24

"Zor! For Rao's sake, it's the middle of the night!" Jor-El could hardly see through his weary eyes as he answered the vid-phone on the table next to his bed while Lara, still in the grip of slumber, turned over and yawned. "Just what could be so important at this hour?"

"It's gone, Jor! It was there one minute and then the next moment, it was just...gone! Like someone just took a big spoon and ladled it out in one motion!"

"What are you talking about?"

Lara began to stir. "Whus goin' on, Jor? Is your brother all right?"

Jor-El shrugged his ignorance and patted her arm tenderly.

"Kandor!" said Zor. "I'm talking about a great city! How could an entire city just disappear? Answer me that!"

"Calm down! You're not making any sense! Just..." Jor deliberately slowed the pace of his speech so that his brother might sense the need to compose himself. "...relax a minute and tell me - calmly - what's gotten you to this state? And start from the beginning."

"All right... I'll try... I was talking to Kimda on the vid-phone..."

"Yes, he told me last night he wanted to do that."

"Right, and we were having a grand visit. He was telling me about a cute young lady that he had taken up with recently..."

"Really! He didn't mention that to me! Well, I'll have to give him a little piece of my mind when I next talk to him."

"That may not be too easy, brother."

"Why? What do you mean?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. We were talking and the connection just went dead!"

"That's not a reason to get this upset. That happens a lot more than many people realize. Even in this day, no technology is perfect. Breakdowns happen all the time." Lara got out of the bed, squeezed her husband's shoulder and left the room.

"That's what Ithought. But when I couldn't re-establish the connection, I thought I'd watch a little holo-vid to help me relax to sleep. And it wasn't but a few minutes before the bulletin began. Kandor! The entire city of Kandor has completely vanished! There is nothing left where it was but a gigantic crater. The reporters were guessing it was some sort of bomb, but there was no sound! Tell me what kind of bomb makes no sound?"

Lara returned with two mugs of hot tea, handing one to Jor-El. "Wait a minute, Zor. Let me turn my set on. But so help me, if this is one of your silly jokes..."

"I assure you, brother. No joke!"

Jor tapped the control panel on the table, and as he sipped the tea from the mug, a three dimensional image began to form between the bed and the wall beyond. The images that followed verified his brother's fear. Where once there had been a great city was now a giant hole in the ground. The emotions within Jor ran the gamut between fear, disbelief, and outrage.

"Well...?" asked Zor.

"I... I'll call you back later. I need to..."

"It's all right. I understand."

"I... I'm sorry, Zor. I have to... to watch this... The Science Council will want to..."

"Go ahead, brother. We can talk later. I knew you would want to know about it now..."

An aerial wide shot attempted unsuccessfully to convey the scope of the situation. Lara was just as awestruck as Jor. Neither one of them could say anything for minutes.

By and by, the shot switched to a reporter interviewing a young woman wearing a uniform and who looked as though she had been weeping.

"We're talking to Kerra Zee, who says she was an eyewitness to the strange disappearance of Kandor. Kerra, what did you see?"

"I'm a forest ranger and I work in a tower in the Scarlet Jungle. The jungle, as you know, abuts with the southeastern fringe of the city. I was just finishing my hourly safety check, scanning the horizon with my telelens for fires. I looked toward the city - uhm, mine is the only tower in the jungle that has a view of Kandor - and I was thinking about how pretty the city lights looked through the brush, when a kind of purple... light…kind of, shone down on the skyline for maybe three or four seconds. Then it stopped and the city was gone."

"Did you see where this purple light was coming from?"

"I'm not sure exactly. It was coming from the sky above the city, and I grabbed my telelens again. I must have been looking at some sort of illusion of some kind, because it appeared to be emanating from a flying craft shaped like a... disc of some sort."

"Sort of saucer shaped?"

"Yes, exactly! Saucer shaped! Anyway, after the city disappeared, this... flying saucer just zipped straight up and disappeared, too! I don't think I'll ever forget it!"

"Kerra, you seem a little shaken by all this. Are you all right?"

"I don't know. I live in Kandor with my mother and brother when I'm not on duty. I don't know what's happened to them..." the young ranger, almost losing her composure, buried her head in her hand for a moment trying to hold back tears. "My mother is going to... was going to have a baby... I just want know if they're all right..."

"Lara, I have to get out there."

"I know, darling. I know. But why don't you come back to bed and leave in the morning. I'll make you some breakfast before you go."

"I may as well get started right away. I wouldn't be able to sleep, now, anyway. The Council will want this investigated thoroughly. But breakfast sounds like a great idea."

Jor-El's beautiful bride kissed his cheek and started for the kitchen. Her husband was right. Sleep would have been near impossible now - for both of them.

Jor was correct in assuming the Science Council would assign him the task of investigating the disappearance of Kandor. He was the newest member of the Council and in his early tenure he had already developed a reputation for being somewhat unorthodox in his approach to a problem. His method of solving problems had the other Council members very divided on their opinions of him.

There were some who felt that he had been given his seat because of his family's stature and not because of any talent he might have for science. Others still clung to their isolationist ways and saw Jor as a threat to their way of life because of his association with the Open Heart movement. These factions of the Council were always seeing that Jor-El received the most impossible tasks to investigate, hoping that any failure would disparage and discredit him to the point of resignation, leaving his seat vacant for a more deserving individual, usually a relative or lackey of their own.

His proponents also were happy to see Jor get the toughest assignments, but for a different reason. His own way of looking at things seemed to give him a fresh approach toward any investigation and opened up viewpoints that might have gone unseen without him.

So it was no surprise to Jor or Lara when the vid-phone rang early in the morning and Vel-Ar, the Council's chairman, asked him to investigate the strange disappearance of Kandor.

