Biological Families

by a-delacroix

*!* COMPLETE *!* Clark, Lana, and Whitney travel to 1936 Nazi Germany to save their friends. Special Guest Stars: Dr. and Mrs. Indiana Jones and Var El of Krypton. Note: This is a sequel to 'The Portal'.

15. Biological Families Chapter 15

Biological Families

Author: duane at duaneaakre dot com

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing. Well I own a house, two cars, a pair of jetskis, and a lot of other junk, but none of these characters.

Story Rating: R The story may drift into the HBO range rather than stay in the WB range, so to be on the safe side, I am rating this R.

- Author's Notes -

This chapter takes place on Krypton about two years before Var-El meets Clark in the hanger in Nazi Germany or about fifty years before Clark is born (or 'was delivered from the birthing matrix' as the Kryptonians would say, but more on that later!).

Personally, I have watched the various Superman-related TV shows and movies down through the years, but I have never been into the comics. This chapter is based on research I have done on the internet about the history of Krypton and the El family's place in that history. Of course, just like the many different versions of the Superman story which exist, there are also numerous somewhat conflicting versions of the history of Krypton. I started doing research for this chapter about six months ago and then let the information ferment in my mind for a few months before writing this chapter. So, in the end, I have taken bits and pieces of the various versions and fit them together in a fashion that struck me as interesting, logical, and useful to my story.

Things to know before reading this chapter:

1. Due to the Red Krypton sun, Kryptonians do NOT have any superhuman abilities when they are on Krypton.

2. Clark's father, Jor-El, should be more correctly called Jor-El II (or as I like to say - Junior). Clark's grandfather was Jor-El I (or Senior) and Clark's great-grandfather is Var-El, the central figure of this chapter. The Jor-El who appears in this chapter is a young version of Clark's grandfather, not the Jor-El from the Smallville TV series.

3. To enhance the readability of the chapter, I general use English units of measure (i.e. minutes, hours, days, inches, feet, miles, etc) rather than their Kryptonese equivalents. The one exception is that I use Kryptonese years throughout. One Krypton year equals 1.39 Earth years equals 507 days. I felt this one particular exception helped enhance the 'feel' of life on Krypton without significantly impacting the readability of the story.

I think that is sufficient background. I hope you enjoy a week in the life of Var-El of Krypton!

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Chapter 15

Var-El felt his shoulders sag a little as the holo-images of the Science Council members faded out. 'Damn reactionary old fools,' he cursed under his breathe while setting about the task of powering down the projection equipment.

As he completed the work, a powerful blast of wind shook the observation tower of the El family ancestral home. When the buffeting momentarily died out, Var glanced out the heavy crystal window with its panoramic view stretching from the domed city of Kryptonopolis on the horizon twenty-five miles to the southwest to the magnificent Fire Falls plunging nearly two miles straight down a deep cleft in the canyon wall six miles to the southeast. As always, the view filled him with wonderment. However now the sky, normally a pale green under the light of the red sun, was rapidly darkening as the clouds on the leading edge of the storm raced across the sky.

Down through history the fortunes of the El family had risen and fallen, but always the House of El had stood on this promontory with its commanding view. But in many ways like Krypton itself, the glory days of the House of El seemed to reside in the distant past. The library, conservatory, dining hall, armory, and Hall of Elders seemed to be overflowing with ancient paintings of the house in its heyday when the iridescent crystalline structure seemed to stretch for miles along the top of the bluff. But that was millennia ago before it was forced, like the rest of Krypton, to retreat below ground or huddle under protective domes.

Now all that remained visible of the House of El to the external world was this majestic, five hundred foot tall observation tower and even it needed to be retracted below ground more and more frequently down through the centuries as the intensity, duration, and frequency of the radiation-laden ion storms grew and grew. Frankly, it had reached the point in recent years where Var seldom bothered to raise the tower at all; the same view could just as easily be projected on the tele-screens on the walls in his lab.

But today, as a political statement of the power of the House of El, he had raised the tower for the meeting with the Science Council; not that it had done any good. No, if a thousand years worth of data wasn't enough to convince them it was well past time to act, the symbolic link of the House of El's tower to their own Red Tower wasn't going to sway any entrenched Council Members.

As the tower swayed again under another powerful blast of wind, he glanced out the northern window towards the craggy peaks of the mountains beyond. He was suddenly glad the meeting had only run two and a half hours rather than its normal four. The tower had been an engineering and scientific marvel when it had been constructed almost one thousand years earlier, within a century of the end of the Clone War. But back then the true consequences of the cataclysmic forces unleashed into the environment during the war still hadn't been understood. It would be centuries before the various ion storms looping perpetually around the devastated planet started merging into mega-storms like the one currently bearing down on the tower. Unfortunately, the science of the day never took into account storms capable of spawning multiple cyclones with true supersonic wind speeds. Even this Kryptonillium reinforced tower would be torn to shreds by a direct hit from a supersonic cyclone like the one currently hopping down the mountainside busily throwing off radiation bolts as it headed in the general direction of the House of El. Having the observation tower destroyed in the middle of the council session would have, at least momentarily, gotten their attention, but Var didn't have a sufficient death wish to die just to make a point.

As Var hit the emergency tower retraction button, which could lower the entire five hundred foot tower into the ground in less than three minutes, he took one last look at the vista to the south. Depending how the next several weeks played out, it might be months or years before he would next have an opportunity to enjoy this view first hand.

Once the tower was fully retracted, Var exited its upper observatory level which now was at the same level as the more public portion of the great underground facility. Not that 'more public' had much meaning these days as he and his robotic servants were generally the only ones ever in residence. No, in the hundred years since Kryptonopolis' protective dome had been completed, more and more of the family's time was spent at their residence in the city. When he paused to think about it, he realized his generation had been the worse yet as it had been almost five years since Salva or any of the children had even been out here. He enjoyed the peace and quiet this place provided for his experiments, but couldn't help but wonder if he would be the last of the family to spend significant time out here at the ancestral home. Of course, if he could convince the Supreme Council of the rapidly approaching peril and get them to support his work, then perhaps within his lifetime there wouldn't be any members of the House of El left on the planet to inherit this moldering, old mausoleum.

Before returning to his work, Var decided to permit himself a few moments to watch the storm. He quickly strode down the main central passageway of this level until he reached the Hall of Elders with its magnificent two story windows overlooking the valley beyond. These windows used three layers of the thickest crystal and were recessed two feet from the actual face of the cliff, but still they managed to suffer a cracked pane at least once a year. And as he stood gazing out, he could immediately understand why, as he watched giant boulders the storm had torn loose go hurtling down past the windows. If a gust of supersonic wind caught one of the giant boulders at just the right time, it would toss the rock straight through all three layers of crystal.

However even giant boulders paled in comparison to the radiation bolts the storm was tossing about. The bolts, a vivid brilliant green, would strike rocks on the cliff face or outcroppings on the valley floor and leave a vivid afterglow for several minutes. It was amazing any life still survived on the surface of the planet, he thought, as Kryptonians could only move about freely without environmental suits on less than thirty percent of the continent of Lurvan and on the ancient home continent of Urrika, the situation was even worse. But a number of the hardier species like the flame dragons and the giant migrating tree herds still survived.

Quickly tiring of watching the power and grandeur of a storm he had seen too many times before, Var turned away from the windows. Before exiting the Hall of Elders with its collection of relics spanning the nearly ten thousand year history of the family, Var's gaze fell on the item which most dominated the room: the powered exoskeletal warsuit Van-El, one of the most illustrious members of the family, had worn during the extended Clone War. Although with the perspective gained by a thousand year separation from the events, he had a hard time accepting that the term 'illustrious' should be associated with anyone on either side of the conflict. Particularly since civilization and the whole Rao-forsaken planet were still reeling from the aftereffects of the war.

And the whole Clone War had been so pointless. Not that the underlying cause wasn't just, but the rebels who had instigated the war had ultimately lost the thousand year battle. However in one of the greatest ironies of Kryptonian history, their position on the clone issue would be accepted by all of society within twenty years of their defeat.

