CHAPTER 3: Finding David
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.
David quickly settled into life on Akeen. This planet, planet Monry’s sky was pale with brown clouds, lavenderstreams flowed everywhere, and the soil beneath his feet stayed white no matter the weather. The days passed gently. With no work to do on a schedule and no elderbarking orders, David found himself walking without purpose, simply exploring his new reality. He visited small cafes, ate spiced buns sold on street stalls, and spent hours just sitting around the purple water streams.
One afternoon, while watching a hover-ball game between two local kids, a voice interrupted his thoughts, “You’re not from around here, are you?” He looked up and saw a human girl around his age. She had a long jacket slung over one shoulder and wore a backpack covered in colorful badges. “No,” he replied simply. “I guessed. You have that new planet confusion in your eyes,” she added. David chuckled, “Is that so obvious?”
“Yeah well, you’re watching the water flow without a care in the world. I’m Sunny. I run the cafe down the road. Mind if I sit? It’s my favorite spot too.” He shook his head, and she plopped down beside him. Their friendship began that day. Sunny was vibrant and quick-witted, always on the move and always with a plan. She wasn’tborn on Akeen either, she explained. She came from one of the rocky moons in the outer ring but had lived on Akeen since she was twelve.
They talked for hours. Sunny didn’t ask him too many personal questions, which David appreciated. Although sometime later, David told her about his family and his survival in outer space. She listened intently and treated him like he truly belonged, not out of pity for someone who had barely survived a betrayal in deep space, but because of David’s quiet innocence.
Over the next few weeks, they explored three planets in the Akeen Solar System together. First was Nuliv, a humid world with glowing rivers and giant transparent lily pads. They rode skimmers down its canals, and Sunny laughed as David nearly flipped them over.
Then they went to Serab, known for its endless canyons and sky-bridges carved into the rock. There, they zip-lined across red cliffs, and Sunny showed him how to yell into the wind and hear the echo loop through ten different ridges.
The third planet was Veera, a place of quiet libraries and floating tea gardens. It was Sunny’s favorite. “It’s where I come when the noise in my head gets too loud,” she said.
David learned to laugh again. He felt freer with Sunny than he had in his entire life. She never tried to fix him. Instead, she helped him see that he didn’t need fixing. One night, while they watched a meteor shower from the top of an observatory dome, she said something that stuck with him, “You’re allowed to put yourself first, you know. It’s not selfish. It’s survival. Your life, your rules.” David nodded, “But what if someone I love needs me more?” “Then you find a way to meet your needs and theirs,” she said, “Love isn’t about disappearing into someone else’s shadow. It’s about standing beside them as equals.” He didn’t reply then, but the words lived in him afterward.
One crisp morning on Veera, they were sitting outside a café, sipping juice from chilled glass tubes, when David’s attention caught on a group of children playing nearby. Two little ones ran up to their mothers, who scooped them into hugs, both laughing and scolding them at once.David froze. Sunny noticed the change in his face immediately. “You okay?” she asked. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stared at the scene, and then slowly turned to her, “I think… I-I need to go back. I need to know if my mom knew. If she was part of it.” Sunny gave a gentle nod, “You sure?” David looked up at the sky, “I can’t move on if I don’t find out.”
Sunny helped David pack his bags that night in David’s apartment. She helped fold his clothes and joked about how he still didn’t know how to properly seal a vacuum travel pouch. She was halfway through rolling up a sweater when the doorbell rang. David opened the door to find two Akeen Patrol officers standing there. Their expressions were serious.
“David Miller,” one of them said, “You need to come with us.” He blinked in confusion, “Why? What happened?”They didn’t answer. Sunny stepped forward, “He hasn’t done anything. Where are you taking him?” “Please, cooperate. We’ll explain everything soon,” the officer responded.
They placed a soft but firm hold on David’s arm and escorted him out. Sunny’s worried face was the last thing he saw before the shuttle door closed. David sat alone in a circular room with gray walls and a single seat. The lie detector bracelet had been reattached to his wrist;the same kind used during his initial arrival. The stillness in the air was killing.
After what felt like hours, the door opened. Doctor Cane entered, the same purple skinned doctor who treated David upon his arrival in Akeen. Officer Candy followed behind, carrying a tablet. David stood up, “What’s going on?” They didn’t answer immediately. Doctor Cane took a seat across from him, folding his long fingers together.
“We’re not here to accuse you of anything,” he said, “We’re here because of what we found.”Officer Candy sat next to the doctor and tapped her tablet. “When you were brought in, we ran routine DNA analysis. We found no match in the Vanc Solar System database or among any known citizens from Planet Delli.”
David was confused and frowned. “I told you, I’m not from anywhere else.” “We believed you,” she said, “But standard protocol required that we send the sample to an advanced lab in the Lynos Research Center, locatedin the Aldari system. It’s a cross-system identity repository that holds ancestral data for most known civilizations.”
“We have the results, but first, we need to confirm some things with you.” They asked David many more questions about his life on Delli, what his parents did for work, for how long, their family secrets, other hints about David’s background before they adopted him, and more.
Finally, after a myriad of questions, Officer Candy turned the tablet toward David. “The results from the lab are back. Your DNA sample did not match any of the known civilizations, except some markers matched a fossil bone found more than 3,000 years ago. The thing is that…” Officer Candy paused and continued, “that fossil bone was never classified as Homo sapiens and was, in fact, a combination of human and another species, likely a mammal. This bone was found on a planetoid at the far end of the galaxy, called Rew, which, for the last 1,500 years, has stood abandoned.”
David couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “Wait, I don’t understand. A combination of Homo sapiens and another mammal? I’m not fully human? And there aren’t others like me? I’m a dinosaur descendant? What is going on?” David’s panicked voice kept asking questions, only to be interrupted by the purple-skinned doctor. His translator spoke: “Listen, David, crossbreeding between species is rare and is usually between Homo sapiens and Wallicks, and only rarely between Homo sapiens and Strigusts. But this is an entirely new discovery, and we would very much like to study you. Please consent to the protocols. You’ll be of immense help to science.”
David lowered his head into his hands. “I just wanted to see my mom,” he said softly, “Not to become someone else. I wanted to go back… to know the truth from her.” Doctor Cane looked at Candy, then back to David. He sat next to David and gave him a light hug, “It’s okay, you’re a strong man who has survived outer space unassisted, you’ll be fine. Now breathe for me, I got you Akeen special chocolates.” David nodded teary-eyed and followed Doctor Cane to a bedroom suite next door. He laid down on the bed, overloaded with the new information about his new identity.
END OF CHAPTER 3.
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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
All elements of this story, including the names, characters, plot and accompanying artworks, are the intellectual property and copyright of Word Jelly M. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution is strictly prohibited.
