Title: Espial
Author: Jen E-mail: ChloeSullivan47@yahoo.com Category: Roswell/Smallville crossover; M/L, M/M, C/C (for now) Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Roswell and Smallville don't belong to me.
Summary: A year after the series finale of Roswell, we find our gang in Metropolis. When Liz gets a vision of the Nicholas and the Skins in the small Kansas town of Smallville, reality as they know it changes, as new allies are befriended and discoveries of the past learned. (The fic also takes place a couple of weeks after the Smallville episode "Fever." Everything prior to that applies. Everything after, does not.)
Pronunciation Key:
Pireron: Pie-re-ron Procyon: Pro-ki-on Khorel: Coral Regolus: Redge-o-los Lyraeve: Ly-rave Dayhes: Da-hees Ralitle: Ra-little
Shayna: Shae-na
techin': tetch-n Avieheina: Avy-hee-na
Prologue
The dim, ancient halls of Pireron Castle echoed with the resounding argument between General Rathan Procyon and his youngest sister, Khorel. A nearby royal guard, standing alert and attentive in his navy blue uniform, with the royal crest of the House of Regolus glittering on his chest from the glowlights that lit the hall, glared at the two relatively young people as they passed. He raised his arm in a message telling the siblings that these halls they were about to enter on were that of peace and silence. In respect, both Rathan and Khorel lowered their voices, but their bickering continued.
"Rath, you're not listening!" Twenty-three year old Khorel Procyon waved her hands into the air in disgust, her blackish-blue hair, cut in the most modern Kryptonian trend, bobbed up and down with her movements. Anger and frustration was expressed in every inch of her features. Her emerald green eyes shown with a desire to help, and a hidden anguish over the recent lost of someone dear. She looked up to Rathan, his two meter height dwarfing her 1.5 meter stature, and met his dark sapphire eyes. "He trusts me. Nitcho befriended me while I was on Krypton. Actually, if you want to get technical, I think he wants more than friendship from me, but that's not important."
"Is it?" Rath questioned, glaring at his sister. Ever since she had arrived home from studying on Krypton, every word spoken by his sister had been another reason why she should join the Royal Army and spy for the House of Regolus. As much as he admired her stubbornness, persistence, and dedication - qualities Rathan wished he saw in more of his soldiers and spies - her attempts were starting to wear thin.
A complete contrast to his youngest sister, from physical features to emotional expression, Rath's face remained ever the bit serious and hardened. As a general, and second-in-command to King Zandor Regolus, he had learned never to reveal his emotions to anyone, even his own sisters. Especially your own sisters, Rathan thought sarcastically. Kor had always been much more difficult to handle than Lyra ever was. Come to think of it, in all his thirty years, he had never met anyone as difficult to deal with as Khorel.
"What? Are you afraid that I'm going to go and get myself killed? C'mon Rath, give me more credit than that." Khorel snorted in laughter. She quickly covered her mouth as a guard by his post flashed a warning glance in her direction. Rath's eyes narrowed in anger at his sister.
"I've already buried one sister," he whispered harshly, grabbing her wrist tightly. "I'm not going to again."
Tear's filled Khorel's eyes and she stopped walking. Memories four-years- old rushed back, overwhelming the girl. She had been on break from her schooling on Krypton when it had happen. On a day free from royal and diplomatic duties, her elder sister, Lyraeve had been enjoying a quick retreat in the Dayhes Ocean with their parents. They had never returned home that day. It had broken Khorel and Rathan's heart to find out that their parents and sister had been murdered by rebel forces from Seridon. Their brother-in-law, King Zandor, had been away on diplomatic duties with Ralitle at the time, also suffered dearly from the assassination. He had lost his wife and his soulmate without even getting a chance to say goodbye. Quickly, she pushed those feelings of sadness into the back of her mind. She couldn't dwell on the past any longer than necessary.
"Don't you understand Rathan? Nitcho is friends with Khivar. If I can get close to him, I can find out about Khivar. I can find out if Khivar's responsible for Lyra and Mom and Dad's death."
Rath tightened his grip on Khorel and looked her sternly in the eye. "You will not go near him," he said, making each word sound like a separate sentence.
Khorel pulled away. "And who are you to tell me otherwise?"
"You're brother," Rathan replied as he followed Khorel down the hallway. "And your elder."
Khorel glared at him in fury. Why must he be so stubborn all the time? "Look Rath," she began, stopping both of them dead in their tracks, "I don't care what you do or say to prevent me from using Nitcho for information. I'm going to and you can't stop me."
