Why me?

Finding One's True Self: Part 12

By Xan Steel

Daniel awoke to him being Rubicant again, as well as being back at the resort. Figuring it would be unlikely that he would ever see Julyna again, which made him feel depressed. Continuing his research on this Galaxy sounded like a better use of his time. He also wondered with being in stasis, if he slept here would continue to be here when he woke up.

He got dressed and went to the large outdoor café on his floor. He sat down and looked at the menu as a waiter came up to him. "Good Morning Sir is there anything can get for you?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll have a Chaden pastry, a hot cup of Forest Brew, and something that can tell me the news," Rubicant said.

"You mean a news pad?" the waiter asked.

"Yes." Rubicant politely answered.

"Local or Galactic?" the waiter asked.

"Both please." Rubicant finished, and with that, the waiter left and came back with his order and a news pads for him to read.

The local pad had a few things that caught his interest. One is a local engineering conference coming in a few days at the hotel's conference hall. New books at the library, one of them described the many species of the galaxy, another one that caught his interest was a book on Jump Drive technology. 'Should definitely check those books out soon.' He thought to himself.

He then picked up the Galactic News pad and began looking through it. According to one article, the Alliance was busy with wars breaking out on the far reaches of their territory, which covered some six thousand star systems the article added, while at the same time having to deal with Rebel factions. It also noted several promotions. One that caught his eye was Julyna's promotion to Captain and giving her command of an advanced escort class starship. He was happy for her having achieved a life goal that she wanted. Which would explain why she hadn't been back here, she must've been working extra hard to reach that rank in a short amount of time. Well, hopefully, she'll get a chance to get back here and visit for a short while.

With breakfast finished he decided to head to the library and check out those books. His only reason was that if he was going to be stuck here for a while might as well learn a thing or two. He went back and put on different clothes and went down to the library. Upon entering, he talked with a librarian on how to go through the process of borrowing the books. The librarian commented that he seemed to be the only one interested in these books because all the other ones they got had already been checked out. Once he had them in his handpaws, he headed back to the hotel.

He spent his day's studying the book on the many different species of this galaxy. The Derlenians, while looking a lot like him, had many notable distinctions. Such as a fatal reaction to salt water, in many ways, it acted similarly to acid. They were highly adaptable in many situations, fully telepathic, and more accepting of other species. Also, some unique type of spirituality that many believed in called 'The Return of the Progenitor.' Apparently while not considered a god per say, it is thought to be the savior of the race, and every twelve thousand cycles when the Derlenian DNA begins to break down. This individual, noted as always being a male of the species, is set to mate with as many fertile females throughout his life. Never being allowed to settle down with anyone mate or mates. Somehow the offspring produced by him carried a marker in their DNA and passed on to others, thus protecting the entire race from dying off thoroughly, until the process repeated itself again after twelve thousand cycles. Rubicant made a mental note on how Maria would love to dig into this genetic mystery.

Another species he came across was the Bulorians, a small energetic species with long ears. The image shown reminded him of Sandra's character Miss Bunbun. Short, cute, big round eyes, and ears that either stand up or flop down, with long digi-grade paw pads. This species is quick to react to dangerous situations, capable of jumping unusually high. They are also eager to please others, and unlike the Derlenians, not telepathic.

Later in the book Rubicant came across another species, that was very similar to Mathews character Hunter. A species called Phalynians. Considered to be the fastest land runners in the galaxy. They were more of a hunter-gather species, with only having a few of them in the Alliance, of which most were tactical officers. Easy to get along with and friendly, while being furiously loyal to those they consider a friend of mate, also not telepathic.

As he finished that book, he started to read the other on Jump Drive Technology. The book went on to explain that it was more advanced than Warp Drive, as it was able to bend the fabric of the Space-Time Continuum from point to point, and in some test cases made it appear as though you were in two places at once. Unlike Warp Drive that contracted space in front of the ship and expanded it behind the ship, getting it to move faster than light. In this effect, Jumping took more energy and time to engage, before a jump could initiate, whereas Warping was nearly instant and used less power. It continued to show the pros and cons of both, and in the end said that most modern ships had both drives, while using the JumpDrive mostly in time-sensitive situations.

