I wrote this because I never was satisfied with the way that
Superman had his powers under a yellow sun, after his race
evolved under a red sun. So I decided what if they had evolved
on a different planet and moved to Krypton to suppress their
powers? This is how it might have happened.
I'd like to thank Paul (Hatman), Missy Gallant, and Kylie for
their help in editing this story. I'd also like to thank the
readers on zoomway's boards for their feedback that helped
shape this story.
Feedback is greatly appreciated at alabot1@hotmail.com.
__________
The Exodus
by Adam Labotka alabot1@hotmail.com
Rated PG
Submitted March 2001
__________
From his lofty standpoint, Kal-El looked over the devastation
of his beloved world. Even now, months later, the waters had
barely begun to recede. He couldn't believe his own brethren
had precipitated such devastation. They had used their
abilities selfishly, to dominate those who couldn't defend
themselves. He prayed to whatever gods that might exist for
forgiveness.
Kal-El's people had always lived separate from the others. In
the beginning, they had always avoided contact with those who
weren't of their kind, living in inaccessible places that could
only be reached through their innate abilities. For millennia,
it had been like this -- until several decades ago, when it all
changed.
One man -- Vorath -- changed everything.
Vorath and his followers felt that they had a right to rule
those who could not oppose them. They saw others, who lacked
many of the abilities they themselves possessed, and saw an
opportunity. They presented themselves as gods from above, who
should be feared and worshiped.
At first, the Council of Elders had decided to leave them
alone, to let them have their way. They felt it was none of
their business. This policy caused much uproar among the
people; many disagreed with the decision.
In the end, though, it was the cruelty of Vorath and his
followers that, finally, galvanized the Council into action.
Vorath had begun to torment those who lacked the power of his
people. They killed men for sport, took women without consent,
and abandoned their children to die. The Council was appalled
by these actions, and decided they needed to put a stop to
these atrocities.
Thus, the war began. Since he was the most vocal proponent of
action against Vorath, Kal-El was elected by the Council to
lead their forces.
Kal-El shuddered as he thought of what happened in that war.
Millions of innocent, helpless people had died in that war,
solely as a side-effect of battles, especially the last one.
Kal-El remembered the last battle all too well.
After many years of fighting, both sides were at an impasse.
Neither could inflict serious harm on the other side due to
their speed and general toughness. Kal-El had spent hours
locked away, planning with his top advisors. They needed a way
to stop Vorath, whatever the cost, before the world was
destroyed. They finally came up with a plan.
Kal-El's scientists had been working hard at a way to capture,
and hold, Vorath and his men. They had discovered a way to
"rip" space and create a pathway into what they termed
hyperspace. This was a different form of existence, in which
space and time had little meaning. If they could somehow trick
Vorath's men into entering such a rift, without special
equipment, they would be trapped for all time.
Kal-El's plan was simple: they were to set up a device to
create such a rift in a remote location. He felt the southern
pole would be best, as few creatures could survive the harsh
conditions there anyway, so there was little worry about the
fallout. He and a small group of men would journey there, as if
trying to create a secret base from which to attack Vorath.
Kal-El figured that he would be juicy enough bait to draw
Vorath and his main forces, so that they could be trapped.
Oh, how Kal-El cursed his plan now. He had not foreseen the
true outcome. Vorath and his men had showed up as planned,
trying to capture, and possibly kill, Kal-El, hoping his defeat
would break the spirit of the rest of their enemies. A short,
fierce battle raged, heat vision darting out everywhere, trying
to score on flesh. The temperature began to rise, and the ice
began breaking and melting.
And then, when Kal-El finally managed to draw his foes into the
rift, sealing them forever in hyperspace, there had been a
large explosion, the machine having overloaded under the
strain. Chunks of ice flew everywhere as the ice cap was ripped
apart by the vast energies released. Large chunks of ice rained
down into the seas, causing them to rise.
The oceans began to rise and quickly covered nearly all the
land. Water flooded onto the continents. Those living there ran
screaming and crying out in terror. Whole villages were wiped
out by massive torrents of water. All but the highest ground
was flooded. Those who survived the sudden onrush of water
lived only long enough to suffer a cold, cruel death
underwater. Quickly, mere minutes later, only the highest land
masses remained dry.
Kal-El and his men worked quickly, saving as many animals and
the different people of the world who could not save
themselves. Even after all that, most of the life on the planet
had died. Kal-El shuddered as he thought of how many people had
died because of his oversight.
As Kal-El's musings came to a close, he came to a decision.
Nothing like this must ever occur again. He would find a way to
ensure that no-one would follow in Vorath's footsteps. All he
needed was to find a way.
******
Kal-El spent days locked away in his chambers, alternately
berating himself for his carelessness and desperately trying to
think of a way to prevent another such catastrophe. He hardly
slept; every time he closed his eyes, he saw the waters rising,
the people fleeing, crying out in terror. When he did sleep, he
dreamt of the bodies left floating on the waters, their eyes
glaring at him accusingly as if saying, "You did this. You
killed us all." He saw those that his people managed to save
look at him with fear and horror. He heard them demanding to
know why he let their loved ones die, why he destroyed their
world. He began to see the faces of his wife and children among
the dead, even though they couldn't have been killed by the
disaster.
Every day, Kal-El slid deeper and deeper into his guilt and
despair. He refused to eat after a while, and refused to see
anyone, including his wife. In the first few days after the
war, she had tried to comfort him, telling him it wasn't his
fault, that he couldn't have known, but he refused to listen to
her.
One day, something inside him snapped. He couldn't take the
overpowering guilt any more. He felt the only way he would ever
get over his guilt was to prevent anyone from being able to
repeat the steps that led to this war and its horrifying end.
He still hadn't thought of a way, but he needed to speak to the
Council. Only they had the authority to make such a decision,
anyway. They also had many more resources at their command to
find a way to prevent another man such as Vorath abusing the
innate abilities of their people.
******
Kal-El stood before the Council of Elders. "It is my belief we
must find a way to prevent another occurrence such as that of
Vorath. Such an atrocity cannot be allowed to occur a second
time. We have learned that power such as ours cannot be trusted
to everyone, as there are some who would abuse it."
Kal-El watched the Council members. He saw surprise on most of
their faces, and watched them confer in low murmurs so that he
could not hear. His face fell as he realized just what he was
asking of them -- to find a way to give up everything that
allowed them to live as they did. He felt that they would never
agree.
Finally, the head of the Council spoke. "We know that this war
hit you hard, as you were on the front lines for most of it.
But do not think that, though we were not directly involved, we
were unaffected. We see your point and concur. We do not make
this decision lightly."
He paused before continuing, "There is something we have kept
very secret, even from you, for we feared Vorath might obtain
such information as well. This is a dangerous secret for any to
know; it might provide them with a great advantage. What I say
next is not to leave this room, at least for now."
Kal-El could hardly believe his ears. What could the Council be
hiding? Why was it so dangerous? He quickly nodded his consent.
The elder continued again after receiving Kal-El's promise.
"During their studies, our scientists discovered that our
abilities come from our yellow sun. Somehow, our bodies,
somewhat like plants, absorb solar energy and use it to
manipulate their immediate surroundings, even to the point of
defying gravity. Our bodies create what they termed an aura,
which both protects us and allows us to manipulate the very
atoms that surround us. They hypothesized that, if we were to
remove ourselves from the influence of a sun such as ours, our
abilities would fade to the point of almost non-existence."
