Part 24 (1/2)
Jor-El struggled to absorb what his brother was saying. He had known nothing of this.
”Then last night our mother and Alura were attacked by Zod's fanatics in a failed abduction attempt.”
Jor-El reeled. ”Attacked? Are they all right? Tell me what happened. Are you sure the Commissioner's people were responsible?”
”They are both unharmed. My Society of Vigilance got there in time, chased away one of the abductors while the other one jumped off a bridge. Thankfully, we were prepared.”
The white-haired scientist could not fit the pieces together in his mind. ”Then how do you know they were Zod's men? Why would the Commissioner target our mother or your wife?” This made no sense to him.
”Because I evicted his followers from Argo City. I'm convinced Zod wanted hostages he could threaten to kill if I didn't capitulate.”
”But if you have no proof, you can't make these wild accusations.”
”You know it's true. You can't be so blind.”
Jor-El drew a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. ”In truth, I would not be surprised.” Then he pushed stubbornly ahead, refusing to be sidetracked the way Zod himself had been. ”Listen to me. This is science you can't ignore. Please!”
The other man remained steely and trembling with anger. ”What could possibly be more important than a threat to my wife and our mother-”
”This. The end of all life on Krypton!” Jor-El inserted one of the projection crystals into the side of the communication plate and displayed the image of the comet, its jets of outpouring gas, and the deadly intersection of orbital paths. ”Look at the orbits.” The end of all life on Krypton!” Jor-El inserted one of the projection crystals into the side of the communication plate and displayed the image of the comet, its jets of outpouring gas, and the deadly intersection of orbital paths. ”Look at the orbits.”
On the screen, Zor-El frowned as he immediately grasped the implications. ”What does your precious Commissioner have to say about this?”
”He's more concerned about Shor-Em and Borga City. We can't rely on him.” Jor-El couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. ”While the comet hurtles toward us, Zod rallies his armies. I saw him studying tactical maps. He won't tolerate the way Shor-Em has challenged him.”
”Are you talking about a military a.s.sault on Borga City? Is he mad? My first duty is to warn Shor-Em to prepare his defenses.”
Jor-El was dismayed by his brother's reaction. ”You, too? We'll all be killed if we don't stop the comet. That must be our only priority.”
”If Zod attacks now, we will be embroiled in a civil war that's bound to last much longer than four months. No one will even look into the sky as Loth-Ur's Hammer comes right toward us. This is happening now, Jor-El, right now. We have to prevent it.” His mood changed, and he sounded more urgent. ”Come to Argo City and work with me. I couldn't save Tyr-Us from Zod, but I will not let him corrupt my own brother any further.”
”Zod won't just let us leave Kryptonopolis. His Ring of Strength has been watching us carefully.” Jor-El shook his head. ”And he may be the only person on Krypton with the resources to save us. If there is even the slightest possiblility I can force him to see reason, or somehow use the tools in Kryptonopolis, then I have to take that chance. We We have to take that chance. Everything else is just politics.” He searched his brother's hardened face. ”We used to laugh at people with misplaced priorities like that, Zor-El. Look at my data, I beg you. And then tell me where you want to focus your efforts. Give me your ideas. Otherwise, I'm on my own.” He ended the transmission. have to take that chance. Everything else is just politics.” He searched his brother's hardened face. ”We used to laugh at people with misplaced priorities like that, Zor-El. Look at my data, I beg you. And then tell me where you want to focus your efforts. Give me your ideas. Otherwise, I'm on my own.” He ended the transmission.
That night, sailing off the coast, Zor-El sat brooding with Alura on the benches of their gently rocking boat. He had told no one but his wife about Jor-El's disturbing news.
Their boat, a cat's cradle of silver struts and cables, glided across the calm sea. Ninety small sails of different geometric shapes were loosely connected to one another like a vast fabric puzzle, catching errant breezes from any direction. Glowing crystals lined the masts, turning the craft into a spiderweb of colors.
Zor-El stared at his beloved metropolis on the peninsula. Lit up at night, the spires and hemispherical buildings shone like a mirage. A faintly visible s.h.i.+mmer from the extended force-field barrier above the seawall distorted the stars at the horizon.
”It seems so peaceful out here, Alura.” It was the first he had spoken in many minutes. ”Quite a paradox.”
The night breeze stirred her dark hair. ”How did Shor-Em respond when you warned him about Zod's attack plans?”
”Borga City was already on high alert. Shor-Em will remain vigilant, but I have no idea how Zod intends to strike. My brother didn't offer any details. He was much more concerned about the comet.”
Alura, as usual, was frank. ”Shouldn't we be concerned about the comet? Jor-El is rarely wrong.” The boat rocked as rippling waves pa.s.sed them by. Deep beneath the water, a yellowish glow flowed and stirred, like a pool of sentient phosph.o.r.escent liquid, then dove deep.
