Prologue
Iceland's Prime Minister, Reykjavik's Mayor, and Professor's relatives: Apollo and his brother Rocky Steele are sitting at the Steele's estate attorney law offices.
The attorney greets every person in the room. The estate probate lawyer explains that as the executor of Professor Steele's will, he has been instructed to give to Iceland's Prime Minister one million U.S. dollars a year. This money should be handed to local charities. Reykjavik's Mayor will get half a million U.S. dollars a year to help sponsor Iceland's National Day, June 17th, Iceland's Independence Day. The money should allow the citizens to genuinely enjoy the celebration.
Turning to Professor's nephews, the lawyer discloses that before the professor's untimely death, he passed his entire corporations and wealth over to them. From this moment, they are co-owners of all his companies. This revelation became more evident when the politicians exited the place. The world press was capturing their photos for tomorrow's front pages. The iBroadcast cameras focused on interviewing Apollo and Rocky Steele.
International journalist, author, and legendary interviewer states, "Live from Reykjavik Iceland, this is Meredith Marlowe interviewing Apollo and Rocky Steele." Turning to the Steele brothers, she asks, "How do you both feel about becoming the wealthiest 20-year-olds in the world?"
They look at her smiling as Apollo replies, "We are both still grieving the death of our beloved uncle who the world knows as 'Professor Steele.'"
Rocky adds, "In his honor, we promised the world that we will follow in his footsteps, having him from the great beyond being proud of us. Thank you." The cameras continue rolling, watching the two brothers entering the back of their chauffeur-driven limousine. Then, the iBroadcast segment ends as their black limousine drives away.
At their newly acquired mansion, which used to belong to their uncle, Rocky asks his brother, "What are we going to do about the 'Golden Eagle' organization?"
Apollo replies, "We will follow in our uncle's footsteps, checking out those with SuperPower abilities, documenting their dossiers, and recruiting the top prospects to join our organization."
Rocky thinks, knocking over the black king from his wooden Reykjavik X chess set, "We must solicit our recruiters to locate 'the next generation.'"
Chapter 1
Evolution
Sitting in the 1000 seated lecture hall, students anticipate the first lecture at Cambridge University in London delivered by Dr. Darwin Littlefield.
He begins his anticipated lecture by saying, "Life. What caused men to be in their present state? Evolution stems from the science of biology. Over generations, all species on Earth change their characteristics to survive. The strong survive. The weak become extinct. This is what Charles Darwin wrote about as 'natural selection or the struggle to survive, to exist?' In other words, 'the fittest are the ones who survive.'
"If DNA or deoxyribose nucleic acid becomes altered, it creates a mutation. The DNA in the chromosomes of all species defines the characteristics of the next generation that are fundamental and distinctive to procreate. When a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule attach to a DNA base pair, scientists call it a nucleotide. When the nucleotides are positioned in two long strands forming a spiral, the structure containing biological traits and characteristics is called a 'double helix.'
"The discovery in 1953 is the result of Watson and Crick's work, who won the Nobel Prize for medicine in that same year. Nature protects itself from becoming extinct. Each generation becomes better, more adaptable to its environment. Tomatoes have existed for tens of thousands of years to be eaten by insects. There was a time when insecticide protected the fruit, but it was considered bad for human consumption. Over the evolution of the tomato, the skin and seeds developed toxicity which killed insects. As insects eat on a tomato, which has fallen to the ground, they soon die.
"The cockroach has been on Earth before the dinosaurs, and they are a major environmental problem. Scientists studying the larvae of cockroaches know the newly created life-forms are born with antibodies, which resist toxins from sprays and possibly a nuclear war. Thereby making them resilient to natural and man-made devices, which could lead them to extinction.
"A virus that kills its host also kills itself, so it must mutate to survive. It will soon just infect its host, allowing both to sustain themselves, making a symbiotic relationship such as the relationship between the shark and its maintenance fish that eat its parasites called the shark sucker.
"Extinction has removed from our planet the deer mouse, the peppered moth, and the peacock. Bacteria are a common research subject when studying evolution and adaptation because some bacteria colonies can produce several generations in one day.
The events handout states "Located in Canberra, Australia's capital is one of the top world colleges specializing in anthropology. It is known as the Australian National University which is where Dr. Darwin Littlefield is the dean. Evolution is the ability to change a species redefining its characteristics for survival.
"Early man didn't leave the forests of Africa in their electric flying car, holding their digital device." His entire audience of graduate anthropology students laughed and began to applaud.
He continues, saying, "Today's man or Homosapien evolved through time. The process of change is driven by natural selection. The traits that become more common are the ones that are 'adaptive' or 'increase fitness,' that is, a creature's chances of living longer and producing more offspring. Homo erectus appeared 1.5 million years B.C. and traveled from Africa to Europe and Asia. They were the first hunters and gatherers with primitive weapons like stone axes and knives. They lived during the Ice Age, so traveling across water bodies was as simple as crossing a vast terrain of frozen, natural ice bridges. Homo erectus traveled in search of food in the frozen desert or after animals in Africa. It was either traveling north or becoming extinct. They had the skills to make fire. The fire was an important key to life since it protected them against wild, hungry animals that feared fire, gave the tribe heat when traveling through cold regions, and allowed them to cook their food, killing possible diseases and softening their meat."