"We shall begin the search immediately for another home, one on
which our abilities will cease to exist; thus, men like Vorath
will be unable to wield such terrible power. You shall continue
to lead us, Kal-El, as we will need a single strong leader to
organize an exodus such as the one we plan. Project: Exodus
shall begin immediately."
The leader of the Council finished speaking, and they all
stood. "It is time to make an announcement. The people have a
new leader. All hail Lord Kal-El." In turn, Council members
bowed to Kal-El in the tradition of their people.
Kal-El stood there, stunned. He was overwhelmed by all of this.
*He* was now the leader of everyone? But the Council had always
led; as far back as their records went, there had never been a
single ruler. He was still trying to process all the
information and barely acknowledged the Council as they bowed.
When he was finally able to speak, he said, "How can you pick
me? Look at what I've done. I've destroyed our world! I've
ruined our beautiful home -- how can you see me as anything
other than a monster?" Kal-El was near tears. He was unable to
comprehend why they would even consider him -- why they thought
he was deserving of anything, let alone leadership.
The head of the Council addressed Kal-El again. "You could not
have foreseen the overloading of the hyperspace device. You
should not blame yourself; you made the best decision you
could. We also believe that, had the war continued, the
devastation would have been far worse then the flood; at least
you managed to save some life other then our own. We fear the
whole world would have been destroyed had the war gone on much
longer. The people look up to you, Kal-El. They see you as our
saviour for ending Vorath's threat. You are best qualified to
lead us; the people will listen to you. You are a hero, Kal-
El."
Kal-El couldn't believe what he heard. He wasn't considered a
monster? They didn't blame him for destroying their beautiful
world? He was a hero? Such was his respect for the Council that
he finally began to let himself believe what his wife had tried
to tell him, that maybe it wasn't his fault, after all.
Oh, he'd never get over being the cause of such destruction,
but maybe, just maybe, he could allow himself to move on and,
instead of beating himself up, he could work towards making the
future better. "It seems I have little choice but to accept,
but the Council shall remain to advise me. I don't think I
could handle it alone. I need a chance to adjust, to allow me
to forgive myself."
Kal-El left the council chambers and returned home. He fell
into an exhausted sleep. For the first time since the disaster,
he slept peacefully, no dreams haunting him. The healing had
begun.
******
The next day, Kal-El stood before another door, with even more
trepidation then when he went before the Council. He knew she'd
be here; after he'd driven her out of their home, she would
have nowhere else to go. He was afraid she'd take one look
through the door, see it was him, and decide not to open it. Or
worse, she'd tell him to get lost and stay lost. He didn't
think he could handle her rejection.
On the other hand, he couldn't go on without her, so he had to
try and mend the broken fences. He cautiously knocked on the
door and held his breath, his heart in his throat.
After what seemed an eternity -- but was, in reality, only a
few moments -- the door opened. He saw her standing there. She
was even more beautiful then he had remembered. Quickly, before
he lost his nerve, he began to speak. "Oh, Liera, I'm so sorry.
Can you ever forgive me? I was wrong to shut you out, drive you
out of our house. I should have listened to you; you were right
all along. It took the head of the Council to knock some sense
into me." He stopped talking having run out of steam and
watched her hopefully.
Liera couldn't believe it. When she had seen her husband
through the door, she had almost feared she was hallucinating.
After he had shut into himself, refusing to talk to or even
look at her, she feared he might never speak to her -- or
anyone else, for that matter -- again.
As she stood here now, absorbing what he had just said, she
looked him over. He looked so dejected and lost; the haunted
look that had been in his eyes since the war was still there,
but not as deep as before. She pulled him into a fierce hug and
said, "Kal-El, I'm so glad to see you. I was so worried about
you. I thought that perhaps I had lost you forever. What
happened to bring you out? What do you mean about the head of
the Council knocking some sense into you? Of course I was
right; you should know by now that I'm *always* right. That
should teach you to listen to me."
Kal-El couldn't quite suppress a rueful grin as he watched his
wife babble. Putting his fingers to her lips, he silenced her.
"I went to the Council yesterday because the guilt was driving
me mad. I wanted to talk to them about finding a way to prevent
another person such as Vorath from abusing our abilities. They
surprised me by agreeing with me -- and *then* they told me I
would be the new leader of our people. They said we needed a
strong, singular figure to lead if we were to undertake such a
task."
He paused, taking a breath, tightening his arms around her,
unwilling to let go "I was incredulous -- how could they see me
in that light?" Kal-El's voice broke with emotion as he
recalled those moments of the previous day. "They told me it
wasn't my fault, just like you did. The accident was
unforeseeable, and I did my best. They told me I was seen as a
hero, a savior, for stopping Vorath. And I started to believe
it, finally."
Liera's face clouded with anger. She smacked him on the chest
with one hand as she said, "You idiot! I've been telling you
that for *weeks*. See, if you had just listened to me, we could
have solved this weeks ago instead of now." Then she ducked her
head to hide the tears building and, in a small, quiet voice
full of hurt, said, "I wouldn't have had to watch as I lost you
bit by bit to your guilt."
Kal-El lifted her chin and wiped the tears which had begun to
flow down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry I made you go through that.
I was an idiot. I can't apologize enough for my actions. You
mean everything to me. I never told you this, but..." His voice
broke again with emotion as he fought to get the words out,
tears building in his eyes. "...I had these nightmares of...
the flood... In them, I saw all the... bodies... and, not at
first, but eventually, I... I... I began to see your and our
children's faces on them." He finished in a rush as the tears
began to flow.
After a moment, he began "I know it's not logical, I mean, with
our abilities, none of us would die in it, but it began to feel
so real. I imagined losing you and it hurt. I thought I would
lose you anyway because you'd hate me. You'd blame me for
destroying our beautiful world. And I was losing you anyway by
shutting you out."
Liera spoke in a soft, soothing tone. "It's okay, honey. I'm
here now. You won't lose me. I love you more then anything. I'm
so glad you've come back to me. We can't change the past, so
let's just try to move on." Then her tone changed to a more
teasing one. "Just don't shut me out any more, and remember to
listen to me; we'll save loads of time."
In a resigned, yet somehow teasing and sarcastic tone, he
replied, "Yes, dear."
Liera now took another good look at Kal-El and realized how
exhausted he looked. She was surprised he was still on his
feet. "Come on, let's go home. You look exhausted. You need to
get some more sleep."
Liera began to fly them both through the air to their home.
Kal-El was unable to do more then just hold on and be dragged
along. She helped him into the bedroom and had him lie down.
"You get some sleep now. I'll be just in the other room if you
need me." She noticed Kal-El was already asleep and quietly
left.
******
Liera set about tidying up the house as she let Kal-El sleep.
She did it slowly, in hopes that she wouldn't disturb him.
After about half an hour, she heard him tossing about and
muttering in his sleep.
She entered the bedroom to see Kal-El floating about a foot
above the bed and tossing and turning. He was obviously in
distress, and began muttering again.
"Liera... don't go... so sorry... my fault... never forgive...
ruined everything... monster... I'm a monster."
Liera floated up and gathered Kal-El into her arms and began
stroking his back, speaking in soothing manner as she held him.
"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here; you didn't lose me. You aren't a
monster. None of it was your fault. Shhh." Kal-El began to
quiet down and she stayed floating there, holding him as he
slept.
******
Liera floated there for hours, holding and comforting Kal-El.
He slept peacefully after she quieted him down. She checked the
time and realized Kal-El would probably be waking up soon --
and when he did, he would be hungry. He was already beginning
to show signs of waking up.
