Supergatory

Chapter 1: The Elevated Places The universe is vast, and as the folds of time and space unfurl, so do stories that challenge the mind and tantalize the imagination. This story begins in one of those distant corners of the cosmos on an advanced world called Newel. This is where my father was born. It's hard to tell this story without beginning with my father's. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 70 years, my father is better known as Major Alpha, the costumed hero. And although most of you know that, fewer of you might not know that he is an alien. No, I don't mean from Mexico. My father was born on another planet some million light years from here called Newel. I’ll start with some background about how he came to be here. Newel is a planet much like Earth. They look like us, they eat, sleep, breathe, reproduce and die like us. However, that is where the similarities end. Your average Newelian has roughly a 500-earth year life span. Their bodies are incredibly dense, molecularly speaking, giving them incredible strength and durability. Their minds are developed to such a degree that not only are they more technically advanced than us, but also they have developed a very interesting form of, what I'll call, psychokinesis. Unable to move objects with their minds, they can invert this power to move themselves, making flying as easy as walking and adding to their already great physical speed. Driven by science and advancement almost to obsession, the Newelians began an ambitious space program. Thousands of citizens were screened for the greatest of physical and mental attributes. From this genetic combing, they were able to bioengineer nine specimens. Infants in three sets of three that were raised, trained and chemically treated to be hearty enough to withstand the harsh vacuum of space for long periods with limited air and supplies. The specimens were named with their sir names being the letter designation of their group. Group C was comprised of Bry-C, Ked-C, and a female Mia-C. (All three sets included a female to provide an appropriate cross section as well as the potential for breeding.) The C group was bred to have slightly higher intellect at the cost of not having the greatest strength. As they reached accelerated adolescence, their intellect shown brightly with top scores in astrophysics, stellar geography and chemical/biological analysis. As mentioned they did not have the maximum strength that most Newelians had, but due to their stronger mental prowess were able to fly greater distances without rest. As their development reached maturity, each of the C’s began to exhibit depression, melancholy, and a lack of interest in almost all pursuits. The recommendation was made to try to correct this with medication. This would prove to be an insufficient remedy as shown by their first test mission. The test mission was simple; each C member was tasked with traveling to one of Newel’s three moons, camp overnight, and return with core samples of each moon’s crust. Newel’s three moon’s; Tarbus, Estom, and Mydret were relatively equidistant from Newel and each contained unique and rock formations of various elements that drifted constantly, changing the geography and often making newer elements surface. This made core samples from the moons very helpful in deducing the origins of the relatively small solar system that Newel inhabited. It was also hoped that core samples would shed light on the slight position drift each of the moons had experienced in the past few decades. Departure day came and each of the C’s was outfitted in a white formfitting jumpsuit with blue sleeves that looped around their thumbs and matching blue boots. Emblazoned on the left shoulder of each uniform was a prominent insignia of a horizon starburst center over the Newelian letter C. Blue tinted goggle-shades protected their eyes from errant dust particles while accelerating in and out of atmospheres. This mission would be the first time that the C’s would be separated. Up until now the C Group had spent every waking moment together. They were housed together, ate together, studied together and worked out together in the same training arena. As they were monitored through the first day of the trip, they noticed Ked-C diverting from his arranged flight path and heading on an intercept course toward Mia-C. Attempts to radio Ked to ask why he had deviated were met with panicked and paranoid ranting about someone’s out here trying to get me, and I have to make sure that Mia is safe! Unfortunately, in his panic, Ked forgot how to properly control his breathing to make efficient use of his considerable air supply, which fit in three highly compressed containers on the back of his belt. All three groups were trained to take breaths periodically through a clear plastic mask that hung from their belts and to rely on their natural ability to camel air for up to five earth hours. Despite pleas from Newel’s mission scientists, Ked had used half his air only one quarter of the way to Mia’s location. It wasn’t long after when he went radio silent and the monitoring devices in his uniform registered his heart bursting and his body drifting into the frigid abyss. In hindsight, mission scientists mistakenly informed Mia-C and Bry-C of their brother’s demise and how now it was increasingly critical that they perform their tasks to the utmost degree. This sent each of the remaining C’s in opposite directions of thinking. Mia, who had just landed on Mydret’s surface, immediately dropped her gear and returned to Newel. She entered an extended mourning period for Ked, and had not left her quarters or spoken for some time. Bry-C took the news better but felt the weight of the mission was on his shoulders alone. He took core samples from Tarbus in half the time allotted, calmly calculated and reassessed his oxygen needs and headed to the moon of Estom where his brother had been unable to reach. Once there he took samples in record time, and with minimal air reserves, headed to Mydret, following the homing beacon in Mia’s gear that had been abandoned there. Bry landed on Mydret with barely a gasp of breath to spare and quickly located Mia’s supplies which contained two spare oxygen capsules as well as her core sample equipment and containers. After a few refreshing breathes he quickly took the samples needed from the moons crust, packaged up all his gear and samples and lifted off for home. His exuberance and relief at completing, not only his mission, but also that of his siblings made him relax his caution. Upon his reentry to Newel the additional weight of the core samples coupled by his own exhaustion from an extended trip he had not trained for, caused him to be overcome by Newels gravity. Bry crashed into one of Newels science capitol centers creating a one-quarter mile crater and perished upon impact. Bry’s body was kept for study and the core samples were recovered thanks in part to their sturdy containers, however the C Group was considered a substantial failure. The development of the C Group showed flaws in the breeding, where overstimulation of the brain to increase intelligence also caused debilitating personality and psychological afflictions. The B Group was next to be tested. Developed for increased density and strength, the B Group had the weaker intellect of the three groups. The B Group consisted of Tan-B, Lar-B, and a female, Fen-B. They differed little in appearance from the C Group with the exception of their larger proportions. All had dark closely cropped hair and hazel eyes. Outfitted in similar outfits to as the C Group, except with red accents as opposed to blue and the same horizon starburst centered over the Newelian letter B adorned their left shoulder. The B Group was given an important task as their first mission.