Super Absorption

By P.G. Henck

What began as a simple night of a zookeeper boring her sister and boyfriend with her passion turned out much differently than any of them could have imagined. They, along with the zoo’s antisocial gorilla, were whisked away to a new world where everyone had their own special superpower, that is everyone but them. These Earth visitors, however, could absorb the superior powers of those they encountered on this planet, making them quite special indeed. But on a planet where why is a question seldom asked, and the future only encompasses six months, few worried too much about this big difference.

While learning how to safely use their powers was hard enough, understanding the eccentric characters they met on this new planet was perhaps even harder. And it wasn’t made any easier by the fact that these supers did not age, consumed no food or drink, didn’t know what sex was and didn’t have the equipment to engage in it even if they did, had no children, and lived with no other animals on the planet. Well, at least none they recognized. Most of the supers had been brought to the planet about seventy years before, and remembered nothing except their name, and age before they stopped aging. At first, everyone appeared to be quite happy living in this super world that seemed to be heading the same place it did the day before. The more the Earth visitors learned, however, the more it seemed like there might be some problems on this idyllic planet that most of its inhabitants did not recognize.

But even against this background of intrigue, within just a short time this trip to another planet also had a profound effect on the Earth visitors, forcing them to redefine their existing bonds of family and friendship. That can happen when the rules are changed, blended, and eventually absorbed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: P.G. Henck
• Release date: Dec 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781951251499

P.G. Henck

About P.G. HenckP.G. Henck has written several science fiction and fantasy stories with more on the way. His first novel, ‘Beyond The Providers’, was self published in 2019 after many years in development. His next two novels, ‘Elementary Science 101’ and ‘Elementary Science 201’, entered the humorous side of science fiction, where many of his works now reside. The ‘Deep Space Rescue 911’ series has begun with two novellas, and may end with a novel in order to complete the whole story. The ‘Captain Mike’ series will eventually consist of three novellas, each with a different set of circumstances and characters, except for Captain Mike of course. Both series are comedies and follow P.G.’s favorite storyline of an unusual group of individuals making their way through space. The published short stories ‘Distant Neighbors’ and ‘Alien Vacation Invasion’ had parts inspired by real events, which P.G. thinks can be pretty funny in themselves at times. The next short story, ‘Bigfoot Dance Party’, relies on characters from ‘Elementary Science 201’. Being published in the fall of 2021 are the fantasy / science fiction novellas ‘Bring it Alien B’ and ‘Super Absorption’. Both go for the funny bone as well as presenting new interesting characters. Additional short stories and novellas are planned in the next few years along with another novel called Time Minds, which is expected to give readers a heavy dose of fictionalized history made possible through science fiction.P.G. Henck was born in Michigan, and lived in the Great Lakes region for a good part of his life with his wife, the girl next door. The couple then moved to southern Utah to experience the spectacular scenery and endless trails it provides. Though he spent most of his career as an accountant and financial administrator, P.G. Henck’s outside interest lay heavily in the sciences, space exploration, and history. Also a lover of science fiction and fantasy over the years, he has gone out of his way to see every movie and TV show available, both good and bad. His many other interests besides writing include hiking, travel, photography, and website development, along with designing and producing his own book covers.Please go to the author’s website at www.pghenck.com for more information and special deals on purchasing his books.

Book preview

Super

Absorption

By P.G. Henck

Copyright 2021 P.G. Henck Publishing

First Edition, eBook, 2021

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To my one and only everything.

Cover artwork by Lathar Dieterich, Germering, Germany

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter One - Aliens

Chapter Two - Making Friends

Chapter Three - Box of Superpowers

Chapter Four - A Fist Full of Something

Chapter Five - Jungle Jump

Chapter Six - Moved by Dreams

Chapter Seven - Going Home

Chapter Eight - Perfect Partners

About P.G. Henck

Other Works by P.G. Henck

Contact with P.G. Henck

Chapter One - Aliens

This is a simple tale. Not one to challenge the ages with new thought or ways for civilized beings to carry themselves. Just a story about individuals living as well as outside influences and constraints allowed them. Now simply told, as well as these simple words will allow.

Chad and Brenda were on their way to visit her sister, Beth. Well it wasn’t just Beth, but Beth and her favorite gorilla, Tommy. Beth of course worked in a zoo, and through many hours, dedication, and love, she had worked her way up to be Tommy’s primary keeper. There was no ceremony or even an increase in salary when this happened. And Beth wouldn’t have been proud of it for those reasons anyway. It was more the commitment she had to Tommy over the last few years, and now she was the primary one to look after this beautiful silverback’s welfare.