Gently, she lowered him to the bed and quietly floated out of
the room. She checked the icebox and noted with relief that it
hadn't thawed yet, but she blew into it again to make sure it
would remain cold. She took some frozen vegetables and a chunk
of meat. She set the meat on a metal plate and the vegetables
next to it. She then took a large glass bowl and left the
house.
Because of the raised ocean levels, she was unable to find
fresh water, so Liera heated some of the ocean to steam. As the
steam rose, she quickly cooled it over the glass bowl, so that
the now salt-free water fell into it. She repeated this process
until the bowl was almost full, then went back home.
Kal-El still had not risen, so she continued to make
preparations. She poured most of the water from the bowl into
two large glasses and set them on the table. She put the
vegetables into the bowl with what was left of the water. She
then put a lid on the bowl and concentrated on the water,
causing it to steam, and left it to steam the vegetables.
She then quickly made some dough and spread it in a rectangular
pan. She heated it to a nice golden brown with her heat vision.
Finally, she cooked the meat in a similar fashion. She then
portioned out the meal, giving Kal-El most of it.
Kal-El then emerged from the bedroom. He smiled as he watched
Liera place the food on the table. He quietly came up behind
her and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for everything. I
don't know how much longer I could have handled those
nightmares on my own."
Liera turned and smiled at Kal-El. "You're welcome. I can't
stand to see you suffer anyway. I made dinner, I figured you'd
be hungry after all that time without food."
Kal-El began to nuzzle her neck and plant kisses along it
"You're right. I am hungry." He kissed her passionately. "But
not for food."
In between kisses, Liera protested weakly, "But... the food...
will get... cold."
"We can reheat it later," Kal-El said as he began to float them
toward the bedroom. "This is more important."
"All right," Liera responded slightly breathlessly, and they
floated into the bedroom. Kal-El blew the bedroom door closed
behind them.
******
Some time later, while still floating entwined above the bed,
Kal-El spoke. "I guess we should go eat now."
Liera sleepily mumbled something incomprehensible and just
snuggled closer to
Kal-El.
"Come on, sleepy-head; can't let the food go to waste," Kal-El
said, gently shaking Liera.
This time, she responded groggily, "Oh, you're one to talk,
Mister-I-just-slept-all-day." And then she said, as he
continued shaking her, "Okay, okay, I'm up."
They let go of each other and got dressed and headed back to
where dinner was waiting for them. As they reheated the now
cold food, Kal-El said, "I'm sorry for interrupting dinner,
but..."
Liera interrupted, "I don't seem to recall objecting much. I've
missed you a lot, too, Kal. We needed to reassure ourselves
that we were together again. It's okay. Come on, eat; you
haven't eaten in weeks. I don't want to lose you to hunger now.
There's only so long even you can go without food."
Kal-El began to wolf down his food very quickly, inhaling it
all within a minute. Liera watched him and said, "See, I told
you, you needed to eat."
Suddenly, someone knocked on their door. Checking the door,
Kal-El saw the head of the Council standing outside. Kal-El got
up to answer the door. "Hello, Elder, what a pleasant
surprise," he said.
The elder began to speak. "Forgive me, my lord. I hope I'm not
interrupting anything."
"Oh, no, come in," Kal-El replied.
"Thank you," the elder said. "I'm sorry to bother you at home,
but there is something we need to discuss. The Council has
called a meeting of all our people. We would like you to be
there so that we can introduce you as their new leader. In
addition, we want you to explain our plan -- leaving out the
specifics about our abilities for now, of course."
"Of course, Elder, I am perfectly able to attend. When is this
meeting scheduled?" Kal-El replied.
"The meeting should commence about an hour hence. I'm sorry to
bother you again, but the sooner we start preparations, the
better. I shall leave you to prepare." The head Elder then left
swiftly.
Kal-El looked at Liera. "Well, we better get ready to go. I'd
like you by my side for support; I'm not sure I can handle this
alone."
Liera replied, "Of course, Kal -- as if you even need to ask."
Kal-El gave Liera a soft, tender kiss. "Thank you for
everything. I don't deserve you. I love you."
Liera replied, "I love you, too, Kal.
Kal-El and Liera cleaned up after dinner and made ready to head
to the meeting.
******
Nearly an hour later, Kal-El and Liera were ready to head for
the meeting. As they were leaving, Kal-El turned to Liera,
running his hand through his hair, and said, "I can't do this.
I'm just not up to the task," in a very agitated tone.
Liera turned to Kal-El and patted him on his arm comfortingly.
"You'll do fine. There's nothing to worry about. I think the
speech you prepared is great."
Kal-El gave Liera a soft kiss. "Thank you. I needed to hear
that. We better get going; wouldn't do to be late for my
introduction." His eyes sparkled with mischief as he teased.
With that, they both sped out of the house and flew quickly to
their people's ancient gathering point.
******
Moments later, Kal-El and Liera arrived at the mountain-top.
The Elders were waiting at the peak to commence the meeting.
Already, hundreds of people were floating below the peak,
waiting for the Elders to speak.
Kal-El hugged Liera quickly. "Wish me luck." Then he flew off
to meet with the Elders.
When he arrived, the head Elder approached him again. "Thank
you for coming. In just a few minutes, I'll introduce you and
let the people know we've decided you will be our new ruler.
Then I'll let you speak and tell them about our plans."
Kal-El nodded. "I'm ready when you are," he replied in a voice
filled with a confidence he didn't really feel.
He watched as more and more people arrived to hover, waiting
patiently for the Elders to begin speaking. He noticed several
hushed conversations when people saw him with the Elders, but
he couldn't decipher any of the comments. Nor could he tell
from their expressions what they were thinking, other then
surprise at seeing him standing with the Council.
Once people stopped arriving, the head of the Council stepped
forward. Suddenly, all of the conversations stopped as all eyes
turned towards the Elder. He began to speak. "We have called
you all here in order to discuss great changes that must come
to our people. The Council has decided that, in light of the
situation, and to help keep a unified front for the transition,
we need a single leader. To that end, the Council has decided
that Kal-El, leader of the forces against Vorath, shall now
lead our people."
The crowd erupted in a great roar and applause, surprising Kal-
El. At best, he hoped they'd accept him, but apparently they
enthusiastically agreed with the decision. Maybe the people
really did see him as a hero. The Elder then stepped back and
motioned Kal-El forward.
Kal-El moved toward the end of the peak nervously. He looked
upon the thousands of people watching him, waiting expectantly.
It was all very overwhelming. He tried to start his speech, but
only mattered to stammer out, "Um... Thank you for... that...
um, enthusiastic... welcome."
He couldn't do it. There was no way that everyone would accept
what was required. They would be upset at what he had to ask.
They would probably turn on him as soon as he told them about
what exactly the changes were. He noticed he was beginning to
rise off the ground and fought to keep himself down. As he
scanned the crowd, he saw Liera, smiling up at him, full of
support and confidence in him, and suddenly, from somewhere he
didn't even know was in him, he found the confidence to do what
was necessary.
"All of you remember the atrocities Vorath perpetrated with his
followers, using their abilities to take advantage of those who
could not defend themselves. His actions resulted in great
devastation, the greatest of which came about through my own
efforts to stop him. We have destroyed our own world." Kal-El
fought to maintain his composure and keep his voice from
breaking as the crowd listened in silence.
He continued, "We have learned a harsh lesson indeed over the
past few years. We have learned that our abilities are
dangerous. Who knows when another man like Vorath will come
about? We saw what happened this time; next time could be far
worse. To this end, it has been decided that we shall leave our
home and find another, one where our powers will be suppressed.
Our scientists are working on the problem of how as we speak."