"Khorel," Rath protested, but his sister would have nothing of it. Without another word, she stormed down the hallway, not once looking back at the furious brother she left behind.
***
Three days later.
"Zan!" Rathan shouted angrily, barging in to the throne room. A couple of servants scattered in terror at Rath's sudden outburst, and the King looked up from the table at which he worked. His mother, Queen Shayna, looked at her son-in-law calmly, nodding her head only slightly in acknowledgement. Zandor's deep, soulful brown eyes met Rathan's fury filled ones and he stood.
"So, she told you?"
"Damn right she did. Zan, how the techin' hell could you allow her to do this?" Rath's hands clenched into fists as he took giant steps towards his King.
"She is no longer a child," Zandar replied calmly and regally. His crown was slightly lopsided on his golden brown hair and his heart-shaped face crinkled into a sad smile. "Khorel came to me after you refused to allow her entrance into the Royal Army. She explained her position and idea rationally and persuasively. I thought-"
"Damn it Zan!" Rath interrupted, slamming his right fist into the table. "I don't care what you thought. That's my baby sister you just sent away.to Nitcho no less! You know as well as I do that he's Khivar's right hand man. We've had our men watching him for months."
"Precisely my point." Zan gestured to a chair near his. "Why don't you sit, this way I can be sure that you will not attack me in anger, friend." He chuckled slightly and Rathan glared, and then sat down hard. Zandar followed suit, and Shayna took the seat next to him.
"Although your soldiers have gathered much evidence against Nitcho, there is still much more we do not know about Khivar's plan to overthrow my House. By having someone who Nitcho trusts infiltrate his life, we should be able to learn a lot more. Don't worry, I have made sure Nitcho knows nothing about Khorel's connections to the royal family."
"You're still using my sister as bait," Rathan growled.
"And I take it that if I had sent you, you would have no objections to risking your life?"
Rathan sighed and stared at the baroque ceilings. After a minute, he looked back towards his friend. "You have no right to send her without my consent."
"Do I?" Zandor countered. "Last time I checked, I was the King and you were the Second, not the other way around."
"And if it were Vilandra? Would you send her to the enemy?" Rathan looked at both Zandar and Shayna carefully, spotting a flicker of sadness in the Queen Mother's eyes. "Zan?"
Zandar bowed his head in sadness. "I already have. Vilandra's on Seridon right now, rekindling the flame she once had with Khivar. We've been receiving transmissions from her daily."
All the anger dissipated from Rathan's face, a haunted look replacing it. "Are you making me loose everyone I have ever loved?" His voice cracked as he continued, "First Lyra, and now Kor and Vila? Zan.Anta.Zan, how could you?"
"And do you not think I am any stranger to loss?" Zan hissed. "I loved Lyraeve more than life itself. And I just sent my own sister, and another who may as well be my blood sister, to possible death?" He paused, unsure of what to say next. "Rath, I am trying to do what's good for Antar, what's good for my people. I never wanted to be king. You know that."
The two men sat in silence, neither meeting the other's eyes. Rathan absent-mindedly played with a golden button on his uniform while Zandor vaguely attempted to organize the papers that scattered when Rathan had pounded the table. Neither wanted to admit that the other had a point, nor that they would concede, and so, the silence continued.
"If I agree to clone Khorel, as I have done with Lyraeve, my children, and yourself, would you allow her to go to Krypton under Jor-El's protection to spy for my son?" Queen Shayna spoke softly, confident that Rathan would accept the proposition. She stood while speaking, her age not at all reflected by her influential and authoritative stature.
"I have previously sent Lyraeve's incubation pod to Earth, where you will join her if anything happens to the Royals in the inevitable struggle. I am willing to do the same for your other sister, despite her lack of connection to the Royal House."
Rathan looked up at his monarch and nodded. He stood, and walked towards the exit of the throne room. "If anything dare happens to Khorel while she's on Krypton for you, Zan, Anta help you, cause She knows I won't. Thank you, your majesty," Rathan bowed to Queen Mother Shayna, "I will accept your deal."
***
Five months later.
Khorel sighed in frustration as she waited in front of the telecomm to receive a transmission from her brother. Jor-El, one of Krypton's foremost budding scientists, Khorel's friend and boss, and the only soul on the planet who knew her actual purpose on Krypton, had given her the day off to spend with Nitcho. Being a spy was nothing like she imagined. Since she finished her schooling, she worked as a freelance writer for a Antarian publication on Krypton, and, to pay for her life on the planet, since Rath had refused her any connections to the royal family, and as a secretary for Jor-El. A few years her elder, she had met him during her previous stay on the planet and had remained close friends. Jor-El was also a close, personal friend of Zan's, and the king had placed her under his guidance when Khorel arrived, to ease Rathan's peace of mind.
