39
"I can't believe how quickly you fellers got this thing set up!" praised Chester. He marveled at the speed with which things had moved since he brought back his findings. The engineers that had modified his ELMA had forwarded their specs to all the other geologists and technicians working on the earthquake crisis. A network was quickly set up and, with Chester at the helm, all the findings were about to be coordinated into one graphic reading.
"Success breeds success, sir. After you proved this would work, the rest was simple. I just hope the intel it provides will help."
Joe was interested in more immediate happenings. "What about Sydney? How bad was the quake there?"
Chester's demeanor turned grim. "The quake hit hard there, Joe. Even though we had more emergency teams sitting at the ready, half of the city was left in ruins. The casualty count was high, but I guess we should be thankful that we kept it as low as we did."
"Well, that was the last of the cities your friend warned us about. Is the danger passed? That is the last of the quakes, isn't it?"
Chester tried to look his friend in the eye, but found it most difficult. "If this thing is really tied to the story in the journal, We're just gettin' started. The fate of Earth could inevitably be the same as the fate of Krypton. And since all the cities taken by Brainiac back in the twentieth century have been hit by quakes…"
"Our time has almost run out." Joe finished.
Chester just nodded slowly. "Something else, Joe. That sample I was playing with earlier today? You remember I was trying to make it flash, explode, anything…?"
"Yeah?"
"I went back to the lab when we got back here to get some notes I had left behind, and the dish it was in was in pieces. It had blown itself up!"
"Do you have any idea how… or why?"
"I think I do, yes. The mystery element continues to shrink itself and anything it affects until there is no more space for the molecular building blocks that form it to operate safely. The atoms become so compressed that a reaction occurs and… well, let's just say they make more space… fast!"
"And that's what will eventually happen wherever this stuff is?"
"I'm afraid so, but that same reaction, may have given us some hope." Joe perked up at that revelation. "I noticed that there were still residual clumps thrown about the room. I thought it was just the same clumps of soil strewn about the room, and I was right. But the reaction to the explosion had changed the atomic structure. The purple soil was now greenish in nature, and had a sort of glow about it."
"Like kryptonite?"
"I think you're catching on. I compared the modified soil to another sample of the purple soil, and close proximity of the two seemed to cancel each other out."
"You're saying you've found a cure?"
"I'm… saying we have a chance. My biggest worry is that it may be too little and too late. That's what this…" George gestured toward the computers set up in the room. "…is all about. We need to find out just how widespread this thing is. We need to stop it before it reaches the core of the Earth. If we don't, a cataclysmic event will destroy our world along with everybody and everything on it."
Joe was silent. Fear, worry, grief, indignation, defiance, they all registered somehow at the same time on the face of the Metropolis policeman. He had been with Chester almost every step of the way since the quake hit the city, and he had heard his new friend say time and time again that devastation could be imminent, but the reality never sank in… until now. He wanted to tell the lanky Texan that he had made a mistake or that this was some elaborate joke he was playin', wasn't it, or who do ya think ya are, ya stupid hick?
But he couldn't say anything. Nothing would pass through his lips but silence, because he knew in his heart Chester was right. Finally, Joe gained control of himself again and croaked, "This… chance you say we have? Is it a real chance? Or are you just blowing hot air to make yourself feel important?"
Chester was hurt by the question. "I-I thought you knew me better than that by now, Joe. But the answer is yes, it is a real chance. It's not a big chance, but it's the only one we've got. I've seen it work. But if we can't get enough of this… negative element, and if we can't get it in time to stop the spread of the purple before it reaches the core…"
"Dr. Carr!" The computer tech interrupted. "The computers are ready, sir. All stations have reported in and they are all ready to connect!"
"Well," said Chester as he tried to lighten the mood, "Looks it's showtime. C'mon, Joe. Let's go see what kind of pretty pictures we can make."
It was like a house full of dark rooms and one by one the electric lights began to illuminate each chamber, revealing its contents. Memories of a past life, once covered and pushed behind the drapes of amnesia, were now unveiled and brought back to the forefront for inspection as Phyllis, now gripping the magic lasso segment, began to remember her past.
"Mom! Mom! Are you all right?" It was her son. She hadn't exactly been unconscious while her memory returned, but it had been so overwhelming that she appeared to others to be in some sort of a trance. It was somewhat like the state that Jimmy had been in while he was recounting the story of Krypton's last days.
"Mommy! Please! Speak to us!" Noel was even more flustered than her brother.
"You must be very frightened, Noe," said the mother to her daughter. "You never call me 'Mommy' except when you're really scared."
