17
Professor Kimda still appeared to be quite shaken and I asked him if he was all right.
"It is a... shock... to hear about Krypton's passing. I had dedicated my life to finding a way to return us all there someday. But now... Now, Kal-El, it seems I have a new mission in life. If Kandor cannot be returned to her home, then perhaps we can yet save the cities of Earth from the same fate.
"Look around you, Kal-El. Assembled here is the most advanced surveillance equipment available in this glass prison. I have studied Brainiac's every movement all these years since he first imprisoned us in this bottle so should the opportunity arise, I would be able to restore our city. I have even built a mock-up of his equipment to practice on. I was also watching as he used his shrinking device on your cities, and I managed to jot down all the information needed to restore them."
When I looked at the hand written note, the Kryptonian symbols seemed like chicken scratches to me. The professor noticed my difficulty and asked me what was wrong.
"This is the first time I have ever actually seen any Kryponese writing, sir. It will take a little time to understand, but it will make sense to me in a moment."
"Then you probably are a Superman, if you can read what I jotted down. On Krypton, doctors are notorious for having the most atrocious handwriting of all people. It's kind of a joke, really - I'm sure it's quite different on your Earth." We both laughed at that remark, probably for different reasons. But then he asked, "Kal-El, if you were an infant when you left our doomed planet, how did you learn about your heritage, the language and such?"
"There was a device my father placed in the vessel with me that brought me to this planet. I was unaware of my origins until I was becoming an adult. This green crystal..."
"Ahhhh... the green crystal... Yes!" he said with a smile, "He was working on that when I last saw him! So that was how you learned about your beginnings, eh? Direct brain transfer! I wouldn't be surprised if that device could do a lot more than that as well! That Jor-El... so clever! Amazing!"
Jim looked up from the book at the mention of the green crystal and recalled his own experience with it. "So that's what happened to me... but why did I lose consciousness? Super-Gramps didn't!"
"Come on, Dopey!" chimed in Noel, seeing a chance to take her brother down a peg, "You just said it yourself! He was Super-Gramps...?
"Noel..." Phyllis began to caution her daughter about her chronic need to tease, but Jimmy waved her off.
"No, mom. That had to it. It's the only thing that makes sense. But it still doesn't explain why it wanted me instead of... say... Noel. She's got as much Krypton blood as I do. Why didn't it want her... and why now?"
"It didn't call to... Super-Gramps..." She couldn't help but grin when she spoke the nickname her children had given their ancestor. "...until he was about your age, Jim. Noel won't be seventeen for another five years. That pretty much answers both of your questions, I think."
"Yes, I guess so, except that I've been seventeen for eight months now, and this thing has made nary a peep until yesterday, the same day that these quakes began. I find it a strange coincidence that this all came together at the same time, don't you?"
The females nodded their agreement and Jimmy continued, "And what do you think he meant when he said the crystal could do more? Do you think it's dangerous to others?"
"Nope!" rang in Noel.
"I agree," said Phyllis. "If it was harmful to Earth people, Superma... uh... Super-Gramps..." Again, she smiled. "...Would never have kept it in such a place as this. Whatever that thing can do, I'm sure that it only does it to Kryptonians... or their heirs."
The three of them, their discussion ended, picked up and resumed reading from the Journal of Clark Kent.
Kimda showed me around his laboratory and specifically his sophisticated surveillance equipment. We both noted as we spied on Brainiac that a new factor in our struggle had just been introduced. "Great Krypton! He's added two more cities since I've been here! Looks like... Sydney, Australia and... Cairo, Egypt! Do you have the coordinates for these?"
The professor peered into the viewer, "Don't fear, Kal-El. Brainiac took those two cities just before you came to my door. I have all the information we'll need. And it appears that Brainiac is going into a stasis chamber of some sort! The chamber is set to keep him idle for at least two centuries. That could be to our benefit if we can escape this prison right away. But if we cannot, it will be to the detriment of your cities. We would be too far away from Earth to restore them. I think we'd best get you acquainted with the equipment we'll be using once we find a way out."
Kimda went about the business of teaching me how to work the equipment that would restore the cities to Earth. Well into the night, we ran simulation after simulation for each city until weariness began to set in.
"Kal-El, I think a little sleep would be in order. On your adopted world, you may be a Superman, but on this one I'm afraid I am an old man who needs a night's respite. My son often teases me about my lack of stamina. He's a scientist, too. I haven't told him but my health is fading rapidly these days. I don't know how long I have to live, but when I die, all my work may go with me."
"What do you mean, Professor? Can't your son carry on the work you've started?"
"My son could have been one of Krypton's... well... Kandor's greatest men of science. He's that brilliant. However, he is also impatient in all his work and is prone to take too many shortcuts. I don't think he will find the answer to Kandor's problem, but I will leave all my notes to him and maybe someday, he will learn to lose his bad habits and... well, who knows?"
"If we can find an escape from here, Professor, you may not need to worry about it. It's only a matter of following the procedures you've been drilling me on tonight, isn't it?"
