CHAPTER 2: First Contact
As the star craft streaked through hyperspace, the onboard computer continued to monitor all systems. For the better part of the journey there was almost nothing to do, until, when the end of the journey was in sight, a problem arose.
A deflector screen flickered.
In normal space, this was not a problem.
Hyperspace, however, was a different matter. All hyperdrive ships needed powerful energy shields to deflect away any particles that, due to its' great speed would otherwise penetrate and destroy the ship.
The computer, its' quantum processors thinking at near light speed, recognized the danger and shifted more power to stabilize the shield...
Too late. The fading shield had partially done its' work, however, and this was the only thing that kept the ship from being destroyed. But the damage had been done. The particle, buffered & slowed, still tore into one of the four hyperdrive engines like buckshot. The computer tried to restore the engine, but it was gone...
With their brother removed, the other three engines, now out of balance, began to overload… the capsule beginning to oscillate. With no other alternative available that would not damage the capsule and the life form onboard, the computer shut the remaining three engines down and pulled the craft out of hyperspace.
Checking its' onboard star charts, gouts of flame emerged from portals on the ship's surface. Seconds later, the course was acceptable again. Aimed again toward earth, the computer ran a check on the shields again.
Found and fixed the problem. Ran a test. Functioning. Acceptable.
With that, it focused in on the imbalanced engines. An hour later, it had rerouted the drive energies and adjusted the engines so the Hyperdrive would safely work with three. It finished the rough 'patch' job and ran a final set of simulations. The engines would have to be carefully monitored and modulated, but, if run at half strength, they would hold safely for the remainder of the journey. There would have to be a minor diversion of energies from less-essential systems in the interior to compensate for a power unit also destroyed with the engine. With this, the computer activated the crippled drive system. It would be slower, and the engines would be put under greater pressure than usual...but barring any more failures, the occupant would reach the destination...
In twenty four Earth years.
SOL; THE MOON - JLA Watchtower - Earth Calendar date - April 2, 2003...
Kyle Rayner sagged in his chair.
He HATED monitor duty.
Especially on quiet days like this.
Kyle sat in the womb in the Watchtower. Looking down at his emerald ring, he sighed.
Of all the things I can do with this ring, he thought, at times like this,
I wish I could turn invisible like J'onn does…or be able to do that disappearing trick that Bruce does so damn well.
I gotta ask him about that, Kyle thought, and then thought of the likely response from Mr. Dour.
Better not, he thought, …Bruce has very little tolerance for levity as is...I'd rather not encounter another one of his frowns.
It was never said to his face, but one of the running cracks among the Watchtower's occupants was that a frown from Bruce could actually curdle milk and peel wallpaper.
Alert!
Kyle snapped back to attention, checking the readouts. A small ship had just appeared on the sensors at the edge of the solar system and was heading rapidly toward Earth. He pressed the communications toggle. "J'onn! We've got a ship incoming!"
He heard the reassuring Martian baritone speak in his head. "We will be in the monitor room in a minute."
True to his word, they appeared in the doorway 60 seconds later.
"Where is it?" asked Clark.
"It just passed Neptune."
Diana's soft Greek accent filled the chamber.
"How big is it?"
Kyle studied the monitors. "I'm reading 12 yards in length...Also... unidentifiable metal...massively hot engines..."
He paused. "I've got a visual."
The screens filled with the fuzzy picture of the vessel. Kyle took a moment to look around at his teammates.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, as the Dark Knight glided into view silently, right next to Plastic Man, who was surprisingly quiet for once.
That's not going to last long, Kyle thought.
He looked back, and happened to see Clark's eyes widen.
"Kyle, let's go!" Clark ordered, already a violet blur heading for the airlock. Kyle grabbed a communications headset and leapt into the air, his ring forming a protective green shell around him.
Seconds later, The Man of Tomorrow rocketed into space, followed closely behind by Kyle.
Geez, Kyle thought, what's eating his cookies?!
"Clark! Wait up!" he shouted as he increased his own speed and willed his ring to follow the blur.
By the time Kyle caught up with him, Clark had caught the ship and was drifting with it, silent, and almost in shock.
"Clark, you O.K.?"
There was silence for a long moment.
"Yeah, Kyle, I'm fine."
Kyle caught the glint of sunlight off a canopy. He maneuvered himself around and looked down through the heavily tinted black canopy at the strangely dressed sleeping girl in the capsule.
Clark almost whispered, "Krypton. She's from Krypton. That's the body suit my ancestors used to wear."
