23

"Mom, this is spooky! Make him stop!" Noel had never seen her brother in such a state before. It was as if an entirely different entity was channeling though him. The essence of Jimmy was somehow set aside for the moment while this other consciousness took over to tell the story of Krypton's last days. Noel was so terrified by the change that her mother had to reassure her.

"I agree that this is unsettling, Noel," she told her daughter as she took her into her arms and caressed her as only a mother could. "But we must put aside our fears. Although Jimmy doesn't look like it, I believe he is in control, and something tells me that we need to hear the all of this story."

Noel returned her mother's hug and resolved to face the situation - no matter what she was feeling. "Well okay, but if he gets any weirder or starts saying, 'take me to your leader,' or anything like that, I'm bailing out of here!"

Phyllis chuckled a bit and both of them returned their attention to Jimmy as he continued relating the story of Jor-El.

The wedding of Jor-El and Lara was more than just a ritual. It trumpeted a turning point in Krypton's social behavior. The joining together of two people in matrimony had become, in the last two centuries, a mere businesslike undertaking. But by now, the movement embraced by Lara's friends at the college had caught on far better than anyone would have guessed. As Jor-El's family was one of the more affluent and well-known on Krypton, this wedding demanded widespread scrutiny. In keeping with their new-found openness and emotion, the pair of lovers had made sure that this wedding returned to the pomp and grandeur of Kryptonian past. Dancing, singing, and rejoicing were equal partners in the event. Lara's parents had both passed on a year ago, but Jor-El's mother, Sara, and father, Jor-L, attended. Although they felt somewhat awkward in the new style of dress that their son requested, they acquiesced to his wishes and seemed to even enjoy the open show of emotions.

The ceremony was different than anything ever seen on Krypton before. Zor stood up as best man, a custom unknown until now in Kryptonian society, but in the last year since he met Lara, Jor learned many Earth marriage rituals from Kimda, and this one seemed like a great way to reaffirm his familial ties. Lyla served as Maid of honor and Allura, a bridesmaid. A friend of Jor-El and Kimda, Nor Kann, filled out the entourage as groomsman while Kimda gave away the bride.

"Are you nervous?" whispered Zor to his brother as the bridal entourage began to arrive. "You look like you're nervous."

"Why do you say that?" said Jor in equally hushed tones.

"Because you're fidgeting so much that you're practically dancing!"

The only person that was perhaps more nervous than the groom was the presiding minister who was somewhat hesitant as he conducted the ceremony. Jor-El and Lara had to search a very long time to find someone to conduct the ceremony the way they wanted it done. No agent of civil service would be appropriate as none was familiar with any type of ceremony at all. They really only served as witnesses to a contract and then filed that away in some governmental bureaucracy.

In fact, it had been years since the clergy had been called upon to join two people in matrimony, and never using these strange new ideas. Finding a minister then, was the only logical choice for the lovers. There were few willing to preside over so radical a ceremony as this, and many turned down the opportunity because they had never done a marriage of any sort. But finally a candidate, aged Ta-Ul, came forth and offered to do the honors. "After all, a marriage is a marriage." he told them when he agreed. "As long as we do nothing to blaspheme Rao, I will be happy to join the two of you... er... I don't have to be naked or anything like that, do I?"

When Lara approached Jor-El at the front of the hall, he was in awe at how beautiful his bride was. Every man on Krypton must envy me, he thought. I must be the luckiest man in the world. Her long raven hair was accented by the dress she wore - an exquisite powder blue gown with ruffles.

The ceremony itself was basically true to Krypton religion until just before the final pronouncement, Jor-El and Lara spoke their own vows. Children, thought the old man, Great Rao! What will they come up with next?

The answer to his unspoken question came quickly as there was an audible gasp from many in the audience who still clung to "traditional" Krypton values. Jor-El and Lara actually kissed each other very passionately and very publicly, but the same traditionalists were appeased when the bride and groom gave each other Kryptonian marriage bracelets which featured a color variation no other couple would be allowed to have. It was the perfect ending to a perfect wedding.

What the wedding lacked in tradition, the reception more than made up for in opulence. No grander event had ever been held on Krypton. Music, dancing, food, art, and as many other forms of elegance as one could imagine were all represented. It was a celebration of not only union but of life. Amid all the bustle and noise, Jor-El realized the time was right for him to do something he had always wanted to do.

"Mother, I hope you and Father have been enjoying yourselves. I do realize that our wedding is most unconventional and that you may not understand why we did some of the things we did. I would not have understood it myself a year ago, but I have learned so many things since that time and the most important of these is that life is a gift from our maker, and it should not be wasted ignoring the people who matter most to you. Life is just too short for that. After all - who knows? - the world could blow up and we could all be dead tomorrow. It's just too short..."

Jor's mother assumed he was speaking to her about Lara, and was about to give them her blessing when he caught her completely by surprise. Jor quietly but firmly approached the woman who had given birth to him, and embraced her for the first time in either of their lives. "Mother, I love you. Please say you approve of this union, but more importantly, please say that you love me, too."

