The asteroid Argo – the day after The Interview
It was local night when the travelers arrived in Argo City.
When the explosion destroyed Krypton, the force field and anti-gravity field that physicist Ard-En had set up turned the city of Argo and its surrounding countryside – the best farmland on Krypton – into a small asteroid. The Jewel mountain range, loaded with mines, together with the forest uplands and rivers that led up to it was also within the field. Thanks to their cold fusion reactors, the Argonauts had effectively infinite power. Consequently, it was easy for them to simulate Raolight, the day-night cycle and Krypton-normal gravity. So they were in no immediate danger when they set out for the next galaxy and the yellow star they had identified as their new home.
Dr. Eliza Danvers was very grateful for that fact as she woke up on the morning after her arrival. Quietly, she slipped into the next room and enjoyed the freshener that her hostess had demonstrated on their arrival. Then she dressed, went to the main room of the house.
When she looked out the window, the first thing she noticed was the sky. It wasn't blue. Instead it was a deep orange, even though the two artificial suns were already high in a cloudless sky. Her daughter had told her what to expect, but seeing it was still a shock.
The second thing she noticed was the immediate neighborhood. The house was medium-sized, set in what seemed to be a typical residential area of the city. A few similar houses dotted the side-street next to it. The only thing that set this house apart from its neighbors was that it had a secondary wing in its large backyard where it bordered on a large park. And both yard and park were carefully tended.
The third thing Eliza noticed was the vegetation. Unlike most earth plants, the plants in both yard and park looked wiry and tough. Flowers were few and leaves many and thin. The root systems of many plants started above ground and it was clear that they were exceptionally well developed compared with earth plants.
"Survivors," Eliza muttered, as she remembered that Krypton had been a dying world. But these plants hadn't given up. As she observed the tenacious grip of Argo's plants on the soil of their world, she took courage for the challenges she knew she still had to face.
Behind her came a voice, "Good morning, Dr. Danvers. Did you sleep well?" The words were not in English, but Eliza understood their meaning. As Eliza recognized the speaker's voice, she knew that she now faced the first of those challenges. As she turned, ready to give an account of her long stewardship, she told her nerves to shut up as she looked Kara's mother in the eye.
"Good morning, Chief Judicator." Eliza was unsurprised to find that the words she had spoken were not English. "The language tutor has worked as you hear."
The other woman nodded, "When Kal-El arrived with his bride, we discovered that our educator devices could be programmed for human brainwaves. Now that you know our language, you can learn much of our sciences, medicine for example, in the same way."
"Thank you, I would like that."
"You are most welcome. It is the least we can do to repay our debt to you."
"A debt? To me? You owe me nothing, Chief Judicator."
"Please call me Alura, Dr. Danvers. And I disagree. Both Argo and I owe you a very great debt. You raised my daughter when I could not. You have loved her as if she was your own despite enduring the loss of your husband and Alexandra's father due to Kara's disobedience and you never once blamed her for your loss. And the result of your loving care is that Kara has grown to be everything her father and I had dreamed she would be. She is loving, wise, and wholehearted. I don't know how you made this happen, but I thank you from my heart. At the very least, if I may use an earth expression, Dr. Danvers, you have made a friend, no, a sister, for life."
Eliza Danvers let out a long breath as she felt the weight of Argo fall from her shoulders. "Then it's Eliza, Alura, and thank you. But don't give me too much credit. You and your husband gave Kara a great start. And from the moment Jeremiah and I saw Kara and the grief in her eyes, we couldn't do anything but love her. And, as you know, I had Alex to help me."
"I know, I heard what you told your world last night," Alura replied as she tapped her ear, "Yet if earth's children are anything like Kryptonian ones, and from some of the stories Kara has told me I believe that they are, we both know that you had the harder part of the job."
Eliza nodded, sensing that Kara's mother had more to say.
"And I suspect your job is not yet finished. I heard what you told your President. His is a small heart and small hearts do not forget being overmatched by big ones. He will not let the matter end where you left it last night. You, Alexandra, and Kara if she returns, will face considerable risks."
In that moment, Eliza knew where Kara's caring heart and bright intelligence had come from.
"If there is anything I or Argo can do to help, ask and it will be done."
Eliza caught her breath, "Thank you. You sound certain of that. I know you chair your High Council, but shouldn't you discuss anything I propose with them first?"
"As you will see, I have good reason to expect that obtaining their support will not be a problem."
"That's good to know," Eliza replied, but then a thought struck her, "I have one question though. Why do you think I might have blamed Kara for Jeremiah's reported death?"
The other woman was surprised. "Kara did not tell you? No, she would not do that. She has always cared for others before she looks to herself," Alura paused, but Eliza only nodded agreement and waited.
"Your husband forbade Kara to use her super hearing when the DEO came. Kara was a child with immature self-discipline: would she have obeyed or would she have listened to the conversation?"
Eliza's voice was flat with realization as the weight of Argo crushed down once more. "She listened. And she's been blaming herself ever since, hasn't she?"
The other woman's voice was sympathetic, "She has not said so, but she was never able to hide her feelings from me."
Eliza expelled her breath in a sigh as she shook her head. "I should have seen it."
"You had just lost your husband whom you loved; it is understandable that you did not. We will talk more about it later. But for now," said the Kryptonian whose chair faced the window, "I see Miss Grant coming from the guest wing to join us, and I hear Alexandra coming downstairs. Perhaps we could postpone further discussion in favor of a morning meal?"
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As breakfast ended and Cat Grant and her mother left to clean up, Alex deliberately waited until she and Alura were alone in the room.