For a moment the highlights of Kryptonian history, which the tele-learning machines had permanently engraved in his mind as a child, came to the forefront of his thoughts:

Circa 3100 B.U. - The oldest archeological evidence of Kryptonians, dogs, monkeys, and apes all date from this period. All other Kryptonian life forms like drangs, flamedragons, and snagriffs display fossil records dating back millions of years. To scientists, this indicated the Kryptonian race and its closest biological relatives all developed on a different planet and were brought to Krypton in this time frame. It was therefore probably not a coincidence that the first evidence of an alien high-tech race, commonly referred to as the 'Marvaders', dates to within one hundred years of this time.

Circa 1900 B.U. - Approximate date of the legendary 'Great Revolt' against the Marvaders. All evidence of the Marvaders disappears at this time and also all evidence of technological artifacts. The surviving Kryptonians begin an extended decline into savagery.

0 A.U. - Erok-El conquers and unifies the old continent of Urrika creating the first great empire, which would survive for millennia. Additionally, Erok established Erkol, the first permanent city on Krypton. His son, who was the first to be named Kal-El, would be followed by twenty more generations of kings during the first great era of the House of El.

Circa 700 A.U. - The first Age of Science begins with the development of the timepiece by Kil-Gor.

1071 A.U. - An atomic accident destroys the ancient capitol city of Erkol. The Kryptonian race turns fanatically anti-science. A colony of scientists flees to the uninhabited continent of Lurvan to escape persecution.

1094 A.U. - The colonists in Lurvan develop a slower-than-light space drive and use it to power an interstellar Ark on a one-way voyage to a planet they named Daxxum, which circled another red star.

1094-6285 A.U. - The Great Dark Age of Krypton with religious-style persecution of all appearances of science.

6285 A.U. - Krypton is invaded and conquered by the alien Vrang race, who reintroduced science.

6357 A.U. - Through stolen Vrang technology, the Kryptonians, led by Hatu-El, defeat the Vrang. The second Age of Science begins.

6571 A.U. - Cloning process for the production of replacement body parts is perfected.

6571-7237 A.U. - The Golden Age of art and culture on Krypton.

7237 A.U. - Nrya Lugo-Zee allows her number one clone to gain sentience with the plan to have the clone become the wife of her son, Ran-Zee. He was so horrified by his mother's actions; he killed her and the clone. This event is instrumental in starting the Clone War.

7237-8251 A.U. - The Clone War is fought between the 'Clone Rights Movement', who abhor the use of 'Body Banks' filled with mindless fully grown clones to prolong the Kryptonian lifespan, and the Science Council. An offshoot branch of the Clone Rights Movement, the Black Zero, destroy the Kryptonian capital city of Kandor in an attack that kills forty million people.

8251 A.U. - The Science Council defeats the Clones Rights Movement ending the Clone War, but not before serious and permanent ecological damage is done to the planet. Start of the age of pure emotionless science.

8255 A.U. - Reconstruction of the capital city, Kandor, begins.

8268 A.U. - A scientific means, based on bioengineering, is developed to prolong the lifespan without the need for clones. Possession of clones and cloning technology is banned.

9309 A.U. - The present day. (Author's Note: The Kryptonian year 9309 A.U. is equal to the Earth year 1934 A.D.)

Var shook his head to loosen the hold of the implanted knowledge; sometimes the tele-learning machines seemed to do too good of a job jamming the data in. Finally, as his head cleared, he found himself still staring at the ancient warsuit. For a moment he let the fantasy run through his head where he put on the powerful armor and used it to shake some sense into the Science Council.

Before the fantasy had completely played out, it was interrupted by the beeping of his communicator.

"Accept call," he said aloud, which was the signal for the house brain to activate the nearest tele-viewing screen.

The screen brightened to show the smiling face of Salva, his wife, sitting behind her desk at her office in Kryptonopolis.

"Greetings, my husband," she began formally, as etiquette demanded. Then with more warmth in her voice she continued. "How did the meeting with the Science Council go? Did you make any progress?"

As she spoke, Var walked out of the Hall of Elders and turned towards the gravity shaft leading to his lab. As he moved, the house brain automatically turned on tele-screens in front of him and turned off those he had already passed. Var paused as he reached the open shaft to focus his attention on Salva's face on the screen.

Shaking his head, he took a moment to explain, although he knew she didn't in her heart believe his data anymore than the Science Council did. Everyone thought the status quo could be maintained indefinitely. But at least she had the courtesy to humor him.

"Not well, but at least the Science Council here in Kryptonopolis has agreed to let me present my data to the Supreme Council in Kandor. Since we are going to be in Kandor next week for Zim's bonding ceremony, I am trying to schedule a time around then. Hopefully, it will be a little harder to ignore me, if I am actually in the room."

Salva nodded distractedly as someone's elbow came within range of the tele-camera pickup.

"Ah, Var, can you give me a minute? Something has come up that needs my attention."

"Certainly, my dear. I was on my way back to the lab. Give me five minutes to get there and get out of these Rao-damned formal robes."

Salva couldn't keep a small grin from flicking across her face. Only Var would use the name of an ancient God who had been discredit for millennia when he felt the need to let out a little of his frustration.

"Okay," was all she said. Var could see her attention had already focused back on her job before the screen even had time to go blank.

Turning back to the grav-shaft, Var calmly stepped off the edge into nothingness. Quickly his body floated out to the center of the fifteen foot diameter cylinder. His stomach gave the tiniest of lurches as the house brain made a final adjustment to the gravity wave projectors. Then his body rapidly accelerated down the tube; he covered the one and a quarter miles down to the lab level in twenty three seconds. Fortunately, the house brain was very good and there was no sense of falling or crushing acceleration and deceleration at the ends of the short trip. No, within the total darkness of the shaft, it felt like he was simply standing on an invisible sheet of glass.

The level on which Var had located his lab had originally been built at the base of the promontory to facilitate delivery of extremely large, bulky and heavy items, which couldn't easily be transported to the bluff far above. And in the end it was turning out to be surprisingly convenient that the cavernous space was where he had decided to set up his initial experiments. Now with his experiments almost at fruition, the unloading area was just the right size to contain the old intercontinental passenger liner he was retrofitting as his prototype test article.

But before he could get back to work, it was time to get rid of the formal over-robe required by ancient custom when meeting with the council. Stepping into the temporary living quarters the robots had set up on this level for his use while the ship was being retrofitted, he quickly stripped off the heavily brocaded gray mantel with its large white El family crest stretched across the full width of his chest. Before it had a chance to even reach the chair towards which he tossed it, a long, multi-jointed arm reached out and snagged it. Then another pair of arms held open his much more comfortable work cloak before him.

As he slid his arms into the offered silver cloak, he absent-mindedly responded with a 'Thanks, Unit Seven." The spidery-looking robot almost seemed to preen as it mimicked a small bow before trying to reach out and adjust the drape of his utility vestments. With just a hint of annoyance showing in his face, Var swatted the robot's arms away. This series of valet robots had always been too 'touchy-feely' for his taste. Once more he tried to figure when he could slip into his schedule a few hours for some reprogramming, but knew in his heart that programming valet robots was so far down on his list of priorities that it would simply never happen.

Heading towards the door which led from his apartment directly into the lab space, Var was stopped by his communicator once more announcing an incoming call. Var was pleasantly surprised to find his wife once again on the other end of the call; usually her 'I'll call back in five minutes' meant 'I'll call back in two or three hours'.

Fingering his marriage bracelet and realizing it had been over a week since he had been to the city to see his family, Var asked, "Are Zim and Byma back from their pilgrimage to the Jewel Mountains yet?"

Salva took a moment to glance down at the matching bracelet encircling her more slender and graceful wrist. Suddenly, it brought back memories of their own pre-wedding trip to the Jewel Mountains. It was hard for her to believe it had been almost eighteen years since their own pilgrimage. Legend said that the Jewel Mountains were entirely composed of the fossilized remains of long extinct giant birds which had a unique crystalline bone structure. Like most legends, the truth was more mundane. Yes, remains of giant birds with crystal-like bones could be found only in the Jewel Mountains, but they hardly represented a significant fraction of the mountain range's entire mass. Still, it had long been tradition for engaged couples to make the two month journey to find their wedding bands which had several million years earlier been the neck vertebrae of the crystal birds. Nowadays, it was rare for Kryptonian youths to be able to afford the costs of mounting an expedition into the hostile depths of the mountains and most acquired their bracelets through one of the marriage services. However members of the Kryptonian elite still usually upheld the tradition. And Salva was glad Zim and Byma had had this opportunity because she felt facing all the dangers, hardships, and enforced time together would either drive them apart or ensure a strong and lasting marriage.