Kyle squinted, and then 'ringed up a set of light augmentation devices. Suddenly, the inside contents on the capsule were as clear as day to the both of them. He looked at the sleeping girl's face and her strange dark blue over robe.
"She can't be much older than 14 or 15. How can she be from Krypton? It blew up, what? 30 years ago? You were the only survivor."
Clark stared at Kyle, in shock.
Kyle looked worried. "Wait...Are you SURE she's Kryptonian? Is there any way to check her bona fides? This might be a trick of Darkseid or one of those nuts..."
"Y-Yeah, good point." Kyle watched as Clark's eyes turned gold. He'd seen that look before. X-Ray vision.
A moment later he looked back at Kyle and shook his head, grunting in frustration. "Can't. The canopy is heavily shielded against radiation. I'm making out her general shape and nothing else."
Clark studied the ship with his microscopic vision and continued. "…Though if this IS a fake, I'll give whoever it is brownie points for using Kryptonian technology and alloys."
He paused. "C'mon. Help me guide this back to the cargo bay..."
The rest of the JLA were there watching when Clark & Kyle entered from the pressurized cargo bay, carrying the small ship like two construction workers carrying a long bundle of 2x4's. Very gently, they set it down. Clark started looking at the alien calligraphy decorating the ship. He paused, took a deep breath, and depressed a series of the symbols bordering the black canopy.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then...
PHHHSSSTTTT!
"OHMIGAWD, it's gonna BLOW!" Plastic Man dropped to the floor and shaped himself into a bomb bunker.
"Calm down, Plas." said Clark. "I've simply activated the waking subroutine..."
He trailed off & squinted, listening to the form in the capsule carefully.
"Her metabolism is picking up. She should be waking in a minute or two."
Clark reached out and pressed another glyph on the ship's surface.
With a quiet gurgling sound, the black, glassy canopy melted open.
Clark's eyes went gold again, looking down at his arm, and then the arm of the girl. He looked at Kyle and nodded. "She IS Kryptonian. The cells in her body are as dense as mine...and she has internal organs only genetic Kryptonians would have." Clark turned around to his friends and continued.
"Whatever you do, don't touch her unless she touches you first.
My ancestors were…isolationists, and didn't really encourage physical contact."
Kyle spoke. "Clark, what is the deal with the head-to-toe gown?"
"That's their life-extending biosuit, they were fitted with one upon birth.
They were created after the Clone wars ended. Up 'till that point, Kryptonians used to each have three grown clone bodies stored in banks, each at a different development level."
He frowned.
"They were basically used for replacement parts, to extend the original's life."
Diana grimaced. "That is horrible! How could they treat life so cavalierly?"
Clark again studied the sleeping form. "A LOT of them asked that very same question, Diana, which led to over a thousand years of warfare...and eventually to a nuclear discharge into the uranium core of the planet. That started the runaway reaction that eventually destroyed Krypton."
Bruce quietly spoke. "Two questions: What does this strip mean?" he said, pointing at the ornate silver pattern running down the front of her dark blue dress.
"And two: Why is there a second one in here?"
He gently reached into the capsule and pulled out a carefully folded burgundy bundle.
"Why there are two, I don't..." He reached out to Bruce for the folded fabric.
Clark let gravity unfold it.
"It's bigger than she is, so it's definitely not hers." Clark said with a light frown.
Bruce cleared his throat. "Clark, you didn't answer my question. I'll ask it again...What do THESE strips mean?"
He motioned with his hand in a sweeping gesture, indicating both garments.
"Sorry, Bruce…They indicate family lineage." Clark paused and finally took the time to study the details...and felt the blood drain from his face.
"My God..." he whispered.
J'onn spoke. "Clark, what is it?"
The Man of Tomorrow was silent for a few more seconds, as his gaze shifted from the cloth held in his hands to the sleeping form of the young girl.
He then spoke with a shaking voice, with tears rimming his eyes.
"Oh...God...She...she is a member of the House of El, like me..."
He paused and cleared his throat, looking down at the vestment hanging from his hands.
"The honorifics on this...vestment...indicate that this...was her father's..."
"A last gift..." Diana whispered, near tears.
"Indeed." J'onn stared silently, in empathy, as a silent Clark refolded the garment and draped it behind the opening. He stood there in silence for a moment, eyes closed, with his arms locked against the ship.
He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"That isn't all. I know you, Kal, like few others do."
She leaned close, as he turned to look at her. "There is something else. I can see it on your face. What is it?"
