Part 10 (2/2)

Jor-El found it dizzying. Lara laughed in amazement. ”This is...beautiful!”

The heavy engine hummed, and the screen hovering in the air showed impossible thermal chaos. ”I see, yes...there is your problem. Just a little deeper.” The alien stepped closer, his facial tentacles twitching with fascination.

When Jor-El checked his set of control rods, several of the crystals glowed amber. He pulled them out and reinserted them, but the warning color continued to intensify. ”That isn't supposed to happen.”

The lights from the penetrating scanner flashed on and off. The internal engines began to groan, then emitted a shrieking, tearing whine. Suddenly all the control crystals turned a blazing red. Donodon rushed toward the scanner in an attempt to fix the problem, but Jor-El could see it was already too late. He shouted a warning to the blue-skinned alien and grabbed Lara. He dragged her to the ground behind the shelter of the heavy fountain just as the throbbing device exploded with a scintillating, searing flash.

Jor-El pushed Lara's head down, tried to cover her with his own body. A shattering, shrieking hail of broken fragments peppered the tilted fountain and sheared off the control rods of the standing podium. In the last instant he saw diminutive Donodon raise his hands to s.h.i.+eld himself. Shards of crystal and gleaming metal hurtled into him, propelled with explosive force.

With a crash and a groan, the cylindrical device toppled over, like a mortally wounded behemoth, all its prisms falling in upon themselves. Showers of crystal continued to tinkle around them with incongruously musical sounds.

Wearing a stricken expression, Jor-El noted the blood flecks all over Lara's slashed clothes, then glanced down to see that he, too, had been sliced by dozens of the razor-edged shards. He didn't yet feel any pain. ”Lara, are you hurt?”

”I don't think so. At least, not badly.”

Leaving her, he bolted across the purple gra.s.s. Broken fragments of crystal crunched under his feet. ”Donodon!” His voice was ragged.

The alien lay sprawled on his back. More than twenty spearpoint shards had slammed into his body, delivering multiple mortal wounds. His jumpsuit was shredded, and brownish-green blood oozed from the cuts. Jor-El dropped to his knees, grabbed the alien's head. ”Donodon, I'm sorry. I don't know what went wrong.”

Blood trickled from Donodon's mouth. The fringe tentacles were limp. He reached up with a gnarled hand. Even his throat had been cut, and he bled profusely. He managed to gasp no more than a fading rattle; then he died in Jor-El's arms.

Blood smeared Jor-El's hands. Lara knelt beside him. ”It's not your fault.”

But the scientist stared at his dead friend in abject horror. ”It is is my fault. The probe...something was wrong.” my fault. The probe...something was wrong.”

He and Lara sat listening to the final collapse of the destroyed machine. The last fragments settled to the ground, still reflecting the light of Rao.

Neither of them saw the muscular form of Nam-Ek slip away from the hiding place from which he had secretly watched the results of his sabotage-just as Commissioner Zod had commanded him to do.

CHAPTER 26.

The Kryptonian Council reacted to Donodon's death with horror, disbelief, and helpless panic-as Zod had known they would. They had always been fools, and now they were fools faced with a dilemma. Donodon's death with horror, disbelief, and helpless panic-as Zod had known they would. They had always been fools, and now they were fools faced with a dilemma.

The Council had absolutely no idea what to do. In times of great urgency, when difficult decisions needed to be made and action needed to be taken, Zod wished that someone would just take firm control. That was what the people needed. Finally, after his impulsive act of pure inspiration, the doors of possibility would open for him, and the long-overdue changes would be swift and permanent. Even Cor-Zod would have admired how carefully his son had laid down every thread in the pattern....

The recent earthquake and tsunami that had smashed Argo City had already thrown the Council into turmoil. Zod saw a measure of irony in the Argo City disaster-maybe Jor-El's brother could take satisfaction in having obvious, if tragic, proof of the planet's seismic instabilities. Jor-El did not need his alien seismic scanning device after all. Since other city leaders were rus.h.i.+ng supplies and relief to the damaged peninsula, however, the eleven Council members in Kandor were more worried about the repercussions of Donodon's death. They were plainly terrified.

Sure enough, the Council declared another emergency session and summoned Jor-El to face their wrath, their justice. He was the perfect scapegoat, and in his own shock and grief, Jor-El might even accept whatever punishment the Council decreed. Zod guessed that he would wear his own mantle of guilt heavier than anything the government leaders could ever impose. Zod bided his time, waiting for the right moment.

Feeling heartsick at what had happened, the stunned scientist had already rushed to the capital on his own. Such a monumental failure and miscalculation from the great Jor-El Jor-El was even more unsettling to the public than the alien's death itself. Even Jor-El couldn't seem to believe what had happened. was even more unsettling to the public than the alien's death itself. Even Jor-El couldn't seem to believe what had happened.

”I accept full responsibility.” He stood below the Council in the speaking arena, raising his hands. His face was as white as the robes he wore, but he still carried a weighty dignity about him. Dressings covered dozens of wounds on his hands and his cheeks. ”I did not intend for this to happen. Donodon and I were working together. It is a terrible mistake.”

