SPACE OPERA
CHAPTER 2: In The Void
READ CHAPTER 1 HERE Chapter 1: Packed a Lunch and a Lie
READ CHAPTER 2 HERE Chapter 2: In The Void
READ CHAPTER 3 HERE Chapter 3: Finding David
On the quiet farmlands of Planet Delli, David had everything: a loving family, a bright future, and dreams that stretched beyond the twin suns. But when his father takes him on what seems like a life-changing trip to a distant planet, a horrifying betrayal strands him alone in the endless void of space. What begins as a coming-of-age journey quickly turns into a fight for survival and a search for the truth.
A cosmic betrayal. An adventure. A lesson learnt.
Words blurred. “Not my son,” echoed in David’s head. Panic crashed over him. His heart sank. Tears floatedlike dots of silver in helmet light. “Mom, does she know?” he asked the silent stars. But the stars don’trespond.
Kerion constellation shone behind him. He stared until the pattern burned into his mind. “The darkness of the void isn’t helping. And James, my baby brother, it’s just been a month? Am I going to die? And will my body float here forever?” he thought. “MOM!!!” he screamed his lungs out and passed out. Drowsiness had pressed on him, the stress, weightlessness, hunger and thirst merged into an unbearable fatigue. He closed his eyes
Hours later, his eyes blinked open in a rapid movement. The wrist monitor beeped and read oxygen 80%. He panned his head around, the darkness was still there, and father still wasn’t. All the stress came back in a gush. He flipped around to see the Kerion constellation, it was gone. “Oh no, how did I move? How many hours has it been? Where am I?” David thought. He tried to troubleshoot his location on his wrist monitor, which identified a new star pattern, Circa, that sat ahead. A bit relieved by seeing a landmark, something identifiable, he thought of home. He had to move, any direction, anywhere that meant a chance. “I can’t die here. I mustreturn home to mom.”
He recalled his galaxy navigation lessons from school and remembered that near the Circa constellation, there existed an inhabited solar system. With no thrusters or assist, also hecould do was ‘swim,’ and so he did. He swam, flailing arms and legs in the void of outer space, with a hope of reaching that solar system. He swam and swam, left arm, right arm, left arm, right arm, legs kicking one by one. Long minutes later, he paused to check his progress. He looked ahead and Circa remained at the same distance. All that motion and effort was useless. Hot tears welled in his eyes. “All of this… is useless, I cannot possibly cross such a vast distance like this. I am defeated,” he thought.
A beep sounded. Proximity alert. The wrist monitor beeped with a navigation arrow pointing to an incomingobject: Asteroid approaching. Velocity moderate. Intersect course in thirteen minutes. A burst of hope and happiness flickered in David’s chest. He checked the trajectory of the asteroid, and its path was miraculously going towards Circa constellation, the very direction David aimed for. “Ride it,” he whispered to himself.
He unclipped and unwound the utility rope & hook that was attached inside the pouch on his right leg and took a deep breath. “I don’t know how much speed to expect, but I must aim to hook it, David it’s do or die,” he spoke to himself. Braced up in a position, David practiced the required hand motion twice and visualized the scene in his head, trying really hard to time the approach. Just when, David felt a wave of vibrations which was followed by a rough moving dull sound. Breaking David’s practice run, the rock was incoming from the right, the size of a pea. In a blink, it was now just a few meters away, the size of a car. David stood in position, posture erect, rope in hand and ready to take his only chance at life. The rough, cratered grayasteroid was almost here, now about the size of a house. David felt the speed and urgency andhurled the hook at the front. It didn’t attach and bounced back. Second throw—CLANK! Metal bit into stone, the attachment was successful. The rope yanked him along with the speed and size of the asteroid, he held tight, with only one fear in his mind; the rope might snap because of the speed. The pull and tension slammed his body to the rock a few times and then pulledhim onto the surface. The friction with the velocity was overwhelming, but David made room to hook his arm on the surface and started climbing upwards. Breathing heavy, huffing and puffing,he pulled himself and the weight of his attire up. His suit scraped at the elbows butheld. Finally, he made his way on a flatter area atop the hard gray asteroid.
