Last Voices
by Moonraker One

CHAPTER ONE – Paranoid and Afraid

"Twelve...thirteen, hmph! Fourteen!"

A masculine voice cried out the repetitions of weight lifting while struggling to maintain breath. His spotter helped him pull the bar up and onto the rest. He yanked himself up to a seated position and wiped his brow and eyes with a partially cramped hand. Immediately he shook his head and his long silver hair went back into place. His shirt soaked with sweat, the man pressed his left hand onto his right shoulder and did an arm circle to ease the fatigue. As much strain as he'd put on his body—and four sets of fourteen reps of three hundred pounds had been more than he'd ever tried—he enjoyed the exercise. The spotter assisted him to stand, and he walked to the showers.

"Doz-Du, tell me something," the spotter inquired, curious, "why do you put so much effort on your physique when you're one of the ranking members of the scientific council?" The darker, shorter haired man could understand why he himself did it, because he had been in the field of sports. But a man of the mind such as his friend, focused on science for a living. The rationale left him if it had ever taken rest in the first place.

"Because, Mul-Va," Doz replied, "I've always believed that the body and mind should be equally fit. Completeness of self cannot be achieved without the combined accomplishments of a well-educated scientific mind, as well as a fit, well-toned body." He took a towel from the rack, and entered the shower room. "I'll talk to you on another occasion, Mul. Have luck in your sporting desires!" The door slid shut as he stripped naked and stood underneath the shower head in the sectioned-off cubicle shower. A mirror rest between the knob and the head, and he examined his torso and arms as he turned the water on to his moderately hot desired temperature. His chest and abdomen looked chiseled out of granite, and he certainly felt the pain to prove it. His toned, ripped look had cost him much fatigue and strain, but firmly reminded him of the duty to one's self. His long hair, having gone silver just two years ago at the age of thirty, plagued him only mildly. It brought him some unusual looks but if his arms and torso looked attractive to the opposing gender he didn't care.

It didn't take him long to put on his normal clothing, a standard Kryptonian body suit that fit him well. White on black were his favorite colors, and his chest bore a diamond-shaped shield, with his family crest in the middle. Perhaps it didn't have the authority of his colleague Jor-El's symbol of power, but he felt it proud wearing it nonetheless. Looking like a reversed lowercase "k" in sans serif font with dots slightly to the left of the upward and downward angled spokes of the letter, it had been known for eons as Krypton's symbol of intelligence. To his sincerest luck, as his biological parents had died, and that none seemingly wanted to wear a symbol of the mind over one of the body, he chose it as his own. When he married, his wife would have to agree to it, or he'd have to change it, but that sat in the future from where he existed.

"Pardon me for a moment, Doz, if I may," a familiar voice beckoned, drawing him away from his desired goal of walking to his hover vehicle. He looked to his right to see the one he'd had the distinct pleasure of working with many years. He smiled.

"Jor-El!" He embraced the man. "What brings you to search me out at the fitness center?"

"I wish I could tell you that my latest scientific discovery went well," he answered. Doz could at once determine that something had gone amiss of that his friend didn't find comfort in.

"Jor-El, what troubles you? Has a loved one perished?" He put both hands on his friend at this point. He then saw something unfamiliar; the man he'd trusted for a long time looked depressed. Such had never crossed his mind before. This was a man who always found joy in everything, even failures of science.

"Take me back to your home, Doz, and I'll tell you everything. I fear what might happen if I speak here."

"Anything at all, Jor-El! By Rao, this must be the end of the world to rattle you this way!" Irony has its amazing little ways of twisting around something.

The sky roads clogged, it took longer than usual for the member of the house of El to make it to the bachelor scientist's living quarters. Nevertheless, when the two sat down, it seemed as though it had been no time at all away. Doz couldn't be more anxious to find what had troubled his comrade so. When the normally outspoken scientist had trouble forming words, the scene, to any who'd known Jor, looked as alien as could be.