Stunned, Clark stared at her with red-rimmed eyes, and then whispered, "Unbelievable…Diana...her father was Zor-El… the brother of my father, Jor-El. Her mother was Alura Zor-El."
He stared at the form in the cockpit with a dazed look on his face.
"Not ONLY is she a survivor of Krypton...but she's also kikra…my cousin..."
There was motion from the cockpit.
They all looked down as the form began to move.
She woke. Bright lights blasted into her eyes and she squinted.
A strange voice spoke, and then the lights dimmed. Blinking, she rubbed the last traces of the sleep from her eyes and looked around...
Aliens! A couple of them baring their flesh!
They all stood quietly, watching her.
She somehow sensed that they were not going to harm her, so she pulled off her mask, leaned forward and studied each of them in turn.
There was a big, muscled one with red eyes like a Haggereth demon and green skin. He was almost bare-chested, and wore blue boots and a cape.
There was a strange man with shiny skin, big black eyes and a red, lace up suit. He was changing his shape rapidly. Very strange...she thought.
She looked at the man next to him. He was dressed in a full suit, black & green, with a small, green mask covering his eyes and nose.
He had...she rubbed her eyes again, unbelieving. He had a green glow around him.
She noticed an emerald ring on his hand. Ah, he must be one of the Oan's soldiers...
I have heard tales about them...
There was a nearly nude female next to him, with black hair. She wore silver bracelets by her wrists and a gold, glowing rope hanging from a hook on the right side of her minimal costume. She wore a gold tiara with a red star in the center.
She almost missed him. He seemed to be blending into the shadows. Standing in brooding silence, he was dressed from head to toe in shades of gray & black. At least this one is almost clothed properly! She thought. He looked back at her with shadowed, white eyes and a frown on his face.
A chill ran through her body and she shivered...
She saw him last...But couldn't miss him unless she was blind.
Seeming to tower above the others, he wore the brightest costume…bright red, blue, and gold...red boots and a red and yellow symbol on his chest.
He radiated confidence like the sun.
He...looks so much like Jor-El and Father, she thought sadly. The same chin, nose, eyes...
She was startled out of her thoughts when he spoke to her...in Kryptonese!
"Are you all right? I am Kal-El. "
"I...I am fine. My name is Kara, Kara Zor-El; Kal-El, you said? You are from Krypton?
How came you here?"
"My father, Jor-El, sent me here before Krypton exploded."
Kara leaned forward, fingering the crystal in her hands.
"Jor-El? He designed this ship...with some of my ideas." she said with lightly concealed pride. "My father was his brother."
"Yes," Kal said. "I read as much on your vestments."
He paused, and spoke briefly with those strange others. He turned back, and, indicating the Oan soldier, said, "Let's get you out of there. My friend over there will lift you out." She startled as a glowing green mass materialized underneath her out of nowhere. It filled out and reshaped itself into a chair. Hesitantly, Kara reached out and felt the seat. Solid. Slowly, she sat back down. Kal-El shot a sidelong glance at the soldier, and spoke briefly.
The emerald chair slowly moved up, into the air, over the ship, and then touched down gently on the floor.
She stood up, and watched in wonder as the chair simply...disappeared.
She spoke again, "Kal, Is this Earth? My father was sending me to Earth."
"No." He said. "This is a station on Earth's moon. We detected your ship's approach from here.
Do you want to see the Earth?"
She looked up at him. "Yes, I would like that."
He led her over to a nearby portal. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It was so wild looking, so primitive-looking…but yet so undeniably…beautiful…a sparkling blue marble with white puffy clouds.
She could SWEAR it was calling to her.
"House of my father…" she whispered.
How long she stared at the planet below she did not know, but Kal soon spoke up.
"Kara, I would like you to meet my friends and colleagues. Since they do not speak the language as we do, we are going to need J'onn's help." He indicated the green man with the red eyes. She shivered slightly.
"He is telepathic. If you allow him to, he will link our minds so we can all understand each other.
This is up to you, but it is painless, and nothing bad will happen." Kara looked over at him, silently standing there. She thought for a long minute, building her courage all the while. She could sense, somehow, that he was curious about her. Something deep within spoke to her, and said that he was safe. She gulped,
She took a deep breath, and then nodded, bracing herself for contact.
The 'touch' was so gentle she almost missed it.
It was only when the black haired lady stepped forward and spoke with an almost musical voice that she KNEW it worked.
"Greetings, Kara, from all of us. My name is Diana, but the people here call me Wonder Woman."