He lay panting on the lukewarm rock. Oxygen 68%. Hunger gnawed his insides and thirst made him dizzy, but he powered through his weakening body vitals. He crawled further up to an even more stable central platformand anchored the rope securely. A chair like stone was sitting perfectly, waiting for him to recline. David laid back, resting his body after hours of floating, “Ahh! Comfortable and warm.” He looked around, the stars passed like shining streaks of light, “This looks more beautiful than the view from a spaceship’s window.” He ran some orbital equations in his head. The rock indeed was moving away from his home planet, Delli, and toward the Circa constellation and solar system Akeen. Hours passed, David rested on the asteroid whilst controlling his hunger and thirst, recalling everything he heard about Akeensolar system. “Umm, teacher told us that the planets there had purple water bodies, brown clouds and white soil. Sounds exciting actually,” he thought. Thoughts came and went by when finally, the asteroid was in the Akeen solar system ring. “I’ll have to get off near a planet and then swim to its atmosphere and hope I don’t burn down falling to the surface. What a plan, too good to be true huh,” he thought. David’s family never went for vacations or fancy get-togethers, so, the excitement of this new adventure overtook the grief he felt in the beginning of today’s day, momentarily perhaps.
As the first planet came closer, David detached the hook and walked to the edge of the asteroid. Kick off! He pushed himself off with a big jump. The jump off was successful indeed and he was now floating in the zero-gravity space, near the planet’s outer atmospheric layer.The atmospheric entry would probably bake him, but better to risk heat than drift until air ran out. Oxygen was at 38%. “Okay David, time to take another life-or-death shot, also hoping this planet is inhabited,” he spoke to himself. Just when a spotlight blinded him from the left. He closed his eyes as a reflex to the bright light that he saw after hours, and felt a mechanical clawclamping around his waist, tightening, and jerking him sideways. He opened his eyesslowly back up and saw himself being pulled into a cold metal tube, air rushing over him as pressure equalized. Doors shut. The claw released.
He lay on the deck plates shaking. “What just happened?!” he spoke out loud. Footsteps approached. A tall officer in dark blue armor knelt down to David and spoke in a language David didn’t recognize. David gestured a ‘what’ with his hands. The officer understood and clicked a button on the small circular device attached to his chest pocket. “Who are you? What are you doing here? We are Akeen System Patrol Cutter Nine,” the device translated his tongue to David’s, “Can you speak?”
David’s voice cracked. “I… I need to get home. My mother—she doesn’t know.” The officernodded. “First, med bay. Then we’ll talk.” Two crew members lifted him onto a gurney. As they rolled him down the corridor, David gripped the blanket. Fear, grief, relief, all tangled. But he breathed. He was alive. And he would now be able to find his way back to his home, to his mother, baby brother and answers.
David’s breaths came short and fast. The extraterrestrial doctors worked swift, giving him parenteral fluids and oxygen. Breathing normalized, vitals came back to normal too. Lying there, David stared at the metal ceiling. The cut out his worn spacesuit and gave him a warm blanket. “Patient exhausted and anxious, needs sleep,” the doctors discussed. “A shot for you to sleep, see you after few hours,” one of the doctors told David as they injected him with a sleeping drug. In a few seconds, young David dozed off.
David slowly opened his eyes to dim, warm lights and the soft rhythmic beeping of medical equipment. The blanket wrapped around him was still warm, and he’d slept like a baby. But the comfort didn’t last. Within seconds, the chill of the unknown returned to his bones, and he sat up with a sudden jolt.
A figure stood nearby in a white coat, with the Akeen Patrol emblem glowing on his chest. It was the doctor, who now walked up to David. “You’re lucky,” the translator on his chest spoke,“Your oxygen was down to 25 percent when we pulled you in.” David mumbled a thanks, groggy but alert, as he observed the purple shiny skinned doctor.
“I’m Doctor Cane. We ran a full scan while you were sleeping. Your vitals are recovering well. But,” he paused, studying David, “there was something unusual.” David blinked, his heart skipping. “What was it?”