"Doz, I wanted to tell you before I told the science council, before I had to brief the ruling committee." He looked into his friend's eyes. His eyes wore a solemnness not yet seen by Doz. "The only other I've told is my wife. My brother Zor doesn't even know yet. This may, however, get me kicked off the science council. It may even get my family name, the authority of the House of El, tarnished beyond repair. What I'm about to tell you may ruin me."

Finally Doz could take no more. "Dammit, Jor! What is this life-ending piece of knowledge? What could be so disastrous to even think of?"

Jor swallowed hard. The moisture seemingly disappeared from his throat. Yet still, since it had to be uttered, he did so. "Krypton is doomed."

Doz actually shot backwards in his chair. He regarded Jor as though he'd been told a joke. Still, he knew his friend better than that. "So...explain how that is, for me."

Jor-El buried his head in his hands. "I've done every calculation I can dream of. I've studied every sample I can get my hands on. This planet's core has grown terribly unstable from millennia of bombardment from material cooling and collapsing inward. The point of return has been passed. If you're an optimist, I give our planet a few weeks past my unborn son's delivery date." He looked at Doz, praying his friend believed him. He knew his superiors, and their superiors, and yet superiors above them, would not.

Doz prayed to Rao, silently, that his friend decided to pull a prank on him. Yet, he braced for the more than likely chance it would not prove so. "And, if I'm of a more pessimistic nature?"

Jor-El had been hoping that didn't get asked. He should have known his comrade better than that, though. "It could, in fact, go at almost any time."

Doz leaned back in his chair, trying to take it all in. It proved difficult, but if anything defined him, it had to be his penchant for being strong in the presence of troubling thoughts. He laughed. "And here, to think, earlier today I actually pondered if my future wife would like my crest as a family symbol." He knew he probably would die. The ruling council had banned all interstellar travel thanks in part to all the violence taking shape in Argo City, coupled with the paranoia that had taken shape since the countless wars had driven the once exuberant empire to the brink of failure. Even if he had the materials to build a ship—and he didn't—the odds were overwhelming that military officials from the committee would simply blow it out of the sky. Still, it wasn't in his personality to do nothing.

"I really wish this weren't so."

Doz looked his friend in the eye. "Tell me something, Jor-El. Your family has tremendous resources, even if telling the council will be career suicide. What is YOUR solution to getting off this rock? For a ship to evade security scans, both of us, and your wife, are adults. It would be too big to house an adult." He scratched an itch on his arm. "I know you, Jor-El. You're definitely going to do something. But what?" The idea then hit him. "Unless..."

Jor-El nodded. "Yes. I'm going to build a ship to send my son away in. Our planet may die, but I at least want to send something of my legacy." He then buried his head in his hands again. "I'm sorry, Doz! I wish there was something I could do for you."

Doz had already realized his fate. "Don't worry, the fact that you trust me with the delicate information is proof that you cared about me. I just wish there was some thing I could do." Jor-El left the chambers looking slightly sullen, yet driven by the desire to get his yet to be born son off the planet. The silver-haired scientist looked long into his mirror after his colleague had left. His green eyes told the tale of doubt. He removed his upper outfit. His proud, ripped torso and defined arms told the story of hard work of the body. Looking behind him, his awards, told the tale of hard work of the mind. His field may have been the study of yellow sunlight's affects on Kryptonians, but he'd also won a few awards in the fields of electromagnetism. Yet, if the planet soon would die, and him with it, what were they but mere pieces of paper?

Half walking half stumbling into the laboratory he had, with walls lined with lead alloys to prevent radiation if such occurred. Glancing around, at all he had built with his own hands, he saw in the middle his field generator. Powerful electromagnets would generate a distortion in space which would be contained by a magnetic field of opposite polarity. It required an extreme amount of energy, but he provided that from Krypton's red sun. He pressed two knobs on his wall. The field began generating with the containment just an inch outside of it. "Damned ruling council, your arrogance will spell the doom of all Krypton!" He picked up one of his fusion stones; he'd discovered minerals that had a unique property. They became harder via temperature, and would contain a fusion reaction due to their natural electric charge. When filled with hyrdrogen, they could be then hit with high electric charges and a fusion reaction would start. It would then emit the solar energy of a small yellow sun. He angrily pitched it at the table, hoping to hit the machine, but it landed short, and its glowing light poured into the field.