Looking up at his audience that filled the lecture hall, he states, "The elders could share stories around the fire. Homo erectus had a large face, a thick skull, a large, powerful lower jaw, and a receding forehead. They could grow to five feet, nine inches, and often lived in caves. They traveled over 8500 miles from Africa to Europe or China, walking over 8700 miles in over a million years, following the herds that moved northward seasonally."
Dr. Littlefield pauses before explaining, "Neanderthals or Homo sapiens, meaning 'wise man,' lived 200,000 to 250,000 years ago. They lived in Europe, such as Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and Portugal, Asia in Siberia, Poland, and the Near East being Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel."
He continues describing to his audience, "A clan was comprised of six to 25 members. Males lived to ages 40 to 45 while many females died in childbirth or lived to 30. Clans often stole women from neighboring clans. Neanderthals were cave dwellers. The men hunted within their 30-mile territory. Since they lacked in-depth planning, they hunted in zigzag paths after their prey. Neanderthals cared for their wounded and disabled members and buried their dead in a ceremony where they painted the deceased body."
Continuing, Dr. Littlefield says, "Neanderthals had muscular, short bodies, short arms, and broad trunks and were largely brained, meaning a low, sloping forehead. They walked with bent knees, heads leaning forward, and were extraordinarily strong. They were admirably adapted to cold and harsh climates. Neanderthals made elaborate use of stone tools. They had hand axes for skinning and cutting meat into pieces and choppers to break bones to eat the marrow, pound meat, and chop wood. Deniculates, a stone tool containing one or more edges like a saw, could shape and remove bark from wood. Scrapers could clean hides. Curved-back knives could cut flesh easily. Spears were cut with pointy ends, or stone points were placed at the end of the spear. Neanderthals made wooden clubs. They used bones for needles and fishhooks, created warm craft boots, and made a fire by spinning a pointed stick with kindling. They were hunters and used spears to kill animals as well as force herds off cliffs. They hunted reindeer, red deer, horses, wild cattle, gazelle, rabbit, sheep, and goats, and fished and speared salmon. Neanderthals were preyed upon by saber-tooth tigers, cave bears that were ten-foot-tall, foxes, cave lions, woolly mammoths, hyenas, and dogs with huge teeth."
Stopping for a moment, Dr. Littlefield surveys his audience before continuing, "Next, the Cro-Magnon man or 'Homo sapiens' lived around 25,000 B.C. and followed their food throughout the seasons. In winter, they returned to their shelters, while in summer, they traveled, following the herds. Like their ancestors, they ate seeds, berries, roots, nuts, and salmon. They sweetened their foods with honey. Cro-Magnon man could grow to six feet tall and could live into their fifties. They had a huge frontal lobe, and they could plan. They hunted in groups or individually, using stone axes, knives, spears, harpoons, wooden bows, and sharp stone-tipped arrows. They used traps and fished with woven nets, and they built rafts and canoes to catch larger fish in the deeper waters."
Dr. Darwin Littlefield continues his lecture, stating, "Cro-Magnon man learned how to soften the leather and use animal gut as thread and bones as needles. In summer, they wore woven grass and bark clothes. In winter, they wore animal skin clothing and moccasins. Their homes were portable and made like teepees. The teepees were made with branches or mammoth bones and covered with animal skins. Often the large home had a central hearth for a fire. Cro-Magnon man painted and tattooed their bodies, perhaps as a sign of social position. They had flint blades, oil lamps and created statues out of ivory, bone, and antlers. They made colored cave paintings that depicted hunts and animals with stick figure drawings, and they often had outlines of the artist's hands. They made necklaces and pendants from shells, teeth, feathers, flowers, and bone. They ate and were hunted by the same animals as the Neanderthals, except the woolly mammoth and the saber-tooth tiger, which were extinct by then. Cro-Magnon man could store and cure food. They produced symbolic art, engaged in long-distance trade, performed elaborate burial ceremonies, and planned and crafted a technologically advanced tool kit."
Being one of the world's top authorities, Darwin Littlefield lectures to all the graduate students who have been taking notes. He declares, "Evolution is a gradual journey where spontaneous genetic changes create altered structures that favor qualities to help survival and eliminate the weak traits through natural selection."
Doctor Darwin Littlefield ends his lecture by thanking the entire collegiate audience who stand up, giving the doctor a standing ovation while chanting in unison, "Evolution, evolution, evolution."
Before chatting with the students, Dr. Darwin Littlefield thanks his audience for their reception as he asserts, "Like Rome, evolution didn't happen overnight. The only constant is the ever-changing progression of life."
Carmen and Diego Martin's twins, Salvador, and Pablo, invite Dr. Darwin Littlefield out to dine. At dinner, the Martin twins offer to have DODGE, the Department of Defense Genetically Engineered Initiative, to finance his research as he supplies their organization with data on SuperPower individuals. Dr. Littlefield agrees to work with DODGE and, just like a college athletic scout, reports any favorable prospects throughout the world.
A week later and 1173 miles away in Iceland, the two brothers watch on a recorded iBroadcast Dr. Darwin Littlefield's lecture. Knowing that their uncle has been laid to rest, they inherit the family business recruiting SuperPower people sending them on special missions to venues other than art museums.
The two opposing SuperPower associations seek to procure and financially support new members with abilities beyond the SuperPower ability to fly or become invisible.
