2199 Extinction

The Baby Revealed

           The first thing I'm aware of is movement inside of me. The baby is moving, my baby, Amlican's baby. And then a steady, quiet beeping noise fills my ears. I open my eyes and see monitors around me. I appear to be in a medical building. I set up and find wires attached to my chest and stomach, that lead back to various machines. The room I'm in appears to be small, with nothing but a bed and a small dresser inside of it. A door, partially ajar, is on my right. I lean forward slightly and am able to make out an even smaller bathroom. There is a door on my left that is closed, that one is most likely the exit. I'm not one to just lay around, so I start plucking wires off, making the machine alarms go off. I work faster, unsure of where I am and rather friend or foe is coming. I have just unhooked the last wire, when the door flies open. I jump up out of the bed and find myself disoriented.

          "Get back in the bed!" says a stern female Copaie. Behind her rushes in three large muscular Copaie males.

           "Who are you and what do you want?" I ask, holding my head. I stubbornly stand beside the bed, trying to get the world to stop spinning.

          "We aren't going to hurt you. You were found, laying just inside the capital city, bloody and passed out. Someone brought you here. I'm assuming you were part of the group that met with the Talfarians?" one particular male asks.

          "Um. I don't. No." Talfarians. Group. Blood. Death. Furbos. "Yes. Amancia. The General. Are they okay?" I ask, as the dizziness starts to subside.

         "They are fine, Astra. Amancia was released two days ago. She's the one who came by and identified you. She also let us know about the baby. He seems to be healthy and growing as he should. The General is also being released, today." The same male, answers.

           "Who. What. Why. I can't think." I start, unable to form a complete sentence.

           "Please sit. My name is Cequill. I am the head medical doctor and head scientist on Saltu." He says, as all three males approach me. Cequill steps forward and gently takes hold of my arm and eases me onto the bed. He proceeds to sit beside me, on the bed. The others just hover near the door, arms crossed across their chest. "I would feel better if you sat while we talked. When you were bitten, by a Furbos, you were injected with a venom. It's an interesting venom, from a medical perspective, it's not made to kill you or to paralyze you. It's made to incapacitate you, through hallucinations and by slowing your thought process and ability to reason. The more adrenaline that runs through your body, the quicker the venom takes a hold of your mind.

         We don't know much about the Furbos, even after several thousand years, but you have to appreciate what fine-tuned hunters they are. You see, they love to play with their food. A poison that would kill or paralyze would be boring to these creatures. They prefer to let you think you got away; they prefer the chase. Of course, this is all speculation as we have never seen one, with our full mental capacity. We can guess at what they look like, but unfortunately, we can't trust the descriptions given by those who survive. The ones who get away, unharmed, never actually lay eyes on the Furbos. Meanwhile the ones who see them, are so full of mind-altering poison they would swear the trees came to life and were trying to murder them."

           "Cequill, I think you gave the young lady a bit too much to digest at one time." One of the other males says.

          "Did I? Hm. Yes. I do tend to get carried away, don't I? You'll have to forgive an old Copaie of his rambling. The point is that you are fine. The effects of the poison should be almost out of your system by now. We will let you go back to the palace, soon. Can't have you wandering around, attacking innocent people." A confused look must cross my face because he continues. "The first time you woke up, the venom was coursing full strength through your veins. You apparently thought we were Furbos and you attacked us. Quite a punch you have there. Put two nurses and a doctor in overnight care. Broken noses, jaws and rendered them unconscious. I was a bit luckier; your fist only grazed my jaw. Still a bit of pain. You are definitely a born fighter." He rubs the left side of his jaw.

           "Cequill."

          "Yes. Yes. Too much information. Anyways, get some rest, we will send you home in a few hours. Selzisus, hook her back up, I want to monitor both mother and child. I want you to draw her blood, in three hours. Once you get the results, let me know." He gets up off the bed. "Lay back down, please, so that Selzisus can rehook the monitors."

          Once I am laying down, again, and hooked back up, all four turn and leave. They sure left me a lot to think about. Apparently, my bare fist show down, against the Furbos, was just a hallucination. I already knew the scene with my mother wasn't real, but now I know what brought it on. There is one thing that isn't a hallucination, and that's the growing life inside of me. I lay back, listening to the steady drumming of the little one's heartbeat. Soon, I will be holding his tiny body in my arms. The thought both thrills and terrifies me at the same time. Will it have the yellow skin of my people? Or will it have the same skin color as Amlican?

          I sit up straight in the bed. He. The doctor referred to the baby as a he. I have a son. Amlican's son. "Now the question is what will I name him?" I ask the empty room. But the question is easily answered, as a name automatically pops into my head. "Ikonyn." Yes. I like that. Sounds wonderful. I close my eyes for a few minutes to rest. I can't wait to tell Amancia the baby's gender, she will be thrilled. Although the whole situation is a bit unorthodox, she seems to be taking the whole thing in stride. If I'm going to live here, I'll just have to make sure I don't touch mini me. Mini me. Ha! I don't want to cause any paradoxes, or any other time issues. May be tricky but I'll figure it out.