Superman: The Ark of Krypton

Chapter 101

by

Jason Richard

For a moment the room was completely still. Superman stared at Lytener in both horror and disappointment. Lytener scanned the room fearfully, wondering what would happen Next. General Lane stared at Lytener angrily, with his eye twitching in irritation, and Zod just grinned at the scientist as he stood from his bow. As far as he was concerned he'd gotten what he came for.

Zod turned and shot heat vision, blasting Superman away before flying in the other direction, crashing through one wall as Superman crashed through the other.

Superman, caught off guard once again by the Kryptonian criminal, scanned around with his X-Ray vision from the other room, but he was long gone. This criminal was learning fast. Just how was Superman going to track this person down?

Before he could sort it out, however, he got a message from Brainiac.

"When you have a moment, Kal-El," said the AI over those long-range sound waves he used. "The young Kryptonian girl has awakened, and she has information on our insurgent and those who released him."

Superman sighed and flew off, thinking that was probably the best news he was going to get.

Meanwhile, back inside the prison cell, General Lane grabbed Lytener's prison shirt and dragged him along.

"You're coming with me," the General growled.

"I haven't agreed to anything!" protested Lytener.

"You just lost your say in the matter," said the General as he passed through the hallways and ran into some prison guards. "I'm taking the scientist," the General said forcefully. "Any objections?"

The guards just shook their heads and let him pass.

…

Zod, quite pleased with himself, flew to a secluded location. No doubt the strange benefactors who had released him from the Phantom Zone would want an update on his progress. Out in the field, he found the probe, hidden in the trees, that would allow him to communicate to them.

He knew the upper hand was his now that he knew how Kryptonian power worked and they didn't. Now that he thought about it he could feel the energy flowing into him from an outside source, and could feel how to take more from the sun than before. Furthermore, he knew that the benefactors couldn't see much of Earth's surface at the moment. Something was jamming their signals, probably Jor-El's ship, so they didn't know the humans had figured out a way to drain Kryptonians of their power. This was also why they had to communicate through this probe, and why Zod knew they hadn't observed him get the full information.

So Zod had to come up with a lie. The Benefactors wanted this information so they could control the Kryptonians in the Phantom Zone. Zod had figured that out early on, but if he could spin this so that the benefactors believed themselves to be in control, then that could spin the status quo in his favor. So before he contacted them, he thought, he couldn't approach the probe until he thought of a suitable lie.

And it would have to be a good one, something that was hard to verify through science. He couldn't mention the red sun. They'd be able to study the difference between that and a yellow sun. However, if the information was about Kryptonian physiology itself that would be more difficult to confirm. They might insist on studying him, but for the moment he could, he would refuse to allow it. With patience, he could force them to release him and his men on his terms rather than theirs. Yes, this was the way to go.

He touched the probe and felt the transmission go through.

"I have discovered the rest of the Earth scientist's information," said Zod. "We get our power from solar energy, but too much can burn us out if we absorb it too quickly. That is our weakness."

"Very well," said the Benefactors on the other end. "Join us, and we can study you to determine your upper limits…"

"I think not," said Zod. "I am already trusting you not to use this information against us. I've kept my end of the bargain. I expect you to release us soon, as we agreed."

The Benefactors were silent for a moment, and he could just imagine them mulling it over, considering that they had no way to confirm his information without his cooperation, but the info was logical enough to accept. Would they insist on studying him, or go along with what Zod wanted?

For now, they would wait it seemed as they said, "We will send you back to the Phantom Zone and consider all our options.

Zod grinned, he was fine with that, and if the only emotion he'd feel in the Phantom Zone was the satisfaction he felt right at that moment, it would be a pretty enjoyable stay in that dimension. And as he disappeared in a flash of light, satisfaction was exactly what he felt.

…

Superman hadn't been able to find the Kryptonian criminal, so he flew to the Ark of Krypton. If the young Kryptonian girl could give them information that could help, even if it was small, he'd take it.

Also, now that the man wasn't in front of him and he wasn't trying to capture him, Superman realized he'd seen him before, probably in the video archives Brainiac had provided. This made him think that it wasn't just a random Kryptonian criminal. The man who had appeared was important, very important.

Superman flew over the frozen wasteland and towards his ship, covered in mounds of snow. He flew inside and through the corridors to the medical wing. There he found the Kryptonian girl, sitting at a screen and manipulating what looked like mathematical formulas. She noticed him enter then looked up, her face both curious and confused.

"Kal-El?" she said, Brainiac's systems translating the sound waves. "When I last saw my baby cousin he was so small I could hold him in my arms. Is that really you Kal-El?"