Kal-El paused again watching for a reaction.
He expected outrage, incredulity, but what he got was several
people conferring together, which he could not make out. Then,
surprisingly, everyone seemed to nod in unison, although
somewhat sadly. Kal-El was shocked. He had to check and make
sure his jaw hadn't dropped off. The people apparently accepted
and understood. While no-one looked particularly enthusiastic
about the idea, he couldn't see one person who looked defiant
or upset at the news. In fact, everyone seemed resigned.
Finally managing to recover from his shock, Kal-El began to
speak again. "On such a long road as we intend to embark on, we
must take small steps. To begin with, I would ask for
volunteers to help remove the large chunks of ice from the
oceans and replace them on the southern pole. This should lower
the water levels significantly, and allow other life to begin
to re-establish itself.
"Those not involved with this clean-up I would ask to begin
removing all evidence of our existence. It would not do for the
people without our abilities to know we were here and maybe try
and find us when they are more advanced. Also, gather as much
in the way of supplies, livestock and seeds as you can, and
bring it to the Council so we can have what is needed to start
out life on our new home, as well as survive to make it there.
Construction on a vessel to carry us to our new home will begin
immediately. Anyone with experience in engineering and building
is asked to help. Since we have often relied on our abilities,
this shall be tough, but I have faith we can manage it. After
all, we manage to send hundreds of unmanned probes out among
the galaxies; surely we can adapt the technology for manned
use."
Kal-El paused again to take a breath and calm himself. He was
still surprised at how well this was going. He was also amazed
at how calm his voice was remaining. Kal-El could hardly
believe this level, virtually emotionless speaking voice was
his own. He continued again, "I know this is a lot to ask, to
leave our home, but I feel we must before we destroy it
completely. I want to thank you for taking this so well. Those
who wish to volunteer to help, please see the Council and they
will give you instructions. The meeting is dismissed. I ask you
all to go and prepare; the sooner we leave, the better."
Once Kal-El finished his speech, the mass of people began to
slowly leave. They all flew slowly away, resigned to their
fate. Kal-El watched them go sadly, realizing that many of them
felt guilt, much as he did, for what happened to their once
beautiful world. He rejoined Liera and they both slowly flew
off towards home.
******
Kal-El floated above the southern pole, taking a short break.
Through their efforts most of the pole had been fused together
over the past few days. It had been a lot more difficult then
he thought it'd be. First, he'd had to dismiss most of the
volunteers because they had just got in the way of each other.
Now, it was down to just him and 9 other people. He'd told the
other volunteers to replant the vegetation as the waters
receded. Additionally, they couldn't move very quickly carrying
the ice or it'd vaporize; as it was, they'd had to use their
breath on the chunks to keep them from fracturing as parts of
the ice melted. It had also taken a lot of effort to find the
right intensity of heat to fuse the ice chunks together. And,
to top it off, there were just so damn many of them.
He watched as the others brought in the last of the chunks of
ice to the pole. It was actually fairly mesmerizing to watch. A
blazing band of color trailed each ice chunk as the light
refracted through it. As a consequence, there could be seen
several arching rainbows, following the paths flown to the
southern pole. Once they arrived, they began fusing the final
chunks into the now rebuilt southern ice cap.
Once the final pieces were fused, Kal-El felt a great sense of
accomplishment. Helping to correct the problem he himself
created gave him a sense of atonement. As he looked around the
globe, he saw the water levels were much lower -- nearly back
to their original levels, barring a few new lakes. Now that he
was done with the ice cap, he could go help with the
replanting.
As he turned to go, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with
an irate Liera. She began to speak. "I know what you're
thinking, and don't you dare do it. You've been working day and
night for days now; you need to get some sleep. You know the
lead scientist has asked to speak to you about his findings.
The volunteers can get along just fine without you." She
punctuated her tirade by poking him several times.
Kal-El looked sheepish as he responded, "I should help. It's my
fault this happened. I can't just sit back and do nothing. I
have to help. I have to make up for what I've done." His voice
was strained and full of pain.
Liera paced in the air, throwing her hands up and gesticulating
wildly, "Oh, no, not this again. We've been through this. The
accident was *not* your fault. I don't want you blaming
yourself for what happened. I won't let you do this to yourself
again. You're coming home right now, and that's that."
Kal-El sighed. He knew there was no dealing with Liera when she
was like this. His only choice was to go with her and get some
rest. He knew she was right anyway, and he was very tired. So
he said in a deflated voice, "You're right, again. Sometimes,
it just takes a while for it to get through my thick skull.
Let's go home now." With that, Kal-El and Liera went home.
******
The next day, Kal-El met with the scientists. They met in the
Council chambers. When he got there, the scientists were
already floating around the table. Kal-El joined them, floating
Indian-style. He felt better after a night's rest, though he
was still a bit guilty about not being out there, helping to
fix the problems they had brought upon the world. He snapped
out of his reverie as Zhang, the lead scientist, began
speaking. "My lord, we have spent day and night working on the
problems of where to go and how to get there. We believe we
have solved the problem of how to get there."
Zhang continued in a calm, collected voice, almost as if he was
lecturing, "I'm sure you remember the method we used to
imprison Vorath. We have been studying this hyperspace we
found. We believe that we could travel instantly anywhere in
the universe by entering hyperspace at one point, and exiting
at the destination. This is the approach we have been pursuing,
and we have developed a device, which should allow us to
control our entry and exit from hyperspace. We call it a
hyperlight drive."
At the mention of hyperspace and using it to travel, Kal-El
began to have a panic attack. He began breathing in quick,
short breaths. He began to drop to the floor and, blinded,
groped out at the table for support. He could tell Zhang was
still speaking, but all he could hear was the deafening roar of
his blood pounding in his ears.
None of the scientists, too intent on the explanations, noticed
the change in Kal-El. Kal-El was hounded by his own thoughts.
'Oh, no, not again,' was running through his mind like a
mantra. 'Were they *mad*? Did they not remember what happened
last time?' Kal-El thought.
After a few moments his panic began to pass, and he recovered
before the scientists noticed. Kal-El interrupted Zhang, and
said through gritted teeth, "What about last time? Last time,
the device exploded when we tried to send something large into
hyperspace. What if that happened again?"
Zhang was incredulous. "Of course we've taken that into
account. We studied the designs carefully and noticed a flaw,
which we have since corrected. I assure you, this time, it will
not explode. We miscalculated the load, but shall not do so
again. We have tested and retested hundreds of times without
incident, much more than last time. We wouldn't even think of
exposing our people to such risk."
Kal-El considered Zhang's response. He knew the scientist meant
no harm; he wouldn't use an unsafe device on purpose. Kal-El
thought, 'Can I make this decision again? If it goes wrong
again, I would be responsible for the extinction of our entire
race. But what choice do I have? Without this drive, it'd take
centuries -- or even millennia -- to make the journey.' He
replied, "I suppose we have little choice. We will use the
drive."
Zhang responded, a hint of glee creeping into his voice, "The
drive has already been incorporated into the ship being built.
If all goes well, it should be up and running in a few days."
'That's a scientist for you -- going ahead with what they think
is right without waiting for permission,' Kal-El thought. "Very
well. We have the 'how' solved, so that just leaves us the
'where'."
Zhang actually smiled at this. "We have been going over the
data of our probes, and have found several suitable planets
which revolve around stars unlike our own. Since we must have a
planet on which our crops can grow, we have narrowed the
choices to those revolving red stars. Photosynthesis occurs
fairly well under a red light, so our crops should grow
adequately under a red sun. The only problem is choosing which
one."