"For the most part, yes. I have a suggestion, young man. Let me show you around the city first thing tomorrow. Perhaps we can get some ideas to formulate an escape once you've seen what our resources are like."
We both took an abbreviated night's sleep and did just that the next morning. Kimda showed me around the town. The technology was far superior to that of Earth's. Among the advances in travel was an anti-gravity car called a "floater" by the Kandorians, that had potentially almost unlimited range. Of course, that range was still untested due to the confines of the bottle housing Kandor.
I was amazed, too, how the people of this city managed to adapt to their environment. They actually constructed an artificial sun to signal day's end and to warm the town's people. How this was made possible is still a mystery to me.
No one went hungry in Kandor, either. Robot farmers tended crops on small farms set aside in the bottled prison. It was all very interesting, but I was beginning to worry more and more about the problem at hand as time continued to slip by. I was about to suggest to the professor that we should return to his lab when he suddenly suggested we go to the Kandor Zoo.
"I know it seems a little odd with our present circumstances and all, but I actually get some of my best ideas at the zoo." I wanted to return to the lab before our window of opportunity slammed shut, but I had to admit there was still nothing I could do until an escape was found. The zoo was on our way, so I reluctantly complied with his request.
Kryptonian animals are, for the most part, very much like those of the Earth. There are dogs, cats, monkeys, and the like. But there are other animals that earthlings would find a little more unusual. As we went by an exhibit, Kimda explained a bit about the specimen inside. "It's called a metalavore. It is so named because it eats metal. Tin, iron, even gold - it doesn't matter, this creature will ingest it. That's why the containment area here is made of glass. I'm still not sure how it manages to digest what it eats, but I have an arrangement with the zoo officials to study it. They've even allowed me to take it to my lab for more intensive study."
"Except for its size," I mused, "It resembles in many ways an Earth mole. Hmmm... you say it eats metal? I noticed the stoppers Brainiac uses to close up the bottles are made of a metallic substance of some sort... Professor Kimda, I think I know of a way to get out of here and begin returning everything to normal. I'll need you to use your influence with the zoo hierarchy. Tell them you absolutely must borrow the metalavore today! And do you have access to one of those cars you showed me earlier...?"
Kimda made the arrangements we needed and we set about implementing our escape from the bottled city.
"I believe I know what you're up to," he said. "And I'll meet you back at my laboratory. There is something I must do before we embark."
When Kimda returned to the lab, all was in readiness. The floater was loaded with the metalavore and several tethers as well as a special fiberglass platform had been attached to the top of the car. The professor operated the vehicle and we ascended as high as possible - right up to the inside portion of the stopper. "Locking in our position, Auto-hover is on!" he roared as loudly as he could over the whoosh of air being exchanged nearby. We had to be very careful at this point because the tubes feeding the air into and out of the bottle were imbedded into the center of the stopper. Any mistake now could lead to being sucked into the air pump or blown right off the floater to a disastrous fatal fall.
I attached one of the tethers to my belt and carefully inched my way along the platform, making use of each new tether along the way. I almost lost my footing and would have fallen off, but the professor had obviously gotten the strongest tethers available in Kandor - it held fast. Now came the tough part of our plan.
The front hatch opened and Kimda began pushing the metalavore out towards me on the platform. We had outfitted the animal with a special harness to attach the tethers and insure its safety - but the metalavore didn't know that, of course and did not want to exit the comfort of the floater. I pulled and Kimda pushed but this mole-like creature proved to be as stubborn as an Earth mule.
"Do you have any ideas, Professor? He just doesn't seem to want to get out here!" I cried.
"It may be the sound of the air tubes or the lack of stability on the platform," he yelled in answer. "He doesn't see the platform! There's too much light for his eyes - his species normally lives underground. I don't know what to do unless you can make him want to come out there worse than he wants to stay inside. But whatever we do, it must be in quickly! These floaters use up a lot of fuel in a hurry and at this altitude, there is no guarantee how long we can continue to maintain our status!"
For a moment I was afraid that all might be lost as no amount of pushing, pulling, or bullying seemed to work. But then I remembered back in Smallville we had a mule that often refused to go where we needed it to. Pa had always solved the problem by dangling a carrot in front of the mule's nose. The mule would follow Pa wherever he went in an effort to receive the treat. "Would you happen to have a carrot in there, Professor?" I barked out with a smile.
A very puzzled look came across his face as he replied, "A what?"
"Never mind! Let's see how much of a mule this mole is..." Carefully I unhooked the tether I was wearing. This would be very tricky now keeping my balance and avoiding the force of the air exchange. Using all the dexterity I could summon up, I began waving the metal hook from the end of the tether in front of the nose of the metalavore.