She responded respectfully. "Greetings, Diana. Permit me to ask...Why are you nearly naked?"
The soldier, Kal, and the green man all chuckled. To her credit, Diana responded with a straight face.
"I am an ambassador from my Earth country. This is my official armor."
"Armor? You are a warrior?"
"When the need arises, yes. But my true job is to teach peace, equality, and understanding among the peoples of the earth."
Kara, curious, pointed at the gold rope hanging by her side. "What is that for?"
Diana looked down, unhooked the rope from her costume, and offered one end for Kara to feel. "This is the Lasso of Truth. It can be a weapon, of sorts. Anyone I contain within it is compelled to tell the truth."
Kara hesitated, and then felt the proffered rope. Running it over her hands, She studied the gold links and felt the strange warmth that seemed to emanate from within it, gently reaching into her. "Thank you...that is fascinating." She gently handed it back...and turned to the big green man.
She swallowed nervously. "Who are you? Are...you an earthling?"
He smiled gently.
"No, child. I come from Mars, another planet in this solar system."
"My name is J'onn Jonzz."
"If you are from another world, why are you here?" Kara queried.
"There was an accident years ago, and a human accidentally transported me to earth. He died before he could send me back, so I had to stay and make a life here. I've since decided to stay here with my friends, and help them protect this world."
Kara looked around at the rest of them and was ready to ask why J'onn wore so little...
"Why do I wear so little clothes?" He looked at her, ruby eyes dancing under that brow of his, a smile tugging the corners of his lips. Kara felt her face flush, and she nodded silently.
"My designation on my home world was "Manhunter". It was a law enforcement job, of sorts. This is the uniform we wore."
"Wore?" she queried. "They do not wear that anymore?"
"No, they don't. My species was killed years ago. I am much like Kal and you, in that regard. We three are the last survivors of our worlds."
"You are alone, and then?" She looked at him and for a moment thought of her father and mother. She fingered the crystal, sadly, feeling that ache in her chest again. J'onn hesitated and then looked over to the dark robed one.
"No, Kara, I'm NOT alone anymore. My friends, here, have shown me that...and have become my new family." He looked over and said, "I think Green Lantern, here, is next."
The soldier with the ring stepped forward.
"Hey, Kara." Green plasma erupted from his ring, formed into a bundle of cut flowers, and zoomed up to her. She startled at the suddenness, and then calmed herself. Reaching out to the construct, Kara felt the flowers. Fascinating. They were as soft as she dreamed real flowers would be. She felt the stems...solid...WOW. She pulled back as the flowers melted out of her hands...and reformed into little cartoon people in bio-suits like hers. The little green people looked up at her and smiled.
"I can do almost ANYTHING with this ring...This is cool stuff."
"It...is cold?" Kara said, puzzled.
"Cold? No. 'Cool!'" is an earth expression meaning..." Kyle searched for words for
a second, "WOW!"
"Well, and then, I would say it is an appropriate word. Are you one of the Oan's soldiers?"
"One of? No. Right now, I'm the last one, the last Green Lantern."
"The soldiers are gone? What happened?"
Kyle sighed. "One of the greatest of the Lanterns...lost his home here on earth in a massive explosion...He asked the Guardians, in his grief, for help. The Guardians refused...and he ...snapped."
Seeing the puzzled look on her face, Kyle looked at Kara and clarified,
"He went mad. He tried to resurrect his city with the energy left in his ring, but it wasn't enough.
He went on a rampage and eventually destroyed many of the Corps...and all but one of the Guardians."
"What happened then?" Kara asked.
She slowly walked up to the man, and tried to look at the ring. Kyle held out his hand and let her look. She reached out with her left hand and felt the ring.
"He absorbed all the energy in the main battery on Oa, and, power-wise, almost became a god. He became obsessed with 'putting everything right'". Kyle continued. "He even tried to reset time itself."
Her head snapped up at this.
"Reset...time?! That is not possible! Legend has it that only Rao can do that!"
She looked over at Kal for confirmation, who nodded sadly. "It DID happen, Kara.
I was there. We thankfully stopped him before he succeeded."
"Uh, Clark? What's a Rao?" Kyle asked, puzzled.
"It's a HE, not an IT. Rao was the head god of Krypton, the father of almost all their gods & goddesses. He was the equivalent of Zeus to my people."
Kara listened quietly then interjected again. "What happened to him?"
"What?... Oh, he redeemed himself sometime later, with the Sun-Eater, a creature which was destroying our sun. Hal stopped it. He died doing it, though... as a hero...which was all he wanted."