"You wished to speak to me, Alexandra?"
"Yes. There is something I must tell you before we do anything else."
"Oh?"
"After you returned to Argo after the Reign incident, I asked Kara if she had given you the full account of your sister's death."
The other woman looked ten years older, "And she told you that her account did not go into detail? That she only told me that Astra was killed in a firefight with government agents?"
"Yes. If you would like to know the full story, I can tell you."
"Your mother called you a law enforcement professional last night. You were involved in the incident?"
"I was the deputy team commander."
Alura took a deep breath, "Then yes, please tell me what happened."
"Astra was about to kill a fellow member of my team. And I was in a position to stop her. And I did. But stopping her meant a killing strike. And the after-action review confirmed that my action was correct."
"A strike? With a kryptonite knife?"
"Close enough. It was a sword. How did you know? And how did you know it was kryptonite?"
"Had it been a bullet, you would have said 'a killing shot.' And Kara has told me about Kryptonite and its effects. They are similar to those of harun-el, which is why we handle that element so carefully."
"You seem to be taking this very calmly," Alex ventured.
"I have known the basic circumstances of Astra's death for more than six of your months, Alexandra, and while I still grieve her loss, the shock is gone. Also, we Kryptonians recognize the same distinction between murder and the legitimate use of force that you observe on Earth. As a judge, I recognize that Astra was engaging in criminal activity, and no moral blame can attach to one who legitimately stopped her from carrying it out. Also, you must know that I sentenced my sister to Fort Rozz. And that means that I cannot point a finger at you for your actions without recognizing that my other fingers are pointing at me, particularly when I owe you and your mother a debt I can never repay."
Alex raised her eyes to the face she still unwillingly saw in dreams, "Thank you for your understanding."
"You are welcome, Alexandra. But perhaps we should meet your mother and Miss Grant in the main room and plan how to best spend the day."
Deciding how to spend the first two days did not take long. Alura had taken a week's vacation and planned to show them the main public sites of the former Kryptonian capital including Zor-El Hall (the seat of the high council and the territorial representatives), the Library of Krypton, the Science Guild and similar historic sites.
On the second day Kara arrived. Over the next two days, she took Alex, Eliza and Cat on a more personal tour of her favorite places.
After dinner on Kara's first evening, the sisters and Cat left for a stroll. When Eliza moved to join them, Alura gave her a small signal. When the others were gone, Alura turned to the other woman.
"Thank you for staying behind. There is something I need to ask you."
"Oh, what's that?"
Alura spoke in English, "I noticed today that Kara does not call you "Mom" or "Mother. Why does she call you Eliza, instead?"
"When Kara was in suspended animation in the phantom zone the language tutor in the ship taught her English so when she arrived, she was able to tell Kal-El and then us, what had happened to her. Because her ship placed her in suspended animation when she was in the Phantom Zone, when she met us it had been only a few hours before in her experience that Krypton had exploded. As she may have told you, she was watching Krypton when it exploded. In that situation, I knew I couldn't say 'Call me Mom,' so I let her call me Eliza."
"I understand. Thank you."
When the sisters and Cat returned, Alura took Kara aside.
"Kara, I noticed something today. You call Dr. Danvers 'Eliza.' Why do you not call her Mother or Mom?"
Kara thought for a moment.
"I never told you, but I saw Krypton blow up. Seeing the explosion, I knew that you and Father were dead."
Wisely, Alura only nodded and waited for her daughter to continue.
"When Kal-El brought me to the Danvers, almost the first thing Eliza said to me was that she couldn't replace you but that she would look after me for you. When I asked what I should call her she said, 'Eliza.'"
Alura thought for a moment and replied, this time in English.
"She raised you well. I do not see how I and your father could have done better. She has been everything we would have tried to have been for you. She has been your Mother in everything but carrying you to term. I know you respect and love her, but you should honor her by calling her by the title she has earned."
Kara replied in Kryptonian, "I can't do that, Mom. A person can only have one mother and that's you."
Again, Alura replied in English, "I am not asking you to call Dr. Danvers, Ieiu, Kara. You are correct that I was your Ieiu on Krypton. But Dr. Danvers has been every bit as much your Mother on earth as I am your Ieiu here. Both of us owe her a debt we can never repay, but at least you can pay part of it by giving her the honor she has earned."
Kara continued in English, "I'll think about it, Ieiu. Good night."
"Goodnight Kara."
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On the fourth day, two messages arrived from Earth.
The first was addressed to Alura as the President of the High Council. President Baker wanted to discuss opening diplomatic and trade relationships and he attached a copy of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations for the Council's information. The second message told Alex that the President had declassified the existence, occupants and removal of Fort Rozz, and he asked Alex to pass on any information about Fort Rozz and its occupants that she had with her to the Argonauts as a good faith gesture which would be followed up in more detail later. Finally, he ordered her to appear at a sitting of the Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committees that was scheduled to take place in two weeks.
The next day the travelers split up. Alura had asked Kara, Alex and Eliza to visit Kara's childhood friend Thara, now Argo's police chief, to update her on the fate of Fort Rozz and its inhabitants. Thara noted their information, raised her eyebrows at a couple of points, and then proceeded to conduct a detailed interrogation over the next several hours that emptied the women's brains of every single detail any of them knew about the Fort Rozz prisoners and related events, an exercise that left Eliza and Kara drained and Alex impressed. Meanwhile Cat had taken advantage of the absence of the Danvers family to conduct a detailed and wide-ranging interview with Alura.
The travelers were just finishing dinner with Alura that night when Thara arrived. She wanted to talk to Cat.