Part 19 (2/2)
He could see Zod trying to decide how to respond. ”Even if I accept your warning, what can we do about it?”
Jor-El's words came in a breathless rush. ”I've been thinking about the old prototypes I submitted to your Commission. Do you remember an intense cutting laser I called a Rao beam? At the time I felt it would be useful for boring tunnels through mountains, for mining, and for construction. Your Commission decided it was too risky.” He lowered his voice to a grumble. ”As usual.”
Zod tapped his fingers together, fully focused on Jor-El rather than on the still-growing crystal spires behind them. ”I seem to recall it. But if the plans were confiscated, what will you do now? Start again from scratch?”
Jor-El gave him a wry smile. ”Commissioner, just because you took my drawings and destroyed my prototypes doesn't mean that the idea idea is destroyed.” He tapped his temple. ”Every invention I ever created, every design and every process is right here, in my head. I remember them all perfectly.” is destroyed.” He tapped his temple. ”Every invention I ever created, every design and every process is right here, in my head. I remember them all perfectly.”
Zod took a moment to process the startling revelation. ”Intriguing.” He nodded slowly to himself, then responded with a thin smile, as if he had suddenly decided on a different strategy for playing this game. ”And could your Rao beam also be configured as a weapon? Something we could fire at attacking alien s.h.i.+ps if they should come against us? It would help the defense of Krypton.”
Jor-El considered. ”I suppose. Once the Rao-beam generator is erected, installed, and calibrated, I see no reason why its target point couldn't be s.h.i.+fted.”
”And if I allow you to build this Rao beam, I presume you intend to drill some sort of shaft through the crust? Like a pressure-release valve?”
”That is the theory. The best drilling site may be the crater of Kandor, though the project will cause substantial damage to the area. There's no way around it-”
”That doesn't concern me. Kandor is already a no-man's-land. Best to put it to some use,” Zod said. ”But I am more troubled by the fact that your own brother has been less than accepting of me. Perhaps if Zor-El issued a statement of wholehearted support for me from Argo City?”
Jor-El wanted to snap at the Commissioner for worrying more about personal politics than the fate of the whole world. ”Then show him that you're completely different from the weak Council. With your leaders.h.i.+p, Commissioner, we can prevent a worldwide disaster. Aren't you the man who swore to take any action necessary to protect us?”
Aethyr leaned close to the Commissioner with a strangely hungry look in her eyes. She said in a quiet, breathy voice, ”Zod...the savior of Krypton.”
He seemed to like the sound of that very much.
CHAPTER 50.
The visitor came to Argo City in secret. After crossing one of the bridges, he arrived in the middle of the night and made his way toward Zor-El's villa. Under his dark hood, he refused to reveal his ident.i.ty, but insisted to the household sentry that the city leader would see him. City in secret. After crossing one of the bridges, he arrived in the middle of the night and made his way toward Zor-El's villa. Under his dark hood, he refused to reveal his ident.i.ty, but insisted to the household sentry that the city leader would see him.
Zor-El dismissed the volunteer guards who had dutifully blocked the stranger's entry. He frowned at the mysterious guest. ”You can't expect my guards to blithely let you enter as if you were an old friend.”
The man came into the light and pulled back the hood. ”But I am an old friend.”
Zor-El was shocked to see the man's haggard appearance, the haunted look in his reddened eyes, his sunken cheeks, as if he hadn't slept or eaten well in days. ”Tyr-Us! Why didn't you inform me you were coming? What's happened to you?”
”The same thing that will happen to all of us if we're not careful.” He looked over his shoulder toward the sentries as if they couldn't be trusted, toward the night as if something dangerous were after him. ”Please let me inside. I need shelter, just for a little while.”
Zor-El hurried the man through the door as he snapped to his guards, ”Make sure no one else enters my home. See that we're not disturbed.” Their master's abrupt reaction seemed to frighten them more than anything else.
Alura saw the troubled expression on her husband's face, and quickly led him and Tyr-Us into a withdrawing room filled with exotic plants. She lit several solar crystals.
Tyr-Us stood weak and shaking in the middle of the room. He touched the enormous flowers with fingers that trembled with wonder. ”It rejuvenates me to know that something is flouris.h.i.+ng on Krypton while our government festers and rots.” He drew a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.
”Tell me everything, Tyr-Us. When did you leave Corril? So many other n.o.ble sons have abruptly stepped out of public view. When I'd heard nothing from you in weeks, I thought maybe you had joined them.”
Tyr-Us's eyes were wild. ”I could have vanished, too! The Commissioner's thugs have been following me. I saw dark figures in Corril walking down the metal streets, pretending to be visitors, but they all had those armbands Zod's followers wear.”
”I've seen them in Argo City as well. I don't like them.”
”Watch yourself, Zor-El-for they are certainly watching you. You should cast them out of your city before they cause further damage.”
Zor-El was disturbed by the suggestion. ”I can't just arrest them and say that their views are forbidden, no matter how fanatical they may seem. That would turn me into a dictator as bad as you claim Zod is.”
Alura picked a flower and pushed it into Tyr-Us's face. ”Smell this.” Involuntarily, the shaken man drew a quick breath, and the stimulant perfume made him stand straighter. ”Eat these.” She held out two berries, one blue and one red.
”What do they do? Will they drug me?”
”No, they will strengthen you.”
Eyes narrowed, Tyr-Us looked at the berries. ”How do I know I can trust you? How do I know I can trust anyone today, even the two of you?”
Zor-El grabbed the man's arm. ”You know you can trust me because you know know me. What has changed you so much? You're frightening us.” me. What has changed you so much? You're frightening us.”
”You should be frightened! Do you know how many others have disappeared? Shor-Em has been attacked twice, but managed to drive off the a.s.sault. His guards were unable to capture or interrogate the ones who struck out at him. Fully fourteen of us who spoke out against Zod have 'retired,' and no one has heard from them again. Think of it, Zor-El. You know it makes no sense.”
”Yes, I was surprised to hear that Gil-Ex had decided to support Zod. It made no sense after everything he'd been saying.”
”You know he was a vain and self-righteous man. Do you think Gil-Ex would just quietly hide himself? Never. I am the son of Council Head Jul-Us, and I should have had a seat on the Council someday. So should you, Zor-El.”
”I have Argo City.”
”You won't if Zod takes it away from you.” Tyr-Us finally ate the two berries and sighed. He looked at Alura. ”I'm sorry to have distrusted you.”
Two staff members brought in a hurriedly prepared meal and a large pitcher of herbal tea that Alura brewed for its strengthening properties. Tyr-Us was startled by the unexpected servants and looked as if he might bolt, but Zor-El took the tray of food and quickly dismissed the helpers.
The haggard man sat down on a bench surrounded by lush herbs, shaking his head miserably. ”The risk increases with every person who sees me. Just by being here, I increase the danger to you both.”
”Tell me more after you've eaten.” Zor-El nudged the plates closer.
Tyr-Us seemed queasy and apparently uninterested, but once he tasted the food, he ate so ravenously that Zor-El feared he might become sick.
”You haven't supported Zod and his overthrow of the true Krypton government,” Tyr-Us said between bites. ”But you've been careful not to openly oppose him, either.”
”Shor-Em thinks I should have done so long ago, but I had my own disaster here, remember. Argo City still has much rebuilding to do.”
”If you had resoundingly supported our claims, you'd quite possibly be dead like all the others-like I am soon to be.”
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