He forced a smile. "I got the last ring, and have been working with the rest of the JLA since then."
"The J-L-A?" She looked puzzled.
"This group. It stands for Justice League of America."
She was about to respond when a red shape appeared in her face.
"AAAHHHH!"
Startled, she tripped on her vestment and fell backwards.
"PLAS! Will you PLEASE control yourself?!" Diana ordered, grabbing the stretching man by the neck and pulling him back. He pulled himself into a more 'normal' shape, and then slowly reached out two hands to Kara, with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry. I get a little crazy, occasionally."
She hesitated, and then reached out to the strange man. He gently clasped her hands in his and pulled her back into a standing position, and then released her.
"They call me Plastic Man."
"I would ask what you do, but I think my question has already been answered." she responded with a touch of sarcasm. "How did you get this way?"
Plas shaped himself into a man in a containment suit like hers and spoke. "Years ago, I was a criminal. I hurt people for money. But one day, all that came back to me. A special acid that got into my body through a cut in my skin infected me. When I woke up, I found that a local monk had tried to help me, and shortly after, I found out I was...this!"
Plas re-shaped himself into an ape and continued to pace rhythmically back and forth. A bemused smile started to tug on Kara's face. "I decided to try to go...on the right side of the law. Help people out instead of hurting 'em. With the help of some friends, I eventually became a hero...AND a member of this WONDERFUL club. It's my job here to keep 'em laughing!" He reshaped himself into an extreme caricature of Diana. Shooting eye daggers at him, she raised an eyebrow. and he, looking ashamed, slowly melted into a puddle on the floor. Kara was amused, and felt herself smiling. Seconds later Plas reformed, back in his normal shape again.
Kara heard a rustle and looked to her right.
The Dark Man with the frown was waiting...and watching.
He seemed ready to speak for a moment then seemed to decide not to.
Kal spoke. "Batman has been with us for many years." Kara looked puzzled.
"Bat-Man? Why is he called that?"
The Bat-Man looked at her and spoke.
"I named myself after a frightening earth creature that flies at night."
"Why?"
"Because, in my experience, criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. This..."
He spread his arms, and for a minute looked like some dark, man-sized monster with glowing white eyes.
"...is to frighten the criminals in my war on crime."
Kara gulped, frightened. "Sheol... It-It is effective in that, at the least. Wh...Why do you do this?" she stammered. "Why do you dress like this and fight crime?"
Batman hesitated, and then looked at Clark, who nodded encouragement..
"I do this...to make sure no one has to suffer as I did. I was 8 years old...when a criminal murdered both of my parents before my eyes for the valuables my mother was wearing." He paused, reminiscing, the pain of his greatest loss reflected in his stance. "That night, I SWORE on my parent's graves that no one would lose their family as I lost mine. For years after that, I trained myself in body and mind, honing the skills I would need to become a detective. I vowed to avenge their deaths by cleansing my city of the criminal element. I started working on my own, assisting the police force in Gotham then and have been doing so to this day."
Kara thought of her parents and felt the ache in her heart return.
"I...can understand something of how you feel. My last memory on Krypton is my mother and father looking at me through the canopy, just before they sent me here." The memories all came back, suddenly, and with renewed force. Her eyes began to water. She squeezed them shut.
"I-I wanted to stay awake until they launched me...but the gas was too strong. I never … never got...to wish them farewell." She felt hot tears running down her cheeks. Embarrassed, she turned away from the group, and took slow deep breaths. It was well over a minute before she felt she was under control and turned back to face them, but wound up looking down at the gold crystal in her hands. She pressed the switch, and the hologram came to life.
She stared at the picture of her parents, and the feelings hit like a train again. She fought to maintain control, but they would not be stopped this time. She gave in and sagged to the floor, weeping.
She felt a gentle hand on her right shoulder. Kal was crouched next to her, sadness etched across his face. "I feel that way at times...It was different with me, though. I never even got the chance to KNOW my parents. You said you worked with Jor-El on the ships... What was he like, Kara?"
She composed herself, and thought for a moment.
"Jor-El...looked SO much like you. You have his face with your mother's eyes and lips." She smiled sadly. "He was...unusual...he used to go and explore the 'dead zones' on Krypton. This usually upset his robot, Kelex, quite a bit as it was not considered proper or normal protocol among our people. He was also fascinated by the history of Krypton, and used to spend hours reading the archive files, and also studying how our house dealt with the wars. He was very focused his work; always proper and courteous when dealing with others. I admired that in him. It always seemed to come so EASILY to him... unlike my father or me. I felt a...deep connection to him. He took my suggestions seriously when he was working on the drives, even though I was quite young. I appreciated that." She paused and a slight smile creased her lips. He did show emotions, but rarely. It took quite the effort to get him agitated enough to show them."
