Part 27 (2/2)

Zor-El shook his head, his face grave. ”I doubt we're seeing everything. Count on the General to hold a few thoroughly unpleasant surprises in reserve.”

Though the young scout was still panting from rus.h.i.+ng to him with her report, Zor-El gave her no time to rest. ”Sound the alarms through the streets! Get everyone in Argo City ready. We have drilled for this, and now it's time. I want Or-Om, Gal-Eth, and Korth-Or with me to help me guide our defense. If the General defeats us here, their cities will be next.”

Wiping sweat-streaked auburn hair out of her eyes, the young woman ran from the tower room.

Next he turned to Alura. ”Can you see that my mother is safe?”

”And where, exactly, is safe?”

”I wish I knew.” Zor-El put his arms around her. ”At least the waiting is over, and we can plan accordingly. I'll transmit immediate messages to our supporters in other towns. I don't like to use Argo City as bait, but while Zod is attacking us, the rebellion has to begin everywhere else across the continent. Zod can't fight us all at once.”

”He'll try.” Alura looked back at the filmcrystal window that displayed the ma.s.sive armed forces from Kryptonopolis. Zod's military outnumbered them at least ten to one. She lowered her voice. ”You're going to have to take drastic action.”

”I didn't want to, but now there's no choice. It'll be a difficult siege.”

”We can endure, no matter how long it lasts. With my efficient greenhouses, our waterways, and our local energy sources, Argo City could be perfectly self-sufficient for years.”

He felt a lump in his throat, thinking through the cascade of consequences. ”There can be no turning back. My beautiful city will never be the same afterward-even if we do somehow survive the comet.”

”Zod has already forced us into permanent change. It's not your fault.”

The red sun shone like a great burning eye on the events about to unfold. To the east, the sea was strangely calm, and Zor-El tried to draw peace from it, but his stomach was knotted.

So far, he had heard nothing more from his brother besides the terse warning message. Kryptonopolis had been locked down tight even with Zod's army gone. Posing as loyal followers of Zod and wearing sapphire armbands seized by the Society of Vigilance, volunteer couriers had slipped into the new city. Each one carried a small message crystal that, to most observers, projected innocent images of family members who had vanished with Kandor. Zor-El, however, had hidden secondary messages in the crystals, schematics and detailed explanations of his work with the protective s.h.i.+eld. Now it was his turn to help Jor-El. That secret message was tailored to activate only upon contact with his brother's DNA markers, which were the same as his own. None of the couriers had returned.

Zor-El took Alura's hand, and they walked out of the tower. It was time to be with the people. ”We've done all that we can. For the rest, we have to rely on hope and luck.”

”That's not a very scientific-sounding statement.”

”Even in science there's a certain element of chance.”

Nervous, yet resigned, crowds had gathered in Argo City's streets and squares. Many stood on balconies overlooking the five graceful bridges, watching the dust cloud and shadows that marked the forward progress of Zod's army. It wouldn't be long now.

”Clear the bridges,” Zor-El ordered. ”Bring everyone inside the city. Those who want to take their chances on the mainland should evacuate now.” Staying in Argo City under siege might not be any safer, but this was where he had cast his lot. Zor-El would rely on his technology, his own abilities.

And he had a surprise for the General.

Ma.s.sive floating platforms loaded with armed troops drew up to each of the five emblematic bridges, and Zod's warriors disembarked, each contingent led by one puffed-up member of the Ring of Strength. Rumbling siege equipment, heavily armored vehicles, and mobile weapons took up positions along the thin spit of land that formed the narrowest part of the peninsula. Very quickly, all of Argo City was blocked off. But the General held his army back, as if hesitant to fire.

Zor-El smiled at Alura. ”He must be worried about what I have up my sleeve.”

”Why are you waiting? You know what you have to do.” Her dark eyes were full of worry. He thought she looked achingly beautiful. ”Are you having second thoughts? We may have only a few moments before the attack begins.”

He laughed. ”Zod won't attack-yet. I know his type. He'll make a grandiose speech, threaten us, and try to make us quake in our shoes. He's convinced that we have no chance.”

At the forefront of his army, General Zod rode on a command platform surrounded by impenetrable transparent panes that would protect him from any stray weapons fire or overt a.s.sa.s.sination attempts, even from his own people. Aethyr and Nam-Ek flanked him as the floater pulled up to the central bridge. He looked ready to cross and lead a full-scale invasion. Zor-El, who had moved to a tall building on the bayside edge of the city, crossed his arms and looked down from a balcony at the tiny figure of the General.

Zod spoke into a high-powered amplifier that made his voice so loud that the words clapped against the clouds overhead. ”I do not wish to damage this glorious city, but your defiance harms all of Krypton. If I do not receive your surrender within one hour, we begin our bombardment. Your people shall suffer terribly. Think of them.”

Zor-El had installed voice amplifiers of his own on the observation balcony. His defiant response, picked up by repeaters and speakers everywhere, thundered through the city, across the bridges, and along the peninsula, so that every member of the invading army could hear.