Sara was flustered almost to panic, and at first she was not sure of what she should do with her hands, holding them up and away from her son. But the caress seemed not only pleasant but actually natural, and seconds later, she lowered her arms around the young Jor-El and squeezed him as if she only now realized that he was her son. Tears welled up in her eyes as she whispered, "I do love you, my son. I do! And I wish all the happiness for you and your pretty bride." Jor-L, who had gotten into the spirit of the wedding earlier by dancing with both Lyla and Allura, came over and joined in the embrace. He was followed by Lara, Zor, Allura, and Lyla to make it a group hug.

Jor-El managed a peek at his brother, who was crying like a baby. "What's the matter, Zor? You were the one who suggested this should happen someday. Are you the one who is nervous, now?" Zor was still so overcome with feeling that he could not speak. Instead, he simply managed a grin through his joyful tears towards Jor, and a nod.

Their father, obviously full of new found emotions himself, saw his boys as if through newly opened eyes and realized how right his eldest son was.

"Son?" he inquired, still hanging onto the rest of the group.

"Yes, Father?"

"This new movement you've become part of...?"

"Yes...?"

"Does everyone do this... what do you call what we're doing?"

"Hugging. Yes, almost everyone. Why?"

"I like it!"

In the days that followed, Jor-El and Lara settled in Kryptonopolis, the second largest city on Krypton. Lara continued to be active in the humanity movement while Jor continued in the sciences and soon secured a place in the prestigious Science Council. Kimda and Nor Kann returned to Kandor, their home town and capital city of the planet, where they often collaborated on various projects. Kimda kept in touch with Jor and would pass along everything that he could learn about their common new hobby, Earth. They would often collaborate by video-phone and discuss new facts and theories about the faraway planet. It had recently become easier for Jor-El to study Earth on his own since he had been admitted to the science council and had access to its labs and observatories.

"Admit it, Jor-El. You're just as fascinated by the place as I am," said Kimda as they squared off again in yet another phone call discussing their passion. "I believe you might know more about it than I, now."

"That may be impossible, Kim. You keep coming up with new information every time I talk to you. But I must admit, it has been a very interesting hobby for me. Lara thinks I should spend too much time collecting scientific data on the place. She'd like to know more about their arts and history, but I cannot deny my own nature. I am a scientist. You know, I think it would be an awesome experience to find a way to actually visit there. Can you imagine what it would be like with the lower gravity. Why, we could leap tremendous distances and lift enormous weights. We would be almost..."

"Don't forget that star of theirs, Jor. It's yellow, unlike our red sun. The effects it might have on a Krytonian are unpredictable, perhaps even harmful. You just don't know what it would do. It might even cause blindness."

"It doesn't seem to harm the natives as a rule. Oh, there are occasions of skin disorders and eye damage, but in most of those cases, over-indulgence or ignorance played a major role. And remember, Kim, as much as we enjoy learning about them, they are a primitive race compared to us."

"Ah, that's yet another debate, I think. Technologically, there is no way to dispute you on that. But as you and I have personally learned, they have so much they could teach us. I believe whenever we look at a culture different than ours, our arrogance wants us to automatically perceive them as 'primitive.' Don't be so quick to judge."

"My friend, you may have something there. How is my friend, Nor Kann. I understand you and he have working together on an agricultural project?"

"Yes, and he is always going on about his gratitude to you for helping him through school. He reads practically everything you write and keeps up with all your theories. Just what did you do to inspire such hero-worship in him?"

"It's a long story. Sufficed to say, he needed help during a rough time and I was the one who helped him."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt if you could get him to transfer a little of that towards me. After all, he is working with me, you know. How is your brother and the rest of your family?"

"Zor has a new project that the Council has assigned to him. He has moved to Argo City to start work on a biosphere experiment."

"Biosphere? I thought Krypton was already done with that type of thing."

"This will be different. This experiment will have the entire city enclosed. It will be an enormous undertaking and the need for cooperation from the populace will be tremendous."

"Well, if anyone can accomplish that it would be Zor. He is a natural leader if I ever saw one."

"Yes, and since Father died, Zor has needed something to take his mind off of that. It seems like we both just got to know him and suddenly he's gone. Zor took it much harder than I did, though."

"It will be good for him, and the fact that Allura lives there couldn't hurt, either. You know, I think I'll give him a call after we finish our conversation. I know that he keeps later hours than you. Oh, by the way, have you been keeping up with Lyla? Her career has certainly taken off, hasn't it?"

"It has! I never would have dreamed that the little movement she started in college would lead to such a social revolution of our planet. Not only has it spawned a new interest in arts, but now motion pictures have made a comeback. Our own Lyla Lerrol is the medium's greatest star. The attention hasn't changed her that much, thankfully. She visits with us quite often."

"That's good to know. Be sure to give her my love when you see her again, and tell her to come see her old friend, Kimda, when she can get to Kandor."

"Will do. Take care, my friend."

It would be the last conversation Jor would ever have with Kimda.