2199 Extinction
Not On My Watch

I wake up on the ground outside a few feet away from the cave. I can barely make out the tree where Amancia and I lay asleep. I swear I see myself sitting up, so I take a step closer. A loud cracking sound fills the air and I quickly back up. Stupid branch! I hope I didn’t wake anyone. I watch as my other self’s head snaps my direction, and déjà vu floods my mind.

So that’s what the noise was. Not one of those monstrous bird things. I watch as my other self calms down and then heads for the cave. I give her a few minutes to make her way through the sleeping Talfarians, and a chance to shake loose from the leg grabber; before I follow. Don’t want to shock myself into hurting the baby. At the entrance of the cave, I take a quick look to make sure everyone is still asleep, before proceeding. I take almost the same route as last time, except when I get to the grabber, I give him a wide berth, instead taking the path that passes a female Blydin.

I round the corner and creep past myself, edging against the wall, so she doesn’t see me. I hear the same exchange between Malum and mother, as last time. I need to stop that kiss. Maybe if I stop it, I can prevent her from falling in love with him. But how do I stop the kiss, without killing myself or mother?

“Why did you place the algae here of all places?” I hear her ask.

“Because this cave system is so large, you can easily get lost and never replace your way out. The algae will lead you out of here. It will take you to the grasslands, from there it’s another day’s journey until you reach the abandoned scientific outpost. The algae lights the path out, remember that.”

It’s about to happen, again. What do I do?

“Okay, thanks.” Mother says, turning to leave.

“Nova.” Malum says, catching her by the arm, spinning her back around, and pulling her to his chest. She looks up into his eyes, as he lowers his lips to hers.

I let out a growl that ends in a loud scream, mocking the sound a Slaphner makes. That surprises Malum enough that he pulls away just before kissing her. I collapse to the ground, and everything goes black just as I hear another Slaphner call, this time it’s a real one.

“Oof.” I whisper as I bend over. You’d think I’d be used to the effects of time travel by now. I wonder if all this time travel will affect the baby. The thought attacking my mind seems to come from nowhere. But there’s no time for that, now. I push the thought from my mind and focus on mother and Malum.

“What’s that?” Mother asks, fear filling her voice. “Is that another Slaphner?”

“Sounds like it. My guess is that the Copaie followed you here to this planet and are using the Slaphner to track you.” Malum says. “Let’s get you back to the group, you’ll be safer there.”

I watch as he leads her safely back to the group of Talfarians and then heads off in the opposite direction. Ha! No kiss for you! I spoiled your plans! Curious as to where he is going, I follow him from a distance. At first it appears that he is following the algae out of the cave, but halfway through, he veers away from it. We walk through the mostly dark cave, me following the light of his lantern for what feels like a few hours, before we stop.

Malum holds the lantern up high and does a small circle. And then he speaks up, “I know you are in here, somewhere. I felt you watching us. Come on out.”

I temporarily freak out, and back up as close to the wall as I can get. I am on the verge of stepping forward when I hear a deep raspy voice answer.

“This our cave. Why you here?”

“Someone very important to me is going to be coming through this cave.”

“Sound like Alpha lunch.”

“I want you to let her pass by, unharmed, Alpha.”

“No. This cave Alpha. Alpha eat what come.” The creature called Alpha says in a raspy voice.

“’Alpha eat what come.’” Malum says mocking him. “No, you listen to me, you ignorant beast! You will allow her safe passage through this cave system, because I still have your son.”

I hear a growling noise and then Alpha says, “Alpha allow female passage but Alpha no control others.”

“You are the Alpha, the pack leader. Tell the others to leave her be.”

More growling. “And why others let pass? Others no listen unless others get something.”

“She isn’t traveling alone. There is a large group of Talfarians with her.

Feel free to eat them. Eat them all if you want to. Just make sure she stays alive.”

“How Alpha know who Alpha no eat?” he rasps.

“She has a young Vanduo Tuk with her. He seems to like riding on her shoulders.” Malum says.

Alpha growls again, this time ending in a barking sound. The bark bounces off the cave walls, echoing all around me. “Stupid Vandy! They reason Alpha, and pack, caged. Alpha eat little Vandy and Alpha eat Malum’s female. Vandy pay. Vandy Alpha enemy.”

“No, you will not eat, ‘Vandy’, or the girl. Because if you do, I will slit the throat of your son and watch his blood soak into the ground.” Malum retorts.

Alpha lets out another growl before responding. “Fine. Vandy live. Girl live. No more. Pack have to eat. Pack no eat in two days. Alpha hungry. Pack hungry.”

“Oh, and one more thing. There is a pair of Slaphners nearby, kill them.” “Yes, Alpha kill.” Alpha says. Then he starts sniffing the air. “Alpha smell food. Female. With child. MMM. Alpha hungry. Alpha drooling.”

