A/N: A shout out to SuperFlashFan101! Queen Lena indeed! So glad you liked the last chapter. :) Thanks!
Chapter 34
"So Lena can fly a plane huh?" Kate asked Kara from her seat on Lena's private jet, about an hour later.
"Yes. Actually this plane is nicer than her last one," the blonde admitted. They were sitting across from each other while across the aisle M'gann was sitting across from Nia. J'onn was in the cockpit with Lena, acting as a copilot. They'd all switched back into their civilian clothes in order to avoid prying eyes at the airport.
"Last one? These aren't like cars, you don't trade them in every three years because the lease is up," Kate was surprised. While the private plane that Wayne Enterprises had, was nice, it was not new. A plane's lifespan is actually measured in pressurization cycles, not years, like cars. Basically every time an aircraft is pressurized during flight, its fuselage and wings are stressed. That stress leads metal fatigue in those parts of the plane that are connected with fasteners or rivets. This fatigue leads to cracks, which can lead to part failure. So most private jets last for twelve thousand hours, while those that are very well maintained can last for twice that time.
"Well we were dealing with trouble in Kaznia and when we got back, she didn't want to keep it," Kara explained.
"Kaznia? That must have been while I was still avoiding going home to Gotham," Kate said.
"It was and it's a long story," the blonde admitted. The Gothamite was about to point out that they had a long flight in front of them when Nia spoke up.
"So Brainy was able to finish their inventory. It looks like Andrea stole an alien power generator. It looks like it's only the size of seven inches by five inches by about five-eighths of an inch thick," the human-Naltorian hybrid said.
"That's a little larger than an external hard drive for a computer. How much power does it generate?" Kate wanted to know.
"When activated by electricity, it multiples the power output. Brainy says think of having one "D" cell battery, hooking it up to this contraption and having enough batteries to power five, four "D" battery, flashlights," Nia explained.
"A factor of twenty? How much power can this thing absorb slash multiply before it blows up?" Kara asked.
"No one knows. Brainy says that when it was acquired, the DEO did not want to find out the hard way. It was the only one they had and if they blew it up and killed people, then it would be a disaster. Research on the item was stopped when the Daxamite invasion occurred," Nia said.
"So they never bothered to pick it back up again and Lex suddenly absolutely has to have it?" M'gann didn't like where her mind was going.
"Yeah not likely. It probably got relegated to a secret side project," the blonde frowned.
"There is no way that Lex could know that Crisis was coming. Why would he relegate something like that to a secret project?" Nia wondered.
"A good point. This version of Lex was an actual good man. You would have thought he would have tried to figure out a way to turn that into a cheap energy source and reduce the needs for fossil fuels," Kara said.
"Well in all truth, the Daxamite invasion may have had the good version of Lex working on planet security plans. Perhaps the bigger question is that what was our version of Lex doing with it? He obviously found a use for this thing. The decommissioned DEO site would be a nice quiet lab that would have been off the books," M'gann pointed out.
"A good point. Does Brainy have any ideas on what Lex could be trying to use it for?" Kate asked.
"He figures the Jarhanpurians are only susceptible to their own technology and the technology of his own people the Coluans. So if he intended to rid Earth of them, he would need to be able to use their advanced technology against them. So probably he stole something other than the tube, which we relieved him of," M'gann said.
"By now he knows that we probably sent them all to the Phantom Zone, given what happened in Lena's lab. My guess is that he's creating a weapon he could use against me and Kal," Kara shook her head.
"That's the only thing that makes sense. Then of course whatever he stole from the Jarhanpurians could be used to regain his empire," Kate frowned.
"Yeah that's not good. How much longer until we land in Metropolis?" Nia wanted to know. It was a cross country flight and they would have to stop and refuel at least once.
"Two and a half hours to our refuel stop, forty-five minutes on the ground, and then three and a half hours to Metropolis. The car ride from the airport to the site is about an hour," M'gann broke it down.
"Plenty of time to plan. Have Brainy send everything he has learned so far about the property and surrounding terrain," Kara said to her friend. The Kryptonian heaved a sigh and they got to work.
To Be Continued…