Jor-El waited at the storage facility for Lara and passed the time by wondering what had gotten her so excited. Excited, but a little bit scared, too. By the time he'd decided that yes, it would be fair to look inside the storage rooms, she was there.
Something was definitely exciting her. Her eyes were glowing and her wide mouth was stretched even further in a grin. She grabbed his hand and led him inside to one of the rooms.
He blinked at the indescribably primitive kind of pod that lay behind the sealed barrier. Maybe it was 200 some years old, but what was the--oh. He focused more closely. There was a child inside, apparently sleeping. A little boy.
"Where did he come from?"
"I have no idea. The ship was headed here, though."
"But *who* would put a child in something like that?" It was deliberately endangering a child's life and he felt a wave of indignation. It was just plain *wrong.*
"Maybe somebody desperate," she answered, quietly. He smiled to himself. That was his wife, all right.
"What does the commission say? What will they do with him?"
"I haven't told them yet."
He turned away--with some reluctance--from looking at the sleeping form to stare at her. "I need to know more, first," she said, facing him down. He nodded after a moment.
"Do we open it?"
"I think so. The air inside is almost identical, just a slightly higher proportion of carbon dioxide. Since he's producing carbon dioxide and the ship seems to be issuing oxygen, it ought to be safe. I brought some medical equipment just in case."
She used the pod control to undo the locking mechanism of the ship. Jor noticed her hands begin to shake once it was open, and they pressed against the viewing window. After a few moments, the child began to move fretfully, then yawned.
He looked around, obviously curious but so far unafraid. *Taking it in stride,* Jor mused. *Little guy's got guts.* Moving awkwardly, as if stiff, the boy wriggled out of the cradle-like structure and to the floor of his vessel, then hesitated, looking down at the drop to the floor. *Or maybe not. It's barely twice his length, he'd not get hurt even if he landed on his face a dozen times.*
The boy clearly decided that there was no other way down and there was no help forthcoming, and with a grimace, he jumped. Jor frowned as he hit the floor and stumbled, striking his face. He was unnaturally clumsy. He gasped as the child got up, holding a hand to his mouth. He was bleeding.
Jor wasn't even half a step behind Lara as she crossed to the entrance and opened the door. Like her, he deliberately slowed down so as not to frighten the child by rushing in. The boy was sniffling slightly as he looked around the room, then jumped as Lara and Jor came in.
He looked at them solemnly for an instant, then took a few hesitant steps in their direction. Both the adults crouched and after an uncertain look at Jor, the boy ran to Lara as she held her arms out. She scooped him up and he settled into her arms as if they were already familiar to him. He didn't even flinch as she ran a finger across the cut on his lip.
***
"All it would take is one unscrupulous person, Jor. And he's so *frail.*" They weren't so much arguing with each other as conducting concurrent arguments with themselves. He knew the sane and sensible thing to do was to hand the boy over to the commission and let the authorities decide what was to be done.
He just wished he could be sure it was the right thing to do. He tried to convince himself and her. "They'd see that whatever he is, he has rights."
"Are you willing to make *him* run that risk?" They'd taken the child home with them, cleaned him and changed his clothing, and then put him to bed. He'd still looked surprised at Jor's presence but had clung to Lara in a hug that, despite the fact that he was clearly squeezing as hard as he could, was another silent testimony to just how weakly he was compared to a normal child. "And even if it never happened, if nobody decided to see if there's anything interesting about the way he feels pain, just for starters, would they let him live a normal life?"
"Would he *have* a normal life under any circumstances?" He paused and finally came as close as either of them had yet to the question in their minds. "Would even *we* be able to give him a normal life?" They had been able to seal the cut on his lip without any problem, at least. So they knew that some of their medicine would work on him.
"If we kept him? We could say that he's a Nat, that we adopted him, that he's..."
"Genetically flawed?" There weren't many around, and most children had been taught it was unkind, but there was still the sing-song taunt around Nats whose parents had opted not to engineer them. "GF-GF-GF-GF!"
"You're probably right. We'd better just say that he's a Nat, and see if we can teach him not to let anything show." She sighed.
She didn't envy a child who would grow up having to hide an incredible weakness from everyone around him. But at least he'd grow up with a family.