"Not yet, but they did call to say they were on their way and should be home before this evening. Will you be home in time for dinner and the celebration?"

Var grimaced a little at how easily she referred to their place in the city as home. But then in eighteen years of marriage, she had never spent the night out here at the ancestral estate. So there was no reason for her to think of this as home.

Even though he knew he would answer yes to her question, he still took a moment to mentally review the status of his project. If the robots hadn't run into any unexpected problems while he was in session with the Science Council, three more hours worth of work should have everything ready for the first trial run using the equipment installed in the ship. He would have liked to make the initial attempt before meeting with the Supreme Council, but it was now looking unlikely as events related to the upcoming wedding would fill most of his time for the next week. Of course, a failure before the meeting would certainly not help his cause and he really didn't want anything to happen which would force him to miss his eldest son's marriage ceremony.

Var nodded towards his wife's image on the screen. "I have a couple more hours of work to do here, but I will be there in plenty of time for dinner."

Salva smiled with relief; sometimes Var put his experiments ahead of the needs of his family. Also, like many of the great scientists down through Kryptonian history, Var had a tendency to be absentminded about time when he was caught up in his work. After this call, she would call the house brain out at the estate and make sure it would remind Var when he needed to depart.

"Excellent, dear. You have been sequestered out there too long this trip, it will be good to see you in person."

Var nodded his agreement. "I know, but I have been making excellent progress. In fact, I am almost ready for a full-scale test. I will tell you all about it tonight."

Salva smiled indulgently to her husband. Most of his experiments had been abysmal failures, but his work kept him happy and left her free to run the family business as she saw fit. And she thought with pride of how the fortunes of the El family hadn't looked this bright in many generations.

"I look forward to hearing all about it. Until tonight then," she answered. And then, just before she broke the connection, she added a quiet, "I love you."

Var found himself smiling at the fading screen. Generally, Salva was the typical modern-day Kryptonian: cool, analytical, and business-like. Var sometimes thought he was the only living throwback to some lost romantic era, but then Salva would surprise him in some small way like the unexpected, 'I love you.'

Var stepped through the doorway into the large lab space which was almost entirely filled by the ship. Thirty robots were visible scuttling around the exterior of the ship and he knew at least three as many were working on the interior where all of the equipment was being installed.

The anti-gravity ship, 'Wegthor's Shadow'', had served for over two hundred years on a route between Kandor and Kryptonopolis here on the Lurvan continent and Xan and Argo City on the Urrika continent on the opposite side of the world. The large encircling saucer section contained the anti-gravity and secondary drive systems, the environmental controls, and the engineering compartments. The central spherical section had been outfitted with four decks of luxury cabins which could accommodate one hundred eighty passengers, plus dining rooms, entertainment areas, and an upper command deck for the twenty-seven hour trip to the far side of the world.

The grand old ship had been the height of luxurious travel in its heyday, but the completion of the maglev tube system fourteen years earlier had sealed its fate. With the undersea tube system capable of mach 22 speeds, the intercontinental travel time had been cut from twenty-seven hours to a little over four.

But while the liner was obsolete for commercial travel, it was perfect for Var's purposes. Stripping out most of the passenger accommodations had provided space for the giant power generators needed to drive the teleportation equipment. With this configuration, theory said the ship should be able to reach a planet in another star system in a single jump. The teleportation equipment could just as easily transport a fixed facility, but Var wasn't sure what he would find at the other end of the jump and the mobility provided by using the ship seemed like a prudent precaution.

Shaking his head slightly at how easily he seemed to be distracted today, Var started across the floor of the lab towards the entry ramp of the ship. Of course, between the meeting with the Science Council and the imminent return of Zim and his intended from the Jewel Mountains, there had been good reason for it today. Still, if the ship was to be finished before his departure for Kryptonopolis this evening, he was going to have to focus.

With a firmer stride, Var picked up his pace and turned his thoughts to the final niggling issues of properly interfacing both the anti-gravity controls and the teleportation controls to the inputs of the ship's brain. Once more he wished he had been able to upgrade the ship's brain from its current Mark seventy-three configuration to something newer like a Mark one oh six. But the brain's main core was recessed deep within the anti-matter drive areas, and changing the brain out would have required pulling all of the anti-grav equipment. And the cost of doing that exceeded the value of the entire ship. Plus with a change that complex, it could take months, if not years, for the new brain to settle into ship operations. Hopefully, his decision to retain the existing brain and the anti-grav equipment wouldn't be the wrong one.

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Var inspected his semi-formal dark blue over-robe in the mirror of his dressing room. He had hoped it would just be the immediate family and Byma's parents for dinner, but once Salva had confirmed the children would be home for dinner, the invitations had quickly flowed out. When he had last queried the house brain, the dinner party had grown to seventy-five and had been moved from the more intimate dining hall to the great hall.

Deciding his appearance was acceptable, Var set off in search of his two younger children, Kayla and Jor. Not that they could hardly be considered children any longer with Kayla's fifteenth year celebration, when she would be officially recognized as an adult, coming up in two months and Jor already eleven and almost as tall as his father and older brother.

Hopefully, if he found them, they could spend a few minutes together before the guests started arriving. It had bothered him a lot when he realized during his trip into the city from the ancestral estate that in the two months Zim had been gone, he had barely seen any more of his other two children.

With ten minutes searching, Var found Jor in the conservatory. The conservatory provided a sweeping view of the Kryptonopolis skyline centered on the infamous Red Tower that soared to almost eight thousand feet and which had driven the size and shape of the fifteen mile wide crystalline dome grown to protect the city. But Jor was oblivious to the view as he sat hunched over a tele-tablet. Walking up and glancing over his son's shoulder, Var expected to see the latest emotive cinema extravaganza playing on the screen, but instead it was filled with dry text and photos from what was obviously an archeological dig of some kind.

"Still got the history bug, son? What is it today? Erok-El and his campaign to unify Urrika?"

Var watched as Jor looked up from the tele-tablet. Like most of the men in the El family, he was tall, lean, and had jet-black hair. Although at the moment his hair was dyed a shade of orange that almost hurt the eyes. Var was about to make a derogatory comment, but then recalled some of the fashion crazes of his own youth and bit his tongue. Jor had always been so bookish; maybe this hair statement was a good sign.

"Hello, father," began Jor with a respectful tone. "No, not Erok, something much earlier. A group of scholars from Argo City has uncovered some new ruins which appear to date from the earliest portion of the Marvader's occupation. This is right at the boundary where Kryptonians first seem to appear in archeological record. And they may have found the missing clue as to where we came from."

Var pulled up another chair and sat down beside his son. He hadn't heard anything about a new dig or a new discovery, but that wasn't usually his area of interest and he had been focused on getting the ship ready.

"What kind of clue?"

Jor smiled at this unexpected interest from his father. Usually, at the first mention of history or archeology his father lost interest. No, only physics seemed to arouse his father's passion and the math involved always quickly exceeded Jor's knowledge. Sometimes he found it so frustrating; waiting for the day when his mind would be mature enough to accept the advance mental techniques. Total recall, tele-implanted knowledge, and enhanced enthymeme skills all sounded so useful. Oh well, it was less than a year now until his twelfth birthday when he would finally be eligible to stand for the 'Purl Nous'.

"They have uncovered an inlaid floor that is a star map. With over twelve thousand years of stellar drift, they have so far only identified a handful of stars. But one of them, Sol, looks like a promising candidate. When the superluminary-telescope on Mithen was trained on that system, they found a planet with people who look just like us, as well as dogs and monkeys. Over the past two hundred years since the lunar observatory was completed, several planets have been discovered with one or two of these species, but never before one with all three."

Var found himself getting intrigued. He hadn't yet decided on a destination for his first test flight of the ship, but suddenly, visiting the world from which the Kryptonian race might have sprung sounded very appealing.