“That will be explained by the patrol officers in charge,” Doctor Cane replied, setting down a tray of capsules. “These are your meds. Take them on time. You need a full week of rest. Try not to get into such risky situations again. Goodbye.” David nodded obediently. There was something so pure in his expression that the doctor gently patted his head before exiting the room.
A few minutes later, two Akeen Patrol officials entered. One held a paper-thin screen in his hands. The female officer stepped forward and sat beside David. “I’m Officer Candy,” her translator relayed in a firm voice. “I’ll be asking you questions. You’ll answer them truthfully.”She snapped a slim bracelet onto David’s wrist. “This is a lie detector. Do you understand?”David nodded, heart pounding now, not because he planned to lie, but because everything felt so serious.
“What is your full name?”
“David Miller.”
“Planet of birth and residence?”
“Planet Delli.”
“Solar system?”
“Vanc Solar System.”
“Why were you floating unassisted in the Akeen System?”
David took a breath and told them everything. His voice broke twice during the retelling. Officer Candy listened carefully, occasionally glancing at the readout from the bracelet, which confirmed his truthfulness. When he finished, she sighed. “You’re telling the truth, David. That’s good for and for us.” She handed him a few items.
“Here is your Akeen System identity card. You’re now permitted to move around freely. This,” she held up a second card, “is a currency card, courtesy of the Akeen government. Use it for meals, clothing, whatever you need. You’ve also been assigned a temporary apartment in the visitor’s quarter. This is the address. A patrol shuttle will take you there.”
David took the items with both hands and bowed his head repeatedly, “Thank you. Thank you so much.” “One last thing,” Candy added as she stood, “Do you wish to stay here or return to your home planet?”
David hesitated, “I… haven’t decided yet. I need some time.” She nodded, and with softened expressions,“Take your time, David. Enjoy your stay in Akeen. Goodbye.” She gave him a final nod and exited. The second officer gestured for him to follow and escorted him down a long, metallic corridor that felt like a tube of glowing light. At the end stood a shuttle, open and waiting. “Here,” the officer said, handing him a small bottle filled with a pink liquid. “Here, Akeen juice. Drink it all at once and you won’t even feel atmospheric entry. Goodbye.” The officer left without another word. David stepped into the shuttle, found his seat, and buckled up.
“Ready for descent,” the pilot called from the front. “Akeen juice, now.”
David uncapped the bottle and drank it all in one go, following the pilot’s lead and so did the pilot. The chill that filled his body was almost euphoric. Fifteen minutes later, the clouds parted, and the surface of the Akeen planet came into view. David leaned toward the window.The landing was smooth and perfect.
“The juice is great!” David exclaimed, “Is this all snow?” The pilot turned, chuckling. “No, my boy. That’s the soil. It’s white here. And the best part? It never gets dirty. Your apartment’s about two miles north. Ask anyone out there. Goodbye.”
David grinned, his earlier anxiety melting into excitement. Since the survival in the void, he felt like he was nowheaded somewhere new, somewhere better, somewhere that might even feel like home.
He got off the spaceship with just a small pouch in his hand, which held all his cards and medicines. He saw an inquiries booth ahead and walked up to it. The alien person inside gave him directions to the building where his apartment was. About half an hour later, David finally reached the apartment. It was clean and well furnished. “Wow, it’s so good. I’ve never seen any place as good as this on Planet Delli,” he said out loud in the living room. After taking a shower and having a bowl of instant noodles, he went off to sleep again.
The next morning, he woke up feeling much better and relieved from the immediate stress and threat. Today felt good. There were no responsibilities on his shoulders. He didn’t have to bathe Baby James or wash his clothes, or haul heavy feed bags alone on the farm, or hear threats of being thrown out if he ate extra bread. There was a strange freedom in this loneliness. He felt the new planet’s air encouraging him to just be himself.
END OF CHAPTER 2.
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READ CHAPTER 1 HERE Chapter 1: Packed a Lunch and a Lie
READ CHAPTER 2 HERE Chapter 2: In The Void
READ CHAPTER 3 HERE Chapter 3: Finding David
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