34

The task of researching and building vehicles for space travel became all the more difficult with the news that Lyla Lerrol, Lara's and Jor's good friend from their Open Heart days, had died. Authorities had ruled the death a suicide, finding huge amounts of sleeping drugs in her system. But Jor and Lara were convinced that there was more to it than that. "Lyla had too much to live for!" sobbed a grieving Lara. "And you know she would never do a thing like that! They didn't even find a suicide note!" It was very hard to take this news, but life for others must continue, and Lara occupied herself with preparing for the upcoming birth of her and Jor-El's child, while her husband doused his sadness for his lost friend by concentrating on his work.

It soon became apparent to Jor-El that element 349 was spreading at such a rapid rate that it would soon cover the entire surface of Krypton. Worse, it was rooting itself deeper into the giant planet and would soon reach its unstable core. There was no way to predict how much time was left to the tragic world before the purple plague would react with the uranium and lead Krypton to its cataclysmic fate. The only thing Jor was sure of was that it was inevitable.

His consultations with Ken-Dal, then, had become all the more important, for if his world was to come to its end, it was his intention that there would be an escape plan for his people. He had envisioned thousands of "space arks" to carry the people of Krypton away from the doomed planet before the final moment and then search for a new home elsewhere in the galaxy.

The research had been thorough and testing had been stringent. He and Ken had even sent a small puppy into orbit as a test of the life support system. Important data was still being amassed on that project as the canine passenger continued to circle the mighty globe, but the point had been proven. It could work. There was only one thing left to do before construction could begin, and that was to inform the Science Council of his findings.

He had not told Ken-Dal about his findings regarding element 349 and his reasons for wanting to learn about space travel. He was afraid that the old man might panic and become unreliable during their planning meetings, or worse, that Ken would think that he was crazy and have nothing to do with him. He could not afford for that to happen. Krypton could not afford for that to happen. So he kept silent as he learned all that his elder colleague could teach him, and continued to plan for Krypton's people to escape their dying planet. His heart was filled with dread as he waited with his aged mentor for his turn to speak.

"Jor-El," whispered Ken-Dal as they sat, "I enjoyed meeting your wife and child the other day. That boy is the spitting image of your father."

"Mmm-hmm," said Jor, deep in thought.

"Mark my words, he is destined for greatness. I believe that someday he will continue the tradition of your family and surpass all his ancestors as far as being known for doing wonderful things."

"That's nice of you to say, Ken. But right now..."

"I don't just say that to be nice, Jor. There is something about him that speaks to me in a way that I can't explain. I truly believe that he will be the greatest son of Krypton, long after our planet is a dying ember."

"What? How did you...?"

"I couldn't help but read your notes on your recent investigations. You left them right out there for me to see. You know, you really should be more careful about where you leave things. That's what my Matty used to say to me..."

"But I didn't write down my conclusions in my notes. How did you figure out that Krypton was... was..."

"Doomed? I may be old, Jor-El, but I am still a scientist like you. It was pretty obvious to me that that would be your conclusion. You could have told me about it. I would have understood, you know."

"I was afraid that you would think..."

Vel-Ar interrupted with the announcement of Jor's turn to speak. Nervously, the young scientist made his way to the floor where his visual evidence and charts had been set up for his presentation.

"Chairman Vel-Ar, heads of the sciences, ladies and gentlemen of the Science Council, I come today to you today to report my findings in the investigation of the tremors we have been experiencing on our planet of late. It would be my greatest pleasure to announce that these quakes are a temporary problem due to the usual shifting of plates within Krypton; that the natural forces that cause these events are nearing the completion of a natural cycle and that our people will soon be safe once again. But this is not the case.

"My investigation into the Kandor incident was met with skeptical comments and leers, and because of that, I have checked and re-checked all my data in this matter. It still points to the same conclusion: Krypton is... is..." Jor began to choke on his words - the words that he had never tried to speak aloud before this moment. Now, he knew that they must be said, and with conviction if the people of his planet were to have any chance of survival. "My brothers and sisters of Krypton," he finally continued after regaining his composure, "our planet is nearing death. It will soon become an afterthought; a flash on some astronomer's telescope on a far off planet."

Jor-El related all the evidence from his investigations. He told of how it all began with the theft of an entire great city and how the crime left an alien residue that corrupted the soil. He told them how the residue became a web of tendrils squeezing its way down below the surface of the planet, shrinking matter all around it and causing the infrastructure above to weaken and collapse, thus causing the quakes. He told them that the element as it reproduced became unstable to the point of explosion, making the surface above further unreliable. And then he told them the worst - that there was no stopping the process until it reached the core of their planet - a core composed almost entirely of pure uranium - a core that, if excited by this strange alien element, would become the greatest nuclear explosion ever experienced by living creatures. There would surely be no survivors left from such a cataclysmic event.

