In the course of tracking down the core and avoiding the Juireans, Adam had met up with the leader of the Fringe Pirates, the only other Human he had encountered since leaving Earth. His name was Riyad Tarazi, a former Islamic terrorist, who himself had been abducted six years earlier. Tarazi provided a wealth of knowledge regarding this strange, new reality Adam found himself in, having not only survived for all those years, but actually rising to the top of the pirate hierarchy in the process.

It had been Riyad who had told Adam a startling truth, that when compared to the capabilities of the vast majority of aliens, Humans were about as close to supermen as they came. As he explained, Humans combined the traits of quickness, strength, coordination and intelligence better than any other creature he’d yet encountered. That was the reason Riyad had been able to challenge the other pirate captains for their positions, until he finally stood at the pinnacle of their ranks.

Adam had experienced this so-called superiority himself, first in a gunfight with the lizard-like Rigorians, and then in his escape from a jail cell in the Nimorian city of Gildemont. Using his superior strength in the lighter-gravity world, Adam had indeed felt like Superman, nearly able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and the like.

Yet this superman complex was easily explainable.

As the months went by, Adam learned that nearly all the planets in the Fringe had lighter gravity than Earth, making him appear stronger than any of the natives. He also found that Human bone structure was thicker and stronger than that of the various alien races in the region. This gave him added toughness and durability. And his quickness and coordination simply came from his training as a Navy SEAL, plus his natural athletic ability.