Chapter - 1

Jor-El was a man of action. He despised stagnation. As much as he could, he remained active. Always moving, always running, always trying to push a thread through the eye of impossibility. He had dedicated his life to science. He was always in the lookout for a miracle, scouring the space and beyond. Just a couple of days ago the Council of Science had sanctioned an interstellar excavation and had appointed him the chief in command for overseeing the project.

But, work was the last thing on his mind right this moment as he sat outside the curtained room in the infirmary, waiting anxiously to hear news about his wife. His wife - Lara, the love of his life, his pride and joy. She was his compass. On any bleak day, she was the one who was ever present beside him, supporting him, loving him endlessly. Jor-El believed he was the luckiest man on Krypton when he had won her hand in marriage. But ten months ago after a bitter day at work, his wife had delivered to him the greatest news of his life. Even at the gravity of the current situation, he couldn't help but let a smile slip as he thought back to that day. He remembered how overjoyed he was as he swept Lara off her feet and showered her with kisses. She was scared, he could see it in her large caucasian blue eyes, not of bearing his child but of being a good mother as she had confided in him later.

Jor-El being the scientist that he was, had kept a close watch over his wife's health during her pregnancy. Immediately he strapped her to a large machine, which he had borrowed from his office, to check her vitals and the condition of the baby. His joy knew no bound when he first got a glimpse of the growing embryo on the crystal screen for the first time. Everyday since then he and his wife followed this routine. He watched this wad of cells transform into his child like a blossoming flower. He surveilled this miracle unveiled before his eyes and couldn't help but feel hopeful for a better tomorrow. People of Krypton had gone on long elaborate quests in search of hope never realizing their own fundamental potential for good and the hope buried deep within themselves. His child was the miracle he had been searching for all his life.

The sudden hustle and bustle in the hallway shook Jor-El out of his musing. Doors banged open as the orderlies flew past him trying to contain some kind of emergency. The medical androids, courtesy of one of Jor-El's colleague, ever so efficiently pushed the wheeled stretchers, one after the other along the hallway past him. He pushed up from the bench, straightened his robe and tried to get a glimpse of the victims. He caught a glimpse as one was pushed past him. The guy on the stretcher was garb less and was covered by a sheet bellow the waist. The upper half of his body was burned except for the face and he was screaming. His eyes were wide open in terror and pain. The screams echoed throughout the hallway drowning out the shouts of the orderlies and the doctors.

"Get him in here fast! What happened?" asked a frantic doctor as she held open the door at the end of the hall and gesturing at the android to push the stretcher inside as quickly as possible.

"Mount Rumka erupted. Five people suffered severe burn including-" was all Jor-El heard as the victim was taken inside and the door shut behind.

The rooms must be sound-proof, thought Jor-El. No wonder he couldn't hear the screams of his wife as she delivered the baby. He was qualified enough to deliver the baby himself, but at the very last moment when Lara's contractions started, he panicked and had to bring her here to the experts.

If he had to say so himself, pregnancy really suited Lara. Many a times she had been complemented on how glowing she looked and he couldn't agree more. She now had a more soft and gentle demeanor, not that she was any different before. pregnancy really accentuated her more latent emotions. Jor-El reminisced how enticing she looked in the middle of her pregnancy. He really had a hard time keeping his hands to himself.

But something had been nagging Jor-El in the back of his mind for the past couple of weeks. In the last couple of months of her pregnancy, her health had started deteriorating. He initially dismissed it as being due to the pregnancy but under intense scrutiny he discovered that her heart was weakening. He feared loosing her during the delivery. He prayed to Rao to help her get through unharmed.

The blaring of a mechanical voice drew his attention as it echoed through the hallway. It took him couple of seconds to make sense of what the cold, dull voice was saying.

" Jor-El, wherever you are, you are immediately summoned to room 1125. Jor-El, wherever you are, you…"

So much for stating the obvious. He was just sitting outside the aforementioned room. He got out of the bench and made his way into the room praying that both his wife and child were fine.

The room was large and bright. The ceiling was twelve feet high and the length and breath of the room was around fifteen to twenty feet. The walls were all colored plain white, giving off the morbid vibe of a dread and despair. There was only one window and it was facing the outside. It was made up of reinforced glass. It gave of an unobstructed view of the magnificent Kryptonopolis- a legacy of his great-great grandfather Gam-El, bathed in the early morning sun, humming with activity. There was a bed in the middle of the room with a couple of complicated machines behind it. A saline-stand was propped beside the bed.

Lara lay on the bed. As Jor-El made a beeline for the bed, his gaze swept over Lara. She was garbed in one of those hospital robes. She looked tired. Her thin face had sunken in and dark circles were visible under her eyes. The pregnancy had taken it's toll on her but she looked happy and serene nevertheless. She was staring outside the glass wall reveling in the beautiful morning, thinking about new beginnings. She turned her head and looked at Jor-El as he approached her gingerly. Her eyes lit up.

" Hey!", she greeted as her thin lips turned up in a smile. Her voice was low and barely audible.