However, today, Nitcho had shown up late for their date, and Khorel had become too impatient to wait. So, she had left him a note, telling the Seridonian man to meet her at the telecomm center. Kor banged on the telecomm impatiently, wanting her brother to call. She had awoken in the morning with a horrible feeling in her gut, and needed to see his face.
"Khorel?" A deep voice came from behind. "I thought you'd realize by now that hitting the telecomm won't make it work any better."
Khorel turned around to see Nitcho standing beside her. A complete contrast to Antarians, Seridonians could not survive on any other planet in the system except their own acidic nitrogenous environment. Where as Antarians shifted shape to fit in with the inhabitants of whatever planet they were currently on if the need be, Seridonians relied on an external suit that shielded them from the external environment and mimicked the Seridon atmosphere internally. The suit, more commonly called SKINS, that Nitcho had picked was that of a handsome Kryptonian man close to her age, with blackish blue hair like her own, and piercing brown eyes.
He walked up to her and kissed her quickly on the lips. Khorel blushed, still not used to his expressions of endearment to her. She smiled at him and walked away from the telecomm. "Well, not all of us have the ingenuity you process with machinery. Some of us have to make do with more.crude.methods."
He grinned and followed her as they walked to a nearby bench. They sat, angling their bodies to face towards each other. "Who were you waiting to call?"
"My brother," Khorel replied. "We had a fight yesterday, and I was hoping he'd call so we could make up."
Nitcho narrowed his eyes in curiosity, snaking his arm around her shoulder, pulling the Antarian girl close to him. "What about?"
"Oh, nothing that important," she lied.
In truth, they had argued about her H.R.C., Hybrid Reincarnation Clone. Rathan had told her months ago that Queen Shayna had agreed to create an H.R.C. for her in case anything happened. An expensive trial procedure that had yet to be fully tested, Khorel had consented only because Rathan had given her no choice. Besides, this meant, that years from now, she would be able to see her sister and brother again, if something were to happen to her life now. She rejoiced in that fact. However, Khorel did not want to be sent to Earth like Lyra and the Royal Four, as her brother, Vila, Zan, and his new bride Avieheina were now known. She had expressed desires of living out her life on Krypton, and Rathan completely objected. In the end, she won the fight, but she was afraid of what cost.
"Are you sure? You seem somewhat more upset over something not that important than you should be," Nitcho stated.
Khorel shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She smiled. "See, just fine."
Nitcho stood up, offering his hand to Khorel. "If that's the case then, let's go somewhere more private than the Telecomm Center. I have something imperative to discuss with you."
Khorel's heart skipped a beat. Did Nitcho finally trust her enough to ask her to join him in the fight against Antar? If so, then she would finally have something substantial to send back to Zan and Rath, and could finally prove that all this was worth while. And in the nick of time too. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her system, and tried to suppress her eagerness.
"Okay," Kor smiled broadly, her emerald eyes gleaming. They began to walk, when Khorel quickly stopped. "Just one second. I need to let Jor-El know that I might be late tonight. I promised to help him out with research later today."
Nitcho smiled and let go of her hand. Khorel hurried towards the nearest vid booth across the street. Better to be safe than sorry.
***
A Week Later.
Queen Shayna hurried down the passage way. Within hours after Zandar's assassination, she and those most loyal to her and the House of Regolus managed to move underground, quickly and efficiently. Now, Khivar controlled Antar and Seridon, with little to stop him from taking over the remaining three planets. Yesterday had been her people's saddest day. Her children were killed in the struggle, trying to protect their people and make it out of the castle along side. Aveihiena had turned traitor, revealing she had been Khivar's mole in the palace all along, and yet, was murdered the minute she rushed to her fallen husband's side. Rathan was killed at the front lines with many of Antar's best men and women. Even Khorel had died at the hand of a Seridonian, minutes after hearing of her brother's death.
Despite the tragedies, Shayna had no time to grieve. She had been preparing for this misfortune ever since terrorists had attacked the former Queen Lyraeve and her parents. And, thank Anta, all the bodies had been recovered. The final steps of creating the H.R.C.s for Zandar, Vilandra, Rathan, Aveihiena, and Khorel could proceed. Their Antarian genes and souls would be mixed with human DNA, hopefully as successfully as Lyraeve's procedure had gone. Then, under the guidance of her most trusted officials, the Royal Four and Lyraeve could grow up on Earth, out of Khivar's sight, and someday come back to free her people and herself.