”I don't need an hour, Zod. My people and I made up our minds long before you arrived. You cannot have this city, and I will not let you harm my people.” Raising his hand, he gave orders to his waiting technicians. The irrevocable act. The irrevocable act. ”Activate the s.h.i.+eld.” ”Activate the s.h.i.+eld.”

Suddenly a s.h.i.+mmering golden dome extended from the seawall. Made out of crackling static and solidified light, it rose in a huge arching vault, reached its apex high above the tallest towers, and slammed down, severing the five bridges like an executioner's axe.

The southern edge of the force-field dome sealed itself on the bottleneck of the narrow peninsula, throwing up curtains of dust as it did so. In shock and disarray, Zod's army scrambled back from the crackling wall.

Cut in half, the five bridges, precious landmarks of Argo City, slowly groaned and twisted as the severed spans slumped downward. With the tension released, their cables whipped about, and the majestic bridges plunged into the water of the narrow bay.

Protected inside their s.h.i.+mmering dome, the people of Argo City let out a collective sigh of awe and dismay. Zor-El stared with sickened satisfaction, but no triumph, as tears streamed down his face.

CHAPTER 73.

After Zod took his army on the march, the only ones left in Kryptonopolis were too young, too old, or too infirm to fight. Even these people were allowed no rest, but forced to continue work on Zod's projects. Koll-Em had been placed in provisional control, bitter at being left behind but pleased with the taste of power and responsibility. Token squads of Sapphire Guards patrolled the streets, merely as a matter of form. They expected no trouble. on the march, the only ones left in Kryptonopolis were too young, too old, or too infirm to fight. Even these people were allowed no rest, but forced to continue work on Zod's projects. Koll-Em had been placed in provisional control, bitter at being left behind but pleased with the taste of power and responsibility. Token squads of Sapphire Guards patrolled the streets, merely as a matter of form. They expected no trouble.

Jor-El was their only worry.

The knowledge of Lara's incarceration wounded him like a cold knife in his side. Even with Zod gone, he knew that Koll-Em and a few of the more brutal Sapphire Guards would not hesitate to harm his wife in order to coerce him.

Still appalled that Zod had copied inventions from plans the old Commission had supposedly destroyed, Jor-El decided to inspect the weapons shops under the pretext of finding parts for the nova javelins. The buildings and hangars were now relatively empty since the army had taken everything along. He examined the construction bays, the fabrication machinery, the chemical synthesizers. The place stank of fuel exhaust, harsh solvents, a variety of volatile compounds, and machined metals.

He was disgusted, yet not entirely surprised, to recognize the unique chemical composition of the main explosives Zod employed in his new artillery. They were based directly on the high-energy propellent he himself had developed for his solar-probe rockets. Jor-El had puzzled over that same distinctive molecular signature when trying to prove his innocence in the matter of Donodon's death. He had found traces of this very explosive in the wreckage of the seismic scanner. Now he knew where it had come from. Zod, or more likely his henchman, Nam-Ek, had used his own rocket propellent to blow up the device.

Jor-El already had plenty of reasons to turn entirely against the General, and this merely gave him one more.

As he searched for some way to disrupt Zod's plans, he felt very alone. He had sent his desperate warning transmission to his brother, and he hoped it had served its purpose. Kryptonopolis had received no news from the General's army since it departed, but even if Zod hadn't shut down the communications grid, all transmissions had been disrupted. Rao had undergone a suddenly violent phase, spewing unstable flares that interfered with standard communications. The vehement solar storm made Jor-El wonder if the red giant might be about to go supernova. He had not been able to send up a probe rocket for many months. Of course, no one else on Krypton could be torn away from their more parochial concerns. As usual.

Under careful supervision, Jor-El spent his days grudgingly working on the nova javelins, as Zod had commanded. The ancient warlord's maps and charts were indeed out of date, and-under better circ.u.mstances-Jor-El could have compared the old measurements with his new modern ones to develop fascinating tectonic theories. Now, though, he had explicit other orders for the missiles.

He deciphered complex systems that even No-Ton did not understand. The two men a.n.a.lyzed and reconfigured the guidance systems, then ran repeated tests to reset the navigation and targeting controls. Mechanically, the systems were functional again, but spatial and ground-based coordinates had altered in the thousand years since Jax-Ur's reign.

Though No-Ton was also a member of the Ring of Strength and should therefore have been considered trustworthy, Koll-Em insisted on monitoring every test for himself, much to Jor-El's annoyance. The edgy young n.o.ble didn't understand any of the operations, but kept an eye out for anxiety on Jor-El's face as an indicator of deceit. Even when No-Ton a.s.sured his fellow Ring member that Jor-El was doing as he'd been instructed, Koll-Em lurked about and watched.

Jor-El didn't consider the reluctant No-Ton to be an ally, but he knew that the other scientist also had reservations about what General Zod was doing. Fortunately, No-Ton was in such awe of Jor-El's technical expertise that he did not question misleading statements that the white-haired genius confidently put forward as ”facts.”

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