Tommy didn’t have it easy in the past. He never got along well with potential mates in his usually cramped zoo quarters, and as such, always ended up being the lone silverback no one wanted. Zoos want their silverbacks to lead a family group, and show powerful grace as they sat there each day, looking at the many visitors who made faces at them and pounded on the glass. Tommy never seemed to want that, and instead turned his back on the social side of the zoo. He tried to spend most waking hours sitting on a far-off perch somewhere, which gave him a view of anything that wasn’t where he was.

Beth was about the only other living thing that Tommy would respond to. And before she showed up, the zoo’s administration had given some serious thought about putting him down if they could not find a way to administer proper care to the beast. Any animal in poor health was a reflection on them that could eventually reflect on their contributions. And a 400 pound wild animal who just wanted to be left alone is very hard to keep in good health. As for trading him to another zoo, Tommy had already reached the end of that line. His list of failures were so long that he had become infamous in the zoo world as the one silverback you never wanted to get stuck with. Even though some might argue that gorillas didn’t have enough intelligence to perceive this, Beth still thought that Tommy acted like he thought other humans would be happier if he no longer existed. She was the only one who really cared about him, and because of that, she was the only one he cared to be around.

After three attempts in her zoo to make him the silverback he would never be, he was now relegated to an old holding facility that most humans would agree was just a glorified jail cell. Why he ended up in jail for doing nothing was beyond Tommy’s intelligence, as well as Beth’s. He didn’t charge at people or other gorillas, constantly growl or pound his chest like King Kong, play with himself, or throw his own shit at visitors and staff. He just wanted to be left alone, and not inflict any harm on others when he did it.

Most vets and specialists thought it was something mental, but when you can’t talk to your patient, those types of things are hard to ascertain, let alone correct. Caged animal depression is common, but when companionship, toys, enrichment, sex, and favorite foods don’t work, there aren’t many options left. Beth was about the only thing they found that got any reaction in him at all. And despite the sad circumstances that had brought him to her, she was very happy to now be there for him. It is said that all individuals have a hand in where and how they end up in life. In Tommy’s case, however, Beth thought that the few options he was given didn’t place any blame on him. Slaves, whether they are human or animal, usually don’t end up with much in life, especially if they reject the few things that are thrown their way.

Beth greeted Brenda and Chad at the designated door and brought them in. It was off hours, but by registering these two as volunteers, Beth could give them the special tour. It just meant she had to work longer to bring those volunteer hours to fruition since Brenda and Chad would have never been interested in contributing hours to the zoo, or been very good at it. Chad hated the smell of animal poop, and Brenda thought her sister’s obsession with all things less intelligent was misdirected. The last thing she ever wanted to do was encourage Beth’s abandonment of humankind in favor of the animal world, but meeting Tommy seemed to be so important to Beth that Brenda’s sisterly love forced her to capitulate to this quick introduction, before the night’s real activities with Chad were planned to begin.

I can’t wait to see how he reacts when he sees the two of us side by side, Beth said, with more excitement than she usually expressed. I want to see if he can tell we are sisters.

The two did look quite a bit alike, except Brenda, the older one, appeared to have gotten first pick in their gene pool, leaving only seconds for her younger sister to wade through. Brenda was just south of gorgeous, where Beth was just south of pretty. Brenda had developed a nice shapely body, where Beth hadn’t developed much. Brenda had beautiful long soft hair, where Beth could barely get her brittle locks to grow long enough to tie them up in back. And since birth, Brenda continued to be the chosen one. She was best at school, best at sports, and always in the right place at the right time. Tragically, Beth was raped when she was younger, and the resulting abortion produced an infection that took away her ability to ever be a mother. So in this regard, Beth kind of identified with Tommy, who had never done anything wrong, but still ended up with all of the consequences of someone who had.

He is right in here, Beth said with an excited smile, as she led them into a side access area to Tommy’s cage.

Tommy was just sitting there looking out a skylight above the bars. He had already heard them talking in the hallway, so he knew Beth was not alone. When they entered he could smell that Brenda was her sister. He had a sister once. He could not remember much about her now, only her smell. Through a quick side glance, Tommy could tell that the third skinny white being was a male who posed no threat. He had no reason to engage these two strangers, so he ignored all three of them as he had most humans who sought his company.