She would pray for that day for the rest of her life, however long it may be.
***
Forty-Two Years Later.
Another tremor shook Jor-El's laboratory, knocking some tubes and containers off a shelf, spilling chemicals onto his workstation. Lara clutched her baby son close to her chest as she watched the chemicals spill from the desk to the floor. Another tremor caused more glass to break, and she jumped, startled. Quickly, she walked away from the workstation, towards the incubation pod that contained Jor-El's old friend from Antar. She leaned against it more so out of comfort from its warmth than for support. At the sound of more glass breaking, her baby began to cry.
"Shhh Kal-El," she whispered, trying to soothe the babe. She rocked him in her arms, trying to calm the baby down. "Shh, Kal-El." She adjusted him in her shoulders so the one-year old child could see around him. "Look at Khorel," she whispered. "She's not afraid. You don't have to be either."
True, the baby in the incubation pod was not afraid, but only because it was completely unaware of what was happening around her. Lara regarded the pod suspiciously when the former Queen Shayna of Antar first sent it to Jor- El, and then, for years after, wondered why the child in it aged so slowly. Her husband had tried to explain to her that this was because the child was designed for Earth, not Krypton, and their red sun had caused her to age slower than expected. After a while, Lara didn't care. She looked after the pod when Jor-El couldn't until Kal-El was born. Then her own baby occupied most of her life. A life which she might not be able to continue.
Pushing the bleak thoughts out of her mind, Lara continued to rock the baby in her arms. She was becoming impatient for her husband to return from the Council meeting. Whatever the outcome, Lara already knew from Jor-El's research that their future, and the future of any on Krypton, was bleak. But she wanted her husband here to console her.
As if someone answered her prayers, the laboratory door let out a puff of gas as it lifted upwards. Jor-El rushed in, still dressed in his formal Council robes. His black hair tinged with silver looked like a mess, not at all as neat and professional as normal. His eyes were full with worry, fear, and love. He rushed over the Lara and hugged her tightly, running his hand over his son's head. When they broke apart, Jor-El briefly ran a finger over the top of Khorel's incubation pod, tears that had previously formed in his eyes spilling.
"It's not good, is it?" Lara asked softly.
Jor-El shook his head. "They refuse to believe that Krypton has been breaking apart. I fear that we only have hours left before the planet explodes. And those idiots on the Council refuse to send anyone to Antar or one of the other five planets in the system. They've issued our death sentence by docking all ships."
Lara's eyes began to water. "There is nothing we can do?"
Jor-El stood silent for a moment, studying his wife's crimson hair and deep brown eyes. He memorized ever feature that he could possibly see, wanting to preserve forever the image of Lara and his son. He then quickly turned and walked towards his workbench, reaching past the chemicals to open a secret vault in the wall. He pulled out a crystal, and two pentagonal keys.
"We have to send Kal-El and Khorel away from Krypton. To Earth. Shayna and Zandar knew what they were doing when they picked that planet for the H.R.C.s. The people there resemble Kryptonians to a startling degree. Kal- El will be able to grow up there without suspicion from others. And Khorel will be able to find her brother and sister. They will be safe, and hopefully, loved."
Lara walked over to her husband, briefly having to stop in her tracks as tremor shook the laboratory, this one worse than the previous. "The crystal. The message you had us prepare.for Kal-El on Earth? But, Jor-El, how will he live? How will we know that he'll be cared for, and loved?"
Jor-El picked up his son from his wife's arms. Gently, he wrapped the boy in a red blanket and placed him in one of the ships. "We have no choice. It's either that or he dies. I only regret we cannot go with him."
"Can't we Jor-El? If we can send Kal-El and Khorel across space, can't we send ourselves," Lara asked desperately, looking up at her husband only briefly as he worked to lift Khorel's pod into the ship next to Kal-El. He shook his head softly, and Lara began to cry, her tears falling on Kal-El's head. The baby giggled as the drops hit him.
"I love you," Lara whispered to Kal-El as she looked at him one last time before Jor-El closed the lid of the spaceship. "Always."
Jor-El pulled Lara into an embrace as the spaceships flew into Krypton's night sky. "Come," he said. "Perhaps we can still see one more sunrise together."
And together they held to each other tightly as their world ended in a fiery explosion.