"...Unless we resolve to survive. And the only way this is possible is to leave Krypton! Leave it as soon as possible! I propose that the Council sanction the building of giant spaceships that would ferry our populace away from our planet before it is no more. With the assistance of the learned Ken-Dal..." Jor gestured toward the spot where Dal had been sitting with him earlier, but the old man was no longer there. He was, in fact, no longer in the room. He must have needed to refresh himself, thought Jor. No need to read anything more into it. "With Ken-Dal's guidance we have been experimenting in space travel. It would be possible to travel to a new home and continue our existence elsewhere. We have made all the tests to prove it can be done. We have even put a living creature in space; it circles our globe even now in perfect health. Ken-Dal and I have fashioned a programmable model spaceship that can serve as a template for our escape vehicles..."

"I have heard enough!" the voice of Mal-Vol echoed through the hall. "This man is obviously insane! Who but a crazy man would tell such fables as spacemen stealing cities, or strange rocks that cause the firmament to shake? And then on top of all that, he begins shouting, 'the end of the world is neigh!' I have seen poor unfortunates that have fallen victim to an addiction of rainbow wine do the same. Their information comes from inside a bottle. Jor-El's is concocted from his own need of self-importance! Look at his so-called 'evidence,' my fellow colleagues. Look at it! Everything he has shown you can be explained in a number of different ways. He chooses to frighten us with science-fiction monsters and death rays! Then he wants to put us all on spaceships! Such fiction as this is better from a book or a film. Perhaps the loss of his movie actress friend must have affected him far too deeply!"

Jor-El had expected obstinacy, disbelief, and even derision, but Mal-Vol had crossed the line by using the death of his friend in this manner! Jor had to be restrained from charging into the audience after the scheming liar!

"You see!" bellowed Vol. "He can't even be counted on to control his emotions and actions! I am telling you, this man has a mental disorder!"

"How can you be so unfeeling? Lyla was a good, caring woman who only wanted people to love each other! Has your... cult... brought you so far down morally that you must resort to such...!"

"Now he attacks my religion! This is far too much! Jor-El, you have disgraced yourself totally in front of your peers! You should be removed from this Council and stripped of all your privileges as a scientist! I call for a vote..."

"Enough!" Vel-Ar angrily pounded his gavel as he tried to regain order in this disordered situation. "Enough! Mal-Vol, this outburst of yours was obviously staged to upset Jor-El in his presentation. If anyone should be sanctioned, it should be you!" Vel-Ar let his words sink in as the room finally began to quiet down. "But..." he added as he turned toward Jor. "You do bring up a good point! Jor-El, while your findings are far from the fiction Mal-Vol says they are, the evidence could be considered shaky. Your sole witness to this... crime as you call it, was emotionally overwrought by the loss of her family. The pictures of the extra terrestrial vehicle were blurry at best. And this element... eh... 349 is still in the experimental stage. How can you justify your conclusions based on this?"

Jor, still a bit shaken but composed now, quietly answered the chairman. "Sir, I have performed every investigative test possible in order to get to the truth. I have left absolutely nothing to chance. I apologize to the chair for my emotional response. I was totally out of line for my outburst, but I stand by my findings. If we do not leave this planet and soon, we will be doomed to be blasted into atoms with it."

The chairman pointed his gavel at Jor-El's antagonist. "Mal-Vol?"

"I have no apologies as I have spoken only the truth. And I still demand that a vote be taken immediately."

"Very well. Jor-El, do you have any objections?"

"Let's get this over with. Time is short and the fate of Krypton's people is in our hands."

Jor-El did not bother with a floater or any other vehicle to travel home. He instead preferred to walk. He wanted to feel the ground beneath his feet, to smell the flowers and the grass, and to feel the gentle Krytonian breeze against his face and he wanted to remember how all this felt, because he knew it may be last time he could. The vote of the Science Council did not go well. Mal-Vol and his cronies had spearheaded the opposition against him and managed to pick up enough converts in this case to disavow his findings. There would be no escape from the shattering of this once mighty world.

