Ft Pendleton Military Hospital, just outside National City, CA. One hour later...

It was the major military facility in the United States. If the Russians ever decided to attack with an atomic bomb, the Empire State Building, the US Capitol, and this base would be the first to be designated as ground zero. The security around the space was tighter than a boy scouts' knot on any other day. Even tighter if the president or some other dignitary would visit. But the hospital building itself was subject to what title security ever imagined for one building at one time. That was because of the guest of honor.

The being from another planet now officially had a name. Astra In-Ze. She identified herself as a general in the Krypton Military Guild. It was established that Krypton must be the planet from which the female general came. She was in a heavily guarded private room in an even more heavily guarded ward of the hospital. She probably would have gone there any way for simple observation if not for the overreaction of one very young Army private who, in fear, shot first and didn't even bother with questions. It was determined that the young soldier was not going to be court-martialed, but he'd be cleaning out latrines throughout the Fort until at least 1967.

The general's blue metallic companion, a robot named Indigo, remained standing guard at the massive disc-shaped craft the visitors landed in an hour ago. It had to shape of a female human, but no face. At least there was no visor that would open and start shooting death rays in the general direction of anyone it would think of as an enemy. Whatever the general's orders to this machine were, it obeyed.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, the doctors attending the general were, to say the least, flabbergasted. The gunshot wound that was fired at the general healed in record time, much faster than a simple scratch on a human. The doctors were examining a cream that the general rubbed on the wound. Somehow the bullet that was embedded into her arm dissolved as well as the wound itself. One doctor said as he took the jar cream down to the lab to be examined they didn't know whether or not to go get drunk or simply give up the practice of medicine altogether.

Finally, an official from Washington had come to visit the general from another planet. He was Brigadier General Henry "Hank" Henshaw, one of the highest-ranking Negro* officers in the US Army. He was the President's personal envoy for the mission since Henshaw already was stationed at Pendleton. After making it through the gaggle of security by pointing at medals and suggesting that Mr. Truman would not take kindly to not being let through, he entered the room,

The General was holding something that looked like a legal pad, except it also seemed electronic. She was writing on what appeared to be a white electronic screen Henshaw believed she was taking notes, but he also thought now would be a good of a time as any...

"General...In-zel?"

The General looked up to the Brigadier General. "It is 'In-Zee." But it is all right. You may simply call me "Astra."

"Astra," Henshaw repeated. A lovely name.

"Flattery is not required. I am not here for compliments."

Henshaw looked at Astra as if question marks were surrounding his head, "So why are you here?"

"I am an emissary. I cannot discuss full details, but your planet is in danger. You have created weapons that can destroy this planet. You have also started down the road of other different types of destruction; between the way you live your everyday lives and the way you increase the number of lives, you are putting this planet into danger." General Astra was not mincing words. "But Earth does on its own usually it's not a concern of others, but your explorations into space threaten to export all of this destruction to other planets. My own planet has had to deal with something similar. A federation of the outer planets has instructed me to come to this planet to deliver a message to your people about the consequences of continuing on the path this planet is taking."

Henshaw was paying attention, and a touch of fear had gripped him. "General, what you are talking about should be taken up by the President."

"General Henshaw, what I must impart must be delivered to all the leaders of all the nations of this planet, simultaneously."

"General, if you have been following events on this planet, you know bringing those leaders together would be problematic, at best. Even with our United Nations, there are evil forces in this world..."

"I am not interested with your petty squabbles, General Henshaw," Astra quickly responded, a sense of being more than slightly perturbed edging into her voice. "If I cannot have those actual leaders, maybe at least representatives who would carry my message to them."

Henshaw nodded. He would talk to the President and the Secretary of State about it. She would get a response in one day, two at the latest. Astra was at least satisfied that the human General would at least try. The two generals said their goodbyes and Henshaw left the room. And left General In-Ze alone.


24 hours later...

The spacewoman had become the one and only news. There was little logic in the journalism that swept the globe, presented with more than a tinge of yellow. Speculation had little to do with facts and more to do with either H. G. or Orson Welles. The scientific and military people were at the landing site examining the steel female, Indigo, and the ship. Both were made from material that was best described as indestructible. Meanwhile, frantic phone calls between Washington and California were taking place, trying to make happen what the General from outer space was demanding.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned General was making a few discoveries about her own personal status. For instance, that morning, she found she had acquired incredible physical strength. Astra always stayed in top physical condition, but being able to lift a 100-pound hospital bed as if it was a feather was quite the feat.