TBC.
Author: Jen E-mail: ChloeSullivan47@yahoo.com Category: Roswell/Smallville crossover; M/L, M/M, C/C (for now) Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Roswell and Smallville don't belong to me.
Summary: A year after the series finale of Roswell, we find our gang in Metropolis. When Liz gets a vision of the Nicholas and the Skins in the small Kansas town of Smallville, reality as they know it changes, as new allies are befriended and discoveries of the past learned. (The fic also takes place a couple of weeks after the Smallville episode "Fever." Everything prior to that applies. Everything after, does not.)
Pronunciation Key:
Pireron: Pie-re-ron Procyon: Pro-ki-on Khorel: Coral Regolus: Redge-o-los Lyraeve: Ly-rave Dayhes: Da-hees Ralitle: Ra-little
Shayna: Shae-na
techin': tetch-n Avieheina: Avy-hee-na
Prologue
The dim, ancient halls of Pireron Castle echoed with the resounding argument between General Rathan Procyon and his youngest sister, Khorel. A nearby royal guard, standing alert and attentive in his navy blue uniform, with the royal crest of the House of Regolus glittering on his chest from the glowlights that lit the hall, glared at the two relatively young people as they passed. He raised his arm in a message telling the siblings that these halls they were about to enter on were that of peace and silence. In respect, both Rathan and Khorel lowered their voices, but their bickering continued.
"Rath, you're not listening!" Twenty-three year old Khorel Procyon waved her hands into the air in disgust, her blackish-blue hair, cut in the most modern Kryptonian trend, bobbed up and down with her movements. Anger and frustration was expressed in every inch of her features. Her emerald green eyes shown with a desire to help, and a hidden anguish over the recent lost of someone dear. She looked up to Rathan, his two meter height dwarfing her 1.5 meter stature, and met his dark sapphire eyes. "He trusts me. Nitcho befriended me while I was on Krypton. Actually, if you want to get technical, I think he wants more than friendship from me, but that's not important."
"Is it?" Rath questioned, glaring at his sister. Ever since she had arrived home from studying on Krypton, every word spoken by his sister had been another reason why she should join the Royal Army and spy for the House of Regolus. As much as he admired her stubbornness, persistence, and dedication - qualities Rathan wished he saw in more of his soldiers and spies - her attempts were starting to wear thin.
A complete contrast to his youngest sister, from physical features to emotional expression, Rath's face remained ever the bit serious and hardened. As a general, and second-in-command to King Zandor Regolus, he had learned never to reveal his emotions to anyone, even his own sisters. Especially your own sisters, Rathan thought sarcastically. Kor had always been much more difficult to handle than Lyra ever was. Come to think of it, in all his thirty years, he had never met anyone as difficult to deal with as Khorel.
"What? Are you afraid that I'm going to go and get myself killed? C'mon Rath, give me more credit than that." Khorel snorted in laughter. She quickly covered her mouth as a guard by his post flashed a warning glance in her direction. Rath's eyes narrowed in anger at his sister.
"I've already buried one sister," he whispered harshly, grabbing her wrist tightly. "I'm not going to again."
Tear's filled Khorel's eyes and she stopped walking. Memories four-years- old rushed back, overwhelming the girl. She had been on break from her schooling on Krypton when it had happen. On a day free from royal and diplomatic duties, her elder sister, Lyraeve had been enjoying a quick retreat in the Dayhes Ocean with their parents. They had never returned home that day. It had broken Khorel and Rathan's heart to find out that their parents and sister had been murdered by rebel forces from Seridon. Their brother-in-law, King Zandor, had been away on diplomatic duties with Ralitle at the time, also suffered dearly from the assassination. He had lost his wife and his soulmate without even getting a chance to say goodbye. Quickly, she pushed those feelings of sadness into the back of her mind. She couldn't dwell on the past any longer than necessary.
"Don't you understand Rathan? Nitcho is friends with Khivar. If I can get close to him, I can find out about Khivar. I can find out if Khivar's responsible for Lyra and Mom and Dad's death."
Rath tightened his grip on Khorel and looked her sternly in the eye. "You will not go near him," he said, making each word sound like a separate sentence.
Khorel pulled away. "And who are you to tell me otherwise?"
"You're brother," Rathan replied as he followed Khorel down the hallway. "And your elder."
Khorel glared at him in fury. Why must he be so stubborn all the time? "Look Rath," she began, stopping both of them dead in their tracks, "I don't care what you do or say to prevent me from using Nitcho for information. I'm going to and you can't stop me."