"I already have a bag packed, Mr. Chairman. I am ready to be on the next transport to the site. I... suppose I would have asked for the assignment, even if you hadn't chosen me. I have some friends who live... lived in Kandor."

"We all had friends there, Jor-El, in fact we lost three of our longest tenured members to... whatever caused this. But you know as well as I that you must put your emotions aside and investigate as dispassionately as possible. This is one time your Open Heart days will not serve you well."

"I will... do my best, Vel-Ar. But it will not be easy."

"We have seen enough of your work to know that you are the best choice for the job, young man. Take heart in that we do not send you lightly."

"Are there any hypotheses from any of the other Council members?"

"Only a few opinions, but all are pretty general. None of us have been to the site, yet. I have included all the data we actually have and those opinions in a brief that will be aboard the floater we have sent for you. They may be of help to you, but I would not put much stock in them. This appears to me to be a mystery of a type we have never seen before, and I believe it will definitely require your fresh approach in order to solve it. Now, good luck, Jor-El. May Rao guide you."

The floater arrived in short order, and as he began to leave their home, he kissed his wife with more passion than he had ever kissed her before. "I... I suppose this has made me realize that we could lose anyone at any time. I could lose... you! And I couldn't bear that, Lara. Please stay safe while I'm away. I love you so much!" He kissed her again, then he was out the door and on his way to the Kandorian crater where the great city once stood.

Lara sighed heavily as she watched her husband drive away in the transport. She had wanted to give him some important news this morning, but with the situation being what it was, it seemed the time was just not right to tell him now. She shook her head and wiped away sad tears that grieved for lost friends and happy tears that smiled for her news. She would tell Jor her secret tomorrow - that he would soon become a father.

Upon arriving at the site, Jor-El was awed by the scope of what he saw. Though he had seen pictures on the holo-vid, it was nothing like what he was experiencing now. The vastness of the crater was simply overwhelming. Satellite photos confirmed the crater was a perfect circle, and within that circle was absolutely nothing - no ruins, no vegetation, nothing! If some asteroid had impacted the city, there would have been, of course, catastrophic consequences world-wide. Dust clouds and pollution would have created an unnatural winter across the globe. Oceans would have shifted tides forming massive waves which would have beaten the shores into submission. No, no impact of any kind caused this. There was no sound, no remains, nothing - just a big hole in the ground where once a mighty municipality stood.

The task of roping off the affected area would be nearly impossible. Crews were already busy working on that chore. Jor did not envy their charge. And he worried that curiosity seekers would infiltrate the area and destroy crucial pieces of the puzzle he was about to negotiate. Already a few stragglers appeared to have entered the zone. He decided he had better get down into the crater and get busy.

Climbing aboard a one man mini-floater, he eased himself down into the vast sea of nothingness. The trip to the crater floor took about ten minutes, but only four minutes was actual flight time. He hovered above to note anything about the area that might be useful to his investigation, but for the moment nothing seemed too out of place except that a city should be there. He continued his descent and espied someone sitting on the ground near where was to alight. As he closed in on his landing, he began to recognize the figure as the young ranger he had seen the night before on the holo-vid. She was just sitting cross-legged, randomly picking up rocks and tossing them away. It was obvious as Jor walked over to her that she had been crying.

"This was where we lived," she said between sobs. "Right here! I know because I would look out to the southwest and see my tower between those two trees right there." She pointed towards nothing in particular without lifting her head then picked up another stone and flung it in the same direction. Jor gazed out that way, but saw nothing but the side of the crater, which from this viewpoint looked like a mountain ridge.

Poor woman, he thought. Her mind just can't handle the reality of the situation. He put his hand on her shoulder and tried to say something to comfort her, but no words would come to him so he instead asked her name even though he remembered from the report last night that it was Kerra. She didn't answer him, but instead just continued flinging rocks and dirt clumps.

Finally, she said, "I know they are alive. I don't know how I know it, but I know they are." She then looked at Jor as if she just realized he was there and added, "But I also know that I'll never see them again..."

"Kerra, how about if we get you out of here. We'll take you home..." Jor stopped short as he realized what he had said.

"I am home! This is the spot! I know it!"

"I'm sorry, Kerra. You're right, but we'll find you another home," He offered her his hand. "...a new home."

She looked at Jor as if he was crazy, but then took his hand and pulled herself up. "Yes, a new home... That would be good..." With that, she threw the last clump of soil she had scooped up into her free hand and tossed it down. Jor noticed the strange purple color of the clump.

"Kerra, is there a lot of that purple soil?"

"I think so, I don't know," she answered absently. "I just picked it up and threw it. Please take me to my new home."

Jor-El smiled at his new friend and radioed the command center above for a floater. Kerra was in desperate need of psychiatric help due to her shock, but she also was the only eye-witness to the tragic event that he was investigating. He intended to see that she got the best of care and that he would be able to find her again later. "Kerra," he told her after the floater arrived, "Go with this man. He will take you to a new home."

"Will you come to see me?"

"Yes, I promise I will. What is your full name?"

"Kerra Zee."

"All right, Kerra Zee. My name is Jor-El. Just go with this man and if you need me, tell him or the people he will take you to. They will call me and I will come to see you."

"You promise?"

"I promise!"

"Okay. Good-bye, Jor-El."

"Good-bye, Kerra." Jor-El quickly briefed the floater operator to take Kerra to a mental facility in Kryptonopolis and to check her in under his authority. He would call the hospital later and take care of all the details then, he thought. But now as the floater soared away, he picked up the purple clump of soil and recalled that Kerra told the reporter about a purple light shining on the city before it disappeared. It was no stretch to theorize a link between the light and this soil, but that still didn't explain what had happened to Kandor. It would take more study to work out that puzzle.