"Jor, what are the coordinates for this Sol system? I might want to do a little more research myself."

Jor made a couple of strokes across the surface of the tele-tablet and quickly a star map of the local region of the galaxy was displayed. A flashing symbol indicated Sol and next to it a string of coordinates were highlighted in red.

Var studied the display for a couple of seconds before reaching out with a gesture which caused the star map to rotate to several different view angles. Then he nodded to Jor that his memory had finished storing the scene and Jor's tele-tablet was once more his to control.

Before they could continue their conversation, the room was filled with the sound of the massive, five ton, solid-gold gong, which was located in the traditional niche in the entry hall, announcing the formal beginning of the evening's festivities.

Var rose to his feet. "Son, I would like to hear more about the findings of this dig, but I am afraid that is my signal to go mingle with the guests. Can we continue this discussion tomorrow after breakfast?"

Jor nodded eagerly. It wasn't often he got to spend time with his father two days in a row. He quickly thought of additional related items he wanted to research to be better prepared.

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Five days later the El and Ar families stood gathered outside the Palace of Marriage. The palace was located in a small wooded area on a hillside above the cultural district of Kandor. From where Var stood he could easily pick out the sprawling Hall of Worlds, the Hall of History and Technology, and the Museum of Antiquarian Art.

It was a beautiful day, but then every day was a beautiful day in Kandor. Oh, sometimes the sky above its dome was covered with clouds; however under the dome the weather was always perfect since the brains in charge of the climate control system only allowed rain during the pre-dawn hours.

Var looked with pride at his soon to be expanded clan. Then seeing his mother, Arra Mar-El, supporting his grandfather, Dakka-Ra, while standing next to Salva's mother, Sal Skal-Var, it once more drove home how much sacrifice seemed to be expected of the leading citizens of Krypton.

Var never knew is father, Mar-El, who died while Var was still an unborn infant in a matrix chamber at the Hall of Gestation. Mar had disappeared while on a mapping expedition to the northern Polar Regions with his father-in-law, Dakka-Ra. While trekking up a deep glacier-formed valley, the two men had come upon the initial landing site of the blue-skinned Kree. Like others before them, this alien race was intent on the conquest of Krypton. To protect their planet, the two men decided Mar would stay behind to monitor and stall the invaders while Dakka returned to Lurvan for reinforcements. It was a long, hard journey out of the frozen artic wastelands for Dakka, as the Kree were jamming all communications in a thousand mile radius. By the time he reached home and then returned with an army, over a month had passed. The Kryptonian army was able to defeat the Kree, but they never found any sign of what had happened to Var's father.

Since Var had been old enough to understand the story, he had always nourished the secret fantasy his father was still alive somewhere on the Kree home world. He had hoped his first test flight with his ship would be a rescue mission in search of his father, but so far he had been unable to locate the Kree home world.

With his father missing and now, thirty-two years later, probably dead, Var had grown up thinking of his grandfather, Dakka, more like his father than his grandfather. And seeing how heavily Dakka was forced to lean on his daughter for support, it pained Var to realize how much the old man had aged in the past few years. At this rate, he might not survive long enough to witness the future weddings of Var's two younger children. Therefore Var intended to make this the happiest day possible for Dakka.

Of course, it wasn't just his side of the family which had made the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good of Krypton. No, Salva's father, Skal-Var, had also died, but at least Salva had been ten before it happened so she had some clear memories of him to cherish.

Skal-Var had been one of the leading missile guidance system experts of his day. Unfortunately, designing autonomous brains for exo-atmospheric missiles had still been in its infancy when the giant, killer comet had been discovered on a collision course with Krypton. Several missile launches were attempted to destroy the comet and against an ordinary comet they would have probably worked. However this comet had had a massive spinning iron core, which as it approached Krypton's red sun, had started to generate a powerful electro-magnetic field the missile brains were never designed to handle. With time running out to design, grow, integrate, and test a new brain before the comet would strike, Skal had secretly boarded one of the missiles and personally guided it to its target. It wasn't until the planet had been saved that Skal's sacrifice had been discovered. Skal had been posthumously awarded Krypton's highest medal, the Star of Rao, and a statue of him had been erected in the Hall of Worlds.

Thoughts of Skal-Var's statue brought Var full-circle to the marriage tradition where statues of celebrated ancestors were brought to the Palace of Marriage to bear witness to their descendants' weddings. Var just hoped neither Zim nor his bride, Byma, would be asked one day to make the ultimate sacrifice for Krypton like Mar-El, Skal-Var, or so many of the others of the family whose statues would be present for today's ceremony.

Var tried to shrug off the perpetual sense of gloom that seemed to have clouded his thoughts since he first made his discovery of the planet-threatening trends in Krypton's environmental conditions five years earlier, thoughts which were now amplified by thinking of Mar and Skal. Because, if he was willing to admit what he knew in his heart to be true, it was not Zim or Byma he was worried about joining Mar and Skal in martyrdom, but himself. Before Krypton's leaders and people would accept his conclusions, he, too, might have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

But that day was not today, Var knew, as he forced a cheerful smile onto his face before taking Salva's hand and guiding her over to where their mothers and his grandfather stood.

When they reached the others, Var gestured with his free hand towards the entryway. "Sal, Mother, Grandfather, the ceremonial chamber should be ready now. Shall we proceed?"

Before any of them could respond, Var's daughter, Kayla, joined the group. "Oh, Father. Can't we wait until Byma and her parents arrive? I want to see her gown."

Var looked at his tall, blonde daughter standing beside her dark-haired mother. She was dressed in a diaphanous sky-green gown enriched with hundreds of tiny green firestones to complement the strand of larger gems adorning her throat. The bride was supposed to be the most beautiful woman on her wedding day, but it was hard to imagine how Byma could possibly look more beautiful than Kayla.

"Kayla, there will be plenty of time to admire her gown after the ceremony. Now, find your brother, Jor, and meet us inside."

Kayla momentarily got a familiar pouty expression on her face because she hadn't gotten her way, but then she seemed to remember this was Zim and Byma's day, not hers.

"Yes, Father," she answered before heading off towards a group of benches in the small courtyard around the corner where she had last seen Jor sitting and, as usual, working on a portable tele-tablet. Kayla never understood Jor's fascination with history when there were so many interesting things in the present to focus on.

After watching Kayla head off, Var turned and stepped to the opposite side of Dakka from his mother. Then gesturing with his free hand towards the building's entrance, the party set off.

The Palace of Marriage had been used by the elite of the continent of Lurvan ever since the continent had been permanently settled almost three thousand years earlier. Well, it had been continuously used except for the three hundred year period from the destruction of Kandor during the Clone War until the city was rebuilt.

The wedding chamber itself was a large oval room with space for one thousand, yet by tradition, only the immediate family would be present for the actual ceremony. The room's perimeter was lined with sixty-three ornate columns forming niches where the statues of the prominent ancestors would be placed. Today, with this joining of two of the oldest and most powerful families, all of the available niches were occupied.

As Var and the others entered the chamber, it seemed just as beautiful as the last time he had been there for his own marriage ceremony. As he looked up, Var noticed how the crystal roof had been polarized to create giant versions of the El and Ar family crests. If the ceiling had manifested the same effect at his own wedding, he had been too preoccupied to notice.

However, while he might not have noticed the crystal ceiling in his dazed state at his own wedding, he certainly remembered the room's centerpiece, the Jewel of Honor. This large, eight foot diameter multi-faceted firestone was mounted on a short pedestal. Most firestones were a single color like the green ones in Kayla's gown and necklace, but the giant Jewel of Honor was the rarest kind. It was predominantly red, but different colored lights seemed to flicker around its interior almost as if it was alive. According to tradition, any couple who said their vows while standing on this gemstone was assured a fruitful marriage. Of course, if Var wanted to be cynical, he could say this guarantee of children had nothing to do with the Jewel of Honor and everything to do with the second part of the ceremony where the newly wedded couples had, for the past eight hundred years, immediately proceeded to the Hall of Gestation and left the required biological samples.