A/N:
I think it's stopping here, but then my track record on guessing just when the Muse has stopped hitting me with the Idea Brick is terrible.
Something was definitely exciting her. Her eyes were glowing and her wide mouth was stretched even further in a grin. She grabbed his hand and led him inside to one of the rooms.
He blinked at the indescribably primitive kind of pod that lay behind the sealed barrier. Maybe it was 200 some years old, but what was the--oh. He focused more closely. There was a child inside, apparently sleeping. A little boy.
"Where did he come from?"
"I have no idea. The ship was headed here, though."
"But *who* would put a child in something like that?" It was deliberately endangering a child's life and he felt a wave of indignation. It was just plain *wrong.*
"Maybe somebody desperate," she answered, quietly. He smiled to himself. That was his wife, all right.
"What does the commission say? What will they do with him?"
"I haven't told them yet."
He turned away--with some reluctance--from looking at the sleeping form to stare at her. "I need to know more, first," she said, facing him down. He nodded after a moment.
"Do we open it?"
"I think so. The air inside is almost identical, just a slightly higher proportion of carbon dioxide. Since he's producing carbon dioxide and the ship seems to be issuing oxygen, it ought to be safe. I brought some medical equipment just in case."
She used the pod control to undo the locking mechanism of the ship. Jor noticed her hands begin to shake once it was open, and they pressed against the viewing window. After a few moments, the child began to move fretfully, then yawned.
He looked around, obviously curious but so far unafraid. *Taking it in stride,* Jor mused. *Little guy's got guts.* Moving awkwardly, as if stiff, the boy wriggled out of the cradle-like structure and to the floor of his vessel, then hesitated, looking down at the drop to the floor. *Or maybe not. It's barely twice his length, he'd not get hurt even if he landed on his face a dozen times.*
The boy clearly decided that there was no other way down and there was no help forthcoming, and with a grimace, he jumped. Jor frowned as he hit the floor and stumbled, striking his face. He was unnaturally clumsy. He gasped as the child got up, holding a hand to his mouth. He was bleeding.
Jor wasn't even half a step behind Lara as she crossed to the entrance and opened the door. Like her, he deliberately slowed down so as not to frighten the child by rushing in. The boy was sniffling slightly as he looked around the room, then jumped as Lara and Jor came in.
He looked at them solemnly for an instant, then took a few hesitant steps in their direction. Both the adults crouched and after an uncertain look at Jor, the boy ran to Lara as she held her arms out. She scooped him up and he settled into her arms as if they were already familiar to him. He didn't even flinch as she ran a finger across the cut on his lip.
***
"All it would take is one unscrupulous person, Jor. And he's so *frail.*" They weren't so much arguing with each other as conducting concurrent arguments with themselves. He knew the sane and sensible thing to do was to hand the boy over to the commission and let the authorities decide what was to be done.
He just wished he could be sure it was the right thing to do. He tried to convince himself and her. "They'd see that whatever he is, he has rights."
"Are you willing to make *him* run that risk?" They'd taken the child home with them, cleaned him and changed his clothing, and then put him to bed. He'd still looked surprised at Jor's presence but had clung to Lara in a hug that, despite the fact that he was clearly squeezing as hard as he could, was another silent testimony to just how weakly he was compared to a normal child. "And even if it never happened, if nobody decided to see if there's anything interesting about the way he feels pain, just for starters, would they let him live a normal life?"
"Would he *have* a normal life under any circumstances?" He paused and finally came as close as either of them had yet to the question in their minds. "Would even *we* be able to give him a normal life?" They had been able to seal the cut on his lip without any problem, at least. So they knew that some of their medicine would work on him.
"If we kept him? We could say that he's a Nat, that we adopted him, that he's..."
"Genetically flawed?" There weren't many around, and most children had been taught it was unkind, but there was still the sing-song taunt around Nats whose parents had opted not to engineer them. "GF-GF-GF-GF!"
"You're probably right. We'd better just say that he's a Nat, and see if we can teach him not to let anything show." She sighed.
She didn't envy a child who would grow up having to hide an incredible weakness from everyone around him. But at least he'd grow up with a family.
A/N:
I think it's stopping here, but then my track record on guessing just when the Muse has stopped hitting me with the Idea Brick is terrible.