"Khorel," Rath protested, but his sister would have nothing of it. Without another word, she stormed down the hallway, not once looking back at the furious brother she left behind.
***
Three days later.
"Zan!" Rathan shouted angrily, barging in to the throne room. A couple of servants scattered in terror at Rath's sudden outburst, and the King looked up from the table at which he worked. His mother, Queen Shayna, looked at her son-in-law calmly, nodding her head only slightly in acknowledgement. Zandor's deep, soulful brown eyes met Rathan's fury filled ones and he stood.
"So, she told you?"
"Damn right she did. Zan, how the techin' hell could you allow her to do this?" Rath's hands clenched into fists as he took giant steps towards his King.
"She is no longer a child," Zandar replied calmly and regally. His crown was slightly lopsided on his golden brown hair and his heart-shaped face crinkled into a sad smile. "Khorel came to me after you refused to allow her entrance into the Royal Army. She explained her position and idea rationally and persuasively. I thought-"
"Damn it Zan!" Rath interrupted, slamming his right fist into the table. "I don't care what you thought. That's my baby sister you just sent away.to Nitcho no less! You know as well as I do that he's Khivar's right hand man. We've had our men watching him for months."
"Precisely my point." Zan gestured to a chair near his. "Why don't you sit, this way I can be sure that you will not attack me in anger, friend." He chuckled slightly and Rathan glared, and then sat down hard. Zandar followed suit, and Shayna took the seat next to him.
"Although your soldiers have gathered much evidence against Nitcho, there is still much more we do not know about Khivar's plan to overthrow my House. By having someone who Nitcho trusts infiltrate his life, we should be able to learn a lot more. Don't worry, I have made sure Nitcho knows nothing about Khorel's connections to the royal family."
"You're still using my sister as bait," Rathan growled.
"And I take it that if I had sent you, you would have no objections to risking your life?"
Rathan sighed and stared at the baroque ceilings. After a minute, he looked back towards his friend. "You have no right to send her without my consent."
"Do I?" Zandor countered. "Last time I checked, I was the King and you were the Second, not the other way around."
"And if it were Vilandra? Would you send her to the enemy?" Rathan looked at both Zandar and Shayna carefully, spotting a flicker of sadness in the Queen Mother's eyes. "Zan?"
Zandar bowed his head in sadness. "I already have. Vilandra's on Seridon right now, rekindling the flame she once had with Khivar. We've been receiving transmissions from her daily."
All the anger dissipated from Rathan's face, a haunted look replacing it. "Are you making me loose everyone I have ever loved?" His voice cracked as he continued, "First Lyra, and now Kor and Vila? Zan.Anta.Zan, how could you?"
"And do you not think I am any stranger to loss?" Zan hissed. "I loved Lyraeve more than life itself. And I just sent my own sister, and another who may as well be my blood sister, to possible death?" He paused, unsure of what to say next. "Rath, I am trying to do what's good for Antar, what's good for my people. I never wanted to be king. You know that."
The two men sat in silence, neither meeting the other's eyes. Rathan absent-mindedly played with a golden button on his uniform while Zandor vaguely attempted to organize the papers that scattered when Rathan had pounded the table. Neither wanted to admit that the other had a point, nor that they would concede, and so, the silence continued.
"If I agree to clone Khorel, as I have done with Lyraeve, my children, and yourself, would you allow her to go to Krypton under Jor-El's protection to spy for my son?" Queen Shayna spoke softly, confident that Rathan would accept the proposition. She stood while speaking, her age not at all reflected by her influential and authoritative stature.
"I have previously sent Lyraeve's incubation pod to Earth, where you will join her if anything happens to the Royals in the inevitable struggle. I am willing to do the same for your other sister, despite her lack of connection to the Royal House."
Rathan looked up at his monarch and nodded. He stood, and walked towards the exit of the throne room. "If anything dare happens to Khorel while she's on Krypton for you, Zan, Anta help you, cause She knows I won't. Thank you, your majesty," Rathan bowed to Queen Mother Shayna, "I will accept your deal."
***
Five months later.
Khorel sighed in frustration as she waited in front of the telecomm to receive a transmission from her brother. Jor-El, one of Krypton's foremost budding scientists, Khorel's friend and boss, and the only soul on the planet who knew her actual purpose on Krypton, had given her the day off to spend with Nitcho. Being a spy was nothing like she imagined. Since she finished her schooling, she worked as a freelance writer for a Antarian publication on Krypton, and, to pay for her life on the planet, since Rath had refused her any connections to the royal family, and as a secretary for Jor-El. A few years her elder, she had met him during her previous stay on the planet and had remained close friends. Jor-El was also a close, personal friend of Zan's, and the king had placed her under his guidance when Khorel arrived, to ease Rathan's peace of mind.