Zhang handed Kal-El the information about the different
planets. Kal-El looked over the papers: most of the planets
already teemed with life; he rejected those out of a desire to
not displace any natural cultures.
One planet caught his eye. It was barren and rocky but,
surprisingly, it had a nitrogen-oxygen mix similar to the one
they currently lived in. Reports showed that recently, some
disaster had hit the planet, wiping out life. The danger was
past, and it would be ripe for their needs. As a bonus, there
would be little life to displace, so he wouldn't have the guilt
of possibly displacing a sentient race. He removed it from the
pile. "We'll use this one. It will be tough in the beginning,
but I'm sure we can convert it to our purposes."
"Thank you, my lord. We will begin calculations on where to
enter and leave hyperspace to get there. All should be in
readiness for us to leave by the end of the week," Zhang
replied.
"Excellent. Keep up the good work. Get in touch with me if you
need anything else." Kal-El stood and walked out of the
chamber, and flew to check on the replanting.
******
Kal-El stood at the mountain peak again, to give his second
speech since he became the ruler of his people. As he watched
the people arrive for the meeting, his thoughts drifted to the
last month. He was amazed how much they had got done since the
last time he stood here. Thanks to their valiant efforts, one
would hardly believe that, a short month ago, nearly the entire
planet was covered with water. The seas were almost back to
their original level, and life once again filled the land.
The scientists and engineers had been very busy as well. They
had worked tirelessly, day and night, preparing the ship that
would take them to their new world. Kal-El remembered how they
excitedly contacted him and told him that it was ready. That
thought brought Kal-El back to the present and the reason he
had called another meeting.
As his musing drew to a close, he noticed everyone staring up
at him, waiting for him to begin. This time, he sought out
Liera deliberately, seeking her love and support, and smiled at
her before beginning, "Thank you all for coming here. Over the
past month, we have all worked hard to prepare for our journey
across the stars. I would like to thank everyone for
contributing so selflessly to this task."
Kal-El paused a moment, watching for reactions in the sea of
faces floating below him, but, so far, there were none. "The
time has now come for us to leave our home and head to our new
one -- one where we don't have to worry about one of us causing
such destruction using our inborn abilities."
This time, there was a reaction in the crowd. Kal-El watched as
a look of disgust crossed most faces when he mentioned the
abuse of their abilities, followed by each of them resignedly
hanging his or her head. The mood became dark and somber as
Kal-El continued, "I'm proud of everyone willing to make this
sacrifice. I'm sure the transition will be difficult, but I
believe we will be able to handle it."
As he spoke those words, there was another change in the
crowd's mood. Everyone seemed to simultaneously straighten his
or her back, and there was now an air of resolute
determination. "The ship is now in orbit and ready for us to
begin boarding. Due to restrictions of the airlock, as well as
needing to get provisions aboard the ship, I would ask everyone
to pair off, and then we can board in pairs, each pair taking
what they can aboard. Hopefully, this will help minimize the
time it will take. Let's get started." With that, the meeting
ended and everyone flew off to prepare to board.
******
Kal-El watched over the people as they boarded the ship. They
had lined up a while ago and begun flying up to the airlock, as
it was available. The next pair would wait for the airlock to
open again, fly up and enter. This had been going on for nearly
an hour, and most of the people were on board, as well as a
majority of the supplies.
Kal-El again found himself lost in thought. Initially, they had
worried about getting the livestock aboard, seeing as the
atmosphere was too thin to breathe where the ship was orbiting.
The ship was designed to land, but Kal-El felt it best not to
have it land here. The less visible their leaving was, the
better. Luckily, by moving quickly enough, they were able to
get the livestock aboard without any major problems.
According to Zhang, they would have to leave the solar system
before entering hyperspace, just to be safe. Entering any
earlier could cause major disruptions in the orbits of the
planets in the system. By his calculations, it would take a
little over a month to reach a safe point to enter hyperspace.
All their abilities should have faded by that point from lack
of exposure to the sun. After the hyperspace jump, there would
be another month or so to reach their new home.
Kal-El hoped nothing went wrong during these two months. With
so many people living in such close quarters for that long,
there were bound to be frayed nerves. He just hoped it didn't
get much beyond that. Things would also be difficult once their
abilities faded, but luckily, the scientists had developed a
way to simulate gravity.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Liera. "Kal, honey,
it's time to go. Everyone else is already on board, so it's our
turn."
Kal-El grinned sheepishly and replied, "Sorry. Guess I got a
little lost in thought. Let's go." With one last look around,
Kal-El followed Liera to board the ship.
Across most of the world, a giant flaming streak could be seen
as the giant spaceship began its journey into the depths of
outer space.
******
Liera searched the ship, looking for Kal-El. Shortly after they
had boarded the ship, he had disappeared. She was worried about
him. Now that he was no longer busy getting ready to leave,
maybe he had gone back to wallowing in his grief over what had
happened. She wandered the halls of the ship, looking for him.
She eventually found him staring out a rear viewport at the
shrinking blue-green world they once called home. She studied
him a moment from the doorway. She could tell he was lost in
thought, pretty much oblivious to his immediate surroundings.
She quietly approached him and wrapped her arms around him from
behind, resting her cheek on his back, murmuring, "Penny for
your thoughts."
Kal-El turned at Liera's touch and brought her beside him,
draping an arm over her shoulders. "It looks so beautiful,
doesn't it?" he said, indicating the steadily shrinking planet.
"And so fragile from out here. Well, we learned just how
fragile it really is, didn't we?" He laughed bitterly.
He let out a sigh and continued, "I don't know, Liera. Can we
really do this? Just leave our home, give up our abilities? Am
I asking too much of our people?" Kal-El asked quietly, with a
hint of sadness in his voice. "I don't know if I can do it --
how can I expect them to?"
Liera tightened her hold on Kal-El to reassure him. "You're
doing the right thing, you know that. Everyone knows that --
why else would they be here, undertaking this journey. I know
it'll be tough but, as you said, we can do it. We'll find a way
to live without our abilities. We know it's possible to live,
even thrive, without our abilities, as evinced by the others on
our world. If they can do it, so can we."
"I know that up here," Kal-El said, indicating his head with
his free hand. "But in here-- in here, I'm not so sure," he
said, now pointing to his chest. He tightened his arm around
Liera. "You just keep telling me that till it sinks in. I don't
know what I'd do without you. I know I couldn't get through
this without you, honey. I love you."
"I love you, too, Kal," Liera replied. "And I'll always be here
for you, you know that. I couldn't live without you, either."
Liera laid her head on Kal-El's shoulder, and then Kal-El
rested his head upon hers. They both stayed that way, holding
each other silently as they watched their former home shrink
out of sight.
******
The days seemed to crawl by as they made their journey through
the black void of space. As their abilities faded, they found
themselves needing to eat and sleep more often. Tempers grew
short as, not used to needing so much sleep, people found
themselves tired and crabby most of the time.
Arguments were frequent between people around the ship. People
would snap at the littlest things; raised voices could be heard
echoing through the corridors almost constantly. This did
nothing to improve the mood, making it difficult to sleep.
Luckily, though, it never escalated beyond yelling.
Meals were somber occasions. Everyone was moody and tired, so
they just sat there brooding as they ate, not bothering to try
and have conversations. The scientists, luckily, had
anticipated needing more food for energy as their abilities
faded, so they had brought enough provisions to compensate.
Thus passed the first month.
