I look around and find my bed, nearby. It isn't very big but its better than nothing. I get up and go lay down. I spend the night tossing and turning, dreaming over and over again of the Ravog leader killing Amlican and of the others eating him. At some point, I wake up screaming for Amlican to run.

         "You alright over there?" Jalqor asks.

         I get up and walk back over to the wall near his cell. "Yeah, just a nightmare."

           "I figured that. Who is Amlican?"

          "My best friend. The Ravog killed him before bringing me aboard their ship."

         "Oh. I'm sorry."

         "Jalqor?"

         "Yes?"

         "How are we still alive?"

         "What do you mean?" he asks.

          "I mean exactly what I said. When the Ravog thought my Talfarian friend and I were spying, they killed him in a heartbeat. I watched them eat one of their own when he started bleeding. Why didn't they kill us too? Why take us prisoner?"

          "I guess being raised on Talfar Prime means you don't know anything about the Ravog."

           "I know they are pirates, stealing technology and making it their own. I also know that they could see the time travel jacket even though no one else can."

           "Do you know the history of the Ravog?"

           "No, why would I? There are so many different species out there in the universe, I can't memorize all of their histories."

          "The Ravog are a newer species, only having been created within the last two centuries." He explains.

         "What do you mean created? Who made them and why?"

         "A group of Copaie scientists were experimenting, trying to create a 'watchdog' if you will. Something to protect our home planet from Talfarian invasion. They wanted intelligence, speed, and aggression. The plan was to create something loyal only to the Copaie. And thus, the Ravog were born. The Ravog were more intelligent and aggressive than they planned. Within a few months, the scientists were run off the planet they were conducting their experiments on, and that became the Ravog home world."

        "That doesn't explain why they kept us alive."

         "Sure, it does. The loyalty stuck with them. They do not obey us, but they won't kill us, not purposely." he says.

       "What are the gold rings for?" I ask after a few moments of silence.

          "The what?"

          "The gold rings. Some of the Ravog have them and some don't."

            "The gold rings are an interesting piece of technology. Now, your average Ravog smells blood, and they can't help themselves, they go primal. They are born with this bloodthirst that they can't control. It was programmed into them. The Ravog themselves, came up with the gold rings. The rings block the scent receptors, so that particular Ravog cannot smell the scent of blood. The ring makes it where they aren't purely instinctual."

             "Oh, well how come only some of the Ravog have the rings? When they captured me, there was a few without them." I say, thinking back to Amlican's death.

           "As far as I can tell, those would be the low-level grunts. The one's with below average intelligence. I'm not sure how they decide that but only the more intelligent ones get a gold ring."

          "That is pretty smart."

          "Look, the Ravog will come for me, to interrogate me, soon. I will do my best to get your jacket back."

               "Why would you help me?"

         "In order for my mission to succeed, yours must succeed. It doesn't do me any good to complete my mission if all of the Copaie are extinct."
              

           "True."

           Two days go by before the Ravog come for the promised interrogation, and then two more days go by before they bring Jalqor back. Once the Ravog leave again, I whisper to him, "Did you get the jacket?"

            He is silent, and for a moment I fear that he is either dead or forgot his promise to me. Finally, I hear him whisper, "No. I'm sorry. I had it momentarily, but I was caught and then the female warrior took it into the room that has a picture of a circle on the door. You will have to find a way in there, somehow. They will come for you. Interrogation is their favorite game."

          "What do I do when they come?" I ask, worried.

             "The Interrogation room is just past the room with the circle on the door. When you get near the circle room, grab hold of the ring in the warrior's nose and pull downwards, hard. That will cause the warrior to let go of you and give you a chance to duck into that room. After that, the rest is up to you."

         "What about the other guard? Wont there be two of them? There was for you."

         "No. They are a cocky species. Too them, the Copaie are weak, especially the females, they are going to want to prove the fact that they aren't afraid of you. They will send the female warrior after you, since she will be weaker than a Ravogmale. Use it to your advantage, but remember, a weak female Ravog is stronger than a full grown Copaie male." Jalqor says.

         "Oh, Okay. I promise I will get the jacket back and fulfill my mission so you can fulfill yours."

          "If ya see the General, tell him I'm doing my best to do what he asked."

          "What did he ask?"

         "I told ya to quit asking so many questions, kid." he says.

          "Why are you calling me kid? I'm not a kid."

             "How old are you? You can't be any older than twenty-five."

           "I'm twenty-one. I'm an adult, not a kid."

          "I'm five hundred and sixty-three years old, to me, you are just a kid."

          "Oh." I say. "Jalqor?"

           I hear him sigh before answering, "Yes?"

          "What are those drain like holes for?"

            "Torture. Now, don't ask me anything else. I'm tired, kid, I'm going to bed."

           I hear him grunting and the sound of springs groaning under an immense amount of weight. Torture? What kind of torture? I guess it doesn't really matter. I go over what Jalqor has told me. The jacket is in the room with the large circle on the door. Once there, yank hard on the gold ring and the Ravog will be temporarily distracted. Get in the room and then find my jacket, put it on and get back to Natatillis. I must fall asleep, with my back to the wall, because the next thing I know, I am being startled awake by the sound of a Ravog growling at me to get to my feet. It takes me a few minutes to realize what's happening, and in that time, I am yanked unceremoniously to my feet by the Ravog. "Alright, alright, I'm getting up."

          "Not fast enough." the Ravog says.

         "You're a female?" I ask, not really expecting an answer.

        "Yeah, and I'm every bit as deadly as any male." She says, digging her claws into my left arm as if to make her point.

          "Hey, that hurts!" I say as she drags me out of the room, and through the halls. She, of course, ignores me. Looks like Jalqor was right, so far. One warrior, a female. Hopefully, the rest of what he says is true as well. Up ahead and to my right, I see the door with the circle on it. It looks more like an oval, than a circle. Guess it's now or never! I gather up my courage for the next part of the instructions. With my right hand, I reach up and jerk the Ravog's gold ring, downwards with all the strength I can muster.

          "Aaaahhhh!" she shrieks, letting go of me.

          I run towards the door with a circle\oval and as soon as I am in front of it, the doors open, automatically, with a whoosh. I turn around and look frantically for a way to shut and lock the doors. I see a control pad near the door and start beating on it. Nothing. I can see the female regaining her composure. Got to hurry! Got to hurry! I spot a metal rod, propped up on the nearby wall. Maybe if I short circuit the door... I pick up the pipe and start beating the door pad. The doors slide shut just before the female can get inside. The door pad is no longer lit up, so hopefully that means the room is locked. When I turn back around, I see what I missed before. I can now see what the circle on the door was. I can see that I was right, it's not a circle, it's an oval. And the oval is there to symbolize something important. It's there to tell you that this isn't just any room, it's a nursery.