Prologue

A Chapter by artimec

Forced to steal and murder, Nathan Endar begins to doubt the ways of the Primes

"Heads up, convoy's in sight."

What was I doing? Here I was waiting to ambush one of king Reza's ground convoys, but for what? Reza was only king of three systems, profitable systems but still.

"Why are we doing this, Jacob?" I asked.

"Why? Why were we abandoned? Why are we considered lesser beings? Have we not suffered enough, Nathan? We attack Reza because we are not allowed to enter his systems. We attack because one of our own was beaten up here because of who we are, of what we are. We're

here to steal his precious green diamonds. He will suffer a big loss and we have an opportunity to make some money."

Jacob could be very persuasive. A team of five Primes was waiting for that convoy to walk in to our trap. The kings men wouldn't even know what hit them.

"Charge!" Jacob shouted.

Red energy fields lit up the sky, trees and rocks flew through the air and in a matter of seconds we had taken over the convoy.

"Load everything into the shuttles." Jacob commanded.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said: "Nathan, we do not take prisoners."

"What?! Your ordering me to kill them? Is that really what's become of us?"

"Do it you filthy mutant." One of the prisoners sad.

I was trying to save his life and still he had the guts to insult me. Still, I wasn't a murderer.

I created a force great enough to knock the prisoners out and then slowed down their heartbeat. It looked real enough. The red manipulation fields circling around them appeared to be sucking their lives away.

"Alright, let's get back to Argo. They'll be pleased with what we've accomplished here."

"How was your trip Nathan?" My father asked me when I got back to Argo.

"I'm not sure." I answered.

Argo was our hideout, the only place where we didn't have to hide who we were. Argo is well hidden. The only way for a Prime to access it is to go the the Prime outpost on Earth and ask for transportation to Argo there. Many Primes don't know it's exact location either. Argo isn't what it used to be. The Primes are bitter people, who can blame us? A far out colony got some kind of radiation poisoning? Who cares. More than half of the colonist die, the rest sick? Ah well, there's only a few hundred. The survivors have developed some kind of space control ability? Those filthy mutants! Let's prevent them from ever being able to be part of society again! No one accepted us, no one helped us. Eventually we found this place, a small cave system, Argo. We were forced to steal food and other commodities because merchants wouldn't sell anything to 'our kind'.

We're unable to age, except if you've given birth. If a female Prime gives birth she starts to age again. Her partner is left to watch his wife slowly rot away. As a result, may men had children with the few 'normal' woman that didn't despise our kind. The offspring had a 50/50 percent charge of inheriting his father's curse but were far less powerful. Only a few pure bloods remain, I am one of them. A pure blood is a Prime that was part of the original colony or a child whose parents were both pure blood Primes. My parents were in love but they had a hole in their lives, a child. They made the hard decision to have one. My father and I slowly watched my mother die. Pure bloods are well respected for they have seen more than most can bare. Of the few dozen Primes that remain only five are pure bloods. My father is part of the board. The board consists of three pure bloods. Together they decide the faith of Argo. Jacob is also a pure blood. He is the commander of our military force. Lastly there's me, but I'm relatively young and still have a lot to learn about my abilities and our way of life.

I was helping unload our haul when my best friend Riley found me.

"Hey Nathan! What did you do man? The board requests to see you immediately."

"Do you know why?"

"No. But it sounded serious."

I quickly went to the board room. The board room looked amazing. A small bridge over a deep ravine. The bridge stopped in the middle. On the other side stood the board. It was very formal and also very threatening. I walked to the centre. Jacob was already there, waiting for me. The board was ready as well.

"Nathaniel Endar. We have called you here because we are concerned about your loyalty." Balern said.

"I know that you didn't kill those prisoners, Nathan. You tried to fool me but I've been around a lot longer than you have. I know every trick in the book."

"I'm not a murderer Jacob! Those men were just following orders, they were innocent."

"No they were not! You heard them, you tried to help them and still you were a mutant to them."

"Enough gentlemen." Alvaro said

"The board has decided to send you away on a pilgrimage. You are to leave first thing in the morning. This meeting is adjourned."

"I'm sorry Nathan" Jacob said.

Every once in a while someone was send on a pilgrimage. On a pilgrimage you are left to fend for yourself. The goal was to let the doubter experience the cruelty of the outside world like the original colonists once had. Then you would understand why the Primes do what they do.

The following morning I said a quick goodbye to my father. He wished me luck. He said that what we do is wrong, but it is necessary for our survival. He said that he didn't always agree with our ways either. And that was it, I left. I was scared but also optimistic.

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