he asks, rubbing my back.

        "I just. I just don't want to lose you." I babble, through my tears.

          "I'm not going anywhere," he says, gently kissing me. I kiss him back desperate to feel his love.

        I pull away after a few minutes and blubber, "I don't want you to die!"

           Amlican doesn't say anything but instead holds me for a while.

            After a few minutes, I pull myself away again. "Okay. I'm good. But I do have a major headache, from whatever hit me." I say as I wipe away the remaining tears. We turn and head down the hallway.

         "A screw. I already told you that."

​ ​            "Yeah, well, whoever threw the screw is going to pay," I say, as a vision of myself tossing it fills my mind.

            I can hear shouting coming from around the corner, and then I hear a familiar voice that makes my blood run cold. Oh, no! What is, he, doing here? I stop in my tracks.