[https://i.postimg.cc/cCxYHKmN/The-Girl-who-could-taste-time.gif]

Eske's heart raced once again as he watched the live feed from Skylab-84 on the monitor in front of him. Everyone could see. He didn’t want to believe what was displayed. His wife and child were in grave danger, and he was helpless to do anything about it. Nona lay motionless again, her belly open and his child floating in the air without gravity. He could see the panic among his people as they struggled to find a solution to the rapidly depleting oxygen levels. There would be no time for them; soon, there wouldn't even be enough breathable atmosphere left inside that station. 'Can anyone...'; Eske couldn't speak or think. He was about to lose it.

A hand landed on his shoulder: 'Come on, Eske, we got this. Right?'; Penny's words forced him to refocus. Eske took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He knew that he needed to stay focused and help his team find a solution to save his wife and little girl. But at that moment, all he wanted more than anything else in the world was just to have been able to stop this thing before it started. He turned to Penny and nodded. 'Right.'; he said, trying to sound confident: 'We got this. Let's figure out what's going on and come up with a plan.'

One of the engineers, Vihann, stepped forward and explained that there was probably a malfunction in the oxygen generator that might have stopped air production.

'That doesn't make any sense, ...'; said Eske confused.

'The station looks decades old. It might have a trigger system that blocks production in case of malfunction. Otherwise, it just ignites. The choice here is dying suffocated or die burning.';

Eske felt sickened by such an idea: 'She is passed out, this time, could even not wake up.'; Eske knew that they needed to act fast. The AMERS team was preparing to fly to the space station, but they were still on land and running out of time. They needed a temporary solution to keep Nona alive until the rescue team arrived.

'If she woke up, try to find spare oxygen tanks, but they wouldn't last long enough. Then, one of the engineers earlier suggested using CO2 scrubbers to produce oxygen. But we all saw her, Boss, she is done. I don't think that woman can't even lift a finger.'

'So now what? We watch her die?'; asked Eske desperately.

Penny spoke up then: 'Let's not fall to conclusions. She has awoken several times and did... did things that none of us would have the balls to do. If there anyone can survive in those conditions, that would be Nona.'; Penny looked over to Eske and added: 'I'm more worried about..., the baby.'

Eske turned his attention back to the monitor seeing the baby drifting in the air, still attached to his mother by the umbilical cord. Eske had seen many strange sights during his years as a time traveller, but nothing like this. It made him feel powerless and useless. As much as he hated to admit it, he was scared shitless to lose them. 'We're fucked.'; he muttered under his breath.

'What are you saying?'; Penny replied, looking over at Eske.

Eske shook his head, 'Nothing!'; he said reassuringly: 'Just talking to myself!'

As time ticked by, the situation on Skylab-84 seemed direr and direr. Eske, Penny, and Vihann had exhausted all possible options to help Nona, and the rescue team was far from taking off. All they could do was watch helplessly as the oxygen levels continued to drop and Nona remained unconscious.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

'It won't take long.'; whispered Eske.

He wasn't sure if he meant minutes, hours, days, or weeks, but he knew that whatever came next would be bad, very bad. He was too frightened to look away from the screen anymore, so he leaned closer and stared intently at the scene playing out before him. Suddenly something caught his eye.

Something strange happened. On the monitor in front of him, he saw a figure in a spacesuit enter the room where Nona and his daughter were. The suit was unlike any they had ever seen before, with sleek lines and intricate red details, showing off a feminine silhouette.

'What the fuck is that?'; Eske shouted out loud.

Everyone around the table turned their heads towards him, surprised as him. The figure then turned its attention to the baby, gently wrapping it in a blanket and cradling it in its arms. 'Happy Birthday!'; the stranger shoutout cheerfully to the infant.

Nona woke up and opened her eyes, staring straight ahead at the face of the unknown person holding the crying infant. She blinked slowly and smiled and, after a few moments, passed out again. A strange round object was floating in the air. The red figure opened it and placed the baby inside before focusing its attention on Nona.

The figure grabbed Nona's hand and placed on her face some sort of mask: 'You'll be all right. I got you!'; the figure chirped.

Nona's eyes opened, and she gasped for air. She removed her clamps with a shaky hand while the red figure helped her to suture the wound.

Eske, Penny, and Vihann were all stunned. None of them had any idea what was happening or who this figure in the spacesuit could be. With trembling hands, Eske reached over to the console and spoke: 'Who is this?'

The figure looked in the camera's direction and waved: 'Hi!'; said smiling.

Vihann began to get nervous: 'This isn't real. Someone must be messing with us.'

Eske shook his head in disbelief: 'That is a time traveller.'

There was silence in the control room for several seconds, everyone staring at each other nervously. Finally, Eske broke the ice and asked: 'Could you identify yourself?'

The figure searched in its front pocket and jumped closer to the camera, showing a card with bold font reading WTL Ava P Schrodinger. 'It's me.'; said the figure.

'Ava?'; said Eske shocked.

'It's a pretty name. I like it.'

'How...'; Eske stuttered.

'It's my birthday. I turn 21. This is my first jump.'; Ava explained proudly.

'It's really nice to meet you, Ava.'; Eske replied, feeling awkward.

'It is nice to meet you too..., I guess. But I saw you... this morning at breakfast.'; she answered with a cracking voice as if holding it back.

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