Zor-El let out a long, sad sigh. ”Yes, he's right. I looked at his data. There's no question about it.” The black vault of night overhead was peppered with frequent meteors, many from the debris ejected by the spewing lava jet. What drew his attention, though, was the pearlescent cometary arc, as if some ghostly painter had used a wide brush to spread a trail across the night.
”So beautiful,” Alura said. ”And deadly.”
”Jor-El saw something that none of us noticed while we were preoccupied with ourselves. He said I was falling prey to false priorities, just like I accused Zod of doing. And I can't dispute that.”
”So what will you do?” Alura asked.
”How can I stop a comet? We don't have the technology. Anything powerful enough to do that would have been squashed by the Commission for Technology Acceptance long ago.” He gritted his teeth as the thoughts grew more definite in his mind. ”I can expand my protective barrier. Maybe it can save our city from a cometary impact.”
He nodded, already planning how to install simple generators. He could raise a whole hemisphere to cover Argo City. ”I could offer the barrier to other cities as well. If Jor-El's worst-case scenario happens, at least some of us might be saved.” Their boat continued to drift on the gentle currents, but Zor-El knew it was just the calm before the storm. ”Unless the whole planet is smashed to bits.”
CHAPTER 64.
Inside Zod's newly designated war room, Aethyr and Koll-Em studied terrain simulations modeled out of transparent gel. Beside them, Nam-Ek looked on with silent interest. The dark blue fabric of the big mute's uniform was stretched tight across his muscles; a crimson sash draped from his left shoulder to a gold belt at his waist. room, Aethyr and Koll-Em studied terrain simulations modeled out of transparent gel. Beside them, Nam-Ek looked on with silent interest. The dark blue fabric of the big mute's uniform was stretched tight across his muscles; a crimson sash draped from his left shoulder to a gold belt at his waist.
”The marshes around Borga City are going to pose extreme difficulties for frontal a.s.sault,” Aethyr pointed out. ”The ground is uncertain, the ca.n.a.ls are a maze, and the mud will prevent us from using heavy siege machinery.”
”Then we'll bring in wave after wave of large floater platforms filled with soldiers.” Koll-Em sounded eager. ”My weakling brother won't put up much of a fight. He talks a lot, but I doubt his meek followers would find the courage even to throw pebbles down at us from their balloons!”
Zod said with finality, ”There will be no direct military a.s.sault.”
”Then how are we going to defeat them?” whined Koll-Em. ”My brother has defied you. You can't simply ignore that.”
”I will not ignore it. But I plan to use a much more efficient method to eradicate them and, at the same time, demonstrate my power to the rest of Krypton.”
”What do you intend, my love?” Aethyr's eyes flashed.
Zod ran his fingers over the gel-formed topographical sculpture, caressing them from the mountaintops down to the marshy drainage in the east. ”Jor-El has given me the very weapon I need to cauterize this wound. Come, we will take a small party and head north to the mountains. The people of Borga City will never see it coming.”
Only a small force went to the nearly deserted Rao-beam facility. The group consisted of no more than a dozen men, mostly chosen from the ranks of the former Sapphire Guards.
After crossing a wasteland of soot, chunks of lava rock, and burned vegetation at the edge of the Kandor valley, Zod's troops pushed up the steep and narrow mountain roads to the installation. No longer in operation, the tall metal-framed derrick creaked and hummed as breezes whined through it. The focusing lenses, prisms, and powerful Rao batteries had been taken off-line, but still sat ready.
Several weeks ago, the lava geyser had died away to a burble, which No-Ton had covered with a small force-field cap, precisely following the instructions Zor-El had left behind. A small scientific team had remained to monitor the now-sealed hole. Hearing the troops arrive, the technicians emerged from their battered and dented prefab shacks that huddled among the cold cliffs. No-Ton stared at the Commissioner's group in surprise.
Zod announced boldly, ”We require this installation for the defense of Krypton, to strike a blow against an enemy even worse than Brainiac-an internal enemy.” When the others didn't seem to know how to respond, he continued. ”I have tried unsuccessfully to be reasonable. Now there can be no other solution than to eliminate the festering sore of Borga City.”
Standing atop the ridge, Zod turned from the blasted valley of Kandor and looked down the other side of the divide, to the east. Beyond the foothills, numerous stream-carved drainages created swampy lowlands. The target was nestled close to the horizon, nearly at the limit of the Rao beam's range.
Zod turned to size up the derrick framework. When Jor-El had built the Rao beam, he had designed it to aim the beam down into the crater of Kandor, nothing more; he had not installed automated systems for altering the direction of the carefully aligned beam. Now the whole structure would have to be swiveled around using brute force. ”Nam-Ek, turn that heavy projector mechanism. Remember what I showed you on the map?”
The big man's muscles bulged as he strained against the cross-hatched structure, swiveling the thick bars that held the focusing lenses. Zod shook his head at the clumsy and imprecise method. ”A disappointing oversight,” he said aloud. ”We neglected to plan for the possibility of other targets.”