”It is terrible, to be sure,” Jul-Us said sternly. Since the Council session was closed and the access doors were barred, all the tiers of stone seats remained empty. His voice echoed in the cavernous chamber. The mood here was the complete opposite of when a confident Jor-El had faced them at his brother's side, taking charge and demanding that they listen to his warning. Zod knew he could use this to his advantage.

”In all our centuries of records, there is not a single comparable incident!” said Kor-Te, sounding both disappointed and confused. The Council members drew strength from each other's indignation.

Personally, Zod was quite pleased with how events had turned out. He had not known how effective Nam-Ek's sabotage would be, and he had resigned himself to losing the great scientist in order to light the fires of panic. Even that would have been acceptable to him, but fortunately, Jor-El had survived. If carefully guided, the man could still play a very important role.

Jul-Us raised his gnarled hand for silence from the other members, though each of them was frothing with the need to speak. The Council Head looked down from his bench. ”Will the alien's people view this as murder? Will they demand retribution?”

”Murder?” Jor-El was appalled, then rallied and stood straighter. ”Don't be ridiculous. How can you think that? How could anyone think that? It was an accident.” He lowered his voice. ”Donodon was my friend. He himself helped me build the device.”

”He should not have come to Krypton in the first place,” Pol-Ev muttered.

”And yet he did,” Al-An moaned. ”Now what are we going to do?”

”It was his own experiment that killed him,” Jun-Do pointed out.

Knowing that it was time to make sure the questions and accusations followed the desired path, Zod stood from his own seat. He was careful to balance the necessity of placing Jor-El in his debt with the need to maintain the Council's suspicions. ”Once again, we all see the dangers of unproven technology. My Commission warned Jor-El numerous times.” He held up a hand to cut off a flurry of comments. ”But he has a good heart and a strong sense of honor. I do believe he meant no harm. The alien insisted there was no risk. As did Jor-El.”

He rubbed his trim beard. He knew exactly what seeds to plant. ”In fact, it may be a blessing that Donodon was killed. Have you considered the implications? Who can say what the outsider might have communicated to his superiors once he left our world? His friends.h.i.+p might have been a ploy. Would he have revealed our vulnerabilities? Our secrets? To alien invaders, Krypton no doubt seems a lush fruit ripe for the picking.”

Jor-El turned to him, looking stung and angry. ”Donodon's race was peaceful, peaceful, Commissioner. They were explorers, travelers-” Commissioner. They were explorers, travelers-”

”Then why was he so eager to talk about his powerful galactic police corps?” Silber-Za demanded in an icy voice. She had bound her blond hair back in a severe arrangement, held in place with sharp pins. ”If we refused to accept the rule of their their law, would they have used their powers against Krypton?” law, would they have used their powers against Krypton?”

Despite his clear misery, Jor-El still stood up for himself. Now he seemed angry. ”We have absolutely no reason to doubt Donodon. He said they were a force for good.”

”As defined by whom?” Zod continued, speaking now for the benefit of the easily manipulated Council members. ”Those who hold such power tend to use it for their own purposes, not to the benefit of others.”

”Commissioner Zod is right,” said Mauro-Ji, amidst the muttering of the other members. ”No doubt every one of those villains Donodon displayed for us also believed they were doing something 'good.'”

Cera-Si nodded. ”I'm sorry, Jor-El, but the very fact that other planets need such a police corps proves how dangerous it is out there! I see now that Krypton has been absolutely correct to remain isolated.”

The timing of the Sapphire Guards could not have been better. They entered carrying the small cloth-wrapped body on a stretcher.

Mere moments after news of the tragedy had arrived, Zod had issued swift instructions, thinking faster than the Council members could. The security troops had rushed to Jor-El's estate, seized Donodon's lacerated body, wrapped it up, and carried it back to the Council temple. They had also confiscated the alien's numerous devices and tools, plucking them from his mangled jumpsuit and then locking them in a vault beneath the government chambers.

Seeing the wrapped corpse now, the Council members were struck silent. Jor-El turned his head away in anger, grief, and shame.

”I have also ordered a team to bring the alien's s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p here to Kandor, where my Commission will dismantle it properly.” Zod nodded, smiling coolly. The Council members approved, looking both surprised and relieved that someone would show such initiative. ”We will take it apart, so we do not have to worry about the dangers of that s.p.a.cecraft.”

Though he appeared defeated and overwhelmed, Jor-El turned quickly. ”Do not destroy that s.h.i.+p, Commissioner. We can learn-”

”Your curiosity has caused quite enough damage, Jor-El,” Silber-Za snapped. ”There's no telling what dangers Krypton now faces because of you.”

Zod continued to push them to the edge of fear. ”There is no need for panic.” But his tone said exactly the opposite. ”We can hope for the best. When Donodon's people discover what happened, it is possible they will listen to our explanations. Jor-El is clearly sincere. It is possible they won't suspect us of treachery. It is possible they are a gentle race, a force for good, as Jor-El believes them to be. It is even possible they will just forgive him and forget anything terrible ever happened.”

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