After a while, towards the evening hours, he decided to go down to the shoreline and test something out. He never actually gave his character traits and flaws and wondered if it would follow the Derlenians with the fatal reaction to salt water. He took a towel with him, and as he reached the shoreline, he stood there smelling the air. Some little ones were playing near the edge as he approached. The purple color of the water gave the sun a redder look as it started setting for the evening.

He stepped closer to touch where the waves receded to see if it would affect him, even a little. Nothing happened at least as he could tell. He took a step closer and let a wave brush up to his hoofs. Still nothing. Was the book mistaken? He decided to walk out farther. No one stopped him as he got knee deep.

At this point, unbeknownst to him, a crowd was forming and watching him with hushed murmurings. Parents keeping their young ones away from the shore. At which point they watched him dive in. Everyone gasped in horror as someone else yelled to get emergency services out there quickly.

Under the water was a whole other experience. Where Rubicant dove in dropped about thirty meters and was almost crystal clear. A beautiful reef spread out below him. Though what surprised him most was the fact he felt no pain. No burning or stinging pain, nothing. What he did feel was something akin to feeling freer. He looked at himself as he saw his shorts slowly dissolve. Well, at least he had that towel near the shoreline. But that also explained what the book called an acid like feeling. He swam to the bottom and stood there looking around. He noted that the water did feel somewhat thicker, but not enough to hinder him.

He looked around he saw a small broken piece of coral and decided to take it as a souvenir. As he picked it up, he heard loud splashing above him. He looked up to see two divers headed to him. They stopped about ten meters away and looked at each other and then him. He waved to them, and one of them motioned him to follow up to the surface as it appeared he wasn't in any danger.

As the divers surfaced first, they called out for a freshwater shower hose to be brought out. The crowd that had formed on the edge of the shoreline gasped as they saw him walk out of the water and towards the shore. Many of the unmated females and some quiet males noticed how well-endowed he was, but the other thing that got their attention was that he was unharmed.

"You!" The one divers exclaimed while pointing at Rubicant. "Come here so we can rinse the Brine off you."

"Can I get a towel, since the water kind of ate my shorts?" Rubicant asked.

"Not until you're thoroughly rinsed off. Otherwise, everything that touches you will dissolve." The second diver said.

Once a freshwater shower hose was brought out they began rinsing him thoroughly. The way they rinsed him gave the crowd an almost slow motion supermodel look. One female fainted, and another came out in front and shouted. "He's the progenitor!" That's when the crowds murmuring got louder.

The two divers looked at him, as Rubicant's ears laid back and it looked as if he lowered himself to hide. The first diver stepped up. "Ok, that's enough! We don't know anything about this male or where he's from, so no jumping off the deep end with this progenitor stuff! Just go home and leave him be please!"

One older female ignored them and ran forward at Rubicant and grabbed him, her voice was pleading with him. "PLEASE BREED ME! LET ME BEAR OFFSPRING ONE LAST TIME!" Several authoritative figures appeared and grabbed her gently and pulled her away, as others started to disperse the crowd.

Rubicant saw a more decorated officer in a trench coat and wide-brimmed hat come up to him and speak, "You managed to cause quite a ruckus, mister?"

"Tavar, Rubicant Tavar." He noticed that he was a Phalynian.

"Detective Ohm, just so that you know ahead of time. You'll likely be front page on both the local and galactic news. Was it worth it?" Ohm asked.

"I'll be honest. It wasn't my intention. I'm new here and was just testing out something I had read." He said in a depressed tone.

Detective Ohm looked at him and his mood. "Are you staying at this hotel?" Ohm asked.

"Yes, I'm in room number."

Ohm interrupted him, "Not out here, or you'll have more problems than you can count. I'll just follow you to your room." Rubicant nodded in understanding.