However, today, Nitcho had shown up late for their date, and Khorel had become too impatient to wait. So, she had left him a note, telling the Seridonian man to meet her at the telecomm center. Kor banged on the telecomm impatiently, wanting her brother to call. She had awoken in the morning with a horrible feeling in her gut, and needed to see his face.
"Khorel?" A deep voice came from behind. "I thought you'd realize by now that hitting the telecomm won't make it work any better."
Khorel turned around to see Nitcho standing beside her. A complete contrast to Antarians, Seridonians could not survive on any other planet in the system except their own acidic nitrogenous environment. Where as Antarians shifted shape to fit in with the inhabitants of whatever planet they were currently on if the need be, Seridonians relied on an external suit that shielded them from the external environment and mimicked the Seridon atmosphere internally. The suit, more commonly called SKINS, that Nitcho had picked was that of a handsome Kryptonian man close to her age, with blackish blue hair like her own, and piercing brown eyes.
He walked up to her and kissed her quickly on the lips. Khorel blushed, still not used to his expressions of endearment to her. She smiled at him and walked away from the telecomm. "Well, not all of us have the ingenuity you process with machinery. Some of us have to make do with more.crude.methods."
He grinned and followed her as they walked to a nearby bench. They sat, angling their bodies to face towards each other. "Who were you waiting to call?"
"My brother," Khorel replied. "We had a fight yesterday, and I was hoping he'd call so we could make up."
Nitcho narrowed his eyes in curiosity, snaking his arm around her shoulder, pulling the Antarian girl close to him. "What about?"
"Oh, nothing that important," she lied.
In truth, they had argued about her H.R.C., Hybrid Reincarnation Clone. Rathan had told her months ago that Queen Shayna had agreed to create an H.R.C. for her in case anything happened. An expensive trial procedure that had yet to be fully tested, Khorel had consented only because Rathan had given her no choice. Besides, this meant, that years from now, she would be able to see her sister and brother again, if something were to happen to her life now. She rejoiced in that fact. However, Khorel did not want to be sent to Earth like Lyra and the Royal Four, as her brother, Vila, Zan, and his new bride Avieheina were now known. She had expressed desires of living out her life on Krypton, and Rathan completely objected. In the end, she won the fight, but she was afraid of what cost.
"Are you sure? You seem somewhat more upset over something not that important than you should be," Nitcho stated.
Khorel shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She smiled. "See, just fine."
Nitcho stood up, offering his hand to Khorel. "If that's the case then, let's go somewhere more private than the Telecomm Center. I have something imperative to discuss with you."
Khorel's heart skipped a beat. Did Nitcho finally trust her enough to ask her to join him in the fight against Antar? If so, then she would finally have something substantial to send back to Zan and Rath, and could finally prove that all this was worth while. And in the nick of time too. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her system, and tried to suppress her eagerness.
"Okay," Kor smiled broadly, her emerald eyes gleaming. They began to walk, when Khorel quickly stopped. "Just one second. I need to let Jor-El know that I might be late tonight. I promised to help him out with research later today."
Nitcho smiled and let go of her hand. Khorel hurried towards the nearest vid booth across the street. Better to be safe than sorry.
***
A Week Later.
Queen Shayna hurried down the passage way. Within hours after Zandar's assassination, she and those most loyal to her and the House of Regolus managed to move underground, quickly and efficiently. Now, Khivar controlled Antar and Seridon, with little to stop him from taking over the remaining three planets. Yesterday had been her people's saddest day. Her children were killed in the struggle, trying to protect their people and make it out of the castle along side. Aveihiena had turned traitor, revealing she had been Khivar's mole in the palace all along, and yet, was murdered the minute she rushed to her fallen husband's side. Rathan was killed at the front lines with many of Antar's best men and women. Even Khorel had died at the hand of a Seridonian, minutes after hearing of her brother's death.
Despite the tragedies, Shayna had no time to grieve. She had been preparing for this misfortune ever since terrorists had attacked the former Queen Lyraeve and her parents. And, thank Anta, all the bodies had been recovered. The final steps of creating the H.R.C.s for Zandar, Vilandra, Rathan, Aveihiena, and Khorel could proceed. Their Antarian genes and souls would be mixed with human DNA, hopefully as successfully as Lyraeve's procedure had gone. Then, under the guidance of her most trusted officials, the Royal Four and Lyraeve could grow up on Earth, out of Khivar's sight, and someday come back to free her people and herself.