I don’t even have time to wonder if he means me before I feel claws dig into my arm. I feel something strong pulling me towards Alpha and Malum.

“It’s just a Copaie. Kill her.” Malum says. He waves his arm and then disappears back into the tunnels, leaving the lantern behind.

“Food. Alpha love food.” Alpha says, as he circles me.

I can hear others snarling and growling, just outside of the lantern’s reach. “Wait! Don’t eat me!” I shout, panicking.

“Why pack wait? Pack eat now.”

I think quickly. “Because I will replace your son and let him go.”

That causes him to pause a moment before asking, “Why female save Alpha son?”

“Because I hate Malum just as much as you. He killed my mother, and I’m here to stop him.”

“Hmm. Female stop Malum and release Alpha son?”

“Yes.”

“Are you lying to Alpha? Alpha can smell lies.” He then precedes to sniff the air.

I’m pretty sure he can’t actually smell lies, but he sounds so convincing. “No, I’m not lying.”

He sniffs the air a few more seconds and then replies, “Alpha no smell lie. Alpha agrees. Alpha no kill Female, Female agree kill Malum, and Female release Alpha son.”

“Wait. I didn’t say anything about killing.”

“Female kill Malum or no deal. No deal mean Alpha and pack eat female.”

I pale at the idea of having to kill Malum, but it’s either him or me, and I choose him. “Fine. Female, I mean I, agree to kill Malum and release your son.”

“If female no honor agreement, Alpha hunt female down, eat female, and female whole family.”

“I said I agree. I won’t go back on my word. But one more thing, Alpha.”

He growls in response.

“There is another female, just like me but with no baby, I will need her help. Don’t eat her either.”

“Deal.” Alpha says, grabbing my hand in his clawed hand.

Amancia will just have to forgive me for leaving her alone at the tree. But I don’t want to put her in danger my bringing her with me. Malum can be very unpredictable. I pick up the lantern and head back through the tunnels. A few hours later, the sun is beating down on me, as I follow Malum’s footprints. Once there was enough daylight to light my path, I abandoned my lantern.

If Amancia happens to come this way, maybe she will see it and know I’m okay. Of course, we didn’t have a lantern. Oh well, it is what it is. I look around and replace myself standing on the outskirts of an abandoned city. Tall buildings made from various metals seem to erupt haphazardly from the ground.I see windows everywhere, some with the glass broken out, and some with the glass still intact. Smaller doors marking entrances and exits, and larger doors marking cargo entrances; are also visible.

But everything, from the metal buildings to the rooftops, to the doors, is in varying shades of red. The color was probably chosen to stand out against the orange grass and blue treetops but it honestly, all reminds me of blood.

Hm. This must be the research facility that Malum was telling mother about. All seems peaceful and calm here, but if there’s anything I’ve learned since coming to this planet, it’s that chaos is hiding in plain sight. The road into the city is paved with varying sizes of rocks. So much for tracking his footprints. I decide to just go straight, after all, it was the general direction he was going until this point. I start walking again only to stop in front of a giant building, blocking my path.

“Now what? Did he go to the left or right?” I ask no one in particular.

“Alpha smell son. Alpha son, inside.” Says a raspy voice.

I jump and scream, spinning around to face Alpha. “What are you doing here?”

“Alpha make sure female replace son and kill Malum.”

Out here in the sunlight, I replace Malum’s description of Alpha doesn’t do him justice. He is standing on two legs, my head comes well below his shoulders, even a Copaie male would be dwarfed by Alpha. But it’s not just his height that makes him scary, he’s also massively wide. He’s as wide as two male Copaie, standing side by side.

You can see his muscles ripple, with every movement, even under all his, black as space, fur. When he talks, the light glints off of his sharp teeth. Four ears, two on each side of his head, probably means that he can hear far better than any creature I’ve ever seen. On his back is two small wings that look to small for flight and appear to be torn to shreds.

“Have you been following me this entire time?”

“No. Alpha make sure pack no eat Malum female. Alpha make sure pack no eat female like you.”

“If you stayed for all of that, how in the world did you catch up to me?” I ask.

“What female mean? Alpha walk.”

“I mean how did you catch up. I had to have had a few hours head start on you.”

“Alpha just walk.” He says, shrugging his shoulders like any Copaie would. “Alpha walk faster than slow female. Alpha walk on four legs. Female walk on two legs. Female walk too slow. Alpha catch up in long grass. Alpha scare off Loftin and other creatures.”

That, at least, explains the silence for most of the walk. “Why would you scare off the Loftin? You don’t strike me as a nice guy.”

“Female can’t rescue Alpha son and kill Malum if female eaten by Loftin.”

“That makes sense, I guess. Does that mean you are coming with me?”

“Alpha come. Alpha take son home. Alpha come see Malum dead. Pack rejoice. Female leave and not come back.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me. But if you could leave the cave this whole time, why haven’t you come and got your son, yourself?”