The roots of the Hall of Gestation could be found in the period of rapid bio-engineering advances which occurred immediately after the conclusion of the Clone War. Garf-Og, one of the greatest scientists in the history of Krypton, discovered a method to greatly enhance an individual's mental development. The first stage in the two step process involved introducing genetic and hormonal materials at frequent intervals throughout fetal development as well as prenatal manipulation of the natural electro-magnetic fields of the brain's cortex. None of these processes were practical in a mother's womb, but could be achieved in an artificial environment. The second stage of the process occurred on the recipient's twelfth birthday and was popularly referred to as 'Purl Nous'. On that occasion, vast quantities of data were forced into the mind in one massive burst. A brain which had been genetically enhanced before birth responded to the overload condition by creating an enormous set of new links and pathways between the neurons. Once Garf-Og perfected his method, the recipients of the process all had nearly photographic memories and roughly three times the analytical capabilities of the average Kryptonian. Within ten years of the verification of Garf-Og's results, the technique became mandatory for all citizens of Krypton. So with the birth of the following generation of Kryptonians, the Age of the Hall of Gestation and the Era of the Superminds began.

Var led his small group over to a row of formal, high-backed chairs with the El family crest emblazoned on the back and seat cushions. These chairs were located to the right of the Jewel of Honor, as tradition demanded for the groom's side of the family. On the opposite side of the raised jewel were a matching set of chairs for the bride's side of the family.

Kayla and Jor had barely joined them when the mighty bell began to toll, announcing the commencement of the ceremony. As the final peal echoed to silence, a distinguished older gentleman stepped from a doorway beyond the Jewel and ascended to its upper surface. Even though only fourteen people were present in the magnificent room, a hush still seemed to fall across them as they realized the man was Dev-Dal, the head of the Supreme Council. Var had called in quite a few favors to get Dal, as he had only officiated at three other marriage ceremonies in the past decade. Var felt the appreciative glances from people on both sides of the jewel and knew a moment of pride that he had been able to arrange this honor for his oldest son and his bride. Then it was necessary for him to consciously maintain the smile on his face as he thought of what Salva's reaction would be if she found out the real reason he had worked so hard to get Dal here was to have a little one-on-one conversation to set the groundwork before his scheduled meeting with the Supreme Council in two days time. But then he remembered how Salva had always been a better politician than he, so she might actually applaud his efforts to 'kill two snagriffs with a single stone'.

"Welcome," boomed out Dev-Dal in a voice intended to address a standing room only public meeting of the council rather than the intimate company assembled for the ceremony. "In the name of the Supreme Council, the Science Council, the Assembly of Elders, and the whole people of Krypton, I bid you welcome on this most joyous of days."

With the traditional opening words complete, the magnificent marriage bell once more rang out. Everyone rose to their feet and turned towards the doorway through which the betrothed couple would enter.

As the bell fell silent, Zim and Byma made their entrance wearing blood-red, hooded robes that left only their eyes visible. The totally concealing vestments were one of the last vestiges of the horrific times the Kryptonian people had experienced during the seventy year subjugation by the Vrang. While those dark times were now over three thousand years in the past, they still left their mark on the psyche of the race. The Vrang, an insectoidal derived race, had had a hive based mentality which abhorred any hint of individuality or even gender. During their overlordship, the people of Krypton had been forced at all times to wear garments which completely concealed their identities. Only during secret wedding ceremonies did they risk discarding the enveloping robes. After the Vrang were ultimately driven off world, the tradition of starting the wedding in the historic hooded robes had been continued.

Slowly, with a time-honored pace, the betrothed couple circled the room pausing to bow before each of the statues as Dev-Dal proclaimed the ancestor's name. After the homage to the departed was complete, they bowed left and right to the living members of their families before finally ascending the Jewel of Honor to stand before Dev-Dal.

"Welcome Zim-El and Byma Ruth-Ar. Today, you stand before your assembled families to publicly proclaim your love for each other and your intention to become one in the eyes of the state with all of the duties and responsibilities that entails. As our forefathers once shook off the shackles that bound them and the robes that hid them and proclaimed their Kryptonian heritage in throwing the accursed Vrang off-planet, are you now ready to throw off your cloak and take up your place as citizens of Krypton?"

"We are," responded the pair with just a hint of a tremor in their voices as the enormity of the day took its toll. Under Kryptonian law, only partial citizenship was conferred when a youth became an adult at fifteen. Full citizenship with the right to vote, hold public office, be the majority owner in a business and many other critical rights and responsibilities was not conferred until marriage. So this ceremony had important civil as well as emotional impact on Zim and Byma's lives and futures.

"Then cast forth your robes and stand proudly as Kryptonians in the light of our glorious red sun."

Zim and Byma threw back their hoods and then quickly ripped off the red robes and dropped them to the surface of the jewel. Beneath the robes they both wore under-tunics of a light gold color. These tunics quickly took on a slightly reddish hue as the crystal roof was adjusted to create a beam of light directed onto the couple.

"Please raise the symbols of your joining into the light and repeat after me," continued Dev-Dal.

Zim and Byma retrieved their bracelets from within their tunics and lifted them high up into the light. Immediately, these neck vertebrae from the long-extinct giant crystal birds became to glitter and glow. As they stared up at bracelets and felt them begin to warm in response to the powerful light, they both remembered the highs and lows of the two months they had spent trekking through the Jewel Mountains in search of these pieces of nearly indestructible mineral. There had been arguments, fights, and making up. But it wasn't until their nearly catastrophic encounter with the flame dragon that they had truly understood the meaning of being a united couple where the welfare of your partner was always more important than your own.

"We stand here in the light and proclaim our eternal commitment to each other," began Dev-Dal before pausing to allow the others to repeat the oath.

"We shall defend our hearts and homes against all who seek to break this union."

"We shall do our sacred duty to ensure the future and safety of our race and our planet."

"We shall honor our family and our ancestors through our thoughts and deeds."

And so the recitation continued until all twenty-seven verses had been spoken and acknowledge.

Finally, Dev-Dal raised his hand to clasp the couple's raised hands and bring the bracelets into contact.

Lowering their hands he continued softly. "You may now exchange your bracelets."

Staring into each other's eyes, they quickly slipped the bracelet they were holding onto their opposite's left wrist. Once the bracelets were in place, they each raised their bracelet to their partner's lips for the traditional kiss.

As they stepped back, Dev-Dal continued, "Congratulations. You may now replace your robes."

Zim and Byma reached down and retrieved their discarded red robes. But before putting them back on, the robes were reversed so the inner silver metallic surface was now exposed.

Once the silvery robes were back in place and Dev-Dal finished a quick final adjustment, he looked past the couple and proclaimed to the assembled families. "Arise and meet the newest citizens of Krypton."

As soon as everyone was standing, he continued. "I am proud and honored to present Zim-El and Byma Zim-El."

As he announced their names, he signaled for the newly united pair to turn and face their families. It wasn't until this moment that the family members could clearly see what they knew all along would be there. The fronts of their silver robes were both adorned with large, metallic-blue copies of the El family crest.

The El family members were the first to start up a round of applause for these newest full members of the El family, however the members of the Ar family were quick to follow suit.

Before the clapping had a chance to fully die out, Zim and Byma descended from the Jewel of Honor. As tradition dictated, Zim first led Byma over to her side of the family, where she said her formal good-byes. Then he led her over to his family where she was welcomed with open arms, again as required by tradition. Not that giving her a hug was in any sense a hardship, as Byma was extremely beautiful and had been almost a member of the family for the past year. Certainly, she had easily spent more than double the amount of time with her new family than Var had.

As soon as etiquette had been satisfied, Byma turned to Kayla. "Kayla, how about helping me change before the celebration begins?"

Kayla smiled and nodded. "Of course, I have been dying to see your gown."

Byma gave Zim a quick peck on the cheek and then the girls were off to the changing room.

+ - + - + - + - + - + - +

Var stepped up to the podium across from the table where the seven members of the Supreme Council sat. He couldn't fully suppress the slight queasiness he felt in his stomach. His preliminary meeting with Dev-Dal at the marriage celebration hadn't gone particularly well. And now, looking at the stern, impassive faces of the other six members, he had the sinking feeling that it was going to be just like the session with the Science Council a week earlier.