So that afternoon, Brigadier General Henshaw returned to the hospital room holding the Kryptonian General. As he approached the room he heard doctors talking about how the Kryptonian managed to deflect the bullets that hit her with her skin, which was now completely healed. One doctor wondered if he should either get drunk or quit the practice of medicine.

Once Henshaw entered the room, Astra knew one thing: what she just found out about what happened to her she could not tell Henshaw or any human...at least not yet.

On Henshaw's part, he did not look like he was the bearer of good news. "General, the President and I have been working through the night on the request for a mutual meeting. The results have not been very positive." Henshaw then handed Astra a stack of telegrams he said were from the various leaders of the planet.

The gist of the telegrams pretty much hat one main theme: they would be interested in an audience with the alien General, but they would not sit at the same table with other world leaders because of...reasons. The frustration on Astra's face was extremely apparent. Then the General had an idea. It seems that the idea was a rather rational one, all things considered. "Mr. Henshaw, there seems to be a lot of hatred and animosity on this planet. We have learned to live without that animosity. What I like to do is research why this is happening. I'd like to see what causes these irrational feelings. I'd like to go and talk to people, get to know them, and see what would be the basis for these hatreds and bigotries."

Henshaw was stone-faced. But he was given his instructions on what to do and say if the Alien General wanted to make such a request. "General, I was given instructions. The President and our military have decided that for the time being oh, you should not be in the eye of the public. You saw the spectacle that happened when you arrived here, consider what would happen if you went through the public. People are nervous and jittery about all this, to begin with, imagine what would happen if you went out in public."

"That should not be a problem, Mr. Henshaw," Astra replied. "My appearance is that of the average Earth resident, and I can wear clothing similar to the average person's. You can even have someone monitor me, as long as we can move about in stealth so I can find out more about the people who live here."

"I am afraid that is impossible, General," was the response from Henshaw. "Our military people have insisted that you remain here, at least for the time being...at least until we can arrange some sort of public introduction in the next few days." Then the US brigadier general picked up his attache case and headed for the door, but not before he issued one final, calmly-delivered advisory: "the door will be locked, General. I'm sure you'll understand." And then Henshaw walked out the door and Astra heard a definitive locking of that entranceway. What was funny is that, even though she could hear that key turn, the sound of that was louder and more pronounced than she ever experienced. She assumed that there may have been something that might have happened as the Kryptonian entered the atmosphere of Earth that affected her being almost impervious to bullets, her strength, and also her hearing.

Military training may have been the only reason why Astra was calling at this point. With all of these seemingly newfound abilities, the average Earth person...or even the average Kryptonian...would freak out at this point (that would be a phrase she would learn later on). But she knew one thing, she needed to get out of there and investigate the irrational emotions of the residents of Earth.


Later.. 6:37 pm

It was at this time of the year that it got dark early, and Astra would take full advantage of the darkening environment. Since that morning, Astra had discovered some new things about being on this new planet, and she was trying out the new toys. Her sight now improved so much that you could see through solids, like the metal door where she could see the many guards who now were positioned in front of it. She also found that if she concentrated enough, she could protect herself from her eyes of being of energy so powerful it would probably burn through that metal door.

That improved vision basically told the General walking out that door could be a danger, not as much to her but to others. He did not want to start an intergalactic war on the 10th floor of a hospital.

And considering the only way out was that 10th-floor window. It seemed the only way that she could leave would be to fly down. The jetpack that she had carried to the planet was still on board the ship. Thankfully, though there were ledges on the windows going down, all she had to do was climb down.

Normally, lifting that window would be a major effort but, since her strength had quadrupled, it was easy as pie. No alarms sounded as she opened the window and she started to climb out. She quietly stepped out of the window onto the rather thin ledge outside all she had to do was start to climb down. But that was easier said than done and very quickly, Astra started to slip. She lost her grip and she started to fall to the ground.