He then picked up one of his probe bots, which he'd built for analyzing other planets, and pitched it towards the machine. This time, instead of hitting one of the magnetic pole emitters, it flew into the field itself. He expected it to merely explode or some other form of ceasing to function. It vanished.

"What in Rao's name?...!" he ran over. THIS was a shock. The science council had told him to abandon work on the field generation, because they viewed it as a pitiful attempt to recreate the former empire of Krypton, and that moving directly to a far off location by bending space could not feasibly be done. For a science council, they were quite closed minded. Another amazing thing happened; the object came back THROUGH the field. Picking it up led to more excitement. It had scratches on it; the data recorder had foreign planet information. All this meant it had gone somewhere, someone had found it, and sent it back. He wanted to scream and shout in exuberation, but the council had many ears and eyes. This would have to remain private.

For the longest time he went about his life as normally as one could. He went to the fitness center and worked out, provided his contributions and papers to the council, then went home, and shut and locked all doors, and worked on his project. What especially had to be kept secret were the fusion stones. Being, from a Kryptonian biology standpoint, the same as a yellow sun, they were highly illegal because of the power they granted someone of this planet. Still, he cared little of power and more of survival. He also had to put light screens up over the walls of his lab because the crystals of his house naturally wanted to transmit the red sunlight, which would interfere with the fusion stones.

Going to the halls of science would allow him to grow copies of data crystals. If Krypton's death would annihilate centuries of science, he'd be there to preserve some of it. It drew attention, but he would always find a legitimate excuse for it. His friend, Jor-El, surely enough, had been banished from the council and his reputation irreparably tarnished. Yet, he waited for the time to tell his ally of his plan. With what he would construct, they wouldn't need a ship.

Jor-El, one day, received a call from his friend Doz-Du and decided to find out what was going on. "Doz, I can tell by the disorganization of your living quarters that you've spent quite a bit of time on a project. What troubles you this late in Krypton's life?" He found no verbal answer, merely a gesture to enter deeper into the house. When he saw a large magnetic field, containing another, with a sphere in the middle, he found himself curious. "Now, what exactly does that do?"

Doz had a smile on his face like only scientific advancement could bring. "Tell me something, do you remember the project the council told me never to continue?" He waited for a nod. "Well, if they're going to be dead soon, I figure, why not continue it?" He closed the door behind Jor. "See, I realized that, with larger sources of power, you could open a magnetic distortion deeper in space. With a little polarization, you could even give a general area of which to open it. If all my calculations are correct, I believe I may have stumbled upon the answer as to how to leave this dying world without arousing knowledge."

Jor-El had a fascinated look on his face. "You certain do have a way of getting things from ideas, Doz-Du. Even if I can't condone your use of illegal fusion stones, I must applaud your attempts to save those you care about."

Doz moved forward. "Jor-El, bring your brother. Bring your wife, and your unborn child. We can go to a planet with yellow sunlight together, and be a family. There does not need to be nothing great arise from this calamity. The entire house of El can be ambassadors from a long dead world, not just your son!" He also had been a good salesman of scientific ideas.

Jor-El stroked his goatee. "Doz, I'd love to go with you, but it's not to be."

Doz-Du folded his arms. "Jor-El, why must you be a martyr? Why die with an arrogant world?"

"You don't understand, Doz. I'm not trying to die a glorious death. I'm terribly afraid that the council will detect a large magnetic field and interfere with it. All of us may merely die trying. As long as my son and you are alright, that's all I care about."