Beth figured Tommy would probably act that way, though she hoped he might respond to her sister differently. Beth started rattling on with gorilla facts like she might do on a standard tour, hoping to hold her guests’ interest since it was a cinch Tommy wouldn’t. Then she heard a sound like something fell into the cage. While she turned as quickly as she could to see what it was, Tommy had already reacted to it by jumping backward.

There was a man sitting on the inside floor of the cage, leaning against the bars closest to them, looking up at Tommy. What in creation is that? the man asked himself, apparently not knowing the other three humans were behind him.

Beth cautiously went over to the stranger and said in a low voice, Remain still and calm.

The man did neither. He shouted, I shouldn’t be here, and then moved his legs quickly back into a fetal position.

Tommy took a quick defensive stance to the stranger’s movements. Before Tommy had a startled look on his face, but now it was turning to anger.

It’s O.K., Tommy, Beth said in as soothing of a voice as she could muster under the circumstances. He isn’t going to hurt you.

Beth was standing over the stranger as close as she could get, hoping to defuse the situation. Brenda was hanging on to Beth’s back, worried about her sister being hurt by man or beast. Chad had his hand on Brenda’s butt, apparently to let her know he was still there.

Then the stranger said, I’m out of here, and he started to get up.

Beth shouted, No, and tried to hold the stranger down, as Tommy lunged at the intruder. Instantly everything went blank for a few moments, no sound, no vision, and hardly any thought. When Beth’s senses finally did come around, she wondered if there had been an explosion of some kind. She was on all fours, facing in the opposite direction from where she thought she was. Chad was stretched out on his back to her left, and Brenda was sitting on the ground to the right of her, looking totally bewildered. Beth caught some movement going by her, and it was the stranger.

He turned around and said in a terrified voice as he was fleeing, Sorry, I’m not ready for this, I’m not charged yet. And then he was gone into the darkness.

The guy no longer had on the overcoat he was wearing in the zoo, and now only had on what almost looked like kids’ pajamas of some sort. Beth still wasn’t sure what the heck was happening. Apparently they had been blown out of the zoo somehow; it was just ground underneath her. Are you O.K.? she asked Brenda, who looked like she was still in a haze.

What happened? Brenda asked. One second I was hanging on to you to pull you away when your gorilla started ripping that guy apart, and then the next second, I’m here.

Before Beth could answer her, Chad cut in with, Don’t worry about me, Ladies, just because I’m lying here apparently dead. Then he leaned up on one elbow to say, What did that guy mean about not being charged yet? My cellphone here shows no bars, so even being fully charged is not going to do much.

No cell phone coverage, where the hell can we be? Brenda demanded, from no one in particular.

I hope Tommy wasn’t hurt, Beth said as she began to stand. She saw Brenda with a scared look slightly waving to her with her fingers that were pointing behind them.

Tommy was sitting there like he was watching TV. The look on his face was something Beth had never seen before, a look of total curiosity. Beth knew she had to do something; after all, she was Tommy’s primary care giver. So she started in the calmest and most relaxed voice possible, We aren’t going to hurt you, be calm, we just need to figure some things out.

At first Tommy rolled his eyes upward, another expression she had never seen before, and then he gave a thumbs up to Beth, with a slight human smile, but no teeth, since all gorillas know that this is the universal sign of aggression.

Beth just stood there with a stupefied look on her face as Brenda then asked, Did you teach him sign language, or do that gesture a lot around him?

No, Beth said, still looking like she didn’t know what to think. We worked mainly on responding to colored targets.

Really, Chad said, still leaning on his elbow. You’re trying to tell us the dumb ape just gave us an intelligent thumbs up on its own?

Tommy then turned toward Chad, and slowly gave him the middle finger up, along with a look like he wasn’t the skinny dummy name calling a 400 pound gorilla.

Chad sat up and said, Sorry, uh, Tommy, no offense.

But before Tommy could respond, Beth asked with hopeful excitement, Tommy, do you understand us, English, what we are saying?

Tommy proudly slanted his head and nodded yes.

Oh my gosh, this is fantastic, this is incredible, this is a dream come true, Beth said as the tears started to flow.

I’m glad for your discovery, Beth Fossey, Brenda said sarcastically, but maybe there is a more important question here. Like, where the hell are we?

Beth was a sweet and quiet person by nature, but after a lifetime of having her older sister stepping in front of her to lead the parade, she now had quite