******
Everyone was gathered for the big event. Soon, the hyperlight
drive would be activated and they would be in another galaxy,
millions of light-years from their former home. The air was
full of excitement and trepidation as the appointed time for
the jump drew close. They watched the final moments with bated
breath, watching out the viewports when, suddenly, the stars
changed.
It took everyone a few moments to realize the jump had
occurred, and then a great cheer arose from the crowd. Kal-El
checked with the people monitoring their flight and then turned
to the gathered group and said, "The jump has gone according to
plan. We should make it to our new home in about a month."
More cheering was heard at Kal-El's proclamation, and they
started to celebrate. Glasses of blue liquid were passed around
as everyone showed their exultation in different ways. There
was lots of hugging and jumping around for joy. Then someone
started up some music; people started dancing and reveling in
their success.
Liera threaded her way through the crowd and came up behind
Kal-El. "May I have this dance, my lord?" she asked.
Kal-El turned at smiled at her, chuckling as he said, "As if
you need to ask."
He led the way to the area where couples were dancing, and then
pulled Liera close. They began to move slowly in time with the
melody. Liera laid her head upon Kal-El's chest and just
enjoyed being in her husband's arms. He seemed so relaxed right
now, the worries of the journey forgotten temporarily due to
the success today.
She'd been very worried about Kal-El lately. As the time for
the hyperspace jump had approached, he'd become increasingly
tense and irritable. He hadn't been sleeping much, either, but,
in the aftermath of the successful jump, that all seemed to
have melted away. She knew he'd soon fret about how the
landfall on their new home would go, so she wanted to enjoy
this respite as much as possible.
Kal-El relished the feeling of his wife in his arms. Gone were
the worries over the jump. The hyperlight drive had functioned
exactly as the scientists had promised. He could unwind for a
while before worrying about preparing for settling their new
home. For now, he would just relax and not worry about
tomorrow.
******
Several hours later, the festivities began winding down. Kal-El
and Liera left the celebration and headed to their quarters.
They walked down the corridors of the ship holding hands. Liera
turned to see Kal-El smiling down at her. She began to speak:
"It's so good to see you smiling again. You've been so worried
lately, I was wondering if that frown would become permanent."
Kal-El chuckled softly. "I know. I've been very concerned that
something would go wrong with the jump or the arguments would
escalate into brawls. Right now, though, everything seems to be
going great. Once the initial rush of succeeding so far wears
off, I'll start worrying again but, for now, I say we enjoy it
while we can."
Kal-El lightly stroked Liera's face as he leaned down for a
kiss. Liera parted her lips slightly in anticipation. Kal-El
began lightly nibbling Liera's lower lip before deepening the
kiss. When they finally surfaced, both were a bit breathless.
They resumed walking to their quarters and, if they moved a
little bit faster now, neither noticed it.
Soon, Kal-El and Liera reached their bedchambers. They entered
and had their own little private celebration.
******
The second month of their journey went much more smoothly, as
everyone adjusted to the loss of their special abilities. The
adjustment had come surprisingly easily. Kal-El attributed the
easy adjustment to everyone being as deeply affected by the
events leading to this journey as he was himself. As the days
passed, excitement grew among the passengers of the tiny ship.
The final day of their journey through the vast void known as
space drew close.
On that last day, Kal-El went to the control room to oversee
their landing on this new world. When he arrived, the room was
ablaze with activity as preparations for landing were underway.
One of the flight crew looked up from his console as he heard
Kal-El enter the room. "My lord, welcome. We were just
preparing to re-ignite the engines. We will need to begin
braking soon in order to safely land on the new planet."
Kal-El nodded in acknowledgment. "I just wanted to be here when
it all happened, so feel free to go back to what you were
doing."
The man returned to his task. Watching everyone at work, Kal-El
felt useless and out of place. He considered offering to help,
but figured since he didn't really know what was going on he'd
just get in the way. So instead, Kal-El watched the view port
and the rapidly growing dot that was to be their new home.
Now that the trip was almost over, Kal-El began to worry about
what they would do when they finally landed. It would be a
struggle to survive at first, especially with their decreased
abilities to rely on, though luckily, people seemed to be
adjusting well to life without them, even if they did grumble
when what used to be simple now required a major effort. Most
of their stored food had been consumed on the long journey, so
they'd have to get some crops growing as quickly as possible.
Kal-El was suddenly torn from his musings by an exclamation
from one of the flight crew. "What's wrong?" Kal-El worriedly
asked.
The young man who had exclaimed spoke in an agonized tone: "The
engines won't ignite. I keep trying, but they just refuse to
start. They haven't been used in so long; I think disuse is
what's causing the problem."
Kal-El was stunned. Everything had been going so well, but now
all seemed lost.
If they weren't able to slow down, they would crash into the
planet so hard that no-one would survive. Haltingly, he asked
"Ca-- Can anything... be done?"
One of the older flight crewmembers stood up. "Well, it's risky
since we won't be able to start braking as soon as we should,
but if we try bringing the engines back up slowly, we should be
able to restart them. We'll have to run the engines beyond safe
limits. Hopefully, they'll hold and we'll be able to land
safely," he explained quickly.
Kal-El nodded grimly. "I guess we'll just have to try that.
Doesn't look like we have much choice."
The man who had spoken barked a few orders, and everyone
renewed their efforts. Again the control room was ablaze with
activity as they worked on slowly reinitializing the engines.
Kal-El watched them nervously, feeling more useless now then he
did before the crisis.
After several minutes, the chaos settled down. The head
crewmember spoke again. "My lord, everything seems to be going
well. Soon, we'll be able to begin braking, once the engines
are fully ready. If all goes well, we will land safely."
Kal-El let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as
he sighed in relief. The crisis had passed; everything seemed
to be going well. He settled in and watched the dot grow as
they grew closer and closer to their new home.
*****
Some time later, the tiny ship drew near its destination. Kal-
El watched the world as it grew and loomed large in the
viewport. He was amazed both by the similarities and
differences of this new planet to the one they had until so
recently called home. There were vast expanses of sea, as well
as continents spread throughout. Even familiar clouds swirled
in the skies, but everything had a reddish hue.
One of the crewmembers' voices brought Kal-El out of his
contemplation. "My lord, we are about to begin the final stage
of braking in order to land safely. You should brace yourself
for entry into the atmosphere; it'll be quite a jolt."
As Kal-El moved towards a chair, the ship jerked, and he heard
what sounded like an explosion. An alarm began going off and
many of the crewmembers exclaimed in alarm. "What happened?"
Kal-El shouted over the din.
Someone worriedly replied, "The engines overloaded. We're going
to crash."
He stood there feeling numb as people frantically rushed around
him. Somewhere, he vaguely heard someone announcing what
happened to the ship and advising everyone to brace for impact.
Kal-El was unable to move.
The planet continued to rush towards them in the viewport;
soon, it dominated the entire viewing area. The ship jerked and
jolted many more times as they approached, buffeted around by
the atmosphere. What would have been a haven had become an
unknown graveyard.
Through everything that happened, Kal-El moved nary a muscle.
He just continued to stare at the ground as it rose up to meet
the ship. He watched all his hopes and visions for the future
go up in the flames that now surrounded the ship. His last
thought as the ship slammed into the ground was, 'What have I
done?'
******
A giant fireball streaked through the reddish sky. The flaming
craft crashed into the ground, digging a deep rut into the soil
as it scattered dirt and debris into the formerly clear sky.
Eventually, the ship came to a halt after sliding many miles.
The hull was bent and twisted but, amazingly, it was still
intact. After the ship came to a shuddering halt, the air was
suddenly silent.
