I round a corner and find myself in a strange jungle. I skid to a halt. What is going on? Tall trees have sprouted up, everywhere. Large, colorful flowers, some bigger than my head, cover the ground. A silver mist covers the ground, and strange noises fill the air. I'm momentarily confused, but then I realize someone must have activated some kind of holographic device.

            "Stop! Or I will throw my raptor at you! I have much practice. I won't miss."  A voice rings out.

            I duck and dodge through the holographic jungle, trying to see who the owner of the voice is. It sounds very familiar, like I've heard it many times over many years.

            "The device needs to be turned off! The jungle is tiresome!"  The voice rings out, again. That's when I catch sight of it's owner. I was right I do know that voice, it belongs to Soltig.

           "I... I don't know how." Says a female voice.

            I recognize that voice as well, it belongs to the Talfarian princess. Mother! I slowly make my way through the confused crowd.

            "Three times!" Soltig shouts. 

           "What?"  she asks, confused.

            "Push button on side. Three times. Jungle disappear." 

             She must push the button as directed, because the jungle disappears. In place of the jungle, I see the mayhem that it caused.  

           "Come on. Move!" I shout at the crowd of people rushing my direction.

           I watch as mother reaches behind her with one hand, pushes the elevator button; while re-pocketing the H.I.D. with the other hand. Apparently, Soltig missed this quick movement.

           "Now, you will come here, princess." Soltig demands. 

            "No, thanks, I'm good." she says. 

            "Now, princess!" Soltig repeats.

            Come on, just a little further. I need to get to her, before Soltig does!

             I see her take a small step forward and then I hear a loud roar coming from my left. And then, Soltig is three feet away from mother, on his back, with a Loftin snarling in his face. The Loftin is a dangerous creature that lives ona tropical planet. It stands on all fours, and it's head comes to a grown male'swaist. It is incredibly flexible but extremely heavy at the same time. A Loftinis white with light grey spots. It is longer than the average height of a maleCopaie. Where did that come from? His raptor is knocked out of his hand, and hits the elevator door, to mother's right. 

             Still pushing my way through the crowd, I watch as the Loftin rakes her nine-inch-long, razor-sharp claws, down Soltig's face; causing him to grunt in pain. I see his arm muscles bulging as he tries to throw her; but it's no use, she's too heavy for even him. His hands reach for his side, and I watch him pull a six-inch, curved blade, from a sheath at his side. He always keeps a backup blade. He then precedes to stab and cut at the Loftin, trying to get it off himself.

             Behind mother, the elevator dings. I see a pair of hands grab her waist, and pull her backwards, onto the elevator. She lets out a yelp of surprise and turns around. I can't see who it is, but someone punches the L button, and the Loftin dives into the elevator, just before the doors shut.  That Loftin had to have been Princess. I remember mother telling me all about meeting her in a strange city.

             I finally make it through the crowd and stop to check on Soltig. After all, he is my grandfather, and he did help me a lot in the other timeline. "Are you okay, General, sir?" I ask, offering him a hand up.

             "Yes. Yes. I am fine, Astra." He says, swatting away my offer of help. He climbs to his feet.

              "Vos, sir." I say.

              "What?" he asks, trying to stop the flow of blood coming from his face.

              "Call me Vos. It would be too confusing, otherwise." I say.

           "Yeah, sure, Vos." He says, pulling off his shirt and holding it to his face.

             "Daddy!" Amancia yells, as she runs up to us. "Daddy! What happened?"

            "That dang creature! That dang man that brought it to this station!" He says, cursing under his breath.

            "What creature? What man?" she asks.

             "The creature! The creature! The Loftin!" He shouts annoyed.

             I quickly fill Amancia in on everything I witnessed as I tried to make my way through the fleeing crowd.

               "I. Want. That. Princess!" Soltig roars, punching a nearby wall, with his free hand.

              Two Copaie medics rush to their leader. They are identifiable by the grey uniform with a shoulder patch. The patch has a blue box and a white letter I on it. I watch as one of them pulls out a small rectangular box. He then pops the box open and pulls out a small blue packet, tearing it open with his teeth. The other rushes to their leader and pulls his hand away from his face. The bloody shirt falls to the floor and blood pours from the wound again.

             "I need you to tilt your head back. Sir. So that we can pour the Instaclot into your wound." One of them says.

              The General lets out a few more curse words before obeying. The other medic steps forward and pours the shimmering powder into his wound. The effects are instantaneous. When the general tilts his head back to normal, I can no longer see blood pouring down his face, only dried blood remains.

              "Sir, you aren't going to like this, but we need to get you back home." One of the medics says.

                "No!" Soltig shouts. His face pales and he's silent for a moment before continuing. "No! I must get that princess! It's the only way to win the negotiation for the planets in the Crescent Galaxy!"

              "Sir. Calm down. You have lost a lot of blood. Unless you are ready for your daughter to take over as ruler of the Copaie?"

             The General looks over at Amancia, and then me before speaking. "No. I am not ready to pass into the next life."

               "Then come with us. You need more blood. We have spare blood of yours back on Saltu." The medic says.

                "I'll take care of the princess, Daddy. Don't worry about a thing." Amancia says.

            The General looks at us one last time, before allowing the medics to lead him away.

               "So, now what?" I ask Amancia. "They have a major head start on us, and I still haven't succeeded in stopping Malum's plan."

             "Don't worry." Amancia says. "I have a ship and a plan. They won't be able to hide from us."