"Man! If this was how I looked when I was channeling, I don't blame you for being freaked, Sis! That really is spooky!"
"Told ya! Mom, are you okay? That's twice in ten minutes that you were... what.. incommunicado?"
"I'm fine, honey," said Phyllis as she stood up and headed for the stairs. "It was just a little much all at once like that, but I'm fine now."
"Mrs. Kent," asked Linda Kaye, "are you sure you should be standing up so soon after a traumatic episode like that?"
Phyllis smiled at Jim's girlfriend. "Linda, I've never told you this, but I think you are such a nice person. You always care so much for other people, and that's a trait that will serve you well in the medical field. I'm glad Jimmy loves you so much." Jim, hearing this, couldn't help but blush. "But really, I'm fine. I just think we've done all we can in here and we need to move on. Our world is facing a crisis, and we can help to solve it. I think it's time to call Chester again."
"Mom?" asked Jim in that little boy voice that men of all ages use with their mothers at times when they are worried, scared, or sick.
"Yes, dear?"
"Do you know who you are, now?"
"Yes, dear, I do."
"And... who... are you?"
She stopped, turned, and gave both her children a hug. "I'm your mother!" she said.
"Okay, so just where is this spare space ship? I suppose you're carrying it in your back pocket?" asked George of his microscopic friend.
"Well, no. Actually, you are. But it's not in a back pocket, it's in your shirt pocket - the one underneath your wings decoration. Here, I'll get it out."
George found that he could once again use his microscopic vision power and was able to actually see Guer-On come into his field of view and zip into his shirt pocket, and then carry a foreign-looking vessel back out again. He proceeded to set the tiny craft on the deck of the incapacitated ship they were currently using as safe haven, and then, after zipping back to George's ear, continued their conversation. "We will need to go back outside to continue. We will need to enlarge the ship to its normal size and at normal scale, it would be a little larger than this one. Oh, and be sure to bring the kryptonite with you."
Guer-On quickly briefed George on what he was to do. Once again, the E-suit was enlisted. George made sure to get the one with the crystal in the pocket, grabbed a fresh tank of air and the lead casing of green K, and stepped into the air lock. Guer-On carried his ship out to the asteroid's surface and placed it a good distance away from Jennifer's. Then he went into his miniscule missile and returned with what appeared to be a machine of some sort and a tiny gun.
George watched as his friend aimed the gun which emitted a glowing light at the apparatus. In seconds the previously microscopic machine became about a foot taller than he was. Guer-On retreated to a safe distance and waited, for it was now George's turn. Opening both a hatch on one side of the device, and the lead casing, he transferred the kryptonite into a reaction chamber. His earlier experience with the element prompted George to work quickly. He wanted to limit his exposure to this stuff to as little as necessary. As he made all the connections as outlined by his friend, he couldn't help but admire the soothing emerald glow it produced. How could something that looked so peaceful be so deadly?
His work accomplished, George closed the chamber and stepped back as Guer-On returned to the area. The contraption was an awkward one, to be sure. A panel of buttons and gauges jutted out from the body and a large light emitter adorned the opposite side. Various wires, tubes, and jumpers were crisscrossed in all different directions. The emitter, being manipulated by the man from New Krypton, was re-aimed at his ship. He then took his place in front of it and waited for George to finish their tag team operation.
George performed flawlessly, remembering precisely the instructions Gary had explained to him earlier. One by one, each control was engaged until the machine began to vibrate with life. Had there been air to carry sound, they would have heard a humming noise as the emitter began to glow not unlike the gun Guer-On had used minutes ago. And then, both the spaceship and the Kryptonian were tiny no more.
George switched off the machine and surveyed the craft. It was slightly larger than the one they had used to escape Jennifer's mob and much sleeker in design, obviously for speed in atmospheric environments. His friend, now as tall as he was, opened the air-lock of his ship and then glided across the rocky plain of the asteroid to him. Gesturing, Guer-On indicated to George that he should retrieve the kryptonite and get into his ship. Then Guer-On went into Jennifer's to see if they could salvage anything from it. As George opened the reaction chamber and transferred the kryptonite back into the lead casing, he still had a very uneasy feeling. So much so, in fact, that he could have sworn that he saw a shadow cross the panel as he locked the green K into the casing. But when he looked around to investigate, it was only Gary. The two men headed for the newly restored ship and into the air-lock. Once inside, the chamber re-pressurized with air and George, doffing the E-suit, was finally able to do something he had wanted to do ever since he had become involved in this drama:
He shook the hand of his now normal sized friend, Guer-On.