Inside the ship, Kal-El slowly regained consciousness. As he
slowly tried to get up, he viewed the carnage around him. The
entire room was smashed almost beyond recognition. The viewport
was no longer visible because the floor had buckled and a large
projection was blocking it. The flight crew could be seen
strewn about the room.
As Kal-El got to his feet, he cringed as pain wracked his body.
His ankle nearly gave out when he tried to put weight on it.
Having never experienced a twisted ankle before, Kal-El was
baffled as to what was happening; upon inspection, he could
find nothing wrong with himself.
He gritted his teeth and hobbled toward the nearest body -- a
man lying across a console. As Kal-El neared, the man shifted
and started getting up. All over the room, other men were doing
the same thing. Gasps of pains and groans of protest could be
heard from just about everyone as they experienced pain for the
first time. But the people's iron will, which had allowed them
to give up so much, to prevent what might happen, allowed them
to move through the pain.
For the most part, everyone in the control room was amazingly
whole. Aside from bruises and some scrapes, they were largely
uninjured.
"Is everyone able to move?" Kal-El asked.
Everyone acknowledged Kal-El, who grunted affirmatively.
Struggling to keep his voice confident, Kal-El stated, "We
should explore the ship, look to see who else survived and help
those who need it. Remember, we're all vulnerable now, so be
careful."
Despite his outward calmness, Kal-El was a mess inside. Not
only did he have to deal with the new sensations of pain from
his ankle and bruised chest, he was fraught with worry over the
rest of his people -- especially Liera. She had been his
support through everything that had led to this point. How
could he go on without her, especially after what had just
happened? It would be his fault if she was hurt. He had to find
out if she was all right or not.
Kal-El barked a few more orders at the men and sent them on
their way. Then, after the last man had left, he hobbled his
way out of the room to begin his own search of the ship. He
prayed to whatever gods there might be that Liera was safe.
******
Kal-El limped into the corridor. Outside the control room, the
devastation was even more apparent. The floor was bent in many
places, and bulkheads littered the corridor. He carefully moved
through the debris, trying to make his way to his quarters.
Progress was very slow. Some areas of the ship were so damaged
that the walls were close together, and it was all he could do
to slip through the gap between them. The metal creaked and
groaned in protest at the weight passing over it.
Kal-El reached a turn in the corridor that was almost fully
blocked by a torn sheet of metal. He tried to push it out of
the way, only to jerk back his hand as pain lanced through his
palm. He looked and saw some red dripping from the jagged edge
of the metal, then noticed a long gash in his palm. 'This not
being invulnerable will take some getting used to,' he mused.
He carefully bandaged his hand, tearing off some of his
clothing to wrap his wound, as he had learned when they helped
rescue people from the flood.
Being much more careful this time, Kal-El pushed back the piece
of metal so that he could make his way past the blockage. Now
he could see the door to his cabin. He hurried along towards
it, filled with trepidation at what might greet him.
The door had been wrenched inwards, which was probably a good
thing since the frame was bent out of shape and would have held
the door fast. The room was a mess. The mattress had been flung
off the bed and the furniture was strewn around the room. An
arm stuck out from under the table. Kal-El moved to the table
as quickly as he could and, with a feat of strength reminiscent
of what he used to be capable of, flung the table off the body.
Underneath lay the crumpled form of his wife, Liera.
Gathering the broken form of his wife into his arms, Kal-El
began weeping, his, tears falling freely from his eyes, as he
began rocking her. After a few moments of cradling her body in
his arms, Kal-El felt movement from her. He glanced down in
shock and noticed, for the first time, the rise and fall of her
chest as she breathed.
As his tears of pain became those of release, Kal-El was
overjoyed; he could hardly believe she was alive. When he had
first seen her body, he was *so* sure that she was dead. He
could hardly believe she was actually alive. He continued to
rock the limp form of his wife, holding her close,
protectively.
Liera let out a strangled groan as she regained consciousness.
Kal-El's head snapped up at the sound and he watched his wife
open her eyes, which were clouded with pain and disorientation.
She smiled up at him, then winced in pain.
As Kal-El looked over his wife, checking her conditions, he
silently cursed his inability to see through her skin to locate
the problems. He clumsily felt along her body, trying to find
anything wrong.
Liera let out a strangled moan as examined her left calf. He
could feel the bone out of place. Liera was whimpering in pain
as he felt around the break, and each anguished moan was like a
dagger in his chest, but he knew it was necessary. After a
minute of probing, he felt confident he could set the break.
Thankfully, he had learned how while he had been rescuing
people endangered by the flooding.
"Hold still, honey. This'll hurt a lot for a moment, then it'll
feel a bit better," Kal-El said reassuringly.
Liera nodded slightly, and Kal-El gently gripped her leg both
above and below the break. He twisted his hands and felt the
bone snap into place as Liera let out a howl of pain.
After soothing his wife, Kal-El looked around the room for
something to use as a makeshift splint. A straight metal rod
that had come loose looked like it had promise. "Lie still,
don't try to move," he told Liera gently as he made his way to
the metal rod.
He hobbled over to the rod and carefully picked it up. As he
stooped, his ankle suddenly gave out and he fell over. He cried
out in pain as he hit the floor with a big thud.
"Kal!" Liera cried out; she began trying to get up.
Shaking his head, Kal-El noticed Liera struggling to get up.
"No, don't get up! You'll hurt yourself more," he yelled
harshly. Then, in a softer tone of voice, "I'm fine. I just
slipped."
Liera settled back with a groan, and Kal-El let out a sigh of
relief. He carefully tried getting back up, stifling groans of
protest as best as he was able, so as not to alarm Liera. With
a lot of effort, he was able to regain his feet with the rod.
He carefully moved to the bed and grabbed a sheet from it. He
tried tearing it into strips, but the material just would not
give. He cursed his weakened state. As he looked around, he
spotted a jagged edge of metal sticking out from the doorframe.
Hobbling over, he used it to help tear strips of cloth to bind
the makeshift splint.
That task done, he turned toward Liera. Her face was all
scrunched up and she was silently whimpering in agony. Tears
from the pain leaked out through her eyelids. It pained Kal-El
to see her like this, but he forced himself to concentrate on
the task ahead.
Limping as quickly as he could, Kal-El made his way to her
side. He carefully knelt down beside her, ignoring the shooting
pains he felt as his muscles protested. He stroked her hair,
soothing as he said, "Shhh... It's going to be all right. I'm
going to use this rod to immobilize your leg so you can walk
without injuring it again. It'll be out of commission for a
while, but it will heal and you'll be fine."
As Kal-El spoke, he was carefully lining up the rod along the
length of Liera's injured leg. Gently, he lifted the leg
slightly to put a strip of cloth beneath it, near the top of
her hip. Taking great care, he wrapped the cloth about her leg
and tied it securely. As he tightened it, Liera stifled a gasp
of pain. He stopped and looked up, concerned, but she nodded
that he should continue.
Kal-El placed some cloth around her knee. Liera continued to
make little whimpers of protest as the treatment sent pain
through her leg. Soon, he finished his work by tying a final
piece of cloth around the ankle.
Now that he was finished, the enormity of what happened washed
over him again. He collapsed at Liera's side and tears flowed
again. It was all his fault: *his* fault that Liera was
severely injured; his fault that the ship had crashed. How many
lives had he ruined? He curled up into a fetal position and let
out all the pent-up guilt.
Liera, even through her pain, struggled to get up a bit and
pulled Kal-El to her as best as she was able. She cradled him
in his arms and tried to soothe him as he wept uncontrollably.
They stayed that way for a long time.