"Good afternoon, Tanthes. I am here today about the greater good of the Kryptonian people," opened Var with the traditional words required to remind everyone present of the purpose of the Council. As he said the words, Var couldn't help but think that this time there was more truth in them then at almost any other time. He was there about the greater good, if saving the race from its ultimate destruction counted. And remembering his purpose helped calm him.

Var paused for a moment to look out across the room. Rarely did the Council meet in closed session. And when it did, he assumed a group of functionaries would still typically be present, but not today. No, today only Var and the Council members were present. It could only mean they had every intention to censure him and that they didn't want the public appearance that they even tacitly agreed with his position by the mere fact he had been allowed to address them.

"Tanthes, you all know why I am here. Krypton and her people are in grave danger and the time to act is now, before it is too late." Var tapped a command into the small tele-tablet on the podium before him and instantly the giant tele-screen mounted to one side between him and the council members sprang to life.

"The following data is a compilation of information for the past thousand years since the end of the Clone War. It is only in the last five years that it has become apparent the slow, steady decline in the viability of the planet is not linear, but exponential."

Var threw up charts in rapid succession, knowing with everyone's photographic memories they could then mull over the data while he continued his presentation.

Remaining arable land without protective domes: Reaches zero in twenty-seven years.

Disappearance of native land-based Kryptonian fauna: Reaches one hundred percent in thirty-one years.

Disappearance of native land-based Kryptonian flora: Reaches one hundred percent in thirty-four years.

Disappearance of native aquatic Kryptonian fauna: Reaches one hundred percent in thirty-six years.

Disappearance of native aquatic Kryptonian flora: Reaches one hundred percent in thirty-nine years.

Frequency of mega-ion storms: Reaches one hundred percent in thirty-seven years.

Average surface wind speed: Reaches supersonic levels in forty-one years.

Average radiation level: Exceeds lethal threshold in thirty-eight years.

Frequency of factor six planetary quakes: Exceeds one per day in eighteen years.

Frequency of factor nine planetary quakes: Exceeds one per day in thirty-three years.

First factor fourteen planetary quake: Thirty-six years.

Var had reshuffled the order of his data at the last minute to show the quake data last since this was the most likely data to attract the Council's attention after the morning's news report. Last night, a factor eight quake had struck with an epicenter forty miles from Xan and had caused a massive crack in that city's protective dome. What would life be like in thirty-three years when an order of magnitude greater quake struck somewhere on the planet every day? And what would a factor fourteen quake, with a million times the energy level of the Xan quake, do to the planet? Var couldn't even begin to imagine the level of destruction.

As the data flow on the giant tele-screen ground to a halt, Var once again spoke up.

"Any one of these items is sufficient to make the continued existence of our race on this planet unsustainable. Taken together, Krypton, as we know it, will end somewhere between thirty and forty years from now."

Before Var could continue, he was interrupted by Ken-Em, the leading mathematician on the Council.

"I think you are making too much of the recent portion of the data. It looks to me like it is just normal fluctuation around a linear curve. I believe we have at least five thousand years before any of the items you listed will come to pass."

Var stared at Ken-Em for a moment. How could he consider data where all the deviation from linear was on one side of the curve to be normal fluctuation?

"Tanth Em, surely you must see the way all of the data is trending above a linear line is the classic sign of the knee in an exponential curve? Even my son, who hasn't yet stood for 'Purl Nous', could take the second derivative and see the resulting value is positive and that the curves are accelerating."

Ken-Em shook his head no, but refused to meet Var's eye.

Before the mathematical impasse lingered too long, Dev-Dal stepped back into the conversation.

"Var-El, if, and I say if, we were to believe your interpretation of the data, what are you proposing?"

"I would think it is obvious, Tanth Dal. We have at most thirty years to evacuate the planet. And with over six hundred million people to move and no plan in place or destination selected or means of transportation devised, thirty years sounds like barely enough. We need to . . . no we MUST mobilize the entire population to this task if we are to be successful."

Xad-Cee, the oldest member of the Council, sputtered indignantly and slowly rose to his feet to stare across the council floor at Var. "You would have us spread panic and turmoil throughout the planet on just your personal interpretation of this data? And where would you propose we go, if we were to leave Krypton? To join the Kree or the Vrang or . . ." and here even Cee's voiced dropped momentarily to a whisper, "or the Marvaders. Do you wish to see the same fate befall us as befell on our brethren on Daxxum?"

Here was the real crux of the situation, Var knew. After enslavement by several alien races and battles against even more, the Kryptonian race had developed a pathological xenophobia against aliens. There were many like Cee who would rather commit racial suicide than risk leaving the Kryptonian home planetary system. And based on his own studies, the xenophobia had become pronouncedly worse during the Age of the Superminds. Something about Garf-Og's process seemed to create a blind spot in this one area; everyone present had the ability to see the same trends in the data, but their minds refused to let them see the answer that was obvious and necessary. Sometimes Var wondered what was different about his own mind that let him see the truth which none of the others could accept. Had his 'Purl Nous' experience somehow been defective? Not that the ability to see the truth should be considered a defect.

"Tanth Cee, I believe there are other potential refuges besides joining our enemies. There must be countless unknown, uninhabited worlds out there. Or perhaps we could try contacting the Sol System which has been in the news recently after the archeological discoveries outside Argo City. We have all seen the tele-scopic pictures, they look just like us. Perhaps Sol is even our original home system. What better place for some of us to blend in unnoticed?"

Dev-Dal shook his head. "Any communication we send to the Sol System could be intercepted by our enemies. It is too risky."

Var took a deep breathe. He had hoped to sway them without mentioning his ship, because he knew they might react badly, but he didn't see any alternative. "I have been developing a new teleportation drive that can instantly take a ship from Krypton to the Sol System or any other system. No message need be sent that can be intercepted. I will be ready to begin the initial operational testing of the device in a few weeks. I would like the Council's support and backing for a mission to Sol to discuss terms for some or all of our people to relocated there. If relocating to Sol doesn't turn out to be feasible, I would expand my search to look for some uninhabited planet we could use."

All of the Council members sprang to their feet with shouts of: 'No.' 'It is forbidden.' 'Heresy.'

After a few seconds, Dev-Dal finally shouted for silence. When quiet returned to the Council Chamber, Dev-Dal slowly looked from one council member to the next until they all slowly nodded their heads in secret concurrence to some unspoken question.

All of the council members resumed their seats and restored the passive expressions of indifference to their faces they had shown when Var-El had first been shown into the chamber. Dev-Dal calmly pressed a button on the control panel before him on the council table. After a few seconds Var heard a click and then a side entrance to the chamber opened. Dressed all in black, Planetary Security Chief Yas-Blee marched into the chamber followed by four guards.

After the security men had taken up a position behind Var, Dev-Dal finally spoke.

"Var-El, you are hereby charged with treason against the people of Krypton. You will be kept under house arrest until your trial. The trial date is set for two months from today. Upon your return to Kryptonopolis, you will turn over control of your prototype ship to Yas-Blee."

Turning to the security chief, Dev-Dal continued. "Tanth Blee, please escort the accused from this chamber."

As Yas-Blee stepped forward, Var made one last plea to the council. "What city besides Argo City with its proximity to the Golden Volcano ever needed a protective dome before two hundred years ago? And look at things now; every city is under a dome or relocated underground. The danger is real. Ignoring it will not make it go away and only condemns our race to death."

Dev-Dal gave no response except to motion with his finger for security chief Blee to do his duty.

Var bowed his head in defeat before stepping away from the podium and turning towards the exit. He had never imagined this meeting could go so badly. Not only were they ignoring his data and putting him under arrest, they were going to confiscate HIS ship. And suddenly his ship seemed like the only hope of survival for himself, his family, and his whole race. If he could use the ship to find a safe refuge for his people, perhaps then the council would listen.

With the decision made, Var squared his shoulders and marched resolutely from the Council Chamber.

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

Var was surprised when Yas-Blee and his security guards escorted him to a private maglev car for the fifteen minute, 700 mile subterranean trip back to Kryptonopolis. Apparently, Dev-Dal and the Supreme Council weren't ready yet to announce his arrest or the reason. Therefore he could hardly travel with these security men on a public car. Oh, he might have been mostly a recluse, living out on the old family estate and working on his projects, but he was still the current patriarch of the legendary El family and he would be recognized, particularly since he was prominently wearing the family crest on the upper left portion of his tunic.