To make matters worse, Jor-El was dismissed from the Science Council altogether and sent away in disgrace, the first member to be treated in that manner in more than a century. The vote on that was much closer than on his proposal, but it didn't matter it had been by a landslide margin, the result was still the same. He was out. He was strangely not as despondent as he thought he would be, thus his decision to walk home and enjoy the world around him. I suppose I always knew it would end this way, he mused. But as he was leaving the Hall of Science where plaques and memorials honoring other famous members stood on display, he paused and studied one in particular. It was a new plaque chronicling his father's achievements for Krypton. The Phantom Zone ray projector and the first practical floater car were among his many contributions. He felt so very unworthy to be Jor-L's son. Failure was all he would accomplish in his all too short tenure. Just as he began to leave, a hand curled around his shoulder in a gesture of friendship. It was Chairman Vel-Ar.

"He was great man. your father. I remember when he had the opportunity to become chairman and turned it down. Do you know why?"

Jor turned and looked into the eyes of a friend and, being too choked up to speak, just slowly shook his head back and forth.

"He told me that he had two sons that he wanted to spend more time with than the chairmanship would afford him. I recall that when he said it, I could feel the pride he had for them both. And of course, this was well before the Open Heart movement changed everything. He was well ahead of his time, that one. I have a feeling that he would be proud of you today as well."

Surprise replaced sadness on Jor's face. "Why... why would you say that. I failed! I was booted out of the Council in disgrace! How could you think he would be proud of me today? You even voted against me!"

"I voted against your proposal, not your expulsion. Jor-El, I, and several other members, believe your findings to be true, but we could not allow them to become public. That's why we voted against you. If all of Krypton's people became aware of the situation, it would be sheer anarchy. And though you and Ken-Dal are amazingly far ahead in your space travel project, you can give no guarantee that you could have enough spacecraft built in time for the final cataclysm. There would be riots and - who knows what? - when the time comes and there are not enough spaces available for everyone. We don't have the right to decide who goes on to live and who stays to die. We don't have the wisdom to know what would be the proper criteria for such an undertaking. No. We could not let our people come to that."

Jor nodded at the new point of view that he had not until now taken into consideration. "I see. But again I ask, why would Jor-L be proud of me? I accomplished nothing, basically."

"He would be proud of you because you had the courage to stand up for your beliefs and still tell the world the truth - not what they wanted to hear... and I am grateful to you for making me realize that I have a family, too, And I have been so very neglectful of them of recent times because of my job here. So, if you don't mind. I am taking some leave from my position - a permanent one, probably, from what your notes say - and spend the rest of my life with my wife and grandchildren. I advise you to do the same with your family."

Vel-Ar patted the back of his young protege and exited the hall. Jor-El watched him disappear through the giant wooden doors, then slowly followed him out.

The walk home, would normally take about thirty minutes to traverse, but today it took about an hour as Jor took in all the sights and smells and textures of his homeworld. It was almost like experiencing these things for the first time, like a child whose awareness is just beginning to dawn. He was aware of the make-up of all he surveyed, but he had not pondered the natural beauty of his planet since his Open Heart days. And even then, he still took so much for granted.

By the time he arrived at his house, Lara was fraught with worry. By now, Kerra had left the employ of the Els. Being a part of Jor's research, she was aware of the coming disaster and wanted to spend her last days with Ko-Lim and living them out in her beloved Scarlet Jungle. There was no one left for Lara to commiserate with. When her husband finally showed, she greeted him at the door with a great hug.

"Jor, you're so late! I thought something might have happened to you."

"No, Love. I've just been walking... and thinking. The Council voted me down... and out! I've been removed from my membership."

"I know, Darling. Ken-Dal told me that would probably happen. He..."

"Ken-Dal? When did he tell you? Where is he?"

"He's down in the lab, waiting for you."

Jor wasted no time in rushing to his laboratory. He wanted to speak to the old man that abandoned him to the whims of an angry Council. He thrust open the lab doors with such force that they slammed into the walls on the other side of the portal. Ken-Dal was not the least startled as an ordinary person normally would be. Instead, he was tinkering with the insides of the model spacecraft and didn't even look up as Jor burst his way in.

"Where were you? I could have used your help back there. At the least, I could have used your moral support. Do you know what they did to me back there? I am ruined! I will never sit on the Science Council again!"

Dal finally looked up from the work he was performing and looked at the young man for a few moments and then replied, "From what I have seen of your notes, Jor, there won't be a Science Council, will there? Hand me that spanner, please."

Jor was dumbfounded for a few seconds, but as the wisdom of what his friend said sunk in, he began to laugh, slowly at first and then uncontrollably. "I guess... ha-ha...I guess you're right... ha-ha-ha!" He gave the old scientist the tool he needed. "But I guess I thought if you were there, it might sway them to adopt my plans. But..."