"Lara was a quiet woman, graceful and light on her feet." The smile returned. "She did not walk in these suits...she glided. She was very proper, but she had humor too, very dry, but it was rare that anyone saw it. Jor-El & Lara were good people, however, and I could tell that they both had...feelings for each other. They found it hard to express, however. Krypton was not as emotional as your people appear to be."
She paused, and noticed that the rest of the Justice League had quietly left, leaving the two of them alone. She looked around, shocked. There's no 'Plastic Man'. Strange, she thought. I didn't think he COULD be quiet!
"You seem to be more emotional than I expected, Kara." Kal replied.
Embarrassed, Kara's face flushed.
"I apologize. I did not wish to offend..."
"No, Kara, I'm not offended," Kal replied gently. "It's just that...all the information I've learned indicated that my people were cold and unfeeling."
Kara replied, "My father was like...this, too. He was a respected biosphere scientist, but found it difficult, even while growing up, to be as detached emotionally as Jor was naturally. He tried his best to conceal it from others, but it seemed to come to the surface despite his highest efforts. It took a large number of cycles, but he eventually accepted that this is how he was. My mother, Alura, gradually got used to it, and eventually felt comfortable enough to show some of her feelings, as well." She paused. "We…as a people, were not machines…however, emotional display was not deemed proper or seemly…so all made an effort to keep ourselves under control."
Kal spoke with a smile. "Many people on our adopted world down there are very emotional. Feelings are not 'frowned upon' here, as they were on Krypton. In fact, you will most likely have to release them...bring them to the surface, so you can assimilate into the cultures better."
She shivered slightly. "That's...strange. SHOW what I feel? That's not...right."
He looked at her, thought for a second, and then replied. "We have found that if the feelings are strong enough, and you hold them down, they STILL will come to the surface...whether you like it or not, usually with far greater force than expected..." He pointed to the crystal Kara cradled. "What you felt before proves my point." He reached out, asking with his eyes if he could hold it.
She nodded, mutely, and handed it to him.
He paused for a moment, looking for...
Ah! The hologram hummed to life. Kara looked at it again, sadness in her heart.
Kal spoke gently. "If anything else, think of it as a validation; a validation of how much they cared for you and how much YOU cared for them. That aching in your heart is the sadness you feel because you loved them and you miss them. That would be better than not feeling anything at all, right?"
She thought for a moment then quietly nodded. He turned the crystal off and handed it back to her. She was about to speak again when her stomach beat her to it. Kal smiled, and then stood. "I think that means it's time to get you your first earth meal. I'll show you to the kitchen." He reached his hands down to her and helped her to her feet. They started walking, back around her ship, and toward one of the entryways that bordered the chamber.
Kal halted her as they approached the ship.
"Hold out your hands." With a questioning glance, she complied.
"We found this inside the ship when we opened the canopy."
He deposited the burgundy garment in her hands.
She unfolded it and stared at it for a full minute.
"Father..." she whispered, crumpling the fabric as she brought it up to her face to catch the tears that fell... Her only thought for the moment was the fabric in her hands, even as she felt Kal rest his hands on her shoulders.
"Keme ko shema Rao-sem vo che seemhal..."('May All-Father Rao guide you to the House of Honor...')
she whispered, and then turned to him and buried her face in his chest.
"I …" She choked. "I…am sorry for this..." she whispered.
Kal was silent for a moment and gently hugged her. "Don't be. Let it out. He was special to you." He heard her sniff and hiccup a few times, and then, composed again, she straightened and looked up at him.
"What...what can you do?" Kara said. "All of your...associates..."
"Friends…" corrected Kal.
"...your FRIENDS" Kara continued, "...have unique abilities. You are dressed in a brighter uniform than the rest of them. What abilities do you have?"
Kal paused a second, and then looked at her with a smile in his eyes. "I can show you if you let me."
She nodded. He scooped her into his arms as if she were a feather. "Hold on around my neck." he said.
With a questioning gaze she did so...then reacted in shock as she noticed they were whistling down the corridors...
His feet were now far behind his head, his body flat.
NOTHING was touching the ground!!!!
Her hands tightened around his neck like a pair of vice-grips.