“Female see when female get inside.” Alpha says, walking over to the nearest door and pulling it open.

I walk inside and look around; the place appears to be unguarded. The room we stand in is nothing special. Just a room in another building. One of those rooms you instantly forget the minute you walk out of it. It has four walls, a row of elevators along the far wall that doesn’t appear to have worked since the building was built; a few potted plants that I don’t recognize sit on either side of an entryway to my left.

To my right is another entryway, lined with potted plants, and a set of stairs leading up. Not far from the staircase leading up is a long table. I turn and see Alpha ducking before walking through the door. Once inside, I realize he has to tuck his bigger ears to keep them from brushing against the ceiling. That thing is tall. He has got to be at least eight feet or more.

“Hey, Alpha.” I whisper. “What happens if Malum has guards? I’m a good fighter but not that good.”

“Malum not here. Alpha no smell him. Alpha no hear him.”

“What do you mean you don’t smell him?”

“Malum has Malum smell. Malum smell here. No Malum sound. Alpha no hear Malum voice. No Malum here.”

“Did we come to the wrong place?”

“Right place. Alpha smell son. Alpha hear son.”

Right. We walk through the entrance, through a few hallways and stop outside of a closed door. I try the handle. Locked. Of course, it’s locked.

“Now what Alpha? I doubt Malum left a key just laying around.”

“Female move. Alpha unlock door.”

“It’s a tenfold door. One of the thickest metals in the known universe. Even you can’t bust through it.” I say annoyed.

“Alpha no break. Just watch.” Alpha says, as he steps forward. I move out of the way and wait to see what he intends on doing. His back is to me, but I hear the sound of claws on metal and the occasional clicking sound. After a few minutes I grow curious, and I walk up next to him to see what he’s doing. Alpha has the claw of his smallest finger in the door lock and with calculated movements he is moving it. I hear one last click and he pulls his claw back out.

“There. Alpha open.” He says, as he pushes down on the door handle.

He knows where his son is. He knows how to unlock doors. I don’t understand why he doesn’t just rescue his own son. “Alpha why…”

“Female look.” Alpha says, interrupting me.

I push open the door and walk in. I replace myself in another room. Unlike the entrance, this room has a glass wall to the right and a bank of computers on the wall to the right of that. A table with varying needles and sharp instruments is pushed against the wall to my left. Shelves line every bit of wall space all of them crammed full of assorted jars. Some of the jars are empty and some are full of what appears to be body parts. But what the body parts are from, I probably don’t want to know.

“What is this place?” I ask.

“This creation room. Where they make Alpha, and others. This where son held. See.” He says, pointing to the glass room.

I look but I don’t see anything but a rug laying, in a ball, in the middle of the floor. At the sound of Alpha’s voice, the rug moves, and I realize that it’s a miniature version of Alpha. They look exactly the same except for the son has red fur instead of black. And the son is smaller, appearing to be just a little shorter than I am.

Alpha moves towards the glass, as does the little one. Both of them tap on the glass, sadly. “Glass thick. Too thick for Alpha to break. No lock hole on door. Alpha no pick. Machine lock door.” He says, turning and pointing at the computer bank.

“Why don’t you just break the computers? I’m sure that would cause a malfunction and open the door.”

“No!” Alpha says, forcefully. “Alpha see other Katara do that. Other Katara want mate. Break computer. Computer make gas. Mate die. Jezzen kill other Katara. No break computer. Female use finger. Female open door. Female no have claw like Alpha. Alpha claw break computer. Son die. Son die, Alpha sad. Alpha sad, Alpha kill.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. No breaking the computer.” I walk over to the computer and sit down. I touch the screen to wake it up and see it’s password protected. “Uh, Alpha. There’s a password on here, and it says I only get three tries to get it right. I don’t even have the slightest clue what it could be.”

“Alpha tell what female push.”

“Wait. You know the password? How is that even possible?”

“Alpha here when Alpha young. Saw Malum code. Alpha tell female code.”

“If you know the code why didn’t you just punch it in yourself.”

“Alpha tell female. Alpha claw break computer. Computer break, Alpha son die, Alpha son die….”

“Alpha will be sad and kill everyone. Yeah, yeah, I got it.” I say rolling my eyes. “So, what’s the code?”

“Female push button here. And here. And here. This button. This button. And this button. Female push this button way over here and door open.”

I push the buttons as he commands and then hit a large green button, lastly. I must have done it correctly because I hear a loud whooshing sound, and the door containing Alpha’s son opens up and he steps out. The young creature rushes to his father’s awaiting arms and embrace each other. For a moment I forget how frightening they are and feel happy for them both.

“Alpha take son home. Alpha hear Malum. Female kill Malum. Alpha come check.” And with that, father and son leave the room. The son riding on his father’s hip. Malum. He heard Malum. Guess it’s time to uphold the other end of my bargain.