"Hey yourself. How are you?", enquired Jor-El softly. Her eyelids were drooping. It seemed she was trying to summon all her strength to keep them open.

" You know, just tired and sleepy. It happens, you know, if you try to push a baby out of your hoo-ha." she replied with a wicked glint in her eyes.

Jor-El chuckled. Even though she was worn out, it didn't stop her from making jokes. He bend down and kissed her cheek as his hand caressed the bangs off her forehead.

" That's it. That's all I get. A peck in the cheek. After all the hard work I did. I pushed a being the size of one of those surveillance drones and all you can do is give me a peck in the cheek." she complained, her face scrunched up in mock annoyamce.

Jor-El smirked and complied all too willingly, and slowly swooped down for a kiss. But his wife clutched the lapels of his robe tightly and pulled him down for a soul-searing kiss. After pulling out of the kiss to breathe, he rested his head on her forehead and whispered softly.

"You still manage to take me by surprise."

She grinned and replied, " I will take that as a compliment."

" Now back to more pressing matters. By the absence of the nurse and our baby, I presume our baby was taken for cleansing and purification." asked Jor-El, now dying to see his child.

Lara nodded pointing towards the door behind him.

" So, is it a he or a she?"

" Nope, I am not saying."

"Please. Come on Lara, don't be like that. "

"Nope, sorry. I want you to be surprised." said Lara vehemently, her jaws set.

" It's a girl isn't it? Yes, yes, it's a girl. I know it. I can see it in your smile. Well Lara it seems you have to work on your poker face. It's not as good as you claim it to be." said a smug Jor-El.

" My poker face is just fine. I didn't say anything, you are just presuming. They will be here any moment …. Ah! speak of the devil." said Lara pointing at someone behind him.

Jor-El turned around and saw and old lady in the orderly's uniform enter with a bundle cradled in her arm. He rose gingerly and approached the woman. The woman held out the bundle to him and said, " Jor-El, meet your son."

Jor-El took the baby from her arms and cradled it into his. He tucked the cloth down slightly so that the baby's head was clearly visible to him and there he was-his son, staring at him with Lara's big blue eyes in wonder, having not a care in the world. He lifted a finger to caress his son's cheek and the baby raised it's pudgy little hand and wrapped it around his father's finger. Jor-El's face split into a wide smile as he watched his son play with his finger and make gurgling noises. He felt his eyes sting as tears threatened to spill out. He was overwhelmed with joy and it made his heart ache. This was his child….His. He was a miracle. This was all the miracle and the purpose he was looking for all his life. He felt a sudden determination as he looked at his son and vowed that no matter what he would always be there to protect his son.

"You are crying. I have only seen you cry one other time before." said Lara softly, beckoning him towards her.

He turned around and moved towards her handing his son over. She reached up to him and wiped a tear which had escaped. He sat down beside her.

"Yeah, well these are tears of joy. God, Lara he is so perfect. It's so overwhelming, holding something as strong and fragile as life in my hand and that too of my own creation." drawled Jor-El, his voice broken.

"That feeling has dawned on me too. Look at him. So beautiful, perfect yet so weak and fragile. He won't become the man he is intended to be without our love and care. I am not gonna let anything happen to him." said Lara with determination in her eyes.

" The feelings mutual. This sudden protectiveness is strange. It's almost primal. If something were to happen to any of you…. God… I don't know, I would snap." said Jor-El concern evident in his eyes.

"Ok enough. Let's not mar this happy moment with morbid thoughts. Anyway, such thoughts doesn't suit you. Leave them to me." interjected Lara.

Jor-El chuckled and just watched as his son play with his mother's hair. His face screwed up in concentration as he tugged and twisted her soft tufts of hair.

"He is destined for greatness you know, our little Kal. I can feel it. Call it a mother's intuition." Lara broke the silence as she looked up at Jor-El.

Jor-El's eyes widened at the name. "You sure you wanna call him that. Honey I have no problem with it but the kids at the institution will ride him pretty hard."

"Yes, we will name him Kal. Kal-El. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

" Lara, I was thinking, how about after you get out of here we go someplace for a short holiday. That ought to set the wheels straight. These past ten months our bells have been rung pretty bad. Don't you think? So this weekend I will take leave from my work and go someplace." proposed Jor-El.

Her face lit up. "Yes, that would be a nice change. We do need it. We could go over at Zor-El's place, huh. Little Kara would be delighted to see this little delinquent."

" Fine now that's set. Hand Kal over to me and get some sleep. You look like you will drop dead any second now. I will wake you up if he gets hungry."

She nodded and handed Kal over without any complain. Sleep overtook her as her head hit the pillow. A calm spread over her face as though she was sleeping after a very long time. Jor-El swooped down and placed a kiss on her brow. She was indeed beautiful.

" Your mother is beautiful isn't she, Kal?" cooed Jor-El, placing a kiss on his head.

Kal looked at his father and gave him a toothless grin.

" Yup, I think so too."