******
Eventually, Kal-El's sobbing quietened down. He looked up and
noticed Liera had fallen asleep while holding him. She looked
so peaceful like that; a slight smile curved her lips. It was
hard to believe that, after all that she had gone through, she
would have that look on her face. Kal-El was afraid to move. He
didn't want to bring her back to the world of wakefulness --
and pain -- just yet.
Not long after Kal-El stirred, Liera's eyes opened. She smiled
at him, her eyes no longer clouded as they were before. "Glad
to see you're doing better," she said, smiling at him.
Kal-El smiled wanly back. "I needed that release. I'm feeling a
bit better about it all now. But, right now, I'm more worried
about you. How are you feeling? Still in a lot of pain?" he
asked quietly.
Liera took a deep breath before responding. "My leg does still
hurt, but rather than a sharp, agonizing feel, it just kinda,
well..." Liera shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure how to describe
it, but it's not as bad. I'm getting used to it."
Kal-El sighed. "Well, if you think you're up to it, we better
get outside and see how the rest of the ship faired. Come on,
I'll help you up."
He made it to his feet with little difficulty, and was a bit
surprised to realize his ankle didn't hurt much any more. In
fact, he could only vaguely feel anything out of the ordinary
as he stood. He then bent slightly and held his hand out to
Liera. She managed to struggle to her feet with Kal-El's help.
Liera sagged against her husband, using him for support to
avoid putting much weight on her broken leg. Concerned, he
asked, "You sure you're up to this?"
A bit breathlessly, she replied, "I'll be fine -- just need to
get used to this. Just let me lean on you, and help me walk.
I'll make it, don't worry."
"Well, if you're sure... but if you are having trouble, let me
know and we'll rest. I don't want you to re-injure yourself.
Okay, here we go," Kal-El said softly.
Supporting his wife, Kal-El carefully made his way out of the
room. Liera was having a lot of trouble due to her nearly
useless leg. They slowly made their way through the corridors
and past the debris that littered the ship. More fallen
bulkheads and torn sheets of metal greeted them as they went.
The floor had buckled in several places, making the going
tough. After nearly half an hour, they finally made it to the
airlock. It was open, and they got their first glimpse of their
new home.
As Kal-El and Liera slowly left the ship, their eyes were
assaulted by the unfamiliar red glare of the sun. Holding up
their hands against the dazzling light, their eyes slowly
adjusted. When they could see again, they looked around and saw
thousands of people already there. Kal-El and Liera slowly went
to join the group.
While they were heading towards the group, a young man and a
young woman ran over to meet them. "Mom, Dad, are you two
okay?" they called concurrently as they grew near.
"We've been better, but we'll survive." Kal-El and Liera said
simultaneously, and then, despite everything, began cracking
up, laughing.
When they met up, they all had a group hug. "We're glad you two
are okay. The men you sent to help people assured us you were
okay and said you shouldn't be disturbed, but when you didn't
come out for so long, we worried something really bad had
happened. We've been watching for you to come out."
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. After everything that happened,
including the way I found your mom, I just couldn't handle it.
After I did all I could to help your mom, I just kinda broke
down," Kal-El said in a weary, apologetic voice.
"It's okay, Dad. We understand. You have a lot going on. You're
in charge of an entire planet now. Besides, just recently, you
watched all your plans nearly vanish in a ball of flame. The
flight crew is looking for you; you better go see them. We'll
help Mom for you."
"Honey, you better go. You've got all these people to worry
about. I'll be fine," Liera assured him.
"I almost lost you today, I'm not sure I ever want to let go of
you again. People can handle themselves," Kal-El replied.
Liera fumed. "Now, glunkerhead, listen here: I can take care of
myself. I may be a bit below par now, but I'll recover. You
have responsibilities. Don't try to treat me differently just
because I can be hurt now. Go! Do what you have to do." Liera's
tirade ran down.
Sulkily, Kal-El replied, "Fine. I'll go."
Kal-El left his family and went to find the people he put in
charge of the evacuation. He knew Liera was right; he was just
very worried about her. She was going through an entirely new
experience. Kal-El squared his shoulders and took on a serious
look, moving with more confidence then he felt before, and met
with the flight crew.
As he approached, the men snapped to attention and one of them
began to speak. "My lord, it's good to see you up and about.
After we finished searching the ship, we found you with your
wife, but felt it best not to disturb you."
He paused to take a breath, then continued, "We are pleased to
report that there were no casualties. While many people have
been injured, some even severely, no-one is in danger of dying.
It's really quite astounding after a crash like that. Something
must have been watching over us, protecting us. We also saved
most of the livestock and grain."
Kal-El was stunned. He couldn't believe it. The odds against it
were... well, he didn't know the odds, but he was sure they
were astronomical, against no casualties. After taking a moment
to recover, he replied, "That's amazing. It's beyond what I
could even hope for."
The men nodded in response. "Sir, the people have been eagerly
awaiting you. We told them you were fine, but they haven't
entirely believed us. They were afraid we were trying to
prevent them from knowing what happened to you. They'll need
you to reassure them. They look up to you a lot, as do we."
Kal-El nodded again then stood tall and looked towards the
masses. They all noticed him and, suddenly, it got very quiet
as he began addressing them. "People, I know our arrival wasn't
exactly the way we planned it. But through some miracle, we all
survived, and I for one plan to take this as a good sign. That
what we are doing is right."
Kal-El paused a moment before continuing, "This has also been a
harsh lesson in how much more vulnerable we are, now that we
are no longer under the influence of a yellow sun. I hope we
all take this lesson to heart and remember to be careful. I
know it will be tough, building our new home here, but I
believe we can do it."
Again, he paused to let his words sink in, then started again.
"Now I've realized we never came up with a name for our new
home. I think we should name this place Krypton, for the peace
I hope it brings."
The crowd erupted in applause as Kal-El finished. Everyone
seemed to approve. When they quieted down again, Kal-El
finished up his impromptu speech. "We have a lot of work still
ahead of us. The next few years will probably be the hardest,
but I'm confident we will succeed. I want to thank you all for
going along with me. You are all very courageous to embark on
such a long arduous journey. I am proud to call you my people."
The crowd burst into applause, along with some hooting and
hollering this time. For the first time in ages, Kal-El thought
things were looking up. He felt confident that everything would
turn out well.
******
Later that day, Kal-El and Liera were walking around their new
home, exploring the surrounding country and just enjoying some
time together. Short-term shelters had been erected, and some
workers had begun clearing fields for crops. All in all, it had
been a productive first day.
Liera broke the silence by saying, "You've been awfully quiet
lately..."
Kal-El turned to her and said, "Oh, I've just been thinking a
lot lately. About the huge task before us in establishing a new
world. I just hope we can manage."
Liera told him reassuringly, "Things are going great so far.
The people work hard and respect your leadership. I'm sure
everything will go fine. Besides, we're in this together, and
together, we can do anything."
"Together -- I like that. With you by my side, I truly believe
anything is possible. I don't think I could have survived, had
I lost you in the crash. I was so sure you were dead when I
first found you. I thought I'd die right then and there," Kal-
El said, his voice thick with emotion.
"If I have anything to say about it, you'll never have to try.
I love you, and I don't plan on going anywhere, ever," Liera
responded, tears in her eyes.
"And I'll stay with you forever. No matter what, I love you,
and, if we ever do get separated somehow, no matter what, I'll
find you. If I have to cross millions of light-years to do it,
I swear, somehow, I'll do it. I'll find you wherever. Not even
death will stop me."
Holding each other close, they watched their first sunset on
their new home.
The End