By the time they reached Kryptonopolis, Var had devised an excuse to require them to stop at the house in the city before continuing out to the estate where Wegthor's Shadow was still located. Var knew once they reached the estate he was going to have to make his move and there wouldn't be any time after that to say his goodbyes to his family.

When they reached his house, the four security guards remained in the front entryway and only Yas-Blee accompanied him while he went to talk to Salva.

They found her in her home office tele-conferencing with the managers of the El family operations in Kandor, Antarctic City, Vathlo Island, and Xan. When she saw Yas-Blee with her husband, she quickly ended the meeting.

"What is the word from Xan?" asked Var to open the conversation.

Salva's eyes flicked over to the planetary security chief for a second before she answered. "Not Good. The quake couldn't have hit at a worse time. They were experiencing a severe ion storm when it hit and the dome was cracked. The whole western side of the city had to evacuate to the emergency underground shelters. It is going to take at least a week to regrow the dome to close the crack. At least our operations and most of our employees and their families were in the eastern side of the city, so things could have been a lot worse for us."

Salva paused and then shot a meaningful glance back and forth between the two men which asked, without words, why Yas-Blee was there.

Var sighed; there wasn't any easy way around the truth. "The meeting with the Supreme Council didn't go well. They intend to put me on trial for treason in two months and until then I am under house arrest. And as if that wasn't enough, we are headed out to the estate; Yas-Blee is here to confiscate my prototype ship."

Salva's face blanched at the news. She never expected this result from Var's meeting. She had fully expected the Council would brand Var a crackpot for his theories, but never that he would be brought up on charges of treason. Why would they take such an extreme step? Was there actually some truth in Var's claims and were they punishing him for it?

"Are the children around?" Var asked as casually as possible.

Hopefully his tone had fooled Yas-Blee, because Salva knew him too well. She had instantly understood Var was planning to take some kind of drastic action and that he didn't expect to see his family again anytime soon.

"Ah, Zim and Byma are on their way to Xan to help out with the emergency, but Kayla and Jor should be home from school by now. Let me have the house brain track them down," answered Salva.

"Is speaking to them right now really necessary?" asked Blee. "It should only take us a few hours out at the estate and then we will be back."

Var turned to look at the security chief. "Tanth Blee, regardless of how hard the Supreme Council tries to keep things quiet, it will be only a few hours, at most, before word of my arrest gets out. I believe it is my right to be the one to explain things to my children before they hear about it on the news or from one of their friends."

Blee looked for a moment like he was going to continue to object to the delay, but then he nodded.

Salva flipped a switch on her desk and spoke into the pickup requesting that the house brain locate Kayla and Jor and ask them to come to her office.

While they waited for the children to arrive, the three of them made idle small talk. But Salva couldn't keep her eyes off Var. What was he about to do? Would she ever see him again? It seemed like only yesterday that they had first met while performing the mandatory year of service in the defensive forces, which had been a requirement of all adult Kryptonians since the Kree invasion attempt thirty-two years ago. Fortunately, they had had a lot of good, happy years together and three wonderful children. If Var was forced to do something from which there was no coming back, she would see to the needs of the family.

Kayla and Jor arrived at their mother's office at the same time. As soon as they stepped through the doorway, they knew something was wrong. With his sharp predatory nose, cool gray eyes, and the faint scar running from the outer edge of his right eye down to his missing earlobe, it was impossible not to recognize Yas-Blee, the third most powerful man on the Krypton during peace times and the warlord of the entire planet during times of martial law.

Quickly their father rose to his feet. "Kayla, Jor, please take a seat." And he gestured to the coach below the long mural of the El estate out on the promontory; a picture created back in the long ago days before ion-storms had driven it underground.

Crouching down to be at eye-level with them, he continued. "I wanted you to hear this from me before you heard it somewhere else. The Supreme Council has charged me with treason against the state. I don't believe what I had to say is against the best interests of the people of Krypton and hopefully I will be vindicated at the trial. But you need to be ready when people and maybe even your friends start to say bad things about me. I need you to be strong and handle things stoically, as members of the El family have always done down through history."

Jor just stared wide-eyed at his father. No one was ever charged with treason - that was something which only happened in the emotive films.

"Why have you been charged, Father?" asked Kayla, who was as much in shock as her brother.

Var rose back to his feet. He hoped the look of longing on his face wasn't too obvious to Blee. He really wanted to give Kayla and Jor a long hard hug, but that would be too much out of character. "Kayla, we will discuss it tonight after dinner. At the moment, Tanth Blee and I have to run a quick errand out to the estate, but I promise we will go over everything when we get back. Okay?"

Kayla nodded and then Var looked to Jor. Jor nodded and then asked, "Can I come out to the estate with you, Father?"

Var shook his head, although he was secretly pleased with his son's request. "Not today. But I should have plenty of time to do it another day later this week."

Jor nodded.

Var turned to Yas-Blee. "Shall we be going?"

Blee rose from his chair and stepped to the door. Var followed and then paused momentarily to look back at Salva. He had thought to make some final goodbye to her, but he could see her eyes tearing up and didn't want to force a scene that might scare the kids or disrupt what he had to do. Finally he settled for a small nod of his head. Salva returned the nod and tried to smile, but it looked like she was about to cry as she was forced to blink hard. With a deep ragged breath, Var squared his shoulders and follow Blee down the hallway towards the front entrance of the house.

+ - + - + - + - + - + - +

It was a short five minute ride by anti-grav car to the airlock exit from the Kryptonopolis dome. Once outside it took them ten more minutes to reach the El estate. In the late afternoon light, the sky was turning an emerald green and the promontory in which the house was buried was casting an ominous-looking, long dark red shadow.

As they approached, Var glanced to the southeast at the majestic Fire Falls glowing brilliantly in its sheltered chasm. Would he ever see it again? More importantly, would he ever see his family again? He forced himself to think positively. He could return when he had found a safe refuge for his family and hopefully the rest of the inhabitants of Krypton. It would probably end up being very difficult. And it would probably take a long time. But no matter what it took, he had to succeed. Failure in his mission wasn't an option. Because whether they admitted it or not, the others were all in mortal danger.

For a moment, Var considered directing them to land in the garage in the upper hillside on the main level of the estate, but ultimately decided to direct them to the hanger level at the base of the hill where the ship was located. Landing up top had the potential to separate Blee and his men from their transportation when he made his move. But he decided Blee probably knew about the hanger level and would be more suspicious if Var directed them elsewhere.

As they got close, Var used his communicator to direct the house brain to open the main hanger door. He had been afraid that Blee would try to prevent his talking with the house brain, not that it would have made any difference. Whether Blee ordered the house brain to open the doors or Var did it himself, without giving the 'safeing' code phrase, the result would be the same. The brain would know they were coming in hot and it would automatically start things in motion.

Back in the earliest days of the Clone War, Van-El's traitorous nephew, Nat-El, had led members of the Clones Rights Movement in an attempt to take the estate using his personal knowledge of its defenses. It had been luck as much as skill, strength, and bravery which had allowed Van-El to ultimately prevail. But ever since then, the masters of the El family always had security measures and backup plans in place about which no outsider or even other family members knew.

Therefore, as the small security runabout they were using paused outside and the mammoth four hundred foot wide by one hundred twenty foot tall armored door slowly slid open, Var knew the house brain would have already started the power-up sequence for the ship and begun to move the robotic workers into position.

Blee's pilot didn't bother to wait, but flew inside before the door was a quarter of the way open. Of course, any child of four could have easily flown through an opening that was already ten times the width of the little security vessel.

As they passed through the doorway, Wegthor's Shadow came into view filling most of the available interior space of the hanger as it sat on its three extended legs. Var directed the pilot to land his craft between Wegthor's Shadow and the door. Var figured this would give Blee a sense of confidence, which would help keep his guard down. And it really didn't make any difference. Wegthor's Shadow's three foot thick Kryptonillium hull could crush the little ship without suffering a scratch, if it became necessary.