Doz wanted to hit his friend, try to snap some sense into him, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized Jor-El never came up wrong in debates. "So, you really think the ruling council will scan for distortions of any kind?"

His colleague nodded. "Your living quarters with you in them will probably pass through; but if we go with you, it'll leave a tell-tale signal." He leaned in and hugged his friend. "The planet's survived an awfully long time. Your source of power will have to come from the city's power supply."

"I've realized that. The only way I'm going to be able to take all of the power from the city at once, is when the groundquake hits. I predict the first one will hit early in the morning, tomorrow. The vibration sensor has been picking up tell tale compression signals." He shed a tear as he followed with another embrace. "I will never forget you, Jor-El. You were my biggest supporter against the council and my best friend."

A knock on the door above brought Jor-El's attention. "It's your brother, Zor-El! I have something I must discuss with you!"

As Jor-El turned to leave, Doz spoke, "I will always love you as if you were my brother." Jor-El turned and smiled one last time.

"Brother, what troubles you?"

Zor-El allowed Jor to get into the hover vehicle and take off, and then continued. "I've been trying to find my daughter Kara everywhere I can think of. She left this morning, and wouldn't tell us where she was going. It is so unlike her to do that. Help me locate her."

Jor-El shook his head. "By Rao. I know the planet is dying, but for your own daughter to run off?"

Zor-El bowed his head. "I hope this isn't the work of the phantoms."

"Oh, now don't start talking about those imaginary things, again."

Back in the lab, Doz-Du had set up all the final calibrations. His best friend had, foolishly and with genius level thought at the same time, turned down a chance to leave Krypton via a space-time distortion. The more he thought of it, however, the crazier Doz himself must have seemed. He could only, even after all his work, narrow the area to within a few million miles of the surface of the Planet Earth. He could only narrow the time area down to within a 137 year window. Any who would have heard him likely would have thought him just as insane. Nevertheless, he made the final touches. As soon as the first groundquake hit, the countdown to the field generating would begin. A countdown of exactly forty-seven seconds (he couldn't risk any longer) would then begin. The field was set to a his primary lab. He'd barricaded his door in case he appeared in space. Exactly a fifteenth of a second before the timer reached zero, a device would draw all the power going to Argo City, for a brief few moments to his household, and directly into the magnetic generator. His objects in the room that could move had been tied down.

Once he'd made sure everything had been arranged properly, he sat down and pondered his future. Everyone he knew would be gone. All he'd be taking with him were some science equipment and a lot of data crystals. He had no wife or children to think about. Perhaps it had happened for a reason, he figured. He also knew little of Earth, the planet he'd chosen. The only reason he chose Earth in the first place was because he'd found out that's where Jor-El would send his son, Kal. He sat in deep thought, resting his head down. He happened to hear soft breathing.

"Who's there?" he inquired. He prepared to attack an intruder, but quickly realized such would be unnecessary. "Kara?"

Kara Zor-El appeared from behind a tied down crate. "Please don't send me back to my father! I love him, but I really don't trust his technology considering the state his mind is in!"

Doz checked his clock. "If I was going to, it's too late now anyway. The quake should hit in less than a minute, then we've got forty-seven seconds before we either break free of this planet or die trying." He moved closer and embraced the daughter of El. "Kara, you really shouldn't sneak away from those who love you, but at least I'll be bringing someone with me instead of meeting your cousin alone." Within a few seconds, as predicted, the ground began to tremble. On cue, his timer began counting down, electricity moving into the magnets. "In case we break apart in space, take this breathing apparatus. It should protect us."

They sat down on the floor and tightly grasped each other's hand. The timer's numbers got lower and lower. Eventually, the value reached near zero. All at once, the largest city on Krypton, went dark for a no longer than a second. At nearly the same time, the small living quarters of Doz-Du disappeared in a flash of light, the crystal on which it was grown sheared away neatly. The ruling council focused so intently on the series of groundquakes they didn't even notice the temporal distortion.