She would pray for that day for the rest of her life, however long it may be.
***
Forty-Two Years Later.
Another tremor shook Jor-El's laboratory, knocking some tubes and containers off a shelf, spilling chemicals onto his workstation. Lara clutched her baby son close to her chest as she watched the chemicals spill from the desk to the floor. Another tremor caused more glass to break, and she jumped, startled. Quickly, she walked away from the workstation, towards the incubation pod that contained Jor-El's old friend from Antar. She leaned against it more so out of comfort from its warmth than for support. At the sound of more glass breaking, her baby began to cry.
"Shhh Kal-El," she whispered, trying to soothe the babe. She rocked him in her arms, trying to calm the baby down. "Shh, Kal-El." She adjusted him in her shoulders so the one-year old child could see around him. "Look at Khorel," she whispered. "She's not afraid. You don't have to be either."
True, the baby in the incubation pod was not afraid, but only because it was completely unaware of what was happening around her. Lara regarded the pod suspiciously when the former Queen Shayna of Antar first sent it to Jor- El, and then, for years after, wondered why the child in it aged so slowly. Her husband had tried to explain to her that this was because the child was designed for Earth, not Krypton, and their red sun had caused her to age slower than expected. After a while, Lara didn't care. She looked after the pod when Jor-El couldn't until Kal-El was born. Then her own baby occupied most of her life. A life which she might not be able to continue.
Pushing the bleak thoughts out of her mind, Lara continued to rock the baby in her arms. She was becoming impatient for her husband to return from the Council meeting. Whatever the outcome, Lara already knew from Jor-El's research that their future, and the future of any on Krypton, was bleak. But she wanted her husband here to console her.
As if someone answered her prayers, the laboratory door let out a puff of gas as it lifted upwards. Jor-El rushed in, still dressed in his formal Council robes. His black hair tinged with silver looked like a mess, not at all as neat and professional as normal. His eyes were full with worry, fear, and love. He rushed over the Lara and hugged her tightly, running his hand over his son's head. When they broke apart, Jor-El briefly ran a finger over the top of Khorel's incubation pod, tears that had previously formed in his eyes spilling.
"It's not good, is it?" Lara asked softly.
Jor-El shook his head. "They refuse to believe that Krypton has been breaking apart. I fear that we only have hours left before the planet explodes. And those idiots on the Council refuse to send anyone to Antar or one of the other five planets in the system. They've issued our death sentence by docking all ships."
Lara's eyes began to water. "There is nothing we can do?"
Jor-El stood silent for a moment, studying his wife's crimson hair and deep brown eyes. He memorized ever feature that he could possibly see, wanting to preserve forever the image of Lara and his son. He then quickly turned and walked towards his workbench, reaching past the chemicals to open a secret vault in the wall. He pulled out a crystal, and two pentagonal keys.
"We have to send Kal-El and Khorel away from Krypton. To Earth. Shayna and Zandar knew what they were doing when they picked that planet for the H.R.C.s. The people there resemble Kryptonians to a startling degree. Kal- El will be able to grow up there without suspicion from others. And Khorel will be able to find her brother and sister. They will be safe, and hopefully, loved."
Lara walked over to her husband, briefly having to stop in her tracks as tremor shook the laboratory, this one worse than the previous. "The crystal. The message you had us prepare.for Kal-El on Earth? But, Jor-El, how will he live? How will we know that he'll be cared for, and loved?"
Jor-El picked up his son from his wife's arms. Gently, he wrapped the boy in a red blanket and placed him in one of the ships. "We have no choice. It's either that or he dies. I only regret we cannot go with him."
"Can't we Jor-El? If we can send Kal-El and Khorel across space, can't we send ourselves," Lara asked desperately, looking up at her husband only briefly as he worked to lift Khorel's pod into the ship next to Kal-El. He shook his head softly, and Lara began to cry, her tears falling on Kal-El's head. The baby giggled as the drops hit him.
"I love you," Lara whispered to Kal-El as she looked at him one last time before Jor-El closed the lid of the spaceship. "Always."
Jor-El pulled Lara into an embrace as the spaceships flew into Krypton's night sky. "Come," he said. "Perhaps we can still see one more sunrise together."
And together they held to each other tightly as their world ended in a fiery explosion.
TBC.