As the runabout was powering down, Var led Blee and his guards out and onto the hanger floor. Var couldn't help but pause and take a moment to gaze up at his ship. The defense forces had ships that were bigger, faster, and armed, but none of them could match the beauty and elegance of the old liner.

Blee stepped up beside Var and followed his gaze. "She is a beauty, Var-El. I still regret the day she and her sister ships went out of service. Oh, the new maglev system is much more convenient, but there was nothing like cruising over the North Pole at altitude on the run to Argo and watching dawn break over the ice fields from the lower observation level."

"Yeah," Var agreed. "I am just glad I was able to salvage at least one of them in the end."

After staring at the grand old ship for another minute, Blee broke the silence. "Shall we get this over with?"

Var continued to stare at the ship for a few more seconds to give the house brain as much time as possible to get things ready. Finally, he nodded. "Let's do it."

As he started to walk, Var spoke into his communicator and directed the ship's brain to lower the access ramp. The ramp immediately started to slide down and Var angled his path slightly to head for the spot where it would touch the floor. Passing under the edge of the outer saucer section, Var spared a quick glance up. Immediately he picked out the shapes of at least a dozen of the repair robots clinging tightly to the underside of the ship along the path he was taking. Hopefully, Blee and his men wouldn't notice their presences along the shadowy underbelly of the craft until it was too late.

Trying to maintain a passive posture for the seven seconds it would take to reach the optimum position, Var used the time to bring up in his mind the star coordinates of the Sol System he had read from Jor's tele-tablet a week earlier. Once things started, he might only have seconds to get the data loaded into the ship's brain.

If he hadn't know what was coming, Var felt like he might have jumped out of his skin as the robots released their grips on the ship and came crashing down amongst Blee's men. Three of them managed direct hits and knocked their targets to the ground. The others landed close enough and in a couple of seconds Blee and all of his men had been immobilized hand and foot before any of them had been able to draw a weapon.

"Don't do this, Var-El," commanded Yas-Blee from where he stood restrained by two giant ten-foot tall robots. "It will only make matters worse."

"I am honor bound to do what I believe is necessary to save Krypton, whether the Supreme Council agrees or not. Surely you of all people understand that," answered Var. He didn't wait for a response from Blee, but immediately raced for the ramp. As he ran, he commanded the house brain to begin jamming all frequencies before Blee could call for help.

While he was still climbing the ramp, he directed the ship's brain to bring the anti-gravity coils online and then he started feeding it the star coordinates for the Sol System. When he reached the top of the ramp, he hit the ramp retract button and then told the ship's brain to retract the landing gear as soon as possible.

Var felt the thrum of power coursing through the deck plates, but before the gear began to retract a giant shockwave rolled through the ship and knocked Var to his knees. As he climbed to his feet he turned from the grav-shaft, which had been his destination, to the emergency ladder instead. He didn't know what had just happened, but this wasn't the time to risk a forty foot fall, if the ship lost power while he was part way up to the command level.

"Ship, what just happened?" he barked into his communicator.

+-+Three Defense Force Cruisers have just de-orbited and are on course to reach here in three minutes. The lead ship fired a class three ion blast which struck four hundred twenty seven feet outside the main door. I would categorize it as a warning shot. +-+

Great, thought Var. Obviously I wasn't the only one who had contingency plans in place. I bet turning on the jamming fields was the trigger. Of course, if the jamming fields weren't turned on, Blee could have called down the ships himself.

"Ship, status of anti-grav and teleportation drives?"

+-+ Anti-grav drive is online, the gear has been retracted, and the ship is ready to move. The teleportation drive will be online in three minutes, thirty seconds. +-+

Wonderful. The cruisers will be here in three minutes and the teleportation drive won't be online until thirty seconds later. Just wonderful.

"Ship, hold position until the nearest cruiser is thirty seconds out. Then move out at full power and immediately execute a one hundred eighty degree turn and head up Bolenth Canyon staying below the ridge line."

+-+ Confirmed. +-+

Var raced up the ladder. He had less than two minutes to climb six levels to the command deck and it suddenly seemed like a good idea to be strapped into one of the seats. It looked like things were about to get bumpy.

One minute and thirty seconds later, Var was breathing hard as he stepped off the ladder and pushed open the door onto the uppermost level of the ship. Without pausing for breathe, he ran down the corridor to the bridge. As soon as he stepped into the room, he started shouting orders.

"Ship, secure all pressure bulkheads. Give me a situational display on the tele-screen with countdowns to our departure time and to when the teleportation drive will be online."

Var felt a faint shudder run through the ship as the emergency bulkheads slammed into place. As he started fastening the webbing on the command chair, he saw eight seconds remained until the first cruiser would be within the thirty second range. The clock for the teleportation drive was still at forty-three seconds.

He had just gotten the last buckle secured when the ship launched out of the hanger. His head was thrown back against the headrest as the acceleration quickly climbed from four G's to eight. Then almost instantly he was thrown violently to the side as the ship rolled hard to starboard to begin the turn up the nearby canyon.

The hard turn rolled the ship up on its side until the right edge of the saucer section almost touched the ground. The maneuver left the lower surface of the ship exposed and three quarters of the way through the turn a massive explosion ripped through the ship.

"Ship, status report!"

+-+ We have suffered a direct hit from a class six ion blast on the underside of the ship. Seventy-six percent of the anti-grav coils on the left side of the ship are damaged or destroyed. +-+

"Ship, can we still maneuver?"

+-+ For the moment. I am attempting to stop a cascading failure of the remaining coils on that side of the ship. I can maintain control for a minimum of three more minutes, if we don't suffer another hit. +-+

Wonderful. "Ship, status of teleportation drive?"

+-+ Undamaged. Teleportation drive will be online in eleven seconds. +-+

"Ship, continue up the canyon at best possible speed. Fly an evasive pattern as space and maneuvering capability permits."

+-+ Confirmed. +-+

Var watched the seconds tick down as he continued to be violently thrown around within his restraints. As the timer counted down towards zero, he wished he had had an opportunity to test the teleportation drive before this. It would be pretty ironic to have risked everything only to have the drive turn out to be a failure.

The timer was down to three seconds when the ship called out. +-+ Warning! Warning! Incoming round. +-+

While the ship continued to twist and turn, Var reached over with his right hand and touched the marriage bracelet encircling his left wrist. As the timer continued to count down, his last thoughts were of Salva and their children.

At the same instant the timer reached zero, a massive class ten ion blast lit up the canyon. When the glow finally faded, a new half mile wide spherical crater, centered on the position of the Wegthor's Shadow, straddled the canyon. Of the grand old ship, not a single trace remained.

End of Chapter 15

Author's Notes -

Well, there it is my first attempt at writing about a somewhat alien civilization. Hopefully with the grav-shafts, house brains, and maglev trains I was successful in creating a sort of 1950's 'World of Tomorrow' feel to the chapter.

What else? If you feel so inclined, you might go back and convert some of the Kryptonian years to Earth years. There are a few hints buried in this chapter of things to come - both near-term and long-term.

Athenais -

Thanks for the correction on my German in the last chapter. I am afraid the couple of years of high school German I had were a long, long time ago and I just used Babelfish to translate those couple of sentences. I knew it probably wasn't quite right, but felt the impact of using German to drive home Clark's frustration at not being able to communicate with Var-El was important for that point in the chapter.

Serran -

I haven't yet really thought out the next section in detail as regards to Lana. Having an extended period of time pass from her perspective before she returns is an interesting thought. I will keep it in mind.

Winthjo -

So, I know you have been reading Smallville fanfiction for a few months now. When are you going to give something back to the group and give us a story? It is obviously not that hard, if I can do it!

Crimson Starlight -

So, have you really read 'The Portal' four times? Wow, I am so flattered. I thought I was the only one who had read it more than once. Thanks for the kind words.

rhenq -

Are there really multiple sites recommending my stories? I had no idea. If you (or anyone else) could e-mail me a link, I would appreciate it. And thanks for the big compliment, but be careful or my head will no long fit through doors :)

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As always, thanks to everyone else who sent a review or an e-mail. They are always appreciated.

Have a great day!

Duane

duane at duaneaakre dot com