If I live to be two hundred, I will never understand how that creature sensed the metal hook in my hand. If there was a scent to it, I certainly couldn't pick it up. But then again, I am not a metalavore. All I know is the creature began lumbering slowly towards me and the hook that I held in my hand. I continued baiting it until it was almost directly beneath the gigantic stopper where we needed it to be. With our animal ally in position at last, I rammed the barbed part of the hook into the stopper as hard as I could. That action nearly ended our assault right then and there as I almost lost my footing. The hook stuck tight and the metalavore began to feast on the hook and the stopper it was lodged into.
Apparently, Kimda got this creature released from the zoo before dinner time as it made short work of the stopper. In almost no time at all, a hole just large enough for one man to crawl through was opened all the way to the outside. "Time to get out of Dodge, Professor!"
"Get out of where? Kal-El, you keep speaking in riddles!"
"Just an Earth expression, sir. It means I'm leaving you, now! I trust you can coax the metalavore to return to the inside of the vehicle. Thank you for all your help! Kandor is a beautiful city. It will be even more beautiful once I have restored it to size somewhere on Earth. I'll see you there later!" With that, I wormed my way up and through the cork in the bottle. As I stood atop it, I could feel my strength returning to my body. I quickly discovered that my flying power was back, too, as I took a few laps around the spaceship's cabin. I must admit, I love flying. And never more than that exact moment in time!
It was time to get down to work. Although Brainiac was in stasis, his course home had been programmed into his spaceship's computer and would leave orbit in four more revolutions. I had to work fast. While we had drilled ourselves over and over on all the maneuvers necessary to restore the cities, Kimda had provided me with a cheat sheet as well. I would be lying if I said I did not refer to it more than once.
It was much different than the drills just because the controls were now vastly enormous compared to my microbic size. But small as I was, my powers and abilities had returned, and I used my super powers of strength, speed, flight, and invulnerability to my advantage. I flew in loops near each control and rammed my body into them to engage each one. One by one every Earth city - Paris, Rome, Metropolis, London, Moscow, New York, Sydney, and Cairo - was returned and restored by the third orbit. There was now a choice to make which in my mind was no choice at all. There was only one charge of energy left. I could either restore Kandor to a location on Earth as I had promised to Professor Kimda, or I could use it on myself.
I knew what was right. I am only one man. There were more than two million men, women, and children - an entire city - in that bottle... A prison they had endured for at least one generation. It was only logical that I use the last ray to restore them on Earth's surface. I began to start my flight into the control to begin the process when out of the bottle streaked Kimda, who punched a different button than I had in mind. Seconds later, I was back to normal size. I had to use microscopic vision to find the professor, who was laying slumped over on the floor. My super hearing allowed me to converse with him as I asked him why he sacrificed his city for me.
He was wearing a Kryptonian jet pack on his back, and he did not look well at all, but he answered my question: "Kal-El, my city cannot be restored on this planet. While most of our people are good decent people, the new powers we would gain in your environment would eventually corrupt many of us - too many of us to control. Your people would be in a new, different danger and even you would be overmatched, I fear. Perhaps, some day a more proper venue for us will be found, but until then...
"I could not allow your world to lose its mighty hero. You have proven your bravery just by showing up inside Kandor! You lost your great powers, but you did not let that stop you from saving the cities of Earth. You found a way, when seemingly there was none! You were willing to sacrifice yourself for a city of strangers. Yes, we are from your birth planet, but the Earth - The Earth, Kal-El - is your home planet now! You deserve to live in it and to continue being the hero that you have become and truly are."
"But we must return you to Kandor - get you back on the floater, somehow..."
"After I got the metalavore back into its cage in the car, I programmed it to descend safely back to the zoo, where the keepers will see to his return. There is no need to worry about returning me anywhere! I am... dying. I knew I would not return home. When I left you earlier today, it was to put my affairs in order and to see that my notes and belongings, as well as a goodbye message, would be passed on to my son... My son! I am ashamed to admit this, but you have been more of a son to me in two days than he has been in a lifetime...Ohhh!"
"Professor, I... I don't understand! You should have gained the same super powers that I have when you exited the bottle. How is it that you are... are..."
"Dying, young man! Dying is the word you are searching for. My age is the reason I did not gain those wonderful powers you told me about. I thought as much when we began our trip. That's why I had this jet pack stowed along. I crawled through the same hole that you did and watched as you went to work. It was... astounding! But when you were faced with that last decision, I knew the only one you could make and I immediately donned the jet pack and hurled myself at the control that would restore not Kandor, but you to... normalcy. When I... rammed into that... button,.. I'm afraid I was... hurt beyond repair. But it was... worth it... to see you... in action... Superman!"
And he was gone.
I took the lost city of Krypton to my Fortress of Solitude where it will remain until I find a way to restore it to its normal size someday. I promise I will not rest until I have done so.
As for Kimda's body, I managed to create a tomb to house it. Miniscule to the eye of an Earthling, but gargantuan to those of Kandorian size. It was the most fitting thing I could do for him. He was a great man and a great scientist. Kandor should be proud of him. He will be missed, and I will never forget his sacrifice. As far as I am concerned, Professor Kimda was the real Superman!