In desperation, she reached up and tried to grab something, when the most amazing thing of all the things that had happened to her occurred. She stopped falling. In fact, in a miracle that she could only attribute to the deity she knew as Rao, she started to rise. Higher and higher she rose until her body was hovering over the hospital. Astra was in flight, hovering over the grounds of the Army camp. He wasn't going to try anything too adventurous because, frankly oh, she didn't know what was going on. But she realized that if she could concentrate she could float down to the ground, which she did.

Still, no alarms had sounded, and she felt lucky, or at least thankful to Rao, that they still hadn't discovered she was not in her room, or that she was still in one piece. Using her newly found vision she did recon about the camp. She could now see the insides of the buildings. Years of military operations taught the General stealth. After some quiet walking in avoiding guards, she found what seemed to be a laundry. Using her newly found laser vision, she managed to unlock the door without tripping an alarm. The rather pronounced breeze blowing up her hospital gown told Astra it was time to find clothes and fast, not just to mingle with the residents of the planet, but for modesty's sake at least.

Once in, she found a dark t-shirt, black dungarees, black sneakers, and a black leather coat with a hood. Now that she was less noticeable, she also grabbed a few clothes that she could find that she fought could fit her and stuffed it in a backpack that just happened to be lying around, all so ready to be cleaned. When Astra walked out of the laundry, she started hearing voices, possibly guards. She knew she was trapped and there was no way to get out except..maybe...

She knew she was able to float up and down, and later would be the time to figure out how it actually worked. But she needed to escape. She figured if she could float up. She might be able to shoot up. She concentrated, raised her arms straight up, I was in moments shut up into the sky. Astra started to panic because this has never happened to her, and also he was worried about what would happen if she was found out. She stopped in mid-air and looked around. She was thinking, if one could shoot up, then it was possible to shoot out. From where she was she could see the entrance to the base and the lights of the city to her south. Astra extended her arms and flew.

The feeling was exhilarating. The fact that she could move through the air quietly, and at such fast speeds, was a true thrill. But you had to get back to logic. She still needed to deliver the message, but you needed to also fulfill her mission of finding out about humans and the way they thought. For that she had to lay low for a while, but where?

She quietly landed in an alley where there was no one there but for her. She put the hood over her head mainly for warmth and to keep the white streak in her dark hair from sight. Even on Krypton, that streak of white was very visible, a trademark as it were.

She was walking through a residential portion of National City, very near the city center. Along the way, she picked up a blue and gold cap that had the word Monarchs on it. Astra didn't care about the wording, it would be a way to easily conceal her long hair. That done, she started to walk the streets, hearing radio broadcasts warning of an escaped creature from outer space out walking the streets of National City. The tone of the speakers on the radio was of fear and panic. Astra knew that that was not the reason why she was there, but she also knew the panic that had set in...ignorance creates fear, and the last thing the General needed was an angry mob trying to chase a monster.

He was at that point where she saw likes coming out of a two-story brownstone. A lighted sign said "ROOMS AVAILABLE...PAY ONLY AFTER STAY...MEALS INCLUDED...ASK FOR MRS. DANVERS."

Astra had found the sanctuary that she was seeking. That was if she could convince this "Mrs. Danvers" to plow her to stay there for a few days, at least until the coast was clear to get back to her ship.

She did not know at the time that she would find more than sanctuary. Much, much more...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's notes:

I do need to address one thing before we go on in terms of the endnotes. I used a word that is commonly not used in 2021 for African-Americans. Please understand that we are setting this story in the year 1950, the term African-American would not come into common use for another decade and a half, for reasons that, if you think really hard, were very obvious. It was also the only way I could fit in Hank Henshaw. I apologize if that offended anybody, but it was the only way I could think of to keep things chronologically and culturally accurate.

I am also trying to keep this close to canon not as much for the Supergirl series as for the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. I want to be faithful to the film but also to the characters that have been created for the TV series and who have been cultivated by people like myself and authors like AXEe. I hope I live up to all this. Also, I apologize if there wasn't any Alex in this chapter, but that is coming in the next chapter. That's when things start moving.

Again, though I appreciate the likes and kudos, actual comments with words are much better. That gives me an idea of how you really feel about this. Your actual comments are the reason why any of us who do this keep going. So it is that which is my currency and my payment for this. It is the currency and payment for anyone who writes this type of fanfiction. I hope you remember it as you make those comments.