2199 Extinction

Setting Things Right

               I follow the sound of the baby screaming and stop by a wall. It sounds like it's on the other side of the wall, but I don't see any door. I run my hands across the wall, and continuously think, Open. I eventually find the right spot because a door appears in the wall and then slides open. I step into the small room and look around. The baby is laying, in a small wooden basket, in the center of the room. On the walls hang still photos of different landscapes; jungles, deserts, snow covered mountains, and oceans that seem to stretch into eternity. I see all sorts of baby items on shelves along the back wall.

            The baby continues to wail in the basket, which on closer inspection, appears to be handmade. "Hush, sweet little Astra. I know you must be starving, but I can't do anything for you. On second thought, cry away, that way you will draw mother to you." I'm still a little weary about picking her up, I don't want the world to implode or anything like that. I end up just leaving her in the basket, but I do tuck a few blankets around her, careful not to make direct contact. I also grab a few diapers and tuck them into the basket as well. I look around the room, trying to figure out what else I need to do. I spot a lone pen, sitting on a dresser, I pick it up. No paper anywhere, so why would Amancia have the pen? I walk over to the picture of the jungle and take it off the wall. I flip it over and then I scratch out a quick note.

          To whomever finds this baby,

           I ask that you please take care of her. Her mother died trying to right a terrible injustice. I know she is Copaie, but please have pity on her. She hasn't eaten in two days, and I don't know anything about children. Her name is Astra, she was born two months ago. Take her home and raise her as if she were your own child.

         Thank you.

            I fold up the picture and place it next to the baby's fist. There we go, that should be enough to evoke a sense of pity, in mother.

            We have arrived. The thought seems to come from nowhere. In fact, I'm certain I didn't even think that. I'm about to freak out, when I remember the ship and it's psychic link. That must be how Amancia knew when we were on the planet.

            I pick up the baby and basket and walk through the ship, and back into the abandoned city. I retrace my steps from earlier and stop outside the appropriate building. Now where do I leave the baby, where she will be found, but I won't get curious myself? I find a small space, between this building and the next and place the basket down, at the end of it. The baby's cries should draw my mother down here. I wait, just out of sight, behind some crates, stacked at the end of the alleyway. I may need to wait here to make sure nothing eats me.

             After a few minutes, I see Alpha and son pass by, and then come back. He's sniffing the air. "Female kill Malum." And then he's gone again.

            I continue to crotch down, waiting. A massive Loftin approaches, and sniffs at the basket. I am about to get up and chase it off, when it turns and stares back in the direction it come from. It starts to growl, and then I see what I've been waiting for, mother. She was drawn by the cries of the baby, as I knew she would be.

              "Get away from there!" She calls out. A chattering noise comes from her shoulders, where a small white furry creature sits. It chatters loudly and runs from shoulder to shoulder.

           Wait a minute. I recognize that thing! That looks like Rex, only white instead of purple and teal.

           The large loftin starts heading her direction, and I once again consider revealing myself. But I don't have to. Another loftin, this one much smaller, appears behind her, and charges the larger one. I watch as they fight and then as the larger one runs off. I watch as mother cautiously approaches the basket and looks inside. She picks up the note, reads it, and then grabs the basket and leaves.

           It worked! Mother has found me abandoned and will take me home and raise me. This time things will be different. No Malum means I don't have to worry about my people. I pull up the screen on my jacket. I finally completed my mission. It's time to go home. Back to the future, back to my own time.