"It wouldn't have mattered if I were there or not, Jor. There were plenty of members with good, righteous reasons for voting down your proposals, and then there's Mal-Vol... He is such an evil man! That's what my Matty used to say to me, she'd say, "Kendy, that man is composed of pure evil! And you know, the sad thing about it is he doesn't even know it! He thinks he is following the path of Rao! But he's not! He's just... oh, my! That needs to be adjusted! Would you hand me that screwdriver, please?"

Jor passed the screwdriver to him. "Yes, I suppose the fate of my findings was already sealed, but why did you leave before I spoke?"

"Why, to do some final adjustments to this model ship. Every second counts doesn't it? Ooh, you've done some nice work in here, Jor!"

"Uh... thank you. Uhm... No, it doesn't matter much anymore, Ken. You see, I've decided not to try to escape the final explosion. I've decided to face the end with my wife and son at my side."

Ken-Dal stopped what he was doing and looked at Jor incredulously. "Well, that's just... stupid!"

"What?"

"I said that's stupid! Why are you stopping now? The idea was to save our race! Have you been wasting my time here?"

"Well... I... eh..."

"Just because the Council voted you down, doesn't mean it's all over! That's a very nice warm and fuzzy notion to see it through with your loved ones, but you can still make a difference here, Jor-El! You can't save the entire populace of the world, but we can build a scaled down version of your original idea. We have this model as a guide. It is large enough for one adult person to fit inside comfortably... well, semi-comfortably... well, all right, it would be cramped, but a person could be saved from Krypton's fate by riding in this vehicle, and if Rao grants us the time, we could create a ship large enough to carry, say, a family of three - a man, a woman, and child, perhaps?"

Jor wasn't sure of anything now. He had changed his plans completely - twice! - in the space of an hour. First, he wanted to build a fleet of space arks, then he took a fatalistic view of the coming crisis, and now...

"All right, Ken-Dal, but we build this next ship to accommodate four people instead of three. I want you along for the ride."

"No, Jor. I'm too old and I have no intention of going anywhere... well, not in one piece anyway, heh-heh. You and yours have something to live for, I have done all I wish to do in life, and it was you that made that possible. No, I will stay. Besides, I look forward to seeing my Matty again in the afterlife. You know, I miss her so much..."

"All right, then. I guess we should get started on the new ship. We don't need to do any more on that model."

"I think I must disagree again, Jor-El. We absolutely must finish the work on this vehicle. Once we have perfected all the systems that will be necessary for the trip, building the up-scaled version will take little time to complete. Besides, it would serve, as I said, as an escape for one person if we run out of time."

Jor reluctantly agreed. After all, riding in an exploding space craft was not much different than riding on an exploding planet.

The next two days went by very fast. By day, Jor-El and Ken-Dal labored on the model and began drawings on the new ship. During the evenings Jor spent all his time with Lara and little Kal. Late nights were spent programming the thought transfer crystal with the history of Krypton and his own journal of recent events from his perspective. No matter what happens, he thought, Kal will know his heritage.

The third day was the day Jor-El knew the race was over. The model was complete and safe. A passenger could expect to leave this planet and step out onto a new one with reasonable assurance. But the quakes now began in earnest. The rumblings, once short dull sobs of a planet in pain, now became the constant wailing of a world about to die. The halls and buildings of Kryptonopolis shook and began to moan in defiance of the grounds beneath them. Men, women, children all screamed as their world opened up wide gaps that swallowed them whole and, in some cases, spit them out again as lifeless husks of their former selves. It was over, and Jor-El of Krypton did not win this race. But he did not lose it, either.

Remembering what Ken-Dal had said, he prepared the model for a single passenger, and made this final entry into his thought crystal journal:

My Son,

Know that, above all, your mother and I love you. By the time you gain these memories, the planet of your birth will be long dead, and so will your parents. We had planned to be with you on your journey, but time was no ally in this race, and only one could be spared Krypton's final destiny. That one is you, my son. I had originally planned to program the vehicle that would have taken us all to safety to land on a planet not too far away with a red sun like Krypton. That planet we call Rokyn. But you will be alone on this journey, and circumstances dictate that your best chance for survival is a populated world with beings that look like you. A planet with people who can nurture you in the ways of their world would allow you to walk among them as one of their own. I have always had a fondness for one such planet - A planet on which its lower gravity and our greater molecular density would combine to give a person of our world great powers of strength and stamina. I have come to love this world you have come to know as home, and as I die with Krypton, I hope that you, too, have grown to love your Earth. Protect them as you were protected by them.

The quakes are increasing in intensity. Time is short and I must act now if you are to reach safe haven.

Remember us,

Jor-El and Lara