Synopsis of novel being pubished. |
The threat of a terrible interstellar war sweeps across the galaxy, a war being waged by a brutal race of bipedal arthropods called the Superior Species. Having evolved on a mostly barren world, the Superior Species possess unique reproductive adaptations making them biologically invincible. Bent on conquering and colonizing every known water world, they turn their sights toward two significant targets: the lush planet Vutuu, and beyond it, an unsuspecting Earth. Vutuu, a stepping stone to an invasion of Earth, is home to the most intelligent beings in the universe. The Vutuu, a family-centered culture, are religiously focused and spend all of their energies on achieving self-actualization. Their planet falls easily to the Superior Species, and unwittingly sets the stage for a conquest of the Earth using a destructive microbe within their own bodies. But Vutuu prisoners prove to be excellent slaves to the Superior Species, who can barely maintain the technology they have stolen from other races. All surviving Vutuu males are taken prisoner and conditioned to serve aboard the Superior Species’ fleet of capital ships. Unaware that his family has been massacred, Boveen is one such Vutuu slave. Believing his servitude will save his beloved wife and children, Boveen works tirelessly for the Superior Species war machine, whose flagship, under the leadership of the ruthless Commander Tak-Rwl, is moving toward the Earth, a planet which was infected by the destructive microbe by an advance scout twenty years earlier. Boveen is torn by a sense of loyalty to the family he doesn’t yet realize is gone and knowing that his hands have been stained by helping the Superior Species, which readies their invasion plans for the Earth. On Earth, Marsha Peters tries to rise above her current, unhappy situation. After a failed marriage and faced with losing her sister and young nephew to HIV, she returns to her alma mater to work beside a man who once motivated her to follow in his footsteps, Doctor James Haddock. Years ago, when Marsha was a student, Dr. Haddock led students on world wide excursions to witness first hand the evidence of natural selection and evolution. At that time, Dr. Haddock was an engaging teacher, motivating young minds to seek answers themselves. She finds instead that her mentor isn’t the same man anymore. He struggles with his religious convictions regarding creation and the evolutionary theories of his profession as a university biology professor. They have caused a separation within his life he can not justify, causing him to retreat to the Internet, not the field, in a search for answers. Plots and schemes help Marsha break Haddock’s Internet addiction. She convinces him to join her and a small team of students on a research project to the very bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where they will seek to gather samples of a bacterium capable of consuming the toxic sulfide compounds spewing from vents formed along the continental plates. Such bacteria could feed off steel industry waste, in essence creating a biological means of eliminating smog. The discovery of new life forms so deep beneath the ocean could also lead to scientific discoveries that might shed light on the origins of life on Earth. The research team sets out, unaware that they will soon become key figures in a terrifying fight to save the planet from alien invaders. The research team settles into a routine that shifts between boredom aboard ship and the excitement playing out on the ocean floor. New life forms are discovered in places no one previously thought possible, living off the chemical energy found in the 600-degree water blasting from deep under the ocean floor. They could be living descendants of primordial life forms or an entirely new example of spontaneous generation. Marsha and Dr. Haddock realize their dreams of adventure while finding the biological evidence to solve mankind’s biggest mystery. During their exploration of the lava vents, a practical joke goes too far. Lives are threatened, and the research sub is seriously damaged. With repairs keeping everything on hold for a few days, the crew is intrigued by a tabloid story about a supposed sea creature sighted close to the same area they are exploring. They head off in search of the mysterious ‘aqua-man’ - and to their horror, discover it living off a chain of desolate atolls. The creature, Kemiad, is really a member of the telepathic Egnaman race being held prisoner on Earth in a trial farming operation by the Superior Species. Kemiad seeks help for his people and their plight and understands the correlation between the HIV disease and the Superior Species microbe. Using his telepathic abilities, Kemiad and Marsha connect. He shares the story of his people and the horrific Superior Species. The Superior Species complete three stages during their lives: microbe, insect, and adult stages. The blood-born microbe stage allows them to infect any biological host and spread throughout a population as a communicable virus. This microbe is already present on Earth and has been misdiagnosed as HIV. Once the microbe has infected the majority of a population, the adult Superior Species emit a pheromone, triggering metamorphosis. The microbes recombine to construct the second stage: a flying insect that attaches itself to the host by biting into the spinal chord of the victim’s neck. From there, it assumes control of the host’s central body. The Superior Species insect uses the second host as a platform for developing into an adult. Kemiad’s people were unknowingly infected by the Superior Species and provided them with the means of space travel. Now, the Egnaman have become not only slaves to the invaders, but also, grotesquely, their biggest source of food. Onboard the enemy capitol ship, Tak-Rwl attempts to repair the strained relationship with the Superior Species’ leader, Toavarian, the Great. Heads roll as Tak-Rwl attempts to bring the conquest of Earth forward, and to his horror, Boveen realizes his family is dead. His tragedy is overshadowed by the realization that his valued status as a top technology slave has given him access to all of the capitol ship’s key systems. Kemiad and Marsha find evidence to support the existence of humans immune to HIV. If such immunity exists, it could combat the Superior Species. Back on campus, the newly formed Egnaman/Earthling alliance sets up a discreet base of operations. Kemiad uses his advanced intelligence and technology to create sophisticated weapons and surveillance equipment. The alliance successfully tests Kemiad’s research on Marsha’s sister, freeing her of the infection. As the Superior Species readies to attack, the alliance raids a farming operation and frees the Egnaman trapped on Earth. But from this victory, a worldwide battle breaks out, one that could result in the deaths of several hundred million humans. Faced with total destruction, the nations of the planet join forces. Religious differences are forgotten and mankind becomes one with a single cause: self-preservation. In a moment of supreme confrontation that tests faith and the belief in a loving God, Kemiad and the original team lead a reckless effort to capture Tak-Rwl’s capitol ship stationed above the Earth, utilizing secret U.S. aircraft and the entire fleet of space shuttles armed with Egnaman weapons. An unforeseen accident leads to early failure and hope is momentarily lost. An act that could only be deemed miraculous saves the team, when Boveen sacrifices himself, honoring both his family and the billions who died on Vutuu. Using Tak-Rwl’s captured flagship, the war is taken on the offensive, all the way back to where it began: the Superior Species home world. The Superior Species fleet breaks off their attack on Earth. The planet is spared, and the world rejoices, though the danger of the Superior Species - which flees with the Egnamen bred on other conquered planets - remains a deadly threat. Superior Species, a Christian Science Fiction novel of approximately 80,000 words, is about mankind’s ultimate conflict - ideals of creation vs. evolution. THE END soon to be release by PublishAmerica email author at superiorspecies@hotmail.com |