Hero

by Ronelle van Niekerk © 2002

I've been preparing for this moment all my life. I was conceived, born, raised and trained for this one moment. I was the chosen one. I was the guinea pig.

My DNA was altered early in the first stages of my development. I was to have thicker bones than the average man. I was to be taller and broader. I was to be stronger and more resilient. I was a freak but I was an important freak. My make up was, in fact, very similar to Neanderthal man, that species of man that never quite made it on planet earth. But then I was not created to live on this planet.

I was created by scientists and doctors and dreamers to be thrown alive and conscious into an unknown universe. I had been created to explore the other side of the black hole. They had sent many men in before I was conceived but they had all been ripped apart by the forces in the hole, they had been pulled back into our universe in pieces.

I was also not the first "freak" or as they prefer to call me - Adam. Adams one, two, three and four had died in the womb, the DNA had been altered incorrectly they said and the embryo had died. Adams five and six had been born, but had been too far from human to warrant using them in the experiment. Adams seven and eight had been perfect, or almost. I am Adam-eight, strong and resilient. Adam-seven was not strong enough, I was stronger.

So it was I that survived the first few years and they decided that it was I that would be trained for this momentous occasion. I am ready now, I have been ready all my life. They have been training me since I can remember and I have always been willing and enthusiastic.

Here I am in my little craft, light years away from my home planet and about to take the most important step in human history. I press the correct buttons, they have been the same since I was twelve. I pull the right levers, they too I have know for many years. And I remember how Adam-seven sacrificed his weaker self, at the end of my knife, so that I may accomplish this task.

I am heading for the centre of the hole at 14000 mile and hour and my heart is racing. I may not look like them but soon I will be the hero of all the people on earth.

I am at the rim of the hole. It's dark. Empty.

I feel forces trying to pull my body apart. The pain is immense. My strength is failing. There is only blood where my left arm should be. I wonder what they did wrong. I wonder if they'll try to fix it. I wonder if they'll be able to bury all of me.

x x x




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